Qrebib Design: William W. Connors, Cindi Rice, & John D. Rateliff Editing: Cindi Rice e Brand Management: David Wise Cover Illustration: Todd Lockwood Interior lllustration: Patrick Kochakji, John Matson, Kevin McCann, Amie Swekel, & Sam Wood Art Direction: LN Buck Cartography: Rob Lazzaretti e Typography: Angelika Lokotz Graphic Design: Matthew Adelsperger Proofreading: Miranda Horner, Carrie Bebris, & David Wise Playtesting: Peter Archer, Elizabeth Baldwin, Steven Brown, Douglas Carter, Dale Donovan, Bruce Heard, Audrey Hollis, Miranda Horner, Oona Meeker, BiU Olmesdahl, Thomas Reid, Sean Reynolds, Myles Stewart, Stacey Stewart, Erin Stewart-Lynn, Keith Strohm, Red Swan, Valerie Vallese, & Pierce Watters Special Thanks: Steve Miller & Ed Stark Debication This adventure is thankfully dedicated to everyone who has ever written a letter or spoken up in a seminar to ask ~what 's this Shadow Rift thing?" Tdle of Qontents Tfie .Abuentun Tfie ~ettitUl Prince of Shadows .. ............. .... .. 3 Appendix One: The Shadow Rift . ......... 11 7 Introduction .... ...................... 4 The Domain .. .. ....... ......... 118 Adventure Summary ....... ............ 5 The History .. .. ..................... 124 Act One: Grasping at Shadows .... ... ... .. 7 Appendix Two: Who's Doomed . .. ...... .. 127 Scene One: Briggdarrow ... ... ... 8 Loht, Prince of the Sith ... .. ..... .. 128 Scene Two: Lake Kronov . .... ........ 25 Maeve, Princess of the Shee . ....... 131 Scene Three: Goblinwood ... .. ........ 27 Appendix Three: Relics and Artifacts . ....... 133 Scene Four: Brujamonte ................ 34 The Sword ofArak ................. 134 Scene Five: Wytch wood ..... ... ....... 40 The Regalia of Arak . ......... ........ 136 Scene Six: The Witch's Lair ....... .. ....Sample 44 fileThe Obsidian Gate ..... ... ... ...... .. 138 Scene Seven: The Fracture ... .. .... .. .. 58 Appendix Four: Monstrous Compendium .. 139 Scene Eight: Prisoners of Darkness .... .... 63 Avanc . .. .... .. ................ .. 140 Act Two: Realm of Shadows ... .. .... ..... 67 Arak ..... ...................... 141 Heroes in the Shadow Rift ... .......... 68 Arak, Alven ............. .. ...... 142 Scene Nine: The Greenlands ....... ... .. 70 Arak, Brag ... .............. .... 143 Scene Ten: The MaJachUe Palace ....... ... 76 Arak, Fir ... ....... .. .... ... .. ... 144 Scene Eleven: The Precipice ... ..... .. 94 Arak, Muryan ..... .... .. ... •. ...... 145 Act Three: Door to Darkness ... .. .......... 97 Arak, Portune . ............. • ........ 146 Scene Twelve: The Stowndowns ........ .. 98 Arak, Powrie ........................ 147 Scene Thirteen: The Black Marsh ...... 102 Arak, Shee .... .. .................. 146 Scene Fourteen: The Darkenheights ...... 105 Arak, Sith . .. ...... .. .. ......... 149 Scene Fifteen: The Obsidian Gate .. ...... 108 Arak, Teg .. ... ... .. .. ... .. ..... .. 150 Scene Sixteen: Denouement . .. .. ...... 115 Changeling .. ......... .. ....... .. 15 l Crimson Bones . .... .. ........... 153 Grim ...... ....................... 154 Saugh, Dearg-Due ........ .......... 155 Saugh, Gossamer ....... ............ 156 Treant, Evil (Blackroot) . ...... ... 157 Glossary .................. ........ .. 159 2 Sample file Sample file Prince of ~fJabows character rather than Prince Loht. Should such a Introbuction contingency arise, the Dungeon Master should ver since the Grand Conjunction shook adjust resulting departures from the written text to the geography of Ravenloft, explorers of smooth over any inconsistencies. Remember that the Demiplane of Dread have marveled possession of the legendary item will attract much at the Shadow Rift. This gaping wound unwanted attention from the shadow elves, who will Elstands at the very heart of the Core domains and be aghast to see such a venerated object in the defies all efforts to understand Its origins or explore hands of mere mortals. its depths. Now, in this adventure, heroes will at last have Late BejJUJ"8J a chance to learn what mysteries the dim vapors If this adventure is being used independently, the of that fantastic canyon conceal. With a great deal Dungeon Master will not have to worry about the of luck, they may even survive long enough to possible results of the player characters' previous return to the outside world and tell others what actions. Sufficient information should be available they have seen. through the course of the adventure to make up for any gaps in the heroes' knowledge of past UI~at liu Gone Before events as detailed in Servants of Darkness. This adventure is designed to be used in one of two ways: The heroes can experience the events in l\unain.g ~fJLs Abuentun Prince of Shadows either after completing the Prince ofShad ows is designed for four to six player RAVENLOFf4D module Servants of Darkness or as an characters of 7th to 9th levels. In order to battle the independent adventure. Neither is inherently shadow elves, the heroes will need magical preferable over the other, so the Dungeon Master Is weapons of at least + 1 enchantment. free to use whichever method best suits his or her To run this adventure effectively, the Dungeon RAVENLOFT campaign. Master will need the Player's Handbook, the DuNG£0N MAsn:R9 Gulde, the MONSTROOS MANUALTM $tnauts n DadtuSS tome, the RA.VENLOF19 MONSTROUS COMPE:NDJUM8 For those groups who played Servants of Darkness, Appendices, and Domains of Dread. the Prince of Shadows adventure serves as a In addition, this adventure contains several continuation of the events depicted In that module. optional encounters that utilize monsters from the Since it is virtually impossible to predict just what MONSTROUS COMPE:NDIUM Annual Volumes Orte, Two, player characters will say and do, it is quite and Three. For ease of play, their combat statistics possible that the earlier adventure may haveSample ended arefile presented in this book as well. up with the Sword ofArak in the hands of a player In this adventure, the heroes descend into the heretofore unexplored region of the Shadow Rift. The characters will be isolated in this alien environment where they cannot even begin to predict what dangers lurk around them. The Dungeon Master should carefully play up the unique atmosphere and strange creatures that the heroes will encounter in this Mlst-filled chasm. The touchstone of this adventure is eeriness. The Shadow Rift is not some blood-splattered charnel house nor a typical "dungeon." Instead, it is a land apart, strange rather than malevolent. Parts of it are exceptionally dangerous, and certainly many of its inhabitants have no love for mortals. Trespassers should proceed with caution, yet the heroes should continually have the sense that they are peripheral to events and that the inhabitants are largely wrapped up in their own unfathomable affairs to which they will return as soon as the Intruders have departed. Only thus can the sense of mortals briefly crossing these immortals' stage be conveyed. 4 Prince of ~fJaboUJS a{ler I spoke with him he stopped speaking Abttenture ~ummar.u altogether and now simply gazes dreamily out the n refereeing any adventure, an element window, smlllng. I think we can dismiss this report of risk always exists for the Dungeon as senlle dementia. Master. Despite all careful planning, he or • she cannot possibly anticipate all the Young Goodman Eilis's Story: "It was her, I tell youl possible actions that the players may undertake. Dancing in the woods ... but it seemed like she With that in mind, the following summary indicates didn't know me. the most likely course for the players to take in this "Alright, alright; I'll try to tell it in order. I was out adventure. in the woods at night-why? Because my horse had Briefly, Act One begins when the heroes stumble thrown a shoe and I had to get off and walk him if I across a town that seems filled with sleepwalkers. djdn't want the poor animal to go lame, that's why. They eventually learn that the village has been And the walk back took longer than I'd thought it attacked by wdancing men" and may, if they linger would, and I got benlghted. There wasn't any moon, too long, get to experience such an attack them­ and it was dark as pitch under those trees. Then I selves. The rest of the act concerns their attempts saw it. A sort of glimmering, shimmering patch off to to discover the purpose of these attacks, eventually my left. I went toward it-why? Because I'd got tracing them to the mysterious shadow elves. myself lost and thought it might be a cottage or Act Two follows the heroes as they brave the something, with the light muted by curtains on the unknown challenges of the shadow elves' windows or sometrung of the sort. But it wasn't that homeland, the mysterious Shadow Rift, journeying at all. No, notrung like. It was a clearing, and in it to that strange land in an attempt to recover an was these ladies. Dancing. I never seen such artifact known as the Crown ofArak before it falls dancing, not in all my born days. And when they into the hands of an old enemy of theirs known as passed close by me, I could see that one of them the Prince of Shadows. was Melissa! Clear as day, not ten feet from me. I Act three is a race against time as the heroes wish I'd jumped forward and grabbed hold of her and struggle to stop the Prince of Shadows from got her away from them, but it was like I couldn't do opening a dimensional gate in the Shadow Rift that nothing but stand there and stare, I was that will allow something even the shadow elves fear to surprised. Then I let out a