By Robert Young Sample file Fall of the Godtear By Robert Young

This adventure is suggested for players of at-least 8th level. Smaller groups may require additional support NPC's

Set in the during 'The silence of Lolth' as experienced from your players perspective. Beginning in the city of Sschindylryn the players find themselves in the throes of the city's collapse. In their attempt to escape, they encounter Dashnier Zuvvair, a Dark and servant of the demi-power Tethryn Veralde. Under attack against a creature known as a Phaerimm, Dashnier must hold the creature at bay and relinquish the Godstear, a gem containing the soul of . It is up to the party to follow the gem's natural pull towards a hidden temple somewhere in the Anauroch deserts. Along the way dreams, visions and allies reveal the gravity of their quest and the ruin that will befall the realm should they fail.

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“A dangerous ability the kuo-toa possessed An Aboleth intent on taking advantage of Lolth’s absence sets was the contagious nature of their madness. into motion a long awaited plan to rise to a divine status. This is but Possibly owing to their mental abilities or one part of several generational agendas coming to fruition for he simply their weak wills, the initial break of a and many of these eternally calculating creatures. kuo-toa's mind had a 10% chance of causing While the silence of Lolth is underway, the Spider Queen other gogglers around them to suffer from seeking a Yor'thae (Chosen of Lolth) and Jaezred Chaulssin similar episodes. Even though madness contracted this way was confined to temporary instigating uprisings across the , the Aboleth moves to breaks in anyone but the first victim, this was poison the Elven Pantheon and fracture their power. still a very dangerous phenomenon. If not culled Using a Sunken Council of Koa-Toa still residing in the City of or detained quickly, the madness could swiftly the Glass Pool, the Aboleth has provoked madness and belief in a infest the entire community, sending it spiraling diety conjured from his own mind which he has called Gar-Googa. into chaos, not to mention potentially freeing It has nurtured and empowered the Koa-Toa, protecting their slaves and killing important leaders.” systems of faith and punishing those who stray from that intent. The result is a creation of a new diety, manifested through this (July 2007). Monster Manual V. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 94–99 subconscious power to accomplish one task, to poison the soul of a God.

It was only after tell of Lolth’s absence did the Aboleth choose Corellon Larethian as his target. Coupled with miss-information fed to Drow across the Underdark, emboldened by the ambitions of lesser Drow deities eager to take advantage of Lolth’s silence, the Aboleth finally revealed Gar-Googa’s ultimate truth to its Koa-Toa flock, that he will flood all lands and give back what surfacers have taken. Once the ritual to raise the sunken temple from the lake bed is performed the Koa-Toa’s faith slipped into fanaticism.

Sample file Temple of Seniel

More akin to a prison than a place of worship, the temple was built centuries before by a high priest of a long since forgotten God (Though many of their rituals are similar in practice to those of Amunator’s clergy). Seniel was one of several individuals who banded together and sealed away the dreaded Tarrasque, a creature referred by ancients as the walking doom. Located on the rock bed of the Lake of Swords, Seniel’s temple is still presided over by his descendants, Bedine tribes who overwatch the oasis, jealously guarding the Surface Events water keeping outsiders at bay.

What has remained constant over the centuries is the With the silence of Lolth the Spider Queen, her passing of a relic called the Rod of the Tyrant, similar to worshippers and most of their cities fall into disarray. a Rod of Lordly Might however built instead to open Other dark elf power's vie for control of the millions of Seniel’s prison, or more purposely to lock it. worshipers while the magic that acted to power and build Once raised from the lake bed the Koa-Toa’s belief their great cities begins to collapse around them. Countless manifests a divine vessel whose existence poisons the die and gray chambers that had been supported by soul of Corellon Larethian just as the Aboleth intended towering Spires fell to ruin dragging hundreds and while in order to spare her dying father, thousands more from the surface into the inky Wells of the preserves his soul in a gem until a cure can be found. Underdark. The vacuum created by Corellon's absence sends further ripples across the pantheon, dismissing Mythals, failing priestly vestments and even hurtling parts of Arborea from their celestial planes. Eilistraee with aid of her brother Tethryn, a demi power and god of blades, the two spirit the Godstear to the material plane. It isn't long however before the Elven pantheon learns of Eilistraee heedlessness and bends all of creation to return their realms and themselves to their proper stations. Unable to travel in secret, Eilistraee and Tethryn uses his first servant on the prime realm, a Drow known as Dashnier, who takes up the demi powers mantle as an Avatar form. In possession of the Godstear Dashnier takes the fastest routes through the Underdark hoping to bypass surface attacks and the blinding rays of the sun. His travel is cut short however when he encounters an archaic evil known Sampleas a Phaerimm. file City of Sschindylryn - “Sschindylryn.” Forgotten Realms Wiki

Introducing your players to Sschindylryn is determined by the DM and what fits best with your party. In previous sessions the players began within the city as Drow elves who sought to escape the ruin of their house. Others found themselves held as slaves after previously being captured, now in the chaos set free and seeking a way out.

“Sschindylryn is a unique port-of-passage as there are few entrances into the Drow city, all of which are magical portals and heavily guarded. Provided here is a brief description and map. In the back of this adventure are story-hook suggestions and further maps of interior buildings if needed. How long you intend to allow the players to reside in Sschindylryn is up to you. Note that once 'The silence of Lolth' event occurs the magic supporting the cities structural integrity will begin to fail. Alongside this, agents of Jaezred Chaulssin taking advantage of the city's internal chaos plan to collapse the ziggot starting with the temple of Lolth which they hope will begin a domino effect. The adventure begins once the players start their escape. In test play the PC's were used by Jaezred to collapse the Temple of Lolth and the subsequent escape was fleeing the scene. The city's spellcasters specialized in magic of divination and such that allowed easier travel. using their portals to raid other underdark settlements At some point in its history, Sschindylryn lost a against Menzoberranzan. The defeat caused an almost complete demilitarization of the city. What followed was a time of rebuilding the city as a mercantile power Sschindylryn enjoyed, for a Lolth-ruled city, rare political and social stability that resulted from the ruling priestesses' inaction in regards of following Lolth's philosophy of strife, as well as economic stability and power which the male-dominated merchant class has built through surprisingly peaceful means. But Lolth was a goddess who enforced and enjoyed internal strife. Prior to the Silence of Lolth, the ruling priestesses started to fear that their city's stability would cost them the Spider Queen’s favor. Their solution to avert her disfavor was to start killing each other. The priestesses' inability to gather people outside of their church to fight for them resulted in a series of murders which were more or less enacted personally, thus preventing the casualties to spill outside of the priesthood. Due to the priesthood is near-self-destruction, the male dominated merchants took matters in their hands, resulting in a city that was mostly controlled by male drow. After losing, if not nominally at least in the practical sense, their power over the city, some priestesses accelerated the conflict by converting to Kiaransalee and reviving dead priestesses in the hopes of realizing vengeance on other priestesses. The ruling males did not love Kiaransalee's clergy but unlike the time when Lolth's clergy ruled Sschindylryn, they tolerated the new faith, though it wasn't clear whether the tolerance came out of genuine Samplereligious tolerance, hopes that the priesthood killedfile itself into extinction or simple disinterest.” City of Sschindylryn - “Sschindylryn.” Forgotten Realms Wiki

Sschindylryn is contained in a pyramid shaped cavern having three sides each two miles long with the tip two miles high. In the outer edges of the cavern great trenches or moats have been dug around the city with several expanses of stone at various intervals around the city Levels 1-3 are the Gate Houses. Accounting for centre crossing between the two areas. The city is built on approximately a third of the ziggurat's height, these levels a kuo-toan ruin, both above and below the water, and house most of Sschindylryn thousands of gates. And city's even the new architecture retains a piscine style. gates, there is no discernible way in or out of the great The entire city scales up toward the city's center, which cavern. is a giant ziggurat (a mountain of buildings and other structures). Many of the buildings are constructed from Levels 4-6 are the Trade Levels which is the site of most, stone and brick (unusual for a drow city) and are fairly if not all, of the city's trade. close together. They rest on stepped tiers, starting at the bottom of the cavern and climbing towards the ziggurat Levels 7-9 are home to the city's High Houses, or nobles. and continuing up. Sschindylryn's center (the ziggurat) is At the pinnacle of the ziggurat sits the temple of Lolth. split into 9 levels and rises to a height of perhaps 2200 feet or a mile and a half.

Sample file City of Sschindylryn Aboleths Pool

Once Sschindylryn begins to succumb to these events, This chamber has two paths, one leading south west and the player characters cross one of many bridges and another, smaller path to the north east. This path descending towards the lower levels, a massive Stone requires an investigation check (DC 17) to discover and spire falls into the center of the crossing, sending them requires the PC searching to cross the pool of water that cascading into the darkness and landing in a powerful they have just emerged from. Though the Aboleth has no current within the river below. In other play scenarios the immediate interest in harming the players, feel free to sudden collapse of caves or the sinking of surface describe the splashing of water or low chuckle of the landscapes catch the players in dissolving teleportation creature within the pool. If the players attempt to attack the circles, delivering them into the Aboleths Pool. Aboleth he will recede away from them swimming deeper

into the tunnels within. If they are capable of pursuit, the As the players wash up in a dark cavernous pool, they Aboleth will act to defend itself. awaken and hear the deep resonating voice of an aboleth The north eastern path is only large enough for that resides in the pool chamber. He has no interest in single-file travel. It leads to a narrow chamber where a attacking the players, nor is he worried that they may Mimic hides in the form of a mushroom camouflaged attack him. He is curious as to why so many dark elves among other fungi present. and other race slaves have washed into the aqueducts The creature is under the control of the Aboleth and has nearby. Though he is well aware of the Spider Queen's no treasure save for a red Ioun Stone that emits a low dull absence his questioning is more to attune with the players maroon light. Most often the Aboleth sends the Mimic into current mindsets. In their turmoil, the Aboleth has already the surrounding territory to collect information about coated the players in a cerebral mucus that allows him to denizens of interest. 25% of the time the Mimic is not contact them telepathically and deduce their surface present in the chamber. Killing the creature will not anger emotions. If the players refuse to answer, the Aboleth the Aboleth, though he does complain marginally of the questions them using spells. However if they cooperate creature's utility. he'll show them the direct path to leave the chamber though he can't say much about what they'll find beyond the pools in the other chamber. He is much too large to leave this underground pool, he lies. The Aboleths only true concern for the players is their potential to disrupt an integral part of his plan occurring in a few short hours. He is careful however not to disrupt his delving into their minds by simply killing them now, should they prove useful in the future.

If the players agree, The Aboleth will ask them to describe the fall of the city (or their recent adventures, or just simply how they came to be here). The Aboleths cerebral link remains until lesser restoration is cast or until the Players handle or touch the Godstear.Sample Once the Aboleth becomes more aware of their file part in the events, he’ll use this connection to whatever gains he can.