IRequiresjthe]usevof the] Dungeonsa|Dragons@)hlayerss Handbook hicd|edition published by) Wizards oljthe Codeshd SN, The Witchfire Trilogy, . AE WAGERS, Part II: Shadow of the Exile,’ yp BAS "AT A.D20 System Adventure for PCs & 4 S Of Levels 3 S By Matt Staroscik Art by Brian Snoddy & Matt Wilson Cover by Matt Wilson Production Manages Boy (0 a d2t) E “4 LLC Tron Kingdoms Gane World A D2 ft si } ke, 'S 7 7 a sy i Z 2 E | , [ ear bf Privateer Press Contents copyright © 2001 eee 4323 Evanston Ave N #202 reserved. Thit i « work of fition, and any rexembban ‘Seattle WA 98103, ‘sel sr Dingo ly Set gh Voice: (206) 545-2043 rie So nane Fax: (206) 770-7373 Ti eedve pl Soda peal parry tp: privatoorpresscom ‘sn ado eal oe nd wl pl ou cur owe frontdese@ privateerpress.com eA apc lng el ohTable of Contents late duction See The Iron Rredoee Aditlers 26 10 Finding the Temple . Steaming for the Senule Swampie Outpost . Night Attack . An Obstacle . Two Towers .. The Shipwreck Gatorman Ambush Gatorman Village . EA ati Elenpeeisvanies nainie AIO Inside the Temple . Ground Floor . Second Floor Third Floor . Act TI... i Returning to Convis Jailbreak! ....... The Sewer .. The Cellblock Appendix A: Creatures . AppendteB: Characters. Appendix C: Firearms . Handouts1 Snort Lee erin 1 1 croog hans apes ner tung a Crk Car | sas ny ort Leen |v) at on bre ye ons ‘rt Gel alt Get Ot Span Tce ago Gos wasn 1 ‘Utteaeaae) 4 Ayeonoirat cones 2 rekon ro Oty Tasers Pe ‘realms Lae, sages rato eota oman oe Loren es Inne vay ots consy nt eesti Less, oul ere Gemtin en Waar te Gott ay you ere oy acy Fags sas aon tert Corman Catone 12. ‘en Satan ton Peer oan ona Hsien ea pa el are Wtf te Cas ay penta same sep aluse cine Lert Aces andestay yt rag anv oseson bere Sen Tact ie Tan one ny este Os en tera stone et. ‘Peersomme snarls npsesson lay ale dears Yoveao9 ‘Rebeosyson Tacerak gists ety sear Yost ays 7 Peat ate Caray mh Teron recone "tao cor tcf ean Wea he Cot a pon ‘suena trun Youbet rasa spats ‘iar th aw boas cr. epg ar rato rr. aes ‘Scan oberon aan 2 pes Wea fe Cot iy se ein and ran ees of 2D Sit "aera gc atm roa. wl 2 ot aes poy ope inotragaruie by Soe te ed ee on vos BCE Ser {fase ges ou may sous a ceagsey poesia roa etn larson theo Sam aor i Champs om Lesa ‘Wands ff Cans ay sous ardor ons hs Ler wa pr ‘ten. Yount ae ete pes cspensn, cam nape Pe odes ‘Frais ees Fr apr ef 9a aay conten os ‘Se cuang rato at onpae hs pmvcusveran a Lea Tah et ‘Svenae shouts oun tan Vanes le Caos. Scseqen vosere eS ‘Senn soe rennin 10 Upset etree ora ‘ou may rer nue wero “at Coston Cat rye 11 Noses Lease ‘a0 Som Les Op, {2 Nemanirerc eon eo Cn Sa vem eaten wakoare pov ou wh ay Kc ‘MStoranseo agp ridice she O20 Sey Yatetek ee aeRO HHEVER EXPRESS OR MPUED, A TO THE FINES FORA PA ieee no REPRESENTATION OF WAREANTY TAT THE 0 SYSTEN TARDE (OPEN GAME LENGE Voom ta ‘ha oar ot ee epsy ole me Cans re rd Cont 200 ond Can. ear) thi ee "Dalton: Ot mans te emi era oes wt ne Contac! cpen Gare Cato Daae Mars res ped med lng dae vers ar ater reer Moh a age) po ‘oe maitonon creson aston emer unpate pment aeon ‘Drayrert aor whchan xb non mayest ransomed Sed {Gberoir mean mpi tre rr ue teas py oy ‘ew temas dao Open Gane tr mae a gare naan rd Induce, procs peste erases be act scare does ‘ona a ese nan saree oa aa YS ‘Snalcons deny etd Cpe Gare Corry Crs wd rama ‘Shsorervan as Dave Natale Opens Carte) NOC Ya ee 2th Leah Learn psy Opn Ge Crt alco ero ‘in fale Onn Gane Cont rao Used uncer ainome ce Lewes Sutras are ay Oper re crn ys Une Nor rye Sina rauracosbon ieee andrea Low ot No tse crore ay bs sped an Open Gare Crt ete wg hs |10ter ar cag: Ug Open Gane art unde Yr aap dle tome eres. 4. Gears Conan: contain ty agatng Wo uo ie Lowen, ann gut ou pepe ned peyton ewan an wee ‘ator sire an ne Opn ae oi Shepeeoeso kate isComtate av sn corergeral trl pst Seve Canoe ures Yar ambsars er noua Farosutopntir wrt tes oamyedy he a. Nets! Lares Cape Yeu rat pte COPYAGHT NOTICE pon is ae ere natin COPY OTIC ry Opn ime Caret ‘a ene maha catng sn es ma Peta Pe pret niiwcoyeyt nace: heen COMMIT NOTE ery gos Cps ae {erty oso 1st tees ee rea un ry au ey rg 2 a Eater enoatily ace ase tenth web prc Agee ‘Seitecune tn eaor aes oy ou saa ea ros ‘yor ath aka 9 apes eran cry 2 “fou chenrng pw Gama Covered ‘anor wt or Torn egos Tena Tho @ 2 Fn yn Open Gana Grn ene rte ache See {tates toy Thea ay Pauley sec open ae Cora ‘cn cen dws nea Pi ey {orn ya arb Gp Care Carer Yu mat Sune in po ‘ersalne wot rouse astoarg we Opi Gare Cot |. Upaing he ern cars rs esa ers ay pub arse the Learn Ys ay ut ary aoa vn os emery rey we ‘Maus ny Op Gana Covert ogra etd und yrs ae Lees 1 ogy ha Ler Yu ST res ap i ros wn oy py oS peice Corer Osa. 1 sec Carty Yo aye mal eee he Open Gane Crt Sng aratany Ce ane omen ra "2 iy Cony #8 nosso Yu cay mh ay ets tas nea nats smart Oper Gane Comsat soa oe ‘sgperenal reson tor ou ryt Use ar pen Geta ole ‘oman as ee rat aay ou ao can a oomatliaremsben wn Scyctbsanrg onde theta Aa {fort amy oan oe eon aa be ncaa ch proven {Pulbersemd anyone enn mesa maw teri ‘6. coprmck NOTICE poe era Coprige© 200, Waa Coxe ‘ct Tony Pat: Shen dtm Encerteyeg AA ProePesLC ‘Oren cau conten ‘Tolstenr comets plas Open Gai Lense bore Me | InnainapireA sts anny he ses oxporg wih he nes ge ‘nna ageCR 2) an enn ro ho the rrr ere een ‘homenersrares are Opm Gane Covi. re abe ramesiecie be tonkegaste ug oh Waste Tsay ul yep’ stale 2 Ae {rues ctr Open Gama Cv. ne eon ys ars ‘pastes nnkrgma arsine Wr Tey Tabon een oe $35 Fenn en page 5 Op Garo Cert re ls mong er). Betensarg ay ramos Pers of te Open Gare Catt kes sve may orga he O20 Stn Fours Dnooren one Sat. Wace Cat The nara asp ter eth we ete Open Gave Cro. Ay Opn Gare ant on is ‘ound semen mtbr ah he skon "COPYING 20), Par rs Aig cy sce Oper ame Cart ng pop aes emerson coer on Crim a, habIntroduction Welcome back to the Iron Kingdoms Welcome back tothe Witehfre Trilogy! This hook, the Kingdoms in books yet to come. second in the series of D20 System adventures, is _ sible to transplant this adventure to any other fantasy intended for a party of level 3-8, though it can he { realm of the DMs choosing and omit all of the Iron adapted for any kind of group. I's best ifthe characters Kingdoms references if desired. hhave already played 7 1, but Like the first book in the adventure Trilogy, this adventure is divided own if the DM up into three Acts. The Acts do chooses. The Dungeons & lie a spoils tales, theugh Dragons® 3rd Edition Player’ many of the events within them Handbook ie required to play this can he moved around if the DM nario. The Dungeon Masters wishes. A certain amount of line Guide and Monster Manual will Sagi Be craty tssesiay ta pease: he handy as well, aa me WF plot, but the DM should natural~ Like all of Privateer Press’ Iy attempt to conceal this fact fantasy RPG books, the ae : from the players Witchfire Trilogy is set in the Iron Kingdoms, 2 fantasy realm on the verge of an industrial revo- lution, Swords and sorcery are still the mtinstays, but stenm 32 power, firearms and other m een trope 7 pings are becoming Conventions NPC attributes are listed in a condensed for er have a Challenge Rating (DMG 168). Stats for major NPCs and all monsters are in the appen- dices and are not repeated inthe main text. If Part I of the ironkingdoms.com. An Tron 1 Kingdoms sourcebook is aleo scheduled J)?" P'S Witehfire Trilogy is referred to, for release in late 2001, The Iron the page number will be Kingdoms an ts heading towards another kind of geet change—all-ovt vine The King, bmi ese wo eter Adventure Summary Them implements s plan of vengeance, These cate, Atthe end of the first hook inthe Wichfne Triay ‘Aleria Ciasnor made off with the corpse of her moth ct; who was executed a decade ago for practicing witeh~ read aloud to the players is enclose ray box.tated the other coveners and stole the magic blade Witchfire the very weapon that was used to execute the five women years ago. Her intent i to use the power of the Witchfie to bring her mother fully bac to life, The restored coven will then seek vengeance on the people sho framed them... for framed they were, by the evil magisteate Ulfass Borloch and the mysterious wizard Vahn Oheren In the first act of this adventure, the PCs will learn some of the details of Alexia’ plan. She is traveling up a tributary of the Black River to an ancient temple with the legendary ability to being the dead back to life— clearly, thi take place. The PCs will need to give chase, and they'll have a harrowing time traveling up the river by steams craft. In the second act, the PCé will find the temple and search within for Alexia—will they be able to stop her before her plan is complete? In the third act, the PCs retuen to Corvs to find that it has heen taken over ly an old enemy. Theyll meet once more with Watch Captain Julian Helstrom, and learn that their friend Father Pandor Dumas has been imprisoned by the invaders. A rescue would seem to he in order. hore the restoration of her mother is to The Tron Kingdoms the Witchfire adventures are ect in and around the city of Corvia, an ancient city in the Kingdom of Cygnar, one of the Iron Kingdoms. Corvis lies at the divergence of the Black River and the Dragon's Tongue, ‘nail iE hat bonessacess portant tele senos bekeetes the agdoms and the Dwarven lands of Rhul to the north. It is a city with a rich history, and its lox gen sali ita prima spat Foe those baking advantins, ‘That combined with its haunted history and colorful culture serves to make it the most famous city in the Iron Kingdoma Corvis and the Kingdom of Cygnar are detailed more fully in Part I of this Trilogy. They will also be more completely covered in the Iron Kingloms sourcebook, duc in late 2001. Instead of repeating this information, it's time to take a look at the Iron Kingdoms ae a whole The Birth of the Iron Kingdoms More than a thousand years ago, the land that is now called the Iron Kingdoms was a mire of warring human city-states. Strong leaders would come and go, the chaotic realm then known as the “Thousand C’ no one could carve out a kingdom for long nent’s Elven and Dwarven nations, much oldes, and more stable, observed the tragic human conflict but chose not to involve themselves. On the rare occasions when they were attacked by a foolish human waclord, their response was quick and devastating. Before long, the Thousand Cities earned not to meddle with them. Jut when things looked blackest, when it seeme the human civilization of the continent was doomed to am eternity of conflict, the first Orgoth longboatarived on the beach near what is now the city of Caspia “The Ongoth explorer were representatives ofa tightly disciplined military society hailing from somewhere across the Gulf of Cygnar. They were a nation of humans, but they were savage callous folk with many dark and unsavory customs, Seeing an opportunity for conquest, they immediately launched an invasion and a war of dom- ination. The citizens of the ere taken by muspriee, but they fought valiantly—end to:no aval ‘The land quickly fell under Orgoth control, though there were two bloody centuries of scattered resistance before the Thousand Cities were completely pacified. The Orgoth Empire occupied the land for a total of 800 years. During this time the invaders contemplated assimilating the Elves and Dwarves, but the price of attacking theee poverful nations wes deemed to be too high. The xenophobic and unpredictable E alone and the Dwarves of Rhul became occasional Ongoth trading partners and nothing more. (Some humans still hold a grudge, accusing the Dwarves of being collaborators hut this is uncommon by the time of the Witefire Tribay.) The Orgoth rule was without incident for four cen- tures, Inevitably, a rcbellion began to take shape and another two centuries of scattered conflict hegan. The Orgoth Empire was eventually defeated and driven back across the sca, but during thee retzeat they tool the time to destroy almost all oftheir records, artifacts and struc- tures—to this day, historians know little about them despite their centuries of occupation. The Orgoth also salted the fields, poisoned wells and put cities to the torch, The Scourge was their final act of barbarism. jousand Cities were left“There are many strange legends from the lst days of the rebellion —talesof dark, mysterious allies that helped to dive sway the invaders, Some say it would have been iimporsble to defeat the Orgoth without help and that the rebel leaders must have made dangerous deale with infernal powers. If this is true, the Ir yet to payoff this ancient debt. Considering the poor his~ torical record of the time period, noone has been abe to poe amin one way or the thr. Onl tie wl el if the Ate the Ongoth were driven hack into the sea, some opportunist red to take advantage of the situation and stvall conflicts began to break out, just as they had ia the old days of the Thousand Cites The leaders ofthe rebel- Tion had other plans though, and the budding warlords were put down quickly and brutally, While the rebel armies kept the peace thir leaders conve “Though the city sll smoldered from the Scourge, it was the hest mooting place in the realm—eentrally located and eagy to travel to. Within the cold marble chambers of Corvis City Hall, the rebel leaders held the Council of Ten. Week of furious debate followed, but when it was all cates had been drafted, and the leon Kingdoms were bora. over the famous Corvis Orgoth Soldiers ‘Aue, anyone can read the Corse Treatias for them: sels... but the mast important deals were never set down ‘on paper The Iron Kingdoms wore born of bloodshed and dark dealings, and 3 shall hey fal — Torven Wadock = The Iron Kingdoms Today Much has happened since the Corvis Treaties were signed and the cebel armies became royal armies, Here isan overview ofthe five Iron Kingdoms in the present time, Humans account for most of the population, though Dwarves are not uncommon in the north, where the climate is cool. E sighting one is sometimes thought to be an exceptionally rare every The Kingdom of Cygnar Crgnar is the largest and most powerful of the Iron Kingdoms Its capital is Caspi, located atthe southern end of the Black River. It is aso the home to Corvi, City of Ghosts birthplace ofthe Corvie Treaties, and a critical trade nexus for the realm, Cygnae is a lawful land, led by the good King Leto Raelthorne. It is a wealthy kingdom with a strong military, and itis home to silled wizards and engineers. Cygnar has a sophisti- cated government and culture and is known to all as the jewel of the Iron Kingdoms. Of course, the Kings ‘men can'the everywhere, and there itil plenty of law- lessness and adventure inthe wild lands that ie outside Cygnar's moders King Leto the Younger, ashe is known, dethroned his elder brother Vinter Raelthorne TV, who was a savage and merciless man, as was his father before him. The coup was bloody but quick, and when it was over the lind rejoiced and welcomed the new King with open arms, Raelthorne the Eller was unfortunatly able to cade his execution and escape from his prison cel in Cepia, but he has nt been seen for several years. Most believe him to be dead. The Kingdom of Ord Something of a backwater territory, Ord is the far- thest to the west of any of the [ron Kingdoms, Ord hae along, rugged coastline, and many of its citizens livenear the water's edge and make their living off the sea. It's a dangerous life, for the waters of the western seas are harsh, and pirates from the Scharde Islands are often close at hand. conditions serve to breed the toughest, most skilled sailors anywhere, making Ord’s Royal Navy a force to be reckoned with despite their somovhat antiquated ships “The capital of Ord isthe city of Meri, but the moat famous place in the realm is the disreputable town of Five Fingers. Situated near the end of the Dragon's “Tongue river, Five Fingers ie a trade nexus and naval station sn be found the roughest sailors of hth the rivers and the seas. Sometimes even privateers in serviee of the Dragon King will hide th come to port for supplies—or unwilling recruits ‘The Kingdom of Llael An unremarkable kingdom with little natural resources, magical or technical shill, Llael manages to the out an existonce by exploiting ite proximity to the Black River trade route. The realm has but one true lessing—ample deposits of coal, without which its poled. The largest coal town recly a league from where the wer into Rhu “The King of Llael is the head of state in title o and it is the Council of Nobles in the capit colors and economy would be tru inthe realm is Ryns, Black River ero Ht Marywyn that sees tothe day-to-day operation of the government. Lk J has a torturouly complex system of government, making the Dwarven Moot look like « paragon of efficiency. Currently, Llal is actually with- tut a regent; when the last king passed on, the line of ascension was a bit muddled, and the matter ha tied up in the courts for eight year. In the Council of Nobles has appointed a Prime Ministe (Lord Deyar Glabrya 13), butt looks like a permanent position a litle more every day The Protectorate of Menoth The Protectorate ie the newest of all the Tron Kingdoms. [t was born of a religious echism within Cygnar, whersin worshippers of the ancient god Menath hegan to contest the state religion, the Church of Morrow. Menoth's followers were small ia number, but their faith and piety were unrivaled, The devout and vocal group felt thatthe Church and the Kingdom as a whole wore eliding into corruption and decadence. T dof the coming warned of the price of wickedn Armageddor ind prophecies to support their claims, The common folk put litt in their alarmist tales, and the matter was given no offi- producing. portent stock cial attention ky Morrow's Primarch. Ultimately, this was 4 critical mistake—the worshippers of Menoth, ‘weary of being ignored, decided to take action. T they assembled a secret 3 good intentioned (though mis- aided) movement began to take fon sinister cult-ike traits. The cextremict group hegan a campaign of sabotage, designed to. destahi- lize the state Church and provide “evidence” for their prophecies of disaster. Theie campaign was not wholly successful, but it dd touch off open hostilities involving the Church of Morrow, Menoth’s fol- lowers and Cygnars royal army. When the dust settled Monoth's followers were in contro ofa frag ment of the eastern region of Cyenae. After weeks of negotia- tions it was decided that Cygnar would officially retain control of the eastern territory, but that the state religion would be different there, The arrangement persists on paper to this day, but in prac tice the Protectorate of Menoth is a separate kingdom, ruled hy a strict theocracy. Any citizen ot breaks the Protectorate's rules of conduct is punished severely, and the worship ‘of Menoth permeates every aspect of life. The mortal leader of the Protectorate is the Hig visitor who and Fist of Menoth, Eminence Hierarch Garrie Voyle. The Kingdom of Khador ‘This rustic realm is a sharp contrast to the more modern ir discontent simmered for soveral years while my of zealots. What once was ‘it. I's unquestionable that ‘ienoth | cxsts, for his priests were once the pow- erful ruling class of the land. Alas for ee uplifting and tolerant ‘moseage of Morrow began to take hold with the people, and today the worship of Menoth is rare outside the Protectorate. Menoth is usually depicted as a giant, Pees ytcren baa’ Gabe sand twouhtp= pers. He demands adherence to a strict code of conduct—part of whick viding constant tribute to Menoth and his priests. The notion that « man may somehow become “divine,” so central to the worship of Morrow, is blasphemy i the church of Menoth, where man's place is to serve his creator, and his reward ix to pass quietly into oblivion. Monoth is Lawful Neutral and his clerics have access to the domains of Knowledge, Law and Protection. Some evil high-level cleris who are favored by Menoth become Serutators the feared church police and policymakers, “Serutator of Menoth’ is new prestige class that will be made available in the Iron Kingdoms sourcebook, kingdoms of Cygnar, Llae] and Ord. It is a harsh land with few resources, sparsely populated by a tough and srim people, Its zene are simple folk, but they ate intelligent, honorable and fiercely independent. Their rales, King Ayn Vanar XXI comes from a long line of rebel warriors, and can trace his lineage back to the first Janded nobles who fought against the Orgoth invasion centuries ago. Not surprisingly, the Khador have a strong military tradition, Everyone traine in am ics from almost the time they ean walk, and nd able-bodied citizen is considered to be in the military reserves, Wizardry and sorcery are uncommon among the folle of Khador, but thei plied with fearsome battle-clorce. rogiments are well sup-In years gone hy; Khador had adopted a expansionist agenda, Centuries past have seen tishes with ite neighbors, and King Vanat's ancestors have even annexed resource-rich land from Llael and Ord, under the pretense that the territory was rightful- ly theirs by the agreements of the Corvis Tr Khador may appear too weak today to seize tory, but Llael and Ord are still not eager to try and take back the lands they lost—despite their poor ell snd technology, the Khador are wart ud any military action aga hound to be expensive. ond to no: Beyond the Iron Kingdoms ‘The Iron Kingdoms are by no means the only nations on the continent of Immoren. There are sizeable enclaves ‘of Dwarves and Elves adjacent to the lands of Men, and far to the west actocs the dark seas of the Broken Coast there is the island realm of the Dragon King. Rhul—The Land of the Dwarves Compared to the dynamic kingd strange doings of the inserutabl the Dwarves are a bastion of order and ns of Men and the reason. Their society has been without nasjox unboayal fariaves ous seals geure, Heras thar all wars are more like ducls, being organized and adjudi- J cated by the Dwarven Parliament, among. thelr own: kind as the Moot. traditional cof the Moot Stone Lords, and known leader ae tl aged Dwarven citizens who can trace their bloodline all the way hack tothe ‘Thirteen Families first founded Dwarven nation. The other members of the Moot are representa = from the Hundred Houses, the nal landed nobles It i this group that is reeponsi- ble for forging the laws of Dwarven society, using an incrodibly lengthy set of procedural rules called simply the "Codex." the ds Dwarvenkind are hip uni sciveeting salty of Dwarven stonccraft, and o of gold, gems and other ireusuree of cross all the known |. renowned for their fine craftsmay Any child kn the stout folks lo the earth isa truism, What many people do not know is thatthe Dwarven skill in sto the dare spaces of tunnels and du craft many magnificent c work is not restricted to They also to the lands of Rhul, Tos—Home of the Elves many would chaotic and unpre- able, atleast to the more ordered minds of Men and Dwarves. There is one thing for certain, though—those who approach los without being invited do not return What litte trade there is between the Elves and other races is done in auch a way ato conceal the homeland from the sight of strange some say that elvenkind are masters of the “There are rumors, of elements, thatthe trees and stones whisper secrets to them, o that thie ct Tiving gods as old as the world tell or will confirm any of it. Even the rare Elves that choose to leave their homeland are silent on the topic. es are built around the temples of but n (On that note, any Elf seen outside the homeland fits one of three First, there is the o at or merchant lord, These powerful individuals may be spied rarely on the streets of Caspia or other major cities, con coaled in palanciuin, conspicuous only by the smakod Elven guardsmen that surround them, Elven outcast there is the rare hhese pathetic (and possibly dangerous) individuals have bi branded and driven from their homeland for some unspeakable crime—among the long-lived elves, exile to the “barbarian lands” ie a rorse than death, Lastly, there is the carett Elf of all—one for whom wanderlust and curiosity about the world i natural mes tI distrust and dis dain for the outside world. The Kingdom of Cryx Far to the west, in the pirate-infested coastal waters past the Broken Coast of western Cygnar, lie the Scharde Islands, Upon the largest isle (for which the chain is named) les the kingdom of Cryx. The jagged, foreboding coastline of nis true nat than it appears Its inhabitants are fell troll-kin, beastly +harde hints at the rea itis.a land even more dark and treacherousogres, evil Men and warped half-breeds, Dwarves and Elves are all but unknown in Cry, except perhaps ax covering slaves in the obsidian palaces of the wealthy, of as expensive livestock atthe waterfront markets ‘The inhabitants ofthis blighted land all live in fear under the shadow of their ruler, an ancient dragon Tatu. The Lord of Wyrms, as he is known on nland, has utterly dominated his territory for centuries, and his privateer terrorize the western coasts of Cygnar and Ord. Torul is believed to be the oldest n the world —perhaps even the fist dragon. He immense size and power to stay personally litics of his realm, gleefully putting down would-be rebels or rabble-rousers with claws fire. His royal court is held in a gigantic black stone palace, warmed by the heat of the wounded earth Toruk: seems content to rule his remote island realm, but everyone feats the day he decides to expand his borders Te scon him crumble castes with at from his wing, sson him dig his nomics out of ther stone lie with cla Bke arsctstoameshovse.. he a force of nature, hei C cand all the ret should pray that the Dragon King dosent come calling, for there would bea terble price to pay, — Lond Admival E.R. Samish, Ord Royal Navy The Bloodstone Marches North of the ‘Theoeracy and cast of Cygnar the land hhocomes dry and harsh Thin forests quickly give way to tires of reddish roc, baked earth and blowing eand. The land ie hostile and so seemingly worthless that litle explo ration has been done to date, and the few brave adventur- cers who have attempted to cross thie desert have never come back, The coninon wirdom is that the Bloodstone Marches are an unbreakable harrier, and what lis beyond insurely not worth the price ofthe crossing No one, not even the most mad. and reclusive her- anit, Lives inthis blasted and withered realm. ‘The only settlement anywhere near the Bloodstone Marches the small mining town of Ternon Crag. The Crag on the edge of the Marches, a few leagues from the river, and the hardy folk who live there make ther liv= ing digging for coal or gold and shipping it out to Cygnar ot Llal. The Crag-folk know more than any- In fact, the merciless lands of the Bloodstone Marches are not empty at all, bt are home to a race as yet unknown to the Iron Kingdoma—the Skorne Unknown they may be for now, bt the western realms will learn of them all too soon. The Skorne, lurking in the sandy wastes just beyond the reach of Men, are preparing for war. Leading them is none other than the Acposed King of Cygnar, Vinter Raclthorne IV. After escaping from his prison in the royal palace at Caspia, the exiled Raelthorne began to formulate his revenge He vowed that he would reclaim his erown or he would see all of Cygnar burn. Either way, he would need new allics—his men were loyal to the ond but now only 2 few hundred remain, Alter years of exploration and planning, Vinter Raclthorne stumbled onto the Skorne homeland. The Skorne were a dark, mysterious and reclusive race, leading a dreary existence in the blighted western deserts. Theis was also a society paralyzed by polities; Skorne elders were too busy sneaking, plotting and backstabbing each other to mobilize the nation in any meaningful way. Despite this, they were a nation with immence latent power. Individual Skorne are formida- ble opponents; and the races graep of wizardry is at least on par with the most advanced human kingdoms ‘Then there i their assortment of savage slave-beasts, the likes of which the outside world has never seen on cor off the battlefield. Into this environment of chaos came Cygnar's Raclthorne the suited his needs, he wae able to convince the Slorne elders to give him command of a small army, which he claimed he would use to lead the rich tertitory—the Ion Kingd Raclthorne's goals were entirely to use the Skorne as soldiers in his own war of vengeance, His first stop would be the vulnerable tale nents of Corvis, and from there he planned to seize Cespia once the Skorne reinforcements arrived. By the of Book Il in the Witehfire Trilogy, Raclthorne and a amall Skorne army are only days avay from Corvin. The 4 Kingdom of Cygnar believes that there ie terious threat fom the unexplored Bloodstone Marches. ‘TheyAct I If the party has not played through Part I, their introduction to thie adventure is still quite simple. The bottom line is that Alexia The Longest Night A few game-days ago, Corvis was snvaded byw Huatieds 5 Becky iecn ‘The deed was perpetrated by Alexia Ciannor, who wanted to take revengeion the eity thot executed ber Hales Miececal Giga Joes ‘iveslon hat enabled hoc to recover bar: mothefs corp and the sword Wiicktize DipesaeDed tote tea fob en Weg Mase The i ll sated oe fils esl orets coal eh ed there are hundreds of eritinalefo catch ied convict Conequsetl Tus Wate rel th ae Gipratait(Bacotetae Father Damas need. som outside help —like the doughty PCs. undead. ‘Clansioy: 1: young-wornan with for- imiable magical powers, is headed off into the swamp to the temple of a nigh-forgotten goddees There, she will re-animate her dead mother (who was unjustly executed for being witsh) and put « terrible plan of vengeance into motion, There are many poople who dlon't want this ta happen. There ie ahi Ober the vl wird who secretly orchestrated the exccu- tions that. drove Alexia to seek revenge. There Dumas, Alexia's uncle and guardian, who i the High Priest of Morrow within Corvis. There is alto Watch Captain Julian Helatrom, a staunch defender of ils of the Church of Father Pandor the city Oberen's motives are selfish—he knows that he will ultimately he on Alexia’s hit list, so he wants hee stopped and the Witchfire returned to him. Fath Dumas and Captain Helstrom have selfless motives. “They want to protect Alexia from harm, and they want to protect the city from any harm she may being to it Both individuals know that the Witehfir though they don't understand why. They'll overed for safety’s sake. In the end though it that should reach out to the should he reserved as a powerful and is Dumas and Heletro: terious adver IF the party has played Part L ofthe Witefie Troy, it will be trivial for the DM to link the adventures together. After the big showdown at the Church, give the playere 2-3 days to recover, plan and investigate before they learn about the next part of Alexis's scheme from Father Dumas. The Father wll send his acolytes to track the PCs down and ask them to come to the Church of Morrow immediately. On gathered, Father Dumas will address the PCs have My dy 1 canna hak you enough fr your help in our recent trying times. I'm afraid [ rust atk your help again, hough. Thave learned ‘where my errant niece i off to next, and someone must try to stop her. | hope I can count on you.” The Father pun and es closely tech of you. ‘Our research and divinations lead us to heliove that Alera is on her way tothe Temple of ss mc lction ill uncer tou, but it ie holioved to ie You need find the temple ty to heat Aosta there, stop her and recover the blade Witchfire before she can do more harm, If you can return with her, ao much the better Ifthe PCs want to tall: to Father Dumas, he can tell thorn these things > Chriss algo known as the Clockwork Goddes > Cyriss has fw temples. Iti aad that each temple is actually some kind of giant machine. > ‘The temple in thi part ofthe world ie supposed to be quite large, though not the bigest by am ation of tho temple is unknown, lie in Church record ‘or even with other explorers temple's location quickly ie vital! > tis rumored that the machinery in the temple can 10Jife—that soust be why We bnew she wants he bring the dead back Alexia is heading mother re > Most of Cyr but there are ram ected | worshippers are good {if misguided) of an evil sect. The Temple may be a dangerous place. » Alexia has done some terrible things, but she can't 1s would like her returned, but only if it can be done without br beyond redemption... Father harming hee » As much as we might want returned to life it too 1 likely to he deranged, and Alexia docan't need any powerful allies atl it is het to lt the dead rest — Lesaria would not want to undergo an unnatural lexia’s mother process like resurrection. If the party has not played through Past 1 of the Trilogy, their introduction to the adventure i till sim ple though it comes from a different source—Watch Captain Julian Helatrom, The city’s oficial resources ate spread thin after the chaos ofthe Longest Night attack in Part I, and to hice some help to follow her Dui: tle, has learned that she ie on her way to th Cyris, and he askes Captain worthy help to try and stop he. plain Felatron ip on Alexia’s doings Alexia’ npl fom to find some tn Captain Helstrom will come see the PCs personally, hoosing an opportune moment to approach them in bavi x eagle tra Sone eye His traditional cape and sidearm identify his station, though He atill wears the armor of a Cygnar army officer—he's probably a veteran of military service. “A few minutes of your fime, friends? Uave a proporition for you.” The offi cor produces a polished brass badge and shows it to you. “My name is Captain Julian Helstrom. "Thor's a matter of come importance that | need help attending to, bt my own departments man- pover is inufficient, what with the recent attack ou the city: Are you interested tn afew das work ata good wage?” Captain Helstrom will summarize the task at hand—a young woman named Alexia Ciannot, a eds to be found. She is traveling to the semi-legendary “Temple of Cyriss,” believed to he to the north-east of which is She needs to be prevented {rom reaching the tompl that, whatever sh there needs to he stopped Lee ee ion of a magic ah Se ps blad the task, the that needs to be retu rch of Morrow: will pay cach person in the party 100 gp per day, with a rinimum of 300 gp per person half of that payable in advance. in Helstrom will also donate rite ‘spells such as duce monstrosi ap three potions of cure mo scounds (2d8+8) to the party. If the PCs aren't interested they will be approached soon afterwards by Father Dumas and Captain Heletrom together. The dio will pt the screws to the party, using both gui the promise of more gold—up to 200 gp per pen day. Father Dumas will also offer a potion of cue sr cous wounds (318+5) Even ifthe party has played through Part they will be offered iather and the Capt. ments are made, the PCs will ecsiv tact from Vah Oberen, the wizard whose plot to steal the Witchfire fell apart in Part I of the ‘Trilogy. Thie happens by means of a note, delivered by a scruffy dead in any: tobe a hori arrecti great ma ion by the street urchin who appears at any convenient juncture. Bring Out Your Dead boring the dead back to life—not in a ilessant way, af least. Remurection is simply not available to IK clerics. Lesser se dead will always pro- , for the subjects will lose many ability pointe and gain unnat~ tal appetites. (Theyll smell a little, too.) Because of this, bringing back th is univeceally considered | Even a “perfect” res (euch as that offered by the Act II) will be looked at with great derision by most people.iA tiiiy eommeelateneaeaea sasine between some passers-by and approaches you. Witenes coe erate ta ta al tay; flor the cil sy, Twas given a copper ailgly otete tle areata bse -you have a hard time: but the meaning is clear enough when he rhe ses ae ely eee paper is a thick, expensive slip of wei soa Te ite cue ede ane grasp. On it is a note, elegantly written with ink ax black as midnight. The note reads: My friends — Lunderstand that, il soon be pe the delhi Alia eae fice (Olesen ote ou eps OS OMe eeaecowet Toad PISE: le we mAs xe pies oerpein coir ‘The foll £ Co's likley are th ‘that mathematics Ponies Since it is ‘Temple's interior ao ates like a kind St giant time-lock, only opening its me ‘in response to 801 an years, is close at hand. ‘The PCs will learn this as they research the machinery can restore the dead to life—not a hollow unlife, but a gen- day, which comes only once every myles location. Lastly, the Temple’ 1¢ resurrection. It appears that Alexia plans to use Finda The Temple OSGEE=O A Knowledge (Local) or Knowledge (Religion) roll of DC 12 will reveal the basic facts about Cyrise pre- tented in the sidebas. A roll of DC 18 will show that the PC lows the legend of the temple, and a roll of DC 22 will indicate thet the brainy PC knows every- thing in he callout belo ave e Alexia: plan If the PCs they'll need to do tome quick investigation to learn what Oberen was talking about in his note—and even if they ace their first rolls they'l still need help finding the temple. Where can the PCs go to learn more about the ‘Temple of Cyrie? There are « couple of possibilities The extensive volumes of local history in Father Dumas’ church may hold the key tothe temple's nature Eee esi alposmae Ti ml rte etgtahs Eaters 3 Porucrct erand location; the answer can be found there with two Profession (librarian) rolls of DC 20, or two Search rolls of DC 24. In case of failure, the tasks can he repeated any aumbor of times, but each attempt takes one PC four hours, Each attempt after the fint one gains a cumulative +1 bonus to reflect how the search is narrowing. ‘There are various men in Corvis sho may Inow the location of the semi-mythical temple. Candidates are scholars at the University, the learned men at the Wizards Guild, worshippers of Cyrise within the Engineers Guild or even the half- self-proclaimed “prophets” who can be found in the slums near the docks, If the PCs want to follow thi Tine of investigation, the DM could have a good ti leading thom from person to person, with the less savory folles in the chain extorting a bit of coin for whatever mostly-useless facts they have. In the end, a Gather Information roll of DC 24 is required to locate the information. Ultimately, the most direct answer is found with a ragged, homeless man who claims he used to be an adventurer and Watchman, This hapless felloy—cal im Madcin—will domand tobe paid in silver or gold before he tells the PCs what they need to know. Once paid, Madrin will claim to have visited the temple when it last opened, thirteen years ago. When his party artived at the temple, Madrin’s nerve failed and he fled. His na ostensibly continued on, but they never Madrin has heen out of luck and into the bottle ever since. He has only survived because the Watch tales pity om him, at he used to he one of theie own. At the end of their investigation, the PCs should have a spoken or written confirmation of the Temple's location, and about two days left to get there If they found a reference in a book, they'll have a rough map. Madsin will draw them a map if he is asked, but he wor't voluntecr it. The location of the temple can be escribed to the PCe as follows. ae a ee ere ee eee ee eee ee eon ie ee ete both duedoagn auel tieel a tne ues is 75 miles. ‘The average speed of a small steamboat is about six knots on the open river, or three Inots if navigating » moro narrow watorvay. That to have @ chance of stopping “The stars are moving rele >the corzect configuration, an short days the Temple's eat ors wll swing open. ‘The party doesnt have much time to find out where it is and travel there! If the PCs Own a Boat If by some fluke the party beady has ‘host at thir dispoal there site that needs to be changed. The hoat will stil bye damaged later in Act I, but the PCs ‘won't have surly Squint & company to deal with, However its possible that the C+’ hoat will be too hig or deep of kal to fit in the bayou. In this case, the DM should arrange a conversation vith « iendly (or nory) sailor to bring Tight before the PCs depart If they nist om hiring the wrong kind of craft, they pay an aud «short way wy the southad jo lel emer all Levees then Ein lee vill offer assstance—for a steep price, of ooirse: makes for roughly two 12-hour days of travel, assuming there are no incidents... but where's the fun in that? Hiring a Boat Unless the party has a heat of theie own, they ae going to need to hite one. Luckily, Co port town and there are many pos- sibilitios. Most of the boats for hire are grungy, slime and soot-streaks. wered in river the crews are usually just as dirty 08 their craft, and they glower at the “fancy” strangers on the docks Boat capt d their eraft 609 of the time. The rest of the time, they are getting soused in. nearby dives such as “Bloody hills” or “The Falling Sta boats available for charter, so the owner-captains will defintely be willing to haggle; its too easy to lose a charter deal to the competition. However, a captain ‘won't he willing to take on a boatload of fools unless he's truly desperate for money, so the PCs better watch hhow they conduct themselves. If they are incompetent, rude of overbearing they will find prices going up on every boat around them. Word gets around the river- will be on b ere are many boat community very quickly ‘The typical foe for hiring 2 mall to mid-sized eraft is 2 gp per day, plus a fuel surcharge of 2-8 ep per day Depending on how well the characters negotiate they may get the daily rate as low as 1 gpday, or as high as 4 splay. The maximum possible fuel surcharge is set by the Corvis Port Authority, and is determined by rolling 2d4 every week —it hinges on the price of coal. Let the PCs wander the docks for a bit, talking withDid Alexia Take a Boat? Af the PCs asl around after Alexia, they will be unable to learn of someone Tike her hiring a boat or traveling to the same area. Alexie didn't hire a boat; she iaceedie worl beste are neers her bidding. ‘The Principia and her crew ‘of three are a day ahead of the party, Happed tna bizarre nightmare ailing upriver with a ship full of zombies. If the PCs investigate Alexia's mode of travel, a gather information roll of DC ill tell them that oat named wipia seems to be ing, having Arircboainciantteya ned a small steam craft, no feet long, with a crew of morning. more than 2: four humans. The Inquisitors, too, have taken to the water, Under Oberen’s instruct 4 private craft left Corvie hefore Alex hoping to le in wait-for her at the tem- ple As Cotvis is wush s buy port the ship was able to ship away without attracting any attention, The Witchfire Trilogy ol grungy sal with a few hoats before they find one that various boat-owners sailors. Make them. seems to fit their needs. If the players are itching for a litle thoi. The docks are I out all the time. As to introduce the PCs to the hire, iptain they'll come to Any local sailor will know of cable, has not been carefully explore, and nothing of value is thought to Tie upon it: Everyone the PCs tall to will probably think them daft for wanting to travel the engl it, but “a fool's gold stil they say in Corvis, Because the wicharted, sailing can only be done during daylight hours when the crew can be on the look ‘out for obstacles. Travel at night will be dangerous, and no captain will rick it unl the directions, It is unre bayou is there is a greater danger at hand. The Boats of Corvis Here are a few examples of the kind of boats and crows the PCs may encounter as they try to charter a So what's a “knot” ape Acne ipa nauiieal mile’ @- 6076 foot (852m). Is a strange anit of measure to landlubbers, but it makes perfect sense to sailors Ifthe world of Caen’ ciceumsferonce were divided into 360. scgmonts, and cach ono-dogise portion was then subdivided into. 60 *oimutes” each minute of are woul be 6,076 feet, one nautical mile, For rea- po leereclidscledters tate duit of distance makes navigating with nce @ knot is a sextant much easier. only about 16% longer than a mil lazy DMs can fudge things a bit aud wae knots and miles interchangeably. for short tripe. > Dame Elise: looking, clean white ship about 30 fect in length and chromed smolesta among the dirtier working ships Upon futther inspect isiea dandy. sleaming hull sticks out nthe human be seen as the erase in and crew wa clueless dilettante: Dwarf knows mo ship than these fools, Some wag has pinned a sign reading “SINK ME" on the stern > Otter Il: This beat-up 25- foot craft won't be going anywhere soon, All the hatches are open, and no lees than seven hum working on the steam plant and helm control As the PCs watch mall fre breals out below Ol Stonesides: A large craft of 50 fect, “Olds Fis crewed by six Dwarves. ‘The crew decided to spend some time in Corvis on “cushy” charter duty before steaming back to Rhul, route, If anyone converses with them about the odd of, they will become quite offended and point out that Dwarves 3 much hesid > HMSV King Racltharne here they normally work: a lake trade ity of a Dwarven sa capable of King Leto 60-foot-long wooden warship. Four Jy flank and a numb Cygnaran are working on di m powered, but an eme the deck. A guard (human Ftel) stands at attention by the gangway. ne: The Squint Comet: This is « 40-foot wooden steamship. The d ly for a trip. Her captain, « man urged nt take the PCs! business at the moment but hes favorably impeesed with the PCs (or theie apparent wealth) he will refer them to h by ‘Comet id a crew of three is busy maki quints ship Fortune is berthed ne Introducing the Good Ship Fortune While the DM is free to invent any sort of ship and ided detailed The Fortune ie an crew for the party's needs, here is information on one suitable choice. cold but sturdy steamship, a sing boiler gencral-usevescel. She is 50 fect long and is propelled by two out= board paddlewheels, Her captain and owner is a rough who is a 3rd level rogu 1 human heothers Killin 2). Rounding out the crow is Leto ted human urchin of ten human Squint’s crow, but they have ‘See Appendix B for all the details on the Fortine’ crew Steaming For The Temple O80 Once the party has secured transportation they ean mnake their way to the Temple of Cyriss. Thi Act of the Draft 4-6 fet, depending on land Propulsion: 1-boiler stoam plant, twin paddlewheels Speed: Cruise 6 knots, max 8 knots, 2 knots in reverse Range: 800 knots at cruise, or 500 knots at top speed Stopping distance: 1 boat length per 2 knots of speed ‘Turning Radius: The Fortore can temporatly rovers thedition of ne paler sett low po Ietakes one minute to make the gearing change, one ne eres eee ete for forward motion, ‘The Fortune’ hull is made of thick iron-handed wood and has a hardness of 8. The hull has 200 hp. As. the hull is damaged, the Fortune’ speed is reduced in proportion as she los her hydcodynamie shape and takes on water—in othor words after 100 points of damage she swing along at half epeed. As long as the Fortuses engine i working, pups wll automatial- aulventure consite of a number of ene. me of them occur at cs around at desired or even produce hheep the pressure on—there or lengthy side- adventures if they want to stop Alexia, ‘The DM can read or paraphrase this to set the sone With a his of steam and a lank of gears below your fet, Fortune’ paddlewhecls begin to churn the scummy dockside water You begin to elowly move into the hathor,jaining the throng of other ver- sels—asil-driven pleasure craft fat-hulled cargo transports and even an ironclad Cygnaran warship ‘Turning upriver, Squint calls for full power from the engine, and the Fortune begins to fight her way against the sluggish curent of the Black River ‘Well reach the inlet in about five hours,” Squint say, yelling over the sound of the engine. “If were Tock wel be ablto beepa specd of thre knot or more once we've made the turn.” After about four and a half hours Squint slows the craft and approaches the eastern riverbank. Everyone is called on to look for the entrance to the hayou. A few moments late, Killian whistles and points, Ahesd, you can see the entrance toa narrow, weed-choked tributary. Moss-shrouded trees lean over the banks and cloude of insects play arose the waters surface, De ee can't ‘keep up once she's leaking from 100 age. Nie ODhint amide te ioc vill sink in one hour.oramere 18 minutos ifthe pumps ze down, Shell sink faster if more damage is dono, soing under instantly at 200 hp of damage, or in 30 ‘minutes at 160 hp of damage assuming the engine and pumps ae ati maning Ifthe frshox and boiler are cod, it tals the ship 30 minutes to generate enough steam preanure to get underway. Speed is reduced to half until one hour has parsed, when the ship can crue at normal spoeds, The firebox must be refueled every hour or speed falls to half, and an hour later the firebox goes out and the ‘engine tops Ifthe engine runs a reduced efficiency, so lo the pumps mentioned shove ent engite and paddlewiels ace very Se aerate eel re on areas nail olla made onboard willbe ponal- ized by +10 DC while the engine is running. es es eee dene“Blow the firebox down to one third, lads,” says ‘Squint. ‘And lock sharp, everyone on deck. iheagecat he le taped tab le deta ly those Gea reat eerste tees tera low ‘the Fortune even further and starts to bring her about. “My dear passengers, we are ahout to leave Cygnar and cross over into the badlands. Travel eaaeaidivesttdel well wed avai hesck the. Bloodstone Marches. Neither King's men nor city. will come to our aid if something goes ea aM ie eat tare chat Soe co Killian and Anouar move up to the bow soundings with long poles as the oe ng. The Bayou Once the Fortine has turned into the bayou, read the following to the players to set the scene. Tele in ee baa no curront and the wator is covered wit as Pe ieserteier tree I eed sere ang flies and mosquitos come and xo, and frog, and birdealls can be heard all about. Swirl of mist dance across the water, and peviodically the hoat will passthrough a thicker patch of fox. In most places the bayou is about 60 foot across. to the ii Spr eet wanes Tesi lata ureh el fr fomsbi mmparatively friendly Black Encounter: Swampie Outpost ‘ing: This should be the first encounter. set the scone and provide some evi- rials passage, If night i falling this iv 3 the PCs to stop—remember, S fool place fo won't sil after dark, Tn the mists ahead you can dinly make oat tte on the northern riverbank. As you tpproech you eo that isa arall cde bling set out ever the water om slimy ails, Squint lows theship and calls out, “Well stop here fora minute. My lade need to pick up some roy. Its abo a sod idea to check in with the locale sce if there's any thing afoot” Lamp-light chines from grimy wi and you can ase movement inside, Two smal boats at tied up outside Painted onthe side of the Iuailding is “Krien popalation 42 12° “The building is about 10 feet by 20 feet, with the long axis parallel to the water's edge. A five-foot wide ledge runs around its perimeter. There i no railing, though there area few posts to tie hoats to. The struc- ture has two windows on each long side and one on each short side. The door is on the riverbank: side, in the middle of the wal. A rickety wooden gangway stretch- ¢ 10 fet from the pl. , though mist obscures what lies down that path. As the PCs H ‘onto the ledge though if someone help toseeure the ship. The form to the s or here is jut harely deep enough to accommodate the Fortune On shore, inthe mists, are a few buildings that make up emall evampie villag with large gardens), a blackemith and a communal Ble for the four mules and twa cows the The building suspended over the the villages community center—a har, mecting place and storage facility. Swampies that live in the area but nt in the village use the water to travel into “town. If the PCs want to check out the swampies, Squint and his crew will stay on board the ship. are three homes (e farmers, are named Ibaeric, Glaud, Edydus, Sevag and Cadieth. Another four men and women will come and 0 for the duration of the party's stay. Besides ‘Tharen, each swampie is a Commoner (DMG 38) with 1d lev- If the players converse with the swampics, he some of the things they can lear, ch smaller steamship passed this way a day ago. locale hailed. hes, b and kept going > A beautiful ravenchaieed lass was al mit her crew of four just non thede > Besides yesterday's steamship, no city folle have passed this point in years (The awampis didnot eve the ship full of Oberen’s men, who were able to sneak by) > Alter the steamship passed by, Sevag noticed that the village's tiny boneyard was disturbed —all five © dug up! (Any PC investigating the soft see Five set of prints leading upriver if Track rol of DC 12) ing the two local cows gave sour, bitter > There are pethaps a score of people living in this area, but no one lives farther than five leagues up the bayou froan this point. > ‘There ae a few swamp gobber tribes in this area, but they mostly keep to themselves. > Some mad hermits claim that there are fearsome fstormen living farther up the bayou, but no one credible has ever seen them, ‘Tharen will aso warn the PCs about swamp sham- bers—a type of undead that are known in this part of the world, He has «talisman for sale for 100 gp, which he guarantees will keep thom at bay. The talisman is a smelly bundle of baie, bone, animal hide and glittering quartz, and it does not register as magical. Despite this it in partially effective at repelling shamblere Sposimons that can see it must make a Will eave of DC 10 to come within 80 fee. Aftor a while, Killian will enter the bar to secure tome hooch for the long trip ahead. He'll have « few tastes bofore heading back to the ship, and if the DM desites he can become quarrelsome and combative with rie Tet. ea the locale. If the PCs want any more information, theyll need to shut Killian up bofore he wears out their welcome! If night is falling when the PCs visit the swampies, the locals will invite them to sleep in the bar, as long as the party has behaved themselves. Theyll be perfectly safe if they do 20, Whatever the PCs decide, Squint and his crew will stay on the ship. Encounter: Night Attack! Timing: This encounter can happen any time the boat has stopped for the night, 20 long as it innt at the swampie village thy want open up to strangers right away Swampie Food & Drink The ewamp folk do have some hos- pitality to offer the PCs, In return for good tale, healing magic or other decay’ ll reyids lfreovehey! and drinks. ‘The menu consists of the following: Chow: Squirrel, roasted or deep-fried Pile By water teens ers! cxtat Geena candied grubs (a local delicacy!) Drinks: Moonshine made from sweet potatoes, or tea made from lichen and sweetened with honey for those that can't handle the ‘shine (which could probably be used to clean the fresh-water barnacles off Squint’s ship). Purpose: To spill some blood! This is encounter, tremely simple ix to eight awamp shamblers (Appendix A) will attempt to hoard the Forte and slay everyone—assuming the characters are sleeping on hosed, which would be the emart thing to do! Ifthe PCs bought the talisman from Tharen, the shamblers will each need to make a Will save of DC 10 to get within 50 feet of the talisman, provided they can see it 20% chance of an encounter, Roll 1d6; 1 Swamp squid 2-3. Crocodile (MM 195) 4-6 Cane leech 6 Great oystor ‘There are also rules for creating wan- dering monster encounters on DMG 118. If the party meets a lot of nasties, Squint can start to raiThe Witchfire Trilogy SUEDRTTMNNNSNMTEEEEEE) Uhe chornblec will appeooch the angle of about thirty degrees The top of tho tne i The Gober Chieftain | 1% jrom alisdc. the sonovay couch in the branches of other tees onthe a sie of TERME EMOTEE| ic down tvo shamblere wll valle the river, 2 int floats aout 30 feet In sdvartarona fellow profering to ba|| up it, 2nd the rest will move tal and averages about one foot in diameter I wi ee MEPE SEE HGGE| through thewaterand.crovlup the about 800 Ibe Th The tree impact with the tree did no 28 HD, +2 to melee attacks, +3 tof bull icant damage to the ship, but Sguint ie still mightily ranged attacks and +1 to all the skills iny‘shamBlere that fail thvic’ “eel hiskinfoll have, Somehow he also came } Will save against the talisman, The how of the Fortune is only a few inches from the ee down to the of into the possession of Britons font of ff once itis visile to them, will flee tee teunk. ‘To the loft, the trunk: eh frst, This curious magic item (which |}, 50 fect away, even falling over riverbank. To the right, its insures his rule of the tribe) isa metal || the side of the boat, Theyll stand the traes on the opposi cone about a foot long, with a handle] on the riverbank, pacing around from the bow of the ship to the log and walk to the and a cranks attached. When the erankis and glaring balefully at the ship riverbanks, though it takes « Balance check of DC 16 to operated, the device produces a cone of and crew. There they will be easy avoid falling into the water. If anyone heads to shore cold witha range of 35 ft. and adamage J pickings for ranged. attack cof 616. The item has five charges left, theyll retreat into the dack a hut the chieftain will only use one J mist if they take 1/3 da charge unless his tribe isin big trouble, " If the PCs find the device, it is not |] Encounter: An Obstacle rechargeable, Its worth 4,000 gp Timing: This encounter can happen any time after the ‘Swampie Outpost up into the be iverbank. Anyone ean climb can easily sce that the te and examines the tree, the did not fall down amount of sticky rally —it was cut, and from the p on the wound it was done fairly Purpose: To provide an chstacle and combat ‘As you push on deeper into the swamp, the watery bogine to narrow Within a few minutes, the bayou has constricted to no more than 40 feet actoss, and Squint is forced to reduce his speed to a era, “Geiting mighty shallow here, Cayn? syn Killian, taking soundings at the bow, “We've no sore than afootto spare” With every hoat-length you travel the fog acems to thicken, ‘The twisted Hack tres on either hank grow thicker their moss draped branches reaching overhead. The sun is reduced toa faintly glowing sphere, and gloom set tles over the scene, Suddonly, a dackehape loom ahead inthe fg. “All stop!” cries Anouar from his pecch atop the wheelhouse, Squint curser and throws the gear shift into reverse. The Fortune slows, her paddle wheels churning the green water but hee momen tum continues to carry het forward. The shape ahead becomee clearer as you approach—it ama a if a tree has fallen aerons tho waterway. With a hreavy thump, the Fortine noses into the lo and comes to a stop. “Killian! Bring the steam down, Anouar—set below and checks the hull,” growls Sauint, “And you—if you fells want to travel commearde you had best Find away to sift that log” The tree has fallen from the northward bank of the bayou, and it reaches all the way across the water at an 18)recently, A Wilderness Lore roll of DC 12 will reveal that the tree was felled within 24 hours. A roll mesting DC 16 will reveal that the tree was Innocked down a mere 10 hours ago. A Track roll of DC 10 will also locate tracks in the soft earth around the tree trunk—all over the northern bank, in fact, The small bate fet with hig toenails are a sure sign of ewamp gobbers ‘To clear the obstacle, the PCs need to either lift it out ofthe way difficult considering its weight) or cat i into aeveral piece that can he pushed aside Squint wont abide any fiory solutions, including lasting the toe trunk with magi too close to his ship. The characters will probably rood to chop the log into pieces to move it out of the way. It hae a hardness of 8 and 120 hp, Chopping the log in half is not enough to clear the path; it must be eut into thirds, which can be maneu- vered out ofthe ship’ way While the PCs work, the swamp gobbere that chopped the tree down are ereeping up on ther. They are secluded, somewhat more aggrossive tribe than These gobbers were astonished to see a ship heading by yesterday (the Inguistors) then when Alexia's ship passed by shortly alter they figured they should take advantage of this teritable parade of watercraft by setting an ambush, “They also realized that the ships would almost cer tainly turn around and come back eventually, so they cat down a tree and have heen staking out this spot Once the PCs begin to work, the gobbers will hogin to produce an artificial fog from their alchemical bel- lows to provide cover for their impending attack. An Alchemy rll of DC 16 or a Knowledge (local) roll of DC 12 will alert « PC to the subtle odor of the gob- bore fog machine—this will prevent the characters from being surprised When the artificial fog is nice and thick, providing 10% concealment (PH 133) beyond 10 feet, the gob- ers will begin to bareage the PCs with darts. After « few volleys thoy will charge in with hand weapons. They vill be jumping from the treee, climbing up the hull, and running along the fallen tree, if it hamn't heen cleated yet. Their goal is to steal as much as they can off the boat and retreat into the swamp; they are not out for blood, and they will retreat if thei lorses are high, In the mob will he 16 gabbers plus the chieftain, Add four extra gobhers for each pariy member above four 5 firearm those found closer to Corvi Encounter: The Two Towers" ng: This encounter can happen any time after the Swampie Outpost. Purpose: To provide an obstacle set by Alexia. You continue to steam up the bayou, Over the last league or so the mits have cleared, the trees have thinned and the nm has come out; under cae eo eee tip, Bren Squint seems to he ina geod mood, « Se As you round a hend, two squat stone towers epee ante er sbvek 100 yarls heed iThey ate tet on either side of the waterway, and an icon fate etretchos across the 60 fet hetween ther. The two 20-foot tall towers are the remmants of an ‘old Cygnar Royal Army outpost. The kingdom's aym- bol, «regal swan, can be faintly made out on the weath- cred stone once the PCs are within 20 feet of the wall. “The towers have two levels the layout ie identical, though the contents are slighty different The gate that stretches across the river od by Alexia to delay anyone who might have come after her. Its bars are thick iron, set too closely together to pass a human sized character. The gate reaches 10 feet below the water’ surface, and the bottom of the waterway is 10 feet below that “The ground floor of the northern tower has recently heen occupied by a swarm of razorbats If any character approaches within 10 foot the bats will ewarm out of the structure and attack. There should he about two razar- hats per party member. (See Appendix A.) “The gate is secured in two ways. > A thick, 10-foot-long chain and a fat, high-qualt- ty Tock are wrapped around the center of the gate, where its two halves mest. The chain and lock have slipped down the bars and. now lie 10 feet undee water, resting on the gates bottom har. The DC to“donated” by the crew Alexia charmed into doing her bidding > "The gate itelf is operated by a mechanism in each tomer. Each half ofthe gate wll need to he opened before the ship can hand cranle on the second level of each tower. Ifthe lack and chain haven't been removed, the DC to ‘open the gate is 34, since the chain will need to be broken. 1 the chain is removed frst, the gate will ‘open with a Str check of DC 22. Two PCs can oper ate the crank at once. North Tower: Ground Floor 38. The gate control is an ieo A few fragments of wood and iron are the only. signs that this tower ever had a doorway. As you LA bach cr poe : eee the floor. A strange sphorical object hange from the ccenter of the ceiling, and rusty iron rungs set into. the back wall lead to the upper level A Track roll of DC 10 will reveal that » human- sized individual recently walked through the soft, bat guano to and from the ladder on the far wall spheroid dangling from the ceiling looks like a hanging hird’s nest, but actually a razorbat nursery. Inside 2 two baby bats each no more than eight inches long. “Though he bats are ill terpered, and they will nip anyone who handles them, with a 5006 chance of Arawing blood on the first occasion (though no real damage will be done). Ifthe babies are kept warm and fed fresh meat four times a day, they will survive and can perhaps he sold in Corvis for 150 gp each. There is nothing ele of value in this oom, North Tower: U sper Floor ‘You cliob out of the worst of the hat-rtonch and see a lange crank and gear-train in the center oft ps oa Haired eve non view of the outside world. There appeats to be nothing ele of interest here. The cra the gate. in this room will open the north half of 'No door stands in your way, and within the tower there is nothing but dust and dead leaves. A series of iron runge mounted into the stone wall ‘onporite you lead upwards A Track roll of DC 18 (smooth stone floor, a bit dusty) will show that several human-sized figures have been in this chamber recently. A Spot roll of DC 20 will lt the PCs see a few drops of dried blood on the iron rungs on the back wall. Lastly, a Listen roll may et 2 PC hear the sound of shuffling footstepe 1 ¢ of value here As you reach the top of the ladder, a wild-eyed human approaches you from behind a large gear and crankset and slashes at you with a rapier! This poor fellow was one ofthe crew members on the boat Alexia hijacked. He proved difficult to charm, 30 dl and left here to yh he was done away with, re-ani hharase any pursuers, He has a stra his forehead, apparently in his own blood—this isthe control symbol that brought him to unl Risen lurks in this room ‘The Rison's blade Alexia made from the local flora. The po ali pier, Upon injury, the victim Another armed with a crude eh poisoned with a concoction and tarry, and has bee Tie sundead’s Fort save of DC 16 to avoid 146 temporary Str dam- age. One minute later, another save of the same type lade has enough poison o for two attacks. If the Thrall is destroyed before the polaon ia used up, the unused portion can be saved and used by the PCs, or sold for 700 gp per dose. See the poison rules on DMG 79-80. See the Risen stats in Appendix A. ‘The crank in this room will open the south half of the gate. needs to he made. TI Encounter: The Shipwreck ‘Timing: This should he the second to the last encounter onthe bayou. The Temple of Cyriss is only a few miles from this point Purpose: To let the PCs know that there is a thied party with some interest in Alexia and the Temple.The Witchfire Trilogy Hore the waterway widens into a large pond, pethape 120 fect across in its longest dimension. To the north is the wreck of a smal steam craft. Ite stern is totally submerged, and the how points upwards at a steep angle. An iridescent ol alice surrounds the wreck, which lies about 10 fest from the shore This nameless ship belongs to a small group of en loyal to Vahn Oheren and men upriver so he wouldn't have to rely entirely PCs to foil Alexia, but the Inquisitors ran afoul of the gstormen in the attack, fought theie way through the gatormen to the temple olive in the ares. Their boat was nd the Inquisitors abandoned ship and which is very close to this point. Like Alexia, the Inquisitors know how to open the temple's doors, s0 they won't he stuck waiting for the time lock like ip's coal hopper and at the stern, The engine may he alvaging, but it would be 12 hours of hard work to re it from ite watery resting place. If thie were done, 1,000 gp of parts could be he wreck will be filled with c of a battle, and of the of the mythical gator- amen, but the PCs ate in no jim omplet jeved and resold. existe diate danger while they explore it secret police, enforcing his will through terror tactics, Por the years of his rule ‘they were his most feared enforcers, and. thanks to them many dissidents vanished from thait homes in the dead of night. Vinter Raclthorne also used the Inquisition to crack down on sorcery, which he considered to be a threat to his rule, Wizardry being a more formalized field, was suceptible to infiltration and control by Raelthorne's forces The clesgy veas also faiely cay to hop underfoot Sorcery, on the other hand; allowed any Jom pig farmer with talent to sein potent magical abilities. This was unac- ceptable, and many budding sorcerers lot their lives under Vinter Raelthome’ rule When Vinter was ousted hy his younger brother Let, the Inquisition was Aisbanded, and the unofficial policy of murdering soreerers came to an end. However the leader of the Insuisition, Vahn Oberen, was never brought to jus tice. Oboren and the handful of Inguisitors who escaped with him contin~ ue to romain leyal to Vinter Racthorne It is a group of these men who are attempting to waylay Alexia, having left Corvisjust ahead of hee Al Inquisitors have a tattoo of an eye cover a lightning bolton the back of thie right hand. Since they are powerless and hated in modem Cygnar, many have attempted to remove the tatto, leaving a nasty scar in its place. A Knowledge (his- tory) rall of DC 14 will make a PC sus- piclous of anyone with a scar thereWithin the wreck they will find the following. > Gaches and claw marke on many wooden > Blood stains, splashes and drips > Ahhole about 12 inches across, below the waterline at the boats stern The hole has fairly clean edges and locke neatly punched from the outside. > With a Spot roll of DC 12, « scaly green-clawed hand is found on the boat’ tilted deck. It looks to have been cleanly severed. It is not “The Home Stretch ‘The gatormen spring th cone mile from the lake mentioned inthe partys divections. Since the temple is about one league from that point, ite about a four-mile hike to there from the the ground is fairly dry here, Int the undergrowth provides a move iment penalty of x3/4, See PHT 143 for more on overland movement. Fortune. a gobbers hand, but seems to be from a human-sized. creature. A about || Knowledge (local) roll of DC 18 will identify it as belonging to the mysterious gatormen. (On the upper deck, towards the bow of the ship, a locked chest is fastened down, Inside is « box of rifle ammunition. ‘There are a dozen charges, ech worth 10 gp. “The rifle was stolen by the gator men, and Oberen’s men, pressed for time, left the locked amme box behind when they fled the wreck. The lock ie DC 25 to ‘open, but the chest is also protected by a needle trap (earch DC 20 to detect, Disable Device DC 20 to defeat). The needle’s toxin does 1d temporary Con damage unless a Fort save of DC 12 is made, One minute later, another save needs to be made to prevent losing another one point of Con. Encounter: The Gatorman Ambush ‘Timing: This should he the last encounter Purpose: During this encounter the PCs boat will be damaged by a gatorman trap. The adventurers will cel to defeat the gatorman village in combat of nogotiate a safe-passage de then About two miles after leaving the shipwreck encounter, the PCs will sail into a gatorman trap. The hastily constructed trap is a huge log, suspended over the river on erude ropes. The gatormen have pulled the log up into the release it when the ship moves by It takes a Spot roll of DC 22 to notice the trap, but as the PCs already learned a boat doesn't stop on a silver piece; there's no way to halt in time even if they see the trap, Leaving the mysterious wreck behind, you steam onwards, the bayou staying constant a about 40 fect wide, According to your rerarch the temple of Cyries should now be very close indeed. There should be another smal lake within a league of 22, ison The miles yaad y-umevec lly ‘The log trap shead is manned by four gatorman adults and three juveniles (mor if the party is expecial- ly powertul or capable). Even if some are felled by ranged attacks, it only takes one to slash the rope hold- ing the log, which wll trike the side ofthe boat, wreck- ing the port paddlewheel. The gatormen will then attack the boat. If anyone Spots the trap ahead the gatormen will ill be able to st it into motion, but the PCs won't be eaucht flat-footed when combat begins In this case, paraphrase the next apoken passage. If no cone epote the trap, read the following unpleasant sur- prise tothe players: ‘You hear a rustling noise on the northern riverbank. By the time you are able to look, a fat logis sel suspended by a pve ha pone ates throws ie rigging, the trap into the port side of the Fortune! It hits amidships, smashing the port paddlewheel into Tndling. The ae shakes violently at the impact. Atthis point everyone standing on the boat needs to make a Dex check of DC 14 to stay on their feet. "The Forara aga ln daiolan apa erg eg be i he ining Felli ching aay et i Tat alle Sinko kaiglapems clo me ee ee een dif up hom below your fet: Kian and Anouat un below dae "Dimongige th aloe bata tips gone Bae ec ‘After a few seconds Squint and the lads manase to stop the engine, and the wounded craft drifts to a stop. The gatormen ar already in motion, climbing onto the lo and running onto the deck, Esch is armed with a crude metal club the equivalent of a heavy mace (1d8+2) or a stone freataxe (141242). They cant use theie claws while they ‘wield their weapons but they still have a natural bite attack ‘After the combat, anyone who gets a good look at one of the weapons has a chance to notice that itis the rem- nants of some kind of technology. This requires a roll a DC 14 or better in Craft (teamworks), Knowledge (ateanworks), Profession (ateam engineer) or anything elee the DM chooses. The PCs wil aleo hear some bad news from intThe Witchfire Trilogy & Squint climbs up from below, covered in grease and coal dust. “The damned lizards stuck us but food. The port paddlewhes! is wrecked, and the whole drive train's out of true... the master cou- pling ha lost some teeth, and even the boiler got a leaks. At least the hull’: intact, but it's going to take at least 10 hours to get moving again. At that pel slicty went iia ‘He pauses a moment. “Look, I don’t know where you're going, but by the directiona you gave me it brut a short hike from here You may as well go do what you eame to do, but heat this—as soon a | ft this tab fied Tin turning it around, and the charter he damned. Ten hours from now, I steam for Corvis. I suggest you be here” Squint turns and heads back down below. *One more thing” he sys turning to face you. “Ifyou want to get back home yout better find a way to keep the lizards away. If thoy gt to us, youre never getting out of here” With that, he heads back below. 1449 hours to complete the repairs. What he does when the time's up depends on the PCe, They can try ep him on site longer. He'll stick around another day for 100 gp, to pay Squint off to agree to though he'll bail if he' him to make him cowed, but any bullyi abandoning the P' est opportunity. ed. They can threaten Squint will potend to be | Wa will just commit him to The Clock's Ticking ‘The DM should make sure to have a timeline in mind at the start of the river trip, Remember, the Temple of Cyriss will only he open for one day, and the doors will he unlocked in at his eatli- ly, the party ccan just try to make it back in 10 hours. Squint is chaotic and greedy, hut he isn't stupid or evil If the PCs aren't back in 10 hour wait around a little while longer if it’s safe and if they have treated him well nt can also easily tell if the Cs are affluent, and he'll try to Unlike Alexia and Oberen's Inqui they don't have a key. If the PCs get to the temple without of the gatormen, Squint and his e and the boat stripped when they return, ‘The b won't be fixed either, so unless the PCs 1 they probably aren't getti avoid this fate, the PCs will need to find the ga tian village and either vanquish the tribe or try some kind of deal with the will be d On shore, the gatormen’s tracks are even to the untrained of DC 10 (soft ground) to follow the tracks up the the PCs come to the n the shore of the lake river. After a mile of tea gatorman village, which limentioned in their directions. If the PCs can't ack, they'll come to the village anyway if they fol- low the directions to the temple. Of all the reptikan humanoide yet cataloged by the University, the so-called “gatormen” of Northern Cygnar are both the largest an the most dangerous. They wil defend their terstoryJoarlessly, often setting a fine of slot their border t warn away trespassers. While they ar saa, they areal quits intaligont; travelers cho must pase through ther scamplande may be able to negotiate safe passage if they have come prepared with weapons and toole to trade. Fare to come adequately prepared for neither barter or combet wil surely be fatal —Professor Viktor Pendrake — The Gatorman Village The village is fairly small, consisting of only 40 indi- viduals at this point; the Inguisitors and PCs have oth probably slain some gator- men by now. Remaining are eight adult warriors, eight juveniles, one shaman (Dru3), eight young ex and cight hatchlings. The females and hatchlings are non- combatants, The shaman is meet ing in is large hut with his three fem: Cap sive pant her gator tli ga boat is well hidden—it will tale a roll of DC 25 to seo it The two surviving crew members are tied up on board. The charm has worn off, and they'd really like Seger hora IE ther azo uperiescol yt PCs, they will return to Corvis by them- selves in two days with an unbelievable Serene sta tele earn and her pet zombies. attack, so there is a brief openi: Behind the huts there is a 20-foot-wide, 10-foot- tall earthen mound that has two adults perched on most trusted lieutenants; one of them is missing his right hand, courtesy of the stolen rifle. Hes not sure what to make of it, 0 ho’ using it as a club (1d42 damage) A group of four adults and two juveniles are patrolling the vil- lage perimeter. If they of any other gatormen encounter the PCs, they will not immediately for diplomacy. top guarding it. This is where the tribes eggs ace incubating: the adults and juveniles wll fight to the death to defend it. There are 10 eggs buried in the mound, but there is only a 10% chance that any stolen egg will live long enough to hatch (2d4 weeks), even if the PCs keep it warm Whatis not apparent at first is that the bluff the vil- lage is perched on is actually resting on the shoulders of « giant metal construct, A huge steamack, a Cygnaran behemoth of the old days, collapsed in this spot decades ago. Most of it lies in the river, but its head and shoulders protrude in dirt and vines. The gatormen have found « way to get inside the fallen giant, and they have been making good use ofthe metal bite inside, Many of their and tools weapons are impro= vised from the old parts, ‘The behe- moths cortex (one yard in diameter, weighing 200 Ibs) is still intact, locked in an anti-shock hous ing deep in the chest Removing it requires a successful Craft Cortex skill check (DC 20) oF a sue- cessful Disable Deviee skill check (DC 28). If recov- ered, it is worth 3,000 gp; far less than a modern cor- tox, but still valuable to the right person, (Find ahout steamjacks at ironkingdoms.com.) “The PCs can han- dle the village situa tion in two ways combat. or negotia- tion, The gatormen can see that the PCs are dangerous, and theyll be willing to cut a deal to prevent further bloodshed. out more They will not respond well to threats, gems orand the egs- athe eqeatorg seslan Taken a Gre eerted for them. At} weapon, inlaid with brass and silvor filigree It hae a wide bore and along, heavy barrel Like mos firearms in the Iron Kingdoms, it is 2 breech-loader—the ‘weapon “breaks in half allowing access to the fcing chamber. Use the slats for the Military Rifle given = under ‘Sample Firearme’ in Appendix C. The "Temple is tata 1 from the gatorman village,Wherein the brave adventurers chase Alexia through a maze of magic and technology and learn the ways of Cyriss, Maiden of Gears Once the PCs reach the temple, theyll nced to enter it and try to stop Alexia before she can use the machinery within to resurrect her dead mother. They should also be focused on recovering the sword Witehfire. They'll have to deal with Cyris' cultists, undead left behind by Alexia, and the Inquisition agents sent by Oberen. ‘To make things even more intoresting, the interior of the temple is a giant machine, making navigation a challenge. When the PCs reach the temple, read the following passage aloud. ‘Standing before you is the Tame of Cyrien ‘The titanic structure is perhaps 300 feet across, while boing 200 feet deep. The top of the temple, perhaps 10 fect overhead, looms over the forest around you. You can hear a faint grinding noise, and thore isa throbbing underfoot ax if great machines were at work in the earth below you. Scattered around the temple grounds area lage number of totems, covered in strange schematics The temples exterior is carved granite shot through with an elaborate network of copper and Iyase piping. The metal all gleams ae ii wore jut polished—ther's not a speck of corrosion saree Gt iat cater ob tha thetic inagiat rendition of Cyris heel Below, cop- per-slad doors stond closed, waiting for the appointed hour to open. ple they If the PCs poke around the exterior ofthe te limb, but there is nothing of interest upon them or on the roo. When the temple doors unlock at sundown, the two 20-foot copper slabs will noisily slide 10 feet apart, will find no other doors. ‘The temple walle are easy to} camitting anyone who wishes to enter. The doors will remain open for 24 hours, after which they will loce agsin for what may as well be an eternity to anyone trapped inside ‘lexi didnt have to wait forthe temple doors to open. Her research taught her how to open and close them on uso she’ inside witha two-hout head start on the nquistors aleo had a “key” courtery of Oberen, de as well. Alexia i trying to get tothe center of the temple, where the great machine built to honor Cyriss lis. She knows that one is that of perfect resurrection, and she wll use it to bring her mother back to life. The clerics af Cyriss who have tried to stop her of its pow have so far been fight~ ing in vain, In foc, Alexiahus killed many of the cultists, not that they wll attack the PCe with any lese zeal. Between Alexia and the Inquisition the cultists ae sick of intruders! Within the Temple of Cyria there are dozens of ies and their magical se 1s. The cler- ace referred to in the adventure as being cither Green (Lat level) or Experienced (3ed level). Refer to the NPC Clerics table on DMG 51 for stats feel {ree to alter the level of the clerics encountered to make a better match for the party. The clerics of Cyrigs use a strange-looking melee weapon, but it can be considered the same as a morningetar (148) for game purposes. All of the clerics have the domains of Knowledge & Protection. Almost none of them should be in top shape. Alexia and the Inquisitors have do n the temple, to most of the clerics are injured and low on pels The Servitors have also been through a lot quite a numl Alexia is still accompanied by the four zombie that she crudely raised in the first part of the Trilogy. She'd like the whole coven to be eounit~ cd, but her mother is her first priority and if she has to she'll sacrifice the other four as cannon fodder. ‘The risen witches are a shadow of their former selves, really little more than zombies with a few spell Jevels—but they'll still make unpleasant oppo nents for the PCs. ‘The temple i itself a gigantic machine, Fe bull, there is relatively little habitable space Corridors wind about for no appa in fact they are snaking around the giant sears, pis- tons and other apparatus behind the walls. Many glass globes, spaced 20 fect apart, illuminate the temple's interior, Each globe is mounted behind a steel grate in the wall (hardness 10, 6 hp). bt if they are removed from the temple they cease to function. If they are hroken inside the tem- ple they do 142 electrical dam- age to anyone within 10 feet. A Ref save of DC 14 is allowed for half damage Special Notes Because the temple is a giant characteristics the DM needs to he aware of. slobes thardness 1, 4 hp) have a captive swirl of energy inside, He brag ren : or iojured many of their erie, The PCs may want to nesetiats with Cyrie people, but at thie point its ‘ot poseblc Theis Blood ia up, and they are out to destroy all intruders. Many of the clerics: ea not | ve thet fall conaplrnont of wells available nd some wil be cbviouly wound. important for the DM. to portray the Peaere reer atl lteter: [is ako important to remember that while Cyrne is neutral deity this parti tar sect is neutral vl with the ambitions eel eP eisai word dexatatio,m all living things managed by the great thinking machine that they are building Newall 260Cyrist ocsipyes feel the same way, and sophisticated mackine- Feel ibe is com nts vey at has some special The temple ie unplessantly warm inside—all machines generate waste heat, and the temple is packed with th There ie always backgro noise from the machine the walls. The loudn: the noise varies with time and location; Listen rolls are penalized by a varying amount. Listening through a metal wall will ao add +10 to the DC of a Listen roll The temple's corridors are littered with secret doors. There is one about every 20 fect. All of these doors open onto masses of whirling gears, churning pistons, glowing tubes and other strange machines, PCs may not pass through the machines, but Servitore can. In fact, S can appeee anywhere in the temple minutes by using these passageways. These cealed access panels are not on the map. If anyone tampers with the machines behind the secret doors, 144 Servitors will appear in 1d4 minutes, The moving parts inside the walle are dangerous Anyone falling into the gears will take 2d6 damage; a Ref save of DC 12 will reduce by hall 's a 25% chance every 30 mit meeting 1d4 Risen left behind by Alexia. These crude undead were once Cyries’ worshipp Now they wander the halls ofthe temple, | out at anything living. Once in a while a Ri Inquisitor should be sighted too. ‘The tomple is full of weitd machines, but its till 4 highly magical place. Parts of every ma will have magie auras of strong to overwhelming strength (PH 193),any rooms like this all over They are simply window-dressing, with no n in the adventure, The strange machines ate almost totally mysterious; no one outside the cult can ‘K narrow path winds botwoon giant coge and thumping pistons. You are nearly deafened by the noise of the machinery: Valves, levers and strange dale mprout from the mocha raceam seem ingly at random. Glowing rods and epheres are haried deep in the machinery, illuminating chamber with en core light divine ther true the devies simply leads back tothe entrance aswell a te aay ther ets shown on the re not vital to the plot, th cated on the map. palletes If there are any sharp engincers among the PCs, a Profession enginsering) or related skill roll of DC 20 hat Oberen sont after Alexia are rogues, with an average level of Rog Seo the table on DMG Stet ieucie cadet Cee teal ‘things more interestin {othe alent: Afb ngs ae Lal Ed Thy hvala en sten ck Se eed filles Ritpetntecespelle ‘There were 10 Inquisitors on the boat that Oberen sent upriver. Two were killed fighting the gatormen, two fell into a temple trap and ended up in the jail cells on the first level and two are found in the laboratory, area 13. That leaves four that can be encountered either as their original celves or as Thralls left hehind by Alexia. But hey, if the DM needs more, the DM needs more!from position 1, the elevator’s double doors will and the chamber will rotate to position 2—it will not will reveal that the machines may have something todo vith performing calculations, but that isthe extent of what the PCs can learn, machine rooms, the DM can apply some sxtremely hot or cold (DMG 86), In other rooms the air pressure may be different — there's no need for new rules here, but the DM can descrike thin ai, popping cars or places (temporaril; points), or the ar could even be lightly toxic the temple exi ducive to the opera ‘of ma too, but the knowledge will do them no good at the moment. «ll shout the machine roome ars danger ous, Anyone falling into the wor take 246 damages Ref save of will reduce the damage by half. To further add to the mystery of the range effects, Some rooms can be he gravity can be a bit o reducing Dex hy two Astute players might theorize that different parts of different places, because the natur- properties of those places are more con- on of certain kinds je or machines, They'd be right, Tricks @ Traps: The moving parts ‘The PCs may wish to fiddle with the Consequences controls. If they do, roll 146. 1-2 Nothing seoms to happen, rise tothe next floor. The next time the elevator moves, ‘twill move up one level while rotating to posi- tion 3. Once an elevator reaches postion 6, itwill return to 1 and start the cycle again Each elevator moves in sync, and they change positions every three minutes of game time; there are no controls. The ‘on the temple ma The motion of the imperceptible, and PCs may become confused as to wherein the temple th are, Ifs also important to note that al of the elevators must be traversed in order to reach the chamber at the top of the temple; there are a lot of dead ends, bt only one cor- rect path through the temple, An elevators outer door cannot be forced, but if clever play exe do get through they wil contu densely to move through, Ground Floor Herein are detailed the rooms found on the temple's ground floor. Note that some of these rooms can only bre reached from the upper level. c= can be heard in every room; rolls are penalized by 144 unless o levator is nearly sce a mass of ¢ machines in the shalt, packe 4 Thetuclolde cin ogee igh, 1+ Great Hall 5 ‘The machinery makes some awful noises; isn tears grind and metal groans. ‘You pass: temple's doors into a cav- 6 Rallegain. Describe the effec, ut 144 Beata vith a aoft orange light, The Sorvitors will arrive in 1d4 minutes, All Floors—Storeroom (Map Code “S”) This room is la piled high wit sacks, crates and nm: The containers hold miscellaneous Deserip items of food and odd-shaped spare parts, Nothing it especially valuable, All Bloors—Elevators (Map Code “E”) ‘This bare round room has two doors act at right angles to one another, room stretches back seemingly forever, and the vaulted ceiling is dozens of feet overhead. Intricate interlocking plates of brass, gleaming ‘copper and iron cover every surface, and sculpted lors line either wall. The amells of metal and cil are heavy in the air, and you notice «faint Thum, aif distant machines are working. eat Hall. While interact with its size is impressive, the here—at least on this viewing. ‘The temple's omnipresent sound ie faint here, and will only increase the DC of Liston rolls by one. Anyone making a Liston check of DC 14 (including the modiiee) will hear an unfamiliar cracking sound; thie is produced by the Core, dead ahead, As the PCs approach the midpoint of the room, they will notice three five foot tall glyphs worked into thetal floor plates. These three symbols, holy to Cyriss, are presented here im a Later on, the PCs may need to remember or deduce the puzzle, order order to solve nies: When the PCs try to leave the temple after mpleting their mission, they will encounter a Clockworle Priest (Appendix A) in the Great Hall— ther Lucant. The Father will attempt to slay all the PCs, and if they stay and fight he hes a good chance of ding JN The symbole on the floor of the Groat Hall 2. Lower Observation Deck “The metal oor of he Geet Hall extends onto «sem balcony sounded bya gleaming vlog. Beceslc ones cuomesive yh ee tomaowhere ght Abie fee eylindceal vida aed a eno Un Sea irri ioe EE eee ere cfu eae cd eee aerial Tae ofc glia aloe aoe So allel deter cde oe meee (reali ac SOR eet etre ‘Abyou pectgesteel see teegee cic Fel ail ine a eee {Mad leaving a veang tangy all inthe aie his shaft cuts through all three levele ‘At the very top of the mechanical col- tumn isthe resurrection device that Alexia is currently trying te reach, In fact, the whole column is the ce deep into the earth, Brom the haleony vantage point, the PCs can sce two of the sec- ond-floor observation de the third floor. Is alto easy to ave a handful of small apherical objects flying around the core. They nimbly Aodge the electrical discharges, and gleam as if they ate made of brass. These are Servitors of Cyriss. As the PCs watch, the Servitors use theic claws to make machine, which rea sas well as the catwalle on adjustments to the great machine. For all intents, the shaft is bottomless. Anyone off the balcony will be killed, though DMs who arent that ruthless can have the skydiver show up in a nd unconscious. IF the DM wants jail cell later, sim to spice things up, the PCs can see a fight happening on cone of the other observation decks. A cultist or Inquisitor can be knocked over the balcony to a crispy, golden brown fate. Alexia herself could even be seen briefly Tricks @ Traps: ‘The electrical discharges male a trip up the shaft a bad idea. Anyono reaching over the ‘an electrical shock doing 1d damage—a warning. Anyone trying to {ly or levi- tate up the shaft will be subjected to clectrical attacks doing 50 hp of damage each round—even if in gateous form, The intent i to tease the party by letting them see their final destination, but this isnot a shorteut. rail will immediately re the Servitors will ignore the PCs unless they attempt to damage the machine, in which case 1d4 of them will attack. A group of Cyris cl will appear 2-4 minutes later, dispatched from the liv- ing quarters on this level 3. Mess Hall Rows of benches and tables fill this room. SailtpA pleas ail lates of ll-oateetlogy Ue terthe lor and tabletops Many ofthe ale are ‘overturned, and scorch marks and bloodstains ‘ar a otheteise padeernatal alll Description: The temple's mess hall was the ste of « fight with Alexi ompanions slew a number of Cs nat two hi but the bodies have been removed. There is nothing of interest or value here currently. he and her zoml ies’ clerice her 5 ago,4, Kitchen 1d be de Crp lt ti Frvislyatcber Cauldrons ef bubbling fond ee here lege tbe te std Send ee aoe ee een Tite ea ein coe Description: This is simply the kitchen that feeds the mess hall, Alexia did visit this room and scuffle with the staff, A Spot roll of DC 14 will locate blood splatters on the floor. A Track roll of DC 14 will reveal the imprint of a small boot in the blood. 5. Library Enemies: ‘The room contains two Servitors. One will attempt to flee while the other engages the PCs. Consequences: If the Servitor escapes, four clerics will appear in Id4 minutes. One will be Experien the rest Green. “Treasure: Ifthe PCs pilfer anything from this room, ithasa 80% worth 144100 gp if they can Find the right buyer in a major city. Nothing that they ean remove from this room will be truly earth- shaking knowledge, though. The library i excellent, but not revolutionary. Its important to note that the god dss guides the worshippers who build amazing magical and machines in the temple, There are no manuals here that describe all of their workings. 6A, B, C. Holding Cells rance of "This voor ia/obviouly a bran: Racks of shales line the walls, and arrays of bookcases occupy the floor. From where you stand you can tee hooks, scrolls and tablets of all chapes and sizes. Tyo brass globes float around the room's igh eviing. After a moment, one swoops down towards you, extending te gleaming claw neering, astronomy and the like. It is pethaps the most valuable collection in the Kingdom of Cygnar, hotter than the libraries of Corvis and Caspia in some ways, Any volume chosen at random will have unin~ telligible scientific gibberish in it, as far as the PCs ste concerned. On tacks of Wx punched seem quarter of tne quarter inch apart. Each sheets, bound together with « thi upper-left comer of each shect has been cleanly nicked ff The stacks weigh about 20 Ihs each, and there are There are six emply spaces on the shelf there apparently stacks once were kept. inthe middle of the roo, has many opperehecte upon it. Each thin sheet i about and they ae all covered with an array of holes, holes are bout one These copper sheets are the Iron Kingdoms equiva lent to computer puncheards. The most precious ofall ‘These tablets are mysterious, but ultimately val the PCs, Stealing them or destroying them will eaen thom the enmity ofall worshippers of Cyriss who learn shout their actions (as if breaking into a temple and lilling a bunch of people wouldn't anyway) A-smooth metal door is set into the wall. thas no features; not even a handle. A lever is set into the wall to the right of the door. e the same Description: All three holding cells ha ie doors are not locked, a wor to quickly slide open or closed, moved hy appearance. the lever will cause the some hidden mechanism. Inside the cells are feature~ lees metal cubes. Cell A holds two Inquistors. Celle B & C are empty, PCs may ond up in the cele if they are caught bythe trap door in the Shrine, area 26. Cell A hos two battered and bleeding Rog Inquisitors, named Leeb and Rhys.‘ down 10°10 hp and they all have theie armor and weapons. They were sent by Oberen to recover the Witchfire from Alexia or the PCs. They will refuse to cooperate with any sort of interrogation, and would rather die fighting weaponless than help the PCs. If they get the chance, the'll sucker the PCs into letting them jain the party. Theyll double-cross the PCs at the worst possible time, “Tricks & Tropa: There isa trap door inthe ceiling on level three (area 26) The trap door is extremely difficult to detect (Search DC 24) and even more difficult to open (Disable Device 26). IF i is opened, « amooth metal shalt is seen, big enough for one large human and no more. Climbing the shat is impossible; the metal is smooth that connects to the SI c and the walls are too far apart to use asa brace. If some cone gets up the chute with magic, they'll encounter a partition that acts like a one-way valve to prevent this sort of thing. The on cannot be opened Consequences: If the partition inthe shaft is tampered with, 1d4 Servitots will be summoned to the cell below:7. Auditorium “This in alage room, decorated with the imagen ‘of suns and moons. A number of tables and chaies ate scattered around the perimeter, but in the omfer of the toom in « gruesome aight—a dozen bodies under blood-soaked sheets. A handful of ceri stand around the corps, por forming some kind of ritual. Several brare ‘heres cisls tha giotp Heating tn the aie Ie pipons saci na yy Alexia and company have been moved here, and are being tended to by the survivors that are not busy hunting hor down. here are three Green clerics, one nced cleric, and three Servitors in this {As soon as the PCs are seen, two Servitors fle to find help. The Experienced cleric makes a run for the far side of the room, where a weapon lies on the floor. The rest of the group attacks. “The Experienced cleric is making a run for a primi- tive flamethrower, ying on the floor at the back of the room, As with a modern version, there isa fuel tank worn on the back, and hose to a gun-shaped projector. Patting the weapon on or taking it offi a full-round action that provokes an opportunity atack. The clrie in the Auditorium won't be taking the time to put the unit on. Hell hold the we hand and drag the tank behind him. This reduces his movement to 20 ft, and penalizes his to-hit rll by ~2. The flame-cast- or only has two charges left inthe tank, When they ate used up the ings sic will attack with spells or hie morn~ (148). The flame-caster, which is osiat's fire (PH 113), Consequences: If one ofthe Experienced clerics will arrive i ervitors escapes, 2-3, 2d6 minutes. “Troaeure: The flame-caster can be recovered, and it may have some fuel left. Its worth about 500 gp, or 600 gp if fueled. While the fuel ie similar to alchemiat’s fir, it i not identical, and it will tke an Alchemy roll of DC 22 to develop a fuel that works in the device. Also, the flame-caste’s operator has a large brass hey in one of his pockets, which will open the Vault doors in area 118, Barracks ‘This room contains racks of beds, small chests and little else. Description: The barracks are all the same, Half the how signs of some recent strugsle or chaos, like overturned heds, blood or spilled chests re isa 1-ind chance of encountering 1 in each room that is explored sh harracl e contains enough clothing in cheats o on the floor for two complete clerical core tues. ‘I voll (PH 67). 9. Quarters stumes give a +6 bonus to any Disguise “This room has two beds bookeases and chests ‘Aruition of Cyd hans eudraialca tts wall copporite the sliding metal door. The droning noite thot fill the templ is much softer here. Description: These rooms are home to the more high-ranking of Cyris clerica, There is nothing excep- sionally interesting oF useful here though there is a 1 in-d chance that the PCe will encounter an Experienced cleric praying, resting or writing Treasure: Each footlocker containing coins or gems worth 10. The Periscope Room ‘Three metal tubes with handles descend from the ceiling of this hare-walled room, The tubes have a hole eut into the sside, and the apparatus Description ened by moving the hhandle—they are periscopes. Each periscope shows an tunauaual view. One looks out over a cliff onto a bla mid in the distance jagged hills climb into the clouds. Another shows a view of a raging forest fiee, with one unfamiliar moon peering through the smoke, As far as the eye can see in a direction are nothing but flames or charred ground, A Spot roll of 12 will reveal strangely shaped animale running from the flames. This scope's apparent loc violently churning ocean,Peer aL be Te tion is at least 100 feet off the ground. The last scope hows a familiar-looking jungle. As the periscope is rotated, the Temple of Cyriss will come into view, and the PC using the scope will sce his own party pasting through the temple doors, just as they did recently. The viewing end of the scopes are not magical, but the equipment in the ceiling that makes them function is Treasure: If the scopes are damaged or removed, they cease to function. They are intriguing, but ult ly valuclee 11. The Vault “The floor and walls of this room are lined in Aull Hack metal, inlaid with angular copper trac- xy. The four doors within are made of the same Black meta. A Tange hayhole is eot into the middle cof each door me of the sect’s most holy artifacts are behind these doors. Alexia has been through this room, but she did not stop to raid it; theft of artifacts was not her mission. The vault doors can be unlocked if the PCs have recovered a key from any of the NPCs, cor they can be opened with an Open Locks roll of 26. Bach of the four vaults holds three Servitors. When the vault is opened, one will flee and two will fight Enemi Consequences: If 1 Servitor gets avay it will ry to find help. 1d44+1 Green clerics may arrive within 146 nutes, Be anare ofthe party’ status; by this point in the temple exploration, they may he too drained to take ona large number of guards ‘Treasure: Vault A: A stack of three oversize copper J similar to the ones seen in the library. leather strap holding the three shests toge Mind.” labeled. “Sight. cards, label Sprit” Vault C: A three card ‘stack labeled “Future” and 100 pp. Vault D: Fortitude” copper cards (hee again) and three dia~ rmonds worth 400 gp each, These cards are needed to operate the Accelerator in area 27. E ‘on itone ofthe three symbols seen on the floor of the Great Hall, but the cards arenotin order. (The symbol is small requiring a Spot roll ‘of DC 14 to notice. Once one is seen, it is the others) They must be fed into the machine in order ordire consequences will reault! See the Accelerator in sea 27 for more information Second Floor Where the fire floor of the temple was mostly living space, the second floor is whore the cultists have labs and workshops. The noise level is generally much high= erhere; add 1d6+1 to the DC of any Listen check. It's sy to see also much warmer on this 12, Preservation Facility Ue et fhe els li he ‘never seen an open flame, this oom i illuminated by torches that line the walls. The flickering orange Wibillticirated cionstacwnetlli Scars inthe ceeof he oom els He a css eee cena cr cata Tetitrmurt beat oat ight ft all Description: The figure is a clockwork construct. It looks menacing, but iti eurrently inert. panels opened on the limbs and hody, revealing the cate machinery inside, The figure seems to be missing one spider-like leg, which ean be found in area 16. This metal monster is actually one of the sects holiest artifacts, It isa vessel designed to accept the soul of a high pricet, who may then live on forever in cloclrworl perf! has made the transit cone priest at this facility ther Lucant elsewhere 2. On nally of =2 du to thir retrcted field. gles ac wel. While the PC is uncon before wearing them ‘mum of 10, If they are -colore led, the properties tse ui oo used, they impose an initia “With none ofthe accessory lenses in en o¢¢les confer 60’ darkvision upon the wearer Even ifthe light {a good, the wearer will stl ee things in black and whit, but the goxgles can be worn indefinitely in thie state. With the first set snapped into plac, the wearer can sce a if they had cast detect magic. However, the sogslen cause fatigue and « headache in this mode, Every 10 minutes of use the woarer must make a Fort save or fall unconscious for 1410 minutes, The DC of the save starts at 10 and increases by two every 10 minutes the gos rare no il effect fcom the goggles, but the character must rest ‘the DC of the Fort save will fall by two for every 10 minutes of res, back to a mini- again immediately the DC of the Fort saves picks up where it loft off With the necond set of lense in place, the goggles confer upon the wearer a most useful attention to detail and mechanical intuition, All Search and Craft roll receive a +2, bonus while the goggles are worn in this mode, hut the drawhaceis the same as inthe second mode, The goggles are worth 13,000 gp. currently, but he'll be waiting for the PCs in the Great Hall (area 1) when they leave, ‘Thore is another work area here that looks like it held another one of the elockwo but asi from some stray tools and mys ‘empty. 13. Laboratory If any of the PCs listens at the door to this room, they will hear the following conversat roll of DC 14. In this ease the DC ace backround noise and properties of this particular door ea yastalt ine Jo last time we saw A deep male voice says, “Li him he was with Rhys and Leeb, They must have gotten separated. Another man, speaking quickly with a more allow the wearer to see hetter than ever — rte of lenses ground fom purest quarts each treated Ras lc ac aachigh-pitched voice begins to speak. “Well, hope Rhys and Lecb fared better than Ogre here. No one deserves this... hope we get thet hitch soon” The first voice replies “If she doesn't got us first” The second speaker then sas, “Better her than Oberen, I think sometimes” Both men laugh uncesly at this. ‘Unlike the rest of this floor, the air in this room, is cool and pleasant: Shelves on the walls are filled with neatly arranged glass globes, each full of a brightly colored liquid. Other shelves hold jars of als, Tables in the center of the oom are home to a maze of interconnected glass ease soe sacha uljee A periat side eabiiet ses Pitta este neay ferret iaer a a ceria ® iioeet tepitentcled tot Lab tse amnee the contents of the room. A dead human, dressed the same way, lies at their feet. When they see you they place their hands on their Dut they do nat attack, “Hold thera, friends" the shorter man says, Description: This room is a laboratory. The various reagents in the shelves are a mixture of useless, dan- gerous, and valuable, Nothing in this room is magical, and the science practiced here ie some strange kind of alchemy that will be mostly unfamiliar to anyone with traditional training. Nonetheless, a character making an Alchemy roll of DC 22 can produce some useful items from the ingredients here. Each attempt takes 16 minutes three tries can he made before the recog able reagents are used up. A euccessful attempt will allow the alchemist to create one of the following items at random. (What is made depends on which reagents the PC happens to recognize; it ant as if they don't know what they are making a they are attempt ing it) > A flask that will break and explode into flames when thrown. The area of effec i a circle 10 fest in diameter, and the effect is as a Sth level burning hands spell (5444; PH 182). > A bag of powders with a fuse poking out o round after boing lit, it will produce a 20-foot cloud of poisonous gray smoke. The cloud takes two rounds to grow to 20 fect diameter, and it laste for three minutes. Those in the smolee must make a Fort save of DC 16 each round ot they take Idd hp of damage, and one point of tempo- rary Str damage > Atonic that heals 1412 hp and adds two points of Ste and Dex for 18 minutes, If the Alchemy roll to produce this fale, the failure ion’ known until someone drinks the toni, which will instead: 146 hp damage. Note that itis only the availability of the high-qual- ity agents in the lab that makes it possible to produce nd easily, PCs should not expect oncoctions with such ease in the these items 20 sickly to whip up these future! Enemies: There are two Inquisitare in thia room. A Uhied one dead, Face i is easy to see one of Alexia's Ri patched by his former colleagues. The Inquisitors know sho the PCs are, hut they will not attack the adventur~ crs if they can instead trick the characters into trusting them. If the PCs have already been fooled by the tors in the jail cell downstairs this should be rel- atively easy IF these Inquiitors join the party, they'll turn on the PCs at the worst possible time and try to steal the Witehire “Treasure: ‘The locked metal cabinet in the corner (Open Locks DC 18) contains thrce brown glass flasks of acid (146 damage, DMG 88). The cabinet also has a false bottom (Search roll of DC 26 to reveal. Within the fale bottom are stored Hammettsgogaes of metic lous iflunination, but the treasure is protected by 2 nee dle trap (Search DC 24 to locate, Disable Device DC 20 to defeat, Fort save of DC 18 to avoid 246 dam- 2) 14A-C, Observation Decks ‘These balconies are larger versions of the deck on the ground floor, area 2. The catwall on the tp level of the temple can be seen from decks A & C. 15, Parts at? eae a eee ae mn. Every you see count Gln col od oleate al sorted hy size. ild ey may be of interest to an engineer, but they are not very valuable. I the PCs take any, they will be worth 2 gp per pound if they can find the right buyer back in Corvia ‘Treasure: A Search roll of DC16 will reveal a small setal hox with a padded interior Inside ace four fist- ied yellow glae globes. When thrown, each will shat- ter with a sound like a lightning bolt, and deliver 148 electrical damage to anyone within 10 fect. The globes break easly, 0 the PC carrying them had better be careful—if one globe goes off it can set up a chain one save should be ‘hese are parts used to srvitors and maintain the machines in the walls le for16, Large Workshop 1 cs" need to he serewed into ther bulls to complete them. Ifthe PCs do this, the drones will come TARGUS UAIGGANAIS Nea] lil flat into the is, and avait their commandal ‘ll tie room, Glowing rede ststdhletycen the | Ar character witha ill ike Profeuion (engineering) Ieee en yalkeasdee dae al aft (clockwork) can then activate two mote near ‘lars white cht A solitary figure hunched | By drone (that need «it more work) with rll of DC srliwene ati measly ble ianipulatingtiny | 1-4 (ach) The rest of the Servitors in this room ae in Rfeaeeal Lene too many pices to activate without special knowledge. Benes Pe (Note the Servitors cannot eave the temple grounds. If : they ty, they will beeome inert, though theyll till be 2: Cyriss' followers work here, manufac yerth 80 gp to the ight person) the tem= 17, Suit Room cin various states of Deseript turing drones and other ma ple, There are a dozen drones aerombly, None are currently active 1 to serve re are a fow tmuch larger machines here, but theie function iea mye- [STS om tery. Anyone searching the room will find one very | Teather garments. Among the cloaks, pants ining hig 9 sit insted ney rated | holed ls ane eel swork and unrecognizable com- and packed ful ofc ponents, The leg is om a bench at the far side of the room, and itis covered witha large silken loth that has holy symbols embroidered into it with fine golden wire. Description: This is protective gear used in the melting laclity. There are four complete suits here Anyone wearing a suit gains +1 AC, and is protected from three points of fire damage per round. The leather suite are bu ‘armor check penalty of -2 and a 209% chance of epell failure. They fF weigh 20 Ibs. each, and can be worn ever light or medium armor. (Naturally, goggles are included.) Enemies: The sole Green cleric in this room shouldn't be much of a challenge. ‘Treasure: Where the clerie was working are two ly complete vitor drones y, and inflict an 18. Smelting Facility You pase through a slid~ ing metal door and find yourself standing on a cat~ walk about 20 feet over some kind of a factory floor, ae ry dotted with glowing vats ‘metal and huge mechanical arms, ‘The heat is intense, and the molten metal tee The arms, mounted to the floor are working at dropping chunks of scrap into the vats. Description: The cultists refine metal here. A catwalk (20 feet above ground around the perimeter of the ro level) extends and two connected walkways read across the middle of the room. The" y The Witchfire Trilogy aon to this room are at ground 19, Smelting Control The Glass Globe J ii Sistval melon mst slech . Most modern vieners would immedi |] about hore and there as scrap i+ |] hedaor aiden openiendiyou soo Hgaralaes Biely ently the lass globe ren 20)|| Ueopped ‘into the crucibles or | anglamayfromyos, bunched ever «most of lve | with the spheres slowly rotating insideit |] ingots are cast. Every PC within | and pedals: The zoom is dimly lit, but a hellish asasmaiel ofthe solar systom. However} 10 foot of a crucible has » 20% | orange slow spills in from th thick, narrow win- most of the inhabitants of the world of chance every minute of getting | dow that the person is looking through, Caen a heliove that theic home isthe .),.hed, which does 1d3 damage eee Alewther uit fromthe Suit Room Deseript smost advanced and controversial scien controls forthe tists of the time age proponents of the noise inthis room Ieliocentsic model, The worshippers of ] Enemies: ‘There are three by 6DC. Gyrise are tho most advanced lJ Gren cultists inthis 100m, work” py astronomers in the Tand however, and ff ing at casting metal ingots. They ee ea on ee i ac will not be aware of the PCs ai ing Her divine works of nature, rok "There ie anctéer-oolbt sn ag, | ae cee the room of Numerical Illumination to tho acolytes who toil anay, cata- theic goddess many sain Tete beni avtifact, batt would be fipon= sible to remove it from the temple. row, grimy window he uses to cbserve the floor. He will try to “The Green cleric here is operating the ere and the mechanical arms, The intense, penalizing all Listen rolls will protect against thie he only threat in this room is the cleric, 20. The Gauige Room area 19, operating the n jase hey Ed tds rte “There must he hundreds of them, lined sl all the walla The ymbols on the gauges aria lait basen ee eee dance and jump about, while others romain fixed 5 arms, though he can on! late one at a time. A Spot roll of DC 18 is required to see the nar atone point on the dial launch a surprise attack with any arm the PCs get near. The arms have Ste 22, Dex 8, Improved Grab, Init -4, AC 5, hardness 5 and 20 hp. A pinch (melee attack +0) docs 148 damage, but the "Third Floor real danger is being picked up and dropped into a vat. don: There is nothing else to see or do here Las the arm move very slowly at arate of 10, hi Hear of the temple is where the mor ‘Tricks @ Traps: There are five vats of metal and than downstairs. The DC penalty for Listen rolls here Four mochanical arnt. ‘That catwalle sun in hitwain shock down to 14, exit wus for the ground floce thom, but is till possible for an arm to attack some- tall It aloo pordble for vomeons fights 22° T00ls ing on catwalk: to be thrown off possibly landing ina REGUS ; lve in this room hold dozens of greasy vat of molten metal ‘cle Heay lols Deane oe soul Consequencest The arm operator will do what he | number are eomplotely mysterious. Z y about the intruders, can to warn the rest of the f but this is assumed in the mate lly valuable, Mary labs (16). covering the rest of _ Deseription: Nothing here is epe ofthe tools could be used as improv the temple ‘Treasure: In a corner, under a greasy tarp, 12 silver 22. Wardrobe ingots are stacked. Each ingot is the size of a brick, is worth 550 ap and weighs 11 Ihe. There ae also dozens [UU GIGNGHI SEER EG ERG EILEIONG of iron, beass and copper ingots of the same sice here, fe parle neatly stack Lastly there is a metal canister of oily ster fuel, though it is here for its other Description: There are a dozen complete outfits here: industrial uses. Hf the flame-caster from the two leather wore mits oe area 17) five low-level (Gree) it can be refueled to its clerics robes and five hi ed) d maximum capacity of four charges with the contents of eee aa ier PH canister This takes two full-round actions and a 62) but anyone wearing the leather protective sits out ale Ts la all Si vets do “a laag lng (LEV ld Le vst al ns (46 DC) g00—flame- Auditorium was recovered, Disable Device roll of 16 to figure out. 3823. The Night Sky ‘The smooth metal walls of this room merge seamlessly with a thik glass ceiling. Outside you Gaivesnin tarry aight aby, The Coveners Description: Anyone making a Knowledge (nature) or Profession (sailor) roll of DC 12 will immediately notice that the stars above are not the stars seen over the world Caen. Th shouldn't be dark outside, depending on what time they visit this chamber PCs may also realize that it The special glase ceiling is thick and tough. If attacked, i will chip, bt it will not shatter Ifthe pl ers ae truly determined to destroy i, it has a hardnese of & and 60 hp. When it finally gives wa, the ‘on the other side will euce anyone in the room out into the void, and the room's doors will slam shut. The DM is encouraged to chase the PCs away from this room if they hegin to do something foolish! If they do persist in trying to beeale the glass, they should hear hissing sounds asthe aie be shoul they to be sucked away. Their ests and the temperature wil begin to drop. If it they deserve what they get. 24, Devotion Chamber ‘A few metal benches are secured tothe floor of this chamber. The walls are hung with beautiful tapisizan, woven fom! aietalli.diveade) ‘They depict econer from the night ake as well at bizarre geometric patterns A light globe tapped nm goldon modh, hanga from the ceiling. Itensta metered alesse tho sitin silent meditation. Descriptio coups of worshippers to pray in. are eight) would be worth 500 gp each, but they weigh 100 Ibs apiece so it's unlikely the PC will take them: The light source can he removed; the golden mesh ie worth about 5 gp, and the globe itself is identical to the light sources in the temple corridors. The clerics in this room are actually Risen left hehind by Alexia, Left ina tortured undead stinctively returned to this room for Unlike the other Risen, these will remain silent and motionless if left a are disturbed in any way they will attack Appendix A for stats. 2 IF they or the room 25. Numerical [Mumination ‘This room is large and brightly illuminated. A. ssiant glass sphere is mounted to the floor in the center of the room, and rows of desks are arranged in circles around it. Each desk has some sort of crank-driven machine on it. Two cleries are work- jing at their desks at the far side of the room, Gopestallv irankig. tas ennckan all wala something into the giant tomes in front of them. As you enter, they yelp in fear and make a run for Asireareet ect aheng Ghertl teres toect iris’ clerics use the crank-driven lists of nes and Deseri n this room to pr The mac nglese strings of them. They ate valueless, though precious to the worshippers calculating machin variations on the goddess’ nam books will roveal nothing hut meat characters to anyone who investigates “The glass sphere in the center of the room is about 12 feet across. At the center of the aphere (which is Avcorated with mall painted imagos of stars and comets) isa large glowing orb, Surrounding the onb at various distances are several other smaller spheres, which move around in circles driven by some kind of clockwork. ‘The small metal spheres even rotate in place as they rotate around the center, and one of them even has three tiny spheres rotating around it Caen has three moons, two small and one large. A character may realize that this is aome kind of a logical model with a Knowledge (nature) roll of DC 22, or Profession (astronomer) roll of DC 14.26. The Shrine ‘This small room ie dizly litby yellowish lights set in tho ceiling. A glass casein the center ofthe room holds an ornate staff, wrought of gleaming metal. On the wall opposite the door, a large brass plaque bears the likeness of an elderly man, clad in what you now recognize as traditional gar for this sect. Below the image another plague which reads “Father Ghil Lucant, Preserved 603." Description: Father Lucants body is long gone, and his soul now occupies th that was missing from area 12. The year 607 for reference the trial of the in this trilogy was in the ye machinal staff of sass case, which opens easly. off the trap. constr the current years vis Coven referred to 3. The father's staff of adi opening it the office, a lay in the rice & Traps: There isa trap door immediately in front of the glass case Ifthe door is opened, anyone standing on the 10-foot square in front of it wil fll through it into a slippery metal chute. After a f onus of aliding through the hot darkness, the victims will land in one of the jail cells I. The DM should choo arch DC to apot the trap door is 22, and a Disable Device roll of DC 16 is required the firs the cell at random. The broken, will appear to happen, but an alarm will. sound elaewhere. The PCs will oncounter a patrol of 2: jes: and: Boreibors within 146 min utes. The cultists will ignore anyone falling into the trap and landing in a cell. They have big- ger fish to fry atthe moment, very light (2 ths). It is part magical and part mechanikal. Inset into it are three buttons, which require Search rolls of 18 each to notice. The buttons produce the following effects. 1. Light, as the cleric spell light off. The light ie non-magieal, and will vand. Pressing button 1 again will turn the ‘once per day. The wie into a solid metal object. The staff is worth 12,000 gp. 27. The Accelerator ‘A small machine with a metal tray and a long brass handle is mounted to the floor of thi oth- craise hare room. Behind it, a human-shaped hollow is molded into the metal wall. The hollow ined with copper, and two tarnished handles are mounted atthe hands. Description: This machine is used with the copper cards found in the vault, area 11. Ifthe copper sheets are fed into the reade on standing inthe alcove will fel a tingling ser they recsive a temporary magical effect. If th per eards aren't in the ri extremely unpleasant. A Spot roll of DC 14 will let a PC notice an engraving on the machine, showing thecatline of a punch-card being fed into the machine, with the notch sheet is mounted inthe reade he pulled; this will force th nism and drop it in the {com the kbrary onthe ground floor (area 5) will not fit inthe Accelerators reader. Only the cards found in the vault (area 11) will woe 1 corner in the upper left. Once the lle needs to ih the mecha- tout tray, The copper sheets he possible effects of the Accelerator are as follows The beneficial effect sony poled ifthe copper seats seen carved into the floor of the Great Hall, area 1. If thacardsae edit i the sig sal a DM should apply the negative effect Fisted below. Ifthe ply a negative effect at random from cards a the > Mind: +2 Int for 24 hes, or -2 Int for 24 hrs > Body: 42 Str for 24 hre. oF 2 Ste for 24 hrs. > Spirit: +2 Wis for 24 hrs, or -2 Wis for 24 hrs Sight: True sosing for 24 hrs. or blindnoss for 24 hes Future: Foresight for 24 hrs, or confusion for 24 hrs (The confusion effect will only manifest itself when the PC is under stress, such as combat) Fortitude: Emhurance for 24 hrs. or poison for 24 hours—no save posible If someone is under the influence ofthe Accelerator, they cannot receive a second effect. The machine will priests use the do simply fail to function. 2 to prepare themselves for spécal religious trial; it is not ted often hecause repeated exposures bring the drawbacks which are outside the scope of this book. 28, Accelerator Prep Room Some comfortable chairs are scattered around this room, Omate roher of a type you have not sean before hang from a rack on one wall. On » troall table nthe corner ie lack with tome hind of fluid inside, Description: Subjects who are about to under the use of the Accelerator use this room to change into the ceremonial robes. The fluid in the fase is econted cil, used to anoint the subject. [tis worth only about 5 fe if recovered 29, The Core YYou stop from tho corsidor onto a wide walk- say that ence th at pin the core ofthe temple, To your eight, «quarter of the way around the walkway, you can see the from the lower level, The core of the great machine ise ont of the Hlackness, eulminsting copes fetal ce, Alexia Ciannot is locked in combat Seieeal cof the temple's clerics. Over the noise of combat you can hear the crackling slcteieal arges from the shaft below, and. periodic ashes of blue-white light illuminate the vast chambec av it ocd doy Bubiadl Manin Oe center ofthe platform, a shronded corpse lies in an open metal sarong Aco its ap esa jet-black sword the Witehfire to be ware. ‘Alexinis armed with a rapiée and a pistol, As you watch, she fies hr gun into th chest ofthe Tat cles ho seers and fal askrards rr tho edge of the platform. Arcs of electricity ea ee ie a le cueatiee as it falls from sight. “You again!” says Alexia, seeing the grow half tel Pandarto nn Bia ce ime.” Suddenly you realize that you are not alone ose walkway. On either side of you are coveners) Alexia's dreadful compan- Bee lag a eral nt eee ea claws outstretched. “Just leave, sey before 1 forget you are my uncle's friends’ Description: Alexia wants the whole coven reunited in life, but she will sacrifice the four other members ‘order to buy her the time she needs to save her moths While the PCs fight the zombified coveners, Alexia wi attend to her mother and the machine on the platform. Gusts of hot air whip about inthe gap between the walkway and the platform, so bows and crossbows that fire actors the gap are penalized by ~6. Firearms are only penalized by -3. Anyone attempting to eros the sap Gump, fh) will he eubjcted to electrical attacks at detailed in the balcony on the ground floor (area 2). The only safe way onto the platform is the catwall whish, natural, i nar with nos nthe tai tion of evil fortesses throughout the multiverse. “The intent ofthis encounter is for the PCs to defeat Alexis end recover the ewosd which sew lace int ‘a receptacle on the central platform. The DM should not allow the PCs to kill Alexia, Instead, a dramatic hate that concludes with Alexia falling off the plat- form or catwalk isin order, It shouldn't be difficult for the DM to ster things in this direction, If the party ie slow to fight off the coveners,Alexi's preparations wll simply take longer. When they finally do engage her, the DM should nate that Alexia is almost out of spellsin rage. It may perhaps terry wounded, ssrea sure to turn up again in Book IL! look fatal, but sh ‘Treasure: With Alexia out of the picture, the Pt will be able to claim the Witchfire. The P\ hs ine if they wish. Resurrec bilities. Unfortunately, it is far too the party to use. Understanding it would talee a serious research effort Wrapping Up When the PCs leave the Temple, they can re-join Sauint and head back to Corvis. The DM is free to Ipesiege them with gobbers, gatormen or other swamp hazards, but there are no special encounters planned xe. The DM should be familiar with es abilities, though—it could certainly cause trouble if the PCs aren careful IF Squint has left, the PCs will be ia trouble, They'll either have to hoof it back to Corvis (an adventure in itself) or go find Alesas boat, which is hidden away upriver, If the party really gets in a Squint can come back and rescue them. He's not doing it out of senerosity though; hell demand « massive payment Irefore he does anything helpful. The Witchfire’s History ‘The blade Witchfire is « powerful artifact, forged ages ago by an unknown artisan in the time of the The Re-Animated Coven 2 ‘wore blackmailed executed and entombed outside of Corvis, Her mother Lexar the coven’ Teadey was bbried on the grounds ofthe church inside the city walls When Alexia recovered the body, he dacided not to r= animate it inthe same relatively crude way asthe others to Tntead, she saved her mother’ body for a special reat- ‘ment, herein the Temple of Cries. The great machine can take the wishes! souls, which are trapped in the Witchfir, and ro-inert thom into thsi bodies. Alexia wall take care of hor mother fst and ifthe PCs fail to destroy the other four women Alexia will restore them ‘too. If Alexia has any success, the PCs blew it! Ifthe PCs are having a really hard time de Alexia and the coveners, another wave of clericy Servitors or Inquisitors ean appear. If necessary, the DM. can even have the NPCs knock Alexia to her apparent dloom, but its alt better if the PCs get todo it ling with An Part I of the ere ee ae eae f ite construction are ts of arcane matters es. He who wields it Thousand Cities. The detail mt to antiquity, ut some tu now rumors of its terrible abil to capture the souls of i truth to both the rumors, and more besides. Vahn Oberen, the leader of Raclthoene the Elders eared Inquisition, learned ofthe blade about five years Iofore the King was deposed by his young Oberen knew that ifthe Witchfie had even the power attributed to it by legend it would be able weapon, and he resolved to find it. Le took years of research, but Oberen finaly uncovered the Witchfiee’s resting place—a network of caves upon the easter coast of the Isle of Scharde. Scharde was (a serous place, occupied hy cutthroat, troll-kin, ogres and swore, [twas also partof the Kingdom of of Toruk, Lord of the Wyrms. Oberen and Raclthorne decided that while it was risky to steal the sword from und Dragon King, it was more ricky to ‘ 2 Torule would eurely leatn of it f given enough time So, in the winter of 591, Obe mpedition that retrieved the blade from whece it was entombed No one outside the Inqusition’s inner circle knows the of the mission, but Oberon dil retrieve the and return with it to Cygnar. To this day King Toruk appears to be none the wiser about the snout of the it where it a led ths Ohberen’s expedition, Within a few short months Oboren had learned nearly everything about the Witchfiee's abilities, and he cloon tho platform Unfortunatly, Pal vould become Ales pedal fine te pA su ho ti energies, the loose eouls seized her ax a vessel, When ‘Alexia nest appears hor memory of the events a the ‘ep wl bs oo wot how ho se srl the fall nel oll bated porered by ts wit ‘of her mother and the four others. Thanks to their trevence sho will have undargono an epiphany, realxing that hee past actions were deplorable, She wor exactly be friendly or sane the next ime the PCs mect her, but they wll end up working together nonethelers.put it to work for Vinter Raelthorne and the Inquisition. In the last days of Raelthorne the Elders reign, Oberen alko conceived of another plan. ‘This ambitious scheme let him take maximum advantage of the Witchfire’s power personally. Oberen knew that a carefully orchestrated event, carried out at the right time in the right place and with the right vitims would tremendous power in one atroke, Well oyeay... and this is how the framing and cution of the Corvis Coven came to he. The Witchfire’s Abilities “The Witehfire ea tremendously powerful artifact. It ia potent anti-spelleaster weapon, and itis capable of raising the dead, Ie is also dangerous; low-level charac tors that handle it may he injured. Too valuable to got rid of and too dangerous to use, the Witchfire's 8 Ibs will quickly become a tersible burden. > "The Witchfite is a +2 greatsword, +5 versus epel- castors (bth arcane and divine). > Detect evil will report an overwhelmingly evil aura on the blade. » Any character below 10th level that wilds the blade will incur four negative levels. Good characters of any level wll incur an additional two negative levels, Negative levels are not permanent but are in effect as long a the blade is wielded. They cannot be over- come by any means, including rstnaton > Ifany selleaster of less than 10th level touches the blade they wll be drained of 20 XP per round. If the PC makes a Will ave of DC 14, they will ral- ize that something is weong and they wll fel com palled to drop the Witchfire. Ifa PC lotes 100 XP, they take one point of temporary Ste damage (no save) ana Fort save of DC 16 a required to romain conscious The lost XP cannot be recovered > Ifthe Witchfie is used to slay a spelleaster, the vic~ tims soul is captured within the blade, no save po sible, Captured souls can be extracted by advanced magical techniques—the great machine in Cyrise temple did thie in preparation fr restoring the souls tothe bodies that Alexia brought with her. The souls can also be destroyed via a cleansing ritual, the which are currently known only to Valn a. The blade can apparently hold a limitless tnumber of souls, though it only had the five coven= When the PCs get it it is emply, the souls having been accidentally transferred into Alexa > Ifaspelleastr wields the blade when itis use to slay another spellcaster, the wielder will gain 296 of the im's XP. Us moonlit executions carefully orchestrated. by Oberen a decade ago, the wielder can absorb up to certain conditions, such as the 50% of the victim's XP, No fone can gein more than (000 XP per year from the sword. (With the Witchfire in their arsenal, Oboren’s Inquisition wizards became very powerful, and they were Highly motivated to find more fodder forthe blac blade) The aword is a powerful nectomantic energy radiator. Unless shielded by one inch of metal or sx inches of stone (as it was in Lexaria's tomb) it will That Down, It’s Not a Toy s | The PCs will be ei ie | Witchfire out for a natural ecg, fat the DA Should tay to di courage it. The black sword isa hideous ly evil artifact, and it should be present- ed with many unpleasant quieho. It should darken and chill the room tis Perhaps it sounds like the blade is mut- toring to itself, or it may make a dr sound when it ie ewung. Ie will whisper hhalf-heard things to its wielder. Birds may fall from the sky near the Witchfire, dead ae stones. ‘The sword should be the croopiest thing the PCs |P Ihave ever seen. If the PCs ty to use the blade and et around its negative levels and XP deain deanbacks, don't let them. Tricks like gloves wont work ‘The PCs are not intended to use the Witchfire, they are intended to deal with it Play diet to leeep them from honefitng from having the Witchfire with them. Let them transport it safely if they treat it with reapect, but smack them down if they try to get cute. bring all kinds of dead things to shambling unlife all around it, (Remember how the vampies in Act 1 reported defiled? Grandpa and the oth- heard the call ofthe blade heir graves) ‘The higher level the wielder i, the greater the effect—older bones will be animated, and the range of the effect will ce. However, even if the sword is Iving unused, the effect will be observable at a lesser intensity: The PCs may see humanoid and animal sheletons from the deck ofthe ship as they travel bck to Corvis. Anything raised by the evord has the same stats as the Risen in Appendix A. The DM should use thie ability to good theatrical effect! Undead that are raised by the blade wll he under the control of the wielder. Ifo one wilds the blade, the undead will slowly converge om the W tion, attacking anyone who gets in the way. ‘The he Witchfire alo gains control overall undead of 4H or les in the sword’ area of effect, These undead will also be compelled to trav- el to the blade’ location ‘The radius ofthe Witchfiee's ability to raise the dead i650 yards if no one wields the blade Ia 10th level caster wields if, the radius is 100 yards, At 15th level, 200 yards. At 20th level, 400 yards, And higond 20th level, it gets really nasty. The swords wielder has control over al the undead the sword ‘Witchfite grants its wielder the death domain as ithe were a cleric of 20th | Lastly, the Witchfire cannot be detected by any sort of divinatory magic.Wherein the adventurers return to Corvis to find that the City of Ghosts has fallen to an enemy Jong thought to be vanquished 2 = iw = While the PCs wore away recovering the Witchfire, big things were happening in Corvi. Reelthorne the Elder returned from his years of absence, and he began making good on his promise to rule Cygnar again to Borloch and Oberen’s aubterfuge, Corvis immediately fell to Raclthorne. The deposed king also hae a small Skorne army (about 1,000 soldiers and beasts) a hidden a few leagues east of Corvis. He will uso this army to hold Corvis ifthe Cygnaran m tries to eta the city. The shadow ofthe exile has fall en over the land Than Messengers are already bearing news of the fall of Corvie to Caspia and other Cygnaran military outposts but there are too few troops in the area to do anything Raclthorne will be able to hold Corvie until his ne reinforcements arrive from within the Bloodstone Marches, and then he will mount an attack on ‘aspia. (The PCs will have a chance to defeat Reclthorne's for Book III of the Witohfire Trilogy, but that's getting ahead of things!) about Corvis fell to Vinter Raelthorne aickly and. qu stage. In Oberen's pocket is Magistrate Borloch, currently the most powerful man on the city council—due to the efforts of the witches that he blackmailed years ago, of course. The night after the PCs left Corvis in Act Il, Borloch joined Oberen and a handful of Inquisitors in murdering the Mayor and the rest of the city council, In the morning, when the Mayor and councilors were found dead in their homes, Borloch proclaimed himself Mayor pro tem. Borloch sustained wound while strug~ sling with Councilman Willem Solor, which ironically he using as “evidence” that he was attacked as wel As the Mayor, Borloch assumed command of the City Watch, The Watch wa ordered to cooperate with the Inquisition forces, and within a few houre the feared and hated Inquisitore seemed to be everywhere. This was all carefully planned; in recent monthe Oberen had recalled over 200 of his men (nearly all that remained) to Corvis in anticipation of this day. ‘The Inquisitor alao began recruiting new members to swell their ranks. Overnight, Corvis was transported back in time to the dark years of Vinter Raslthornesscign, Rumors quickly hogan to spread that Raclthoene had returnes Though no citicen hed yet son, the presence of the Inquisition wat evidence enough for most. hain in Inquisition, backed up by the Watch's manpow- The mayor and all the city council were murdered Only Borloch survived the attacks. (The murders took place the night the PCs entered the temple) > Ae the sole surviving city official, Borloch as pro claimed himself Mayor pro tem.the PCs end up tn afi 61. If you don't have the first Wite from DMG 53. [ee ae 81, Fighting wit the authors ls dangers) ust one ta awey bl the vile yon uch lord EE 2 et gen In any fight, there is a 10% chance that one of the Watchmen will turn on ‘he Instore he owth: Depending on the DMs det the goo Watchmen will ther join-the PCa, Goma ko be Loge cas ese en aero Lamar Map of Corvis A. map of Corvis ie not required for this adventure, but one ean be found. J] on TLN 9. A copy ean aleo he downloaded from privateorpress.com. © Corvis is swarming with Inquisitors, They must he Raclthorne’s men—many have the tattoo on their right hand, and they ae already rounding wp “unde- ts ust like the old days. The Watch is cooperating with the Inquisitor. In fact, they s ing orders from them: People are mostly heing left alone, but for how long? No one trusts Borloch or the Inquisition, Those who sirable tobe speak out quickly diseppeat No Rumors sy that Raelthorne has an army nearby, and hell try to invade Cygnae very sn Ithoene's army isnt supposed to be human. Or or Dwarven. The Enguistors are searching every bout at the dod sure why. The Inquisition is confiscating all swords in Corvi. it wll be taleen on sight. They don't shout other weapons > Sorcerers are advised to keep a low profile. The Inquisition is starting to keep tabs on them, has actually seen Raelthor but no one If you have soem to 6 ‘When Saint lens what's going on, he looke hualofully a your group. “Td het a weeks pay you characters have something todo with thin Am 1 sping to gotkilled if go back tomy lip with you allong forthe ride?" Plan A: Sneak the Witchfire Into Corvis By Boat If the PCs treated Squint well, and if they promise to pay him, they may be able to get him to help them sneak the blade into town. Squint will be reluctant, but helll help ifthe money is good enough. Ifthe PCs treated Squint badly, hell make them one offer and one offer only: they can get off the boat about a league outside Corvis and make their own way from there. He may even turn them in once he returns the Fortine to her berth. “There area lot of Inquisitors and Watchmen on the strocts, but they can't he everywhere. Ifthe PCs have the help of Squint, o if they have another boa, they can try to get onto an unsupervised dock and eneak past the Inquisitors and Watchmen. This will be nearly impossi- ble without some kind of magical assistance, and even then every patrol they meetin the city will hassle them. Ifthe PCs have something big enough to puta word in, it will he inapected. If they have eworde of theie own, they will be confiscated. Resistance will lad to combat AA strong awimmer could simply get off the boat and swim to the docks, or swim up one of the numerous canal that lead into the city, but there ie ail a terious of encountering a patrol once the water is lft behind, Plan B: Sneak the Witchfire Into Corvis By Land ‘There's a lot of traffic at the city gates, The Watchmen and their Inquisitor overseers are trying to inspect ll of the wagons, carts, barcels, casks and erates flowing in and out of the city, but there are hound to make some mistakes. The PCs can increase their chances of getting theough by hiding the blade in some- thing that is unlikely to be carefully inspected, ‘wagon of pig manure ‘The DM should make eure thatthe guards pay spe- cial attention to anyone who looks like an adventurer. Peasants pass the auards easily; tough, competent look ing poople get inspected closely. Plan C: Hide the Witchfire IF the PCs cache the sword outside the town it will be safe, at least temporarily The powerful scrying protec- tion on the blade wll ensure that Oberen can’ locate it magically but the PCs will aed tobe careful when they travel to and from the swords hiding place. Oberen will be trying to find the PCs, and if he docs high-level rogues will follow them wherever they go. Still this is the safest thing the PCs can do. When the PCs return to where they have hidden the Witchfite there is 2 20% chance per day that they'll find some creepy undead thing hanging around it. Here's hoping they don't decide to bury itn the eastern honeyard (TLN 2)!Plan D: Destroy the Witchfire That would be about os difficult as destroying « magic ring from another trilogy that you may heard of Dumas & Helstrom Once the PCs are hack in the city, theyll want to report hack to Father Dumas. When they arcive atthe c taken the Father prisoner. rch of Morrow, they'll learn that the Inquisition has Your footsteps echo in the empty marble eathe- ral There is no sign of Father Duras or anyone eles, hut you sce some broken glase and eplintered furniture littering the floor: Four figures step out of the shadowy refostory int the light of the cathedral. Foremost is a blac clad Inquisitor a sickly-looking man with a hooked nose, Be ‘him is Captain Helstrom, the pistol in hrs hand leveled at you. A trio of buely Watchmen stand behind the two men. Tae hold heavy cross- hows at the ready while the third rests his hand on the pommel of his sword. “And these are the ones?” rasps the Inquisit, pointing at your group. “Indeed they ar” anewers Heletrom, fixing you in steely gaze. “And they've heen mort troublesome” Give the PCs a moment to react to this. Savor their fear as they bel Ielstrom has betrayed them “The Inquisitor moves forward, his hand out- stretched, “You should have accepted our frien ship while you had the chance, Fin afraid that—* I eet eel Ue eee eTocs to the floor hissing in pain and rage, The une isineveleisies ft the stonewalls and «cloudot ead aml Olle eco a ehimtnlocing the sword stops forward and delivers « coup de grace tothe Mack-clad Inquisitor: fa “Morrow forgive us for staining these floors with Ilood,” Helstrom says. “Take care ofthat,” he “He must notbe found ori will be ‘our ruin.” He steps forward to address your group. “I'm afraid 1 have some bad news. Vinter Raclthorne has returned, and he controls the city. Father Dumas has heen talken by his Inquisition.” orders been playing with the PCs to return, He'll tell the Captain Helstrom invades, waiting for th party everything he knows, and then hell send them to Dumas. If H vated, hell rescue Fath trom had to pay to get therm What Hel. > Did the PCs stop Alexia? > Do the F want to know where is, found out.) > What is Alexia’ fate? ‘What Helst: ive the wo 1m Knows ler of the has been in C works for ini the city, ‘The le hn Obe pth > Magistrate Borloch, who is now the Rec J to play along with we thei ive Oberen, who in turn works > The Watchmen are bein sand the li forfeit. This has forved many terrible thi retrieving the Witchfire. It's bly powerful, and he must not he a (Oberen is obee wed have it, It must be important to Raclthorne Elder's plans to retake Cygnar >» Qheren is convinced that Father Dur where the sword i od e's probably torturing hima at this very moment. Father Dum: safely, which is another reason t oes know how to store the sword Once Helstrom has caught up with the PCs, he wil ther Dumas give them a map that detail the ar being 64, eld in. The DM 1 download and print the handout from our web ld copy the map on ps privateerpress.com)Jailbreak! Father Dumas is being kept inthe fourth level of the donjon below the courthouse. Captain Heletrom knows of a secret passage that connects the sewers to that part ofthe jail, and he thinks that the PCs can sneak inf the Father, and sneak out, He provides the party with a map (handout on page 64), but he can't provide any manpower. If the PCs need weapons or aupplies, Heletrom may be able to help at the DMs option —but he shouldn't provide a fortune in ammunition, and he wont have any magie items. Lastly, Helatrom gives the party a tin whistle and a warning Before you part ways, Captain Helatrom hands yous small sikery objoct on a chain, Iescms tobe ‘tin whistle, “Ifa guard challenges you, sound this, bt sof. If ho is layal to mo, hell cause you no trouble. Use this only asa last resort. ‘There are many guards atthe courthouso, but few are yet my ‘own men, None of Raclthorne's man can be allowed to leara of this rignal—tho lives of my agents are at stake” [As you take the whistle the Captain gives you one lat piece of advice. “The xwere are full of rats, tind other thing too, the guatds have sone hind cof pt down there tha thy fed troublemakers to. hear it hates the light though, soit should be easy to drive away if you sce it” The Sewer The PCs will the courthouses island, To gain entrance to the sewers they'll need to scale 20 feet of rocky cif, Latly, they'll need to open a concealed portal to enter the cellblock. If they are lucky, theyll be able to rescue Father Dumas and enoak back out the way they came Ie will be raining heavily when the PCs approach the courthouse. This reduces visibility by 50%, penalizes BP pall Listen eos outside by +4 DC and luckily washes the worst of the sludge from the sewers. The rain will alo wreck ammunition that int stored properly Watchmen constantly patrol the courthouse grounds. If the PCs make a lot of noise while they climb upwards, the guards atop the cliffs may hear them. Fortunately the men on duty topside are all lyal to Helstrom, and if they hear the PCs over the rain theyll look the other way. nse the jail, thee is only a 109% chance that any Watchman will be loyal to Heletrom, Even if a quaed ie a loyalist, he may have to play along with his less honest colleagues who will wish to catch or kill the PCs, Loyal guarde might attack theie less sorupulous colleagues and help the PCs ifthe odds of geting away with it look good, and the DM ean use this to help the PCs out ofa sticky spot—say, when a guard is about to pall that alarm cord, 1. Sewer Entrance TA granite iff towers over you, with the Convis (City Courthouse perched atop it. Below the court- Howse, buried in the ilanils rook isthe denon. Heavily ued even in the bert of times, you hear the calls are hsir than ever now that Raslthorne the Elid has cine 86 town, ‘A hard cain falls around you, and dirty water tluices down the clif-face into your boat. About 20 foot overhead you can 90 the round entrance to the sewers. Description: The courthouse is built atop « small island in the west end of the harbor. Reaching the crudely hewn sewer outlet (which is spewing mucky, smelly water) takes a Climb roll of DC 14. There are fortunately easy places to tie a rope at the top of the climb if the lese-agile party members need it. The sewer system consists of a network of pipes that are 10 fect in diameter. In some places the sewer pipe will open up into a larger chamber. Filthy water aluices in through geates in the ceiling, and there's always a flow underfoot. 2. The Terror Near the intersection marked as area 2.on the sewer imap the PCé will meet the Tunnel Terror. Sewer rate are running from it in fear, and they'll move right past the PCs, looking for a way to get out. The rats aren't dangerous, and ifthe PCs atack them they will only try to eacape. The poor rats don't want to turn around, because they know the hungry Terror is right behind them. Ifthe PCs want to attack the rats, stats ean be found on MM 201eon faint Ga slied ct contig Fo tele ted pest anak Sy eyes pecan eee some into view, running at ee notice After the fest wave of rots peters, girg the PCo a moment fo telex. Then hit them with another wave Adee oe Ne ge eed oie dkifts through the stone tunnels. -Agnin, it ss dee and yo sr spa fat ee alt rans towanda os. "Thin ime though there aro scores of thom, and their eusaking is deafene ing. In a fow ssconde you ae all nce-dosp in rts The creature is right behind the rats, just around the commer from the party. Now you can sce what had the sewer rats eo ter- ‘ified. Rounding the corner is a creature unlike ‘any you have ever seen, It fills the tunnel, a 10- iBaieeilaonsay ooetlatling fanttalon Mle yotag with slime, Two lamp-like yellow eyes sit above a round maw, ringed with serrated teeth. The crea Fea vallivastl lees seen Inert > it if the players carefully search the pool they'll ably Find something disgusting. 4, The Ladder ‘A bulge in the tunnel accommodates a dozen ‘more pipes, each dumpi irregular stream of murky water. A rusty iron ladder is affixed to tho wall, lading up to some kind of trap door. Description: Besides the presence of the Tunnel error there is nothing special about this locatio The Tal Terror (Appendix A) wl Fit death, easure (coins and gems |. Sewer Pool "The sewor widens into a dome-shaped room, ‘handful of openinge in the cial ep elites ener a eee ae Description: The ladder leads to the secret door that Helstrom spoke of. "The other side of the trap door ie 3 latrine for the guards, which will be occupied when the PCs emerge, The thick stone and running water wll give a penalty of +10 DC to anyone Listening to something ante ote si of trp doo othe Pel nea 0 Ee aor in cciledoy argucgetella oracle the extn aoa 1. Small light itoms that ae dropped in the water may be swept vay and duraped {ao the lasbor. actively patrol the halls looking for trouble, but they won't pull the or so they won't be entering the sewersThe Witchfire Trilogy 5. The Conversation 6. The Terror’s Lair “Above you is a narrow stone shaft; about 20 fect tall. At the very top of the rocley chimney is a thick metal grate. You sve a dim flicker of light through the iron bars, and it seems ae if two fig ures are standing overhead in the torchlight. A conversation echoes down to where you stand, and somewhere in the distance you hear a man toreaming in agony. far more resilient than expected, milord. He refused to tall us anything about the Witehfire ‘or —" The speaker, who sounds family, is cut off by aman witha sepulchral voice. His gravelly bari- tone sends a chill dawn your hack “The Skome paingiver will loosen his tongue ‘And when youre done with him, I want his carcass Hung fom his own church steeple. See tof mme= dlately, Oberen. We've wasted enough time with His awed “TheSkorne sfinishing up with another subject now, Majesty... Ill make sure the Fathers intereo- ation iseld next.” answers the First speaker Cerne find when tbie done! ‘With that, the two men move away. Description: The PCs have stumbled onto a mecting between Vahis Oberen they listen quietly they'l learn that Father Dumas is due for a tip to the to mber any minute now. won't know ics dnt they are the now allios Raclthorne is rumored jig cannot be opened. Consequ ‘Trying to attack the two apcalers(¢hrough a small 5) would be madness all the trom Kingdon U the ight to oust ry. The PCs ae these NPCs, but if they do. to attack ! Morro ‘This dome-shaped room holds « pool, and water trickles in through many holes inthe roof. In the center of the pool ix ple of yarbage and filthy cloth with a large depresion inthe middle, Slime coats everything, even the walle around you The stench of rotting meat fills the ar fs lain. Ws Description: ‘This is the Tunnel Te filthy but harmless. The terrible smell comes dead rats that the Terror stashed in its nest, maybe for late-night sna om the ‘Treasure: Anyone Searching the nest will find a rusty iron key with a roll of DC 18. The key fits the ater and cell doors of the cellblock above, but it does not unlock them. (DM—keep track of this key!) The Cellblock ‘The whole cellblock is filled with the sounds of a ng. The PCs should hear the sounds of the on as soon as they climb into the latrine (area 8). The victim will scream, wail, sob and swear suffering will finally end just as the PCs approach the torture chamber in area IL. ‘The noise will penalize any Hear Noise roll in the cellblocke by 4 DC. The cellhlock guards are all War3s, equipped with long swords and DMG 40 for stats alarm corde (made of red- block. ‘One is in area 9, the guard~ torture continuously, His stained rope) in the house, The other isin area 11, the torture chamber ach “N’ on the map. If an cord is pulled, all will break: loose and human narked with an guards will start piling in from the level above, centering through the rwell aceoss from the ts for the in Appendix A The stairs up to th of the donjon are prote heavy irom gate. The same sort of ate is used to rest ofthe cellblock. One key found in the suardroom (area 9), will unlockeall of these gates. IfthePCa don't have a key the gates can he bypassed with an Open Locks roll of DC 20. If the PCé are intent on climbing the stairs and exploring the rest ofthe donjon, the DM can use some loyalist guards to tell them what a had idea iti The first encounter the PCs have in the nent cellblock up should be with a pair of Helstroms men, who will tell the PCs in no uncertain terms that theyll he des Ifthe PCs set off the alarm they may have to bu without the Father. The only good note is thatthe F wall he moved to another facility, and his interrogation vill be delayed a short while, The DM can set up anoth- iasion if desired, or the PCs can write off se; the DM will need to in minutes if they continue onward, In the latter wreck the story 8. Latrine Sila beep tes place vinpeupranluneoang te erepsmt eval cloperpie te aererinad Meese et tong ou BER Description: Ifthe guard hellers for help, two more guarde may enter the latrine from area 9 if they make their Listen rolls (DC 14). They won't pull the alarm bell at firet—after al, what could go wrong in the privy? The gu on the door and laugh at their colleague. “What's wrong, Mickner? Didi fallin?" Enemies: The guard, caught with his pants down (literally) is a War3, cds may even come knock Treasure: A crudely printed pornographic flipbools Tice next to the latrine. 9. Guardroom ire elnino eee aloe ee of cards. Whon they soe you, they leap to thee fect. Two rush to attack, while one makes « dash for x ved con! hanging feoim the esling in the back of the room. Description: In the room is a crate that acts as a ift able. A deck of cards and some hand-carvedEnemies: Each guard is a War3 (DMG 40). Consequences: ‘The guard running for the alarm ust be stopped ifthe mission isto continue; Fhe rings the hell, the cellblock will be swarming with reinforce- iments in about one minuto ‘Treasure: Anyone Searching the crate-tble will find a aiding panel vith a roll of DC 12. Inside are three bottles of wine, one almost empty. There is also an iron ley, which wi level. One of the guards ha around his neck, Te will un ‘open any of the gates or cell doors om this Je any “This guard aleo has copy ofthe door 10. Storeroom Piles of coarse blankets and sacks of moldy food are piled in this room. A large tub of water ‘sits near the door Description: This ie where supplies for the prisoners are kept Ifthe room ie Searched, a roll of DC 18 will tun up two pairs of manacles and one copy of thir key under a sack of moldy hardtack, ‘The manacles have hardness 10 and 10 hp. Picking the lock roguires an Open Locks roll of DC 22, and the heeale DC ie 26, 11. Torture Chamber A gleaming metal table stands in the center of this room, Chained to it is the still form of a human, who has boen flayed alive. Bright blood runs across the metal surface, down toadrain in the stone floor beneath. An Inquisitor Cerne foe ‘The room seems to be well equipped, featur pects me ‘ Totallades alll cues sea ad PCs have encountered the atest “client,” (now expired) and an Inquisitor cent by Oberen to conduct an interroga~ tion. If anyone wants to grab a whip from the stand, details ean he found on PH 104. Enemies: The Inquisitor, wh will attempt to reach the ala doesn't look like he ean reac a Rog4 (DMG 55), cord behind him. If it he alarm without being killed or badly injured, he'll instead flee the torture chamber and head for the stairs—| The Skorne to He has the same stats Appendix A, but hes using a epiked chain. T actually a torture device; part of it was sit zier, and the business end is glowing red-hot. The hi chain does 2d4 damage plus 146 fire damage. ne paingiver is quite competent using it in combat. Consequences: Ifthe Inquisitor sounds the alarm, the PCs have one minute to flee the eallhlock before it is overrun with guards and Skorne Ifthe DM wants to Irelp the PCs out, one of Helstrom’s loyal guards ca appear and engage the Inquisitor ust before he pul alarm cord ‘Treasure: The Inquisitor has ah doors and gates on this level. He alo lager. His bok contains interrogation meaningless to anyone who reads th teen that many of the people he has interrogate recently have been sorcerers. 12, Empty Cell ‘The door to this cell stands ajar. Inside is nothing but a pile of filthy straw. Description: ‘Three of the cells on this lovel are empty. The doors are not kept lock nothing of value inside. nd there is13. A Friend of the Family ma ail pelt a ae |-looking man, essed in fine but now filthy clathes: He atts Guided by information from Helstrom, the PC: scope out the exact location and size of Raelthorn« adventure ideas for cine army. (About 1,000 soldiers and beasts, some leagues east of Corvis) Military officers from Fort Falle and Point Bourne ray travel to the Corvie area by river scouting the enemy: The PCa can meetthe officers and guide them ‘The PCs can hecome involved in some underworld rmatlars through Merwen Gertens. The Gertns fam- ily may hire them to doa simple job something they need new faces for It might not even he something illegal; maybe they need to return stolen item, or guard someone without the subject knowing about the protection Some of Cyrisd worshippers may find the PCs and try to exact vengeance for the Temple raid in Act I If the PCs took any books or artifacts, the cultists would attempt to take them back. scholar from the Royal University may wish to hire the PCs to take him to the gatorman vill can attempt to open a dialogue with the new tie, Squint can find the PCs and ask them for help. Perhaps his boats been stolen, or maybe there's a jb Ihe needs the PCs' help with. Hed split things 70/30, of course, No? How about 60/407 ‘The PCs can help Heltrom flash out an Inquisition any within the Watch, Some ofthe Captain's men are so he secretly working forthe Inquisition, but to find out who they are the PCs will have to plant some fake lence and watch what the suapects do with it, er Wadock, the caravan leader from Part can contact the PCs and ask for help locating some stolen goods Squint could he ted into this too, either asahelper ora the perpetrator. Until next time, keep your ponder dey.Nine years it has been since I was exiled from my homeland. Nine years the usurper has violated my crown, my throne, Sra IN Te fee ree ee eee Se ene ar eae ee ee ere ee eee eo ee out for mercy. —Vinter Reelthorne IVerent A Creatures Cane Leech Marshlands and jungles are home to many varieties of leches, bt the cane leech ie the largest and the most feared in the kingdom of Cygnar: Approaching two feet long when fully grown, these amphibious vermin can severcly injure or even kill unsuspecting travelers, They spend most of the daylight hous hiding among canes and reeds growing in shallow water; there they wait for prey to wall or swim by, At night cane leeches will ven ture up to 100 feet from the water searching for sleop- ing prey. They are typically found in groups of 6-10. Combat Cane leeches wil attack any creature of size Small or laeger that isin the water, relying on their Painless Bite tolatch on and drain blood. At night, leeches wil leave the water and hunt on the shore. Each leech can drain 10 hp worth of blood, given the chan leeches find a sleoping traveler they can easily inflict fatal damage. if several Anyone who has liberally applied horseradish to their skin may be able to avoid attack by cane leeches the vermin must make a Fort save of DC 16 to bite such a person. The horseradish will wash away after only five minutes in the water, though it is good for eight hours on land. ‘Cane Leech: CR $; Tiny Animal (Aquatic); HD 148; hp 4; Init +0; ‘Spd 10 ft, owim 15 fl; AC 12 (42 ol: Mth 1 Bite ~4 (Bite damage FacRench 2 12 fx 2 112 fb SA Rank Bi proved I Blood Dain; Blighty ALN; SV Ft 2, Refl 10, Wall 05 Ste 2 Der 10, Com 10, It I, Wis 10, Che 10; Advancement Ranger 4 HD. (Timp, 4-4 HID (Small, China Temperate Warm Manhy Organization altar or yak n) The lochs victim must male a Wis save to reali they have hoon bitten, I See MM 9. Once the loch har ensceully Bitoni aye attached Blood Drain (Ex): Once attached, cane loeshos do 143 hp autonst- je damage per ound sand Festa Hide +13, Move Silently +4, Spot #3, Svim +8 “Teoasun: Nowe Clockwork Priest Some of Cyriss’ priests who gain great favor withthe goddess have their souls transplanted into clockwork constructs, Father Grig Lucant, « 10th level cleric at the Temple of Cyries, has undergone thie procedure. Unlike most constructs, the Father retains his Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma scores, though he icstll immune to mind-altering effects, He also has all of the sill, feats and magical abilities he had whom his pied ite shell. He speaks in a Acep, rasping voice, fll of clicking geare and the whis- per of bellows. Combat Father Lucant has beon fighting Alexia, hor minions and the Inguisitore with the rest of the clries. When the PCs mest him, he should be somewhat hattle-worn, hut he's not heat yet. The Father will ty to slay the PCs, but if they are more interested in flesing the temple than fighting him—a distinct possbility—hell let them go, Father Lucant won't leave the temple, though he will remain on guard in the Great Hall (area 1), at the Clockwork Pret: CR 7 ange Cont HD TOI 85 It +5 (41 Da +4 Improved Inia Spd 30 fe AC 16 C1 St 1 Don, +6 Natural ror AK Mecano +8; 1 Electric Bolt +4; 1 Gore +2 (huge magical mechano-flail air LST) FaclRech 8 fix 5 foo & Css Abt, Ine swt CSRS Wile 7, Ste 12 Boe 12. Con lt 13, Wa 18, Cha 16 Mlansoment Range 120° HD (Large, 21 Climate Toreain: Only fo ples, which ores; Orn Shall aud Feats: Ceaft (clockwork) +10 (+9 Rank, +1 In) Diplomacy +144 (+11 Rank, +3 Cha), Heal 417 (413 Rank, + Wh), Hide #1 (+1 Den, Knowledge arcana) 48 (17 Rank, +1 In) ok, +4 Wish “rt (4b Wah Combat Cs int Blank Shot, Ser MM 5, (Su); Even thoash hava he mental atebute ad magia abit lectrie Bolt Su) Father Lcant can di charge (14641) atone enemy within 0 fet Cleric Domaine Knowledge, Protection, Cleric Spell Per Day 6/5 41/5414 1/46 1/261 pele da jour: Oth —Dtect magic uid ight mending, icone situs Lt Bans cae for command dine far ontop oil, a tua Ind—Aid detect tought ong lle strange, hold porn, make tele. 3ed—Bestow cure, caraudionceeereopaney, dacs doesn, pel magic x2 th-—Disne poe, poo neni, eee ment TV 2, 6h Cale of eyes earl ft, spa aitance let ia constrict, Father Lucant ot hic old for owerul eltical[Not that Father Lacant ae already acen combat today At the DMs tom he cab low maple and it pts “Treanure: If the Father i defsted, the PCs can score hit mechan {1 (40 ls). This huge magical wep i only ful to creatures of sine Lange or geaten aed in woth 2,500 gp. The Coveners Aloxia's mother, Lexatia Ciannor, was the leader of » coven of witches a decade ago. The witches were good women, but they were blackmailed, ed by Magistrate Borloch of Corvis, tore to the story, whichis covered in detail in Part | of the Witchfre Troy.) When Alexia learned how to raise the dead, she brought the coveners—except for her mother, for whom che had special plans—back to unlife, Strictly speaking, the coveners are now a type of Thrall, a new clase of undead invented by Alexia. Thralls are corpses that are animated with powerful necromantic runes, ‘The aymbols of power are tattooed on the dead flesh or ‘even carved into the subject's flesh and bone. Combat ‘The coveners obey Alexia without hesitation. Because they were talented sorceretss in life, they have retained some of their spelleasting ability. They will attack with their epolle anu draining touch Conener: CR 4; Me Undead; HD 4412; hp 26; Init +0 Sp 20 fy AC 14 (e4 Natural Arr): Al touch +3 fonpatve ener 4 damage of A861, Will sae of DC 14 for $+ damage), SA Breall spect de chy sorcerer spells SO) Inmate (undead), D Mel, Rell +1, Will +4; TL, Der 10, Con } Wis 10, Cha’ 1) Adeancoment Nik; ClimateTrain NiA; Orgunination: All Covemer stk together and with Alex lille and Feate Concenvaion +4, Hide +4, Intimidate +4, Knorhge Arcana +4, Listen 4, Mave Sie 46, Spelt 4 Spt +H Use sie Doce $4; Cont Costing, Teng Resta +3. Dread agpect (Suk The coveners eit on au of lea news. Angoe wii 20 ofa cove mast take C14, Fale meane tht all cil native nod penalzc by “2. Once the sve smd the foe a trated ad has mo farther effect elot, Once the sve ade seat the eareteclovons din Deaining touch Su} Lilt alice coven ouch dar damage via twp nergy Damage L4B# 1, Wall ome DC 14 fr bal damoge oncree pelle (Sus The coveners have the sellating aioe of Teel prscere~shats 7/42 for spells own and 67718 for pliable pr day. Note hay the tie th ate ensunteed at Ti fy il ane otf pl dn opponent i we The DM shoul ce to tat Detect Mags, Chet Sound Light, Mage Hand, Read Magi ot Cute Fear Grows, Hall Pel, Mage Armor, Maye Mido, Shield, Tre Se 20k ni Shr ltt irr nap i Hoot Gatorman Gatormen are large reptilian humanoids that live deep inthe ewampy midlands of central and northern Cyignar. “They prefer to heop far away from civilization, and are 60 rarely ccon as to he semi-mnythical. The leader ofa gator ‘man village is a shaman (a low-level dri) who may have cone of two apprentices of fret level. The village’ front- line combat troops are the oldest and strongest ind als, who compriee about 30% of the population Juveniles account for another 30%, and non-combat~ ante such a hatchlings and nosti the last 4096, Juvenile gatormen are expected to take part in hunting and other forms of combat as they age, and any gatorman combat encounter wll have a number of juveniles equal to 50% of the mumber of adult war- riors. Ifa gatorman village is attacked, all the juveniles will participate inthe defense, while the mothers wil lee with ogge and hatchlings When « tribe's territory ie invaded they deal with intruders eviltly and ferociously. Gatormen will not hes- itate to hill, but thoy are genorally satisfied with deving fan enemy away as opposed to slaughtering ll of them. Since they are intelligent, they can also be bargained with if the language barrier can be overcome. [tis possible to pay forsale passage, though this wil be more difficult if the intruders have already killed some ofthe tribe, which will guarantee a Hostile attitude (DMG 149). females account for Gatormen speck their own language, though the tribal leaders may know a few words of common learned from enemies or prisoners (who eventually become dinner) Combat Full-grown gatormen are capable opponents, with claws, a powerful bite and the ability to use tools. Small froups of gatormen will often aneak up on enemies by swimming underwater, of leap up from a watery ambush. When alarge-scle attack is nocded, they ate quite capa- Veo forming well-organized combat units that re often upported by a shaman. Gatormen will often try to latch onto smaller prey and drag them underwater to drown. They are lesa likely to do this when using weapons, but if they ace fighting in or near water the chance increases greatly. Gaterman Adult: 2; Lang Humanoid (Aquat HD 3489p 22; Init +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Ih nitiative); Spd 30 ft, swim 20 fe +1 Dex $7 Natural Amory L Bie 43,2 Clone i Hen Mace 1820+ Grosace 111242) FucRaach 8 fx 8/10 fA Improved Grabs $0 Dodson Scent Hold Brat ALN; SV Fost +5, Re 44, Will +1; Ste Dex 12, Com 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10; ‘Advancement Range, 4-6 1D (Largs), 2-9 HD (Heh hate eens Warn Temperate Mar Tnnproved Initiative ‘Treanor: Stndard© Humanoid (Aquatic; HD ive) Spl 30, evi 20 2d8+4; hy 13; Init +4 Gt Improved 1, AC 1865 Natural Armor) Ae 1 Bit #2; 2 Claws +0; 1 Heawy i Clave Ld+1; Heary Mace 14841), 5A old Breath; AL Unully N SV Font Dex 10, Con 14, fot 10, Wis 8, Cha 10; Abvanveneat Range 3-6 HD (Lars, 7-9 HD Cage, ClinateTerrain: Warm/Temperate Math; Orgniaton: Varin Shilleand Feats: Hide #6, Move Silently #5, Spt +1, Sion #11; Ingen Itt Drudk:CR 3; Lange Humid (Agua HD 5 (1 Dex, (+4 lnproved Initiative Spd 308 eACTT G1 San 11 Dex +7 Nrtal Amory Ale 1 Bite Clas +0, 1 Howey Mace +0 (ite 1001, Clawe 1d Heary Mace L841) EacelRaach 8 fox 5 U10 fy SA lnponsl Gea 30 Dasison Son Hold Bothy ALN SV For+3 Rell, Will 42, 12, Doe 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Che 10, Advancement Range: 4=6 HD (hare, 7-9 HD (age), Chiate Terrain ‘Warn erprate Math Orgaicaton eliary though ley cco pone by a et 2gatrman adele 2 jee. Skila and Bett: Concentration 44, Heal 42, Hide 46, Move Si 153 Impeone liiative Standard Spell: 43/1 (Oth Cire mir wounds x2 fle, une Ist—Cae Iwo entangle lao it 2 Enry 0 pan abe bas, i): DMG 9, Gatoeren can stay euboerged for 9 numberof ge Conse Improved Gab Hold Broa Great Oyster Great oysters are hazards of the freshwater swamps near Corvis and Five Fingers. The largest specimens, who can engulf acateless swimmer, exceed eight feet in meter, Even a small specimen can clamp down on a ul or foot, causing death by drowning. More than @ few swamp folle have had to hack off « hand or foot to avoid a watery fate, ‘Combat Great oysters luck motionless, waiting for prey to swim into their open maw. Most (7696) swamp oysters have 3-6 giant pearls. The pearls are shiny, and may he used to attract prey. In this case, the oyster's Hide skill is used to camouflage its true nature. ‘Great Oyster: CR 1s Large Animal: HD 248; Init 40 (4 Dex, +4 Innproved fnittive); Sp O fe (ootinloe), AC 13 C1 sae Dex +8 natural armor)» Atk #4 bite (14644, 102 digestion GF prey ie 5 fox 5 {10 fy SA improved sea, snallow whole 30 blindsight Al alas N; SV For-+3, Rell > Will 410; Ste 18, Dex I, Con Hat 1, Wir 10, Cha 8, Advancement Range: 3-4 HD (Large, 8-6 HD (Hel; Climate/Terrsin: Any aquatic; Organi itary. Inproved grab (Ex): See MM 9, The shell snaps bt to tap prey. Swallow whole (Ex): Se MM 9. If prey in engl, digestion dam ‘gets 112 pr eound, pls the risk of drowaing (DMG 88) BBlindsight (Ex): Soe MM 9, Oyster ca alerpt to bite thee prey rejueden of lighting conditions. Tronpure: 75% chance of 3-6 fs ss The mest is worth 50 gp and sella 50-800 ized peal, each worth 50-150 (20-800 Is). Servitor of Cyriss ‘These spherical mechanika drones perform a vaviety of dutios in the Temple of Cyriss, such as repairing machines and attacking the rare intruders. The con- structs are about one and a half fest in diameter, fea- turing a lange glass eye inthe center oftheir hod, and 4 grasping appendage hung underneath, The Servitors are hand-built by the priests, from which they take sim- ale verbal orders. Servitore ace ableto fly, but to remain afloat and aware they must stay inside the temple. If they leave, they immediately lose accens to the magic power that sustains them and they become totally inert. Combat ‘These advanced constructs ate capable of some independent action, such as seeking help if they spot trouble, In combat, they will pinch with thie claws, but they are also able to operate switches and machines in the temple to create additional hazards for intruders. If several Servitors can grab an enemy, they can drag the unlucky individual aerots the floor or even fly away with them. A common tactic is to swarm an enemy and drag them off «ledge, or into dangerous machinery. Seritor of Cyrs: CR 4 Tiny Comes: HD 1410; bay 10 by Init +5 (#3 Des, +2 Misc/Racial); Spd fly 30 ft. (good); AC 18 (+2. "13 Dex, +3 Nard Arm) Atk 1 Claw Geb (Caw Grab 1d341); Face/Reach 2 1/2 ft x 2 1/2 {0} SA Improved Grab; 5 Imrie Conse), Dehsom 60 fe; ALN, SV Fact #0, Rel 45, Will +0; Su 12, Dox 16, Con ~ Ini Wer Cha = Advancement Range: N/A; Climate/Tereain: Only found in Cyrina temple, which con be built anynkee: Oxanzaton: Solitary or mem (3-8) Shia and Feats: No sills Flyby Attack Treasure: ince Sento is worth about 80 gp Skorne Warrior ‘The Skorne are a mysterious race that live deep in the Bloodstone Marches. They are as yet unknown to the Iron Kingdoms, but Raelthorne the Elder has secured them as allies. A small Skorne army under his command lays a few leagues to the east of Corvis. The exile has a few Skorne with him as showpicoes, and the PCs will encounter them when they try to rescue Father Dumas in Act IIL Skorne are tll and pal, with angular features. Most are bald, and tattoos that denote rank a are common. They are stronger than the average human, but they have no other unusual abilities Humanoid Shore), HD ” p30 ACTS (+8 Slit Mai © Shield gate), Ae 1 Longemord +7 (Langenord 14848) SA none SO Dakision 60; ALN SV Roc +2, Rell +8, WH 1, Sr 19, Dex 12, Com 13, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 8; Advscorent Range By cla Clinat/Tein: Warm Desert; Organination NIA, Skills and Fests Listen +4, Setch #2, Spot +3; Power tac, “Treanare: None social status