The Colossus Wakes Knowledge: • Novrybi: Humans have struggled To the northeast, you see ancient to establish their new community crags roil and heave as the mountain and are beset by bandits and internal itself shudders and buckles. You feel strife the movement rumbling through • Ysgora’s Keep [Is-go-ra]: Staff lies the ground and watch as the jagged deep within the old stronghold, mountain peak wrests itself from protected by a small army of grey the land and stands on two titanic dwarves (duergar) weathered legs, a gargantuan • The stronghold at the valley centre humanoid shape. Trees stagger from was once home to a clan of mountain the impact, scattering countless dwarves but they were wiped out by startled flocks of birds into the air. the duergar • Adamant staff will be the most The mountain turns, sending difficult to obtain moss-covered boulders tumbling. The • Yluufa [Ee-loo-fa]: Wild elves make colossus begins to walk. their home in the sprawling white tree and worship her ancient roots • Roywyn is lost in thought before • Wary of outsiders and fear Sylva’s speaking; she didn’t expect this for agents seek to burn the tree; quite some time but now it might be mistrustful and suspicious too late • Duergar found a way to activate the The Earthen Willstone: valley’s ancient protection, a colossus • When the Colossus was created, a created as the last line of defence powerful earth elemental offered • Now the Colossus is heading to itself to protect the valley and destroy the Stone Needle, to nullify took the form of a mountain; this the protective shield and plunge the stone holds its will – without it, the valley into ruin like the rest of Boroz colossus is mindless • Novrybi, the human enclave, is in the • Roywyn places her hand against colossus’ path to the Needle; failing to the rough surface of the stone and stop it in time means obliteration for whispers (in Ignan): “Release to me the village and all inhabitants that which you protect, father stone” • The Colossus can be returned to slumber by completing the ritual (see table below for components required) Four components required to perform the ritual of the Colossus Component Aspect Location The Song of Stone Spirit of the humans Taught by Elder Choir in Novrybi (E2) The Adamant Staff Craft of the dwarves Ysgora’s Keep (D) The Sun’s Brilliance Magic of the elves Yluufa (F) The Earthen Willstone Strength of the land Given by Roywyn

Part I | The Occluded Valley 14 The Ticking Clock The players have less than 10 days to complete the objectives before the Colossus reaches its first target. At dawn on the 10th day, Novrybi is destroyed, crushed under foot. At dawn on the 12th day, the Colossus reaches The Stone Needle and knocks it down, nullifying the shield and exposing the Valley to Sylva’s The Earthen Willstone darkness. Travel. Travelling from one location • Her hand slides into the stone as to another on the map takes 1/2 a day. if into water and when she pulls it out, she’s holding a pulsating stone Reaching all 5 locations requires a the size of an apple, crackling with total of 2 1/2 days of travel. shining grey glyphs Objectives. The time required to complete tasks, such as retrieving an She offers the stone. “You must travel item or gaining information, varies by around the Occluded Valley and location: gather the necessary elements for the Location Time ritual. But travel with haste, as the C. The Stone Needle 1/2 day Colossus will destroy everything in D. Ysgora’s Keep 2 days its wake. E. Novrybi 1 day “Once all the items are retrieved, F. Yluufa 1/2 day you must scale the Colossus and G. The Seaward Tor 1/2 day perform the ritual at its core, a hollow H. The Lumbering Peak 1 day close to the peak. “Place the Sun’s Brilliance crystal The time required to complete all into the mount on the Adamant Staff. tasks is 5 1/2 days. Brandish the Willstone and sing Quest timeline. Total minimum time the Song of Stone, thereby coaxing required to complete the objectives, the elemental’s soul back into the including travel, is 8 days. Colossus. Once this is done, the stone Resting. Long rests cost 1/2 a day. will fall back to eternal slumber. Consequences. There are in-world Return here after that.” repercussions if either the village or the tower are destroyed (see Appendix V). Treasure Reminders. The Colossus’ steps Roywyn gives the party the following: are like thunder and echo around the • Three potions of greater healing valley. The party hears them constantly (4d4+4) when outside the stronghold. • Map of the Occluded Valley

Part I | The Occluded Valley 15 D. Ysgora’s Keep Encounters There’s a different encounter Recessed into the hard-packed earth depending on what time of day the party is a vast stone structure, ancient and reaches the Keep: weathered. The forest has partially Time Encounters reclaimed it, with dense growth Day Winter wolf guarding the flourishing across the surface. The entrance stillness of the ruins, along with the arched shape, presents the impression Dusk Duergar raiding party (2 duergar and a worg) preparing for a raid of an enormous cairn. Night Two duergar guards drinking • The air is still and the forest is silent and playing dice • Arched entrance heavily shadowed, Dawn Duergar raiding party (2 duergar carved stone steps leading down to a and a worg) returning home pair of imposing granite doors • Rests at the junction of the Valley’s major roads, leading north, south, east, and west Stronghold doors. Ten feet tall, weathered by the centuries. The stone ground is worn away, deep grooves where the dwarves marched out of the Keep. The doors open slowly, revealing darkness within (see Part II: The Lost Stronghold). Winding roads. Distant views reveal the nature of the valley; the Keep is at the centre of a vast crater. The roads climb higher the further and further they extend from the Keep.

Part I | The Occluded Valley 16 Part I | The Occluded Valley 17 E1. Village Outskirts Destination encounter. The first time the party approaches the human enclave, the following encounter occurs:

Past a dense copse of trees, you see a modest village in the distance. As you attempt to make out further detail, an enormous arrow chunks into the road ahead of you. The arrow is easily as tall as a man.

• This is a greatarrow, shot from a staggering distance (Insight DC 14 to recognise a warning shot) Cythurr • If the party continues moving toward outside the village last week the village there will be another • Doesn’t trust the Green Lady in the warning shot; the third shot will be Stone Needle but recognises she’s to kill (Greatbow. Ranged Weapon helped the village in the past Attack: +8 to hit. Hit: 1d10+4 • Heard tales of ancient magic piercing damage) protecting the valley but never • Far in the distance (approx. 400 feet) expected the colossus is the archer, hiding behind a felled tree trunk, giving three-quarters cover Roleplaying notes: (+5 to AC and Dex saving throws) • Initial reaction: Cold at first, will • Dense trees frame the road, making soften if he sees the group means it difficult terrain to pass through no harm Î If Boha and Vlasta are with the • Personality: Defensive, wary of party, they signal to Cythurr, who strangers, hyper alert, soft-spoken halts his attacks; he didn’t recognize • Motivation: To protect Novrybi the others with the couple and from attack and warn the village assumed them to be bandits of impending danger; attempts to Cythurr [Sigh-thurr]. Lithe half-elf, kill the party if he believes them a nearly 7 feet tall, weathered cloak over threat battered leather armour. (see Appendix Cythurr’s secrets: I, page 88) • Mother was a wild elf, father was a Knowledge: human; ostracised by the elves and • Increased bandit presence means barely tolerated by the humans he’s been extra vigilant guarding the • The village is all he has left; if road to the village destroyed, he’ll seek revenge on the • Missing Novak family taken just party for their failure

Part I | The Occluded Valley 18 E2. The Human Enclave DM Notes Î If the Colossus has awoken: (Novrybi) • The villagers are frightened and near panic; a number gather Ramshackle community made up of outside the two-story town hall a mix of squat thatch-roofed homes and faded canvas tents scattered • The villagers eye the party warily, around a narrow river, a well-trod but especially their weapons stable wooden bridge as a crossing. Î Colossus has not yet awoken: Stacks of odd rocks make up a crude • The village is calm and the people stone wall surrounding the town. friendly but guarded • There are several fishermen on • Rustic tavern at the centre of town the side of the river and women • Smell of fresh manure from stable and children wash clothing on the next to a freshly-painted two-story banks building, the town hall • Traders barking prices from a market • The colossus awakens as the party of tents over the river to the west speaks to the elders (see Elder • Old woman pacing around a squat Choir, page 22) circle of standing stones to the south

Part I | The Occluded Valley 19 When speaking with villagers, roll on Tavern serves rabbit pie (5cp), goat the following rumour table to determine leg (7cp), and potato and leek soup what they mention: (3cp). Watered-down ale (1cp) or potent d6 Rumours around town schnapps (2cp). 1 The dwarves of the stronghold Blacksmith. Simple covered yard with brought ruin on themselves by a forge and anvil. Tall brown-haired summoning a demon (partially blacksmith (Zlavoi [Zuh-lah-voy]) true) stooped over, toughened skin pocked 2 A young boy vanished from the with old scars. Wheezes when he talks. village years ago; his mother Sells sickles (9sp), javelins (9sp), and thought he was murdered and went handaxes (1gp). crazy looking for him (true) Town hall. Two-story wooden 3 There’s a fountain in the stronghold building, gleaming white. The smell of that grants wishes (partially true) fresh paint lingers in the air, fighting 4 The wild elves have developed a against the ripe manure from the stable taste for flesh (partially true) next door. 5 The Green Lady looks into the Double doors are open and raised future of the unborn and kills those voices drift outside (Perception 12 DC with an evil destiny (false) to catch the odd word: “grey dwarves,” 6 The marauding bandits are “kidnapped,” “doomed”). descended from Krasnaloz survivors (true) A child sees the party and runs inside the town hall. A group of elderly humans Tavern. Freshly painted hanging sign dressed in white then appear at the door depicting a golden sun over a green (see The Elder Choir on page 22). valley (The New Dawn). Rustic interior, Market. Circle of worn canvas tents smell of sawdust and stale beer. Balding scattered around a communal fire. bartender (Besek [Beh-sek]) with a Hawkers sell a thin selection of produce, drooping handlebar moustache and an cured meats, and hearty breads. obvious comb-over. Smiles never reach his eyes. See the tables below for speciality items, all of which are 1 time use. Tinctures and Ointments (Miral [Mih-ral]) Item Description Cost Salve of Rubbing the sticky green sap on your chest will coax your humours to greater 5sp Renewal recovery; regain 1hp every hour for the next day Musk Place a drop of the yellow wax behind each ear to demonstrate your kinship to 7sp Ointment the forest; beasts have a 50% chance of ignoring you in combat until the next day Bilious Drinking the bubbling brackish liquid will cause a catastrophic conflagration in 8sp Draught your stomach; you spew foul bile at a target within 10 feet who must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 1d8 poison damage. Holding in the bile will cause you to suffer the same effect Life’s Kiss Applying the red paste to your lips allows you to give the kiss of life; kissing a 1gp living creature that has 0 hp will cause them to become stable

Part I | The Occluded Valley 20 General supplies (Jara). Limited selection, mainly basic supplies, but sells rope and climbing gear. Stone circle. The sun shines on a circle of flat standing stones placed in a deliberate pattern. The circle makes up the shape of Gwair’s sigil, a sun rising over water (Religion DC 14 to recognise). Tended by a hunched old woman (Radic, cleric of Gwair) wearing her god’s colours (red, gold, and orange). Walks counter-clockwise around the circle, movement second nature and The Sigil of Gwair deliberate. At every quarter she stops to raise her hands to the sky before If asked for help, will give them the continuing. following (“May Gwair’s light guide you Knowledge: and burn your foes”): • Her father was the cleric of Gwair Radiant sphere. Delicate crystal sphere before they left Krasnaloz with scintillating sunburst inside (see • Heard that a new cleric was in Appendix III, page 104). Krasnaloz; “Gods help him; not even Radiates light like a torch and can be Gwair Himself could convince me to smashed to dispel darkness and damage step back in that accursed ruin” foes with the power of Gwair. • Her father felt the power of Gwair more clearly in the valley, as if another force was interfering in Krasnaloz -- something more powerful than Sylva

Charms and Wards (Zitar [Zih-tar]) Item Description Cost Leaf of the Brushing the silver leaf against your tongue grants advantage on the next 5sp Silvertongue Charisma check; turns green once used Clay Firefly Form the clay square into any shape and tap twice to awaken the firefly inside; it 5sp will glow as bright as a torch for 1 hour Crystal Whisper a phrase of up to ten words into the small crystal sphere; the sphere 9sp Phrase will bounce once for every word of the phrase, speaking each word aloud before shattering on the last bounce Pixie’s Shield Wear the coin-sized wooden shield around your neck and scratch the surface 1gp with your finger - you’ll have resistance on the next physical attack; the shield splits in two once used

Part I | The Occluded Valley 21 • The wild elves to the east are isolated Elder Choir and unpredictable; the village • Five elderly humans (3 women and 2 stopped trading with them after the men) dressed in white robes blight appeared last year – “We can • They speak as one, voices in harmony no longer trust their harvest”

Roleplaying notes: The Elder Choir’s secrets: • Initial reaction: If the colossus has • There hasn’t always been peace in awoken, welcoming yet guarded; if Novrybi; a faction split from the not, suspicious and mistrustful survivors years ago, devoted to • Personality: Practical, taciturn, leading a new nomadic way of life serious • These Valley Nomads live in the • Motivation: To protect Novrybi rugged forests, living off the land and ensure the village prospers; to and worshipping the forces of have the Novak family returned nature home or to grieve and move on • The nomads are roughly organised into a handful of disparate clans; in Knowledge: recent years, some of the clans have • “We forswore our names long ago. resorted to banditry, carrying out We are simply the choir.” raids on Novrybi and the wild elves • Some of the survivors from the group • There are villagers who remain who left Krasnaloz 60 years ago loyal to the Nomads (including • Fled Sylva’s tyranny after she took all one of the Choir) and sneak the children one night; none of them information to the bandit clans, were ever seen again seeking to undermine and • The Green Lady serves a purpose but destabilise the village they shouldn’t be so beholden to an outsider (ie. non-human)

The Elder Choir

Part I | The Occluded Valley 22 Î If the Colossus has not already • “You have hereby been bound by the awoken oath of the land; this oath is paid in blood. If you break the oath, your red After speaking with the elder choir debt will be collected.” for a few minutes, loud rumbling fills the air and the ground begins to shake. The Song of Stone The choir are alarmed and look to the • The choir forms a tight circle, arm in northeast mountain (see description in arm: C2, Encounters, page 12). Elder Choir: You hear the sound of low stone • Initially panicked by the Colossus rumbling, resonating outward from but recognise the time has finally the choir; the ground begins to hum come and shiver, the noise travelling up • The Green Lady in the Stone Needle through your feet and legs. As the needs to know what happened; “she deep sound washes over you, the will know what to do and she will tones and harmony reverberate in need your help” your mind. The choir staggers back, • Offer to teach the Song of Stone to exhausted. the party; “you will no doubt find use of it soon” • If ready to complete the ritual, see Part IV The Quest • Grey dwarves snatched a family of Oaths in Boroz: five, the Novaks; taken to the old • Ancient magic, now lost to dwarf stronghold memory, governs the taking and • Agree to teach the party the song if breaking of oaths in the realm of they swear an oath to either return Boroz any surviving members of the Novak • Oaths are bound with blood; you family or proof of their fate (see pay with blood to form the oath Oaths in Boroz sidebar) (the red price) and pay with blood if • Lost their previous generation of the oath is broken (the red debt) children to Sylva; refuse to lose another • The Scarlet Jack (Appendix II, • If the party consents: page 97) is the manifestation of the red debt and seeks out those oath- The choir encircles the group, hands breakers marked for collection linked; the woman at the head of the choir withdraws a small silver knife from her robe and slices her hand, blood dripping onto the ground. She hands the knife to the next choir member, and, one by one, they repeat the process until there’s a circle of blood drawn around the party.

Part I | The Occluded Valley 23 Î F1. In the Shadow of the If the party travelled to Yluufa first: Tree Light glints off metal in the distance. You hear a masculine raised voice. Destination encounter. The first time the Partly concealed by the dense forest, party journeys to Yluufa, they experience you spy two forms squaring off an encounter with a human nomad and a against each other. wild elf hunter. The nature of the encounter changes • Dishevelled human man in rough depending on whether the group came furs and wielding a shortsword directly to Yluufa or explored Ysgora’s • Tall elven woman wearing pale Keep first: clothing, eyes wild and teeth bared Î If the party travelled to Ysgora’s like an animal Keep (D) first, the following Human. Skin is weathered and drawn, encounter occurs: body covered in bloody scratches. Eyes are wide in a near panic. Yelling at Light glints off metal in the distance. the elf to stay back. Partly concealed by the dense forest, you see two bodies splayed out on the Elf (magic). Much taller and thinner ground, one on top of the other. than a typical elf. Body twisted and warped, flesh oozing with tumescent • Dishevelled human man in rough purple boils. Several fresh cuts on her furs and wielding a shortsword, lying body. Clothing is woven with strong on his back natural fibres, pale and stiff. • Tall elven woman wearing pale Conflict. Both figures are aggressive clothing lying face down on top of and in some form of combat. the human The human wields his sword Human. Throat torn out and body defensively and the elf looks frenzied covered in fresh scratches. Skin is (Insight DC 12 to read the situation). weathered and drawn. Encounters His left arm has been stripped of flesh, • Human (bandit) responds to the partially devoured. group but the elf ignores all attempts Elf (magic). Mouth covered in blood, at communication and attacks if body twisted and warped, flesh oozing confronted, snarling and biting with tumescent purple boils. • Corrupted elf (Appendix II, page Several fresh cuts on her body, 95) including a fatal chest wound. Her • The man, Voytek, was gathering clothing is woven with strong natural herbs in the woods when ambushed fibres, pale and stiff. by the crazed elf; from a clan of nomads in the valley • Heard some of the elves had gone feral but hadn’t believed it until now

Part I | The Occluded Valley 24 Part I | The Occluded Valley 25 the elves in these huts appear older or are F2. The Dying Sprawl holding children. (Yluufa) The strongest elves live off the ground in the branches while the children An enormous tree nearly blots out and youth live on the ground with the the sky, with pale branches reaching elders no longer able to navigate the outward topped by shimmering silver treacherous climbs (Investigation DC 14 leaves. Strange wooden structures to recognise the hierarchy). hang from the strongest limbs and Cavern path. Guarded by six of the a network of ropes criss-crosses the tall elves, each wielding a long pike and sprawl. a curved kukri in their belts. The path continues down behind them, soft white • Tall, lithe figures move among the light emanating from within. hanging structures, effortlessly scaling the connecting ropes; a Purple growths. The eastern side of number stand watching, holding the tree is speckled with mottled purple elegant curved bows growths, spreading from the roots. These • Circular huts cluster around the base are visible throughout the tree and the of the tree branches with the heaviest concentration • Shaded path leads down into a look grey and withered. cavern under the tree, through a Encounters tangle of gnarled roots There are several ways to approach • Some of the grey branches are retrieving the crystal, some more difficult speckled with sickly purple growths than others: Tall figures. Resembling elves, though Diplomacy. Medium difficulty (see taller and thinner, with silver skin and Niserie the Elven Queen, page 27). hair. They move with unnatural grace, Stealth or combat. Very hard difficulty, dressed in pale garments that blend into due to the well-defended nature of the the colours of the tree. tree. The structures look like huts built into There are 20d4 wild elf archers the branches of the tree, joined by ropes. watching the road at all times (scout The bows the sentries wield are taller NPC archetype, Perception +5) and 6 than an average longbow. Most have wild elf guards patrolling the cavern path an arrow nocked and watch the party (tribal warrior NPC archetype). intently (Insight DC 12 to realise they’ll Inside the cavern protecting the crystal attack if provoked). is Niserie (9th level ranger, Perception Circular huts. Partially concealed by +4) and 3 wild elf warriors (veteran NPC the dense forest. Constructed from the archetype, Perception +2). tree’s pale branches, tied with strong If the crystal is successfully stolen, the rope. party will be pursued across the valley by Some of the strange elves peer out, 2 archers and 1 veteran for each member holding back inquisitive young. Most of of the group.

Part I | The Occluded Valley 26 Niserie the Elven Queen attacks in the last year If the party have the Earthen As you draw closer to the tree, the Willstone in their possession (the elf guards at the cavern path separate queen senses its power) or if there’s an elf and a lone figure walks out. The elves or half-elf among them, Niserie provides in the trees draw their weapons in additional information. defensive stances. Key information: • Fighting against a magical Niserie [Nih-zer-ee] (magic). Female corruption eating away at the tree’s elf, seven feet tall, silver hair, pale skin, roots, began last year after the barefoot. Dress is the colour of the tree Seaward Tor (eastern tower) was branches and looks woven from strong destroyed during a freak tsunami fibre. Slight frown on her face (see • Using the magical energy held within Appendix I, page 90). the Sun’s Brilliance to purge the Roleplaying notes: corruption but it’s a never-ending struggle; if they give away the crystal, • Initial reaction: Unfriendly even for a day, the corruption could (neutral if there’s an elf in the spread unchecked throughout the party); becomes hostile if the party roots and kill the tree from the inside is aggressive or belligerent • The corruption first appeared on • Personality: Aloof, dismissive, elven scouts who’d returned from arrogant investigating the ruined Tor; they • Motivation: To protect the elves died shortly after returning to the tree and their home at any cost Lore information: The six guards close ranks behind • Yluufa has been growing here for her, alert eyes watching the party (tribal thousands of years; the roots extend warrior NPC archetype). around the entire valley • Niserie was among the group that Generally unwilling to speak but constructed the towers, along with provides the following: Roywyn, Wayland the Smith, and • Niserie, Queen of the Forgotten Elves Leikalf [Lie-kalf] the Elven Wizard • Recognises the danger of the colossus • Wayland the dwarf was slain in the but have more pressing concerns duergar attack on the stronghold • The vampire Sylva wants to destroy • Leikalf livedin the Seaward Tor but their home, Yluufa left over 100 years ago • Unconcerned with what happens to the humans or the gnome on the The Sun’s Brilliance: other side of the valley • Unwilling to hand it over as it’s the • Regret the loss of the dwarven only thing keeping them alive stronghold; “keen craftsmen and • If the corruption could be stopped warriors” or purged, they will agree to entrust • Duergar have stepped up their the adventurers with the crystal

Part I | The Occluded Valley 27 Purging the Corruption: • Elves know the corruption is somehow linked to the destruction of the Seaward Tor but can’t get close enough to investigate properly as it’s particularly deadly to them • Niserie asks the group to travel to the Tor and do what they can to end the corruption • The wild elves are connected to the tree and she will know when it’s done • “Do this and I’ll give you the crystal” After killing the Violet Pudding:

• Returning to Yluufa, the purple Niserie corruption on the tree has vanished, revealing grey dead patches on the • “The corruption is gone; even now pale bark I can feel Yluufa regaining her • The elves are singing, a wordless song strength.” that resonates in the trees around • Asks what the source of corruption them was; if told about the violet pudding: • Half a dozen wild elf scouts swing “I never trusted that wizard. I ignored down from the sturdy ropes; they my instincts because of the help he greet the party and thank them in offered. He never cared for this land, broken Common only for what power he could take • Niserie appears from the cavern and from it.” approaches, carrying a shining crystal Receiving the Sun’s Brilliance: shedding impossibly white light Niserie solemnly passes over the scintillating crystal, eyes bright. The artefact thrums with energy. She nods to you, face resolute.

• If ready to complete the ritual, see Part IV

The Sun’s Brilliance

Part I | The Occluded Valley 28 Part I | The Occluded Valley 29 Tower base. What’s left of the tower is in crumbling ruin, weathered stone blocks cracked and smashed. Elements of the walls remain but the tower has been effectively reduced to one floor. Tower door. Once-ornate carved wooden door has been warped and twisted by moisture and decay. The door is impassable, blocked by something on the other side. Exits Î Down into the Ravaged Laboratory (G2): Smashed roof. What was once the first floor of the tower, polished flooring over thick wooden beams, is broken and smashed, leaving a gap big enough to climb through. Broken furniture and debris are visible G1. The Seaward Tor inside, along with smashed vials and ruined books. The path opens to a rocky crag on the edge of jagged cliffs. The remnants Encounters of a once-great tower lay strewn Shortly after the group starts across the weathered road and forest, investigating the ruins, an elven figure ancient trees toppled and broken by climbs out onto the broken roof from the force of the collapse. The squat inside the tower and attacks. base of the structure remains intact. Tall, thin limbs, feral look in its eyes, covered in oozing purple boils. • Thunderous sound of crushing waves breaking against the cliffs • Corrupted elf (Appendix II, page drowns out all noise 95) • Smell of the sea air masks the • One round after combat starts, two fragrant forest vegetation more emerge from the forest to join • Cracked and crumbled stone blocks the fight form the tower’s base • Solid wooden door is warped but still in place • Most of the jagged cliff around the tower fell away into the sea

Part I | The Occluded Valley 30 G2. The Ravaged Laboratory

The stench and ruin is oppressive, debris mixed with shattered stone and pools of stagnant water. There’s little left of the wizard’s laboratory that was.

• Pungent odour, mix of decay, rot, and mildew • Mouldy bits of broken furniture • Overturned bookcases, books scattered You hear a wet squelch from the • Shattered glass vials with horrific foul drain and the room fills with growths inside, yellow and purple the horrendous stench of decay. The • Foul-smelling drain at the centre of rusted metal lifts slightly as you see a the stone floor terrifying gelatinous horror sluicing Ruined bookcases. Hundreds of out, an undulating mass of sickly sodden books strewn about, pages torn, purple phosphorescence 10 feet spines warped, writing washed away. across. Broken vials (magic). Shattered • Those around the drain needs to beakers and vials still in wooden trays. make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw Small amounts of vile-smelling liquid, or take 5 necrotic damage from the some the same colour and consistency pudding’s corruption of the boils seen on the corrupted • Violet pudding (Appendix II, page elves (Investigation DC 12 to make the 101) connection). • Attempts to flee and squeeze through Foul drain (magic). Circular corroded the stuck door if reduced to 10 hp metal, half a dozen openings, each an • When slain, all trace of the inch wide. Purple discolouration on the corruption dissolves (on the surface. corrupted elves, vials, and on Yluufa) Exits Treasure Î Onto the roof of the Tor (G1) The violet pudding dragged something out of the drain, thin strands of clay that Encounters draw back together, merging back into a If anyone disturbs the drain or the solid block: purple liquid in the vials: Formless Clay. Seemingly mundane block of pale grey clay, six inches in diameter (Appendix III, page 103).

Part I | The Occluded Valley 31 Part II: The Lost Stronghold

Background Running the Dungeon • Ysgora’s Keep was founded Layout. Each room has a mini-map that thousands of years ago by a clan of shows the main exits, secret doors or mountain dwarves, the Steelbreakers walls, and whether there are any enemies. • The Keep was split into two halves, There are multiple paths through the each representing one facet of dungeon, but the main path leading up dwarven life the middle is closed off initially. • The western half was dedicated to the arts of craftsmanship and worship Lighting. Unless otherwise specified, of Volundr [Vo-lun-dur], god of the all rooms are completely dark. forge Language. As this was a dwarven keep, • The eastern half worshipped all written and inscribed language is Volundr’s brother Egil [Ay-yul], god Dwarvish rather than Common. of battle; these dwarves were warriors Duergar areas. The grey dwarves and were dedicated to defending each have free run of the Keep but stick to the other and the valley same cluster of rooms, either through • 100 years ago, the dwarves’ greatest habit or necessity (as some areas are too enemies the duergar, grey dwarves dangerous for them). from deep underground, breached Encounters with duergar or their and stormed the stronghold; the minions can occur when resting in fighting was swift and brutal and rooms D2, D3, D4, D5, D13, D16, or marked the end of the Steelbreaker D20. clan These rooms are marked on the map • The duergar have since made the Keep their home, largely keeping to with . When resting in any of these themselves but carrying out sporadic rooms, roll on the following table: raids on the valley surface d10 Encounter • Recent years have seen a new ruler 1 Returning raiding party (3 duergar come to power among the duergar, a and 2 worgs) mad and ruthless zealot, Dromph the Insane [Duh-romf] 2-3 Lone duergar absent-mindedly patrolling • In his drive to breach the stronghold and push the duergar further into 4 1d4 wailing dwarven specters the valley, Dromph delved too deep materialise into the crater underneath Ysgora’s 5-10 No encounter Keep and encountered a terrifying eldritch presence slumbering in the Caution. Ysgora’s Keep is filled ephemeral space between reality and with danger and a careless group of nightmare, C’tegra adventurers will easily stumble across a • This nightmare being obliterated deadly encounter if not prepared. Dromph’s will and fills his mind with whispers, urging him on to greater destruction

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 32 Part II | The Lost Stronghold 33 D1. The Grand Approach

Ancient hall hewn into worn granite, marked with centuries of heavy dwarven feet.

• Oppressive scent of smoke and sweat soaked into the stone • Broken dwarven skulls skewered on barbed pikes • Crushed and scattered animal bones strewn in piles • Impressive stone archway to the north Dwarven skulls. Decades old, crushed and split by a variety of crude weapons. Animal bones. From a variety of animals. Visible signs suggest carnivorous predators had been using the area as a lair. Exits Î North to Webbed Corridor (D2): Stone archway. Finely crafted, intricately carved with dwarven runes corresponding to family names and histories of the mountain dwarves.

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 34 Spider webs. Surprisingly strong, D2. Webbed Corridor they take several hits to successfully cut. Ignites immediately if put to torch. Wind whistles from the shadows as the archway leads to the centre of a Several humanoid-sized forms are long narrow stone corridor. cocooned within the webs. These are duergar, dead in the last month and • Hallway continues north, leading to drained of all moisture (Medicine DC imposing double doors 14). • Fades into darkness to the east and Exits west Î • Intricately carved stone on all East to the Spartan Quarters (stuck) surfaces (D15): Ornate double doors (barred from the Stuck door. Covered in heavy layers of other side). Chiselled marble, delicate spider webbing. These can be burned or carvings in exquisite detail. The left door hacked away with slashing weapons. depicts dwarves toiling at craft, hunched Î West to the Broken Stone Quarters over work benches, forging weapons at (D7): anvils, carving scrimshaw. Cracked door. Criss-crossed with The right door depicts armoured significant cracks, as is the door frame dwarves preparing for war, sharpening and floor, as if struck by something weapons, training with masters. massive. The door does not open easily Western corridor. The further down but can be forced. the corridor the more a pungent musk Encounters begins to fill the senses. Some sort of enormous beast is close. Two squat furred spiders nest within Eastern corridor (spider). Wind picks cracks in the wall and attack when their up, blowing stronger. Pristine stone floor webs are disturbed, bursting forth in a is pockmarked in odd patterns. Closer cluster of gangly bristled legs. inspection reveals the stone’s been eaten • 2 x giant wolf spiders by drops of acid (Nature DC 14). After one wolf spider is killed, two Wispy strands of delicate spider webs enormous hairy shapes fall from the visibly float in the wind. shadows covering the ceiling. • 2 x giant spiders

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 35 Debris. The ground is covered in D3. Halls of the Fathers smashed furniture, stone rubble, and broken pieces of armour and weapons. Once great hall reduced to rubble- strewn ruin, torn and tattered rugs Exits among broken and rotting furniture. Î North to the Fountain (D20): Carved reliefs on the stone walls have been scratched and defaced. Northern archway. Dim light and the echoing sound of running water. Ornate • Fresh torches burn in ancient iron round fountain through the arch. sconces Î East to the Hall of Iron (D13): • Broken statues line the sides • Massive feasting tables cracked and Eastern archway. Light from the smashed torches ends before the archway. Mud • Ancient bloodstains spattered across and grass on the stone floor (Survival DC the walls and floor 14 to determine these are fresh tracks, • Rough stone floor covered in piles of left in the last few days). broken debris Faint sound of low chatter and rough • Dim archways lead to the north, laughter (Perception DC 14 to detect). west, south, and east Î South to the Webbed Corridor • (Aura of undead) (barred) (D2): Smashed statues. Remnants of Southern archway. Fresh torches smashed statues line both sides of the lit past the archway. Double doors are hall. The western side depicts dwarven barred from this side by a heavy wooden craftsmen and the eastern side depict beam. armoured warriors. Fresh drag marks near the Grand feasting tables. Two doors, made up of grass and massive squat stone tables mud. nearly fill the length of the long hall, partially smashed Î West to the Hall of and covered in debris. An ugly Echoes (D4): circular scorch mark mars Western archway. Flickering the smooth surface. Smashed light and soft sounds of wooden chairs rot in the damp dripping water. air. Squat stone tables visible past Spattered blood. Covering the archway. the tables, walls, and floor. The blood is ancient, long dried to Encounters a dingy brown. As soon as the party enters the hall, a dry, bored voice calls out to them.

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 36 Penglog [Peng-log], a flameskull commune with the spirits of the (magic, undead). A flaming skull, bright dead green, flies down from the stone ceiling, • The dwarves began relying less and bathing the room in green light. less on his counsel, seeing him as Roleplaying notes: more of an annoyance • Wayland/Volundr still considers • Initial reaction: passing interest, him a trusted ally and Penglog will defend himself if attacked or remains steadfastly loyal to the provoked smith • Personality: jaded, scornful, dismissive, talks about the good old Treasure days A number of expertly-crafted weapons • Motivation: To protect himself and buried in the debris on the ground: Wayland, to help Wayland recover his helm • Dwarven waraxe (1d8 slashing or piercing; versatile 1d10) • Won’t help unless the group • Dwarven greathammer (2d6 recovers Wayland’s helm bludgeoning; heavy, two-handed, • Won’t hinder unless Wayland is reach) threatened or injured • Attacks the party if they retrieve Ysgora’s Helm and refuse to return it to Wayland

Knowledge: • Adamant Staff. Maybe in the forge, in the western wing, heard some smithing going on there recently • Little human girl hiding somewhere in here

• Penglog the Flameskull’s Secrets • Once a powerful dwarven sorcerer, among the first dwarves to arrive in Boroz; helped found Ysgora’s Keep • Burned to a crisp by a red dragon 2000 years ago • Skilled dwarven necromancers preserved his spirit inside his skull; he stayed around to advise them • Over the centuries he lost touch with the living, preferring to

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 37 D4. Hall of Echoes Exits Î North to the Athenaeum (D8): Eerily-lit derelict dining hall, broken rubble covering the stone floor. Two Northern door (magic). Carvings long stone tables lay upturned and depict an open book bursting with cracked. radiant power. Î East to the Halls of the Fathers • Western wall lined by smashed and (D3): defaced sculptures • Ceiling made of rugged stone inset Eastern archway. Torch lit hall strewn with shining ore and sparkling gems, with broken furniture. scintillating specks of light dance on Î South to the Ransacked Kitchen the surfaces of the room (D5): • Sounds in the hall reverberate and mix with intermittent drips, as if in a Southern passage. Remnants of a deep cave underground kitchen, smell of old food and rot. • Intricately carved wooden door to Î West to the Broken Stone Quarters the north (D7): • Open passage leads south to a Closed Western door. Strong smell of ransacked kitchen musk and soil. Defaced sculptures. Remnants of what were once carved dwarven busts and reliefs. What figures still intact have been defaced by deep gouges and ugly dark stains. Enchanted ceiling and sound (illusion). Something unnatural about the way worked stone walls fade into a rough cave ceiling. A powerful illusion has replaced the room’s stone ceiling with the image and sounds of a dwarven cave (Arcana DC 12 to recognise the spell was cast by a skilled magic-user).

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 38 D5. Ransacked Kitchen

Ransacked shelves above rustic wooden counter-tops. Piles of charred bones lay stacked on the fire, long cold. Ambient light from the hall casts a soft glow.

• Ancient smell of cooking grease and onions lingers • Enormous squat cast iron cauldron cracked and on its side • Smashed plates, dented tankards, and strewn rubbish covers the cold stone floor • Rotted potato barrels piled up on the eastern wall, strong smell of earth and damp Rubbish pile. Some items don’t belong in a kitchen, such as fragments of the broken dining tables (Investigation DC 12 to determine it’s been deliberately placed to cover tracks). Potato barrels. Stack of rotted out barrels, filled with long-decayed potatoes. One barrel is empty (Investigation DC 12 to notice the disturbed ring of dust on the ground, as if the barrel’s been moved). The empty barrel covers a hidden ladder leading down. Exits Î North to the Hall of Echoes (D4) Î Down to the Lost Cellar (hidden passage) (D6): Ladder. Pitch black, strong smell of earth and decay.

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 39 D6. Lost Cellar (Secret)

A sturdy wooden ladder drops into a narrow cellar, the scent of earth and decay almost overpowering in the darkness.

• Pitch black, no natural or ambient lighting • If reaching out, can feel rotted wooden shelves on the walls • Rusted rat trap set in the middle of the cellar (concealed in the darkness but clearly visible in any light) Nula Novak Breathing. Soft sound of muffled breathing at the northern end of the • Personality: Wary, fearful, cellar (Perception DC 14 to hear it). traumatised, brave Exits • Motivation: Discover what happened to her brother Nurrut Î Up to the Ransacked Kitchen (D5) and get back to Novrybi Encounters Knowledge: Rat trap. Unless spotted, the first • Kidnapped along with her family by person to move forward will trigger the the ugly grey men (duergar) trap unless they make a Dexterity DC • Taken before the two leaders, one 14 saving throw, taking 2d4 piercing with crazy eyes, and thrown in cages damage. next to stinky dogs (in a kennel) A small human girl hides in the dark • They dragged her brother Nurrut and attempts to push past the nearest [Nuh-rut] away and she hasn’t seen person onto the ladder when the trap is him since triggered or found. • Managed to escape by squeezing Nula Novak [New-la]. Tiny girl, through the bars, leaving the rest of emaciated and filthy. About 7 years old, her family behind two days ago dressed in a torn red and orange • Living off mushrooms growing robe. Eyes are wide and filled with in the cellar ever since fear. • Can take the group to where her family is being kept Roleplaying notes: • Initial reaction: Fear and mistrust (Persuasion DC 14 to calm her down, advantage if given food)

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 40 D7. Broken Stone Quarters

Abandoned living quarters, filled with row upon row of cots. Intricate tapestries hang intact from the walls, depicting dwarves hard at work. Volundr’s Tithe • Pungent musky odour, mix of rotting bludgeoning damage as a stinking grey meat and soil form bursts forth, sending chunks of • Sturdy wooden cots covered in stone flying. yellowed linen • Stone floor is heavily cracked and Massive, densely-armoured grey hide buckles upward with a beaked piercing maw. The rotten stench from its jaws is staggering. Wooden cots (evocation). Dwarf-sized, • Bulette spread evenly throughout the room. Enough to sleep roughly 100 dwarves. Treasure Some of the cots have wooden lock- Lock-box 1 (locked, Dexterity DC 13). boxes underneath. One of these rests Polished black wood, images of dwarves atop a loose slab in the floor. mining and smithing. Cracked floor. Heavily damaged dense • 50 GP stone slabs make up the floor, wide • Crude wooden figure of a dwarf cracks radiating from a point near the • Volundr’s Tithe: A shining hexagonal centre of the room. The musky smell is gold coin embossed with the image of stronger here. a broken anvil Exits • Mining sprite (evocation): Conjure forth a glowing white sprite that Î East to Hall of Echoes (D4): floats above your head and lights Eastern door. Distant cave sounds, your way echoing drips. Lock-box 2 (trapped). Pale wood Î South to Webbed Corridor (stuck) inlaid with bright yellow gold. Image of (D2): goblins wrestling over a box. • Trapped (Investigation DC Cracked southern door. Stone 14 to spot, Dexterity DC 10 to frame and floor have jagged disable): Gas sprays the closest cracks. Can be forced open. target (Dexterity DC 14 to Encounters avoid); exude a terrible stench Anyone who walks into the that imposes disadvantage on centre of the room needs all attack roles within 10 ft. for to make a Dexterity DC 15 1 hour saving throw to avoid 2d6 • Nothing inside

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 41 in dwarvish and concern the research, D8. Athenaeum training, instruction, and theory of crafting, organised by subject. Overflowing bookshelves stacked floor to ceiling with barely enough Small history section detailing the room to navigate. origin of the dwarves in the region and Ysgora’s Keep: • Athenaeum [Ah-the-nee-yum] • The Steelbreaker dwarves came to this • Sound of a quill scratching on land thousands of years ago in search parchment of new mines • Musty scent of ancient books • Found the valley, formed by a • Stone pedestal set into the corner, cataclysmic impact millennia ago two weighty tomes on top • Built their stronghold, Ysgora’s Keep, • Doors leading west and south named after their clan founder, on top of the impact site Quill sound. Coming from the • Worshipped many dwarven gods, but northeast corner of the room, obscured two more than others: Volundr the by shelves. The sound comes from an Smith and Egil the Armoured enchanted illumination pedestal where a • Their clan naturally split along two quill writes by itself. lines, according to craft (worship of Illumination pedestal (magic). Chest- Volundr) and war (worship of Egil) high (for a dwarf) stone pedestal. Dusty • After Sylva Havel came to power book spread open on top, red ribbon and began spreading her evil across marking the place. A second, newer Boroz, the dwarves put aside their book next to it, quill floating above it, differences with the elves and others constantly writes and re-writes the same in the valley and built the towers and page. Inside the pedestal is a stack of the Colossus blank leather-bound books next to a handful of blank pieces of parchment. Exits Arcana DC 12 to recognise the Î South to the Hall of Echoes (D4): illumination station, a way to magically copy books without a wizard’s Southern door. Distant cave sounds, involvement. echoing drips. Place a book to copy on one side and Î West to the Workshop (D9): a blank book on the other side, and Western door. Intricately carved with the quill does the work required. The dwarven runes, some ancient and faded, enchantment is on the pedestal and quill. others comparatively fresh. The pedestal also has the power to The runes are dwarven names and make an additional copy of a dates; the oldest is thousands magical scroll but this power of years old, the most recent can only be used once per day. carved a century ago; The Bookshelves (magic). dwarves carved their names on Books are almost all written the door when they completed

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 42 their masterwork (History DC 10 to recognise this). Song of Steel (2nd) 2nd-level conjuration Treasure Class(es): Bard, Cleric, Paladin Crafting guides. Instructional books Casting Time: 1 action hold the knowledge and experience of Range: 60 feet master dwarven craftsmen honed over Components: V, S hundreds of years. Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute If studied during downtime over the Choose a non-magical metal object, course of a month, each book allows such as a weapon or suit of heavy or you to halve the time and materials medium armour, that you can see required to craft an item with the within range. You cause an ethereal specific skill (one for Alchemy, Arcana, burning blacksmith hammer to appear Blacksmithing, and Leatherworking). and strike the object repeatedly. The Volundsaga (book) (magic). Iron cover, rhythm and song of the strikes tells you embossed with the image of a broken the innate weaknesses in the forged anvil. Written in dwarvish, history and metal. teachings of Volundr the Smith, dwarven On your next successful attack with god of the forge. bludgeoning damage, you strike the The book also has two pages of cleric object with enough resonant force to spells that functions as spell scrolls: sunder it, rendering it useless until repaired. Temper Weapon (2nd) 2nd-level transmutation Class(es): Cleric, Paladin Casting Time: 1 action Range: Touch Components: V, S, M (ash from a forge and iron filings) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute You cause any metal weapon you touch to glow red-hot. Successful attacks made with this weapon will do an extra 2d8 fire damage. Until the spell ends, the wielder of the weapon has resistance to fire damage. When the spell ends, the weapon becomes ice cold for 1 minute and deals an extra 1d8 cold damage.

Part II | The Lost Stronghold 43