THE SHACKLED CITY TABLE OF CONTENTS ADVENTURE PATH

INTRODUCTION ...... 5 CHAPTER SEVEN: Preparation ...... 5 SECRETS OF THE SOUL PILLARS ...... 198 Campaign Background ...... 5 Wherein the local clergy makes the terrible mistake of not Cast of Characters ...... 9 hiring enough assassins for the job. Cauldron ...... 11 Cauldron’s History...... 11 CHAPTER EIGHT: Regional Timeline ...... 12 LORDS OF OBLIVION ...... 222 Life in Cauldron...... 13 Wherein a charming local noble woman’s party comes to Rumors in Cauldron ...... 14 a sudden and gruesome end. Exploring Cauldron...... 16 Exploring the Cauldron Region ...... 27 CHAPTER NINE: FOUNDATION OF FLAME ...... 248 CHAPTER ONE: Wherein the weather takes a turn for the worse. LIFE’S BAZAAR...... 32 Wherein an overzealous merchant from deep below CHAPTER TEN: harvests too aggressively from a local orphanage, and THIRTEEN CAGES ...... 268 overstays his welcome in the foundations below. Wherein a group of diverse and talented allies learns the folly of not working together against a common foe. CHAPTER TWO: DRAKTHAR’S WAY...... 76 CHAPTER ELEVEN: Wherein a tribe of goblins attracts too much attention STRIKE ON SHATTERHORN ...... 288 and brings unwelcome guests to its master’s den. Wherein the last fragments of a once-powerful organization are finally reduced to ruin. CHAPTER THREE: FLOOD SEASON...... 94 CHAPTER TWELVE: Wherein a solid plan to ransom captured wands turns ASYLUM ...... 304 sour for three friends and their employees, and a local Wherein a trip to the other side results in an unforseen luminary loses his tongue. adjustment to a prisoner’s cage.

CHAPTER FOUR: APPENDIX I: ZENITH TRAJECTORY ...... 124 MONSTERS ...... 322 Wherein a tribe of the Sea Mother’s children suffer for sparing the life of a mad prisoner they probably should APPENDIX II: have eaten. FEATS, SPELLS, AND MAGIC ...... 334 CHAPTER FIVE: APPENDIX III: THE DEMONSKAR LEGACY ...... 148 PRESTIGE CLASSES ...... 340 Wherein three sisters, an exiled demon, a twelve-foot-tall smith, and a man made of mirrors meet grisly ends. APPENDIX IV: CREATURE STATISTICS ...... 346 CHAPTER SIX: TEST OF THE SMOKING EYE ...... 174 APPENDIX V:

Wherein a sorcerer’s attempt to claim a land for his own CHARACTER CREATION...... 400 T

A S

ends in sudden betrayal at the hands of his allies. B T L N APPENDIX VI: E 3 E O T HANDOUTS ...... 404 F CON FOREWORD

ho really runs the world? When I was way: How o�en do you get to brainstorm a campaign working on Dungeon, the other maga- outline, then hire people to actually write if for you? W zine staffers and I spent hours on this I quickly coerced Chris into writing the first adven- and other nonsensical topics when we probably should ture. With his intimate familiarity with the core ideas, have been working on the magazines. Some editors I wanted him to lay the groundwork for the authors to think the yuan-ti run the show. But me—I think mind come. What followed is one of my favorite Dungeon flayers have the edge. Just as impressive mentally, their adventures of all time: “Life’s Bazaar.” being lawful makes them perfect secret world des- Each adventure that followed carefully built up pots. Mind flayers also have the mental domination the plans of our sinister villains, a group dubbed the shtick on their side. All ideas, new or recycled, must Cagewrights. They were to be utterly vile, and the ad- stem from their tentacled clutches. It was reassuring ventures would take groups across the Multiverse. I to know that I wouldn’t have to think for myself in a wanted each adventure to be something the author world run by mind flayers. They come up with all the would be excited about, so I worked up a campaign schemes and ideas—we would just be their pawns. packet that detailed all the recurring NPCs and plots at These sorts of conversations contributed to making work and sent it out to authors as they were assigned each day working on Dungeon an adventure, no pun individual adventures. I also kept rigorous control intended. But when I became editor of Dungeon in over which prominent characters could be killed (and April, 2001, things changed. No matter what anyone says, when), where the Adventure Path would take the PCs, the power goes to your head. When you step into that and when key plot elements could be revealed to PCs role, you want to leave an imprint, a legacy—something playing through the adventures. greater than the sum of the blood, sweat, and tears that We also drew on the best artists available to us in an goes into every issue. But as my favorite super-hero, the industry full of great artists. We wanted the adventures to Tick, says, “Absolute power is a sticky wicket.” When you be as much about a visual immersion in the campaign as add the extra complication of following in the footsteps they were about great story and fantastic adventure. Folks of Chris Perkins, one of Dungeon’s most illustrious edi- like Chuck Lukacs, Tom Baxa, and Jeff Carlisle consis- tors and contributors, you’re facing a tall order. tently delivered inspiring art that pushed the boundaries I immediately felt pressure to produce something of anything the magazine had printed before. cool that would blow the readers away. I’d seen letters to One of the guys who really made the city of Cauldron Dungeon for some time requesting more serialized ad- come to life for me, though, was Christopher West. I’d ventures following the successful “Mere of Dead Men” wanted Chris, one of the industry’s nicest and most series, which wrapped in issue #72. I always believed talented guys, to draw every map for the entire cam- that the magazine was at its best when it did as much paign, and I never regretted that decision. With each of a DM’s work as possible. I’ve also always believed that adventure, he continued to blow us away with amazing bigger is better. What could I do, I thought, with a huge map a�er amazing map. adventure series that made a DM’s life as easy as pos- Experiences like these made this project one of the sible? The answer: an entire campaign, all within the best I’ve ever worked on. Professionally, I don’t think I’ve pages of Dungeon. It would take characters from 1st to ever felt more proud of a finished piece of work than I do 20th level, and each adventure would be written by one of this one. Although I wasn’t able to stick around and see of the best adventure designers in the business. it through as Dungeon’s editor, being able to contribute The adventures would have to stand on their own, to the story toward the end and seeing my terrible Cage- and they would have to be unconnected with an ex- wrights wreak their twisted havoc on the printed page isting , both to better mesh with the was just as great a thrill. I hope you put this campaign up existing campaigns of our readers and so the adven- on your shelf right next to other classic D&D adventures. tures wouldn’t be cluttered with the weight of dozens That’s the second best place for it, right a�er your gam- of campaign setting sourcebooks. A series of adven- ing table, of course—at least in my mind. tures from had just wrapped up Or maybe that’s just the mind flayers. as well, making the timing perfect. And of course, it hadn’t been done in Dungeon before. I spent a long lunch one a�ernoon speaking with my predecessor, Chris Perkins, hashing out a global cam- paign arc based on my original concepts: the Tarterian Depths of Carceri, demodands, a cult of their worship- ers—all intent on turning the world into one big prison F 4 camp. The more we talked, the more excited we became. Chris Thomasson O D REWOR The magnitude of the project was intimidating, but ab- Editor Emeritus, Dungeon magazine solutely exhilarating at the same time. Think of it this THE SHACKLED CITY INTRODUCTION

ADVENTURE PATH

he Shackled City Adventure Path is an entire thrived in a hostile environment. Unfortunately, campaign for the Dungeons & Dragons game, things are about to grow even more hostile for the citi- T designed to bring new, 1st-level characters all zens of this remote city, as two ancient forces converge the way up to 20th-level over the course of its run. upon the region in a dreadful confluence of cruelty This campaign originally appeared as 11 seperate ad- and madness. One of these is an imprisoned demon ventures in Dungeon magazine, starting with “Life’s prince of madness by the name of Adimarchus, and Bazaar” in issue #97 and ending with “Asylum” in issue the other is an ancient organization of demodand- #116. For this book, we’ve reorganized and updated the venerating cultists called the Cagewrights. original eleven adventures in the campaign so they’ll work together better as a unified whole. Adimarchus Those who are already familiar with The Shackled To understand the source of the doom that comes to City’s earlier incarnation will find much of this book Cauldron, one must cast back in time several hun- familiar, yet you will also find much that is new. The dred years, to a realm far removed from the Material constraints of publishing an adventure in a serialized Plane and a time when a fallen celestial named Adi- format meant that we o�en had to cut out portions marchus led a demonic invasion of the Seven Mount- of these adventures in order to make them fit in the ing Heavens of Celestia. The heavenly host repulsed magazine. We have re-integrated this “lost” mate- Adimarchus’s demonic army, but at great cost, for rial into the adventures in this book—each of the ad- the angels of Celestia were forced to cast the part of ventures thus has something new lurking within its Celestia occupied by the demons into the Abyss, tear- pages (some more than others), even for those read- ing apart the fabric of their own plane in the process. ers who followed the entire arc in Dungeon. In addi- This massive chunk of planar matter came to rest on tion, we’ve added an entirely new adventure into the a layer of the Abyss called Occipitus. campaign—Chapter Two’s “Drakthar’s Way,” designed Adimarchus survived this event, and acted quickly to smooth the transition between “Life’s Bazaar” and to incorporate the wreckage of Celestia into Occipitus. “Flood Season.” In doing so, he became the ruler of the Abyssal layer, gaining almost limitless power there and becoming a PREPARATION demon prince in the process. Even in defeat, he knew You’ll need a copy of the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon success. For many years, Adimarchus ruled Occipitus, Master’s Guide, and to use this adven- cra�ing from the ruins a great demonic empire and ture. The Shackled City Adventure Path also features o�en leading wars against his most powerful demon- many creatures, magic items, spells, feats, and other ic rival, the demon prince Graz’zt. rules that have appeared in other Dungeons & Drag- And then, only fi�y years ago, Adimarchus vanished ons supplements, but in these cases we’ve provided from his realm. enough information for you in this book that you The truth behind Adimarchus’s disappearance won’t necessarily need these additional books to play. centers on his love for Athux, a resolute aasimar pala- Nevertheless, access to Monster Manual II, Monster din with six fingers on each hand. Five decades ago, Manual III, , , and Athux embarked on a quest to redeem Adimarchus’s should be of use when you’re running this campaign. soul. The aasimar cut a swath across the tumorous The Shackled City Adventure Path is not set in any plains of Occipitus and confronted the demon prince particular campaign world. It uses deities from the in his own throne room. Adimarchus and Athux core D&D pantheon, and some proper names from fought until, exhausted, the demon prince sundered the campaign setting, but the campaign the aasimar’s sword with his own dark blade. Clutch- itself has been specifically designed for easy integra- ing Athux by the throat, Adimarchus saw something tion into any Dungeons & Dragons campaign. in the aasimar’s eyes that sparked his compassion. He I N could not kill Athux, nor could he subject the paladin T 5 N R I O CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND to the torments of Occipitus. He tried to lure Athux ODUCT The city of Cauldron is aptly named. Nestled in the over to the side of evil, but his attempts were half- throat of a dormant volcano, this frontier city has hearted at best. Athux remained a prisoner on Occi- pitus and stood by Adimarchus’s side as the demon Graz’zt’s devoted son. At that moment, Adimarchus prince plotted against Graz’zt, all the while fuelling realized his foolishness. Graz’zt had found a weakness Adimarchus’s rage against demonkind. A strange in his rival—a long-buried desire for redemption friendship bloomed, puzzling Adimarchus’s min- that Adimarchus assumed he’d lost long ago—and ions and spurring some to betray him. Graz’zt used that weakness to dethrone his enemy. The very learned of the planned assault against him and thought drove Adimarchus to madness, a madness the alliance of Adimarchus and Athux and, in true powerful enough to leak out of Skullrot, across Car- demonic fashion, he conspired with Adimarchus’s ceri, and eventually into other planes. treacherous minions to overthrow his rival. Adimarchus’s madness touched countless minds During the epic battle between Adimarchus’s over those years, yet they were not powerful enough army and Graz’zt’s hordes, demons swayed by to cause much more than momentary lapses of sanity Graz’zt captured Athux with surprising ease, impris- in those they found. Only when these insane thoughts oning him on Carceri in an asylum called Skullrot. came across ancient altars, statues, or sites once sa- Adimarchus could not bear the loss of Athux, and cred to his cult could they linger. One such item was the treachery of fiends rekindled the fallen angel’s an ancient statue of the demon prince, carved from burning hatred. Adimarchus abandoned his hordes, Abyssal stone mined from Occipitus by Adimarchus his realm, and his evil ways and fled to Carceri to himself and, of late, in the private collection of a rescue Athux and find redemption. Alas, the tale of particularly cruel man by the name of Fetor Abra- Adimarchus and Athux would not end well. dius. Over the next several years, Adimarchus’s mad As Graz’zt’s army crushed Adimarchus’s aban- dreams worked their ways on Fetor, sharpening his doned demon horde, Adimarchus arrived at Skull- cruelty to a razor’s edge and driving him to seek out rot to find Athux overcome with dementia, the terrible secrets wherever they might be hidden. Fetor prisoner of one of Graz’zt’s most powerful allies—a did not know that these dreams were, in fact, guiding powerful undead priest named Dark Myrakul. Un- him to a way to release the demon prince from his able to wrest the aasimar from Dark Myrakul’s Carcerian prison. clutches, Adimarchus traded his own freedom for the paladin’s restored mind and safe return to Ce- The Cagewrights lestia. Dark Myrakul readily agreed. The impris- This secret society of cruel-minded arcanists, oned Adimarchus watched as Athux shook off his priests, and scholars was founded over 300 years ago “lunacy,” only to transform into a black-skinned by a massive and deformed shator demodand named fiend with six fingers on each hand. Athux had Dyr’ryd. His goal: to foster a group of like-minded misled Adimarchus from the start. He was, in fact, spellcasters and scholars dedicated to discovering a

I N N T 6 R I O ODUCT way to create a permanent portal between the prison they left in their wake a horrifying number of un- plane of Carceri and the Material Plane that would natural pregnancies. allow the demodands to harvest inmates and slaves The resulting spawn were mostly stillborn, but a for the massive prisons and asylums of that realm. few twisted unfortunates survived. As the generations Dyr’ryd’s not-so-secret desires to use such an ac- passed, the fiendish corruption grew ever more dilut- complishment to ascend to new levels of power re- ed. Eventually, all visual traces of demodand ancestry mained unspoken. Development of such a powerful faded entirely. But portal would be the Cagewright’s pri- the taint in the blood mary goal. They and soul remained, took to calling just as Dyr’ryd had this event the envisioned. Ev- planar junction. ery few genera- Dyr’ryd had al- tions, an indica- ready developed tion of this taint several theories surfaces in the on how such a form of an invis- portal could be ible birthmark constructed. Most in the shape of of his theories were an unholy sigil based on the belief known as the that by merging the Carcerian Sign. bloodlines of the These are the Shackleborn. natives of these two The Cagewrights know about Carcerian Sign planes, one could create a spiritual bridge be- the Shackleborn, and they be- tween Carceri and the Material Plane that could lieve that their sacrifice during then be used as a focus for greater works. Thus, as the ritual of planar junction could serve as the neces- he began to recruit promising individuals into his sary bridge between the two planes to force the portal secret society, Dyr’ryd also called upon his most open. The problem, though, was how to tap an energy fecund demodand minions and unleashed them source powerful enough to not only tear this portal upon the Material Plane. For a month, these thir- open in the first place, but to fortify it once created so teen demodands ravaged anything they could find it would become permanent. As the years rolled on, the in the world. Eventually, they were all slain, but Cagewrights began to fear that progress on the ritual of

I N T 7 N R I O ODUCT planar junction was too slow. With each pass- ti city called Shatterhorn as their new lair. Over ing year, the Shackleborn grew fewer in num- the next three decades, the Cagewrights worked ber, and some of the Cagewrights began to feverishly at refining the ritual of planar junc- fear that they would die off completely be- tion and constructing a more permanent lair fore they had perfected the ritual. deep under Cauldron, near the slumber- ing volcano’s core. The Soul Pillars Although few of the Cage- Trees and Cages wrights realize it, Fetor The site for the ritual of pla- Abradius’s recruitment nar junction chosen, the into their ranks gave Cagewrights were finally them the key they so able to begin the arduous desperately needed. task of preparation for the Fetor first came to great event. In order to open the attention of the the portal, the Cagewrights Cagewrights when needed a matrix in which to one of the organiza- arrange the Shackleborn and tion’s leaders, a vile man to focus their life forces in named Nulin “Fish” precisely the right way. They Wiejeron, was hired to as- also needed a way to trigger sassinate him. During sev- the volcano’s eruption. eral days of following Fe- Dyr’ryd and his Cage- tor, Nulin came to realize wrights focused their energies that the wizard seemed to upon creating an artifact to have an almost supernatu- serve just these purposes— ral knowledge of things the Tree of Shackled Souls. Con- relating to magic and the struction of this potent arti- planes. He knew then that fact would take the Cagewrights Fetor would make an ex- nearly thirty years, and even then, cellent recruit, and offered they would need to build thirteen him a choice. If Fetor would soulcages to house the Shackleborn join the Cagewrights, Nulin on the Tree’s branches. Construc- would reverse the terms of tion of these thirteen cages would his assassination and kill the take, by Dyr’ryd’s estimate, another jealous sorcerer who had put thirty years. To speed along the the contract out on his life. process, Dyr’ryd convinced an- If Fetor refused, Nulin would fin- other cult, the Ebon Triad, to build ish the job and collect his pay. Fetor Soulcage these thirteen artifacts for them. He knew a good offer when he heard it also found Cauldron’s leadership to be and joined the Cagewrights without decadent, foolish, or greedy, and quick- a moment’s hesitation. ly established a comfortable arrangement between It took less than a year for Fetor Abradius to prove his organization and the town’s governors ensuring his worth, by making a terrific discovery in an an- that no one would disrupt their activities. cient ruined complex near Cauldron. There, via The only troubling elements were Cauldron’s several ancient repositories of magical lore known churches. The citizens were unusually devout in as the Soul Pillars, he learned of a ritual that would their faith, but the Cagewrights were only mini- allow the harnessing of an erupting volcano’s vast mally concerned. If all went according to plan, power, a ritual that was strangely similar to the ritual these temples would never become suspicious of planar junction. enough to notice the Cagewrights and their mach- Fetor reported to his masters, and several of the inations, especially once they were able to gain the Cagewright leaders came to investigate. Not only were support of the city’s most powerful church—the they able to confirm Fetor’s discovery, but they also dis- Cathedral of Wee Jas. covered that Cauldron counted a fortuitous number of All that remains now is the collection of thirteen Shackleborn among its citizenry. The convergence of Shackleborn and final construction of the last few I N N T 8 these two elements were all the Cagewrights needed to soulcages. The Cagewrights are poised to begin the R I O ODUCT be convinced that Cauldron would be the site of their ritual of planar junction in the shadows deep below ritual. They relocated their base of operations into the Cauldron within the next year, and only the interven- region, choosing the nearby ruins of an ancient yuan- tion of the PCs can stop them.