Hexcrawl

Ulflandia – Introduction

/ jstater / 5 Comments

Over the weekend, I got the Bloody Basic – Mother Goose Edition PDF up for sale, and just a moment ago I got the Bloody Basic – Contemporary Edition soft cover up for sale. So, if you like the various flavors of Bloody Basic, today is a fine day to be alive. The link to my Lulu shop to the right will take you there.

I’ve been working away at the next hex crawl for NOD, which is located just south of the Klarkash Mountains and is dominated by the island of Ulflandia, ruled by Queen Gloriana and inspired by the folklore and fantasy of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, et. al. Below, you will find the introduction. I’m still playing around with things, mostly cosmetic, so it might be changed here and there before it is published. Enjoy!

ULFLANDIA

Ulflandia, which is sometimes called Brigantia, is a large island located off the coast of the Klarkash Mountains, effectively dividing the Tepid Sea from Mother Ocean. The island was a fey stronghold in ancient times, but a series of invasions changed it into an ostensibly human kingdom. In the days of Nomo’s glory, it defied that empire for decades before finally becoming an independent, though tributary kingdom. The island is now dominated by Queen Gloriana from the city of Tremayne, the largest settlement on the island. The island can be divided into numerous sub-regions. The woodlands in the eastern portion of the island are called The Greenwood. The grasslands in the north are called Plains of Logris, while the hills that run down the center of eastern Ulflandia are called the Ruffians. The hilly peninsula in the southeast is called Belerion, the peaks in the south are the Coblyns. The western portion is taken up by the hilly Lawlands and the mountainous Hielands. Between Ulflandia and the Klarkash Peninsula lies the Black Strait. The Klarkash Mountains have been covered in NOD 25, but the hilly portion on the southern peninsula is known as the Braga Hills. The southeastern portion of the map contains a portion of the Wyvern Hills (see NOD 1) and an island chain known as the Zebrides.

THE PEOPLES OF ULFLANDIA
In elder days, Ulflandia was home to the giants and fey, who battled and intermarried and generally had a wonderful time, separate from interlopers from outside. Humanoid tribes of gnomes, kobolds and goblins filled things out.

When Partholon sallied forth from Hybresail to leave the decadent wizards behind, a portion of his fleet was diverted. While Partholon landed further north, and came to dominate the human tribes of the area and found Nomo, the other grey elves landed on the isle of Iskey. Under the command of the warlord Nemed, the grey elves fought the native giants and carved out a small kingdom for themselves which they called Tyrnog.

The elves of Tyrnog soon colonized the southern reaches of Ulflandia, founding the kingdoms of Elphyne, Albion, Annouven, Prydain, Belerion, Avalon and Ylfelond. Over time, the elven population of Ulflandia changed. The elves of Tyrnog, called the Aysheeth, were still of the grey variety. The elves of the western lands of Elphyne became the Gruagach (wild elves). The elves of the mountainous Lawlands and Coblyn were known as the Gwyllion (high elves). The elves of the Greenwood were known as the Elvene (wood elves).

In the meantime, the northern portions of the island were begin settled by the orcs and hobgoblins of the Klarkash Mountains, and the wild humans of the Braga Hills. These peoples came collectively to be called the Sassenach by the elves, though later that term only applied to the humans of the Plains of Logris.

In time, the Empire of Nomo came calling. In a series of invasions the Nomoi, under the command of Brutus, colonized the north and began grinding down the old elven kingdoms. They made the fortified colony of Tremayne (Trēsmanus) their capital, and soon conquered the Plains of Logris and then the eastern portions of the Greenwood. The kingdoms of Ylfelond and Avalon were made tributaries of Tremayne, while the other kingdoms of the island proper barely maintained their independence through arranged marriages, bribes and costly wars. The old elven kingdoms gradually faded in importance, devolving into giant citadels hidden by powerful illusions and smaller hill forts that surrounded the old citadels.

The men and half-elves of Nomo made forays against the ancient giant chiefs and the goblin tribes of the Ruffian Mountains as well. Under the command of Aurelios Ambrosios his younger brother Uther Pendragon, the sage wizard and demigod Merlinus, and their collected knights, squires and men-at-arms, the kingdom of Tremayne rose to the heights of its power, only to be disrupted in time by royal struggles and minor civil wars. Modern Tremayne is ruled by Queen Gloriana, who continues the struggle of the heirs of Nomo to bring the entire island under her control.

THE PEOPLES OF ULFLANDIA
ELVES: Elves are the aristocracy of the ancient fey tribes of Ulflandia. They serve as rulers, warriors and hunters. Under the elves are the working fairies, including such creatures as the brownies (household servants), knockers (miners and armorers), fenodyree (heavy labor), habbitrot (spinners of cloth), kilmoulis (millers of grain) and leprechauns (cobblers and other skilled trades). In some cases, these creatures are more powerful than their rulers, but the fey cleave to their traditions, which place the elves at the top of the pyramid.

Among the elves, there are several tribes, as follows:

AYSHEETH (GREY ELVES): The tall, beauteous elves of Iskey are called the Aysheeth. They descend from the original elven colonists of Ulflandia, who came from the West to escape the wars of the wizards and build kingdoms of their own.

Among the Aysheeth, the nobles wear chainmail under brilliantly colored tabards and capes. They carry round shields and arm themselves with lances and longswords. In their retinues are the galloglass and kerns. The “common” Aysheeth, or kerns, wear lighter armor and carry spears, bows, axes and greatswords. Noble grey elves fight in chariots or on horseback, while the kerns may fight on foot or as light horsemen.

ELVENE (WOOD ELVES): The Elvene are the wood elves of the Greenwood, living in roving bands who hunt and patrol their lands and answer the call of their rulers when it is time to fight. They dress in scarlet and green, and are merrier than the more guarded and elegant grey elves.

Elvene armies are composed of longbowmen and light infantry. Both wear light armor, with chainmail shirts about the heaviest armor among them. They wield longbows, short swords, hand axes and sometimes spears. Cavalry is rare among the elves of the Greenwood, for they often fight in thick woodlands.

GRUAGACH (WOOD ELVES): The Gruagach live in the wildest parts of Ulflandia. They cultivate a wild appearance, growing their hair long and keeping it tangled or spiking it, and painting their faces and bodies with blue dyes. They wear woolen tunics in dazzling plaids and checks.

Wild elf warriors are light skirmishers, for the most part. They wear light armor and wield longswords, greatswords, battleaxes, spears and shortbows. Some fight from chariots, while others are mounted on light horses or, in rare occasions, Irish elk.

GWYLLION (HIGH ELVES): The high elves of the mountains are more akin to the grey elves than their wild cousins of the wilderness and woodlands. They are honorable warriors, and more organized than their kin.

High elf warriors put light and heavy infantry and cavalry into the field, as well as their famous longbowmen.

SASSENACH (HUMANS, HALF-ELVES, HIGH ELVES): The Sassenachs are the descendants of the invaders from Nomo. They include humans (the most numerous of the invaders), half-elves (who are most often to be found in administrative and mercantile roles), and elves (the ruling class). The Sassenachs organize themselves along feudal lines, and hold chivalry in high esteem (at least in theory, though not often in practice).

Sassenach armies are composed of light and heavy infantry and cavalry, crossbowmen, and foreign mercenaries drawn from the other peoples of Ulflandia and from beyond.

THE GODS OF ULFLANDIA
The Ulflandians worship the divine pantheon of the Motherlands under different names. The Ulflandians have some unique deities as well, including Sirone, the goddess of healing, Epona, the horse goddess, Canta, the god of medicine and physicians, Puck, the trickster god, and Merlinus, the god of magic.

KABIR / ULFLANDIAN NAME
Asur (Sun, Kingship) = Dagda
Bel (Rebirth) = Bel the Fair Shining One
Ghobb (Earth) = Govannon
Karn (Hunt) = Cernunnos
Nudd (Sea) = Nodens
Tut (Mischief) = Puck
Ys (Fertility) = Matrona

MOTHERLAND DEITY / ULFLANDIAN NAME
Bacchus (Drunkeness) = John Barleycorn
Diana (Woodland, Hunting) = Flidas of the Beautiful Hair
Hecate (Magic) = Morgana le Fey
Hercules (Heroism, Strength) = Percival
Juno (Motherhood, Queenship) = Morrigan
Mars (War) = Camulus
Minerva (War, Arts) = Brigantia
Pluto (Death) = Dispater
Saturn (Time) = Sucellos
Venus (Love, Beauty) = Penarthun

OTHER DEITIES / PORTFOLIO
St. Angus, Youth, Beauty
Arianrhod, Moon
St. Canta, Medicine, Healers
St. Dylan, Sailors
St. Ecna, Sages
St. Elen, Travelers
Epona, Birds, Horses
Merlinus, Magicians
St. Ogma, Bards, Eloquence
Taranis, Thunder

RELIGIOUS ORDERS

BLACK FRIARSThe black friars are dedicated to the atmospheric deities. A scholarly order, they study the stars and atmospheric conditions. The black friars tend towards Lawful behavior, and tend to be loyal to the Queen (though not always her Church), the Starry Order of blue magicians and the two orders of knighthood.

The black friars are primarily dedicated to Dagda, Arianthod, Bel, Nodens and Taranis.

GREY FRIARS
The grey friars are druids dedicated to the chthonic deities of earth and the underworld. Like the white friars, they tend toward true neutrality, seeing themselves as guides to the afterworld, and thus above human affairs. They are often to be found in opposition to the necromancers of the Cunning Order of red magicians (see below).

The grey friars are primarily dedicated to Dispater, Govannon, Morgan le Fey and Sucellos.

WHITE FRIARS
The white friars are druids dedicated to deities of flora and fauna. They are a neutral order, and consider themselves emissaries of the nature gods to humans, and thus are above other human institutions, including the Queen and her government. They do not often press this claim, as diplomacy is less costly than fighting an angry queen and her armies. White minsters (monasteries) are known for their gardens and the numerous sentient animals to be found around them.

The white friars are primarily dedicated to Cernunnos, Epona, Flidas, Matrona, Puck, and John Barleycorn.

THE QUEEN’S CHURCH
The Queen’s Church handles most of the day-to-day religious chores of the kingdom. Gloriana is the head of the church (hence the name) and has its unswerving loyalty. Sages and adepts make up most of the priesthood, which is divided into Vicarages and Bishoprics, with the immediate superior of the church being the Archbishop of Cantiacorum.

The Queen’s Church honors all of the deities mentioned above, as well as Brigantia (the patron deity of Ulflandia), Camulus, Merlinus, Percival, Saint Angus, Saint Canta, Saint Dylan, Saint Ecna, Saint Elen and Saint Ogma.

KNIGHTLY ORDERS

THE MOST OBEDIENT ORDER OF THE GLORIOUS QUEST

Also known as the Knights of the Cauldron, the Questing Knights, and the Knights of Percival, they are an order dedicated to recovering the Cauldron of Dozen-King for their queen, Gloriana. The order is composed of warriors and clerics, all Lawful (Good) in alignment. While the brothers wear their own livery, they sew a badge in the shape of a red heart over their own hearts. Once each year, at the end of campaign season, they gather at their chapter house in Camulodunon to report on their progress and adventures over the previous year, and they are permitted an audience with their queen, who travels to the city from Tremayne for that purpose.

The quest of the knights is supported by the Black Friars, the Queen’s Church and the Blue Magicians. The white and grey friars oppose it, though the white friars neither publicly nor actively, and the yellow and red magicians care little for the quest.

The arms of the order are a field azure numerous crosses or. This livery is worn by the members at their convocations, and is worn by their retainers when on official duty.

THE ORDER OF THE RED CROSSE

The Order of the Red Crosse is dedicated to the veneration of St. George, the local name for Mithras. The knights are loyal to their god first and to the Queen second. They have numerous fortifications throughout the country, and their main chapter house in Tremayne. The knights are commanded by a Knight Commander, and all of the knights wear white emblazoned with a saltire gules while serving the order. Most of the knights are Lawful (Good) clerics and paladins, though the ranks of their warbands are filled out with lay brothers (i.e. fighters).

MAGICAL SOCIETIES

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF PHILOSOPHERS

The members of the Royal Society are more commonly referred to as yellow magicians. Their ranks are primarily filled by sages, alchemists, magic-users (especially transmuters) and scientists. In public, the philosophers wear robes of yellow. It is headquartered in Tremayne at Mumpsimus College. The society is led by a president, elected by the members for a life term, or until recalled by the membership. The society is known for its wealth and influence with the Queen, and is regarded with jealousy by the other magical orders and the merchants of Ulflandia.

THE STARRY ORDER

Colloquially known as the blue magicians or even blue friars, the Starry Order is composed of Lawful (Good) magic-users, sorcerers and warlocks. It is closely allied with both the Knights of the Red Crosse and the Questing Knights, and with the Black Friars. The order is chartered by Gloriana, and has its headquarters in Cantiacorum, a seaport located south of Tremayne. Members are known for their blue robes and their white headbands.

THE CUNNING ORDER OF WYSARDS AND WITCHES
The red magicians are a very loose fellowship of magic-users, sorcerers and warlocks, unofficially divided into four colleges – The Conjurers (who wear burgundy robes and golden bells), The Evokers (who wear crimson robes and rose badges), The Illusionists (who wear scarlet robes) and the Necromancers (who wear maroon robes and skullcaps). The society is technically a secret society, with secret passwords and hand signals to allow members to communicate with one another. In reality, the existence of the order is fairly well known, and though the exact location of their lodges is unknown, most people know whether or not there is a lodge in their settlement.

Mountains of Chaos – Golems and Lizards

/ jstater / 4 Comments
This is the Frazetta painting that inspired the Klarkash Mountains (found HERE)

Hey folks – the art is ordered, the supplemental articles are being written (very excited about the pen & paper football game – I’ve run 31 seasons so far), and I think I’m on track for a February release. Hopefully, I’ll get another Bloody Basic released as well – I think the Fairy Tale edition. We’ll see on that one. In the meantime, a few more locales from the Klarkash Mountains. Part of the fun in this hex crawl is that it takes place above and below ground. Underground encounters are put in a box, while the surface encounters are not. The first bit is an excerpt about movement through the mountains.

Movement through the mountains is complicated. Many valleys are dead ends, and frequent landslides make dead ends of passes that were once passable. Whenever a mountain hex is entered, the Treasure Keeper should roll 1d4 to determine how many exits the hex currently has, and then roll 1d12 to determine how the hex can be exited. Assume that the characters can always leave the way they came, even if the roll on the table does not indicate that they can:

D12 EXIT
1 North – surface
2 North – subterranean
3 Northeast – surface
4 Northeast – subterranean
5 Southeast – surface
6 Southeast – subterranean
7 South – surface
8 South – subterranean
9 Southwest – surface
10 Southwest – subterranean
11 Northwest – surface
12 Northwest – subterranean

A subterranean exit must be discovered by searching (treat as searching the hex for a secret door, with one check per day). If the hex contains a subterranean encounter, the exit will always involve dealing with this encounter.

7321 IRON GOLEM | MONSTER
A key tunnel in this hex is being held up almost entirely by a stout iron golem. The iron golem is blocking the tunnel. If it moves (which it will if attacked) the tunnel collapses after 1d6 minutes. A total of 1d10x200 feet of the tunnel will collapse when the iron golem moves.

7326 DIRE STAIRS | WONDER
The remnants of a deep staircase can be found in this hex. After descending about 300 feet, one begins to detect warmth and sulfuric fumes. The stairs keep on descending until the reach the center of Nod, wherein Hell is located.

7333 FIRE LIZARDS | MONSTER
1d20 fire lizards are crawling over and through a series of basalt tunnels. The tunnels are hot to the touch, and the air is excessively dry and acrid. Crystal growths explode from the sides, ceiling and floors of the tunnels at random (1 in 6 chance per round, 1 in 6 chance of a growth hitting an adventurer for 1d6 points of normal damage + 1d6 points of fire damage, Reflex save to halve damage). The crystal growths glow a deep orange, and they are lousy with the raw energy of fire magic. A person holding a piece of this crystal can double the effects of the next three fire spells he or she casts.

7606 KATYA’S MAGNIFICENT TOWER | STRONGHOLD
The mountains here are composed of green stone, slightly glossy, with valleys filled with purple grasses and large mud flats fed by scalding mud geysers. The land is lovely and dangerous, and home to a large village of fierce yeomen clustered around the green tower of Katya the Magnificent, a magician who specializes in teleportation and other modes of magical transportation. Her tower is a sort of beacon on both the Astral and Ethereal Planes, and serves as an anchorage for the weird vessels that ply those dimensions, depositing interesting visitors and their strange cargoes in the little town.

The townspeople do some farming and herding, but most are engaged in the tourist and mercantile trades. The town has three grand inns and several taverns.

The green tower is about 300 feet tall, and composed of the same stone that dominates the landscape, with floral carvings around the windows and doors. The interior is crowded with visitors, servants and guards. The servants are swathed in layers of white silks, which hides the fact that they are animated skeletons. The guards are living iron statues made to look like gothic knights. Katya’s personal guard is composed of the succubus Hamzhara, bound to her service by Katya’s possession of her true name, and her three alu-demon daughters, Lividia, Xaspera, Inflamidine. Katya permits them some demonic fun to keep them docile, but otherwise keeps them on a short leash.

7721 MERWIN PETERS | MONSTER
The ghost of Merwin Peters, former trader, sits on a stump in this hex on moonless nights. The ghost is headless, and does little more than point to the west, perhaps indicating where his head has been carried away. The ghost has a set of keys on a chain around his neck – perhaps they would open a treasure chest if the ghost could tell adventurers where to look.

Mountains of Chaos – the Giant’s Vault

/ jstater / 6 Comments

A few more locales. I’m commissioning art today, so I think I’m on schedule to get NOD 25 out at the end of this month.

5534 GIANT’S VAULT | DUNGEON
In the elder days, the giants constructed a vast dungeon beneath the mountains here to hide the hammer first used to construct the lightning bolts hurled by Jove. The hammer broke, but it contains massive residual energies useful for forging lesser magic items. The dungeon is guarded by all manner of giant creatures (all large or huge), and it is sized accordingly. The halls are patrolled by ten purple worms with amethyst faces embedded in their heads. The faces can communicate with one another and control the monsters, making them all the more dangerous to intruders.

5728 COUNTY OF NIMBUS | CITY-STATE

Nimbus is a great mountain fastness, a concentric castle of light grey marble painted white, with five towers and a central keep flying the green banner of the Countess D’Aurzi, a pleasingly plump woman with perhaps the shrewdest mind in Umbriago, and an iron stomach that allows her to drink ogres under the table. She is attended by three consorts, her chosen knights Melus, Urgis, and Amarionnus (her favorite, but the stupidest and thus not worthy of ruling by her side).

Surrounding the castle there is a village of tall, narrow houses composed of grey brick with red doors. Brass nails are pounded into the doors for good luck, and hung with strings of beads. The houses are set on gravel streets radiating out from the castle and separated by triangular pastures on which the city’s fine cattle are grazed. Wooden posts, strangely carved in demonic shapes, look over the cattle. The people fear these totems, which preceded the founding of the city, and never look directly at them without spitting on the ground and tossing a copper coin.
The people walk to their fields, which are watered by underground springs and frequent rains. The city boasts a few artisans and merchants, a mercenary company that is always hiring for the summer campaign season in the north, and a shrine to Eurynome, the titaness of pastures and the matron goddess of the city-state. Three female druids oversee the shrine and tend to the spiritual needs of the people. The trio always includes a crone, a matron and a maiden. The crone tends to the countess and the city government with her wise council, the matron to the needs of the common people, and the maiden to the needs of the herds and fields.

Besides the city’s cattle, there is also timber in the mountains, fertile fields in the surrounding valleys (each protected by a fortified tower keep controlled by one of the county’s knights and topped with a beacon fire to alert the city to danger) and fur-trapping. The fur trade is where the real money is, with traders leading caravans down to the sea in [5627] once per month to trade with merchant galleys from other city-states.

In all, the city-state of Nimbus boasts a population of 600, and the domain around it 5,400 people in four manors, three of them controlled by the aforementioned knights. The fourth is overseen by a huntsman in the employ of the three druids of Eurynome. The city watch consists of six men-at-arms, and the county’s army consists of about 40 men-at-arms, 30 armed with Lucerne hammers and short swords, the others with longbows.

5744 DUCHY OF KESSEL | CITY-STATE
Kessel is the hard-drinking, hard-working red city of the deep mountains. Long isolated from the rest of Umbriago, the strain of orc blood runs deeper here than elsewhere, and the peoples are only barely governable by Duchess Maladi. The people of Kessel are miners and quarrymen (basalt, olivine and peridots), farmers and herdsmen (mountain wheat, stunted pears, cattle), some lumberjacks in the mountains, fisherwomen in the rivers, and a small band of artisans, especially gemners and smiths.

The bourgeois of the town dress in rough finery, the men in arming coats, the women in virago sleeves. The commoners dress in tunics and stockings. The city-state has 400 citizens, the hinterlands 3,600 peasants on four manors, two of them baronial (Baroness Lemba and Baron Morix, siblings with a deep, abiding rivalry that borders on hatred) and one dedicated to the Poor Brothers of Pluto’s Trident, Pluto being a patron of miners, and the patron deity of Kessel.

Duchess Maladi is casually cruel and bombastic, and feared by her people. She has high cheek bones, ruddy skin, and deep eyes of black flecked with gold. Maladi is always well dressed, with leather corset and full skirt and sleeves of crushed damask silk. She carries a silver horseman’s mace as a symbol of office (the face stained with blood, as she uses it to personally execute traitors) and a brace of daggers hidden on her person. Half-orcs and orcs would call her handsome.

The buildings of Kessel are made of red brick with slate roofs. The walls are made of basalt. The city is situated at the end of a broad, long valley, backing up to a dormant volcano. It is also protected by the two rushing rivers. Each river is spanned by a bridge with fortified gatehouses controlling access to the valley and, thus, the city and its fields. An army of 30 men-at-arms (pikemen and crossbowmen on mountain ponies) can be raised to supplement the four permanent guardsmen who man the gatehouses on the bridges.

6026 BROTHERS OF THE EVIL EYE | STRONGHOLD
A monastery is perched on the seashore here, an imposing, windowless structure of basalt blocks, an unsightly pile indeed. The building is home to the Brotherhood of the Evil Eye, a band of goblinoid monks dedicated to Azathoth, the Lord of Entropy and Chaos. They are brutal in their discipline, and many who join the monastery do not make it out alive. Those who survive become a potent force for chaos. The leader of the monastery is a smallish goblin called Zozzo, his lieutenants being Zum and Karx. Under them are 17 first level monks. All of the brothers cover their entire bodies with tattoos or brands of eyes. In addition, they carry silver flutes in honor of their chaotic god.

The Mountains of Chaos – Introduction

/ jstater / 1 Comment

The next hex crawl for NOD is set in the Klarkash Mountains, which divide the Venatia hex crawl from the lands of Nomo, Guelph and Irem (which probably doesn’t mean much, so lets say the part of the world inspired by Greece, Rome and the Fertile Crescent).

What follows are some excerpts of the hex crawl – enjoy!

3834 GHAE | CITY-STATE
Ghae is a fading city-state of deep sea locathah. The city has the pattern of a starfish, with great towers at its six points and hundreds of domes holding homes, palaces, temples, armories, workshops and the like. The city was once home to over 15,000 locathah, but only 12,500 remain, as the mithral mines they once worked have been depleted.

The deep locathah resemble anglerfish, and though they are fearsome to look upon, they are not evil. The city’s autocrat, Phlaq, wears phosphorescent shell armor as a sign of his authority. He carries a mithral scepter that looks like it was made by surface elves, and it was – it was lost at some point by Vinrix, the missing Emperor of Nomo.

The army of Ghae is 1,000 strong. The locathah wear no armor. They carry spears and often ride mechanical dunkleosteus, powered by vril. These armored mounts are slowly dying, so they are now rarely used. The soldiers are poorly paid and only barely loyal. They have turned to banditry to supplement their incomes, driving some merchants away to the west, where they hope to find welcome in other deep sea cities.

4125 BLEEDING TITAN | MONSTER
A sea titan by the name of Glaudia is drowsing in the sun here, floating on his back in the sea, which remains placid around her. Three giant leeches have attached themselves to her and are supping on his ichor. The titan isn’t particularly bothered by this, but awakening her will throw her into a rage.

5302 BLOODY STAIRS | WONDER
High in the mountains here there is a cave shrouded in magical darkness. Beyond the entrance, light works, and reveals a staircase stained with blood. The staircase leads down to a great cavern in which there is a bell composed of lead and engraved with images of fallen angels holding burning torches. When struck, the bell sends out blacklight (per the spell) in a 100-ft radius, strikes all within 60 feet with black lightning (also per the spell) and summons forth all monsters within 10 hexes to war in the name of unholy Chaos.

5404 BEJEWELED ZOMBIES | MONSTER
The walls of the river canyon here are studded with twelve spheres of force. Each one contains a rabid zombie, scratching at the sphere and trying to attack anything that comes within sight. Around their necks are long iron chains from which are suspended large iron keys. In the middle of the river, near the spheres, there is a small promontory that bears a great, iron door. The door is two feet thick and cannot be opened, for it is really a sort of elevator platform that lowers into the promontory when activated. The door/platform has twelve keyholes … so you can see where this is going.

If the spheres of force are deactivated, the zombies are released. When the zombies are released, they grow to giant size (the iron chains now fit their necks more snuggly) and attack.

GIANT ZOMBIE, Huge Undead: HD 8; AC 11; ATK 1 slam (2d6); MV 20; F8 R11 W9; AL Neutral (N); XP 400; Special—Move or attack, weapon resistance (blunt weapons).

If the platform is activated, it lowers itself slowly at first, and then quite quickly, about 300 feet into the earth. A door at the bottom of this shaft opens into the underworld.

5444 HEALING BATH | WONDER
A stone circle is hidden in the mountains here, on a meadow of daisies and purple cone flowers. The stones are jagged and white, and bear deep claw marks that form weird patterns. The circle has a diameter of 60 feet.

Under a full moon, the stones glow in the moonlight. The ground within the circle becomes first spongy and then ethereal, dropping people into a cavern below (20 ft. fall). Within this cavern, dimly lit by the moonlight filtering through the ethereal ground, there is a fountain of healing waters surrounded by a dozen statues of skull-faced nymphs. The healing bath is permitted only to Chaotic (Evil) creatures; others are attacked by silver rays from the eyes of the statues that curse them (per the bestow curse) spell.

More to come …

Ende – The People

/ jstater / 1 Comment

Almost ready to publish NOD 23 – just finishing up the monster stats in the Ende article, and putting some finishing touches on the conclusion of the Dungeon of the Apes adventure that started in NOD 22. Today, I figured I might get some extra use out of some of that Ende writing and blog about some of the peoples who dwell in Ende …

AASURA (AASIMAR)

Ende has long been a crossroads of the different planes of existance due to its being, for reasons unknown to all, a frequent battleground between the forces of Law and Chaos. As even a midling scholar of Nod could tell you, when an outsider is manifested into the Material Plane, it becomes a living, breathing creature with free will, even if it often takes a while for them to realize they are no longer bound to the wishes of their master. Many of these outsiders break away from their appointed tasks and mingle with the locals, so aasimar and tieflings are not uncommon in the region of Ende.

In Ende, the aasimars are called aasuras, and they usually belong to the higher castes of wise people and warriors. Of course, many, despite their blood, have fallen from their once high positions, and must make their way as mercenaries and adventurers, for they are ever too proud to work as artisans, laborers, and beggars (and the artisans, laborers and beggars would claim the haughty fools wouldn’t have the skill to do their jobs properly anyways).
While aasuras aspire to (and often pretend to uphold) the old ways of their ancestors, honesty, gravity, open-mindedness, far-sightedness and martial honor, the sad truth is that generations of life at the top of the social foodchain has left them decadent, over-bearing and aloof. While they are often respected, for even in their fallen state they are often driven to succeed at whatever calling they have chosen (callings which often involve killing or calling down fire from the sky), they are rarely well-liked.

In keeping with their castes, aasuras dress well, and decorate themselves with jewelry. They are usually perfumed or scented with fragrant oils, and even the poorest aasura will make every effort to keep a servant or slave. Aasura warriors prefer to wear aristocratic armor, usually banded or splint, rarely platemail imported from the north, and they carry shields and various sorts of swords and lances. Most work as horsemen or charioteers.

Most aasura take the lordly Indra as their patron, though those aasura who still hold to the old ways prefer Vishnu. Aasura characters usually have classes in paladin, monk, cleric, psychic, duelist or fighter.

DAITYAS (STONE GIANTS)

The stone giants of Ende are called daityas. They once served as mercenaries in the divine armies that fought here, usually for Chaos, and now dwell in the mountains as barbarians. The daityas are wild men and women, heavy with crude jewelry, their faces scarred and painted with images made up of swollen dots, the men cultivating fabulous mustaches that are a sign of power and fertility in their culture. Daityas wear no armor, only baggy pants and cloaks, and their wield giant scimitars and shields. They have skin the color of rust that is often marred with patches of white.

GANDHARVA (ELVES)

The gandharva are the elves of Ende. Once the masters of the plains of Gondar, their small, fortified villages eventually fell to humans and humanoids, leaving them to wander like gypsies. Most gandharva now are herdsmen and herdswomen (known especially for their ability to raise horses), entertainers, traders and, sometimes, ne’er-do-wells.

Like most elves, they are graceful and beautiful, with eyes that gleam like gemstones, deep olive skin and black hair. They dress in light, loose garments, or robes to hide their armor. Female elves are referred to as apsara, and they are known for their dancing.

Gandharva are cosmopolitan and easy going, with ready wits and a tendency to tell people what they want to hear. Charm is the hallmark of the gandharva, and they use it liberally to get what they want. Despite being graceful and alluring, the elves of Ende are skilled warriors, especially with staves and bows. Many elves train in the martial arts, combining dance with fighting.

Gandharva prefer deities of music and dance, and thus gravitate towards Saraswati, goddess of art and music, and Shiva, famous for his cosmic dance.

HUMANS
Humans make up the middle castes in Ende society, the artisans, laborers and farmers. They range from poor to rich, with the wealthiest humans usually being merchant princes. Most middle class humans are artisans, merchants or officers in the regions armies. Humans, here as everywhere, are cunning and clever and hold every opinion under the sun. Humans in Ende are often resentful towards the aasura because of their insistence on taking on airs despite their obviously lacking characters, and they fear and hate the tievas for their demonic powers and their close contact with death in all its fearful forms.

Humans are usually barred from the higher orders of society, though some are elevated into the upper castes due to their impressive abilities (i.e. high ability scores and capacity for bribing the aasuras and stroking their mighty egos). Humans with magical abilities are usually magic-users. Magic-users are not regarded as highly as psychics and clerics because of their dependence on material components, many of which are of an unsavory form. These magic-users do a good business in Ende, serving the middle and lower castes in the manner of doctors and advisors. Human warriors usually make up the bulk of Ende’s armies, and usually fight on foot or as light cavalry. Ende’s officer corps is mostly made up of humans, who serve as lietenants and captains. Higher ranks are held by the aasura nobility.

While they are barred from becoming clerics (again, there are exceptions), they are not barred from the druidic orders, and in fact dominate those orders. For this reason, the humans of Ende most often give their keenest devotion to the nature gods and goddesses, such as Agni, god of fire, Varuna, god of water, and Surya, the sun god, as well as Gunputty, the overcomer of obstacles (humans hate obstacles).

TIEVAS (TIEFLINGS)

As the aasuras are descended from outsiders of Law, the tievas, who occupy the lower rungs of the social ladder, are descended from outsiders of Chaos. Swarthy of skin, bright of eye and quick of wit, they have gravitated towards the lower professions of thief, assassin, beggar, and charlatan. The best of them live a straight (well, mostly straight) life of honest labor in such occupations as tanner, butcher, or hunter.

Tievas deal in death in one way or another, which makes them suspect and low in the eyes of the aasura and most humans. They see themselves as the necessary evils that make the more comfortable lives of the upper castes possible. While tievas care little for virtue, they do have a strong sense of self, and when crossed or insulted they rarely let the act go unavenged. A tieva might strike immediately themselves if they think they can get away with it, but more likely they will attack in the dark, from behind, with many friends.

Tievas dress as commoners. They live in the shabby quarters of town, and congregate in taverns and other places of rowdy amusement to let off steam. Tievas are rarely found in the organized armies of Ende, even armies of Chaos, for they are generally thought to be untrustworthy and cowardly. They are, however, hired as spies by all the lords of the region, including lords of Lawful alignment.

Tievas usually worship Ratri, the goddess of night, Lord Shiva, the god of death, and the black earth mother Kali.

YAKSHA (DWARVES)

The yaksha are dwarves that separated from the dwarves of the west a very long time ago. As such, they are quite different from their kin in Antilia and the Motherlands.

While most dwarves are gruff in demeanor and generally unhandsome (from a human point of view), the yaksha are remarkably sensuous. The females are curvaceous and viviceous, the men dashing and ferocious when roused. They live in heated casverns, and prefer to show off plenty of skin – they’ve got it, so why not flaunt it.

The strongholds are highly ornamented, with many gemstones and carvings. They are well lit, and kept very plush, for the yaksha are the keepers of the wealth under the earth, and while they may appear to be softer than other dwarves, they are in fact skilled warriors who guard their monopoly on mining precious metals and stones viciously.

The yaksha are worshipers of Lord Shiva, who is not only a god of death, but also of the valuables hidden within the earth.

The Damnable Sea – Introduction

/ jstater / 1 Comment

Yes indeed, it’s time to start previewing some of my material for the next issue of NOD, the centerpiece of which will be the eastern half of the hexcrawl from NOD 19, which I’m calling … The Damnable Sea.

Here, then, is the intro to the hexcrawl …

There were riches across the ocean, of that there could be no doubt. The elves and dwarves hailed from across the sea, and while both their elder kingdoms were now in ruins, their stories were fantastic and full of wonders.

The earliest forays were made by the swaggering bravos of Guelph in small cogs that were barely sea worthy. These voyages proved profitable, though, as they first constructed the port of Janus on an island that lie mid-ocean, and then went on to build colonies in Hybrasil that disgorged from those shores tons of gold and silver to fund their wars against the hobgoblins. These treasure ships attracted the attention first of the filibusters of Brigantia, who found is worth their while to abandon their galleys for swift caravels. Like wolves they hunted the over-laden treasure galleys of the Guelphlings, showing a portion on their Queen Gloriana.

The Antigooners were not pirates (well, not usually), but merchants with a keen eye for profit. Drooling over the gold and silver of the Guelphlings and hearing tales of green shores north of their colonies, they ventured into a stormy patch of sea that came to be known as the Damnable Sea. Here, they discovered the Virgin Woode and, with the Brigantians hot on their heels, began the Motherlander colonization of that land of elves and ancient secrets.

Upon the disappearance of the Emperor of Nomo and the subsequent decline and fall of that empire, the tributary city-states of the Motherlands sought to claim a portion of their old master’s power. This was first attempted in a series of ineffective wars, as no one city-state was powerful enough that it could best its rivals, separated as they were by vast tracts of wilderness.

While the secrets (at least some of them) of the Virgin Woode were revealed in NOD 19, the Damnable Sea itself holds many secrets. An ancient elven empire lies beneath these waves. The Emperor Jasconius has conquered the city-states of Basilea and Tartessus, scattered the hated sahuagin to the currents, and now looks to extend his suzerainty above the waves, reclaiming from the humans the Virgin Woode as the ancient birthright of the elves. There are also the islands of demonic Satanazes and wondrous Bermoothes with its sorcerous Duke and, in the eastern depths, something more ancient and horrible than the elves.

Three locations from the hexcrawl follow …

3501. Temple of the Wolverine | Stronghold

The wild elves of the north maintain a shrine here dedicated to the Carcajoue, the Wolverine Lord, a deity of savagery and gluttony to the wild elves. The shrine is a spirit house composed of wooden sticks and four stout poles capped with images of the wolverine spirit painted in stark shades of white and blood red.

The shrine is protected by three spirit-wolverines as well as a wild elf druid, Paskatootsk, an elf with a rather sinister cast and a skin covered with white blotches and an evil eye. Paskatootsk is a were-wolverine, and when threatened he does not hesitate to assume his hybrid form to frighten his enemies. Fallen foes are dragged into the temple and fed to the strange, sinister wolverine spirit that dwells within the temple (actually a black pudding who dwells beneath the shrine at the entrance to a series of caverns that holds Skraeling catacombs, lost treasures of the ancient elves, a secret society of fungal mages and the world’s largest opal.

3520. Telchine Forge | Monster

The sea floor here is rent by a great volcanic vent. A tribe of 200 telchines has set up shop here, operating a forge that is now under the control of the Atlanteans. The Emperor Jasconian has sent a company of soldiers and a military governor, a warrior-mage called Xercelad – a haughty elf with delusions of his prime importance in the schemes of his emperor. He detests the telchines, but treats them reasonably well so long as they meet their quotas and deliver their goods on time.

The telchines are primarily working on orichalcum plates for the submersibles of the Atlantean navy. The plates are picked up fortnightly by an old Atlantean cargo submersible.

The telchines dwell in sea caves, their forge being open to the ocean. The Atlanteans have constructed a domed structure of stone in which they bivuac.

3618. Floater | Monsters

The bloated, rotting corpse of a sea giant is floating in this hex, and might be spotted by travelers near or on the surface. The body is floating face down, and shows signs of a great deal of nibbling by sea scavengers. Seven giant bristle worms (i.e. sea centipedes) are even now feasting on the underside of the corpse. Should it be disturbed, they will certainly leave the water to investigate. The giant still wears a chainmail sleeve on its left arm and a gold necklace (300 gp) around its neck. A crystal eye is still lodged in the sea giants eye socket. About twice the size of a human eye, it can be used to project a color spray once per day with the command word “Saskatoon”.

Virgin Woode – Scrolls, Icy Corpses, Rievers and Tombs

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1328. Soul Scrolls | Treasure
A stone totem pole stands in a clearing within a grove of trees. Within the mouth of the dragon atop the pole there is hidden a thick sheaf of scrolls. Each scroll holds a powerful spell (6th to 8th level) as well as the soul of an ancient elf wizard. Thirteen zombies are buried beneath the totem, and wait for somebody to climb it that they may erupt from the ground and climb the pole to attack them. Removing the sheaf of scrolls without first dispelling a magic rune on the dragon’s forehead causes the pole and anyone on it or within 60 feet to shift into a demi-plane of acid.

1528. Ice-Bound Corpse | Dungeon
A small cave in the side of a rocky hill issues forth an icy breeze. Inspecting the cave, one finds about 60 feet back a steep drop off and signs of former exploration – iron spikes hammered into the stone and a bit of dry rope.

At the bottom of the drop off, there is a second tunnel that extends back 100 feet, ending in a block of ice. Encased in the ice is the body of a drow warrior, encased in black armor, face twisted in a rictus of rage. Golden runes of power have been beaten into the surrounding tunnel, forming not only a wall of force effect, but also each acting a glyph of warding (cold). Three humanoid skeletons lie before these runes, tomb robbers killed by the traps.

Behind the block of ice there is a cavern filled with the funerary treasures of the drow, Cairithuic of the Canny Eye. The treasures are guarded by a chlorine elemental. If the body is removed from the ice, it revives in 1d4 hours as a dire wight!

1923. Hazard Station | Village
Two hundred rievers, mostly ex-henchmen who have turned to a life of freedom and larceny on the frontier, dwell here in a small gathering of cabins. The log cabins are scattered in a valley surrounded by wooded hills, each village having its own pigpen and cabin garden. The men and women of the village are surly and unwelcoming to those they do not know. On approach, the village women can be seen working in the gardens or tending the pigs or children, while the men hunt in the woods or relax in front of the cabins, tending their muskets or bows.

2027. Tomb of Sera | Dungeon
The wooded hills are dotted by remnants of the ancient elves, and this hex holds the tomb of a very noble elf, Sera, the father of Partholón, who crossed Mother Ocean in elder days and founded the city-state of Nomo. The tomb is stately and untouched, with walls of moonstone. It is situated on a large platform of moss quartz. The tomb has no discernable entrance. The only entrance is located on the platform, under the earth. One must figure a way to either raise the platform or lower the earth to reach it.

Behind this secret door there is a steep slope covered by a permanent grease spell. The back of the door is studded with spikes. At the top of the ramp there is a simple stone bier, beautifully carved, atop of which rests the body of Sera in state. It shows little decay. The body and tomb are attended by three spirits who served the elf in life – a squire, a courtesan and a jester. The spirits are bound willingly to the lord, and they do their best to protect the body from looters and defilers. They are not evil, and they are not ill-disposed to visitors, so long as they are honorable and well-behaved. The tomb can serve as a safe-haven for adventurers, for the wild elves will not approach it.

The only problem is the pack of ghoul wolves that patrol the woods. They can sense the flesh of a noble elf within the tomb, and are hungry for it.

A Stroll Through the Virgin Woode – Oil Slicks, Swamp Apes, Burial Mounds and Fountains

/ jstater

0418. Oil Slick | Trap
A portion of the woods here is covered in an oil slick. The slick covers about three acres; only thick, rugged grasses grow from beneath the slick, making the area it has blighted look like some sort of a unwholesome meadow. Those who touch the oil with their bare skin must pass a Fortitude save or be affected by a random magic oil.

0527. Skunk Ape | Monster Lair
The remains of a walled city can be found in the swamp here. The ruins consist of nothing but crumbled walls and a few towers covered with slimes, verdigris or other forms of corruption. The ruins are haunted by an especially fierce skunk ape, who brooks no intrusions on his domain, and who is clever enough to pick off intruders one at a time. A flooded vault in the ruins holds a +2 scimitar that can slice through air. This has the effect of dealing double damage on gaseous and air elemental creatures, as well as allowing one to create small sonic booms by making a special attack against an Armor Class of 20.

0624. Burial Mound | Monster Lair
An ancient skraeling burial mound can be found here. The mound is about 200 feet in diameter and 22 feet tall. One side of the hill hides an entance veiled in illusion. Beyond this entrance there is a 80-ft. long passage lined by megaliths. At the end of this passage there is a teardrop-shaped shield painted a brilliant sapphire blue. This +1 shield is Lawful (CG) in alignment, and if touched by a member of any other alignment, sparks and causes 1d6 points of electricity damage (per round, if one keeps ahold of it).

The shield is actually a door of sorts, a small passage being hidden behind it. The shield is wizard locked to the wall (by a 10th level magic-user). Beyond the shield and the small hole in the wall, there is a narrow set of stairs that lead downward through a brackish, powerful wind. At the bottom of the stairs (about 400 feet long, and sensitive folk might get the feeling they’re “not in Kansas anymore”) there is a crimson sea stretching out into a black expanse. Beyond the sea (how one crosses it is up to the players – perhaps canoes would work) there is a grey shore, a long strand of beach behind which there is a noisome jungle of scarlet foliage. A treasure has been buried on this beach by pirates of this strange dimension, a treasure of two golden tablets containing the location of the tomb of the Thief of Dreams.

What monsters might dwell in this dimension, other than the pirates, is up to the TK – have fun and use it as a chance to surprise the players and introduce some new menaces.

0716. Empty Fountain | Curiosity
A clearing in the woods here holds an empty fountain made of red granite and topped with a coiled dragon made of tarnished copper. The dragon’s head is held aloft, such that one would assume that the water of the fountain would emerge from its snout. The pipe in the snout from which the water would emerge is currently blocked by the handle of a +1 light mace.

The fountain is guarded by an astral deva called Morviel, placed here at the behest of a wizard of the ancient elves to keep the curious or wicked away from this Fountain of Holocausts. Should the magic mace be removed, the fountain would explode in a gout of blazing flame, one that would send white hot cinders flying through the air to land in the woods beyond.

Anyone within 30 feet of the fountain, if active, would suffer 3d6 points of fire damage per round. Beyond 30 feet, and up to 1 mile, one suffers 1d6 points of damage per round. Naturally, within a short time the woods will be burning, causing other problems.

Cush and Pwenet – Ophidian Ruins, Angry Books and Sleeping Kings

/ jstater

NOD 18 (wow, 3 years of NOD!) is written, 90% laid out, and just about ready to hit the presses (so to speak). I think I’ll have it ready to go after Christmas, because right now I’m all about getting my holly and mistletoe on and having some Christmas fun!

Guess which one of these guys writes RPGs in his spare time …

Anyhow – since I need an easy post today, I’m going to the Cush and Pwenet well one more time! Have fun, lads and lasses!

62.04 Ophidian Ruin: A portion of the savannah here is marked with strange hemispheres of marble. The marble is ancient and cracked, and the hemispheres are actually domes – parts of an ancient ruin that now lurks beneath the savannah. The ruin belonged to the ophidians, and was long ago destroyed by the forces of the Nabu, assisted by the cosmic beings who helped found that empire.

The domes connect to palaces, temples and other buildings of what must have once been an astounding ancient city. Many of the rooms of these buildings are now collapsed and filled with soil, but many remain intact. Buildings are connected by tunnels or catacombs, while others have been connected by tunnels dug out of the earth by large, reptilian brutes bred by the ophidians as slaves and warriors. The ophidians of the ruins also breed vicious attack lizards. They have retained a small portion of their ancient technology, but most has been lost.

The lost city is ruled by a bloated queen, Sheshuur, the mother of all the ophidians in the complex. The complex is rife with traps – green slime-filled pits, pits of vipers, gouts of poisonous fumes and flaming jets.

64.37 Fortress of the Twin Tomes: Long ago, two rival princes, Trentar and Epham, mages of wondrous ken, were trapped inside magical grimoires by their former patron, Muola. Their mother, the hag queen Gwrga, interred each tome in a tower. The partisans of each prince gathered in these towers, and have for centuries been locked in sporadic battle with one another, each seeking to free their prince and destroy the other while still trapped within his grimoire. Travelers passing through this hex have a 4 in 6 chance to be pressed into service by a roving band of 3d6 miscreant mages intent on using them to destroy their enemies. The mages are loathe to expose themselves to danger, and prefer to use outsiders to settle their scores.

Miscreant Mages, Human Magic-Users: LVL 3; AC 10; ATK 1 staff +1 (1d6); MV 30; F14 R14 W12; AL Neutral; XP 300; Special—Spells (4/2/1); Gear—Spellbooks, quarterstaffs, darts (3).

65.19 Empire of the Sleeping King: This hex of windswept hills and hibiscus trees is eerily quiet. A deep well in the hex, so deep that it reaches into the Underworld, produces a sweet perfume that causes people and animals to fall into a drowsy langour. The outskirts of the hex are marked with small villages filled with laconic villagers and their herds of sleeping cattle. A road of adobe bricks overgrown with weeds winds through the villages to a small town in the center of the hex, from which rules the sleeping king, Kulala. The people of the town walk about as though asleep, and their baskets of food are bare. The people are severely undernourished, as they can barely stay awake long enough to feed themselves. In the center of the town sits the well, with a sort of wavering haze about it.

Just entering the hex forces people to pass a Fortitude save or become fatigued. Those who travel 2 miles into the hex must pass a Fortitude save (once per day) or fall dead asleep for 1d6 hours. Those who travel 4 miles into the hex must pass a Fortitude save (once per day) or fall asleep for 2d6 hours. Those who enter the town at the center of the hex must pass a Fortitude save (once per day) or fall asleep for 3d6 hours. An unlimited number of potions of sleep can be drawn from the well, but the liquid is so powerful that those in possession of it must pass a Fortitude save once per day or become fatigued.

Cush and Pwenet – A Hospice, a Mindmaster and the Krakoo

/ jstater

57.08 Nabu Castle: Rising above the savannah is a concentric castle in the style of Old Nabu. From the outside, the castle looks perfectly normal. The outer wall is 20’ tall and constructed of white limestone (quite dazzling under the blazing sun). It has a single gate house with a bronze portcullis that has been rended apart like tin foil. The gate house is guarded by a blazing bones (43 hp) who holds a chain connected to a cauldron of boiling palm oil.

Beyond the outer wall there are the burnt remains of many huts and a well that still supplies sweet water. At some point, a desperate woman cast a golden ring (100 gp) into the well.

The inner wall is 30’ tall and shows signs of damage (broken ramparts, piles of rubble) on its eastern side. The inner gatehouse, located away from the outer gatehouse, consists of 40’ tall towers bristling with arrow slits. Inside each tower are five skeleton archers (HP 7, 6, 6, 5, 2, 2 in each). The iron portcullis between the towers is rusted shut, and would take a combined strength of 100 to force it open.

Once one has breached the inner walls, they will discover that the castle’s donjon is nothing but a pile of rubble. Nevertheless, a cavernous opening does give access to a small entry chamber guarded by three zombies (HP 10, 2, 1) wearing a number of cow bells. Any fight with them will produce a racket, warning the lord of the castle that dinner is served.

From the entry chamber one will pass through a wide tunnel that winds below the castle. The tunnel eventually splits into three passages. The easternmost passage leads to a veritable ossuary of humanoid and animal bones as well as dozens of bell jars containing rare herbs and fungi worth 10 gp each to a herbalist or sage.

The central passage leads further down until the slope becomes quick slippery (permanent grease spell), sending intruders into a deep pool (10’) of fresh water. A submerged tunnel leads to the bottom of the well.

The westernmost passage leads down a bit before ending in a large burrow supported by pillars of limestone. This burrow holds a pool of black water and a large pile of treasure. It is the home of a middle-aged dragon who calls himself Mindmaster the Controller.

Mindmaster sacked this fortress a millenia ago and has been sleeping for the past two centuries. He has copper scales, a sinewy body with bat-like wings, and hypnotic eyes (gaze attack). He is capable of casting the following spells: Grease, detect thoughts (ESP), summon monster I, wall of fire and animate dead. Mindmaster’s breath weapon is a cloud of hallucinogenic gas (save or suffer frightening hallucinations for 1d4 rounds).

Mindmaster’s hoard consists of 1,000 gp and a wand of wonder.

57.44 Hospice of the Blazing Sun: A band of Lawful clerics and knights has established here a hospice and road house for folk bound from the west and south for points north. The hopsice was established on a sacred field of battle, where warriors of the Order of the Blazing Sun, crusaders in service to Mithras, did battle with a coalition of gnolls and the servants of Chaos.

The hospice is a small fort of adobe brick. There is an outer wall, about 16 feet high and 4 feet thick, which is patrolled by crossbow-armed warriors of the order, with a two gates consisting of an iron grate. A 10-ft. deep pit, 8-ft. wide and 16-ft. long, has been secreted beyond the gate, and can be set to open when trod upon by releasing a lever near the inner gate. Above the gate, there is a gold plate (worth about 160 gp) depicting the face of Mithras.

Within the wall, there is a stable (can hold 30 horses), a small smithy manned by the armorer Kanu (who worships Ogun, but keeps it quiet around the religious knight), a cookhouse where game and cattle are barbequed by a cook called Amah, and the main keep, a 20-ft. tall building, square in foundation with sides 40-ft. long, with crenelations on the roof. The keep has a single, sturdy oak door bounnd in iron. Within, there is a great hall, chapel of Mithras, hospice, kitchen, apothecary, armory, a cellar (storage, including several barrels of sweet wine) small rooms for travelers and even smaller cells for the warrior of the hospice.

The hospice is manned by 20 men-at-arms (ring mail, heavy mace, light crossbow (fires bullets rather than bolts), 10 bullets), ten 1st level fighters (light horse, chainmail, shield, lance, light mace) and six 1st level clerics (light horse, chainmail, light mace, three throwing hammers). They are led by a chanter called Bonse and the master of the hospice is the vidame Arkhun, who hails from Ibis.

The hospice is famous for its wine (the valley it is situated in produces a decent grape, which the brothers turn into a sweet wine) and the cattle they graze on the savannah. Recently, a constrictor has stolen its way into the cellar, and awaits its prey.

60.06 Krakoo: This hex was long dominated by a powerful band of gnolls. Over time, their numbers fell and another group of crow-headed warriors called the krakoo invaded. The last band of gnoll warriors, their chieftain Zharl and his eight bodyguards, are now chained to several thorny acacias, slowly bleeding to death. The krakoo have set up their new stronghold on a rocky promontory, studding the upper portions with the spears (and bones) of the gnolls. If aided, the gnolls will happily lead adventurers to the promontory, and will even fight with them, but they ultimately cannot be trusted.