46363 19545

MARCH;APR1L 1987 ISSUE NO. 4.

0—fiB038—522—

7

DANIEL “Pj HOW

The Complete Krynn Source Book

LEAVES FROMJ OF THE LAST HOME

iled by Tika and Caramon Majere, Proprietors

Edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

fIf'

lISiA

ADVENTURES FOR TSR* ROLE-PLAYING GAMESMARCH/APRIL 1987 ISSUE NO. 4

COVER: Grog, thehalf-ogreproprietor of anadventurers'

tavern, expresseshis concern overthe behavior of abar patron. This,the cover art forTrouble at Grog!;,

was beautifullypresented byDaniel Horne.

Hello, and thanks for all the modules

My first assignment as assistant editor of DUNGEON'*Adventures was to read through a large pile of module pro-posals and submissions, then respond to their authors. Intwo weeks, 1 read more modules than in the year I spent as

a TSR games editor. If you’ve recently had a module pro-posal or submission returned to you, please accept our apolo-

gies for the length of time it has taken.

Competition for available space in DUNGEON Adven-tures is very rough. We only publish 20-30 adventures ayear, and we often receive this many submissions in onemonth. I read five months’ worth of submissions in a very

short period of time. The scenarios and plots that I read allseemed to run together, making those that were exception-ally inventive or well written stand out from the crowd.

And, because I read so many modules, I noticed that certainproblems were common in many of the submissions.You won’t impress us with the complicated convolutions of

your plot. We are, however, thrilled to find a gem of an unu-sual idea, explored in well-written prose not strung together

by semi-colons. Remember that DUNGEON Adventurespublishes an average of four adventures per issue. They arenot meant to have the complexity of a TSR stand-alonemodule.Sorry to disillusion some of you, but we don’t always read

your submissions word for word, from page one to the end.It’s your responsibility to send us writing that makes uswant to read it. We get so many submissions that, if we’rebored by page five, we stop reading. Murky, unclear writingin the first few pages, especially if it is accompanied by

typos, spelling errors, and misuses of punctuation, do notmake us want to continue reading.

(continued on page 3)

PUBLISHER; Mike CookEDITOR: Roger E. MooreASSLSTANT EDITOR:Barbara G. YoungEDITORIAL ASSISTANTS:Marilyn Favaro, RobinJenkins, Eileen Lucas,

Georgia Moore, Patrick

Lucien Price

ART DIRECTOR: RogerRauppCONTRIBUTING ARTISTS:Diesel, James Holloway,Daniel Home. Roger Raupp,Valerie ValusekPRODUCTION ASSISTANT:Gloria HabrigaSUBSCRIPTIONS; Pat Scbuk

The Readers LETTERSBack issues and town maps 2

John Nephew KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP(ADD 6-9) Would you trust a thief tolead you to a vampire? .4

Paul Kane ESCAPE FROM THE TOWER OFMIDNIGHT(ADD 24) Two thieves’ guilds fightto the death — with you in themiddle 16

Rick Reid FLUFFY GOES TO HECK(ADD 3-5) Yes, cute widdle Fluffyhas been dognapped, and you mustbrave the flames of Heck to saveher. 28

Grant and TROUBLE AT GROG’SDavid Boucher (ADD 1) Can’t a half-ogre find a

little peace in a riverside town full ofadventurers, bigots, and thieves? .41

No road is ever old.Render saying

Dragons ofAutumn Twilight, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Dear editor;In my module Falcon’s Peak (in

DUNGEON** issue 13), I noticed oneerror that crept in — my fault, since Iforgot to include it in the manuscript.

The main entrance (room 14) is sup-posed to be locked, and one of the brig-and guards in that room has the keys.There is an eyeslit in both doors, so theguards can see whoever comes up to thegates. After all, it would make littlesense for the brigands to stay in Fal-

con’s Peak and leave the front doorunlocked!

David HoweryDillon, Montana

Dear editor;Is it possible to buy a copy of

DUNGEON issue #1 from you, andexactly how much would that be? Also,are you planning to offer two- or five-year subscription rates like most othergaming magazines. Yearly renewals aresometimes diflicult to keep up with.

Brian L. RobertaBlacksburg, Virginia

Back issues ofDUNGEON Adventuresare available for $3.76 each (plus

$3.50 shipping and handling for eachorder under $20.00) through the MailOrder Hobby Shop, P.O. Box 756, LakeGeneva WI 53147. For charge ordersonly, you can call 1-800-558-5977. Wis-consin residents call 1-414-248-362S.

We do not currently offer subscriptionslonger than one year for any ofour mag-azines, but we are now reviewing oursubscription policies; the above situation

may well change.

Dear editor;Both issues ofDUNGEON Adven-

tures I’ve received have had a largecrease right down the middle of thefront cover. I complained to the PostOffice, and they said they can’t do any-thing because they don’t know exactlywhere it happened. They did suggest,however, that you stamp “Do Not Fold”on the paper mailer. This would solvethe problem. Please consider doing this.

Richard PaliNiagara Falls, Ontario

Because of the volume ofsecond-classmail that the postal system must handle,we don’t feel that stamping the mailerswill do much to solve this problem.While the postal machinery has beenknown to shred a few issues beyondredemption (and you should return themto us with a note ifthey are horriblymangled), issues are usually folded byyour mail comer in order to fit theminto your box. Since mail boxes differdrastically in size and location, fivmtiny apartment cubbyholes to large ruralboxes, you’ll haoe to assess your individ-ual situation. Try speakitxg to (or leavinga note for) your mail carrier, asking himor her to deliveryour magazines un-folded (and, hopefully, not left out in the

rain and snow).

Dear editor;One of the letters to the editor in issue

II prompted me to take pen in hand.J.G. Simpson didn’t want to get stuckwith "a bunch of useless” D&D* mod-ules, but wanted to be able to chooseissues based on games played.

I disagree with that, not because I can

use all modules for the games for whichthey are written (I only play the D&Dand AD&D* games), but because a goodDM can adapt any module to fit theparticular game teing played. With alittle work and inventiveness, a gamemodule written for almost any role-playing game can be modified to fit anyother role-playing game, without resort-ing to time portals or portals to otherworlds. What is important in the mod-ule is the situation, the NPCs, and theobjective. The milieu is secondary.Any pre-written module must usually

be modified to fit the group. Why nottake the modiHcation a step further andadapt the module to the particulargame being played? Why shut yourselfoff from a particularly good module justbecause you don’t happen to play thatgame?

I am a great scavenger and adapt allkinds of things to fit the particular

situation I’m in. Game modules are justanother “thing” I can modify to meetmy needs. TVy it yourself.

Sandy Croushore^ul, Korea

Dear editor;I am writing a city-oriented adventure

which involves thieves extensively tosend in to your magazine. I would liketo ask your permission to use materialfrom your section on thieves inDRAGON* Magazine, issue 1116.

1

would note in the adventure that muchof the information on thieves was takenfrom DRA(X)N Magazine.

Eric Riedel

Leavenworth, Kansas

DUNGEON* Advtuim (ISSN «S&TIOSI pMSM MB

LEHERS

Dear editor;Is it permissible to use copies of the

3-D map grids in the Dungeoneer'aSurvival Guide in our manuscript sub-missions?

Jay OuztsCleveland, Mississippi

Ifyou use or adapt material from one

ofour publications, please credit thesource (magazine title, issue number,article title, and author) in your adven-ture. When drawing maps, use whatevergrid you need to make them clear andreadable. Our staffartists will redrawthe maps you submit and must be able todecipher them accurately.

Dear editor;I read and thoroughly enjoyed the

first issue ofDUNGEON Adventures. Ihope, despite the introductory material,

that you will continue to concentrate onmaterial for the AD&D (though not theBATTLESYSTEM’*) game, with adven-tures set in a "traditional” AD&D gameworld (not Nehwon, Krynn, or OrientalAdventures, as the differences in races,

character classes, and theology makethese difficult to integrate into a normalcampaign).

I especially epjoyed Into the Fire

[issue #1}; it was long enough to fill anevening or more, reasonably completewith campaign tie-ins, fit well into mostworlds, and has no devices or treasurelikely to unbalance a campaign. It even

skipped the nearly obligatory “newmonster”!

May I suggest one innovation? ManyDMs, especially some of the better ones,need floor plans more than whole mod-ules. (k>od, well-detailed plans of cas-

tles, villages, and businesses (especiallyinns) are invaluable even withoutmodules.

Sgt. Robert Piepenbrink

Bad Kissingen, West (^rmany

While we are planning to feature onlyD&D and AD&D modules inDUNGEON Adventures, and the mtyor-ity of modules will most likely take place

in the "traditional" setting, we feel thereis room for diversity, and would behappy to read and print well-writtenmodules set in Kara-Tur and otherworlds.

Dear editor;I am a subscriber to DUNGEON Ad-

ventures and have enjoyed all the mod-

ules published so far. One thing I feel islacking, however, is a detailed town orvillage. Such things are very tedious forDungeon Masters to make up, and add aconsiderable amount of life to a cam-paign. Would you consider such a mod-ule in the near future?

Jonathan BaileyManchester, Ibnnessee

We hope Robert and Jonathan havefun with Trouble at Grog’s in this issue.We plan to stick to publishing completeadventures; however, when a town is aswell-detailed as Grog’s abode, DMs maywant to use the buildings and NPCs inother adventures.

Hello, and thanks for all the modules

(continued from page 1)

We also don’t have the time to write a detailed critique of the modules andproposals that we reject. We have developed a checklist of common flaws inorder to facilitate reviewing submissions and getting word back to you as soonas possible. We also try to write brief notes on these form letters. The formletters do not mention every flaw in your submission and, unfortunately, don't

really tell you what you did right. We try to add a personal note for that.Here are some of the recurring problems I found on my epic quest for the

"perfect” module;Do not mention an NPC, monster, or place before you introduce who or what

it is. This often happens in the DM's introduction. T^e editors (and our readers)will not understand. “When the PCs reach the cave. Ormolu hands them afaded scrap of parchment,” if you haven’t previously mentioned that Ormolu isan NPC dwarven cleric.Do not apologize for the poor quality of your xerox copies or the type quality

of your word processor. Ifyou feel you have to apologize, fix the problem. Findanother copy machine that makes better copies. Change the ribbon on yourprinter. There are very few dot-matrix type faces that we find too hard to readif the dots are dark enough, but stay away from fancy fonts and overlarge type.We don't expect authors from outside the U.S. to go to extraordinary lengths

to procure U.S. stamps, but we do expect a self-addressed envelope of sufficientsize to return your manuscript. Authors who live outside the U.S. should sendan International Reply Coupon (available at your local post office) of sufficientamount to cover the return postage. Don’t put Canadian (or other foreign)stamps on your SASE.

If any of this seems overly harsh, please remember that our emphasis mustbe on continuing to produce high-quality magazines. We cannot undertake torun a writing school. The best advice we can give anyone who wants to see hisor her work in print is this; Develop a unique idea; keep both the explanationand the writing style simple; and, take scrupulous care with spelling, punctua-

tion. and grammar.Now that we’re caught up with the backlog of submissions, we should be able

to respond to your module proposals quickly. I’m looking forward to readingyour ideas.

C

DUNGEON 3

KINGDOM INTHE SWAMP

A senior in high school. John Nephewrecently went to the city ofPetrozavodskin the Soviet Union as part of a sister-city delegation from Duluth, Minnesota.He plans to put some Russian flavor infuture modules. This is John's secondappearance in DUNGEON* Adventures.He will also have a short module appear-ing as part ofthe AD&D^ game anthol-ogy 113, Adventure Pack.

Kingdom in the Swamp is an AD&Dadventure for higher-level characters;6th to 9th level would be suitable.While it is necessary to have strongcombatant characters and at least onecleric, it is more important that theplayers be ready to find solutions be-yond the sword or spell book.

Adventure Background

A few days ago, Candor Pletten, a half-ling thief known more for his urbanexploits, returned from a journey to thesouthern jungles and rain forests (or sohe says). Few people have believed himin the past -- usually they have beentoo busy taking inventory of their pos-sessions to even listen to him — butsome are guessing that he may actuallybe telling the truth (certainly, he’s got agood story).Candor left town a couple of months

ago with some other adventurers, buthas come back alone. Most tavern pa-trons are of the opinion that he took hiscompanions’ purses and ran, but whywould he come back to town? And why,then, aren’t his former companions hoton his trail? Candor may be a thief, buthe’s not a murderer. He even gets nau-seated by cockfighting.Maybe the halfling's tale is worth

hearing . .

.

BY JOHN NEPHEW

Follow a crazyhalfling into avampire’s castie.

ArlworV by Valerie VolusekCartography by Diesel

“Well, we were traveling along therivers thereabouts — there are a lotof them, y’know — picking up valu-ables from ancient ruins and thatstuff. Sure, I lightened the load of a

passing trader or trapper on occa-sion, but Gorum didn’t like that.Gorum Grimbeard, the stout dwarfwarrior, that is. 'The other people inthe group were Tbndis Malrynar, ahalf-elf magician, and the priestAntonius Dalsor. We also had a na-tive guide named Melstu.

“It was all going very well (we hada nice pile of goods we had acquired).

4 Issue No. 4

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

until we were invited to Melstu’svillage after saving his life when hewas bitten by a poisonous snake. Ihave this affinity for little things,especially when they’re not mine —big things, too, on occasion — andthat gets me into trouble sometimes.I also have a fair share of curiosity.“So there was this hut in the vil-

lage, and the natives always actedstrange around it, and nobody everwent into it except this one guy whowore lots of bones and feathers andrattles. Of course, I was just dying toknow what was in it. 1 managed tokeep away from it the first day, sincethere was a big tribal feast to occupyme, but the next morning I couldn’thelp myself. In I went, straightaway.

“It was kind ofsmoky inside — somekind of incense — and there was afunny little statuette of an elephant. Itwas gold, with ivory tusks and tinyjewels for eyes. I picked it up, of

course, and started to walk out so Icould show it to Gorum — he likesgems and stuff. Well, on the way out Ibumped into that guy with the feath-ers, and the elephant fell out of myshirt. ‘Um, I uh,’ I said. ‘I put it thereso it wouldn’t get dusty.’

“Featherhead didn’t seem happyabout me borrowing his elephant, soI started running. It took my com-panions about half a minute to real-ize what was wrong, and then theystarted running, too. It’s happenedbefore, and those guys know thatpeople usually aren’t very under-

standing.

“We were in pretty bad shape,since we didn’t get a chance to packany gear. We ran down to the riverand hopped in a couple of canoes andheaded off. We had no armor, fewweapons, and were being chased by atribe of angry natives. After a day ofbeing chased, we made it to wherethe river starts making a swampydelta, a few miles fn>m the ocean.Melstu’s tribe didn’t enter the

swamp; in fact, they laughed andturned around. We figured they’dleave people to watch for us, so wetook our chances with the swamp.“Not too far in, we saw this de-

crepit castle on a little island. Wetied our canoes to a cypress tree andmarched through the soggy ground.We weren’t expecting a lot of hospi-

tality or anything, or even for it to beoccupied — funny idea, anyway,building a castle in a swamp — but itwas just about nightfall and we weredead tired, lb our surprise, it turnedout to be the home of an eccentricgentleman who treated us to a smallbanquet of some kind of cooked meatand vegetables. Rats and marshweeds for all I know, but it waspretty good at the time. The old gent— his name was something like ‘Ken-ther' — said he had no guest rooms,but that we were welcome to sleep inthe dining hall. We accepted and fellasleep in minutes.

“I woke up that night to the cries ofAntonius. A big bat was biting histhroat, and Gorxun was tugging at it.Ihudis was just waking up. Horrified,she cast her burning hands spell at it,but instead of being killed, it turned

into that Mr. Kenther. (Gentlemanindeed! I was somewhat disillusioned.)He just looked at her, and she droppedher dagger and bag of spell materi^sas if she had forgotten what she wasdoing. Gorum stabbed the awful thingwith his knife, but it didn’t hurt thevamp a bit.“Then the vamp gave a strange,

piercing cry and lots of bats startedfluttering through the doors of thedining hall, which opened by them-selves. They weren’t normal bats likewe have around here, but big, tropi-cal, carnivorous ones. I pulled out mymagic dagger and stabb^ at them,but they were in my eyes and Icouldn’t see. Gorum was bellowingwith rage. I bet he killed lots of thewinged devils. I couldn’t take it; Iran out of the castle, followed by thebats. I jumped in one of the canoesand cut the rope to the cypress tree.As soon as the bats came above thewater, it was like they forgot whatthey were doing and just flew away. Ipaddled as fast as I could — paddlingisn’t easy for a 3'2' person — awayfrom the castle.“By midday the next day, I had

made it to the ocean. I had the luckofrunning into a ship of ivory trad-ers, who brought me to a civilizedisland. Now I'm here, two and a halfweeks later. I don’t know if Antoniusand Ihudis and Gorum are alive,dead, or worse, but I want to get backat that vampire no matter what.’’

For the Dungeon Master

Three centuries ago, in the Kingdom ofThrydric, Kenither the Gaunt took thethrone by force with an army of undead.According to legend, he had made a pactwith the Demon Prince of Undead,Orcus; in return for the kingdom,Kenither was to force the population topay homage to the demon, and Orcuswould receive Kenither’s soul after hisdeath.

Kenither was always power hungry,cruel, and wicked, but above all, selfish.After stealing the throne, he overtaxedthe populace to finance his wars. Heignored the demonic pact he had made,but Orcus did not. After six years, theAbyssal Prince returned. Upon seeingthat Kenither had made no effort what-soever to convert the populace and keephis part of the bargain, he became filledwith anger. Demons and undead rav-aged the land, destroying Kenither’sbrutally eflicient government and as-saulting the king’s new castle, reducingit to a smoldering ruin.Orcus ordered Kenither brought be-

fore him. “You are indebted to me,mortal.’’

“For what?’’ asked the man. “For theruins of a once-proud land? By terminat-ing your part of the pact, you haveerased my debt to you.’’Rather than being enraged by the

mortal’s insolence. Oreas was amused.“In a way, my slave, that is true. I shallgive you a new kingdom for even betterterms. Originally you owed me twothings: the homage of the people, andyour soul. It shall not be necessary foryour new subjects to worship me, butyou may never leave your land. If youdo, I shall take your soul.’’Thus. Kenither remained a king, but

not as he v/anted to be. Orcus depositedhim in a steamy swamp far to the south,where he was given a castle on a smallisland of dry ground. His domain ex-tended only to the water around him.Even though his body died in time, hishatred-filled soul kept it animate; Orcuscould not claim his soul until he crossed

the border of his kingdom.Read the boxed-in “Adventure Back-

ground’’ to the players. Candor Flettenwas telling the truth and would greatlyappreciate the player characters’ help.If the characters do not promptly offertheir services, he will beg them to aidhim. He has little money but is willingto offer an emerald as an immediate

DUNGEON 5

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

reward. He supposes (and in conversa-tion appears to be quite certain) thatthe vampire has considerable wealth,just waiting for the valiant adventurers

to claim.

Other people in the tavern (presum-ably where Candor and the player char-acters are at the moment) suggest thepossibility of the vampire being thelegendary Kenither. A bit of researchamong local sages and storytellers re-veals most of the information givenabove. The party should then be suffi-ciently briefed for the quest and canprepare for the journey.Candor Fletten is a 5th-level half-

ling thief(AC 4; MV 9" ; T5; hp 29; #AT1; Dmg by weapon t3T>e; S 12; 1 14; W 9;D 18; C 16; Ch 15; AL NG; pick pockets65%, open locks 62%, find/remove traps50%, move silently 60%, hide inshadows 56%, hear noise 25%, climbwalls 75%, read languages 20%). Hecarries a dagger +2, longtooth. He lostthe rest of his equipment in the jungle,but has been “borrowing” money andvaluables since then. When he meetsthe characters, he has the followingadditional items; a suit of leather ar-mor, a sling and 35 bullets, a potion ofsweet water, an emerald (worth 1500

Random Encounter Tables

Table I: Daytime Thble II: NightRoll Result Roll Result01-03 Babbler 01-03 Babbler04-09 Basilisk 04-14 Crocodile, normal10-15 Boalisk 15-19 Frog, poisonous16-19 Cifal 20-24 Ghaat20-23 Crane, giant 25-27 Night hag24-31 Crocodile, normal 28-34 Pudding, brown32-35 Fly. giant bluebottle 35-39 Raven, giant36-39 Frog, poisonous 4046 Scum creeper40-43 Grippli 47-61 Shadow mastiff4449 Pudding, brown 52-58 Snake, poisonous50-53 Raven, giant 59-69 Spider, huge64-61 Rat, giant 70-72 Sundew, giant62-66 Scum creeper 73-83 Throat leech67-72 Snake, poisonous 84-90 Ibad. poisonous73-80 Spider, huge 91-93 Wight81-88 Throat leech 94-98 Will-o-Wisp89-94 Ibad, poisonous 99-00 Wraith95-00 Volt

gp), 32 gp. 5 pp, and 24 sp. Despite whatall the taverners and patrons say. Can-dor won’t steal from his companions andfriends. He dislikes combat and violence(“Why hurt ’em? You can only kill themonce, and it bugs them more ifyou rob'em blind anyway.”), but will defendhimself if and when necessary. Hiscuriosity is insatiable, and he is con-stantly asking nosy questions.

The Swamp

The Dungeon Master may choose toexpand the adventure by adding detailsof the sea journey to the swamp. Other-wise, it may be supposed that the partycan secure passage on a merchant ves-sel (for a fee of 100 gp) and then set offand travel through the swamp in dug-out canoes (each canoe costs 30 gp andholds two characters and all theirequipment).

Candor has a general idea of wherethe castle is; the swamp map includedwith this module depicts that area. Fourterrain types are indicated on theswamp map, and these require furtherexplanation;

Deep Water: Deep enough for canoesand other small craft to move normally.No above-the-surface vegetation.Shallow Water: The bottom gets in the

way of movement of water craft. Wadingis possible, but because of the thick silton the bottom, movement is reduced by50%, and characters receive a + 1 pen-alty to armor class in combat. The siltybottom doesn’t affect swamp monsters.

Reeds are often found growing herealong with the usual swamp trees.Bog: This is shallow water where the

vegetation has become a thick layer ofwaterlogged turf. The stench of rottenmaterial is strong. Movement is reducedto two thirds and armor class is normal.Most native monsters of the region arephysically adapted to move withoutpenalty in the bog.Firm Ground: These are islands of

high ground, either here for eons or

created more recently by a largebuildup of silt and bog. Combat andmovement are conducted normally. Ifthe characters want to camp, the bestplace is on firm ground.The number of wandering monsters

encountered is up to the DM’s discre-tion. Ihke into consideration the party'sstrength and composition. A randomencounter should be a challenge but notnecessarily fatal (except perhaps to thecreature encountered).

Swamp Encounter Key1. Greenhag Cave. A cave dug out of

the side of the high ground here is thehome ofa greenhag (AC -2;MV12'7/12"; HD 9; hp 46; itAT 2; Dmg 7-8/7-8;SA mimicry, audible glamer, dancinglights, invisibility, pass without trace,change self, speak with monsters, waterbreathing, weakness,', SD surprise 5in 6; SD surprised 1 in 20; magic resis-tance 35%; AL NE). Despite the manyedibles in the swamp, the ’hag tires ofrats, snakes, spiders, and an occasional

6 Issue No. 4

KENITHER’S

SWAMP

DUNGEON 7

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

bird. Visitors for dinner are always awelcome change in diet.Her cave is damp and cool. Several

varieties of harmless fungi are growing

on the walls and ceiling. The floor iscovered with marsh reeds on which lie amoldy bag filled with reeds (if searchedcarefully, two amber stones worth 100

gp each can also be found in it) and areed basket containing 212 gp, 37 pp,three bloodstones (base value 50 gpeach), and a dead frog.

2. Statue. On the crest of this hill,overlooking Kenither’s castle, stands alife.size stone statue of Orcus. It used to

be more majestic and terrifying; threecenturies of weather have taken theirtoll. Nonetheless, its gloating expres-

sion is apparent. Kenither can see itevery day, but the statue is beyond hisdomain and power.

3. Cypress Tree. Here, on the out-skirts of Kenither’s kingdom, the secondcanoe of Candor’s party remains tied tothe cypress tree.

4. Kenither's Castle. Refer to thenext section for the full description of

the castle and its occupants.5. Grave Hill. This island of firm

ground in Kenither’s kingdom is cov-ered with graves. In them lie various

hapless persons who were forced toserve the vampire. Kenither prefers notto create lesser vampires because heloses power over them if they ever leavehis kingdom (see “Melstu’s Village”).Instead, he tries to charm his victims.They serve him for the remainder oftheir natxural lives. When they die, heputs their remains here and animatesthem as zombies to further serve him.The hill has 14 graves, each open and

containing a rotting corpse. The zom-bies (AC 8; MV 6' ; HD 2; hp 9 each;#AT 1; Dmg 1-8; always strike last; SDimmune to sleep, held, cold) have in-structions to come to life and slay any-one besides Kenither who comes to thehill. Kenither is also able to come hereand command them to any other pur-pose. This is useful if he is doing badlyagainst the player characters.

6. Outlaw Camp. This bit of dry landis the camp of a small group of “explor-ers.” They are outlaws of a distin-guished sort, several having prices ontheir heads in civilized lands. They areexploring in search of any riches thatthe jungle might hold, and they arehappy to incidentally rob and kill any-one they meet in the process.There are eleven outlaws. Their

leader is Almund Stavin (AC 4; M 9';F8; hp 46; #AT 3/2; Dmg by weapontype; S 17, 1 13, W 12, D 10, C 12, Ch11; AL NE; has chain mail, shield,broad sword, and kandaxe ^l). Hieright-hand man is a half-ore assassinnamed Zhongir (AC 6; MV 12' ; A6; hp26; tfiiT 1; Dmg by weapon type S 15,

1

10, W 10, D 16, C 15, Ch 4; AL LE; hasleather armor, spear, dagger, and twoknives balanced for throwing). Theremaining nine outlaws are 2nd-levelfighters (AC 6; MV 9'; F2; hp 13; #AT 1;Dmg by weapon type; AL NEl/LE/CE;have studded leather armor, shields,morning stars, and knives).The camp itself consists of four tents.

Three are for the 2nd-level fighters.Besides personal articles (clothing, etc.),each tent contains 2-20 gp worth of low-value items (assorted coins and trin-kets). The leaders’ tent also contains avery heavy locked strongbox containingthe band’s treasure; 212 pp, 254 gp, fourgems (base value 500 gp), and a goldtore set with two garnets (worth 300 gptotal).

7. Wounded Thessalhydra. Lying inthis stagnant pool of water is a woundedthessalhydra (AC 0; MV 12' ; HD 12; hp35; #AT 6; Dmg 1-6 (x4Vl-12/l-20; SA

acid saliva, spitting; SD immune toacid; AL N). It lost four of its heads andsustained some serious body damagewhen it entered the territory of afroghemoth deeper in the swamp. Itcrawled back here and is resting; itssevered heads will grow back. Anythingthat comes near the thessalhydra isattacked, but it won’t strain itself bypursuing prey. It has no treasure.

8.

Algoids. This pool of water is filledwith algae which have formed into twoalgoids (AC 5; MV 6" ; HD 5; hp 27, 26;#AT 2; Dmg 1-10/1-10; SA control trees;SD immune to edged weapons of lessthan +2 bonus, immune to fireballs andlightning; AL CN). The algoids attackanything that nears the pool, but do notpursue opponents beyond the adjacentbog area.

If characters search the bottom of thepool, they have a 50% chance of findinga gold necklace set with seven jadestones (1,700 gp total).

The Castle

The castle is fairly small, with only twotowers: one square and one round. It isabout 40' wide and 50' long, with wallsabout 25’ high. Vines, mosses, and fungithrive on the walls. It is evident that noattempt has been made to keep theoutside in good repair. Despite its goodfoundations, the castle has settled a bit,giving it a slight tilt and a few largecracks in the walls where more vegeta-tion has gained purchase.Because he can be found anywhere in

the castle, the vampire is describedhere. Kenither is a vampiric 9th-Ievelfighter/lOth-level magic-user (AC 1; MV12’/18"; HD 8-*-3; hp 60; #AT 3/2 or 1;Dmg 5-10 or by weapon or spell; SAenergy drain (2 levels), summon bats,charm gaze; SD + 1 or better weaponneeded to hit, immune to many magicaland poison attacks, takes half damagefrom cold and electricity, regenerates 3hp/round, assume gaseous form at will,shape change to bat form at will).Kenither is a unique vampire with

some special powers and limitations. Ifhe passes beyond his island/bog domain(the border is the edge of the water —see the swamp map), voluntarily or not,Orcus will receive his soul. The vampirebody will crumble and dissolve intomuddy swamp water. Because of hisundead immunities, he is unable to beforced to leave bis kingdom while“alive;” if reduced to zero hit points.

8 Issue No. 4

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

he becomes gaseous and flees to hiscoffin, where his body reforms and re-generates. He must, therefore, be car-ried out of his domain while in thecoffln, after having been reduced to zerohit points. If his coffins (he has someextras in the cellar) are destroyed, hereforms elsewhere in his domain butcannot have more than 35 hp without acoffin. The normal ways of killing vam-pires (wooden stake, etc.) won’t work.Kenither can survive direct sunlight,

but he dislikes it and it penalizes hisattacks and armor class by two points.While not affected by garlic (actually, helikes the stuff), this vampire, like o^-ers, cannot be seen in a mirror or touchholy symbols and holy water. If con-fronted by mirrors or holy symbols in anattempt to force him off his kingdom, heturns into a bat or becomes gaseous,and moves to a place from which he canresume combat.He is unable to summon wolves, since

there aren’t any in his domain, but 12giant bats (AC 8; MV 3'’/18'; HD 1; hp5 each; #AT 1; Dmg 1-4; AL N) sleep inthe trees of his kingdom. He may sum-mon these. During the day, all 12 comein answer to his call, but at night mostare out hunting, and a roll of ldl2 de-termines how many are within rangeand come. Summoned bats arrive in 1-3rounds. There used to be more bats, butGorum Grimbeard and Candor killedquite a few.

As a fighter, Kenither can make threeattacks in two rounds and utilizes thefighters’ combat table when using aweapon. He has some weapons aroundhis castle, but doesn’t regularly carryone on his person because he can't re-tain it in bat or gaseous form. IfKenither plans to attack the party, he islikely to pick up a weapon from a roomadjacent to the party and then attack.He cannot drain energy while using aweapon, but because of his dislike forcreating other vampires, he prefersusing weapons unless heavily pressed.As a lOth-level magic-user, Kenither

has learned the following spells: alarm,

animate dead, dancing lights, darkness16' radius, detect invisible, dimensiondoor, dispel magic, Board’s black tenta-

cles, hold person, magicjar, Melfs acidarrow, mirror image, taunt, tongues,

and unseen servant. His complete spellbook is listed under room 6, the study. Ifthe DM feels it appropriate, he mayhave learned different spells from thoseon the list. Also, as creator of the ho-

monculous in the laboratory (room 4),he can see and hear through its eyesand ears and communicate with it tele-pathically from anywhere within hiskingdom. The homonculous may beused by the vampire to keep an eye onthe paity’s movements in other rooms.If the homonculous is killed, Kenithersuffers 2-20 hp damage.Candor Fletten's three companions

are all in Kenither’s castle, in one formor another. Kenither has removed andhidden their armor and weapons. Theirstatistics and descriptions are presentedhere:

Antonius Dalsoi; 4th-level humancleric (was 6th-Ievel before beingdrained by the vampire): AC 10; MV12”

;hp 25; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon; S

14, 1 13. W 16, D 8, C 15, Ch 14; AL LG;spells: aid, command, cure light wounds( X 3), hold person, messenger, purify food& drink, withdraw.Antonius is a pious priest, kind-

hearted and fnendly. He was adventur-ing to attract attention to his deity

(DM’s choice from lawful good deities).He also hoped to convert some nativesand, though Candor disrupted thatdream, he has always been patient withthe little thief. See area 3.

Gonim Grimbeard, 7th-level dwarffighter: AC 10; MV 6" ; hp 62; Dmg byweapon; S 18/99, 1 14, W 13, D 10, C 16,Ch 7; AL LG.Candor looks up to Gorura with good

reason. In the heat of battle, Gorum’sprowess is terrible to behold. As hisname suggests, Gorum is generally dourand serious; he laughs only at the prob-lems Candor gets him into. Somehow hetolerates, maybe even likes, the klepto-maniacal halfling (though his friendsknow better than to suggest this aroundhim). Gonun is a loyal worshipper ofClanggedin Silverbeard. He prefers tofight with axes, but on occasion uses amace. See area 5.Tandis Malrynar, 5th-level half-elf

magic-user: AC 9; MV 12" ; hp 14; #AT1; Dmg by weapon; S 9, 1 17, W 13, D16, CIO, Ch 13;ALNG.Ihndis is strangely shy and quiet for

an adventurer. She feels comfortable inneither the mainstream society of hu-mans nor that of elves. Through adven-turing, she meets a variety of people,travels extensively, and also gets anopportunity to develop her magicalskills. Her traveling spell book was leftin Melstu’s village. The remainingspells she has memorized are flaming

DUNGEON 9

KENITHER’S

CASTLE

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

1 0 Issue No.4

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

sphere, light, shocking grasp, spider

climb, aod web. See areas 1 and 2.

The vampire’s actions are largely leftto the DM’s discretion, with the follow-ing guidelines. The vampire won’tstrike immediately: he first observes

the party to find strengths, weaknesses,

and special attributes. He may strike atany opportune time. He is likely to firstm^e an attack in room 3, though thisneed not be the case (especially if theparty takes the stairs down first). Hemay take gaseous or bat form as it suitshim, either to escape or to lure the

party elsewhere (such as to Grave Hill).Have fun taunting the party, but

remember that they should be able toeventually defeat Kenither — which ofcourse allows him to regenerate in hiscoffin. The party will probably try all ofthe conventional methods of destroyinga vampire, but the coffin and body mustbe carried out of the kingdom to perma-nently slay him. It is recommended thatexperience points be given for the non-

permanent slaying of Kenither, but theamount should be doubled if the partydiscovers and takes advantage of hisweakness.

Castle Encounter Key

1.

Dining Hall

Centered in this room is a 20'-longoak table of finest quality. Places areset for twenty people. Five placesettings are clean; the rest are cov-

ered with a thick layer of dust. Eachplace is set with a somewhat tar-nished silver plate, a rusty steel

knife, a silver spoon, and a crystalgoblet. The tablecloth is molderingpurple silk. Spaced along the lengthof the table are five silver candela-

bras, each with lit candles, havingonly token effect in dispelling theshadows of the place. Ihere are twodoors in the west wall, 26' and 30’

from the double front doors in thesouth wall.

Kenither set the table a couple ofcenturies ago and sees no point in re-moving and washing the dishes. Eachsilver plate is worth S gp, each goblet isworth 1 gp, and each goblet is worth 15gp. The candelabras are worth 200 gpapiece.

On the wall opposite the main door, ashield that displays Kenither's coat-of-

arms hangs above two crossed polearms: a bardiche and a halberd.Kenither is proficient with bothweapons.The 12'-high ceiling is mostly teak

beams and planks. A high, vaultedstone arch at the midpoint of the roomsupports the ceiling of this room and thewall between rooms 3 and 4 on thesecond floor.Characters will presumably come in

through the front doors. The doors openeasily, and there is no one in the dininghall. For every round that the charac-ters spend in the dining hall, there is a5% chance that 'Ihndis Malrynar comesin. If the characters knock on the frontdoors, they open on their own, and 'Ibn-dis arrives in the next round to see whoor what is making the noise. (See room2 for 'Ibndis's behavior.)

la. Spiral Staircase

The door opens onto a small landing.A stone staircase, its treads worndown from years of use, spirals up-ward and disappears downward intodarkness. Two doors exit the stair-well in the east and south walls.

Neither of the doors from the stairwell

are locked.

2.

Kitchen and Pantry

The pantry is a lO'-wide corridor thatruns south from the dining hall door.'The walls on each side are covered

with 2'-wide shelves which holdpreserved foodstuff's in casks, crates,

jars, boxes, and bottles.

If the characters walk 15' down thepantry, describe the kitchen to them.

'The pantry opens out into a kitchenwhich occupies the ground floor of asquarish tower. There is a fireplacein the southwest comer that ventsthrough the wall, inadequately re-moving the smoke. Slung over thefireplace is a cauldron. The rest ofthe room contains two tables andassorted cooking tools and foodstuffs.

Much of what is stored in the pantryremains from when Kenither last hadhuman servants, some even from whenhe was human himselfl 'The old stuffhas much variety, from friiit (shriveled.

rotten, or moldy) to vinegar (once wine)to worm-infested meat. Recent additionsto the store consist mainly of pickledmarsh weeds and rat meat. Kenithercan eat, and does on occasion (such aswhen entertaining guests), but does notneed food for sustenance.The kitchen cauldron contains a stew

of tender marsh weeds and fresh ratmeat seasoned with spicy ground bark.Among the other foodstuffs is a loaf ofbread. It has an unusual taste, the flourbeing made from the seeds of anothermarsh plant.

If Ihndis did not go into the dininghall to meet the visitors, she is in thekitchen preparing the next meal (orasleep on a pallet in the corner if it isnight). Thndis is under the influence ofKenither’s charm gaze. She does notremember the night Candor fled. Infact, she remembers very little at all ofher life before coming here, and it takesher a few minutes to recognize her half-ling friend. She feels that she leads acontented existence here, organizing thekitchen, preparing meals, and so forth.A big project she hopes to accomplish inthe future is removing the dust from thedining hall.

If questioned about (^rum and Anto-nius, Ibndis says that she has no idea ofthe dwarfs whereabouts (after she re-members who he is) but has seen Anto-nius a few times. She thinks thatAntonius is also in the service of HisM^esty (as she refers to Kenither) butcannot be sure because she is forbiddento leave this floor of the castle.

The vampire's charm may be broken,but while it is in effect, Ibndis cannotuse her spells and won't leave this levelof the castle. She is not familiar withany of the rest of the castle.

3.

Bedroom

'This luxurious bedroom contains alarge bed with silk covers, a teak-wood dresser, and other comfortablefurniture. Hung over the bed is apicture of a gaunt young man wear-ing ceremonial robes and jewelry. Anoak wardrobe sits in the west cornerof the room.

Clever characters might look for amirror in this room, but won’t find one.The portrait is of Kenither in his yearsas monarch of Thrydric, and mightbring a price of 3,000 gp from a sage or

DUNGEON

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

collector. The wardrobe contains muchclothing of Kenither’s size, almost allmoth-eaten and falling to rags. Proppedin the far left corner of the wardrobe isa long sword, and piled against the backwall are the hapless adventurers’ armorand weapons.There is a secret panel in the back of

the wardrobe that opens to reveal a nichein the stone wall behind. Inside the niche

is a cache of Kenither’s treasiu^: 700 gp,500 pp, 4 sapphires (1,200 gp each), and adiamond (worth 5,(KXt gp).Antonius lies on the bed, bound by a

rope of entanglement. When the charac-ter party enters the room, Kenither has

possessed him by means of the vam-pire’s magicjar spell. “Antonius” ^eetsthe party and “recognizes” his old com-panion Candor. Because Kenither has

neither control of nor access to the mindof Antonius, he largely has to play it byear in dialogue with the party. He asksto be freed. If he is released, he attacks

the party with spells and then tries toget and use the long sword from thewardrobe. If the party refuses to free

him, he frees himself, since he knowsthe rope’s command words (Antoniusdoes not). Kenither leaves Antonius’sbody if it is reduced to 5 hit points orless. He returns to his magicJar, a crys-tal button on a shirt in the wardrobe.

Kenither's body (in gaseous form) is also

in the wardrobe.

If the party has already destroyed thevampire when they first enter thisroom, Antonius has his own mind but isstill bound by the rope ofentanglement.

3a. Hall and Stairwell

A narrow landing at this level opensinto a lO'-wide hallway. There is anoaken door set into the stone corridorjust on the left as you exit the stair-well, and a similar door 10' beyondthat. A third door closes off the endof the corridor 20' away.

None of the doors leading from thehallway are locked.

4. Laboratory

This room is evidently a laboratory,filled with containers, substances,

and tools. Items are cleared awayfrom the center of the room where apentode has been drawn on the floorin front of a podium.

Kenither cleared away the debris inthe center of the room recently. He hasspent the last century or so in research

to find a way to conjure and controlOrcus, but has not had much success.This set-up is for a minor experiment,trying to summon and control a mephit,that Kenither is preparing to try.

Kenither has been quite involved inalchemy over the centuries. Among theparaphenelia here are 30 vials of liq-uids. The majority are harmless andhave no effect on the imbiber. There arethree vials with poisonous contents,

which cause nausea and incapacitatethe character for 2-12 turns. Five morevials have special contents: holy water,unholy water, oil, a potion ofextra heal-ing, and a potion of restoration (see endof module). The specific appearance ofthe liquids is left to the DM. Some ideascan be found in the Dungeon MastersGuide, Appendix K.'The lalwratory also contains several

bottles filled with metal filings, includ-

ing silver (worth 15 sp), electrum (15 epvalue), gold (15 gp value), and platinum(76 gp value).Any other particulars of the chamber

can flesh^ out by the DM as neededor desired. Refer to the DMG, page 218,“Magic-user Fxu’nishings,” for morepossibilities.

A homonculous (AC 6; MV e'/lS"; HD2; hp 11; #AT 1; Dmg 1-3; SA bite causessleep for 5-30 minutes; SD savingthrows as Kenither; AL N) is hidingbehind the podium. It keeps a carefuleye on the party and, if possible, at-tempts to secrete itself upon one of thecharacters — in a backpack, for exam-ple. It is then able to spy on the partyfor Kenither (as the homonculous’screator, Kenither can use the creature's

senses) and possibly make use of itssleep-inducing bite at an opportunemoment. If the homonculous is discov-ered and attacked, it bites its attackerand flees, if possible. The creature hasrelatively few hit points and, if killed,causes Kenither to suffer 2-20 hp dam-age. The homonculous therefore avoidsdirectly confronting the party, instead

following and harassing as best it can.

6. Study

This room must be a small library orstudy. There is a desk with an opentome on it and several sheafs of

parchment with writing nearby.Hanging over the desk, suspendedfrom the ceiling by strong hemp cord,are a gold-gilt birdcage and a lit oillamp. Bookshelves line the walls andare quite filled.

The lamp is quite grimy on the out-side, but cleaning reveals it to be madeof gold with platinum inlays and worth1,000 gp. 'The parchment has been writ-ten on in an archaic tongue {compre-hend languages or a thiefs readlanguages ability is necessary). It con-tains notes, all pertaining to the conju-ration of demons of lord/prince status.The tome is a general overview of popu-lar methods for the summoning andcontrol of denizens of the lower outerplanes. Some of the methods recom-mended may no longer be in commonuse as the volume dates from almost430 years ago — it was an antique whenKenither was first dabbling in the darkarts.

The DM can detail the volumes as hedesires. The majority of the books per-tain to demonology and alchemy, or areKenither’s journals.

'Two texts should be of interest to theparty. The first is the vampire’s spellbook. This large volume has “Kenither”written in gilt script on what appears tobe the cover. In fact, the binding of thebook has been reversed. The first pagebehind the cover (actually the last inrelation to the contents) has a sepiasnake sigil drawn upon it. When turnedover and read from the back cover, thisbook contains Kenither's full spell list:Level 1: alarm, dancing lights, firewa-

ter, identify, mending, Nystul’s magicaura, read magic, sleep, taunt, unseenservant, wizard markLevel 2: darkness 15' radius, detect

invisible, ESP, fi>rget, know alignment,Melfs acid arrow, mirror image,preserve

Level 3: dispel magic, explosive runes,

hold person, Melfs minute meteors,sepia snake sigil, tonguesLevel 4: dimension door, Evard's black

tentacles, hallucinatory terrain, poly-

morph other, wizard eyeLevel 5: animate dead, contact other

plane, feeblemind, magicJarThe other book has no title on the

outside, but the first page reads “Al-chemy Notes” in a careful script. Thecontents that follow aren’t quite so

neat, and much of the text is marked

12 Issue No. 4

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

by 80 many notes, additions, comments,and corrections as to make it look like afirst-draft module manuscript. Oneformula is written out clearly; it is for a

potion of restoration (see room 4 and theend of the module). The instructions arefairly complex, but understandable byany alchemist. The basic ingredientsare the venom of an adult crystal spider(see end of module for stats), three tad-pole brains, and the tongue and eye ofasnake, all to be boiled in marsh water.The birdcage is occupied by Gorura

Grimbeard, polymorphed into a booka(AC 7; MV 12"/18"; #ATnil; Drag nil;SD invisibility). Though he has bookashape and abilities, (^rum has retainedhis own hit points, personality andmentality. A dose of the potion ofresto-ration in the laboratory (room 4) or a

successful dispel magic restores him tohis true form.

Gonun sits despondently on the floor ofhis cage, lost in depression over his cap-

tivity and polymorphed state. He won’treact immediately to the party's entrance

and is 90% likely to be invisible. But,when the party begins to rummagearound the study, he peers between thegolden bars to see who’s there — the vam-pire has probably never made so muchnoise. He is ecstatic to recognize Candor.IfCandor isn’t with the group, he is stillhappy to see anyone who is neither un-dead nor ensorcelled.

After attracting the characters’ atten-

tion, Gorum explains his condition andasks to be freed. He then relates whathe knows of what happened after Can-dor left. He killed all of the giant bats(the 12 now in the kingdom were eitherout hunting at the time or chased Can-dor beyond the kingdom’s edge). Duringthe fight, the vampire disappeared, asdid Tbndis and Antonius. Ciorum beganto search the castle and was ambushedas he left the dark stairwell on thisfloor. The vampire cast a spell on himthat cursed him to his present mis-shapen form and imprisoned him in thebirdcage. He knows nothing else of thecastle except that Kenither seems tospend a great deal of time in this room,often in the company of the homoncu-lous. (jorum believes the homonculousis a familiar of some sort, perhaps aquasit or imp (neither of which, like thehomonculous, Gorura has ever seenbefore).

6. Roof

The round tower has two doors,locked from the inside, at the top of aspiral staircase. The doors lead to theroof and battlements. The south doorfaces 20' of walkway which ends ashort flight of open-air stairs to the

top of the square watchtower. Theother door leads to a walkway thatmakes a 90° right turn after 15',continues for 35', turns right again,

and ends at the locked door to thewatchtower.

It is conceivable that the characters

may have climbed the castle wall orflown here to gain entrance. Because allthe doors leading down are locked fromthe inside, characters must either forcethem open or pick the locks.Flying over the castle has a 5%

chance per turn of attracting thevampire’s attention. He may decide topretend he does not see the flier,preparing elaborate indoor traps

instead, or he may cause the local giantbats to attack — whichever courseseems to have the best chances ofdestroying the invader.

7. Watchtower

'The inside of the tower is filled withfine, weblike, glassy strands. 'The

effect is strange, giving the room awintery aura that contrasts sharplywith the humid, tropical swamp.

Cleaning away the webs reveals thisroom to have been a guard’s room, withbroken table, stool, and bed. There is anintact, locked box containing the posses-sions of the room’s former inhabitant:clothing, a silver dagger with a topazset in the pommel (worth 520 gp total),and a Manual ofBodily Health.A crystal spider (AC 4; MV 16" *18";HD 4 -t-4: hp 36; #AT 1; Dmg 1-3; SAcrystalization; AL N) of the largest sizelairs here. It lives well, preying mostlyon the small creatures (snakes, lizards,rats, and an occasional bird) of the king-dom. It is relatively safe from harmbecause the swamp’s larger creatureshave learned to avoid the kingdom for afew centuries now. The spider once hada mate, but Kenither killed it and usedits venom for the creation of his potionof restoration (see room 4 and the end of

DUNGEON 13

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

module).

The spider, sensitive to the vibrationscaused by the characters’ movements,hangs from a web immediately abovethe doorway. It thus has a 4 in 6 chanceof surprising the first character Even ifit doesn’t, it automatically gains theinitiative for the first round of combat.

8. CeUar

The stairs descend to a cellar, but aniron gate bars entrance. The gate islocked. The cellar has a musty smelland appears not to have been dis-turbed for some time. Everything iscovered by a thick layer of dust.

Barrels, crates, and four woodencoffins are spread about the room ina disorganized mess.

The key to the locked iron gate is inthe bedroom (room 3). If the key is notfound, the lock may be picked or thecharacters may attempt to bend bars togain entrance.

The five barrels each hold twentygallons of oil. The crates contain as-sorted weapons, including many arrowsand crossbow bolts. These stores wereintended for siege defense but haven’t

ever been needed. Three coffins areKenither’s spares. The other contains aflesh golem and leans against a secretdoor.

Beyond the secret door is a small roomwith a trap door in the floor. A ladderdisappearing down into the dark isrevealed when the trap door is opened.The ladder leads to the crypt (room 9).There are several tiny holes in the se-cret and trap doors through whichKenither can pass in gaseous form.The flesh golem (AC 9; MV 8" ; hp 40;

#AT 2; Dmg 2-16/2-16; SD normal weap-ons do no damage, most spells do nodamage, but fire-and cold-based spellsslow it for 2-12 rounds, electrical at-

tacks restore 1 hit point per die of dam-age; AL N), created by Kenitherthrough the use of a Manual of Golems,is instructed to attack anyone whoopens or tries to destroy the coffin inwhich it resides. It is also instructed tobreak out and attack if its coffin ismoved.

9. Crypt. This dusty side room isreached by a ladder descending from the

cellar trap-door. The door to the crypt isoak, painted umber to hide the sepiasnake sigil drawn upon it. The sigil is

set off if the door is touched. The door isalso locked; because Kenither is able topass through the keyhole in gaseousform, he keeps the key inside hissarcophagus.

The crypt itself lies beyond the door.The walls, ceiling, and floor are of blackrock. Just 10' beyond the door and alittle to the right stands a white marblepedestal. A black iron brazier filledwith incense lies upon it. There are fourwhite marble sarcophagi on each side ofthe room, leading to Kenither's sarcoph-agus, made of blackest marble, at thefar end of the room.The sarcophagi, including Kenither’s,

are labeled A through I on the map.Each sarcophagus holds a removablewooden coffin. Their other contents areas follows (all creatures are hostile to

the party):

A; Holds 5,000 cp.B: The inside of this coffin is infested

by a growth of yellow mold (AC 9; MV0"

; HD n/a; hp n/a; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8; SApoison spores; SD affected only by fire-based attacks; AL N).C: Although it appears to be empty,

the wooden coffin is itself actually akiller mimic (AC 7; MV 3"; HD 10; hp42; lAT 1; Dmg 3-12; SA glue; SDcamouflage; AL N).D: Empty.E: A mummy (AC 3; MV 6" ; HD 6 3;

hp 29; lAT 1; Dmg 1-12; SA fear, dis-ease; SD harmed only by magical weap-ons, which do half damage; magical firedoes 1 damage per die; AL LE) isentombed here. It wears a bejewelednecklace worth 2,350 gp.F; This coffin is filled with treasure:

2,000 sp, 1,500 ep, 200 gp, and 20 gems(base 10 gp each).G: Empty.

H: This coffin is filled with rocks. One,on the bottom, is a philosopher's stone.

I: 'Two things are of note on the out-side of Kenither’s regal sarcophagus.

On top of the black marble sits a candle-holder with two unlit tapers in it. Thecandleholder is, in fact, a dicerion oflight and darkness, but the candles arenot of the specially prepared variety.

Secondly, there is an inscription on thefoot of the sarcophagus. It is in an ar-chaic dialect ofCommon and reads;

Betten to bolb Myself beatblcssOiaN to Rule the wonlb fOR a ceNtuny.

There is a small hole going throughthe top of the coffin and sarcophagus,allowing gaseous entrance and exit by

Kenither. 'The coffin is of exotic teak-

wood, the inside lined with red satinquilted over waterfowl down. A magnifi-cent crown rests atop a down-filled satinpillow. The crown is of silver, decoratedwith gold leaf and wire and set withfour jewels: a diamond, a ruby, an emer-ald, and a sapphire. The whole piece isworth 8,500 gp. Next to the pillow lies ascepter. It, too, is of silver decoratedwith gold. The head of the scepter hasfour faces, each enameled withKenither’s coat of arms, and is tippedwith a black sapphire. 'The scepter isworth 6,000

If Kenither was previously reduced tozero hit points, he is in his coffin regen-erating, with the crown on his head andthe scepter in his hands. If the partyhas not yet defeated him, he waits untilthey have opened the other sarcophagi,hoping that they will be weakened bythe monsters therein. When his ownsarcophagus is opened, he coalescesfrom gaseous form and attacks.

Concluding the Quest

After the rescue. Candor and his friendsthank the party. They have no valu-ables but instead relinquish their rightsto a share of the treasure. They thentravel upriver with the intent to apolo-

gize to Melstu’s people and perhapseven get back their equipment. Theadventure could be extended if some orall of the party would like to go along.“Featherhead,” actually named Udeb-

ban, is the village priest (3rd-level

cleric). He was extremely disturbed bythe sacrilege and is against returninganything to the party. After a good dealof coercing from Melstu (who under-stands Candor’s bad habits), he givesCandor and his friends a chance; if theyfulfill a small quest, he will return theirpossessions and forgive them.Fifteen years ago, a strong young

warrior named Durbassa entered theswamp on a hunting expedition. He didnot come out. Since the swamp is taboo,no one was allowed to go in to look forhim (the reason for the taboo, the vam-pire Kenither, has been long forgotten).Durbassa had stumbled upon Kenither’skingdom and was drained, becoming avampire himself. During a great storma year ago, he was in bat form and wasblown out of the swamp and into therain forest. Once beyond the confines ofKenither’s kingdom, Durbassa becamea free-willed vampire and returned to

14 Issue No.4

KINGDOM IN THE SWAMP

the village of hie former life to prey onthe living. He has stolen the life of morethan one villager, and now people areafraid to enter the rain forest even indaylight. The PCs' quest is to slay Dur-bassa and the three lesser vampires hehas created.Durbassa is a vampire as per the

Monster Manual (AC 1; MV 12V18’';HD 8 + 3; hp 36; #AT 1; Dmg 6-10 +energy drain; AL CE). lb summarizethe characteristics of the lesser vam-pires; AC 2; MV 12’/18"; HD 6+2; hp29, 26, 22; #AT 1; Dmg 6-10; SA energydrain U level, 60% chance of 2); 18/76physical strength; subject to a raise

dead spell (saving throw vs. magic toprevent being brought back from un-death); under control of Durbassa; oth-erwise like the vampire as described inthe Monster Manual. The vampires allhave graves in the rain forest, side byside. Durbassa's original grave is inKenither’s kingdom (on the zombie hill),but he only returns there in direst cir-cumstances, since he would not know ofKenither’s demise. The vampires haveno treasure.After a successful vampire hunt with

whatever details the DM devises (hav-ing one simple encounter with all of thevampires would be very poor, not tomention overly dangerous for theparty), the participating characters areinvited back to Melstu’s village for a bigcelebration, after which Candor and hisfriends are reunited with their posses-sions. Player characters who helpeddestroy the vampires are each given agift of one of the following in gratitude:

a gold-inlaid ivory statuette of a pea-

cock (worth 2,000 gp), a star ruby (worth

2,000 gp), a spear +2, a pouch of dust ofdryness, a coral necklace (2,000 gp), or apotion of extra healing.

New Monster and Magical Item

SPIDER, CRYSTAL

FREQUENCY: Very rareNO. APPEARING: I (5% chance of2)ARMOR CLASS: 4MOVE; 15" *18"HIT DICE; 4 +d% IN LAIR: 95%TREASURE TYPE; Q C>t3), see bebwNO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE; 1-3SPECIAL ATTACKS: CryslalixationSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard

INTELLIGENCE: Semi-ALIGNMENT: NeutralSIZE:MLEVEL/XP VALUE: /V/I65 + 5/hp

This giant arachnid bears some dis-tinct characteristics that separate itfrom other spiders. In appearance, itlooks as if it were made of glass or rockcrystal. The webs of this creature arestiff and thin, and have a crystallineglow. It travels swiftly across its webs,

almost like skating on ice.The most dreaded power of this crea-

ture is in its bite. Although its mandi-bles are small and rather weak, a bittenvictim must save vs. petrification orsuffer the following effects;

Round Effect1-5 slows

6-30 paralyzes

31 + crystalization

The slow effect reduces the victim’snumber of attacks and movement byone half; a victim is able to attack onlyduring rounds 1, 3, and 6, at whichpoint the victim become immobile. Thevictim usually dies of suffocation by thefifth round of paralyzation, since thediaphragm (which works the lungs) isaffected as well as all other muscles.

The body gradually stiffens as the spi-der’s powerful venom crystalizes sul^stances or replaces them with minerals.A crystalized victim may be revived byresurrection, alter reality, a wish, or a

potion ofrestoratioru Limited wishbrings a victim back only temporarily;after a week the victim must save vs.petrification or begin to recrystalize.The venom of the crystal spider loses

its properties if outside of a body formore than one hour. It cannot be usedas an insinuative, contact, or ingestivepoison. No weapon has yet been devel-oped that effectively duplicates thespider’s injection method.

Crystal spiders have an affinity forgems of the transparent sort, and theseare often found stored in web bundles inthe centers of their webs.

Potion of Restoration

'This magical fluid was first created byKenither the Gaunt. Each dose negatesthe effects of the following spells andpowers, restoring the affected creature

to its normal state; charm monster,charm person, feign death, forget.

friends, haste, hold person, polymorphother, polymorph self, ray of enfeeble-ment, sepia srlake sigil, sleep, slow,

stoneskin, strength, and Tbsha’s uncon-trollable hideous laughter.A polymorphed creature restored by

this potion need not make a systemshock roll. The liquid also cures blind-ness and deafness, and restores a crys-talized character (see description of

Crystal Spider). The potion can be ad-minister^ by pouring a dose on thesubject or by the creature ingesting it.In either case, it can negate more thanone spell. For example, if applied to acreature under Tosha's uncontrollable

hideous laughter and haste, both spellswould be negated.

XP value: 300

GP value: 2,000

Leaving your lair?

If you're moving, please mail your old

and new addresses (and your accountnumber) to; Address Change,DUNGEON'* Adventures, P.O. Box110, Lake Geneva Wl 53147. Write tous at least six (preferably eight) weeksbefore your move to insureuninterrupted delivery.

DUNGEON 15

ESCAPE FROMTHE TOWEROF MIDNIGHTBY t%Ul KANE

Run silently; theMidnight Stalkersare after you.

Artwork by Roger RauppCartography by Diesel

Paul is a high-schooljunior who wouldsomeday like to combine his hobbies ofwriting and astronomy into a career.This is his first published writing. Es-cape from the Tbwer ofMidnight wasused as an official RPGA"" tournamentmodule at the Frontier Wor game con-vention in Bloomington, III., last year.

Escape from the Tbwer ofMidnight is anAD&D* game module for 2-6 thieves of2nd4th level. The Dungeon Master maychange the names of the thieves’ guilds,countries, deities, and so forth to fit theindividual campaign. Note that allplayer characters are assumed to havebeen imprisoned at the start of theadventure; little or no equipment willbe available at first. This module is wellsuited for tournament use.

Adventure Background

The following information is read to thePCs at the start of the adventure. Itmust be assumed, for the sake of theadventure to follow, that the PCs haveno way of avoiding capture by the Mid-night Stalkers. However, the DM mayfmd a way to play out this adventureand have some or all of the PCs cap-tured, allowing any who escape to at-tempt to rescue their comrades.

The lands are being tom apart by aguild war between the two mostpowerful thieves’ guilds in the coun-

try. The Gray Slayers and the Mid-night Stalkers have instituted areign of terror in which all thievesare hunted down and killed, even ifthey are not participating in the

guild war. Your guild, [the DMshould insert the name of the charac-ters' guild here], is loosely associated

with the Gray Slayers. Unfortu-nately, the headquarters of the Stalk-ers’ guild is said to be very near yourown guild’s home city, a small sea-port.

You and your companions havegathered at your favorite tavernafter a particularly successful night.You are sitting in a back room, drink-ing and talking among yourselves,when a town guardsman steps in.“Every able-bodied person is to comewith roe!’’ he shouts. “The desertedwarehouse down by the wharf is onfire, and all ofyou have just beendrafted as firefighters!’’ You gasp in

16 Issue No. 4

ESCAPE FROM THE TOWER OF MIDNIGHT

horror; that warehouse is the loca-tion ofyour guild! “I want you all,too!” the guard adds, sticking hishead through the curtain dividingyour room from the main barroom.He herds everyone out the door, butyou slip into the shadows just out-side, and the lire detail heads offwithout you.Quickly, you pry up the secret

hatch entrance to the sewers, oneroute to the underground part ofyour headquarters. Alter much slog-ging through low tunnels lit only by

the torch kept near the entrance for

just such contingencies, you emergein a corridor at the lowest level of

your guildhouse. You hear voices, butrecognize none of them. Extinguish-ing the torch, you proceed cautiously.The main meeting room is brightly

lit, its glow spilling out into the

corridor. The voices are louder, butstill not recognizable. Prudently, youflatten yourselves against the corri-

dor wall and approach the meetingroom silently.“The rest of these creeps either

escaped or died in the blaze up-

stairs,” someone says. The voice isdefinitely not that of a Iriend. Youcautiously peer around the doorway.All those still alive in the room wearthe gray-and-tan uniforms of theMidnight Stalkers. The dead lying onthe floor were once your friends.“Not much loot off these scum.

Let’s move out!” The Stalker lieuten-ant and his underlings begin movingin your direction, and you turn andrun back down the corridor. A shoutcomes from behind, and several darkforms drop from the ceiling a shortway ahead of you. More Stalkers!Surrounded and greatly outnum-bered, you decide that the best courseof action would be to surrender. Thelast thing you remember is a crunch-ing blow on the back of the head anda burst of brightness behind youreyes . . . then nothing.You awaken in a small chamber,

and almost wish you were still un-conscious when you realize you arechained, spread-eagle, to a not overly

smooth stone wall. Before you havetime to whisper hurried plans for

escape, three guards arrive and un-chain you. Allowing no time for thecirculation to return to your limbs.

they lead you into the main meetingroom of what can only be the head-quarters of the Midnight Stalkers. Itis a massive, beautifully decorated

throne room. On a golden, gem-encrusted throne at the far end of theroom sits a halfling with a badlyscarred face.

“Greetings, Slayers,” he says in asurprisingly deep voice. You realizethat he believes you are actuallyGray Slayers, not just members of analli^ guild. “Welcome to the Ibwerof Midnight, our humble abode. I amRagor, guildmaster of the MidnightStalkers. As you now realize, yourguild has been destroyed. You are allthat remains of the Slayers guild in

this pitiful little port city.”

Ragor notices your glances at theelegant and obviously expensivedecorations that dominate the room.

“Yes, all of the decorations in this

room are stolen. Why, this thronethat I sit on once belonged to the

mighty King of Sark. But enough ofthis prattle. In keeping with ourtradition, you will be executed atnoon, two days hence. I apologize forgiving you so little warning, but wehave bmn quite busy lately and havelittle time for social amenities.”

Two muscular men appear, fol-lowed by a figure dres^ in a blackcloak. “Ah,” says the halfling, “I see

that the high priest of Hendas, Godof Thieves, has arrived. As we arenot uncivilized, I will allow him toadminister your last rites. Guards,escort the good priest and our pris-oners to the holding cell.”

You are blindfolded and lifted offyour feet. By the posture ofyourbearers and the occasional bangingofyour feet against the steps, youknow you are being carried up manyflights of stairs. Finally, you aredropped to the ground and kickedinto a dank, musty cell. The man inthe robe removes your blindfolds andmotions for the guards to leave. Theyclose the door behind them with aresounding clang.The priest removes his cowl to

reveal the face of Deos'nt, a promi-

nent out-of-town thief from anotherguild who often talked with yourguildmaster as an ally.“My guild regrets your position,”

he whispers, “but we cannot spare

enough agents to free you right now.By the time that we can, it will betoo late. I have one set of picks, thekey to these cells, and one daggerwith me. These I leave with you. It isup to you to break out. Ifyou succeed,go to the city of Posidonis and givethis ring to the innkeeper of the

Black Boar Inn. I will try to meet youthere.” He slips off his ring and setsit, along with the set of lock picks, thedagger, and the cell key in the strawthat covers the floor. He then poundson the door, and the guard lets himout. You are now alone.

For the Dungeon Master

This adventure is designed to be playedas a tournament module, although itcan easily be adapted into an existingcampaign. In running my campaign, Ihave added some rules and changedothers; if the DM disagrees with them,feel free to remove or alter them.

I do not have separate guilds for as-sassins and thieves. They all belong tothe same guild, as do thief-acrobats.Additionally, each individual guild has

its own sub-dialect of thieves’ cant, sothat rival guilds cannot interpret mes-sages. All Midnight Stalkers speak theStalkers’ cant, and all Gray Slayersspeak the Slayers’ cant. It is impossibleto learn a particular cant except byjoining that guild. Therefore, a high-

level assassin cannot learn the cant

dialect of his rivals, although he couldspend some time and money in an at-tempt to break the code.The only items that the characters

have with them when they are throwninto the cell are normal clothes. All oftheir equipment is in room 2 on the firstfloor. The Stalkers listed in the NPCtable are those quartered at this tower.

Also, 1-6 additional Stalkers are in the

tower, visiting or reporting in. Theseadditional Stalkers should be takenfrom The Rogues Gallery AD&D® gamesupplement or designed by the DM.Since there are no windows in thetower, the PCs are bound to lose track oftime. The DM must do the timekeeping,as many of the encounters are basedupon the time of day.

Special Encounters

The Stalkers found within the dreadedTbwer of Midnight are listed in the

DUNGEON 17

ESCAPE FROM THE TOWER OF MIDNIGHT

The Midnight StalkersNPC roster for the Tower of MidnightName Sex Race Clasa^LvI. S 1 W D C Cb AL hpAgel M H TIO 12 7 9 13 10 11 NE 36Alg’nn F D A2 12 11 9 12 13 7 LE 10Amal M H T13 11 9 12 16 16 11 LN 59Andrei M H All 12 11 6 13 9 10 CE 45Argor M H TI 13 13 10 15 15 7 LE 5Asa F H T4 10 9 16 15 17 6 NE 23Balt M H T6 9 6 6 14 8 13 CE 27Basina F T5 11 9 10 13 11 9 CE 27Cedric M H T9 10 10 11 11 10 9 CE 37Etain F H A3 13 11 12 12 10 10 NE 8Fand F H T9 10 12 5 14 12 14 LN 27Fiona F K T8 11 9 4 17 8 10 NE 35Frea F H AlO 18 12 8 14 10 8 CE 33Hewald M H T3 8 10 8 14 15 12 NE 14Ibor M >/2 F3/T3 10 10 7 12 17 9 CN 22Justin M H T8 7 9 8 14 9 14 LE 27Kara F H Tl 17 10 10 18 6 6 N 5Marfa F H A9 12 11 6 14 10 9 NE 25Morfan M H T8 10 12 10 IS 13 16 N 25Mrr'mst F H F10/T5 7 7 11 15 14 17 LN 53Octa M H Tl 9 7 13 17 13 11 CE 3Ragor* M W F5/T12 17 18 15 18 17 IS LE 60Senan M H A3 12 11 9 12 12 5 NE 12Verca F WO T6 8 7 11 13 15 9 NE 31Volodar M H A4 13 11 10 12 10 7 NE 14

* Guildmaster of the Midnight Stalkers.Race: 'k halfling: ’^0 half-ore: ‘hS, half-elf; D dwarf; H human.Class/Level; A “ assassin; F ” fighter: T ” thief (number indicates level).

table above. The use of monsters andsuch is not recommended for this mod-ule. If the DM feels additional encount-ers are necessary for the adventure, he

or she should first answer the followingquestions:

1. What is the person encountereddoing? Each NPC should have a purposefor being here.

2. Is the NPC a resident of the toweror a visiting thief? Where is the NPCgoing, and for what purpose (resident onway to the privy, courier reporting in,sweetheart of a resident, etc.)?

3. If a visitor is encountered, is he orshe alone or accompanied by a towerresident? If the resident left his dutypost to accompany the visitor, did some-one else take over the post?

4. Is the NPC going someplace orstaying in the area? Does the NPCmove about on a regular schedule?Note that there will be a general

coming and going of thieves on personalbusiness throughout the day, and thestairs will often be in use. The DM mustcreate a general pattern of activitywithin the tower and use it to establishthe chances of encountering any onethief or group of thieves therein.The following regularized “wandering

NPCs” will be encountered as notedbelow.

Asa. At 1:00 RM., and 7:00 P.M., Asacarries trays of table scraps up to feedthe prisoners. She may have one or twopeople help her carry the trays. At 1:00RM. she also takes a tray of food to Agel.

At 8:00 A M., 1:(X> RM., and 7:00 P.M., shetake trays of food up to the ailing An-drei. She may also be encountered goingback to the kitchen.Hungry Stalkers. At 8:00 A.M., noon,

and 7:00 RM., the Stalkers leave theirposts in turn for 15 minutes each. Theygo to room 9 on the Hrst floor to gettheir meal trays and return to theirposts to eat. After finishing their meals,

they take their trays back to thekitchen.

Cedric. On the first day after thecharacters are captured, the Stalker

Cedric returns from a mission in the faraway country of Phaldephius. He in-forms Ragor that he has definitely lo-cated a Slayers branch guild in thecapital of Phaldephius. (If the PCs dis-cover this information, they can try towarn their allies and mess up the Stalk-ers' plans.) Cedric spends the night

talking with Ragor and then falls asleepin his own quarters for eight hours. At

1:00 RM. on the second day, Cedric, Ba-sina, Verca, Mrr’mst, Ibor, and Fionahead to Phaldephius to deal with theSlayers there. They each take a horseand ride in the direction of Posidonis. Itis possible that they will overtake the

escaping characters on the road, but

they might not stop due to the urgencyof their mission if they fail to recognizethe PCs.Frea. At midnight, Frea makes her

rounds of the tower, checking to makesure that all is well. This takes onehour.

All Stalkers wear leather armor, andeach carries a dagger and long swordunless otherwise noted.

Time Limits

The characters are to be executed twodays after they are put in the cell; obvi-ously, it is important for them to escapebefore this time is up. Consider that thecharacters are put into the cell at 10:00

A.M. They have until noon, two dayshence, to escape the tower and theirown executions. They could possibly beout of the tower before their escape isdiscovered.

Each day at noon, after everyone haseaten, Asa and some of her draftedworkers take scraps of food up to theprisoners. At this time, there is a 75%chance that their escape will be discov-ered when their food is pushed throughthe door slot. At noon of execution day,the escape will definitely be discovered

when their last meal is brought tothem.

Tower Encounter Key

The Ibwer of Midnight is set on a hillnear a mountain range. The tower ismade of black granite. Each floor is 10'above the floor below. If this module isinserted into a campaign, the DMshould note that very few people haveever seen this tower due to its remotelocation.

First Floor

A. Stable. There are from 2-12 lightriding horses here, and half of them arein condition to ride. There is a 5%chance that a stablehand (AC 10; MV12"

; zero level; hp 4; #AT 1; Dmg byweapon type (dagger); AL N) is herecaring for the horses. All of the equip-

ment necessary to ride (saddles, bridles,etc.) can be found hanging here.

18 Issue No. 4

THE

TOWER

OF

MIDNIGHT

Lower

Levels

ESCAPE FROM THE TOWER OF MIDNIGHT

DUNGEON 19

ESCAPE FROM THE TOWER OF MIDNIGHT

Antechamber. This room contains apool filled with small goldfish. Manychains are set into the walls. A largelever on the wall beside the entranceraises and lowers the portcullises. Thisroom is empty unless someone is enter-ing or leaving the tower.

1. Throne Room and Meeting Hall.Following the first time the charactersentered this room, only a single guard ispresent. Frea usually has the nightguard duty here, and Morfan takes theday guard shift.The throne is indeed the throne of the

King of Sark. The Stalkers stole it sev-eral years ago, in what is commonlyreferred to as the “theft of the century”

(because, when the Stalkers were done,the palace was almost picked clean oftreasure). The tapestries on the wallsalso are from the throne room of Sark.They are made of silk embroidered withgolden thread in exquisite detail. Thescenes are all from Egyptian myths ofthe creation of the universe (as pre-

sented in Legends & Lore).

2. Treasure Hoard. The secret en-trance to this room opens onto a scene ofcarnage. On second glance, the roomappears to be the workroom of theguild’s butcher. Slabs ofraw meat hangfrom hooks on the walls, and a half-carved carcass lies alongside an assort-ment of knives and cleavers on a worn,wooden table.The room, however, is under a perma-

nent illusion. The illusion is not brokenif the characters try to pick up any ofthe meat or utensils; however, anyitems they pick up will revert to normalform when removed from the room. Thisarea is the treasure storage vault for

the Midnight Stalkers in this area. It iswell stocked.

The characters' equipment, as well asthe loot taken from their guild hall, issitting almost in the doorway. At theback of the room are several loose pilesof gems and money. An assortment ofmiscellaneous magical items hangs onthe walls. The treasure in this roomincludes the following: 14,500 cp; 5,000

sp; 2,000 ep; 3,000 gp; 567 pp; 100 dia-monds (100 gp each); 30 emeralds (400

gp each, one of which contains thetrapped soul of a type IV demon; if thegem is broken, the demon is releasedand will be, to say the least, a bit per-turbed); five rings of invisibility; sevenpairs of boots ofelvenkind; three cloaks

of elevenkind; 15 potions ofpoison; three

manuals ofgolem creation; a completeset of the Royal Encyclopedia of Sark;six suits of kobold-size chain mail +1(taken from the bodyguards of the prin-cess in dungeon B on the fifth floor); acrown of finely worked silver encrustedwith rubies, sized for a kobold (the

whole thing is worth 300 gp and belongsto the princess); and 16 long swords *1.The south wall is covered with 15

tapestries (each worth 100 gp, takenfrom the palace of Sark). The room alsocontains the spell book of a 15th-levelmagic-user, a crystal ball, a cane ofworked ivory studded with diamonds(the cane of the King of Sark, valued at20,000 gp) and, a long suMjrd *5 HolyAvenger, all on a high shelf on the northwall. Resting in the northwest comer isa saddle of the tjrpe dragon riders com-monly use. Beside the door is a table setup for a Game of Kings (a popular gameamong the nobility which is very simi-lar to chess). The table is of oak inlaidwith gold and silver squares on theplaying board, and the figurines aremade of exquisitely hand-carved obsid-ian and marble. The table is worth 200gp, and the playing pieces are worth 50

gp each.There is no way that the characters

can carry off more than a small amountof the treasure in this room. DMsshould strictly enforce this point!

3. Guard Room and Quarters. He-wald, Senan, Octa, and Ibor are quar-tered here. Senan is here resting in thedaytime, and the others sleep here atnight. The room contains two bunk bedsand four lockerlike closets set into thewall. Each locker contains three extrauniforms and some normal clothes, 20

gp and two daggers. Senan’s closet alsocontains a short sword and long sword.

4. Stairwell. The outer walls of thissmall room are pierced with spy holesthat look out into the wilderness whichsurrounds the castle. There is nothingof value here, although there is a 10%chance per round that a Stalker comesinto the room through the door or downthe ladder from the trapdoor in theceiling. Senan is on guard here at night,and Hewald is here during the day.

5. Stairwell. This room is similar toroom 4, but is not guarded, as the towerfaces the mountains on this side. Thekobolds who live in that direction be-

lieve the tower to be haunted and neverapproach it.

6. Guard Room and Quarters.Kara, Etain, and Asa are quarteredhere. There is one bunk bed and one bedwhich folds down from the wall. Threelockers are built into the wall. Eachlocker contains 20 gp, three uniforms, adagger, and a short sword. Etain sleepshere during the day, and the others arehere at night.

7. Genera] Storeroom. Food, blan-kets, mattresses, extra clothing, eatingutensils, etc. are stored here.

8. Stairwell and Armory. A circularstaircase winds upward from this room.On the walls are hung seven longswords, five short swords, 30 daggers,10 spears, four hand crossbows, 40darts, and three shields. There is a 10%chance per round that someone willenter the room, either from the stairs orfrom the hallway. A guard has beenposted here if it is discovered that thecharacters have escaped (DM’s choice asto guard’s identity). Otherwise, the

room is empty.

9. Kitchen. For one hour before eachmeal time, Asa (the cook) is here prepar-ing the meals. The room contains alarge oven, several long tables, and alarge buffet where the food is served.There are stacks of trays and silverwarebeside the buffet. After the meals areserved, Asa and two drafted helpers(thieves not on duty anywhere else)clean the trays. They then take thescraps to the prisoners. In the back ofthe room is a chute that dumps trashdown 250' to the lair of a neo-otyugh(AC 0; MV 6" ; 10 HD; hp 43; #AT 3;Dmg 2-12/2-12/1-3; SA disease; SDnever surprised; AL N).

Second Floor

1. Tbwer. 'There are many spy holes inthe walls of this room. A staircase givesaccess to the floors above, and a ladderleads to the floor below. Illumination

comes from a continual light cube hang-ing from the ceiling. There is a 10%chance per round that someone willenter the room via the stairs. Kara is onguard duty here during the day; atnight, Octa is the guard.

2. Barracks. Argor, Volodar, Alg’nn,

20 Issue No. 4

ESCAPE FROM THE TOWER OF MIDNIGHT

Balt, and Morfan are quartered in thisroom. There are two bunk beds, a bedthat folds down from the wall, fiveclosetlike lockers, and a large table. Ifthe characters’ escape has been discov-ered, 30 gp and a full set of cards arelying on the table. If not, Argor, Volodar,and Alg'nn are here playing cards whenthey are off duty. Each locker containsthree extra uniforms, a short sword, a

dagger, and 20 gp. Morfan does not stayhere, although this is his official room,as he is married to Mrr'mst. He spendsmost of his free time in his wife's quar-ters. (Ragor does not know of this, andhe does not like marriages within theguild.)

3. Tower. This room is the same asroom 1 on this level, except no guardsare posted here as this side of the towerfaces the mountains.

4. Stairwell. A guard is posted here ifthe characters’ escape has been discov-ered. There is a 10% chance per roundthat someone comes up the stairs.

6. Brewery. This is where Agel, theStalker's poison expert, brews theirpoison. 'There are 1-20 jars of poison

here, along with the herbs, plants, andequipment necessary to make it.

6. Agel’s Quarters. This room is verydreary looking. The walls are all of thedarkest black, and the wall hangingsare all of dark color. The bed descendsfrom the ceiling on pulleys. 'The roomalso contains an iron maiden, a set ofbroken thumbscrews (which Agel istrying to repair), a large black ward-

robe, and a large desk ofoak paintedblack. The second drawer on the right-hand side of the desk has a false back,concealing a compartment which con-tains 400 gp and a diamond worth 20gp. The door to this room has a portcul-lis trap which is activated by steppinginto the doorway. The trap can be deac-tivated by twisting the left hand of thegargoyle (which is built into the wall

beside the door) slightly to the left.

7. Barracks. Justin and Cedric arequartered here. The room contains twobunk beds (the second belonged to twoStalkers who were killed in the raid onthe PCs’ city), four closetlike lockers,

and a billiards table. Two of the lockerscontain: 20 gp, three extra uniforms,and five darts coated with type D poison

(see DMG, page 20). Because this poisonis compounded &om a secret formulaknown only to the Stalkers guild, itcauses the loss of half the victim’s ciu*-

rent hit point total, even if the savingthrow succeeds. Failure of the savingthrow means death in 1-4 turns. Theother two lockers are empty. This roomis empty during the day; at night, bothJustin and Cedric are here.

6. Records Room and Library. Thedoor to this room is trapped with 10poison needles (doing 1-8 hp damage ifthe save is failed, 14 hp damage if itsucceeds) that shoot out in all directions

if triggered. The trap can be deactivatedby pulling the torch on the far side ofthe hallway down and to the right.'The first row of shelves in the library

contains nothing but stolen spell books.The next three shelves contain regularbooks. Behind these shelves are sevenfiling cabinets; the last two are com-pletely empty. Each of the filing cabi-nets is trapp^ with three poison darts(type D, as in room 7 above). All of thedarts are deactivated when a book onthe shelf facing the cabinets, entitledTraps and Sn