HORROR at DAGGER ROCK by Andrew C
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A FREE adventure for levels 1-3 WG0 LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PATHFINDERGAME® ROLEPLAYINGAT PAIZO.COM Adventure,Adventure, Dungeons&DangerTM Game Module HORROR AT DAGGER ROCK by Andrew C. Gale S AGAWORK STUDIOS ® ADVENTURE, DUNGEONS & DANGER and the logo are a trademark owned by SAGAWORK STUDIOS MAP 1: BARN N THE VILLAGE FARMER FIELDS OF RELFORD FIELDS TRADE WAY PLAYER’S MAP WATCH TEMPLE WAINWRIGHT HOUSE RELFORD BLACKSMITH TRADE WAY TEAMSTER FIELDS CAUCHEMAR TAVERN TRADING REL RIVER POST BARN HALL OLD FARMER OAK THE VILLAGE DAGGERSTONE LUGAS MANOR OF RELFORD SMITHY LIVERY BLACK SKULL INN MINER’S LEGEND REST Bridge Dead Tree Road EL: 90FT Rocky Hill Stream EL: 60FT EL: 1080FT DAGGERSTONE MINES DAGGER 60FT EL: Stone Wall ROCK Gully EL: 120FT EL: 120FT Building Mound =30ft EL: 60FT EL: 90FT EL: 90FT Horror at Dagger Rock by Andrew C Gale Table of Contents Introduction 2 Maps and Handouts Map: GM’s Map of Relford Cover Part 1: The Village of Relford 5 Map: Player’s Map of Relford Cover Interlude: Keyed Areas in Relford 27 Map: Daggerstone Mine & the Temple of Dagon Cover Part 2: The Daggerstone Mines 37 Map: Farrow Farm 22 Part 3: The Temple of Dagon 44 Map: Relford Temple 27 Map: Daggerstone Manor 29 Epilogue 50 Map: Black Skull Inn 31 Map: Abandoned Mine 35 Appendix 1: The Cult of Dagon 51 Handout: Journal of the Forgotten Miner 61 Handout: Letter to Jek Bartollo 65 Appendix 2: New Monsters 55 Handout: Galwinn’s Letter 66 Handout: Undercommon Missive 67 Appendix 3: Pregenerated Characters 57 Handout: Crude Map 68 CREDITS PRODUCT IDENTITY: The following items are hereby considered Product Identity in accordance EDITING & LAYOUT: Ash Gram, Penny Williams with section 1(e) of the Open Gaming License version 1.0: Any and all trademarks and registered Some artwork by Paul Slinger trademarks, identifying marks and trade dress; all proper nouns (artifacts, characters, deities, places, Fontin Font Family: A font by Jos Buivenga www.exljbris.nl etc), dialogue, plot, storylines, locations, and characters. No portion of this Product Identity may be PLAYTESTERS: Ash Gram, Renee Gram, Grahame Paton, reproduced in any form without written permisison from Sagawork Studios. Find out more about Penny Williams. the Open Game License at Wizards of the Coast. SPECIAL THANKS: Joseph Crocono, David Fisher, OPEN GAMING CONTENT: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the Atilla Oncel, Judd, Rob, Simon, Gretchen Keelty contents of this Sagawork Studios game product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission. The OGL may be viewed on page 69 of this module. ADVENTURE, DUNGEONS & DANGER and the logo are a trademark owned by SAGAWORK STUDIOS INTRODUCTION: HORROR AT DAGGER ROCK MODULE OVERVIEW that hit the area almost a year ago. Paradoxically, this earthquake caused relatively minor damage on the surface, but has caused widespread changes to the area. Aside from a minor elevation in Title: Horror at Dagger Rock the landscape, the mighty Rel River has diverted itself and no No. Players: 4-6 longer flows steadily through the area. As such, the groundwater Level: 1-2 has decreased, throwing the region into a drought. A number of Classes: Any lives were lost in the Daggerstone Mines, caused by a minor col- Type: Village events & dungeon delve. Horror elements lapse in one of the shafts. Worse, this collapse also uncovered an ancient evil buried at this site, long before anyone ever stood in WG0: Horror at Dagger Rock is the first adventure from Sagawork the shadow of Dagger Rock. Studios. It is recommended that the GM read the entire adventure This area was once far below the sea approximately ten-thou- thoroughly before beginning play. The GM may wish to re-read sand years ago, being part of the aquatic elf kingdom of Que’elta- any areas he considers important for the adventure to run los. The city was destroyed by an invading force of sahuagin and smoothly and efficiently. This module is designed as more of an a terrible kraken. Que’eltalos’ defenses were brought low from open-ended adventure, requiring the GM to mediate the timing within; orchestrated by an insidious cult that worshipped the and pace and perhaps expand on areas that are of interest. To demon lord Dagon as the true Master of the Deep. Led from the make this process as easy as possible, a number of events have shadows by a coven of olhydrix hags, the cult of Dagon prospered been written in to assist the GM and the players advance the plot and crept into all levels of Que’eltalos. By the time the cult was of the story. It is entirely up to the GM to use, edit or discard these discovered, it was too late to do anything about them. Que’eltalos events as suits his own campaign. fell that very night in a frenzy of ripping teeth and claws. If you intend to experience Horror at Dagger Rock as a player, But even the cult of Dagon was not spared the full destruction please stop reading immediately. Horror at Dagger Rock will be best of Que’eltalos; a mighty volcano erupted in the sea bed –the result enjoyed if you are unaware of the surprises and revelations to of a titanic battle between the kraken and an aquatic elf sorceress. come. As the halls of their secret temple came crashing down around them, during this violent seismic upheaval, the last surviving ol- hydrix hag offered a final prayer to Dagon. She was saved, but en- ADVENTURE SUMMARY trapped in the remains of their temple, underneath a new mountain range, far from the sea. As his last consort, Dagon also cursed her with immortality. Now as Dagon’s divine guardian, the On the road into Relford, a minor cave-in uncovers a buried secret Bride of Dagon was to wait nearly ten millennia until she could disclosing strange goings-on that began after a recent mine col- restore the cult to its former glory. lapse. Soon after arriving in Relford itself, the PCs discover a plot It was during the most recent earthquake that the Temple of to subvert the remaining locals; changing them into vile thralls of Dagon became accessible again, deep in the Daggerstone Mines. a demon lord. The PCs discover that the sinister cult of Dagon is Miners trapped underground in the tunnel collapse warily ven- behind this plot and an ancient temple to the demon lord is lo- tured into the complex, seeking an alternate route to the surface. cated in the nearby mine. Guarding this temple is a creature both They soon became victims of the Bride of Dagon’s malevolent ancient and evil. charming gaze. Sensing the nearby settlement of Relford and the possibility of restored power in a new cult, the Bride of Dagon had her newly-charmed miners return to the collapsed tunnel and dig ADVENTURE BACKGROUND for their freedom. The labor was arduous and intensive, and their air soon ran out. Of the ten miners trapped, only Cantor Dagger- stone survived, gasping for breath as he broke through to the main Relford is a small but popular mining community that sits some passage some days later. Once free, the charmed miner wasted no miles off the Trade Way, at the edge of the Daggerstone Hills. This time in leading his comrades back to the olhydrix’s chamber where area is known for the gem deposits that litter the earth, and also they too, fell under her sway. Soon, these few began to work in for Dagger Rock; a natural granite monolith that thrusts more than reviving Dagon’s cult, by slowly and surreptitiously taking mem- one-thousand feet into the sky. bers of the community to the underground temple. There, they Although the area is known for minor tectonic activity and the are subject to the Bride of Dagon’s charming gaze or given over to occasional earth-tremor, no-one was prepared for the earthquake a horrid transformation; becoming dagonspawn zombies. The 2 mine remains shut; closed by a decree from Cantor Daggerstone, before he shut himself away in his mansion. 5. An elderly archaeologist contacts the party; he is organizing a Now, the cult of Dagon has almost full control over Relford. One dig in the nearby Daggerstone Hills; he suspects an ancient city by one, the families in Relford disappear or become changed. If is buried on the site. He asks the party to provide escort and pro- left unchecked, the cult of Dagon will reach beyond Relford and tection for him and his students. Their expedition will take them into the rest of the world. through Relford. 6. The party’s cleric is contacted by her church. The cleric is asked THE DENIZENS OF DAGON’S to investigate the multi-denominational temple at Relford; per- haps seeking to set up a shrine dedicated to their god in the tem- TEMPLE ple; or to investigate missing donations. Such a plot hook will place the party in the direct attention of the cult. Olhydrix hags are unnatural creatures that originated from the vile union between a sect of demon-worshippers and the demons they worshipped. An olhydrix hag is a horrid amalgam of a woman and squid; their upper body resembles a human torso with humanoid PLAYER INTRODUCTION arms and head, while their lower body tapers into the body of a squid with many long and powerful tentacles.