Sample file Sample file Cataclysm on Cloudholme Credits Written by: Andrew Lucas Chief Editor: David K. Hurd Additional Editing: Lawrence Whalen III Cover Art: Alan Pollack, Back Cover: William O’Conner Interior Art: Fred Rawles Cartography: Craig Zipse Graphic Design: Lawrence Whalen Jr. Production: David K. Hurd & Lawrence Whalen Jr. Dedication:

Johnathan Swift for the dreams of Laputa and his Modest Proposal that influenced far too much of my thinking. Gerry Anderson for making a young English child insist his mom buy Thunderbird Pajamas. Paul for giving me a contract stipulating a minimum of 35,000 words and not complaining then I more than doubled that word count, even though it didn't work out in the end. Chris Sims and Travis Stout forSample the help provided file in developing the Shard Warriors. And finally to the bastards, who wrote , you still own me a perfectly good Familiar.

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Contact Information 36 The Arcade 65 Weybosset Street Providence, RI 02903 WWW.MonkeyGodEnterprises.com Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 4 History of Astenthal ...... 7 In the Beginning ...... 7 Nations of Race ...... 8 Asenthal ...... 9 The Arcane Engine and Vankor Laisen ...... 13 Present Day Folk Tales...... 16 Gazetteer ...... 17 Geography...... 17 Towns ...... 20 The Blighted Hills & Dwarven Freehold ...... 20 Silverthorne: The Elven Forest ...... 23 The Raze & Blight Swamps: Clans ...... 25 The Settlements of Man ...... 28 Meadowbridge ...... 31 Krystalyn...... 32 Lucius’ Quest: Astenthal...... 35 Goldendale ...... 37 Cloudholme ...... 38 Getting Started ...... 43 Adventure Background...... 44 Getting the Player’s Involved...... 46 Getting to Cloudholme ...... 47 Interview with a Dragon...... 48 Ravenwood ...... 50 Vankor’s Freehold...... 53 Locating Vankor’s FreeholdSample ...... file...... 53 Vankor’s Freehold...... 53 Cloudholme ...... 63 Arriving on Cloudholme ...... 63 Astenthal’s Palace...... 64 Citadel of the Champions of the Way ...... 68 The Great Hall ...... 69 College of Mystic Knowledge ...... 72 Basement Level ...... 76 Beneath the Tumbled Stones ...... 79 Vankor’s Excavation...... 79 Level 4: The Arcane Engine...... 85 Ending the adventure...... 88 Appendix ...... 89 Monster Stat Blocks ...... 89 New Monsters...... 96 Persona Dramatica ...... 100 Historical NPCs ...... 106 Arcana...... 107 Open Gaming License and Notices

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3 Introduction

Within this book you will find a rich land populated by diverse The Legendary Lands Series peoples and ancient cultures. The lands of Astenthal provide What are the Legendary Lands? abundant opportunity for adventure and role-playing. Cata- clysm on Cloudholme was written to test your party on many If you are building a fantasy world or simply modifying levels while playing with some of the conventions of the clas- your own, this series is for you. Each book contains a sic Dungeons and Dragons I grew up playing. There are dun- small setting or region (easily adapted) and an accompa- geons, and there are elements of pure evil for the party to fight nying adventure set in that land. These stand alone against. But there is much more as well. There are simple traps regions are presented with guidelines on how to incorpo- and logic puzzles involving two or more areas that will test the rate them into a larger world of the DM's creation or ability of the players to think out side of the box. The races in even one of the existing settings. the book are the same fantasy races that the D&D have With the lands from this series you should be able to included since its inception, but subtly changed to add spice to piece together an interesting new world or simply grab the campaign. are not simple bloodthirsty marauders and one or two to augment what you already have. the Land’s elves are more arrogant than one might expect. The Enjoy. dwarves harbour a deep secret that could tear their society apart while mankind is as selfish and political as ever. Customization One of the most endearing aspects of the D20 open gaming license is the huge wealth of material that has been released recently. With such a vast amount of work to pick and choose from today’s DM has the opportunity to lift the very best adven- tures and source material and slot in them right into their cam- paign. As you read further into this book you’ll find that it con- Sampletains afile rich culture and history within which is played out an adventure of monumental scope. An entire campaign can be based on this book itself and even rushing through the adventure will provide a few rewarding game nights. If you have already begun a campaign world or intend to base on about this book, here are a few points to consider: Granted they may not mean a lot now, but once you give the book a proper read through they’ll make sense. “Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish, Now are visions ne’er to vanish; The land of Astenthal detailed in the source material is consid- From thy spirit shall they pass ered much the same way that Camelot is today. A golden age of No more, like dew-drop from the grass.” peace and prosperity with a rich culture that encouraged chivalry and rule of law. It is also long passed into legend. Adding such a Edgar Allan Poe 1827 legend to your own world is very easy, perhaps a wandering ataclysm on Cloudholme is a Campaign source book, which minstrel sings of the glory of Astenthal and it’s floating city. Or Cis fully compatible with the d20 system. This book contains an ancient scroll slipped into a parties treasure haul talks of its everything a DM needs to run a campaign in a rich gaming great and rich culture. Or maybe a cleric extols its virtues while world. You will need the Dungeon & Dragons Player’s Hand- healing the party. Maybe a tavern patron talks of visiting Asten- book to run the adventure included within this book. Addition- thal but his account is dismissed as drunken boasts. Setting the ally the other core rulebooks (The DMG and MM) are recom- stage for the introduction of the land to your campaign can mended, but not required to run the campaign. greatly enhance the appreciation of the cultures your group will encounter as well as the adventure.

4