A Spelljammer Scenario for some 3-6 chars of levels 4-6 (Total levels 24- 28). The party should be composed of varying classes (though the special abilities of any particular class aren't strictly needed) and be predominantly of good alignment. Their equipment doesn't matter much (a ship - owned, borrowed or stolen is a necessity), since the scenario is mainly a mystery instead of a combatzone. Extremes should be avoided of course, the party should have at least one magic weapon of low power, but not enough wands to outgun the USS Missouri. The Spelljammer boxed set is needed to run the adventure "as is", but the scenario is easily translatable to a "landlubber" one too. Some proficiencies from the Thief / Spacefarer manuals are referred to, but these two supplements are by no means necessary. The scenario contains some quite gross elements - fans of 'clean' fantasy might be in for a nasty disappointment.
If you happen to be a player in a Spelljammer campaign, you ought to quit reading now to preserve your satisfaction or learn enough facial selfcontrol that the DM and other players will not notice your lack of surprise.
The PCs are resting and recuperating on the Rock of Bral after the hardships of latest space erranting, when a courier arrives. Someone known to the PCs from previous adventures (a merchant, mage, priest, someone literate) sends the PCs a message via courier that they are to pick up a book at the local Seeker library [handout 1] and then deliver the book to him, he is far too busy to waste a week travelling. Enclosed in the package with the note is a pouch full of gold dust, that will pay another few weeks of easy living, even on a place as expensive as Bral after counting out the costs for the trip to his home.
Or, if you find another "hired guns" beginning to an adventure a tiresome cliche, you can use the PCs own curiosity to lead them on the trail. Perhaps they need a book to check on some weird symbols (sadly non-magical) found on a fleece in a ogre lair, maybe some PC has an axe with some weird markings or a fellow adventurer recommends the author to a fellow literate. (Of course you can make up any kind of story, but be prepared to create your own handouts or wing the research somewhat).
The Seeker library is easily found, perhaps one of the PCs is already a patron. However, only those paying the due (and able to show that they are literate) are allowed inside.
The library is a hulking twotowered affair, absolutely jampacked with tomes and readers. A few seekers walk around the halls, prepared to aid customers. The place where the "Booke of the Ogri- Kynde" was supposed to be is easily found once you get the hang of the archiving system. The trouble is that between Booke of the Narwhal (my reminiscences among the Jijit folk) and Booke of the Ravagora is nothing, not even an empty space where "your Booke" ought to be. Checking and double-checking you finally give up. The librarians readily tell you after minimal prompting that the book "went missing" some five years ago. They do, however, give you a copy of the book's information from the files to be shown to your employer.
When you're about to leave the building you overhear pieces of a conversation, another unsatisfied customer like you is vainly searching for a "lost" book.
[The index-card for the book is handout 2]
As the PCs are standing in front of the library, poring over the index-card, an elf carrying a leather bookcase comes out (this is the one whom the libraryvisiting PC heard inquiring about another missing book).
Sooner or later the PCs should talk to the elf in question, he is easily followed to his inn, an elven facility called "Solar Breeze". He is wiry, a bit skinny even for an elf, normally dressed, and doesn't seem to carry any weapons.
Once the PCs strike a conversation with the elf they find him a likable, if a bit nerdish fellow. His uncle (or some other close relative, an elf tends to have scores of them) had asked him to travel to Bral and pick up a certain book. But, alas, like the PCs, he's let down - this unique copy was destroyed in a rain-caused flooding merely six months ago.
He compares "his uncles note" and the index-card copy with each other, the information is alike. He complains about being in a hurry to get back to Alanja and tells the PCs to keep an eye out for the book, a big reward could be theirs if "my uncle could get this beauty". He leaves the index card on the table so the PCs know which book they're searching for [handout-3].
Jain Oaksli: AC 5; T6; 19 hp; # At 1; D. 4-7 (dagger +3); T0 16; Al N; D 17, I 15, Cha 15; Dagger +3, Ring of Protection +2, Bag of Holding; Disguise, looting, appraising (books)
Jain is a travelling book thief who has worked on several dozen worlds in about twenty spheres. He alters his looks between jobs, and is careful to do heists only with several months interval and several million miles distance in between. He sells all the stolen books forward as soon as feasible, more than once he has managed to sell the book back to its original owner with the promise that "he calls if he sees that gentleman whom he bought the book from". He plans his robberies carefully, never resorting to violence - murder carries the heaviest sentence on almost every world. For self- defense he carries a magic dagger he picked up on a very successful heist in Souragne two years ago. Usually he works as a freelancer, advertising his catch after the looting , but this time he's working on a commission for an Amnish mage (Jain is originally from Realms) trying to locate an obscure treatise on Junae geometric magic.
Jain indeed leaves Bral this evening just after the evening bells, after changing his appearance to that of an elderly man (he thinks the seekers are on his trail and therefore denied him the book). If he spots the PCs still sitting in the lobby of his inn (clearly some investigators) he escapes by climbing out of the window and straggling down the vines, he's a cat burglar so this kind of thing comes naturally. He does not play a part in this adventure, but could be a nice recurring non-combatant NPC.
Now the PCs perhaps rightly feel a bit stumped, the only gains for today's adventuring are the two index cards, whose only common attribute is that the books were transferred from a place called Pladic. The story behind Pladic is easily told (and recalled if someone succeeds in Recent History check - otherwise the interested PCs will have to spend d20 gp in drinks and bribes to discover someone who recalls the tale.
Pladic was a big library, founded over three hundred years ago, back when Bral was just a lawless pirate haven. It did well, getting customers from all over the nearest spheres. Then the sphere began to move in the phlogiston, travelling farther from the population centres every year. About thirty years ago the seekers decided to combine three libraries contents into one just being renovated on Bral - it's easy to understand why they wanted to rid themselves of the Ironpiece outfit - having a colony of gnomes as the only neighbors creates insomnia and precludes intelligent conversation.
However, truth is a lot stranger than this tale spread by the seekers. The Pladic library was by no means emptied, it was abandoned - after nothing was heard from its inhabitants in months and five shiploads of "troubleshooters" of differing ability (the last group contained several veterans from Calotia and a member of the Fireball Alliance) failed to return, the seekers wrote the entire place off. They wanted to avoid losing face and that's why they spinned this outrageous yarn (the astronomical facts do hold, but the move of the sphere was by no means so drastic that would have warranted action of this kind - a successful Navigation check will tell the characters this, all the drifting has done is to add at most a week to the travelling time). All books from Pladic were supposedly brought to Bral, however, only a few (of which duplicates exist) are found there. So far, no-one has been insistent enough to dig through to the bottom of this lie, most information seekers were satisfied when the librarians gave them "alternative, but just as good in information" librams due to the wanted book's being "lost, stolen, temporarily at another branch, being repaired/rebound, on loan or something".
If the PCs seem reluctant to pursue "just a silly old book", remind them of the gold dust, and their duty to return the pouch. If they still show no inclination to peruse the mysteries of the library, hit them with a pirate ship/space medusae/irate relatives and use the possessed library some other time.
Vellum Jacko's
Should they, however, continue their little investigation, a sure
place to pick up clues (in addition to their regular contacts)
would be Vellum Jacko's, a small bookstore located in the outskirts
of Midcity. The bookstore is a messier version of the seekers'
building, books are everywhere - but instead of being carefully
shelved these are stacked randomly into piles. Jacko looks just
like the PCs might expect him to, a middle-aged, bespectacled
fragile- looking whitehaired fellow.
He has, at times, wondered why some of the books he has gone to admire at the Seekers library (they won't lead him into temptation by giving him lending rights) are never present, but, being a trusty soul, never pursued the matter any further. He has obtained a catalogue containing the Pladic bibliography (the only known copy on Bral), dated 35 years ago. He won't, however, sell his catalogue cheaply. Bargaining begins at 400 gp, he won't accept a smaller price than 100 gp.
The catalogue is a small book filled with industrious, clearly legible handwriting. Should the PCs check the Bralian library for books listed in the catalogue, they get a surprising result, only perhaps one book in thirty is available here. The results of the search have been summarized in handout 4. Vellum Jacko has no idea where the Pladican books have disappeared but he warns the PCs of the dangers of too overt investigation - the seekers are a vengeful organization that rarely delays its quest for information.
[handout 4 - the catalogue and the marks the PCs make in it]
Vellum Jacko: AC 10; nm; 1 hp; Won't fight; Al LG; I 15, W 15; Appraising (books+4), Craft (bookbinding), Area knowledge;
Should the characters be stupid enough to rob or seriously threaten this harmless book-fancier, he might give his friends a tip (his friends being a particularly ill-considerate bunch of Giff mercenaries who like Jacko's reading of ancient warstories a lot). They will gang up on the PCs some evening, giving them a hard beating and "confiscating" a few select items, not resorting to weapons unless someone hurts them seriously. Anyway, the PCs gain a lot of negative karma in everybody's eyes - all prices are doubled for them, their dinners 'spiced' up with some exotic germs, pests introduced to their clothing and beds etc etc. Make their life really miserable for a week or two.
The Chat with the boss
Now the characters have some definite proof that there's something
fishy going on at the Bralian Seekers branch. They can either head
straight for the library on Pladic or try to negotiate a
'recoinnaissance contract' with the Seekers. Very devious players
might even come up with an idea to blackmail the Bralian Seekers
for their failure by threatening to 'leak' the information forward
and thus discredit the organization.
If the PCs seek an audience with the head librarian, they are granted one almost immediately. He receives the characters in his office, at the top floor of the highest tower. At first he is very reluctant to admit that not everything is in order in the files. If the PCs manage to goad the information, it comes very slowly and in small pieces (force them to roleplay through this conversation).
Should the characters make nuisances of themselves he promptly shows them the door, otherwise he'll tell them what he thinks that happened (a radiant dragon has settled into the library). He won't hire them to investigate ("far too dangerous") but neither will he discourage the party by telling them about the unsuccessful colleagues. In case the PCs are determined to go - he'll ask them to bring any books found to the seekers, since they are the lawful owners. Arnam has visited Pladic but doesn't remember much of the place (he has been to over twenty different branches).
The decision to abandon the Pladic branch library was made on Compendium - the legendary Seeker HQ, so it is impossible to blackmail Arnam. If the PCs make public their knowledge of the Seekers' failure the libarians will hire some competent assassins to take care of the party (even if the PCs have already returned from Pladic with a full load of books).
Arnam isn't actually a sage, just an elderly sorcerer who has found a pleasant retirement spot. He loves books passionately, but isn't willing to send another group to their doom (or to reveal them where Pladic exactly is nowadays). His hair went white two decades ago, and his body has grown increasingly decrepit. Arnam is quickly angered (though never to the point of violence) and it is very hard to placate him.
Arnam Shandra: AC10; M6; 11 hp; Won't fight; Al NG; I 16, Con 5; Wand of magic missiles (6 charges), potion of invisibility; Appraising (books +2), Mathematics, Planetology; Doesn't bother to learn spells any more;
Setting off:
So - the PCs have prepared their ship for the journey. The
encounters (if any) in the Rock's sphere you have to prepare
yourself or resort to Skull & Crossbows, Space Lairs or
somesuch. The trip through the vast gas seas of phlogiston will
mostly be an uneventful one. Roll few times on the following list
of short encounters or pick the ones you like (or all of them if
the players have ticked you off considerably).
How long the journey to the Slubiana sphere takes is dependent on the navigator's skill roll (this is a house rule, as I find the "10- 100 days to any sphere" rule silly) and the tiny sphere's distance from the PCs starting point.
d8 Result
The ring is magical, and doesn't show any alignment. It is an Orbus Ring (see details at the end of the adventure), but its effects probably will be discovered later.
Tolompo is very grateful for his rescue "tho' this be the third time - last time me was rescued in just two DAYS" and will work for free until the ship "lands in a port where a honest hippohead can find worthier employers". Most of his quite large weapon collection was left in ED (he left his armor behind too), but he still carries his shortsword (a bastard sword for normal folks) and a starwheel pistol with enough powder for ten shots. Tolompo is aware of the effects of phlogiston and won't fire his pistol in any subsequent battles there.
Tolompo: AC 6; HD 4+4; hp 27; #AT 1 weapon; d8+7 or d4; LN
The easterners signal their desire to check out the ship - which, if given half a chance, they do with great enthusiasm. They examine the ship carefully, but say nothing of what they're looking for - a successful INT-roll gives an idea that they're searching for something large. Should the PCs be less than courteous their ship will either get attacked or "marked for a later date". If they won't let the Shou aboard at all (perhaps they DO carry something contraband) the captain will try to ambush the PCs' ship during the "night" watch. They avoid a full-scale boarding combat, preferring to establish themselves on the PCs ship and then begin negotiations. Their demands are simple - the right to search the ship.
Shou marines: AC 5; F4; hp 32; #AT 3/2 weapon; D. 3-12 (katana); LG
Shou captain: AC -1; F12; hp 89; #AT 7/2 weapon; D 8-17 (katana +3 + STR); LG
Shou Sohei: AC 8; C6; hp 28; #AT 1 weapon; D. 3-8 (club + STR); LG; Clw (x3), Bless, Hold Person (x3), Neutralize Poison (x2);
The clan members left from the attacks on the dragon are far from the fiercest and if the PCs get one or two good hits they will fly off. Should the battle lead to close combat the PCs are at a considerable advantage due to the curious placement of the beholders' eyes - the three most dangerous (death, disintegrate, XXXXXXXX) point downwards and are of use only against fallen characters.
Beholder: AC xxxx
Lumineaux: AC xxxx
Battle tactics: The explanation of the fiends' "trial by fire" in MC is just plain silly, how on earth could these beings light a fire without endangering themselves. Also, the artist has "forgotten" to include the 3rd and fourth arm for the beasties. All in all a very shoddy monster description.
Which creature laid this egg is left for the GM to decide - a space drake, or one of its' bigger cousins, a phlog-stork, puffer, there's a multitude of possibilities. Perhaps it isn't an egg after all but a magical mine or some sort of storage container. Even more weird would be if it was a spaceship for some kind of miniature folk.
As the PCs ship comes near the beacon, the pitch of the noise begins to vary - quickly it grows to a nightmarish cacophony, forcing the PCs to stopper their ears or resort to silence-spells. Their ship begins to jolt as the crewmembers try to cover their ears. Unless they are given some protection the crew is unable to steer the ship toward the star (a cruel captain could use his authority to force the crew to work (a sufficient morale check will make them toil, but subsequently their morale is lowered by 2)).
The star is quite large, a spindle is some twenty feet in length and the gaping hole has a diameter of four feet. Upon closing on the star it is revealed to have a hollow center, with smaller tunnels leading to the other arms.
The PCs cannot cut piecs of the beacon-metal, and in actuality, do anything with the star-shape but look at it inquisitively. However, if they tell anyone about the star, it's grounds for a reward plus perhaps a further mission to look for the thing that managed to harm an invincible beacon.
The Arrival
Slubiana, the sphere containing the library is very small, so
small in fact than even outside a curvature in the crystal wall is
easily noticed. The sphere has spontaneous portals, but most likely
the PCs are in a hurry and they will create a portal of their own.
Inside, the sphere seems pretty much a standard one. There's a triple fireworld in the center, composed of three varyingly orange- red tiny spheres. Like most of the other spheres, this too has pseudo-stars on the inside of the sphere itself. In this sphere they are like the ones in Realmspace - gates to the plane of radiance. The sphere is thought to be barren when it comes to space-creatures, and there are no colonies here.
The only planet in the system, Slubia, is reached with only some three days of travel. All spelljammers' mapbooks note Slubia as a "world particularly unfit even for a casual visit". Most think it is an earthworld, even though the wetness is probably unequalled everywhere. It is a gigantic swamp, where searching for firm land is best described as futile. There are no known sentient inhabitants, the most easily discovered animals are gnats and mosquitos. The planet is a dead end, after scores of insect bites the PCs will probably come to the same conclusion. There is a deserted human colony on the planet, but the PCs won't be able to discover it until they get its' coordinates from the library.
Pladic is a moon orbiting Slubia on a tight orbit (a revolution takes just 12 days). It's a smooth ballworld, lacking any mountains, rivers or vegetation - there is a decent atmosphere, however. No known inhabitants either, probably this is one of the places where life is possible but it never got a headstart. Very hard ground, not marred by any craters. In some places the ground is smooth to the point of being glasslike in composition. The only visible feature on the planet is a large depression, on the edge of which the library is built.
[handout 5 - Map of the sphere]
The Library
Half of the library is built over the edge, creating an amazing
view for the northbound windows. The window is built from sandstone
- a light enough material to be carried from the Slubia - there's
no real fear of erosion here since the planet is perfectly dry and
the wind carries no loose particles. Near the library-building lies
another big structure, an open-topped dock-building built from the
same materials. No lights can be seen in the library windows, the
doors seem closed but a ship is visible in the dock.
Once the PCs land their ship in the dock (a huge one easily able to accommodate ten ships at a time that, surprisingly has two huge pools for ships that able to land in water only) they discover it to be completely deserted. The other ship is a white-painted nautiloid, but of the crew's whereabouts there's no sign.
On a careful search the nautiloid, bearing Falx colors, is indeed found to be deserted. The ship shows some signs of recent combat: a torn mainsail, scorch marks on deck, purple and whitish stains. The twin series helm is at its usual place. The oddest thing about the ship are the multiple thick black ropes securing it down to the dock tightly. Every rope goes from wall to wall (or floor to wall) - and is not easily cut, it tends to absorb most of the blows kinetic energy instead of breaking. If the rope is inspected by a knowledgeable character (rope use proficiency) it is found to be made of thousands of very thin strings (human hair).
All other docking places are empty, the slots are badly in need of repair - they are full of scuff marks and broken spars. One of the pools is nearly empty, only the deeper side has some water - the other is full of inky-black murky liquid. There is no living monster in the pool but a search turns up a dead mindflayer - disgustingly bloated due to drowning. The corpse has no treasure - but a greedy PC could be get some disease from touching the carcass.
When the party has had enough of exploring the dock, there's a faint shuffling noise and a contingent of monks arrives in the dock chamber bearing long stretches of rope. They all wear a full length kaapu, covering the body from head to toe - a large cowl makes the face hard to see. The monks proceed toward the characters in silence and start to attach their ropes to the huge metal awks (???) on the floors and walls. If the PCs try to hinder them, one of them waves his hands emitting a shushing noise at the same time - obviously their ship is in considerable danger from an upcoming storm.
The monks take a long time in their toil to tie down the ship - working in complete silence and perfect synch all the time. Unless the PCs do something, their ship is going to be tied up quite tightly. Outside there's no wind in the air and they might like to leave their ship parked outside the main library building. On the other hand, should they attack the tiny monks or even try to have a look at their faces, they are in for combat. As soon as a PC touches a monk they all throw down their cowls, revealing their faces, pasty white bloated caricatures of the human head - no ears or hair however. Each 'monk' grabs a dagger from its belt and joins the combat. Everytime a monk-thing is hit with a non-blunt weapon there's a popping noise and some white viscous liquid partly oozes, partly flies from the wound. The grubthings silently fight until they all are destroyed (shouldn't take long). When the corpses are searched, no treasures or possessions (apart from the common daggers) are found, but the things themselves are discovered to consist mostly (if not even wholly) of fresh pus.
On the roof of the dock-building are two rotating turrets with heavy ballistas, the library has never been attacked but the Seekers bought these "just in case".
The Entrance
The library is built from fresh-hewn granite, all hallways and
rooms have an eerie light to them (unless otherwise notified in the
description). The air is old and musty - but not a lot of dust has
settled on the furniture and bookshelves. There are traces of
earlier explorers; tracks in particularly thick dust (not all made
by human soles), scorch marks in furniture from spells that missed
their targets, fallen furniture etc etc, but all in all the place
seems to be as it was twentyfour years ago.
Note: Every stairwell in the building has had a variation of the distance distortion spell cast upon them (permanent duration). The first time the PCs clamber up or down the stairs (and in all chase scenes) the spell's effects might cause trouble. If any PC fails a save vs. illusion, he falls down (taking d3 - 2d6 damage (main stairs - the tortuously steep spiral staircase). Any PC following (or in front of, depending on direction of travel) a fallen one has to make a DEX-check to avoid fallling too. The Tanar'ri spent considerable amounts of power when creating this effect and he has got much enjoyment from watching visitors falling more or less seriously - sometimes he has even "aided" them with a slight telekinetic push.
Nothing special.
The flying knives scene shamelessly ripped off from Bane of the Shadowborn.
Since there's no means to grow anything but herbs and some small vegetables on Pladic - all food had to be imported by ship. All foodstuffs were stored in a large compound beneath the kitchen - unfortunately dust has camouflaged the trapdoor in floor and made it quite easy for someone to step on it and fall through - save vs. DEX to grab a rim of the door - otherwise unlucky PC falls onto the stairs and bounces into the pitchblack cellars (taking 2d6 damage).
The PCs' ship cannot land here - the original ropes have been removed by the grubkin and it isn't likely that their own ship is carrying that tough ropes.
[handout-7: the dock- with and without a docked ship]
Booke of the Ogri Kynde can be found in its rightful place. Trying to carry it or any of the other book off has the usual consequences.
On a successful secret door-finding check (or some other method
that you use as an analogue for CoC's "Spot Hidden") a character
finds a tiny, but wellcrafted metallic chest under a shelf. It is,
of course, magical (chest of containment) and contains the
spellbook of a long gone wizard - it's not a traditional spellbook,
but a very long and narrow strip of some paperlike material that
can fit into the chest when it's rolled tight. The spellscroll
contains the following spells:
I - Read magic, detect magic, magic missile, mending, seek unlife
+3
II - Detect invisible, shadow, levitate, +2
III - Fireball, dispel magic, fly
This is going to be a long battle for the PCs - but if they are successful here they won't have to suffer any more attacks by the 'monks'. There's indeed scores of the pudgy pus-creatures in the room and the fight is made much more dangerous by the fact that their number is large enough to warrant some special effects.
The first ten rounds go very well for the PCs - they are able to slaughter the gruboids left and right - after that the floor begins to get slippery from all the secretion (if a PC misses a melee attack he has to make a DEX check to remain standing, if he slips, he has +2 to his THAC0 and AC during the next round). After ten more rounds (and a score of slaughtered pus-things) the sludge on the floor is some two inches thick - now the creatures are able to regenerate 3 points of damage per round - play out the horrible feel when the PCs see the gunk flow upwards into a gaping wound on a grubling.
After ten more rounds the battle reaches its' climax - now there's at least four inches of pus flowing freely on the floor - some of it streaming over the doorstep and noisily dripping down the stairs. Slowly the PCs see the liquid stir and bubble - suddenly the encrusted surface breaks up and an immense version of a grub thing erupts from the sludge. It seems to integrate the life force of its' smaller brethren into itself - they dissolve into the floorwide pool of pus and are sucked into the larger entity. If the PCs are able to defeat this grubmonster on steroids (it DOES resemble the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters a bit) they won't have to endure any of the 'monks' shuffling attacks. No material rewards are found - the disgusting things are just unintelligent servants.
The psychedelic colour collage on the wall is indeed awful to look at and it has a weird effect on the PCs' nervous system. If they get into a fight (or engage in some other physical activity) in the following hour, each character must save vs. spells or suffer the effects of confusion spell.
On closer inspection the ravaged books are all found to be of the same subject - interpretations of the Celestian (or some other religion that you've used in space) mythos. The books are beyond repair and no useful information can be gathered from them. All the strings in every bookbinding bench have been carefully tied up to resemble an unholy symbol (pick one appropriate to your campaign).
If the characters merely glance at the room, without pausing to browse through the countless map-books, they are not going to discover anything special. On the other hand, if they approach the statue or linger in the room, they are in for a nasty surprise. The Tanar'ri animates the hulking stone statue, causing it to throw the globe at the PCs. A successful DEX-check means that a PC has nimbly moved aside - a failed one causes 4d6 damage. The statue becomes rigid again, but trouble is caused by a duo of air elementals who react to the destruction as the ball crushes a few shelves, destroying books and splintering wood. If a PC succeeds in Planetology check, he recalls the stoneglobe to depict Moeth, an advanced world in an Inner Sphere.
As mentioned in the Head Librarian's notes, the Seekers' treasure is hidden inside the globe (which, despite being hollow) doesn't shatter when it impacts with a wall. The ball is quite impossible to open unless the PCs are familiar with the locking mechanism - a knock spell won't work as they cannot see the lock to be opened. Oma tulkinta, pateeko - lue pariin otteeseen ynna kysy nyyssissa. Should the PCs press firmly down the button hidden beneath the city where the HL was born, the sphere creaks open and an ancient mechanism within majestetically slowly splits the globe in half. Within is discovered a king's ransom - coins from a score of worlds made of at least seven valuable metals, gems and jewelry in several different styles - this all totaling 23'000 in gold pieces. The Tanar'ri has possessed the statue many times, but this is the first occasion when he uses the globe as a weapon - previously he fought with the statue's fists.
Excellent port stored in a rack (25 bottles, each worth d6-1 x 30 gp), valuable silverware and porcelain stored in shelves (total value 3900 gp, very heavy and easily broken, play out the difficulty of transporting a 3' wide cup) . Paintings very imaginatively and humorously disfigured but they still have value (and gain the PCs the enmity of the descendants of those depicted - some major families in multitude of spheres take offense, unless the PCs recover and subsequently destroy the paintings they are going to get some uncomfortable company - worth 6500 gp, 4500 gp without the thick frames; heavy and difficult to move).
19a. The closet
Spare tablecloths, pens, an oil lamp and three large barrels full of oil.
The fruits do indeed contain a nasty surprise, but they are not poisonous. Quite the opposite, their taste is indeed pleasant. However, when the PC has munched down half of an apple he spots a human eye within the core - intelligently staring at him. Throwing the apple off the roof or destroying the tree won't harm the Tanar'ri at all, just deprive it of some entertainment.
All the actually magical books (and most others that had had some magic leak into them from the neighboring books) have been used to power up the Tanar'ri's abilities, all that remains is a collection of purely theoretical books or treatises that didn't contain any new spells. The book that the elf sought is found here in addition to 22 others. None of them are easily readable, requiring Spellcraft rolls to understand them. Invent titles as the PCs go through the books, frequenting weirdly spelled nouns and old-sounding expressions. None of the books is immediately usable, requiring at least a week of thorough studying - the subject material is very obscure, especially to students of more modern magic.
Bathing equipment, including a pot of smelly powder and two very different bath-toys rest on a small stool. One of the toys is a regular Rubber Duck +2, the other a hideous mummified 4" tall bear creature (with wings and a pig's snout). It is the body of the fiend possessing the library, he has partly forgotten about it, partly he chuckled inside when he "hid" it beside the cute duck - it registers strongly under a detect magic or detect evil spell.
Own library
Coordinates of hometown (hidden within really grating poetry), coordinates of the base on Slubia, the keys to the Tome,
The body is of the non-animated sort, not smelly at all due to the dehydration. He's wearing traditional black garb - his material possessions are easily discovered: 24 gp, ring of keys, wand of magic detection (with 43 charges left), Dagger +2 (with special power: Detect Medusae (120' range)).
After dealing with that monstrosity of a lock you finally get the door open. It moves inward with a teeth-grating noise, revealing a dark room at the top of the tower. The only pieces of furniture are a massive oaken table and a throne-like chair near it. On the table lies open a massive book bound into black slabs of stone and a inkwell with some weirdlooking feather pens dipped into the long since dried ink.
This could be an extra helm for the PCs if you think that I've been too stingy with treasure.
The big book is indeed a rare treasure - the non-seeker people that have during the last decades laid their eyes upon one can be counted with one hand's fingers. It's the Tome of Knowledge, the fastest known method to send information across the Known Spheres. It's a very massive book, a lot heavier than it seems to be (400 kilos in fact) - it is very magical, showing up as a white-hot rectangle when a detect magic spell is used.
The book is locked with several massive clasps - the lock last to be opened (five locks in all) contains the obligatory trap, a traditional poison needle that can prick the skin of a careless book thief, the trap has to be disarmed before the book can be opened safely - this is done by pressing a stud on the engraved clasp (even if the characters have the keys to the locks the trap remains active). The poison is very subtle and a saving throw is rolled only after fifteen minutes, when the venom has penetrated characters circulatory system completely - only then its effects begin to show up. If the roll is successful the character feels a strange numbness in his tongue and fingers, effectively acting at -3 DEX for the next hour and having a noticable stutter in his speech - on the other hand, if the roll is missed the character's life functions slow down to being unrecognizable in fifteen minutes (unless the PCs use some sort of magical examination - detect life or somesuch, the character appears to be dead).
Once the book is opened the characters discover that it's filled with hundreds, perhaps even thousands of different handwritings - most of them tiny and very tightly controlled.
Sample entries.... Handout [8].
The pens are indeed crafted of very rare feathers - a knowledgeable character could recognize cockatrice, hippogriff, ki-rin and archaeopteryx among them. They might be of some use as material components in spells or the preparation of scrolls.
The tanar'ri has been unable to enter the room - the keys are in the sanctum, and he didn't foresee the possibility of the room being unaccessible from ethereal - he burnt a lot of magic to gain the power to walk through walls, all for nothing.
Encounters within the Halls of Knowledge
Some of these encounters should happen only once - and you should
refrain from using too many illusions to keep the players scared.
The library patrol encounter happens every time the PCs threaten
the books.
The Dead Librarian
As you enter this room filled with bookshelves you notice that
you're not alone. There's an old librarian lifting a fallen volume
from the floor. He hasn't noticed you - but you do notice that the
shelf is visible through him. When he has replaced the book on a
shelf he turns toward you and the first thing you spot is a large,
still bleeding gash on his transparent throat. He leaps into the
air and in a moment has flown into your midst.
Spectre: AC: xxxxx
Ilusion of a spectre. If the party priest rolls really well on his turning attempt the spirit does indeed react as it should, but the Tanar'ri launches the same illusion on the PCs after some minutes (now they have a -2 to their disbelief attempt since the spirit has so far behaved exactly as it should).
The source of the almost unhearable noises that have followed your progress lately is finally revealed, a black panther with a glittering fur coat has silently stalked you here. As it approaches, it stretches out two long, boneridged tentacles from its back. The light here must be playing tricks in your eyes, since it is quite difficult to make out the creature's exact position.
Statz:
Displacer beast illusion (-4 to disbelieve if the PCs are familiar with the displacer beast's abilities).
If the PCs try to burn, or otherwise vandalize the
collections:
Only a fraction of a second before your torch reaches the
bristling dry pages you hear a wet sploshing sound behind a corner
- and soon a humanoid shape of living water appears and skilfully
extinguishes the torch, wetting you totally in the process.
A small-sized Water Elemental: AC: Statz
This isn't a combat to the death, in a couple of rounds the elemental simply vanishes into thin air. If the PCs reattempt their vandalism soon, more powerful elementals are sent in to counter the threat (and they won't give up that easily). The same happens if the PCs try to move any books from the room they're stored in.
A medium-sized Air/Ice/Water Elemental Statz
If the going gets boring - spice the game up with some easy
kills.
More of the disgusting pasty white creatures are in this room -
unfortunately without their clothes. Your stomach turns as you
watch the group shamble to attack in unison.
Statz:
Ten to fifteen grublings, shouldn't take too long, nor sap the PCs' strength but minimally.
Events:
Return to Ship - all bounded up, crew slaughtered.
Discovery of the ship hold - when, why not before.
Midnight - how the clock tolls.
When the PCs have discovered the Tome of Knowledge:
You slowly climb down the twisting steps from the darkened room
and notice that you are not alone in the library hall. There are
two intimidatingly big fire elementals here to burn you to a crisp,
a flickering figure of a human fighter (nine feet tall) and behind
these, a ghostly, semi-transparent shape of a winged bear with a
human face.
This is not the final battle of the adventure, Thlach cannot be killed with conventional means and the characters have to exorcise him to rid the library of him. This is a battle for the gigantic tome from the locked room - the tanar'ri is too eager to absorb its' considerable magics. Even if the PCs aren't carrying the book, the fiend attacks them with all power he has got left - two summoned elementals and a shadow magic creature.
Statz:
The elementals and the warrior figure engage the PCs immediately, the demon circles the party seeking to carry the book away with his telekinetical abilities. As soon as the summoned creatures are vanquished the fiend emits a horrifying squeal and dives into a wall - escaping the PCs.
If the PCs escape without the book and leave the door open or abandon the book here, Thlach sucks in its' powers, becoming yet more powerful. The power absorption is a lengthy process, so he can't do it in the middle of combat.
Final Countdown:
When the PCs have escaped with their loot, remind them that the
adventure is not over yet - they have to take care of the demon
before their mission is finally accomplished (that is, if they wish
to have the Story Award XPs).
The fiend must be destroyed in the library - otherwise it is routed there when an exorcism attempt is successful. Only by destroying its' real power base can it be banished to the Abyss for 1001 years.
Let them try to fight the demon normally - it simply won't die, the ethereal "body" reforms in the Library a couple of hours after the fight. And the demon regains its' power fast - the disgusting pus creatures and elementals fight alongside Thlach.
The PCs have to resort to the special FX-department, below are detailed a few means with which to slay the fiend:
I have always found the AD&D rules about the nonweapon proficiencies pretty bogus (they don't even give default values for nonskilled characters). Does the reader gain a full-fledged Tanar'ri-craft NWP from the book is up to you.
The PCs have to summon the demon to the room they are in, and quickly draw a chalk-circle on the floor to contain the beast. Only then the aspiring demonologist can safely proceed with the ceremony.
Tasks:
If the first roll is failed the ethereal fiend attacks the speaker, moving so wildly that it cannot be contained within a circle. If the second roll is failed the beast retains its mobility, attacking the exorcist as he comes closer for the ceremony's end.
High ability (int, wis, cha) scores give bonuses to exorcism (15-16 = +1, 17 = +2, 18 = +3), these points are the starting score for the exorcist - if the PC already has a real Tanar'ri-craft NWP (do increase the demon's score in this case too) he has a +5 to his score, the knowledge the PC has gleaned from the Therioton in a few days isn't much when compared to real training.
Detachment from the combat is tough, during the round the character doesn't roll anything and the opponent gains +2 to his own roll.
On the other hand, should the PC emerge victorious, the transparent figure begins to ripple and twist in the center of the ring - and seems to be finally turning inside out, when with a whistling noise it is sucked away to thin air.
Grande Finale:
PCs, laps filled with the most promising-looking books scramble
out of the collapsing tower, while the entire library spontaneously
begins to burn.
The Rewards:
Further adventures within context:
New Monsters:
Grubkin are a "species" quite commonly found on some Lower Planes. In their usual form they are brightly white bulbous humanoids with large empty eyeholes and even larger toothless mouth. Their hands have three fullyopposable thick fingers and their feet two large toes. The creatures are unable to speak but they can emit some kinds of whistling and chittering noises with their mouths. Grubkin are composed purely of white pus, which tends to flow disconcertingly from limb to limb within a tight skin.
Combat: In combat grubkin fare well only by their sheer numbers, they are lousy fighters. They are easily hit, but only piercing/slashing weapons are able to damage them, blunt weapons just distribute their energy into the liquid pus without breaking the skin. They are physically weak and thus unable to fight any weapons larger than size S. Solitary grubkin are not dangerous to any but the most lightly armed - in groups they tend to use their weight to a distinct advantage by engaging in wrestling. An even more unsettling combat tactic is their ability to shoot their internal fluids into the faces of their assailants - this does damage to themselves so such action is restricted only to close combat when a direct hit is almost guaranteed.
The grubkin have got some sort of a regeneration ability - if they are fighting on remains of previously died grubfolk they are able to assimilate the pus on the floor (and regain 3 hp / round). If there is a truly large amount (say, some four inches) of pus on the floor - the entire fluid can rise as a gigantic (up to fifteen- feet tall) grubkin. Such a monster has AC 6 (thicker skin), 8 HD, and its fist does 1-12 points of damage, T0 11, Morale 20. This giant form doesn't use fluid jets to attack its enemies - if its attack roll is a 20 it has grabbed its opponent, pulled him close to its body and swallowed him. On subsequent rounds the victim takes d6 points of damage and will suffocate normally (rules on PHB p. XX). And as if the larger variation wasn't a tough enough opponent already, it does regenerate at the normal rate.
Society: Grubkin are unintelligent creatures and as such have no concept of society. While controlled by something they are acting under the controllers orders - ome unknown, very hard gray stone. Some symbols engraved into it and filled with black, rubbery gunk. The meaning of some symbols can be guessed (fire, stone) - but most of them are completely alien.
The axe is very light, and gives a +2 bonus to both attack and damage. Against golems it works as a rod of smiting - but even that pales in comparison to the axe's effects on elves. After two successful hits on elves (not necessarily the same opponent) the blade of the axe breaks apart into two moving halves (looks somewhat like jaws from the side) - attack bonus rises to +4, and on an attack roll of 19-20 the axe bites down on the opponent, automatically inflicting damage on following rounds even if it is wrested from the attacker's hand (a successful bend bars by the victim roll detaches the axe). However, this effect subsides instantly when the axe hits a non-elf opponent. Against ogres the axe will refuse to do combat and stick to the hand of its wielder making it impossible to fight effectively.
The axe can detect magic - a symbol lights up to differing shades of blue when pointed at a magical item/aura/whatever. The symbol fails to work perfectly in non-evil hands, and all cursed items show up as very powerful - as do all magical constructs.
It can also detect heat, which probably won't be very useful except on iceworlds.
When the both symbols light up there's an Ogre Mage present, a fact that can sometimes be very useful - but actually deducing what the lighting up of these two symbols means is not going to be easy. The other symbols do not work, perhaps the rubbery gunk within the carvings has lost its power.
The axe belonged to the legendary ogrish space explorer Rogn Kijarck who perished in the last battles of the First Unhuman War. How the PCs find the axe is up to you to decide, but once the ogres hear of its discovery, nothing can stop them to recover it.
The axe is a semi-artifact, a gift from the ogrish gods, and as such very hard to destroy / get rid of. If the PCs do not invent a devious method to destroy it the axe should come back to them in the hands of some powerful opponent.
Orbus ring
Until a spelljammer puts the ring on its effects won't be
discovered. And even then only at first situation when the ship is
caught in combat the real effect will be discovered, till then the
helmsman will feel just a weird tingling while guiding the ship.
The ring increases the SR of the ship by one if worn when
spelljamming. The negative side-effect is the permanent loss of one
hit point per week (seven uses) of ring-use (non-continuous use
counts too). The effect is discovered after each loss if an
INT-test is made (a save vs. death magic means that the lost hit
point will return after an year of abstinence from ring use).
The orbus rings are crafted by capturing an Orbus' spirit and binding it to the golden globe. The spirit has to attune to the wearer, therefore it remains dormant a week before the powers become evident. A habit that the beholders greatly despise - they can sense the spirit within the ring, this might give the PCs a severe disadvantage the next time they communicate with beholders.
Tome of Enlightment
Every major Seeker establishment has one of these extremely
magical books. Though it seems not to be very thick at all - within
its covers is an uncountable number of pages, all filled with
different handwritings (when a new page is required, it just
appears in the book). The covers are thin metal, embossed with the
Seeker symbol.
This book is one of the very few methods of communication across the uncountable voids between worlds. When some text is entered into a Tome, it appears in other Tomes across the spheres in a short time (1-100 minutes, not dependent on distance). The communication doesn't require any spells or magic pens, all magic is provided by the Tome itself.
The Tomes are never found on the open markets, and most mages and clerics believe them to be nothing but a fraud. Once a potential buyer is convinced of the book's authenticity he will pawn his own grandmother to get it. Or hire the seventy toughest crooks to "persuade" the PCs to negotiate price to a more manageable level or give it away for free. How much they can get for it depends on the campaign, its relative value is the same as for a fully equipped hammership with a major helm.
The information in the book isn't very useful for PCs, most of it is just endless discussion on varying topics (the Arcane and the Neogi are favorites). Think of it as a magical equivalent of the Usenet news we all are familiar with. Add ".signatures" and "flaming" only if you're certain that your players can stomach them. The book can be considered to have a "recent history" proficiency of 15 (it takes the reader d6 days to find out any facts).
Of Tanar'ri-craft there's precious little information in the book, the Therioton is mentioned twice in passing. XXXX himself seems to have been a very quiet man, he has joined only a few conversations during his time.
[handout 10 - sample]
If the characters decide to repeatedly write something on the book, they immediately get several "where did you get this book"-like replies. The book's location cannot be resolved via its messages, they're identified by the name of the book (which, in this case happens to be "Pladic") that the PCs cannot alter.
Therioton
An ancient book from the long since forgotten Vehemnean culture.
Vehemneans were very handy with magic, about half of the population
had some magic skills. Their culture developed very quickly, but
once they had conquered their own world and travelled through space
to some colonies within their own sphere (Arcane wouldn't sell them
anything but furnaces for motive power) they grew rapidly bored and
the empire stagnated badly. In their laziness the Vehemneans turned
to Tanar'ri for labor - this, of course led to their destruction in
a short time as more and more mages became corrupted and turned
against each other and the empire itself plunging the world to a
chaotic civil war. Vehemnean planet was finally purged by Hennha, a
female messiah-figure, who unleashed some Lightning Angels from
Concordant Opposition to cleanse the world - the entire planet was
scoured of all life, and its' atmosphere diluted to a point of
being equal with void.
Where the Venathan culture reigned is entirely up to you. I put their remains on Kule, the voidworld "moon" orbiting Oerth (some info found in the boxed set and SJR6 Realmspace, but needs a lot of work anyway so no worries). The lightning angels eradicated everything that was not made of metal or stone, the dilution and eventual disappearance of the atmosphere took just several centuries after the entire biosphere was eliminated. Air remains in some areas (big craters, caves), but the ruins have no breathable areas. The deadliest traps in ruins were the antimagic zones (or pre-cast dispels) left by the wizards, they are very effective in eradicating whole parties when their Airsphere spells get negated - spellcasting without air is impossible unless the spell in question has no verbal component. The drow elves (the present "rulers" of Kule) have removed much of the remaining magic materials from the ruins, but a lot remains to be discovered. Perhaps the party is unfortunate enough to run into some lightning angels who were trapped inside a collapsing building...
The Therioton is a huge 2' by 3' sized book bound in human skin. Every page is hair-thin, and almost translucent, making the book a pain to read in too well-lit areas. In addition to containing some very valuable information on Tanar'ri-craft (80 pages), the book includes four bound fiends from Abyss - their spirits have been attached to the metal sigils found on the last few pages of the book. Some spells, unfortunately written in forgotten Vehemnese round out the book (Illusionary Might, Script of Enthrallment, Immaterial Suffocation, Boiling Blood). Deciphering them requires a successful Spellcraft-roll in addition to the need of understanding the language as the principles behind the spells are rather outdated.
Reading the book from cover to cover gives the reader the Tanar'ri- craft NWP, and tells him what the sigils are - Smeag Eran was in a hurry, and tried to pry a sigil loose without reading what it was.
Thlacnch was the lowest ranked Tanar'ri in the book - the four others are much tougher cases:
Chest of Containment:
bla bla bla...
New Spells:
Timeline
This timeline is an attempt to distil some information only hinted
at in the text and to give the DM some idea what has happened
before. It also ties down some loose ends and perhaps inspires some
further adventures.
All dates in Seeker years - probably their Year Zero is the date of founding some important library or the finalization of their own charter.
Thlach-nchar -- the adversary
A low-power Tanar'ri that was bound into Therioton by a Vehemnean
mage over two millennia ago. He was the first to be released from
the book as it was inspected by the Seekers.
STR 16 Telekinetical strength INT 15 Smart for such a low echelon fiend WIS 9 Impulsive, no premeditation to his actions CON 15 Ethereal constitution DEX 14 TK agility CHA 8 Selfcentred, bad speaker
AC: 0 (Manifestation on prime material plane almost nonexistent) HD: 6 hp: 33 #AT: 1 touch D: d8 SA: Chilling touch (-1 to STR/DEX per hit), telekinesis, SD: Ethereality, regeneration (1 hp/rd.), immortality MR: 35 % / Nil XP: A plenty
Form - Used to be a smallish, matt-black bear with oversized fangs, gaudy butterfly wings and multifaceted eyes. As he gained power from the all the magic items (especially helms) in the library he gradually shrunk in physical form, and became a totally spiritual entity - now he looks somewhat like a ghost, totally transparent humanoidal entity still bearing his wings - though the color has seeped away;
Powers - Elemental summoning, Illusioncraft, very low level Gate, absorption of solid magic, noncorporeal, chilling touch, magic resistance 35 % (against wizardly spells), regeneration;
Weaknesses - Dust, priestly magic, no resistance to demoncraft, hunger for magic, bound to the Pladic library;
Personality - Now, for the first time ever, Thlach is at the top - even if the place to be top in gets visitors only once a year. From a bullied Tanar'ri has evolved a sadist of a worst kind - nothing delights him as much as toying with his victims and finally killing them. Impatient, four millennia in a sigil has only decreased his patience.
Of Inspiration / Thanks To / Boing Boing:
Neil Gaiman & Jill xxx for the grubkin (ish#35 of
Sandman)
William W. Connors for the Flying Knives scene (Bane of the
Shadowborn in Dungeon #22)
Pushead - the artist who draws the grittiest pictures around
(famous for his T-shirts for Metallica).
Pyogenesis - An "upcoming" doom/death metal band from Germany.
Michael Moorcock - The evocative death of a world from Stormbringer.
