Official Game Adventure The Throne of Bloodstone by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson Table of Contents Introduction ..................................... ...2 Pregenerated 100th-Level Characters . .91 Running 100th-Level Characters ....................... .6 Mazes.......................................65,67-69 Cover Maps for the Palace of Orcus ................ .93, 95 Prologue ........................................ ...9 City Maze of Orcusgate ............................. .94 Battle Arena.......................................96 Chapter 1: Citadel of the Witch-King ................. .12 Chapter 2: Into the Abyss ........................... .30 NPC Capsules Chapter 3: Realm of the Undead ..................... .46 Arctigis ........................................ .15 Chapter 4: The Abyssian Fortress ..................... .57 Zhengyi.........................................19 Chapter 5: Into the Seven Heavens. ................... .78 Klavikus ...................................... ..23 Dimwold........................................50 Epilogue: Return to Bloodstone Pass .................. .82 The Dire Whiner ................................ .55 Fyrillicus........................................58 People of Bloodstone Pass ..................... 85 Baphomet.......................................64 Glyphimhor .....................................72 Pregenerated Player Characters .................. 86 Orcus...........................................76 CREDITS Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR UK Ltd. Editing: Mike Breault ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, BATTLESYSTEM, FORGOT- Cover Art: Keith Parkinson TEN REALMS, DRAGON, PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION, and the TSR Interior Art: Graham Nolan logo are trademarks of TSR, Inc. Cartography: David C. Sutherland III, Stephen Sullivan, and Dennis Kauth This adventure is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Typography: Betty Elmore Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained Keylining: Stephanie Tabat herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc. ©1988 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. TSR, Inc. TSR UK Ltd POB 756 The Mill, Rathmore Road Lake Geneva, Cambridge CB1 4AD WI 53147 U.S.A. United Kingdom Printed in U.S.A. 0-88038-560-X 9228 INTRODUCTION Notes for the the player characters must enter the paign, theres nothing wrong in sam- Abyss and defeat Orcus on his own pling what really high-level play has Dungeon Master territory in order to secure their king- to offer! The four-module Bloodstone Pass dom. The authors acknowledge their As usual, the authors will be campaign series (of which this is part debt to the spirits of such great tradi- pleased to answer questions when four) explores what is one of the most tional dungeon-crawls as the infa- accompanied by a stamped, self- interesting aspects of the AD&D® mous S1, Tomb of Horror, and Q1, addressed envelope, mailed to us game: becoming a ruler. Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Dave using the address on the back cover. Although the Dungeon Masters Sutherland, co-author of Q1, and Good luck, and good adventuring! Guide provides that a character of currently Chief Mapmaker for TSR, is sufficient level can build a castle, hire the designer of the castles of the What Has an army, and set himself (or herself) Witch-King and of Orcus, and his up as a proper medieval ruler, the malevolent, sinister imagination is Gone Before rules given for accomplishing this are greatly appreciated. Players whose characters have not sufficient to allow ruling and role As noted in H3, The Bloodstone adventured in the first three modules playing to go together. Instead, high- Wars, this series was integrated into of the H-series should be familiar level characters who become rulers are the new FORGOTTEN REALMS with the background information normally considered to be retired Fantasy Game Setting from TSR, Inc. that is summarized here. Players who from adventuring. Perhaps from time The Forgotten Realms is the creation are new to the Bloodstone Pass cam- to time these old warhorses in your of the incredibly talented Ed Elmin- paign need to be given the general campaign get trotted out for a partic- ster Greenwood, whose columns in background; it may also not hurt to ularly tough challenge, leaving their DRAGON® Magazine have inspired refresh the memories of the other seneschals behind to administer their many a campaign. A certain amount players. Certain deep background dominions for a while. But mostly the of retrofitting had to take place to information is for the use of the campaign moves on to younger, new- shoehorn this campaign into the larg- Dungeon Master only; the player er characters. er world, including melting a large characters will discover the truth soon More often, players avoid the bur- glacier on the original maps from Ed enough. dens of rulership altogether, prefer- Greenwoods campaign to make This material may be read or shown ring to maintain their high-level room for the kingdoms of Damara directly to the players, or it may be characters as freelance adventurers, and Vaasa. revealed in the course of the adven- ready to move on to the next Pre-generated characters are pro- ture as the PCs explore the area, con- dungeon, carrying their treasure in vided for those players whose charac- duct research, or ask those whom they their backpacks or in the saddlebags ters are not yet of sufficient levels. encounter. of their mounts, or in a convenient Certain situations are built around magical chest that neatly avoids the the specific abilities of these charac- The Kingdoms of ters, but handling those situations issue of encumbrance altogether. Damara and Vaasa It has been our feeling for a long should pose no challenge for the time that there is a lot more that can experienced Dungeon Master. For generations, the cold northern be done with characters who become High-level modules are inherently wastes supported a scant population rulers. The Bloodstone Pass saga is open-ended, because of the vast of hunters, trappers, and poor our attempt to show that high-level range of options available to powerful farmers. These hardy souls scrabbled AD&D® game play can be qualita- characters. It takes skill and a firm a meager living from the hard, stony tively, as well as quantitatively, differ- hand to run such an adventure suc- soil; they barely endured the long, ent from low- and medium-level cessfully, but we have confidence in dark winters. playand just as exciting. your ability to handle the unforeseen But that was before the coming of In this conclusion to the saga, the in the context of the evolving plot. the Witch-King, Zhengyi, who villain that has been lurking just This is the first module written for formed the Kingdom of Vaasa and in behind the scenes, Orcus, Prince of people who run super-high level char- a single night built an evil castle atop the Undead, comes to center stage, as acters. Although we do not endorse a lonely crag, from which his sinister the so-called Monty Haul cam- shadow crept across the land. 2 Some said that Zhengyi had conspired against the others for scraps harvest followed by a long and terri- enlisted the aid of powerful demons, of power and wealth, throwing the ble winter caused mass starvation, or was a demon himself, and this entire south into political chaos. A and dire wolves from the Galenas must have been true, for the King- steady stream of refugees moved preyed on whatever they could find. dom of Vaasa soon raised a powerful south, searching for an ever-elusive Some of the wolves were infected with army of human, non-human, and safety and leaving economic chaos in lycanthropy, compounding the hor- undead warriorsfar more than the its wake. ror. Many people starved in that long poor northern lands could possibly winter, and those who dared to hunt support. And with this army, Vaasa The Barony of Bloodstone for food themselves became fodder became a power to be reckoned with for the dire wolves. Hardship and poverty had long The next disaster struck the follow- in the Forgotten Realms. been no stranger to one small barony. The armies of the Witch-King ing year, when the Witch-Kings arm- The Barony of Bloodstone, so named ies closed the passes through the invaded the peaceful Kingdom of for the deep-green chalcedony Damara without warning. At first Galenas, cutting off the Barony of flecked with red jasper that was Bloodstones remaining source of they seemed unstoppable. But the mined there, had once been a pros- army of Damara was brave and well- wealth. Many families left for the perous, if small, province of Damara, south that year, and the population of trained, and soon the tides of battle located in a verdant valley in the the valley dwindled to a scant fraction turned. For 10 long, bloody years, the Galena Mountains. In addition to the forces of Vaasa and Damara fought, of what it had been. The remaining gems that were its trademark, the bar- humans gathered close to the village neither able to achieve final victory. ony gave its name to Bloodstone Pass, Many thousands of brave warriors and of Bloodstone, abandoning the outly- the major route through the Galenas ing areas. The dwarves, halflings, and fell creatures died. to points north and west, including Then, in the summer of 1147, centaurs who shared the valley Zhentil Keep and the Moonsea. The became clannish and insular, and King Virdin faced the Witch-Kings valley was home to humans, dwarves, cohorts at the Ford of Goliad in what withdrew to their own communities. centaurs, and halflings, who farmed Poverty settled in the valley. Bandits would be the final engagement of the the land, mined the mountains, and long war. Some say it was the treach- and strange creatures began to infest maintained the trade routes. All gave the passes to the south. Escape was no ery of the Kings chief lieutenant, their loyalty to the Baron, and lived in Felix (who was reputed to be secretly a longer possible; the valley of Blood- peace for many generations.