Written by Carrie A. BebrisSeeming Section by Ed Stark

Copyedited by Sue Weinlein CookCreative Direction by Harold Johnson

Conceptual Art by Tony SzczudloOriginal Art Direction by Dawn Murin

Web Production by Mark Jindra and Sue Weinlein Cook

Acknowledgements: The Shade first appeared in the AD&D 1st Edition Monster Manual II; Shadowwarriors are based on characters and events in the novel Greatheart, by Dixie Lee McKeone.

Special thanks to Ed Stark, Cindi Rice, William W. Connors, Kij Johnson, and those who attendedthe Shadow World seminars at the 1997 GEN CON® game fair.

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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3What You Need to Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Shadows and Seeming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4How to Use this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Part I: Creature Descriptions . . . . . . . . . .13Blood Hound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Changeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Cwn Annwn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19The Dispossessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Faerie, Seelie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Faerie, Unseelie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Halfling, Shadow World . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Minion of the Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Seemer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Seeming Walker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Shade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Shadow Steed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Shadow Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49The Sluagh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52Spectral Awnshegh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Waff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56The Wild Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Will o’Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

P a r t II: Adventures in the World of Shadow .64Be Our Guest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65Courting Danger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Appendix: Additional Monsters . . . . . . . . .80

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Do not set this book aside, my child. I left ithere for you to find. You hold in your handsseveral lifetimes’ work, begun centuries agoin this very house.

My gre a t - g re a t - g re a t - g r a n d m o t h e r, Ka-iana, was but a young woman of one-and-twenty when the Shadow fell across her life’spath. A new mother, she entered the nurseryone night to discover her infant son gone anda changeling faerie child in his place. Ka-i a n a ’s search for her lost baby led her to theends of this earth and beyond—to the myste-rious realm known as the Shadow Wo r l d .

There, she encountered all manner of

creatures, some helpful, some horrifying, andsome whose torment matched her own. Butto her eternal grief she never found her son.She returned home to her husband in de-spair, her days spent consumed in sorrowand her nights haunted by the echo of a cry-ing infant.

After several years’ time, the Lady ofMourning took pity on Kaiana and giftedher with another child. Determined to pro-tect her new daughter, Faylene, from the fateof her firstborn, Kaiana scarcely ever left thenursery. During the many hours of her vigil,she carefully chronicled all the creatures shehad met during her journey in the ShadowWorld. Should one ever appear in Cerilia tosteal her daughter, she wanted to be pre-pared.

Faylene grew to adulthood uneventfully.When she married and had a daughter ofher own, Kaiana passed on her chronicle sothat Faylene could better protect her ownbabe. Though Faylene’s child was never kid-napped, other events brought Faylene intocontact with denizens of the Shadow World.As her mother had before her, Faylene faith-fully recorded these encounters for her de-scendants.

And so this chronicle has passed from par-ent to child, each generation adding new in-f o rmation to Kaiana’s original journ a l .Though some entries detail cre a t u res native toCerilia, most describe monsters of the twilight.

The Shadow World has figured strongly inour family’s history, but lately presses in moref requently and more bro a d l y. The darknessnow threatens all Cerilia. And so I pass thesenotes to you, my child, in hopes that yourgeneration might rid Cerilia of the Shadowf o re v e rm o re. May the gods go with you!

—Reganna, 1524 HC

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lood Spawn: Creatures of Light andShadow is a collection of monsters andadventures for the BIRTHRIGHT® campaignsetting. Far more than just a MONSTROUSCOMPENDIUM® volume, Blood Spawnis

two accessories in one:◆ The cre a t u r e listingsoffer more than a dozennew monsters designedspecifically for theBIRTHRIGHT world. Some

of these denizens haunt the ShadowWorld, others populate the wakingworld of Cerilia—and a few have infil-trated both realms.

◆ The adventures provide a means of in-troducing these new creatures into yourcampaign. Each scenario features mon-sters from this book. By completingthese scenarios, player characters havethe opportunity to gain experience inthe Shadow World and learn to pene-trate its illusions

The information presented here canbe adapted to any ADVANCED DUN-GEONS & DRAGONS® campaign, forwhich you need the Player’sHandbook(PHB) and DUN-GEON MASTER® Guide (DMG).However, as the creaturescontained in this volumewere designed specifi-cally for the worldof Cerilia, Dun-geon Mas-ters

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should have the BIRTHRIGHT CampaignSetting to get the most out of this vol-ume. Occasional references are also madeto information found in the MONSTROUSMANUAL® accessory.

The greatest terrors of the ShadowWorld lie not only in its cre a t u re s —things both seen and unseen—but in theu n p e rceived. A trickster spirit rules theShadow World and confounds all mort a lsenses. Even the most knowledgeableguides and learned loremasters do notfully understand the workings of thismysterious re a l m .

On Aebrynis, where the laws of na-t u re and magic both apply norm a l l y, oneexpects a rock to fall when it is dro p p e d ,f i re to burn until it has nothing left toconsume, and the mystical energy of aspell to discharge according to the ru l e sof magic. In the Shadow World, theselaws are suborned by an even gre a t e rf o rce: the Seeming. An unpre d i c t a b l ef o rce, the Seeming cannot be truly ex-plained, as every rule set to quantify itappears full of exceptions and contradic-tions. Still, Dungeon Masters who wishto run adventures in the Shadow Wo r l d —or in areas of Cerilia where the ShadowWorld has begun to encroach—may usethe following guidelines to adjudicate theu n e x p l a i n a b l e .

The Shadow World is steeped inthe Seeming, a word which

comes from an ancient elvent e rm meaning both m a s t e r-

s p i r i t and t rue illusion.A c c o rding to elven

legends, the wordfirst saw use

b e f o re the

Shadow World and Aebrynis were sepa-rated as they are now. Then, cre a t u res ofthese two lands lived together, until a riftbetween the two drove them apart. Thewhys and hows of that ancient time arenot clear (one legend is recounted on thenext page), but it is said the elves still re-tain a racial fear of the Shadow Wo r l dand its cre a t u res—a fear they cannot ex-plain. Only a few elves are known to havem a s t e red their fear enough to walk in theShadow World and re t u rn alive. Nonehave related their experiences to others.

But the Seeming, the “true illusion” ofthe Shadow World, has little to do withthe elves, for they are cre a t u res of Cer-ilia—of the real world. Everything aboutthe Shadow World is unreal. There, illu-sions live and shadows walk of their ownvolition. Powered by the magic of theSeeming, things unreal come to life.Whether the Cold Rider or some otherdriving force guides its illusions is un-known, but the Shadow Wo r l d ’s very landcan warp itself in ways that trick and testthose who would venture into that dark-some re a l m .

P e rhaps this force is why Azrai foundthe Shadow World such an attractives o u rce of power. The Seeming stre n g t h-ens the power of shadow and illusion,and Azrai desperately needed such powerto conquer his fellow gods. He taught hisfollowers magic backed by the power ofthe Seeming and made the most puissantof them—the Lost—one with the powerof the Shadow Wo r l d .

Which, in the end, proved to be theird o w n f a l l .

It can at last be revealed: The Lostgained their name through their ties tothe Shadow World and the Seeming.Using its power to create shadows and il-lusions more real than those of theirpriestly foes, the Lost gained great powerq u i c k l y. But when Azrai was destro y e d ,the Lost’s hold on Cerilia disappeare d ,and they were drawn through the curt a i nand imprisoned in the Shadow Wo r l d .Only two of them, the Raven and theMagian, are known to have found theirway out. The Raven has escaped morethan once, but always through the ac-tions of others—Cerilians driven mad bytheir hunger for power. No one knows

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5

how the Magian made his way back toCerilia, but the scars of the dreadful pas-sage have marked his immortal form for-e v e r.

Still, others—seeking knowledge orpower—have opened their own doorw a y sto the Shadow World, and a few haveeven emerged the better for their experi-ences. Heroes have quested in theShadow World, overcome the Seeming,and re t u rned. The High Mage Aelies’s ex-perience with the shadowstone is themost prominent case of a Cerilian able tomaster the illusion of the Seeming andre t u rn to the real world alive. Of course,many others have ventured there andnever re t u rn e d.

Nothing in the Shadow World is as itseems. At least, that is the accepted doc-trine. It is untrue. Everythingin theShadow World, which is governed by thelaw of Seeming, is exactly as it seems.However, what a thing seems to be maychange without notice. That is the truelaw of Seeming.

Heroes who brave the dangers of theShadow World, or who encounter thisrealm encroaching on Cerilia, almost cer-tainly will become embroiled in the law ofSeeming. They will encounter illusions,tests, and other phenomena they cannotpossibly overcome by tried-and-true

The sages say that long ago, perhaps before humanity existed on Aebrynis, the worldof Daylight and the world of Shadow were as one. The landscape of Aebrynis had notcompletely formed then, and the world could change according to its own rules, with-out rhyme or reason. A lake might form where a mountain had been, white glaciersmoved over deserts, and rivers flowed through the sky. This was a time before thegods, but it ultimately resulted in their creation.

The gods, it is believed, were formed out of the land, and their natures bound themto it. Not wishing their natures to change without warning, as did the land, they beganto enforce their will upon the world. Mountains, rivers, shores, and seas all took shapeand stayed constant, bent to the will of the young gods.

But one god delighted in the ever-changing world and refused to bind his will andhis being to the land. That god became Lord of Shadow, the god of Chaos andChange. He became Azrai.

Little is known of the gods’ earliest years in this time before humans and, perhaps,before elves. Giants walked the earth along with near-immortal beasts and other be-ings lost to the passage of time. It is said, however, that in the beginning Azrai alone ofthe gods willed change and evolution into being. If this is true, the race of humanity—as well as many of the other races now inhabiting Aebrynis—owe their existence tohim.

The elements of permanence and transience—light and shadow—warred in thoseearly days, and their battles grew so great that a rift formed between the land ofShadow and the land of Daylight. Passage between the two was still possible, evencommon, in those days, but soon (as gods measure time) the Shadow World and theworld of Aebrynis solidified their borders. Aebrynis remained constant, only trans-forming in response to the actions of its inhabitants over long periods, while theShadow World remained mutable and ever-changing.

Then came Deismaar, the destruction of the gods, and the cleaving of the world.The Shadow World became a place of fear and strange tales for those remaining on Ae-brynis and now, more than fifteen hundred years later, only a scant number of peopleknow more than a few tales of the Shadow World and its inhabitants.The Shadow World remains in flux. Halflings alone of Cerilia’s races may still passfreely between the two worlds and, since halflings fled the Shadow World in responseto a terror they will not reveal, most are loathe to do so. And even a halfling would findit difficult to navigate the ever-changing land of Shadow.

means. The Seeming is so powerful thatsimply disbelieving its illusions cannot de-feat it; only learning to see through theSeeming’s effects can save a would-bechampion from harm.

It is a long, frustrating, and dangerousroad.

Whenever heroes encounter a creature orphenomenon of the Shadow World, theymust deal with its Seeming score. A Seemings c o re is like a bloodline strength score — i tcan be measured both numerically and bylevel, as seen in the table below:

Rating Level Numeric ScaleSlight (1 to 5)Lesser (6 to 10)Middling (11 to 20)Greater (21 to 40)Extraordinary (41+)

As with bloodline strength scores and lev-els, different levels of the Seeming impartdifferent powers and effects to the char-acters, creatures, and phenomena thatpossess these characteristics. A creaturewith a middling (17) Seeming score canaccess more powers and abilities than acharacter with only a slight (4) Seemingscore. This does not mean the creature ismore powerful than the character; it sim-ply means the creature is more in tunethan the character with the workings ofthe law of Seeming.

Few Cerilians ever gain access to Seem-ing scores and, if they do, it is probablybecause they have been tricked orsuborned by the Shadow World orone of its most powerful entities—a

fate no hero should welcome.However, Cerilians and some

rare Shadow World creaturescan battle the illusions and

manifestations of theSeeming with their in-

telligence and theirexperience. He-

roes cangain

perception scoresthey can use to lookthrough the phantasms long enough tosurvive encounters in the Shadow World.

T h rough experience, cleverness, deter-mination, and (occasionally) magic, hero e smay gain perception, which they can mea-s u re against the Seeming score of anyShadow World character, cre a t u re, or phe-nomenon, in the hopes of lessening thatf o e ’s power over them. Illusions melt awayin the face of high perception scores, leav-ing a hero free to do battle with the tru et h reats of the Shadow Wo r l d .

Perception scores are measured in ex-actly the same way as Seeming scores,using the same ratings and scales. Thisparallel makes comparison easy. A crea-ture with a lesser (7) Seeming scoreshould not be able to use its illusions totrick a hero with a perception score ofmiddling (12); however, that hero willhave difficulty seeing through a ShadowWorld phenomenon of greater (24) effect.

The opposition of Seeming and per-ception scores is discussed more later inthis section.

The Seeming appears to govern all thingsin the Shadow World. This fact makes itspower very significant, and those who be-come steeped in the Seeming will begreatly affected by it.

Heroes who must battle the Seemingin any of its forms will find that its powerwears two primary faces: creature/charac-ter abilitiesand unnatural phenomena.

C re a t u res and characters native to theShadow World—or those who have takenup residence there and come to grasp thelaw—have certain abilities “gifted” to themby the Seeming. In many cases, these“gifts” are involuntary or instinctive abili-ties, similar to the special abilities of somec re a t u res found in Cerilia. A tro l l ’s abilityto regenerate or a griff o n ’s sharp claws re-semble abilities granted to cre a t u res of theShadow World by the Seeming.

But, because these abilities are illu-

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sory in nature, characters with highenough perception scores can neutralizethem by “seeing through” them. To com-pensate, most creatures steeped in theSeeming have abilities more powerfulthan those of monsters in the “real world”of Aebrynis. This fact makes them dan-gerous foes that only the bravest of he-roes should dare to cross.

Because of the Seeming’s perverse na-ture, however, not all creatures or charac-ters gifted with Seeming abilities considertheir powers assets. A knight gifted withimmortality but forced to fight everyonehe meets—suffering wounds that healonly over time and killing those whomight have been his friends—hardlythinks of his long life as a boon. Mostcharacters and creatures drawn from Cer-ilia and trapped in the Shadow Worldeventually gain abilities of this nature—puissant magical powers, but no controlover how they use them.

The list of possible effects and powersseems limitless. Any spell effect, any spe-cial ability, and anything the DM can imag-ine might become a power of the Seeming.The only limit on these powers should bethe Seeming score of the cre a t u re or char-a c t e r. It should be noted, however, thathigh Seeming scores do not guarantee mul-tiple powers or special abilities. A charac-ter well steeped in the Seeming, perhaps ata great or extraord i n a ry level, may haveonly powers that correspond to the slightor lesser level. These small abilities are al-most impossible for other characters to seet h rough, however, since they are backed bya very powerful Seeming.

The section below illustrates examplesof Seeming abilities for characters andcreatures of the Shadow World. The pow-ers correspond to various score levels;DMs can use these examples to guidethem in creating new abilities for crea-tures or characters of the Shadow World.

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Slight Seeming scores produce claws,fangs, a sword, or other melee attacks ca-pable of doing exceptional (up to 2d8)damage. Other examples:◆ Minor illusory or spell-like (wizard

spell) powers (audible glamer, blur,dancing lights, mirror image, darkness,

sleep, charm, gaze reflection, scare),other than those that cause damage.

◆ Minor environmental changes (causethe surrounding area to seem shadowyor a little brighter, cooler, or hotter).

◆ Near-automatic use of some proficien-cies or characterlike abilities (tracking,climb walls).

Lesser Seeming scores produce majorphysical changes (a tail that throwsspikes, giant bat-wings, extra limbs) withmajor results (a new ability such as flight,more attacks, or a missile attack). Otherexamples:◆ Significant illusory or spell-like abilities

(any 1st- through 3rd-level spell, as wellas nondamaging 4th- or 5th-level spells).

◆ Significant environmental changes(from complete darkness to blindinglight, or freezing temperature to ex-treme heat).

◆ Some control over topographical fea-tures (raising or lowering a hill, creat-ing a stream, building a small house).

◆ Near-automatic use of even unusualproficiencies or skills (spellcraft, hidein shadows).

Middling Seeming scores can lead totrue shapechanging or production of un-usual gear or weapons (a flying carpet, aflaming sword). Other examples:◆ Impressive command of spell-like abili-

ties (virtually any 1st- thru 5th-levelspells, including higher-level nondam-aging spells).

◆ Emulation of minor (1st- or 2nd-level)priestly spell-like abilities (cure lightwounds, turning, or control of minorundead).

◆ Command of local environment(temperature change from wellbelow freezing to near-boiling,complete change of seasons).

◆ Command of local topography(creation or destruction ofmountains, lakes, houses).

Greater Seemingscores allow crea-tures or charactersto emulatemajor (1st-

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through 4th-level) priestly spell-like abili-ties. Other examples:◆ Ability to create or control “wild” topo-

graphical or environmental effects (re-versing gravity in an area, creatinglakes of liquid metal or mountainsmade of feathers).

Extraordinary Seeming scores allownear-godlike power, determined by theDM on a case-by-case basis.

◆

The Seeming alters the landscape and fea-tures of the Shadow World in much thesame way that Aebrynis once changed(see sidebar on page 5)—in response torules known only to itself, or because of astimulus provided by its inhabitants. As aresult, natural laws of Aebrynis do notapply to the Shadow World.

Heroes who venture into the ShadowWorld will confront, before anything else,the strangeness of the world. An individ-ual may encounter never-changing darkplains lying beneath a cloudy sky, or highmountains with no apparent passage be-tween them. One might see a river flow-ing upward or a lake in the sky—only aperceptive adventurer can tell what is realand what is not.

The unnatural phenomena of theShadow World always have a Seemingstrength determined by the DungeonMaster. In order for adventurers to makeit through areas of the Shadow World,they must either overcome the Seemingstrength of the area, or they must dealwith the strangeness of the land as if itwere real.

For example, a band of heroesmight come upon a river flowing

above the ground. Before they re-alize it, the river has flowed

around them, cutting themoff from all exit. Then, to

make matters worse, theriver starts to wrap

about the heroes,and a watery

death

looms before them. What can they do?The most obvious choice would be to

avoid the river-ring somehow. They mightbe able to use spells—fly, jump, teleport—to remove themselves from the ring. Or,they could deal with the water directly, byswimming through it or using other spellsto breathe it. The river-ring might even beguided by a presence they can negotiatewith. In any case, the first choice is to ac-cept the effect and deal with it as if it werereal.

The less obvious (and almost alwaysmore difficult) choice is to try to pene-trate the Seeming of the area. The DMknows the Seeming strength of the effect;if the heroes’ perceptions are higher thanthe river’s Seeming score, then they willsee it for what it really is: a giant reachingout to crush them, a normal river flowingin front of them, or nothing at all. It alldepends on the Seeming.

Each monster description in the sectionthat follows begins with a journal entryfrom Kaiana or one of her descendants.Like the entry at the start of this intro-duction, they recount her experienceswith the creatures of the Shadow World.This subjective narrative indicates what aCerilian scholar or seasoned adventurermight know about the monster. The infor-mation isn’t necessarily 100% accurate,but it’s what an educated character wouldbelieveto be true based on legend,hearsay, or limited personal experience.Note that most characters won’t knowmuch about any of these creatures beforeencountering them. Dungeon Mastersmight find the narrative section helpful indescribing the monster when the playercharacters first meet it.

Following the narrative come hardfacts about the creature. This is objectiveg a m e - related information for the DM’s usein running encounters and deciding howbest to use the monster in adventures.

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The “Overview” section offers roleplayingnotes and background information aboutthe creature:

Physical Description explains what thecreature looks like, including both itsouter appearance and other features per-haps not visible to characters.

Role in the Campaign offers guidanceon how to use the creature most effec-tively in adventures: under what circum-stances characters might encounter it, dif-ferent functions it can serve in a plot,whether the being is always a foe or couldbecome an ally, and so on.

Habitat/Society outlines the monster’sgeneral behavior, nature, social structure,guardian minions, and goals. Whereas theprevious section provided informationneeded for resolving skirmishes involvingthe creature, this entry provides informa-tion useful for roleplaying encounters.

Ecology describes how the monster fitsinto the campaign world (including com-mon enemies or prey), gives useful prod-ucts or by-products of the creature, andpresents other miscellaneous information.This information can help the DungeonMaster decide exactly when and where tointroduce the monster into a campaign.

Variations of a monster are given in aspecial section after the main monsterentry. For example, the “Spectral Awn-shegh” entry also includes a brief discus-sion of spectral ehrsheghlien.

Adventures indicates whether the crea-ture appears in the adventures in thisbook.

This section explains details DMs need toexecute battles and other types of interac-tion with the creature.

Combat provides all of the informationthat a DM will need to resolve a battle

with the monster. Among other things, itdetails special combat abilities, arms orarmor, and unusual tactics employed bythe creature.

Peaceful Encounters offers ways inwhich characters might interact with thecreature in a nonhostile manner, and pro-vides the DM with guidance on how toincorporate and handle such scenes in anadventure.

P e r ception and/or Seeming notes thelevel of a cre a t u re ’s perception or Seeming,and offers guidance on how the cre a t u remight specifically use its Seeming abilities.

Statistics appear alongside the entry intheir own box.

CL I M AT E / TE R R A I N defines where thec re a t u re is most often found: whether inCerilia or the Shadow World (or both),and in what region or climate. Ty p i c a l l y,climates include terms such as arc t i c ,s u b a rctic, temperate, and tropical. Te r-rain types include plain/scrub, fore s t ,rough/hill, mountain, swamp, and desert .

FR E Q U E N C Y is the likelihood of encounter-ing a cre a t u re in any given area. Ve ry rareindicates a 4% chance, rare is 11%, uncom-mon is 20%, and common is a 65% chance.Chances can be adjusted for special are a s .This entry can be used as a guideline fora d v e n t u re design.OR G A N I Z AT I O N is a description of thegeneral social stru c t u re the monsteradopts. Common types are solitary,clan, pack, herd, and flock. In manycases, solitary includes small familyg roups or mated pairs.

ACTIVITY CYCLE is the timeof day when the monster isnormally awake andmost alert in its nat-ural setting. Thosewho tend to bebusiest atnight in

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Cerilia may be active at any time in theShadow World, or in subterranean or sim-ilar settings. The activity cycle entry is ageneral guide, and exceptions are fairlycommon.

DIET indicates what the creature gener-ally eats, of course. Carnivores eat meat,herbivores eat plants, omnivores eat ei-ther, and scavengers dine mainly on car-rion. Unusual entries, like life energyoremotions,may appear from time to time,and they are fully explained in the text.

INTELLIGENCE is the equivalent of the at-tribute score of the same name. Certainunintelligent monsters are instinctivelycunning hunters, and these are noted inthe monster descriptions. Ratings corre-spond roughly to the following Intelli-gence ability scores:

0 Non-intelligent or not ratable1 Animal intelligence2–4 Semi-intelligent5–7 Low intelligence8–10 Average (human) intelligence11–12 Very intelligent13–14 Highly intelligent15–16 Exceptionally intelligent17–18 Genius19–20 Supra-genius21+ Godlike intelligence

TR E A S U R E refers to the tre a s u re tables thata re found in the DU N G E O N MA S T E R G u i d e.The entry indicates the type of tre a s u relikely to be found on or with an individualmonster. Treasure should be adjustedd o w n w a rd if only a few monsters are en-c o u n t e red. This figure may be further in-c reased or decreased at the DungeonMaster’s discretion. These tables

should not be used to place dungeont re a s u re, as numbers encountere d

underground will be muchsmaller. Intelligent monsters

will usually use magical itemsthat are present, and will

t ry to carry off theirmost valuable tre a-

s u res if hard -p re s s e d .

Major treasures, normally found in themonster’s lair, are designated in parenthe-ses. As a rule, these should not be deter-mined randomly, but ought to be de-signed and placed by the Dungeon Mas-ter. If he or she decides to assign suchtreasure randomly, it’s best to roll for eachtype possible; if all rolls fail, no treasureof any type is found.

Unusually large or small treasures arenoted by a parenthetical multiplier (x10,x1/2, etc.). These should not be confusedwith treasure type X.

ALIGNMENT indicates the general behav-ior of an average monster of that type.Exceptions, though uncommon, may cer-tainly be encountered.

NO. APPEARING indicates an averagenumber of creatures that a party may en-counter in the wild. The DM should alterthis to fit particular circumstances as theneed arises. In many cases, additional in-formation on this topic is presented in theHabitat/Society or Ecology section.

ARMOR CLASS is a rating of the monster’sresistance to damage in combat. In manycases this is based upon the creature’snatural defenses, but it also can indicatearmor worn by humanoids or other crea-tures. In some cases, high speed, naturalagility, or magical protection may play apart in determining a creature’s ArmorClass rating. Humans and humanoids ofroughly human size that wear armor willhave an unarmored rating in parentheses.Listed ACs do not include any specialbonuses noted in the monster’s description.

MO V E M E N T shows the relative speed of thec re a t u re compared to an unencumbere dhuman, who has a rating of 12. Higherspeeds may be possible for short periods.Human, demihuman, and humanoid move-ment rates are often modified by arm o rtype (unarm o red rates are given in pare n-theses). Movements through commonmedia are abbreviated as follows:

Fl FlyingSw SwimmingBr BurrowingWb Moving in a web

10

Flying cre a t u res also have a maneuverabilityclass of A to E, which is indicated in pare n-theses. Complete information on maneuver-ability classes and their use can be found inthe aerial combat rules in the DMG.

HIT DICE indicates the number of dicerolled to generate the creature’s hitpoints. Unless otherwise stated, Hit Diceare 8-sided. The Hit Dice are rolled andthe numbers shown are added to deter-mine the monster’s hit points.

Some monsters have additional pointsadded to the total rolled on the Hit Dice.Thus, a creature with a rating of 4+4 hasbetween 8 and 36 hit points. Monsterswith a bonus of +3 or more added to theirrolled hit points are considered to have anextra Hit Die for the purposes of attackrolls and saving throws. Thus, a creaturewith 4+4 HD attacks and saves as if ithad 5 Hit Dice.

In rare cases, a monster might have ahit point spread without a Hit Dice rat-ing. In order to determine the number ofHit Dice that such creatures have for at-tacks and saving throws, divide the listedhit points by 4. Round the Hit Die ratingup with remainders of 0.5 or greater, anddrop all other fractions.

THAC0 is the base roll that the monsterneeds to hit an enemy with an ArmorClass of 0. This is a function of Hit Dice,as described in the Combat section of theDMG. Modifiers to the creature’s attackroll will appear in the Combat section ofthe entry, but the listed THAC0 does notinclude any special bonuses.

NO. OF ATTACKS indicates the number oftimes the monster can attack in a singleround. Multiple attacks can indicate sev-eral attacking arms, raking paws, multipleheads, etc. In some cases this does not in-clude special attacks listed in the Combatsection; the text will make this clear. Thisnumber may be modified by hits thatsever members, by hasteand slowspells,and so forth.

DA M A G E/ AT TA C K shows the severity of agiven attack and is expressed as a numberand type of dice, which are rolled to deter-mine the total number of hit points lost by

the target of the attack. If the monster usesweapons, the damage listed is for its favore dweapon. Damage bonuses due to highstrength, special abilities, and the like arelisted in the Combat section of the entry.

SPECIAL ATTACKS details any unusual at-tack modes of the creature’s, such as abreath weapon, spell use, poison, and thelike. These are fully explained in the mon-ster description.

SPECIAL DEFENSES provides informationdetailing any unusual resistances to harmthat the monster might have. These com-monly include an immunity to certainforms of attack or an invulnerability tononmagical weapons, among other possi-bilities. These are fully detailed in themonster description.

MAGIC RESISTANCE is the percentagechance that magic cast upon the creaturewill fail to affect it, even if other creaturesnearby are affected. If the spell penetratesthis resistance, the creature is still enti-tled to all normal saving throws.

SI Z E is an indication of the cre a t u re ’s over-all dimensions. In the case of humanoids,it indicates the height of the monster. Forother cre a t u res (snakes and dragons, forexample), it refers to the monster’s length.Other measurements are possible and willbe explained in the text.

T = tiny under 2 feet tallS = small 2 to 4 feet tallM = man-sized 4 to 7 feet tallL = large 7 to 12 feet tallH = huge 12 to 25 feet tallG = gargantuan 25+ feet tall

MO R A L E is a rating of how likelythe monster is to persevere inthe face of adversity or arm e dopposition. This guidelinemay be adjusted for indi-vidual circ u m s t a n c e s .Morale ratings cor-respond to thef o l l o w i n gr a n g e :

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2–4 Unreliable5–7 Unsteady8–10 Average11–12 Steady13–14 Elite15–16 Champion17–18 Fanatic19–20 Fearless

BLOODLINE is the derivation, strength,and score range of a creature who carriesa divine bloodline (by rightful inheritanceor by bloodtheft). A complete discussionof Cerilian bloodlines appears in theBIRTHRIGHT campaign setting.

BLOOD ABILITIES are special powersgranted to a cre a t u re by its divine bloodline.Most of these powers are described in theBI RT H R I G H T campaign setting; a few appearin Blood Enemiesand The Book of Regency.

PERCEPTION /SEEMING indicates the ex-tent to which a creature can penetrateand/or manipulate the Seeming. The per-ception score indicates how well the crea-ture can see through the Seeming, whilethe Seeming score measures the crea-ture’s own illusion-generating powers.Readers should refer back to the Shad-ows and Seeming section for a completediscussion of the Seeming and perception;creatures’ ratings conform to the scale of-fered on page 6.

XP VALUE is the number of experiencepoints awarded for defeating (not neces-sarily killing) the monster. This value is aguideline that the DM may modify for thedegree of challenge, encounter situation,and overall campaign balance.

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◆

I received my blood hound, Tanta, as a wed-ding gift from my husband. He told me thatso long as Tanta lived, she would serve mefaithfully, and his words have proven true.Tanta was a boon companion in my longsearch for my son. Though she was unable totrack down my missing babe, even now shestands guard over my sleeping daughter.

—Kaiana, 1377 HC

◆

Blood hounds are blooded war dogs bredand trained specifically to hunt scions.

When the gods sacrificed themselvesat Mount Deismaar, their essences rainedupon all who stood on the battlefield—in-cluding animals involved in the conflict.Like their masters, some war dogs pre-sent inherited divine bloodlines. Mosthave been diluted to nothing over thecenturies, but some purebreds still exist.These animals, known as blood hounds,are prized not only for their ability totrack blooded individuals, but for theirexceptional hardiness and loyalty. Thoughfaithful to any fair master, blood houndsexhibit selfless devotion to a master whoshares the same bloodline derivation.

Blood hounds are generally largewolfhounds or mastiffs. They look muchlike ordinary war dogs, with one notableexception: a bloodmark. This sign of theirblooded status usually takes the form of apatch of red fur somewhere on the dog’sbody.

A c c o rding to popular belief, one cand e t e rmine a hound’s bloodline derivationby the shape of the red fur patch. (Somebelieve it resembles the totem animal ofthe god whose bloodline the animal car-ries.) Allegedly, the location, shade, size,or texture of the red fur is also re v e l a t o ryand can be read like tea leaves by askilled breeder or one trained in the art sof divination. Most breeders, however,a s s e rt that these latter signs are far lessre l i a b l e .

Legends speak of some exceptionalblood hounds that possess an additionalability from the gods. A 5% chance exists

that a blood hound has in-herited an unusuallys t rong bloodline and withit, one additional minorblood ability. If so, Dun-geon Masters may choosethe ability from the fol-lowing list (keeping inmind the animal’s blood-line derivation): Courage,Detect Illusion, Detect

Life, Direction Sense, Iron Will, LongLife, Poison Sense, Resistance.

Blood hounds are never found in the wild.They are raised by skilled animal handlerswho specialize in breeding these dogs.Only three such kennels exists in all Cer-ilia, though wealthy regents might sup-port their own.

In the kennels, puppies are kept witholder hounds, who actually assist in theyounger dogs’ training. Most bloodhounds require four to five years oftraining before they are ready to besold.

Although blood hounds aregenerally amiable toward dogs ofdifferent breeds, other dogs re-gard them warily. Manytrainers believe this uneasecomes from the dogs’ability to sense theblood hounds’ di-vine essence.Though theblood-

13

line itself doesn’t pose a threat, dogs whodon’t carry one perceive it as unnatural.

Bloodhounds typically live 16 to 18 years.Some dogs, however, inherit long life inaddition to their bloodmark as a gift fromthe gods.

Blood hounds usually arrive as singlebirths, not as part of litters, which adds totheir rarity.

People typically encounter blood houndsin two ways. First, a scion might knowsomeone who owns a blood hound, orseek to purchase one himself. Onlyblooded individuals can become mastersof blood hounds; the animals cannot forma bond of loyalty with a commoner andthus will not serve one.

The bond of loyalty between a bloodhound and its master transcends that ofmost pets or hunting dogs. When a scionpurchases a blood hound, the breederconducts a special imprinting ritual. Aslong as the master takes good care of theanimal, the blood hound will consider himor her its master for life, even if kid-napped or purchased by another would-beowner. Only mistreatment of the animal,the master’s death, or an imprinting trans-fer ritual between an old and new mastercan undo this bond once formed.

Blood hounds are rare and expen-sive—typically costing 2 Gold Bars ormore—so people generally don’t ownmore than one. Still, a few very wealthyregents keep small kennels of the ani-mals. Because the hounds are so pricey,some scions own blood hounds as sta-tus symbols regardless of whetherthey ever have need of the animal’s

unique tracking abilities.The second manner in

which a scion might encountera blood hound is to be

hunted by one. An owner’sintent in pursuing a

scion can rangefrom noble

(finding alost

child) to devious (finding victims forbloodtheft). Blood hounds typically areused to track blooded persons, not to at-tack them once found. The animals are,however, worthy opponents in combat.

Individuals might wish to own a bloodhound as a watch dog, to find unknownscions in their realms who might make aplay for the throne, or to bring along ondangerous journeys. Don’t forget thatawnsheghlien are scions, too, and thatblood hounds are just as good at locatingthem as they are at finding humans anddemihumans. A blood hound can bring itsmaster into contact with all sorts of inter-esting personages.

Adventurers speak of a wild variation ofthe blood hound, which they call “Voshounds.” These sharp-fanged carnivorousanimals call no mortal master and roam inpacks, hunting the blooded for late-nightfeasting. Some believe them capable ofbloodtheft.

Though blood hounds are trained for bat-tle, most encounters involve their trackingability.

A blood hound will generally try to pindown its quarry, attacking only if attackedfirst, if commanded by its master, or if itperceives a threat to its master. Note thatin some situations, this semi-intelligentanimal could perceivea threat where noneactually exists. If provoked, the hound at-tacks with its bite for 2d4+1 points ofdamage.

If a blood hound shares its master’sbloodline derivation, it is fearless (moraleof 20) in combat and will fight to thedeath if it believes its master is in danger.Only a command from its master can calloff such an attack.

Blood hounds have a gift for sniffing outblooded characters. At their master’s

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command, they can locate the nearestblooded individual or pursue a specificscion.

A blood hound can automaticallycatch the scent of any blooded individualwithin a one-mile radius or who haspassed through the area within the pastfive days (provided it has not rained).

The animal has a 50% chance of locat-ing the trail of a scion within a five-mileradius or who has passed within five milesin the past two days. This chance in-creases by 15% if the scion has the samebloodline derivation as the hound, and/orby 15% if the hound is pursuing a specificscion and has been given an item of cloth-ing or other personal effect to catch thescent. The hound gains an additional 10%bonus if the hunted scion has a greatbloodline.

If commanded to find simply anyscion in the area, a blood hound will leadits master to the nearest scion not in thehunting party. However, if the nearest in-dividual does not share the hound’sbloodline derivation and another scion inthe area does, the hound will lead theparty to the scion who shares its blood-line.

Because blood hounds are specificallytrained to track scions, they suffer apenalty when commanded to hunt un-blooded individuals. They have a only a50% chance of finding a specific com-moner within a one-mile radius.

The blood hound’s hunting instinct en-ables it to perceive that something is notquite right about a creature cloaked in theSeeming. It cannot, however, determinemore than that.

15

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Cerilia, generally Anuire

FREQUENCY: Very rareORGANIZATION: Solitary (Pack,

Vos hounds)ACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: OmnivorousINTELLIGENCE: Semi- (2–4)TREASURE: NilALIGNMENT: Neutral (Neutral

evil, Vos hounds)

NO. APPEARING: 1d4(3d6 Vos hounds)

ARMOR CLASS: 6MOVEMENT: 12HIT DICE: 3+2THAC0: 19NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d4

(2d6 Vos hounds)SPECIAL ATTACKS: NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: NilSIZE: M (4–6' long)MORALE: Steady (11–12)

or fearless (20)

BLOODLINE: Varies, tainted,1d3

BLOOD ABILITIES: BloodmarkPERCEPTION/SEEMING: Slight/NoneXP VALUE: 120

◆

It was a morning like any other.You would think that the day your baby

is stolen, you should know something iswrong the moment you wake up—indeed,that a good mother would have jolted awakein the middle of the night with the knowl-edge that her child desperately needed her.

But that isn’t how it happens.The reality is that you walk into the

nursery oblivious to the horror that has justentered your life. You feel well-rested. Thesun streams through the windows and a lightbreeze flutters the curtains. Smiling, youlook at your infant asleep in his cradle andthink, “What a funny expression he wears—his face so screwed up in concentration thathe almost looks like an old man. Whatevercould he be dreaming about?”

You stroke his face, the top of his head.His skin feels less silky. His fine dusting ofhair feels coarser, already losing its newborndowniness. You wonder when the soft spot inhis scalp hardened—you had never noticedthe tiny sign of maturation before today.He’s growing so fast, you think. You canscarcely smell the milk-and-powder babyscent that usually clings to him.

Then your son awakens and you lift histiny form into your arms as you’ve done athousand times. But today he feels diff e re n t —a little less solid, a little less real. Nonsense,you think. ‘Tis only your imagination.

You sit in the rocking chair, cooing yourb a b y ’s name as you unbutton your night-d ress. He does not respond to the sound ofyour voice or his name on your lips the wayhe usually does. He must still be sleepy,you think. But you look into his eyes andsee them quite alert—and seeming to

hold ancient wisdom in their depths.Your smile is forced now. You

try to shake off the dread sweep-ing through your heart, but

find it is your hands thatshake as you bring the

child to your breast.You murmur his

name softly,over and

over, as if the mantra can exorcise the doubtfilling your mind. As if it can somehow af-fect the next few moments.

But he will not nurse. As he turns his headaway, horror floods the deepest part of yourmaternal soul. In that moment, you know.

The tiny being in your arms is not yourchild. It is not, in fact, a child at all.

It is not even human.—Kaiana, 1377 HC

◆

Changelings come in two types: humanand faerie. Human changelings are Ceril-ian infants stolen by Shadow Worldfaeries and raised in the Seelie Court.Faerie changelings are ancient faeries leftin the stolen child’s place.

Human changelings look exactly like whatthey are: ordinary humans. They may bescions or commoners of any human race.When encountered, they may still be chil-dren or they may have grown to adult-hood in the years since their kidnapping.

Faerie changelings are very old seeliefaeries (see separate entry) who lookenough like humans to pass as one.Though as small as human children, theybear an ancient aura, and their eyes fre-quently betray the millennia of wisdomhidden behind them. When first substi-tuted for a human child, they typically ap-pear from mere days to two years old. Ifthe changeling’s nature is not discovered,it uses its limited Seeming powers to alterits appearance as it “grows up.”

Changelings—or those suspected of beingchangelings—can be worked into an ad-venture plot or continuing campaign in anumber of ways. The discovery of a faeriechangeling substituted for a Cerilian childcould be a catalyst for adventure, particu-larly if the stolen child is of noble birth orheir to a domain. An unusual child (per-haps one that has grown to adulthood, oreven a player character) might be sus-pected of being a changeling.

Or a party adventuring in the Shadow

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World could encounter humans stolenf rom Cerilia by the faeries. The charactersmight try to re t u rn the kidnapping victimsto Cerilia. In the case of adult changelings,the victims might have no wish to leave theonly home they have ever known, butcould serve as valuable sources of inform a-tion about the Shadow Wo r l d .

The seelie faeries prize beauty in all itsforms. This admiration extends, unfortu-nately, to human children. To the faeries,these children are like dolls: a passingamusement. The human lifespan—letalone childhood—is so short compared tothe seelie existence, that the faeries don’tthink of humans as equal beings, but asnovelties. They see nothing wrong withplucking a child from its parents’ care fortheir own pleasure. To them, it is like tak-ing a puppy home from the kennel.

The faeries take relatively good care oftheir “pets.” The human changelings liveamong the Seelie Court until they reachthat gawky adolescent stage when theyaren’t so cute anymore. When they reachage 12 or 13, the faeries outfit them witharms and equipment and send them outinto the world. Because of all they havelearned among the faeries, most make itto adulthood, either somehow findingtheir way back to Cerilia or living in theShadow World. Their time among thefaeries generally teaches them enoughabout stealth and craftiness—or leavesthem with enough tales to tell—to func-tion as 2nd-level rogues.

Meanwhile, back in Cerilia, an ancientfaerie switches places with the stolen child.Sometimes the changeling is discovere di m m e d i a t e l y, in which case the faerieleaves (if it can) and re t u rns to the ShadowWorld. If the parents don’t notice theswitch, or observe oddities in their “child”but do not know how to account for them,the changeling remains as long as possible.Innately curious, the faerie takes the op-p o rtunity to learn as much as possibleabout humans during the masquerade.

After (at most) six or seven years,however, the faerie changeling growsbored. One night it simply disappears,never to be seen by its “parents” again,and returns to the Seelie Court.

Like other members of the Seelie Court ,faerie changelings eat nearly any food, buthave an aversion to milk. Their refusal todrink milk—a staple of most human chil-d re n ’s diets—leads to their discovery moreoften than any other clue. Sometimes, ap e rfectly ord i n a ry human child is suspectedof being a changeling simply because sheor he doesn’t happen to like milk.

In the very rarest of cases, the faeries maysteal an elven child. Such kidnappings arehighly unusual, as elves are more similar tofaeries than humans are, and the diff e re n c e sa re what holds attraction for the seelie folk.

A changeling is involved in the scenario“Courting Danger.”

The statistics have been divided into thre ecolumns to accommodate the diff e re n tchangeling races and ages. Humanchangelings aged 15 years and older arec o n s i d e red adults. Some combat statisticsa re given for human children ages 8 to 14,on the assumption that given their unusualupbringing they could attempt to defendthemselves if circumstances force them to.

Faerie changelingsretain the spellcast-ing abilities they had in the ShadowWorld (refer to “Faerie, Seelie” entryfor complete details), and prefer touse these in combat instead oftheir daggers. They also retaintheir know alignmentability andremain immune to illu-sions/phantasms andcharms, though uponentering Cerilia theylose the ability toturn invisible.As in the

17

Shadow World, they are especially vulner-able to iron weapons (+3 damage bonus).

Adult human changelingsfight as 2nd-level rogues. They generally are equippedwith a short sword and/or dagger, a part i n ggift from the faeries. There is a 75% chancethat it is a magical (+ 1) weapon. There isan additional 45% chance that they alsoc a rry another magical item (DM’s choice;as it’s a gift from the faeries, the moreoutrageous, the better).

Child human changelings,valuedand protected by the seelie faeries,rarely have occasion to enter com-

bat. When they do, it is only in self-defense.

Travelers are unlikely to en-counter child human

changelings unlessthey actually find

their way tot h e

Seelie Court. Even there, the children willbe well cloaked in the Seeming.

Adult human changelings retain theirmemories of time among the faeries, butcannot find their way back to the SeelieC o u rt. (Upon leaving, the faeries cast s e e l i espell of forg e t t i n gon them; see the “Faerie,Seelie” entry.) Their surreal upbringing for-ever alters them—even if re t u rned to theirown kind, they will never seem “quite right.”

Faerie changelings do their best to mas-querade as Cerilian children for as long aspossible. Once discovered, however, theyflee the premises as soon as possible, oftenusing the infamous, confusing faerietalkto create an opportunity for escape.

Faerie changelings retain the extraordi-nary perception they enjoy in the ShadowWorld, but the only Seeming they can ma-nipulate is that which they carry out ofthe Shadow World, surrounding them likean aura. Human changelings learn how tomanipulate and penetrate the Seemingfrom their faerie guardians.

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Faerie Human (Adult) Human (Child)CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Cerilian homes Shadow World Seelie CourtFREQUENCY: Very rare Very rare Very rare

ORGANIZATION: Solitary Solitary ClusterACTIVITY CYCLE: Diurnal Diurnal NocturnalDIET: Any food but milk Omnivore OmnivoreINTELLIGENCE: High (13–14) Average (8–10) Average (8–10)TREASURE: J, K (W) W JALIGNMENT: Neutral Any nonevil Any nonevil

NO. APPEARING: 1 1 1–8ARMOR CLASS: 4 8 (10) 10MOVEMENT: 12 12 12HIT DICE: 4+2 2 1/2THAC0: 17 20 Nil (7 or younger)

or 20 (8 or older)NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 1 Nil or 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d4 or by spell By weapon Nil or 1d4SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells Nil NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil Nil NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: 10% Nil NilSIZE: S (2–4' tall) M (5–6' tall) S (2–4' tall)MORALE: Steady (11–12) Average (8–10) Unsteady (5–7)

BLOODLINE: None Varies or none Varies or noneBLOOD ABILITIES: None Varies or none Varies or nonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: E x t r a o rd i n a ry / L e s s e r Middling/Slight Slight/NoneXP VALUE: 1,400 65 7

◆

The baying of a cwn annwn is a sound thatstops the heart and freezes the blood. It islittle wonder that the howls are consideredan omen of death—so terrifying are they, Ibelieve the echo alone could send one to thegrave.

—Faylene, Kaiana’s daughter, 1403 HC

◆

Cwn annwn (coon-a-NOON), sometimescalled the hounds of Azrai, are enormoussupernatural attack dogs that hunt elves.

Cwn annwn are strong, vicious, and fast.They stand about 5 feet high at the shoul-der and are about 7 feet long. They haveblue-black coats, razor-sharp teeth andfangs, flaming eyes, and wicked claws.The sound of a cwn annwn baying is con-sidered an omen of death.

Elves harbor an innate, ancestral fear ofthe Shadow World, and cwn annwn arepart of the reason why. These houndsroam the Shadow World in packs, huntingelves. Once they catch an elven scent,they pursue their quarry mercilessly.

Even if an elf is not among the party,PCs who have had close dealings with anelf in the past week may find themselvespursued by cwn annwn.

The ominous baying of cwn annwncan be heard up to two miles away. Thusan encounter with the hounds is rarely asurprise—though always harrowing.

Cwn annwn are native to the ShadowWorld. In recent years, however, theyhave been spotted in Cerilia, particularlyin and around Tuar Annwn. The elvesthere maintain constant vigilance againstthe hounds penetrating the shadow bar-rier, but every year a half dozen or somanage to pass through and devour a few

unfortunate elves before being broughtdown. Though no sightings of cwn annwnhave been reported elsewhere in Cerilia,it is possible that the hounds have man-aged to enter other areas of the continent.

Cwn annwn, when not hunting ontheir own, can be encountered as part ofthe Wild Hunt (see separate entry).

Cwn annwn maintain a very limited diet:elf. Nearly forgotten elven folklore saysthat at the dawn of time, when Ceriliaand the Shadow World were one, the cwnannwn were domesticated beasts that theelves kept as hunting dogs. The sameforce that opened up a rift between thetwo lands also empowered and encour-aged the great hounds to turn againsttheir masters, transforming them into su-pernatural beasts of the night—or so thelegends say. Now, inspired by a deep-rooted hatred which some believe Azraihimself instilled in them, the hunting dogshunt new prey.

Scholars believe cwn annwn are related tohell hounds (described in the MONSTROUSMANUAL). But while hell hounds can bedomesticated, cwn annwn are always wild.

An encounter with cwn annwn is almostalways hostile in nature.

Cwn annwn are such superiorhunters that they cannot be sur-prised.

The sound of a cwnannwn’s baying is in itself soterrifying that all whohear it up close (within100 yards of thehound) must suc-ceed at a sav-ing throwvs.

19

paralyzation or become frozen with ter-ror and unable to act for 1d4 rounds.

If a party comprises both elves andnonelves, cwn annwn attack the elvesfirst, focusing all their attention onthe member(s) of that race.

Nonelves eventually fall under attackas well, for they carry the scent of theirelven companions. (However, the crea-tures devour only their elven prey.)

The hounds surround their prey, firstbreathing fire from up to 10 yards away.Each fire attack inflicts 1d4+6 points ofdamage; a successful saving throw vs.breath weapon reduces the damage byhalf. Cwn annwn then attack with theirclaws and bite. On a natural attack roll of20, a hound manages to trap its prey andbreathe fire on it, inflicting both bite andfire damage.

Cwn annwn are immune to fire-basedattacks. As supernatural creatures, theycan be hit only with magical or silverweapons. As beasts of the shadows, how-ever, they have difficulty seeing in directsunlight or magical light. If opponentsmaking use of such light sources can alsoconfuse or obscure the hounds’ sense ofsmell, the ferocious canines suffer a –2penalty to all attack rolls

Peaceful encounters with cwn annwn areextremely rare. If an elf is among theparty, they will attack to the death. If not,they are capable of such stealth that PCswon’t even know their exact location.

Though cwn annwn have no consciouscontrol over the Seeming, a slight amountof it clings to them, often making themappear even larger and more bloodthirstythan they really are.

20

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow World, Vosgaard

FREQUENCY: Uncommon (Shadow World),Very Rare(Vosgaard)

ORGANIZATION: PackACTIVITY CYCLE: Any (Shadow

World); Nocturnal (Cerilia)

DIET: ElvesINTELLIGENCE: Low (5–7)TREASURE: CALIGNMENT: Lawful evil

NO. APPEARING: 3–12ARMOR CLASS: 4MOVEMENT: 15HIT DICE: 7+2THAC0:NO. OF ATTACKS: 3DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d8/1d8/2d8

(claw/claw/bite)SPECIAL ATTACKS: Fire breathSPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to fire

and surprise, magic or silver weapons to hit

MAGIC RESISTANCE: NilSIZE: L (7' long)MORALE: Fanatic

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: None/SlightXP VALUE: 2,000

◆

After wandering the Shadow World for days,I at last came to an inn. Weary from travel, Ientered. The innkeeper bade me welcomeand motioned me to a table in the crowdedroom.

Nearly as soon as I sat down, the fearand grief I’d harbored for my son weighedupon me so heavily that I could scarcelybreathe. My search seemed doomed, my ef-forts futile. I wanted nothing more than tocrawl into bed and pull the covers over myhead, giving my son up for lost.

My blood hound, Tanta, began to growl. Ilooked down and saw her re g a rding every o n ein the room warily. That’s when I realizedthat the people . . . weren’t really people.

—Kaiana, 1377 HC

◆

The dispossessed are spirits of possessionvictims in the waking world. When theirbodies are taken over by evil forces, theirsouls become trapped in the ShadowWorld. There they wander restlessly, seek-ing a way to regain their bodies—or some-one else’s.

The dispossessed look like noncorporealversions of their former selves, with onenotable exception: They carry about theman aura of perpetual, haunting sadness.Their pathos is so pronounced, in fact,that it can render the observer unable toact.

The dispossessed can use psychic en-ergy to hold small- to medium-sized ob-jects. They move and walk as they did inlife, though at a slower pace.

The dispossessed form part of the ShadowWorld’s native population. Visitors to thatdark land are likely to encounter themmore than once.

Though dispossessed spirits of evilalignment always attack when given theopportunity, good and neutral spirits can

become sources of information or even al-lies (provided they don’t spend too muchtime among the player characters—pro-longed exposure to the dispossessedcould render an entire party incapable ofaction).

Bewildered by the shock of having theirbodies stolen and finding themselves in anew land of eternal twilight, the dispos-sessed tend to find others like themselvesand wander in small bands in search oftheir old bodies.

Sometimes, a band will occupy anabandoned house, inn, or even a small vil-lage. There, they go through the motionsof life, each action an echo of a task theyonce performed as whole beings.

A dispossessed spirit can be put to restonly if restored to its original body orwhen its original body dies. Though somespirits try to inhabit the bodies of others,they find that doing so does not bringthem the peace they expected and soonshuffle off the mortal coil.

The dispossessed appear in “Be OurGuest.”

Upon sighting a dispossessed spirit (ofany alignment), observers must succeedat a saving throw vs. paralyzation orfeel severe depression settle uponthemselves. The will to act immedi-ately drains from victims. Theyfeel lethargic and apathetic to-ward both their companionsand the encounter about totake place; in fact, they’dlike nothing better thanto curl up in a fetalposition and goto sleep. Theirmove-ment

21

rates are halved and all attacks and Dex-terity-based maneuvers (such as thieves’skills) suffer a –3 or –25% penalty whileany dispossessed spirit is within 100yards of the victims.

Once the victim is no longer in prox-imity to the dispossessed, the penaltydrops to –1 or –10% until the charactercan shake off the depression (4d6 hoursplus 1 hour for every four hours of expo-sure).

The dispossessed retain whatever align-ment they had in life. Evil spirits attackthe living, hoping to take over their vic-tims’ bodies as their own were oncestolen. Those convinced that their oldbody is among those in the party also at-tack. Their weapon is a touch of despairthat, in addition to inflicting 1d4 points ofdamage, drains away the victim’s will tolive. When the total number of hits equalsthe victim’s Constitution score, the char-acter’s life force leaves his or her body.The dispossessed spirit instantaneouslymoves in; the victim’s spirit now becomesa new member of the dispossessed.

Should an intended victim survive thepossession attempt, the character’s de-spair lingers for one day per hit (liftinggradually). Remove fearcan shorten thisperiod by one day per casting.

As the dispossessed are not undead,but rather the spirits of still-living bodies,they are immune to holy water, turning,and other forms of attack used onlyagainst undead.

Dispossessed spirits retain the abilityto speak and communicate. Charac-ters may engage one in conversa-

tion, ask questions of it, and soon, though they must roll a new

saving throw each turn toavoid succumbing to debili-

tating depression.

The dispossessed are so desperate to re-turn to their own bodies that they have a60% chance of mistaking characters fortheir former selves. Should this happen,the dispossessed spirit focuses all its at-tention on the unfortunate character in aneffort to get its body back.

Characters with low perception scoresmight see the dispossessed as ordinary,perfectly corporeal people.

22

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow WorldFREQUENCY: UncommonORGANIZATION: BandACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: NoneINTELLIGENCE: Average (8–10)TREASURE: NoneALIGNMENT: Varies

NO. APPEARING: 1d20ARMOR CLASS: 0MOVEMENT: 9HIT DICE: 4THAC0: 17NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d4+despairSPECIAL ATTACKS: Depression,

touch of despairSPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better

weapon to hitMAGIC RESISTANCE: NoneSIZE: M (6' tall)MORALE: Champion

( 1 5 – 1 6 )

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: None/SlightXP VALUE: 975

◆

I had the most peculiar dream one nightduring my sojourn in the land of shadow. Ihad camped at the border of a large, lushforest, the first sign of life I’d seen in days ofwandering through desolate terrain.

Though I do not recall bedding down forthe night, I must have fallen asleep. I imag-ined that I entered the forest and slowlypicked my way through the brambles andbranches. I heard birds above and therustling of small animals nearby, but I sawno other creatures. After what seemed likehours of hiking, I reached the center of theforest.

There, in a clearing, were assembled amost extraordinary company. Enchantedcreatures of every shape and descriptionfilled the glen. In a faint, glowing light thatseemed to emanate from the figures them-selves, they danced and feasted. Presidingover this strange convocation was a womanof exquisite beauty, who made merry rightalong with her subjects.

Were these the faeries that had stolen myson? I searched the whole company for hisdarling face, a glimpse of his bright eyes ortiny hands. But to my dismay, I saw no signof him.

So strong was this dream that all seemedquite real. But when I awoke, I found myselfback in my makeshift camp at the edge ofthe woods, with nary a trace of my fancifulcompanions.

—Kaiana, 1377 HC

◆

Seelie faeries are among the ShadowWorld’s oldest and most numerous resi-dents. The ancient fair folk are to this twi-light land what the elves are to Cerilia,and are as in tune with the Seeming asthe elves are with nature. Depending onwhich way the wind is blowing, seeliefaeries might amuse, confuse, bemuse, orabuse adventurers. In fact, characters cancount on only one certainty in a seelie en-counter: It will prove interesting.

The physical appearance of seelie faeriescannot be generalized. Each is unique.They are tall, short, fat, thin, old, young,gargantuan, and diminutive. Some havewings, some have horns, some have tailsor fins. Some look like small humanoids;others are bizarre composites of variouslife forms, bearing perhaps a pumpkinhead, ivy hair, or goat hooves.

No one knows for certain whethermembers of the Seelie Court bear thesecharacteristics for real, or whether thebroad range of shapes, sizes, and featuresis the work of the Seeming. No otherdenizens of the Shadow World can manip-ulate the Seeming as they can. A fewscholars posit that, were the Seemingstripped entirely from the Seelie Court,all these fanciful creatures would look ex-actly the same as each other—and veryboring indeed.

Seelie faeries will help or hinder charac-ters as the whim strikes them. Their ap-pearance can provide a catalyst for an ad-venture. They can offer cryptic hints to-ward the successful completion of aquest. Or they can slow down or belea-guer a party.

Though faeries may, at times, befriendplayer characters, the fair folk are toocapricious and unpredictable to serve asreliable allies. Too-trusting PCs may, how-ever, learn this truth the hard way.

How seelie faeries treat PCs dependsin no small part on how PCs treat themduring an initial encounter. Kindness isrepaid with kindness—sometimes ten-fold. But woe betide the travelerwho mistreats or insults a faerie,for that treatment, too, is morethan repaid in kind.

Most seelie faerieslive among theSeelie Court, agrand con-grega-

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tion of faerie folk. The Seelie Court re-sides deep in the Shadow World’s mostenchanted forest. As no one who inten-tionally goes looking for the court everfinds it, many believe it to be a travelingcourt that brings its own enchantmentinto the various forests it enters.

Occasionally, a traveler stumbles uponthe Seelie Court accidentally. When thisoccurs, the faeries torment, test, or aidthe traveler as their fancy strikes them.When the faeries are through, they leadthe traveler out of the forest and cast aseelie spell of forgettingon the character.The traveler falls into a deep sleep; whenthe character awakens, she at best re-members the faerie encounter only as adream and cannot find the way back tothe court.

◆

SEELIE SPELL OF FORGETTING(Enchantment/Charm)

Spell Level: 3Sphere: CharmRange: 50 yardsComponents: V, S, MDuration: PermanentCasting Time: 3Area of Effect: 50 ft. cubeSaving Throw: Special

This spell, which can be cast only bymembers of the Seelie Court, enables thecaster to erase the recipient’s memory oftime spent among the faeries.

Saving throw adjustments are basedon the victim’s perception score: a +3penalty for no perception, a +2 penaltyfor slight, a +1 penalty for lesser, noadjustment for middling, a –1 bonusfor greater, and a –2 bonus for extra-

ordinary. Should the recipient suc-ceed at a saving throw vs. spell,

he or she recalls the faerie en-counter as a dream. Failure

means the recipient re-members nothing.

Should the victim re-call anything, the

memory ishazy and

seems not quite real. The character can-not recollect names, locations, directions,or any other specifics unless the caster sodesires. For example, a faerie might castthis spell on a lost traveler to make him orher forget the faerie’s name and the loca-tion of the Seelie Court, but may allowthe character to remember directions tothe nearest safe haven.

If the recipient again encounters afaerie or place “forgotten” as a result ofthis spell, he or she experiences a sense ofdeja vu, but does not recall specifics.

The spell does not negate charm, sug-gestion, geas, quest, or similar effects therecipient may have entered into duringtime spent among the faeries. The charac-ter does, however, forget the circum-stances and the spellcaster that boundhim or her with such magic.

Only a limited wishor wishcan enablesomeone to recall experiences erased bythis spell.

The material component of this spellis one pinch of faerie dust per recipient.

◆

Though the Seelie Court compriseshundreds of faeries, travelers generallyencounter them individually, far awayfrom the court. Cerilian encounters arealmost always single, particularly in thecase of changelings (see separate entry).The fair folk don’t like to be seen; theycan become invisible at will and oftenmove about thus hidden from view. Detectinvisibility, detect magic,or similar magicreveals them, as does a perception scorewithin 10 points of the faerie’s Seemingscore. A faerie might freely choose to re-veal itself for some purpose, but never toan evil creature. Seelie faeries have the in-nate ability to discern the nature of thosethey encounter (per the know alignmentspell).

Seelie faeries prize beauty, in both in-dividuals and in objects. They often covetbeautiful things, be they trinkets, trea-sure, or human children (see separate“Changeling” entry). They may offer aidin exchange for a traveler’s possession, orattempt to trick the individual out of it.

The Seeming permeates the speech ofseelie faeries as much as it does their ap-

24

pearances. The creatures love to talk inrhyme, riddles, and conundrums, makinggreat use of double entendres and hiddenmeanings. There is always a grain of truthin anything a seelie faerie says—but often,one must search very hard to uncover it.

In any seelie encounter, travelers mustwatch their own words as carefully asthose of the faeries. Seelie law and codesof conduct are predicated on the literalinterpretation of language—particularlyoaths and promises. The faeries are fa-mous for exacting promises from unwarytravelers who don’t realize until too latewhat they’re getting themselves into.

For example, an adventurer whomakes the promise, “I will share my sup-per with you if you tell me how to reachthe haunted castle” may well find thefaerie showing up for dinner every nightfor the rest of the character’s life (or atleast, until the faerie gets bored) in ex-change for directions so encoded in dou-bletalk that the PC couldn’t even followthem.

Seelie faeries are bound, however, bythe same literalness they use to tormentothers. Thus, a person who manages tofind a loophole or technicality in an oathcan manage to become extricated from it.Faeries are also thrown off-balance by er-ratic or unexpected behavior. Their guid-ing principle is, “If p, then q.” Add r tothe equation, and they don’t know whathit them. In other words, the poor trav-eler with the constant supper companioncould get rid of the unwanted guest sim-ply by calling this evening meal “break-fast.” The bewildered creature won’t knowwhat to think—but will be forced to admitdefeat.

When a faerie demands an “either-or”decision with two unappealing choices, awise person always tries to come up witha third, unanticipated option.

THE FAERIE QUEENThe Faerie Queen reigns over the SeelieCourt. Known in various legends as Tita-nia, Maeve, or Mab, she is a fey creatureof unearthly beauty. Of lawful neutralalignment, she is devoted to her “chil-dren” but is fair to travelers she encoun-ters—so long as they have not mistreatedthe faerie folk.

Faerie Queen: AC 2; MV 15, Fl 15 (B);HD 20; hp 162; THAC0 5; #AT 1; Dmg by spell; SA Seeming, spells; SD im-mune to illusions and charm spells, invisi-ble at will, know alignment; SW iron, salt;MR 50%; SZ M (5' tall); ML 16 (cham-pion); AL LN; XP 21,000.

Notes: The queen has a Seeming score of 100 andno need of a perception score—she can see through theSeeming at will. SW—Iron weapons inflict an additional 2points of damage with each hit; salt thrown on the queenneutralizes her invisibility ability for 1 turn.

S 10, D 18, C 16, I 18, W 17, Ch 19.Personality: Capricious, fair, devoted

to and defensive of her subjects.Spells under her command

(6/6/6/6/6/5/4/4/3 per day): Allillusion/phantasm and 1st- and 2nd-levelenchantment/charm spells (priestly orwizardly), plus affect normal fires, colorspray, create water, dancing lights, detectmagic, entangle, faerie fire, feather fall,light, protection from evil, purify food anddrink, shillelagh; barkskin, detect invisibil-ity, goodberry, produce flame, speak withanimals, warp wood; blink, continual light,create food and water, gust of wind, holdperson, protection from evil 10-foot radius,pyrotechnics, seelie spell of forgetting, sug-gestion, tree, water walk; confusion, reflect-ing pool, tongues; false vision, Leomund’slamentable belaborment; enchant an item,true seeing.

The Faerie Queen is a creature of suchethereal beauty that any nonfaerie whobeholds her must immediately succeed ata saving throw vs. spell or be charmed.

In all the Shadow World, the FaerieQueen has the greatest power over theSeeming—after all, she was alive be-fore it existed, and has had an eter-nity to hone her command of it. Asthe last surviving Sie (see “Ecol-ogy,” below), she also com-mands both wizardly andpriestly magic.

The queen considersherself the ultimateprotector of thefaeries, and de-fends themfrom

25

outsiders as a mother does her children.Should one of the faeries commit a mis-deed, however, she also punishes it as amother would her wayward child. Faeriesencountered outside the Seelie Court areoften the subjects of such discipline, en-during temporary or permanent banish-ment from the court as the penalty forsome transgression. The fair folk lovetheir queen so dearly that such exile is thestrongest form of punishment imaginableto them. Just as the queen devotes herselfto their protection, they in turn will de-fend her to the death.

TYPES OF FAERIESThough the very nature of seelie faeriesdefies summary and stereotype, some ofthem fall into a few broad, general cate-gories.

The DeceiverSome faeries intentionally try to deceivethose they encounter. The creatures ha-bitually give poor directions, misleadinginformation, and bad advice. Though theydo so not out of real malice—to them, it isall a grand game—their deceptions some-times have dire consequences for travel-ers in a land where a single wrong turncould prove fatal.

The InnocentThough all seelie faeries exhibit a certainamount of childlike innocence (as evi-denced in their literal interpretation ofspeech), some carry it to an extreme.They tag along, asking “why” eighteentimes in a row, poking and prodding atunfamiliar objects and people, lettingcuriosity guide them until the belea-guered traveler is driven to distrac-tion. Innocents tend to be very

young faeries (only a couple cen-turies old).

The HelperSome faeries make a gen-

uine effort to aid travel-ers they encounter.

Usually, this phil-anthropy

comes asthe

result of a kindness shown them by therecipient or other travelers who came be-fore. (For example, a faerie might help aKhinasi adventurer because a century agoanother Khinasi did it a good turn.) Thehelper may reveal itself to the recipient,or offer aid secretly (for example, magi-cally replenishing a party’s diminishing ra-tions while they sleep). The attempt at aidis not always successful—faeries havebeen known to inadvertently make a situ-ation worse instead of better—but the in-tentions are good. The assistance is gen-erally limited to a single instance.

The ProtectorO c c a s i o n a l l y, a faerie chooses to serve as ap rotector to an individual or part y. Per-haps the faerie believes itself to be in thei n d i v i d u a l ’s debt (if, for example, the trav-eler saved the cre a t u re ’s life or outsmart e dit somehow). Or perhaps the faerie seeksto aid the person’s mission. Regardless ofmotive, the faerie watches over its charg ef rom a distance, rendering aid or fendingo ff harm as the need arises. As in the caseof helper faeries, recipients of a faerie’sp rotection may not even be aware of theattention or its source. But unlike helpers,p rotectors stick with their self-appointedc h a rges until their protection is no longerneeded (for example, the recipient leavesthe Shadow World) or the obligation is ful-filled (for example, the faerie saves a lifein exchange for its own being saved).

The TricksterWhile all faeries delight in puzzles andgames (particularly verbal contests of wit)some turn every encounter into an oppor-tunity for amusement—at the travelers’expense. Such a creature tries to trap theunwary into commitments they wouldrather not keep or actions they would bewise not to take. Some of the ploys in atrickster’s arsenal are downright menac-ing, while others are meant merely toamuse the faerie. Rumplestiltskin’s bar-gain is an example of a trickster’s plot.Because one never knows whether afaerie might be a trickster, the wise indi-vidual exercises caution while speakingwith any faerie. It is easier to avoid enter-ing a trickster’s power than to extricateoneself from it.

26

The seelie faeries were the first childrenof the Shadow World. Long ago, when thewaking world and the Shadow World wereone, a race known as the Sie (“see”) popu-lated the land. These creatures were be-ings of great magic, innate wielders ofboth sorcery that worked with nature(priestly spells) and sorcery that brokethe rules of nature (wizardly spells). Theycast their spells not by the prayer ofpriests or the rote memorization ofhuman wizards, but rather the gatheringof magical energies (the process yet em-ployed by today’s elves).

The force that spilt the world into twohalves was so strong that it also split theland’s inhabitants, ripping the Sie intwain. Each creature became two sepa-rate entities—a faerie (seelie) in theShadow World and an elf (Sidhe) in Cer-ilia. The seelie retained control of naturalmagic and gained power over a new forcein the Shadow World: the Seeming. TheSidhe retained control of wizardly magicand became bound to the land itself.

Though the ancient link between thetwo peoples has long since been forgottenby all but the Faerie Queen (the only sur-viving Sie), to this day, when an elf isborn in Cerilia, a new faerie appears inthe Seelie Court. While it is possible thata traveling elf or faerie could meet itscounterpart, no one knows what wouldhappen in such an extraordinary event.

Unless slain, seelie faeries are immort a lin the Shadow World but mortal in Cerilia.C o n v e r s e l y, elves are immortal in Ceriliabut mortal in the Shadow World. Thefaeries are as attuned to the nature of theShadow World as elves are to Cerilia. Thislink enables them to exist in such a hostilee n v i ronment with virtually no naturalp redators. The evil of the Shadow Wo r l d ,h o w e v e r, holds plenty of unnatural ones.

Seelie faeries are generally vegetari-ans, subsisting primarily on fruits, nuts,roots, and seeds. They do, however, eatmeat when it is offered to them. The fairfolk have an aversion to milk—a means bywhich savvy individuals have been knownto expose a faerie so masked in the Seem-ing that its identity was otherwise indeter-minable.

In addition to their link to Cerilian elves,seelie faeries have an evil counterpart: theunseelie faeries (see separate entry).Brownies, leprechauns, and sprites (seethe MONSTROUS MANUAL volume) are alltypes of seelie faeries.

Faeries of the Seelie Court appear in“Courting Danger.”

Seelie faeries rarely engage in direct com-bat, preferring to mire their opponents inconfusion and deleterious promises.Should they need to physically defendthemselves, however, the fair folk are wellable to do so.

Their ability to turn invisible often en-ables seelie faeries to gain surprise.

The fair folk, being often small ofstature and lacking in great strength,avoid melee combat at all costs. Shouldthey have to defend themselves so di-rectly, some carry a small knife or daggercapable of inflicting 1d4 points of dam-age.

Faeries prefer, however, to use theirspellcasting abilities and the Seeming toattack and defend themselves. They cancast any priestly enchantment/charmspell of 1st or 2nd level, plus createwater, entangle, faerie fire, light, protec-tion from evil, purify food and drink,shillelagh; barkskin, goodberry, pro-duce flame, speak with animals,warp wood; continual light, createfood and water, pyrotechnics,seelie spell of forgetting, tree,water walk. They can castfive spells per day, andthe seelie spell of for-gettingan unlim-ited number oftimes.

In

27

addition to their spellcasting abilities,seelie faeries make liberal use of theSeeming to defend themselves with ahost of illusions (described at right).

The fair folk are especially vulnerableto iron weapons; such instruments inflictan additional 3 points of damage per hit.Salt thrown on a faerie renders it unableto turn invisible for 1d4 turns.

When a faerie approaches a traveler, it isusually with some purpose in mind—beg-ging aid, issuing warnings, or perhapsseeking mischief. They may appear totravelers in need, perhaps having secretlyfollowed them for miles or days. Or theymight make themselves known when anadventurer inadvertently trespasses into afaerie’s territory. Faeries who do not wishto be discovered seldom are.

Often, encounters with faeries are lessdirect. The fair folk may work their magicon unwary travelers without ever beingseen.

The seelie faeries are true creatures of theSeeming, manipulating it as few denizensof the Shadow World can. In combat, theyuse it to alter their appearance into intim-idating, menacing figures—perhaps tow-ering over opponents, swiping with razor-like claws, or breathing jets of flame. Inother encounters, they may speak inbooming voices, create sweet or unpleas-ant odors, or alter terrain to block a trav-eler’s path. While others’ control of theSeeming may be limited to effects on oneor two senses, seelie faeries can affect allfive.

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CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow World,Cerilian forests

FREQUENCY: UncommonORGANIZATION: CourtACTIVITY CYCLE: Any (Shadow

World); nocturnal(Cerilia)

DIET: OmnivoreINTELLIGENCE: Very to high

(11–14)TREASURE: W (G)ALIGNMENT: Any nonevil

NO. APPEARING: 1–4ARMOR CLASS: 5MOVEMENT: 15, some Fl 15

(B)HIT DICE: 4+2THAC0: 17NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d4 or by spellSPECIAL ATTACKS: SpellsSPECIAL DEFENSES: SeemingMAGIC RESISTANCE: 25%SIZE: Tiny to large

(6" to 12' tall)MORALE: Average (8–10)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: Extraordinary/

ExtraordinaryXP VALUE: 2,000

◆

Lussina, they called her. The Dark Queen.She held my spirit in terror and my son

in thrall. Yet the more I think about her inthe years since my near-death at her hands,the more she reminds me of a rebellious ado-lescent in an eternal temperamental snit.

Albeit a dangerous, deadly adolescent.—Faylene, 1421 HC

◆

Unseelie faeries are a macabre host of eviland undead beings, the hideous counter-part of the Seelie Court. The UnseelieCourt has its own dark queen and other“nobles” who manipulate the Seeming to-ward their own sinister ends.

The Unseelie Court comprises two typesof faeries: evil living faeries, and evil un-dead faeries. Like the seelie faeries, eachis unique in size, shape, and form.

The evil that the living faeries carrywithin has corrupted their physical ap-pearances. Their skin bears ashen tones,their eyes are sunken or blaze with thefever of malevolence, their bodies arewithered or bloated. If an evil faerie hashorns, they are twisted, if it has wings,they are leathery, if it has a tail, the ap-pendage is barbed. Unseelie faeries arefar more likely than seelie faeries to sportcloven feet or taloned hands.

Undead faeries are incorporeal phan-tasms of their former selves. Their eyeshave no pupils—only blank, white-hotglowing orbs that seethe hatred.

Unseelie faeries are even more likely thantheir seelie counterparts to torment trav-elers just for kicks. Their tricks rangefrom merely mean-spirited to seriouslyharmful or even deadly—particularly ifthe unseelie faeries believe their victimsto be allies of the Seelie Court or other-wise agents of good. PCs may not evenrealize the source of the attacks.

The Unseelie Court wages an age-oldwar against the Faerie Queen and theSeelie Court. Characters may find them-selves caught in the crossfire, enlisted(willingly or not) to aid one side, or tryingto redirect the war efforts toward subdu-ing a larger menace: the Cold Rider (as-suming that shadowy presence doesn’twin over the Dark Queen first).

The Unseelie Court is a hideous mockeryof the Seelie Court—in a sense, theFaerie Queen’s entourage as seen througha fun-house mirror. The Dark Queen (seebelow) and her followers reside in theShadow World’s most haunted, twistedforest. There, they plot against the seeliefaeries and others they consider their ene-mies. Because evil seeks its own reflectionand treachery breeds mistrust, the un-seelie faeries see an enemy in nearlyeveryone they encounter.

THE DARK QUEENThe Dark Queen, Lussina, reigns over theUnseelie Court. The daughter of theseelie Faerie Queen, she once possessedbeauty beyond imagining. But Lussinaalso possessed envy, ambition, and ruth-lessness. She plotted to overthrow hermother and take her place as queen of theSeelie Court. She failed. The FaerieQueen, unable to bring herself to punishher daughter with a traitor’s death, castLussina out of the Seelie Court forever.In a rage, Lussina gathered her followerstogether and formed her own court—with herself as queen.

Lussina, the Dark Queen: AC 3;MV 15, Fl 15 (B); HD 14; hp 81;THAC0 7; #AT 1; Dmg by spell;SA Seeming, spells; SD immuneto illusions and charm spells,invisible at will, know align-ment; SW iron, salt; MR50%; SZ M (4' 4" tall);ML 16 (champion); AL NE; XP 15,000.

Notes: Thequeen hasa

29

Seeming score of 78 and a perception score of 90. SW—Iron weapons inflict an additional 2 points of damagewith each hit; salt thrown on the queen neutralizes herinvisibility ability for 1 turn; holy water burns her fleshfor 1d6+1 points of damage.

S 11, D 17, C 17, I 16, W 13, Ch 19.Personality: Cruel, calculating, seduc-

tive, megalomanical.Spells under her command

(6/6/6/5/3/2/1 per day): All priestly spellsof the charm and necromantic spheres,plus destroy (create) water, detect good(evil), detect magic, entangle, faerie fire,protection from good (evil), putrify (purify)food and drink, shillelagh; badberry (good-berry), barkskin, obscurement, produceflame, speak with animals, undetectable (de-tect) charm, warp wood; bestow (remove)curse, create food and water, pyrotechnics,seelie spell of forgetting, spike growth, tree;hallucinatory forest, protection from good(evil) 10-foot radius, reflecting pool, sticksto snakes, tongues; false (true) seeing.

The Dark Queen has lost her comelinessbut retains the allure of a black widow. Anymale character who beholds her must im-mediately succeed at a saving throw vs. spellor fall prey to her seduction (per a charmspell). Lussina seeks not to seduce her vic-tims sexually, however, but psychologically,t rying to enlist them in her side of the eter-nal war she wages on the Seelie Court.

Lussina demands (and receives) ab-solute loyalty from her followers. Shegrants no clemency for the smallest of in-fractions; even harmless negligence ispunishable by death. Her own life, shebelieves, demonstrates the folly ofmercy—she considers her mother a foolfor having spared it. The Dark Queenwill not risk another traitor rising upto depose her.

The Unseelie Court continually re-ceives new members. The Faerie

Queen has no tolerance forfaeries with evil tendencies—

more often than not, themalevolent faeries she

banishes from hercourt find their

way to herdaugh-

ter’s.

Undead members of the Unseelie Courtcome into being when a faerie (of anyalignment) dies in a battle between thetwo courts. The horror of kin slaying kincreates a ripple through the Seeming it-self, preventing the deceased faerie fromdissipating into it. The creature’s spiritbecomes trapped, sentenced to eternallywalk the Shadow World but stripped ofthe magical abilities it once had. It be-comes an unthinking being, lashing out inanger and resentment at the living, heldin check only by the Dark Queen.

Gremlins and imps (see the MONSTROUSMANUAL accessory) have been spottedamong the Unseelie Court.

Unseelie faeries appear in the scenario“Courting Danger.”

Unlike their counterparts in the SeelieCourt, unseelie faeries harbor no reserva-tions about engaging in hand-to-handcombat. Peaceful encounters are rare.

Unseelie faeries always try to use theirability to turn invisible to gain the advan-tage of surprise. Once discovered by anopponent, their strategies vary.

Living evil faeries use their spells untilthey reach melee range. They can cast fiveof the following spells per day: any 1st- or2nd-level spell from the charm sphere, d e-s t roy (create) water, entangle, faerie fire, pro-tection from good (evil), putrify (purify) foodand drink, shillelagh; badberry (goodberry ) ,barkskin, obscurement, produce flame, speakwith animals, warp wood; bestow (re m o v e )curse, pyrotechnics, spike gro w t h .In addi-tion, they can cast seelie spell of forg e t t i n gan unlimited number of times.

In melee, they fight with magical (+1)short swords individually scaled to each

30

faerie’s size and carrying an enchantmentthat works only when borne by a faerie. Iffighting nonfaeries, they also use theirSeeming abilities, both offensively and de-fensively (see the “Faerie, Seelie” descrip-tion).

Living unseelie faeries are immune tocharmsand illusions, but have severalweaknesses. Iron weapons inflict an addi-tional 3 points of damage per hit. Saltrenders them unable to turn invisible for1d4 turns.

Undead faeries close to melee range asquickly as possible. The touch of such acreature chills the blood and clouds themind. For each successful hit, victims suf-fer 1d8 points of damage and lose 5points from their perception score.

Undead faeries can be hit only withiron or +1 or better weapons. They arevulnerable to holy water, which inflicts1d6+1 damage points per vial. They canbe turned as spectres.

Evil doesn’t fight fair. Even in what seemsto have been a “peaceful” encounter withan unseelie faerie, travelers often walkaway victims of a curse.

Unseelie faeries are matched only bytheir seelie counterparts in commandof the Seeming and ability to seet h rough it. Against nonfaerie op-ponents, they use it constantlyto bewilder and intimidatetheir foes. Against the SeelieC o u rt, however, they knowsuch illusions are use-l e s s .

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Living Evil Faerie Undead FaerieCLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow World Shadow WorldFREQUENCY: Uncommon UncommonORGANIZATION: Court CourtACTIVITY CYCLE: Nocturnal NocturnalDIET: Any food but milk NilINTELLIGENCE: Very to high (11–14) Average (8–10)TREASURE: U (G) NilALIGNMENT: Any evil Chaotic evil

NO. APPEARING: 1–8 (100–400) 4–16 (100–600)ARMOR CLASS: 5 0MOVEMENT: 12, some Fl 15 (B) 15, Fl 24 (B)HIT DICE: 4+2 7+2THAC0: 17 13NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6+1 or by spell 1d8

Special Attacks: Spells, Seeming Perception drain, SeemingSPECIAL DEFENSES: Invisibility, Seeming, Iron or +1 or better weapons

immune to charms/illusions to hitMAGIC RESISTANCE: 25% 25%SIZE: Tiny to large (6" to 12' tall Tiny to large (6" to 12' tall)MORALE: Steady (11–12) Elite (13–14)

BLOODLINE: None NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: None NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: Extraordinary/ Extraordinary/

Extraordinary ExtraordinaryXP VALUE: 2,000 3,000

◆

I had heard that the diminutive people wecall “halflings” in Cerilia once dwelled inthe land of shadows. If so, they were wise toflee.

Their counterparts back in the ShadowWorld are not a pleasant people. The evilthat permeates the land has wrought ill ef-fects on a race that once enjoyed life. Now,most of the natives have either given them-selves over to the evil, or given up altogether.Their state is a sad one indeed to witness:that of a once proud people corrupted andconsumed by darkness.

—Kaiana, 1377 HC

◆

Similar in many respects to the Cerilianhalflings who escaped the escalating dark-ness, those halflings who stayed behindhave been forever changed by their ever-worsening environment.

The appearance of a halfling varies withhis or her social status (see “Habitat/Soci-ety,” below). Domain lords have access tothe best food and live easier lives thanother halflings; they therefore stand taller(about 4 feet) and weigh more (typicallyexhibiting a paunch) than the others.They dress themselves in fine, brightlycolored robes and show off their wealthin the form of rings, jewels, crowns,and other adornments.

Slaves barely sustain themselveson what they are given to eat.

Further, their state of constantfear takes its toll on their

health. Halfling slaves rarelygrow taller than 3 feet.

They have emaciatedbuilds and haunted

looks in theireyes. They

wear

very plain, purely functional clothes ofrough homespun and drab colors.

Freedom fighters (see below), thoughchallenged by the difficulties of life on therun, manage to keep themselves in betterphysical condition than either of the othertwo classes. They hunt for their food andtrain for battle, nourishing their bodiesand toning their muscles. Most impor-tantly, their eyes still sparkle with life,fight, and hope.

Halflings account for the largest numberof living, mortal Shadow World residents.Some, corrupted by evil, rule domains oftheir own. The vast majority have becomea downtrodden, enslaved populationforced into servitude for the ShadowWorld’s many powerful denizens. But afew small bands exist who have not hadtheir will beaten out of them. These indi-viduals have become freedom fighters,and work for a day when good shall againtriumph over evil and chase the shadowsfrom their beloved homeland.

Once, halflings lived in pleasant, egalitar-ian, pastoral communities where they en-joyed the blessings of good food, warmhearths, and happy families. Now, how-ever, the evil forces pervading the ShadowWorld have dramatically altered their ex-istences. The life of a Shadow Worldhalfling varies greatly according to whatclass he or she has fallen into (or chosen).And none know true peace.

DOMAIN LORDSAs happens with any population that ex-periences wrenching changes in its envi-ronment, some halflings took advantageof the rise of evil in the Shadow World tograb authority for themselves. Corruptedby Azrai and his minions, these halflingsclimbed to power on the bodies of theirbrethren—in many cases, literally.

Domain lords rule Shadow Worldrealms of their own, in much the sameway Cerilian regents do. Some havelanded domains, while others commandtrade. But unlike most Cerilian regents(at least, those respected by their sub-

32

jects), the halfling lords of the ShadowWorld rule their domains as harsh dicta-torships, using terror, intimidation, andviolence to control their underlings. Thesetactics, once used out of fear of beingoverrun by the Shadow World’s morepowerful denizens, are now ingrained intothe very nature of the halfling domainlords.

SLAVESSadly, the majority of halflings left in theShadow World are slaves. Some of themlive under the corrupt regimes of thehalfling domain lords, while some havebeen captured by other evil rulers andforced into servitude.

Halfling slaves live a silent, dreary ex-istence. Their love of life has been beatenout of them, and the greatest goal theycan imagine for themselves is simply tomake it through another day without get-ting into trouble. They live in perpetualfear that somehow, without even knowingthe means, they will incur the wrath—andthe vengeance—of their cruel masters.

FREEDOM FIGHTERSFreedom fighters live in small bands scat-tered throughout the Shadow World. Theywork to liberate their brethren from thebonds of servitude and overthrow the evildomain lords who betrayed their people.

Freedom fighters often infiltrate slavecommunities. There, over a period ofmonths, they work to incite rebellion.Few uprisings are successful—most rebel-lious slaves end up dead—but those whodo survive and escape typically join theranks of the freedom fighters.

A few freedom fighters have becomecaretakers of havens. Newly freed slavesare brought to these places of safety.There, some train as warriors to join theresistance movement; others work to sup-port the fighters in their own way (fash-ioning weapons, sewing clothes, cooking,and so on).

Though they know that evil pervadesthe world and extends far past thetyranny under which the slaves directlytoil, freedom fighters realize that a hand-ful of renegades acting alone can’t effectmuch change in a world where the shad-ows grow longer every day. If an opportu-

nity arises to join forces with other cham-pions, they may agree to lend theirstrength to the cause of greater good.Their primary focus, however, is improv-ing the lots of their own kind.

Domain lords gain their power by givingthemselves over to the Cold Rider, wor-shipping him as a god. In exchange fortheir loyalty, he invests these followerswith a seed of evil: a sliver of his ownessence that takes the form of a taintedbloodline.

Domain lords believe the world be-longs to them. They drain the land’s al-ready-challenged resources for their ownends, without a care for the future.

In the few areas of the Shadow Worldsuitable for raising crops and livestock,slaves farm the land. Most of their har-vest, however, goes to their masters.Slaves also perform for their lords othertasks that affect the environment, such ashunting, fishing, and clearing terrain.

Freedom fighters live off the land,using only what they need. The wastefulextravagance of the domain lords sickensthem—part of the reason they believe theselfish dictators should be overthrown.

Shadow World halflings are, of course, re-lated to Cerilian halflings. The two groupsshare little in common, however, excepttheir ancestry. Those who left the ShadowWorld experience very different livesfrom those who stayed behind.

Combat training and abilitiesvary with each halfling’s stationin life.

Their dexterity andshort staturesgrant allhalflingsan

33

advantage when trying to gain surprise,provided they are not in metal armor.Nonhalfling foes suffer a –4 penalty tosurprise rolls (–2 if a door or other screenmust be opened).

Shadow World halflings have sturdyConstitutions that grant them a +3 bonusto saving throws vs. poison, wands,staves, rods, and spells. (The downtrod-den slaves receive a bonus of only +2.)

Domain lords seldom do their own fight-ing, relying instead on 2d6 trained guards(AC 6, HD 2, THAC0 18) armed withcrossbows and short swords. Should di-rect combat become inevitable, domainlords defend themselves with shortswords (1d6 points damage), held orthrown daggers (1d4+1 points damage),spells, and the Seeming.

As worshippers of the Cold Rider, do-main lords are granted priest spells. Theycan cast eight spells per day (3/3/2),choosing from the following: curse (bless),command, cause (cure) light wounds, protec-tion from good (evil), cause (remove) fear;charm person or mammal, enthrall, obscure-ment; animate dead, cause (cure) blindnessor deafness, cause (cure) disease, speak withdead.

Slaves fight for their masters if forced,but suffer a –1 penalty to attack and dam-age rolls because their hearts aren’t reallyin the effort. If defending themselves ortheir families, they fight without penalty.

Masters generally do not allow slavesto own arms; they fight, therefore, withwhatever makeshift weapons are athand. These often include slings (1d4+1points damage), knives (1d3, +1 ifthrown), hand axes (1d6, +1 ifthrown), and sickles (1d4+1).

Freedom fighters wear leatherarmor to provide relative ease

and silence of movement.Their preferred weapons

are the short bow (1d6points of damage),

sling (1d4+1) andthrown dag-

gers

(1d4+1) at missile range, and the shortsword in melee (1d6). They are, however,very resourceful, and in a tight spot canmake use of just about any weapon or ob-ject at hand—from clubs and slings tostools and frying pans.

Freedom fighters live dangerous lives,and have developed several roguish skillsin order to survive. These daring halflingscan backstab (as 5th-level thieves) forthree times normal damage and also pos-sess the following abilities:

Open locks 35%Find/remove traps 35%Move silently 70%Hide in shadows 90%Detect noise 50%Climb walls 50%

Once per day, domain lords and freedomfighters can dimension dooror shadowwalk (at the 10th level of ability), movingalong the edges of the land’s shadows tocover great distances quickly. Freedomfighters, who use this ability often, knowthe terrain of the Shadow World betterthan any other native creatures (except,perhaps, the seelie faeries).

Living in the eternal twilight of theShadow World has caused all native vari-eties of halflings to develop infravision(out to 60 feet).

The most powerful halflings are thosewho have learned to use the Seeming totheir benefit. Domain lords wield it togreat effect and often use it to keep theirsubjects in line. They are not quite asgood, however, at penetrating the illu-sions of others—their perceptions areskewed by years of seeing the world theway they want to see it and forcing it toconform to their wills.

Freedom fighters, by contrast, havehad to learn to look past the Seeming inorder to survive. They have not fully mas-tered manipulation of it (except thosewho once were slaves), but work to im-prove their understanding so they can usethe Seeming toward more noble endsthan do the domain lords.

34

Slaves, having grown up in a worldpermeated by the Seeming, possess apassing familiarity with it. They use theirslight abilities as a means of escapism, away to make their existences not quite sogloomy. Some domain lords turn a blind

eye to the harmless illusions generated byslaves, such as the appearance of a feastto mask a meager meal. Others forbid useof any Seeming abilities, consideringthem a means of empowerment that mustbe denied on any level.

35

Domain lord Slave Freedom FighterCLIMATE/TERRAIN: Woodlands, hills, Slave communities Slave communities,

forestsFREQUENCY: Rare Common UncommonORGANIZATION: Solitary Community BandACTIVITY CYCLE: Day Day NocturnalDIET: Omnivore Omnivore OmnivoreINTELLIGENCE: Very (11–12) Average (8–10) High (13–14)TREASURE: W (G) J (0x3, Q) K, M (Px3, W)ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil Lawful neutral Chaotic good

NO. APPEARING: 1 1–10 (20–200) 1–12ARMOR CLASS: 7 (10) 10 7 (10)MOVEMENT: 6 6 6HIT DICE: 6 (d6) 1 (d6) 4 (d6)THAC0: 18 20 17NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 1 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon or spell 1d4 By weaponSPECIAL ATTACKS: Seeming None Backstab, SeemingSPECIAL DEFENSES: Seeming None SeemingMAGIC RESISTANCE: None None NoneSIZE: S (4' tall) S (3' tall) S (3'6" tall)MORALE: Elite (13–14) Unsteady (5–7) Champion (15–16)

BLOODLINE: Azrai, tainted None NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: (1) Long life, None None

Persuasion, orResistance

PERCEPTION/SEEMING: Lesser/Greater Slight/Slight Greater/LesserXP VALUE: 2,000 65 650

◆

Riders emerged out of the twilight. As theycame closer, I thought I recognized them asorogs mounted on their hideous lizards. Butas they neared, I realized they weren’t likeany orogs I had ever seen in Cerilia.

—Kaiana, 1377 HC

◆

M o re than two millennia ago, even beforethe first Adurian tribes fled to Cerilia’ss h o res, Azrai hand-picked twelve vile hu-mans and instructed them in the arts ofdark sorc e ry. These most exalted of theEvil One’s servants fought on his side inthe battle at Mount Deismaar. The forc eof that cataclysm blasted the sorc e re r sinto the Shadow World. In Cerilia, whereno one knew what had happened to them,these wizards became known as the Lost.

The minions of the Lost are formerhumans, humanoids, and demihumanstransformed into new races. These racesexist solely to serve their evil creators.

While each race of minions has its ownunique appearance, all minions retain char-acteristics of their former races (human,elven, goblin, giant, etc.). Some of theseattributes are physical, such as build oracute senses. Some are mental, such asintelligence. All minions speak the lan-guage of their race of origin.

The minion races are too numer-ous to list here in full, but they in-

clude the following:

HALFLING SPAWNMany evil denizens of the

Shadow World have en-slaved the native

halflings, but onlythe Lost

h a v e

monstrously mutated the race. Severalmembers of the Lost have created theirown unique breeds of halfling spawn. Thoseof Macchius sport monkey tails, unusuallylong and sinuous arms, and clawed pawsthat allow the halfling spawn to swing fro mt rees and move quickly through the dense,gnarled forests of the Shadow World.

MASETIAN SPAWNThe Mount Deismaar cataclysm obliter-ated most Masetians from the face of Cer-ilia, but some found themselves in theShadow World. One member of the Lostfound this race ideal as servants—with afew adjustments. Masetian spawn retaintheir human bodies and swarthy coloringbut bear the heads, agility, and senses ofSiamese cats. (Ironically, these minionscame into being accidently when their cre-ator's familiar strayed into a magical exper-iment the spellcaster was conducting on aMasetian. The resulting feline humanoidexhibited such superior senses and stealththat the wizard bred dozens of litters tos e rve as spies.) Masetian spawn can sneakthrough the Shadow World’s murky twi-light better than many native races.

OROG SPAWNWhen a raiding party of Cerilian oro g sc h a rged right through a portal and intothe Shadow World, several members ofthe Lost found the vicious, battle-mindedrace worth studying. In the years since,several varieties of orog minions haveevolved, including one that crosses theo rogs with their signature mounts. Thesecentaurlike spawn have the upper torsosof orogs and the bodies of giant lizard s .

The Lost are among the strongest and mostimportant denizens of the Shadow World.They have had 2,000 years to amass power,knowledge, and followers. The first, theyseized; the second, they researched. Thethird, they created for themselves.

The minions of the Lost are thosec re a t u res who—willingly or unwillingly—s e rve the twelve evil wizards. A part ymight encounter them on their own asthey complete a task for their master, orcharacters might have to battle their wayt h rough the minions to get to the master.

36

Minions live in small communities, usuallywithin their masters’ compounds (as someof the Lost have found their way back intoCerilia, they have brought their minionswith them). They are monitored by an over-seer or warden; sometimes this individual isa member of the minions’ own race whohas gained the trust of the wizard.

An individual member of the Lost mayhave multiple races of minions as ser-vants. Occasionally, fights break outamong the different races—but punish-ment is swift and memorable enough thatsuch incidents are rare.

The first minions were the result of magi-cal experimentation. Each member of theLost sought to create his or her own fol-lowers, and tried different approaches ondifferent creatures until each developedthe “perfect” minion to suit individualtaste.

Once a significant number of minionsof each race were created, they began tobreed. Each race’s population now sup-ports itself, under the watchful eye of itscreator. Like any slavemaster, the wizardencourages enough reproduction to pro-vide a steady supply of servants, butkeeps the population small enough to pre-vent uprisings. The harsh life of enslave-ment to an evil master serves as its ownpopulation check, as it results in a low lifeexpectancy: about one-fifth that of theminion’s race of origin.

Most minions are omnivores. Thosegenerated from races that have more lim-ited diets (such as vegetarian elves or car-nivorous goblins) retain those dietary re-strictions.

Shades (see separate entry) are anothertype of Lost minion. Unlike the “spawn”minions, shades may be used by any mem-ber of the Lost, and cannot re p ro d u c e .The Lost also summon monsters from thisplane and beyond to do their bidding.

Other types of creatures, such as theawnsheghlien, also create and/or enslaveminions.

Encounters with minions of the Lost varydepending on the type of minion involved.

Halfling spawn wear leather armor to pro-vide enough freedom of movement toswing from tree branches. This choice ofa rmor also enables them to gain the advan-tage of surprise in many encounters: Oppo-nents suffer a –4 penalty to surprise ro l l s .

These minions attack with slings andthrown missiles from a distance, and withtheir claws at close range. Like ordinaryhalflings, the spawn gain a +1 bonus to at-tacks with missiles. In melee, these min-ions swipe with their claws for 1d4 pointsof damage each.

During hand-to-hand combat, halflingspawn attempt to strangle their oppo-nents with their long, muscular tails. Asuccessful “hit” means the minion haswrapped its tail around a victim’s throat.Each round that the choke hold remainsin effect, the victim suffers 1d8 points ofdamage and must succeed at a savingthrow vs. paralyzation or lose conscious-ness for 1d4 turns.

Halfling spawn enjoy a +2 bonus tosaving throws vs. poison, wands, staves,rods, and spells.

Masetian spawn have acute sensesthat allow them to be surprised on only a1 or 2. In addition, opponents suffer a –3penalty to surprise rolls. These minionscan use any missile or melee weaponordinary Cerilian humans do. They canalso bite for 1d6 points of damage.

The natural agility of Masetianspawn enables them to movesilently (50%), hide in shadows(45%), detect noise (45%), andclimb walls (90%) per thethief abilities.

Orog spawnhave thick, hairyhide instead ofordinaryskin

37

on their torsos, which grants them anArmor Class of 5 on their upper bodiesthat matches the AC 5 of their lizardlower bodies. Most orog spawn weararmor, however, to bring their upperbody Armor Class to 3.

These minions favor axes, cross-bows, heavy long swords, maces, andpolearms. Their strength grants thema +2 damage bonus to attacks made

with these weapons. Bright sun-light blinds and nauseates orog

spawn, inflicting a –3 penalty toattack and saving throws.

Other types of minionscan enjoy a range of

special abilitiesand defenses,

depend-ing

on the type of acts their creator wishesthem to perform. Such attributes can in-clude character-class-specific abilitiessuch as spellcasting, thief skills, orweapon specialization. They can also in-clude special attack and defense modes(poison, paralyzation, regeneration, etc.).

Because minions of the Lost tend to beintelligent creatures, it is possible to con-verse with them. Minions, however, knowlittle of their masters’ plans beyond theimmediate task assigned to them.

Minions of the Lost generally develop atleast some ability to penetrate the Seem-ing. Only minions based on nativeShadow World races, however, have anyability to manipulate it.

38

Halfling Spawn Masetian Spawn Orog SpawnCLIMATE/TERRAIN: Cerilian or Shadow Shadow World Shadow World

World forestsFREQUENCY: Uncommon Rare RareORGANIZATION: Community Community CommunityACTIVITY CYCLE: Day Day AnyDIET: Omnivore Omnivore CarnivoreINTELLIGENCE: Average (8–10) Very (11–12) Low (5–7)TREASURE: J (O, P) K (M, P) J (O)ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil Lawful evil Chaotic evil

NO. APPEARING: 3–24 (10–100) 3–24 (10–100) 3–24 (10–100)ARMOR CLASS: 6 8 (10) 3 (armored torso),

5 (lower body andunarmored torso)

MOVEMENT: 6, 12 in trees 12 12HIT DICE: 2 3 4+4THAC0: 19 18 17NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 (missile) or 1 1

3 (melee)DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon or By weapon or 1d6 By weapon +2

1d4/1d4/1d8SPECIAL ATTACKS: Strangle Bite NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: Resists poison See text NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: See text Nil NilSIZE: S (3' 6" tall) M (6' tall) H (7' tall, 20' long)MORALE: Average (8–10) Steady (11–12) Elite (13–14)

BLOODLINE: None None NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: None None NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: Middling/Lesser Lesser/None Slight/NoneXP VALUE: 270 175 270

◆

Of all the sinister, hideous creatures I en-countered while in the Shadow World, by farthe worst was a horror called the seemer. Itappeared to me as my own darling boy—only strangled and mutilated, and walkingwith the heavy, dull steps of the undead.

—Kaiana, 1377 HC

◆

Seemers are creatures who play upon thefears of those they encounter, makingthemselves appear to be whatever theirobservers most dread.

A seemer is a manifestation of the Seem-ing itself, a coalescence of the illusory en-ergies in a given area. A seemer can takeon the appearance and properties of anyliving entity, from a flea to a dragon tospecific individuals. Seemers can eventake on the forms of plants; multipleseemers, for example, together couldform an entire “forest.”

Seemers appear as their observers’worst fears. In an encounter with severalviewers, a single seemer may focus on theanxieties of only one character—appear-ing the same to all foes—or appear differ-ent to each individual, so that each mustface his or her own worst enemy.

Seemers enable the Dungeon Master toreally mess with the player characters’minds. They are one’s biggest nightmarescome to life, and nearly any cause of anxi-ety is fair game. PCs can suddenly findthemselves face to face with their worstenemies (dead or alive): individuals theymet in combat, neighboring regents whomake their lives difficult, awnsheghlienwho strike fear in the hearts of all Ceril-ians.

Or the seemer can take the form ofother fears. For example, an arachnopho-bic character can be apparently facedwith a giant spider (or a swarm of small

ones); a pyrophobic, a fire elemental; ahemophobic, a tidal wave of blood.

At the dawn of the Shadow World,seemers were very rare creatures of neu-tral alignment. The shapes they took werebased on observers’ psyches, but not nec-essarily their fears. As the Seeming grewmore powerful, seemers became moreplentiful. Unfortunately, during this evo-lution Azrai’s influence increasingly per-meated the Shadow World, corruptingparts of the Seeming and most of its man-ifestations. Though neutral seemers stillexist, the majority of the seemers alivetoday are evil in nature. Born of theShadow World itself, they seek to eradi-cate intruders.

A seemer springs into existence when theSeeming in a certain area becomes soconcentrated that its energies sponta-neously generate into life. The new crea-ture takes on the image of whatever livingentity it first sees, then quickly looksabout for nourishment.

Seemers feed off the psychic energy oftheir observers, using this sustenance toshape themselves accordingly. Becausedeep-rooted fears occupy a proportionallyhigh amount of a character’s subcon-scious, seemers seize upon those imagesand adopt them.

A seemer can detect a character’spsychic energy from a range of 500yards, enabling it to transform be-fore it is seen by a PC.

Seemers automatically at-tack any intelligentbeing they encounterwho is not nativeto the ShadowWorld.

39

Because the seemer embodies somethingpersonally fearful to the character, it auto-matically gains surprise unless the viewersucceeds at a saving throw vs. paralyza-tion.

The seemer fights with the weaponsand abilities normally associated with theentity it appears to be. Thus, a seemer inthe form of a fire elemental attacks withflaming limbs; one in the shape of agiant python has a constriction attack.

A “spellcaster” seemer uses the Seem-ing to create spell-like effects; these ex-clude abjuration and divination spells.“Fighters” use weapons fashioned fromthe Seeming. However, because theSeeming is not as hard as steel, as hot asflame, and so on, each attack inflicts amaximum of 2d6 points of damage—lessif the real form of attack inflicts less. Thusa seemer in the form of a huge spidercould inflict only 1d6 points of damage;one in the form of an orog with a longsword inflicts 1d8+2 points of damage.

Poisons, aging, level drains, and other“indirect” attacks have a placebo effect—the victims and their companions thinkthey suffer the effect, but it wears off in2d4 hours.

Seemers are corporeal and suffer nor-mal damage. They are sensitive to sun-light, suffering a –2 penalty to all attackand damage rolls in such conditions.

Noncombative encounters between aseemer and a visitor to the ShadowWorld are extremely rare. Native cre a-t u res with at least a greater Seemings c o re can converse with seemers. Thosewith an extraord i n a ry Seeming scorestand a chance (5% per 10 Seemingpoints) of winning a seemer’s coopera-tion for a brief period.

As children of the Seeming itself, seemershave extraordinary control over it. Theyhave trouble seeing past it, however, andtherefore have limited perception.

40

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow WorldFREQUENCY: RareORGANIZATION: Solitary or small

groupACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: Psychic energyINTELLIGENCE: High (13–14)TREASURE: NoneALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

NO. APPEARING: 1–10ARMOR CLASS: 4MOVEMENT: VariesHIT DICE: 9THAC0: 11NO. OF ATTACKS: VariesDAMAGE/ATTACK: Maximum of 2d6SPECIAL ATTACKS: SeemingSPECIAL DEFENSES: SeemingMAGIC RESISTANCE: NoneSIZE: AnyMORALE: Elite (13–14)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: Slight/Extra-

ordinaryXP VALUE: 2,000

◆

As I stared into the dark, tangled forest, de-spairing of ever finding my way through it, aslight movement caught the corner of my eye.A ripple seemed to pass through the forest,as if a breeze fluttered a sheer curtain hang-ing between me and the gnarled trees.

I blinked, then peered more closely. But thephenomenon—whatever it was—had passed.

—Kaiana, 1377 HC

◆

Seeming walkers are chameleonlike cre a-t u res that “wade” through the Seeming,camouflaged by the illusions then in eff e c t .

Nobody is entirely sure what a Seemingwalker re a l l y looks like. It’s often perc e i v e das a ripple in another image as the Seem-ing walker moves through it, like a stage-hand brushing up on a scenery curt a i n .

Sages believe that, stripped of theSeeming’s shroud, Seeming walkers areugly little creatures. Full-grown walkersare believed to stand 4 feet tall, havewrinkled green skin covered with thin yel-lowish fur, and bear only a few tufts ofhair on turnip-shaped heads. They aresaid to have thin arms and legs, with anopposable thumb and two large fingers oneach hand, and three toes per foot. Thisdescription, however, is mere speculationand has never been reliably confirmed.

Seeming walkers tend to mind their ownbusiness, moving through Shadow Worldt e rrain in pursuit of their own simple goalsand not taking an interest in the larger,m o re worldly affairs of other inhabitants.

H o w e v e r, because they move thro u g hthe illusions woven by the Shadow Wo r l d ’sp o w e rful denizens, Seeming walkers inad-v e rtently bear witness to major events andconversations. Akin to the proverbial “flyon the wall,” a Seeming walker could re l a t efascinating stories—provided the would-belistener managed to track one down.

Solitary creatures by nature, Seemingwalkers wander in search of a “comfort-able” illusion in which to dwell for a time.They prefer environmental manifestationsof the Seeming—passive, semipermanentillusions that cloak the landscape—as op-posed to the more active manipulationswrought by Shadow World denizens whocan control the Seeming. Seeming walkersgenerally remain in a passive illusion forseveral weeks unless disturbed (the illu-sion shifts, or a character penetrates it).

Seeming walkers travel from place toplace through the Seeming, often usingactive manipulations as “bridges” betweenpassive illusions. Thus, observant charac-ters facing a large dragon might notice aripple pass along its belly—evidence thatthe formidable beast is just an illusion.

Though Seeming walkers create rippleswhile traveling through the Seeming, theyhave little other effect on the environmentand leave behind no evidence of their pass-ing. They dine on broken illusions—piecesof images shattered by a perceptive charac-t e r’s ability to penetrate the Seeming. Whenthey die, the Seeming absorbs their bodies.

Though many Seeming walkers exist in theShadow World, encounters with them arer a re, and combat rarer still. Because aSeeming walker needs active uses of theSeeming in order to travel, it uncon-sciously exerts an effect on encountersbetween other parties in order to sus-tain the tension between them.Should the active Seeming face at h reat of exposure, the pre s e n c eof a Seeming walker temporar-ily boosts the Seeming score sof all involved cre a t u res by10 points (provided thec re a t u res have atleast slight Seem-ing to beginw i t h ) .

41

A Seeming walker can create this boostup to three times per encounter. So, eachtime an active use of the Seeming starts tofalter or the encounter to resolve itself, theactive Seeming increases. The effect canoccur even within cooperating parties; char-acters start believing their companions arebehaving suspiciously, when in fact theya re merely going about their business.

Seeming walkers don’t wish to harmanyone with this unintentional escala-tion—they merely need to keep theSeeming active as long as possible.

Seeming walkers usually passright by others undetected.

If spotted (as a ripple),they hold still, attempt-

ing to camouflagethemselves within

the Seeming.

If a Seeming walker is attacked or theSeeming is penetrated by some othermeans, the illusions around the creatureshatter. The Seeming walker is extremelyvulnerable in this state; its movement ratedrops to 3 and its armor class shifts to 10.In addition, the creature loses 1d8 hitpoints per day that it remains exposed toview. It will beg for its freedom andpromise nearly anything in exchange.(See “Peaceful Encounters,” below.)

Should combat prove inevitable, thecreature uses the shards of shattered illu-sions as missile weapons, hurling them to-ward opponents. The Seeming shards cre-ate random illusions when they hit a tar-get or the ground. Damage is based onthe nature of the illusion created (see re-strictions for the seemer). DMs may se-lect the illusions themselves, or allow theshards to function like a deck of illusions.Seeming walkers use the chaos created bythe illusions to attempt escape.

Seeming walkers avoid encounters withothers if at all possible. Painfully self-con-scious, they cannot bear to be looked at orbe near someone who knows they exist.

If captured, a Seeming walker negoti-ates for its freedom—all the while duckingits head and trying to shrink from view. Ito ffers nearly anything in its possession,f rom information to spare Seemings h a rds. Failing that, the cre a t u re watchesfor opportunities to use shards to cre a t edistractions that enable it to slip away.

Seeming walkers have extraordinary per-ception, which grants them the ability tonavigate through the Seeming.

While Seeming walkers have a greaterSeeming score, it represents only howhigh a character’s perception must be tospot a Seeming walker’s rippling move-ments. A viewer’s perception score mustexceed a Seeming walker’s Seeming scoreby at least 20 points before its true ap-pearance is revealed.

Though Seeming walkers possess aunique ability to use the Seeming as amedium for travel, they cannot otherwisemanipulate it.

42

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: The SeemingFREQUENCY: RareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: Active SeemingDIET: Broken illusionsINTELLIGENCE: Very (11–12)TREASURE: NoneALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 5 (10)Movement: 3, 12 in SeemingHIT DICE: 3THAC0: 17NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: See textSPECIAL ATTACKS: Seeming shardsSPECIAL DEFENSES: Seeming camou-

flage; immune toillusions, charms

MAGIC RESISTANCE: NoneSIZE: S (4' tall)MORALE: Unreliable (2–4)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: Extraordinary/

GreaterXP VALUE: 420

◆

T h e re ’s a cre a t u re said to walk among us—”shades,” they call them. The beings look likehumans, talk like humans, walk like humans.But inside, there ’s nothing human about them.

—Halden, Faylene’s grandson, 1467 HC

◆

Shades are former humans transformedinto cre a t u res of shadow. They move fre e l yt h rough both the Shadow World and Cer-ilia, doing the bidding of their evil masters.

Shades bear such a strong resemblance tohumans that the cre a t u res are often mis-taken for them. Most shades appear ashumans of their former physical heightand appearance, but with grayish or nearlyblack dusky skin and veiled eyes. Theyfavor somber clothing and wear armor ifthey so desire, provided it does not inter-f e re with any spellcasting abilities theymay possess. Shades can speak as manylanguages as their intelligence allows, buthave no special language of their own. Allshades speak their native human tongue.

Created by evil wizards, shades exist toserve their masters as slaves. Though anyevil mage with enough experience and re-sources can transform someone into ashade, few meet these qualifications.Most of those who do dwell in theShadow World. Shades are favorite min-ions among the land’s powerful denizens.

Should player characters encounter ahigh-level evil wizard, they could wind upin danger of becoming shades themselves.

Shades tend toward taciturn dispositionsand prefer solitude. They live primarily inthe Shadow World. Though some shadesstill maintain strong connections withtheir former abodes in Cerilia, most un-derwent their transformations so long agothat they have almost forgotten their lives

as mortals. Such shades find many hu-mans’ urgent concerns trivial. They mayeven have difficulty concentrating on theconversations of mortals addressing them,having grown used to ignoring people andthings that do not interest them.

Shades spend a great deal of time re-turning to Cerilia, much more so thanmany other creatures of the ShadowWorld. They do so under the direction oftheir evil masters—many of whom cannotor prefer not to make the crossing them-selves. These lords send them on missionsto gather information, retrieve powerfulitems, kidnap or kill important (or seem-ingly unimportant) beings, protect a cer-tain location, or perform some other task.

Human beings become shades when wiz-a rds use powerful magic (see spell descrip-tion, below) to replace their spirits withthe stuff of shadows. Most undergo thist r a n s f o rmation involuntarily, though a fewpeople sworn to the cause of evil havebeen known to submit freely. The processconfers upon subjects virtual immortality(shades die only if slain and preventedf rom regenerating), but leaves them sterile.

◆

Create ShadeAlteration

Level: 9Range: SpecialComponents: V, S, MCasting Time: 1 dayDuration: InstantaneousArea of Effect: 1 beingSaving Throw: None

This powerful spell infuses onebeing with shadowstuff from theShadow World and transformsthat individual into a shade.The subject must be a sin-gle-classed human ordemihuman of atleast 10th level.Only afree-willedwizard

43

can cast this spell successfully.The casting of this spell is a long, deli-

cate, and highly complex procedure. Thecaster and the subject must not be dis-turbed at all, or else the spell will fail. Ad-ditionally, the wizard must cast summonshadow, shadow walk, gate,and perma-nencyupon the subject for the transfor-mation to succeed. Upon completion ofall the castings, the subject must survive asystem shock roll.

A 25% bonus can be added to this ro l lif this spell is cast in the Shadow World it-self. A percentile roll less than or equal tothe survival chance indicates that the sub-ject has been transformed successfully intoa shade. Failure means that the subjectdissolves away into Shadow, lost fore v e r.Not even a w i s hcan recover the subject.

It is possible for the subject to underg oan alignment change by this spell (seetable, below). A w i s hspell can prevent anychange in alignment. After the spell is cast,the wizard loses 1d6 Constitution pointsand loses consciousness for 1d8 days. Heor she also ages five years if using a w i s hspell to prevent an alignment change.

1d10 Alignment Result1 Stays the same2–4 Moves a step toward true neutral5–7 Moves a step toward evil8–9 Becomes true neutral10 Becomes neutral evil.

The material components for this spellare 5 GB worth of powdered onyx, 5 GBworth of powdered diamond, and a chipof Azrai’s sielshegh(see The Book ofMagecraft). The powdered onyx and di-amond are consumed during the cast-ing, while the chip of bloodstonedraws forth the necessary amounts

of shadowstuff and awnmebhaighlfrom the Shadow World.

◆

Shades eat much thesame diet as they did

while mortal, butapparently re-

ceive

some nourishment from shadow itself; noaccounts exist of any of captive shades(for what little time they were captured)starving or becoming malnourished forlack of food and water. Shades do not cre-ate an uneasy reaction in animals, as domany unnatural creatures; quite to thecontrary, they seem to be ignored by crea-tures of lesser intelligence, perceived sim-ply as shadows rather than as living be-ings.

Demihumans who become shadesfunction as described here, though theirappearance suggests their former race. Adwarven shade, for example, might ap-pear very stout. There are very few demi-human shades compared to the numberof apparently human shades.

A shade appears in “Courting Danger.”

Shades, by their nature, have an affinity forshadow, and behave differently dependingon the degree of shadow they occupy.

Shades become fairly weak when exposedto unrelieved light or complete darkness,but prove formidable when in shadows.Their varying capabilities are describedbelow, and also listed in the Shade AbilitySummary Table for ease of reference.

No Shadows (Cerilia): The shade is sur-rounded by multiple light sources: withina magical light or darkness spell, in aroom cut off from all light sources (com-plete darkness), or in the open on abright, clear day. The shade suffers thesepenalties:◆ All the shade’s senses function at half

the human norm.◆ Base movement rate reduced to 12.◆ -2 hit points per hit die (minimum 1

point per die).◆ -4 saving throw penalty.

Weak Shadows (Cerilia): These lightingconditions include outdoors at dawn ortwilight, in the woods on a bright day, in

44

average indoor light, or outdoors on amoonless or overcast night. The shadefunctions normally in most respects, en-joying acute eyesight and hearing. Theshade inflicts a -1 penalty on an oppo-nent’s surprise rolls.

Strong Shadows (Cerilia): The shade en-joys the following advantages outdoors atnight or in dim indoor light:◆ Highly acute eyesight and hearing

equal to twice the human norm.◆ +1 hit point per Hit Die.◆ +2 to surprise rolls, -2 to opponent’s

surprise rolls.◆ Base movement rate of 15.◆ +1 to all saving throws, attack rolls, and

damage rolls; all such rolls madeagainst the shade suffer a -1 penalty(minimum 1 point of damage per die).

◆ Magic resistance equal to 2% per HitDie or level of experience (but nevermore than 40%).

◆ Invisibility once per turn, maximum du-ration 1 hour per use.

◆ Slight ability to manipulate the Seem-ing while in Cerilia.

◆ The ability to regenerate 1 hit point aturn. The shade can regenerate severedlimbs if the lost limb is pressed againstthe stump, but cannot regenerate itshead if decapitated.

Shadow World: As the Shadow World isa shade’s home terrain, its abilities arestrongest there. While in the ShadowWorld, a shade enjoys:◆ Highly acute eyesight and hearing

equal to twice the human norm. Theshade sees through shadows as well asa human sees in broad daylight. Anyhide in shadows attempts (except byother shades) automatically fail with re-spect to the shade.

◆ +3 hit points per Hit Die.◆ +3 to surprise rolls, -3 to opponent’s

surprise rolls.◆ Base movement rate of 18 and the abil-

ity to make a controlled blink onceevery two rounds. This ability allowsthe shade to appear in any very shad-owy area within 100 yards and attack,use an ability, or cast a spell after it ap-pears. The shade never appears inside asolid object.

◆ +3 to all saving throws, attack rolls, anddamage rolls; all such rolls made

against the shade suffer a -3 penalty(minimum 1 point of damage perdie).

◆ Magic resistance equal to 3% perHit Die or level of experience(but never more than 70%).

◆ Middling ability to manipu-late the Seeming.

◆ The ability to createquasi-real images oncean hour. This abilityis similar to ademishadowmonstersspell

45

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow World,Cerilia

FREQUENCY: Very rareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: Any (SW); Twi-

light/night (Cer-ilia)

DIET: OmnivoreINTELLIGENCE: Low to Genius

(5–18)TREASURE: K, M, N, or WALIGNMENT: Any nongood

NO. APPEARING: 1–2ARMOR CLASS: 10 (or by armor

type)Movement: 15HIT DICE: 10THAC0: 11NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon (usu-

ally 1d8)SPECIAL ATTACKS: Seeming, sur-

priseSPECIAL DEFENSES: Seeming, blink,

regenerationMAGIC RESISTANCE: VariableSIZE: M (avg. 6’ tall)MORALE: Elite (13–14)

BLOODLINE: None (lost dur-ing transforma-tion)

BLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: Lesser /Varies

with location XP VALUE: 6,000

cast at the shade’s level (or 2nd level,whichever is better), except that 1d4duplicates of the shade appear. Theshade has mental control over the du-plicates.

◆ The ability to regenerate 3 hit points around, with the limitations noted aboveunder the regeneration ability forstrong shadows.

◆ The ability to teleport without error toanywhere in the Shadow World onceper day.

peaceful encountersNoncombative encounters with shadesare possible. Characters should find themreluctant to converse (unless a shade is it-self digging for information) and unwilling

to disclose any details about themselves.ost shades PCs meet have tasks to fulfillfor their masters; they have little time totarry and even less inclination to divulgethe details of their nature or activities.

perception and/or seemingThe longer they have been shades, themore these creatures know about theShadow World and the more they canpenetrate its Seeming. Shades average alesser perception score, though very newshades have lower scores and old shadeshave higher scores.

Shades’ Seeming abilities vary with lo-cation and lighting conditions (see “Com-bat”).

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shade ability summary tableThe table below presents the varying abilitiesof shades based on the amount of ambientshadow present.

Lighting Senses MR Attack/ SavingConditions (re: Human) MV hp (Max.) Surprise Damage Throw Magic/SeemingNo shadows 1/2 12 –2/die Nil — — –4 —Weak shadows 1 15 Normal Nil –12 — 0 —Strong shadows 2 15 +1/die 2%/level (40%) +23 +13 +1 slight Seeming, re-

generate 1/turn,invisibility 1 hour

Shadow World 21 18 +3/die 3%/level (70%) +33 +33 +3 middling Seeming,quasi-images, blink1/2 rounds, regen-erate 3/round, tele-port 1/day

1 See in shadows as human in full daylight. Non-shade thieves in shadows are seen clearly.2 Opponents have a –1 penalty to their surprise rolls.3 Opponents have an opposite bonus or penalty of the same magnitude. For example, in strong shadows, a shade has

a +1 attack bonus, while its opponents have an attack penalty of –1. Hit dice are not reduced below 1 hit point/die;damage rolls are not reduced below 1.

◆

Our new acquaintance said he would ridealong with us as far as Aberannwn. Iglanced around for his mount, but saw none.

He whistled. I listened expectantly forthe soft thump of hooves hitting the groundas his horse trotted out from wherever he hadleft it.

Instead, a shape began to form out ofthe shadows. The twilight itself seemed to co-alesce, taking on the figure of a large stal-lion.

I blinked. Surely my eyes were deceivingme.

—Halden, 1467 HC

◆

Shadow steeds are stallions made of shad-owstuff—the shadows, twilight, and miststhat permeate the Shadow World and helpcreate its sinister atmosphere.

The color of shadow steeds varies fromlight gray to black. The mounts are incor-poreal but opaque, like a heavy fog. Dueto the eternal twilight that enshrouds theShadow World, these stallions often blendright into the landscape.

From a distance, their riders fre-quently look as if they’re floating throughthe air. But up close, observers can seethe glow of their pupilless eyes, the thicktendrils that form their manes, their whip-like tails, and the sharp, semi-corporealhooves that hammer on the ground. Andanyone unfortunate enough to receive akick from one of those hooves feels forceequal to that of a flesh-and-blood stallionbehind it.

Shadow steeds serve as mounts for manydenizens of the Shadow World, includingriders of the Wild Hunt, the queens of theSeelie and Unseelie Courts, and the ColdRider himself.

Each shadow steed is individually coa-lesced and shaped from shadowstuff byits master, a process which allows therider to tailor the horse to his or her spe-cific needs and preferences. As mountand rider become more used to eachother, the stallion learns to make adjust-ments of its own. Their relationship be-comes symbiotic, with the two seeming tofunction as a single entity.

When not in use, the steed diffuses backinto the twilight until called again by itsmaster. The stallion need not reappearwhere its rider last “left” it: a shadowsteed can rematerialize in any shadowy ortwilight area of the Shadow World (whichmeans nearly anywhere, except a regionartificially illuminated by light or someother means).

While repeated interaction with its mastermakes each shadow steed unique, it issaid that the Cold Rider’s mount makesall others look like trick ponies. Popularbelief credits his stallion with abilities farsurpassing those of ordinary shadowsteeds. In fact, some hypothesize that theCold Rider and his mount don’t merelywork as one: They are one.

As shadow steeds are essentially warhorses, characters are far more likelyto encounter them in combat thanin other situations.

Shadow steeds are mountsw o rthy of the powerful rid-ers they bear. In battle,they can fight betterthan the best-trained Cerilianwar horses.

47

A shadow steed fights by kicking withits front or rear hooves, for 1d10 points

of damage per hoof. It also uses one addi-tional form of attack. If the stallion’s op-ponent is behind it, it uses its whipliketail to strike for 1d4 points of damage; ifthe foe is in front of it, the destrier bitesfor 1d8 points of damage.

If given an opportunity to charge, ashadow steed can attempt to trample anopponent for 2d6 points of damage.

Magical and silver weapons inflict fulldamage on shadow steeds. All otherweapons inflict half damage.

As creatures of shadow and twilight,shadow steeds are vulnerable to bright light.L i g h tand continual lightinflict 1d8 points ofdamage and blind the mount. S u n r a y i n j u re sthe stallion as if it were undead.

Shadow steeds are never encounteredwithout their masters. If a rider is en-gaged in a peaceful encounter with char-acters, his or her mount waits patiently,snorting or nickering if it senses the pres-ence of someone (or something) its mas-ter would consider a foe.

The ability to see through the Seemingenables a shadow steed to aid its rider.Riders with lower perception scores thantheir horses have been known to chargeheadlong into apparent danger, placingtheir trust entirely in their mounts.

48

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow World; Cerilia within 100’ of a portal

FREQUENCY: RareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: NilINTELLIGENCE: Low (5–7)TREASURE: NilALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 0MOVEMENT: 24HIT DICE: 7THAC0: 13NO. OF ATTACKS: 3DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1 d 1 0 / 1 d 1 0 / 1 d 4 / 1 d 8

( k i c k / k i c k / t a i l / b i t e )SPECIAL ATTACKS: TrampleSPECIAL DEFENSES: Half damage from

all but magical orsilver weapons

MAGIC RESISTANCE: NilSIZE: L (6–7’ at shoul-

der)MORALE: Champion (15–16)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePE R C E P T I O N/ SE E M I N G:Middling/NoneXP VALUE: 1,400

◆

The cwn annwn had me in its jaws—burningme with its fire, raking me with its claws,and shaking me until I dropped my bow.Alderic could not help me—another beasthad him pinned to the ground. Our elvencompanion was already slain. I knew in thatmoment, with sickening certainty, my sonand I were going to die.

S u d d e n l y, the hound released me with ahowl of pain. It turned and growled. Behindit stood a ghostly warr i o r. Dressed in arc h a i ca rm o r, the knight attacked the cwn annwnwith a sword bathed in mystical light.

With the aid of this surprise ally, wemanaged to slay the hounds. Before wecould thank our rescuer, however, he disap-peared into the night.

—Faylene, 1420 HC

◆

Shadow warriors are spirits of noble Ceril-ians who fight on behalf of good in theShadow World. Killed trying to defend theirland from shadow incursions, they nowcontinue their battle from the other side.

Shadow warriors look as they did in life. Be-cause many of these spirits died long ago,often they wear antiquated armor and cloth-ing. In the Shadow World, shadow warr i o r sa re transparent until they engage in combat;then they become semicorpore a l .

At portal openings in Cerilia, shadoww a rriors are invisible; only characters withmiddling or better perception can see orhear them. To such a perceptive character,the warriors appear transpare n t .

Shadow warriors keep all abilities, skills,languages, and knowledge they had in life.

Only rarely do player characters find them-selves opposing shadow warriors in com-bat. Usually, these spirits interact with PCsas transient allies, appearing unexpectedlyduring Shadow World battles where thef o rces of good are in danger of losing. They

might also appear in Cerilia at portal open-ings, perhaps to offer warn i n g s .

Though shadow warriors will speak tog o o d-aligned characters, they do not con-verse long and are highly unlikely to enterinto any kind of formal alliance or cooper-ative agreement. The spirits should beused as momentary sources of inform a t i o nor aid, not as auxiliary party members.

Prince Eyrmin, a former member of theSielwode’s royal family, leads the shadowwarriors. The elven prince died severalcenturies ago driving a lich-lord out of theSielwode and back into the ShadowWorld. When the portal closed, trappinghim and 50 other spirit warriors on thewrong side, the elves vowed to fight forthe cause of light in their new, dark home.Since then, more spirits (demihuman andhuman) have joined their ranks.

The prince has 15 Hit Dice and car-ries a powerful magical sword, Deathirst(details on page 51).

The warriors canvas the Shadow Wo r l din small bands, offering aid where they canand collecting information to re p o rt to theprince. Any band of 10 or more warr i o r sincludes a 12 HD lieutenant; the princealso has three 13 HD captains among theranks. Occasionally, the bands come to-gether for larg e-scale assaults on oneShadow World denizen or another. ButE y rmin realizes that their numbers are toosmall to take on all the Shadow Wo r l d ’smany evils, so rather than engaging in fu-tile suicide missions, the spirit warr i o r sfocus their eff o rts on smaller skirm i s h e sin which they can make a diff e re n c e .

The shadow warriors maintain as e c ret headquarters deep within oneof the Shadow Wo r l d ’s manyf o rests. Each band of warriors re-t u rns there once every two tofour months to re p o rt newsand activities and, whenn e c e s s a ry, receive newi n s t ructions. A 25%chance exists offinding theprince thereat any

49

given time; more often than not, he is pa-t roling along with his troops. During thep r i n c e ’s absences, one of his captainsoversees the command post.

Should the scattered bands need tocommunicate quickly over distances, theyuse a system of high-pitched whistles un-detectable to mortal ears.

The original 50 shadow warriors began asspirits trapped on Aebrynis after theirdeaths. When Eyrmin (with the help ofhis son) freed their essences during a bat-tle at a portal, they chose to follow himinto the Shadow World and make hiscause their own.

New shadow warriors come into beingwhen a champion of strong moral characterdies trying to defend his or her homelandf rom a shadow incursion. Not every fighterwho dies in such a manner becomes ashadow warrior: The choice is a consciousone. Only those whose dedication to Cer-ilia surpasses even death itself join thesenoble ranks. For that reason, most shadoww a rriors were once scions or elves. Thoughthey lost any bloodlines at death, their mys-tical connection to the land and drive to de-fend it continues beyond the grave.

When a shadow warrior is “killed,” itsspirit fades from the Shadow World andat last enjoys the peaceful afterlife dic-tated by its culture of origin.

The BIRTHRIGHT novel Greathearttells thestory of Prince Eyrmin, Deathirst,andthe original shadow warriors.

Player characters should hopetheir encounters with shadow

w a rriors are peaceful ones, forthe ghostly knights pro v e

themselves form i d a b l eopponents in battle.

After a skirm i s h ,they may

s t i c k

a round, attempting to glean inform a t i o nf rom those they have helped, or they maysimply disappear into the eternal twilight.

Shadow warriors will not aid partieswith even one evil-aligned character amongthem, no matter what the circ u m s t a n c e s .

Shadow warriors’ transparency and abilityto move silently enable them to gain sur-prise 90% of the time. As these warriorshave considerable experience fighting cre a-t u res of the Shadow World, they often canpenetrate an opponent’s Seeming or alre a d yknow a monster’s weakness and adjust theirtactics accord i n g l y. If aiding an adventuringp a rt y, they may call out instru c t i o n s .

The fighters carry whatever weaponsthey died bearing. Because shadow war-riors generally are of noble birth and diedprepared to battle forces of the ShadowWorld, a majority of them hold magicalweapons. The DM may assign arms or usethe following table to determine eachshadow warrior’s weapon.

1d10 Weapon1 short sword of quickness2 long sword +23–4 long sword +15–6 long bow +17–8 nonmagical long bow9–10 nonmagical sword

The three captains carry a two-handedsword +3;a sword, +4 defender;and a longsword +2, +3 vs. magic-using and enchantedcreaturesrespectively. Lieutenants bear ei-ther a sword of sharpness(66% chance) ora crossbow of accuracy, +3(34% chance).

Shadow warriors can be hit only by sil-ver or magical weapons. They are immuneto poison, paralyzation, sleep, charm , a n dall but the most powerful illusion spells(sixth level or higher). Their long re s i-dence in a land of eternal twilight andcountless battles against Shadow Wo r l devils, however, have taken their toll: Thefighters have become especially vulnerableto priest spells of the sun sphere and wiz-a rd spells from the school of necro m a n c y.L i g h tand continual light(cast by priests orw i z a rds) and s u n r a yautomatically blindthe warriors (no saving throw); s u n r a ya l s oinflicts undead damage. Necro m a n c y

50

spells inflict double damage and impose a+2 saving throw penalty (in addition toany other penalties the spell may cause).

DEATHIRSTPrince Eyrmin carries the magical swordDeathirst,a powerful blade forged by thegods themselves in the days before theMount Deismaar cataclysm. Once an evilweapon used against him, in the prince’shands it has become a neutral instrument.

D e a t h i r s tis a vorpal sword +6,a bladeso sharp that it can literally cut thro u g hthe Seeming. When holding the sword, onesees opponents, events, and terrain as theyreally are, stripped of the Seeming’s mask-ing influence. In addition, the weapon cancut through the barrier between theShadow World and Cerilia, creating port a l sat the beare r’s will. A single word spokenby the owner closes the port a l .

The blade is a bastard sword inscribedwith dark, wicked runes. These runes seekto corrupt anyone who wields D e a t h i r s t, in-fusing the bearer with evil. Only Eyrm i nhas been able to withstand this corru p t i o n .

In evil hands, the weapon gains addi-tional abilities, becoming a s w o rd ofl i f e-stealing and wounding. It also incre a s e sits wielder’s Seeming score by 20 duringcombat; if the owner is blooded, the beare rreceives an additional major blood ability.

Deathirstwas forged simultaneouslywith Starfire,a blade created for the causeof good. Though centuries ago Starfirewas carried by Cald, Eyrmin’s adoptedhuman son, no one knows what has be-come of it since.

Initial encounters with shadow warr i o r stend to occur in combat situations. How-e v e r, occasionally circumstances pro m p tthe ghostly fighters to approach charactersfor other reasons. If sure of adventure r s ’nonevil alignment (through observation orinstinct), shadow warriors may offer warn-ings about something that lies ahead orseek information to broaden their ownknowledge of Shadow World happenings.

Most shadow warriors have resided in theShadow World for years (often centuries).

In addition, many encountered shadowc re a t u res and the Seeming while stillalive. This familiarity with the Seeminggrants shadow warriors greater perc e p-tion; a rare few (including the prince)have extraord i n a ry perc e p t i o n .

Though they are long-termresidents of the Shadow World,shadow warriors are diamet-rically opposed to theSeeming and thereforehave no ability to ma-nipulate it them-selves.

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CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow World;near portals inCerilia

FREQUENCY: RareORGANIZATION: Solitary or squadACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: NilINTELLIGENCE: Ve ry high (15–16)TREASURE: UALIGNMENT: Any nonevil

NO. APPEARING: 2–12ARMOR CLASS: 0MOVEMENT: 12HIT DICE: 11THAC0: 9NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weaponSPECIAL ATTACKS: NilSPECIAL DEFENSES: Surprise; silver or

magical weaponsto hit; immune topoison, paralyza-tion, most illusion spells, sleep, charm

MAGIC RESISTANCE: NilSIZE: M (6–7' tall)MORALE: Fearless (19–20)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: Greater/NoneXP VALUE: 6,000

Lieutenant 7,000Captain 8,000Prince 10,000

◆

The doors of the inn shivered at the violenceof the thunderstorm raging outside. As anicy draft licked the hearth flames, I gatheredmy cape more closely about me, thankful forthe comfort of the fire.

A gentleman across from me rose. “I’mgoing to check on my horse,” he said. “Shegets skittish in storms this loud.”

The innkeeper shook his head. “I wouldnot go outside, sir, were I you.”

The gentleman frowned. “Whyever not?”“’Tis near midnight, sir,” the innkeeper

said. “And the Host sounds angry tonight.”“Bah!” The noble waved his hand in dis-

dain as he headed out the door. “I fear nopeasant superstitions.”

We never saw him again.—Reganna, Halden’s daughter, 1499 HC

◆

The Sluagh (SLOO-ah), or the Host ofthe Unforgiven Dead, are the spirits ofCerilians who have died with unspeakablecrimes on their consciences. Rejected inthe afterlife by their gods for their trans-gressions, the Sluagh become trapped onAebrynis.

The Sluagh appear as vaporous appari-tions. Their heads and upper bodies,though composed of gray mist, retain ahuman shape—indeed, their facial fea-tures might be faintly recognizable tothose who knew them well. Their ex-pressions still hold the malice andcruelty they did in life.

Below the waist, the figurestaper off into foggy tendrils.

Were the spirits thatcomprise the Slu-

agh capableof re-

morse, they would not be sentenced tosuch a lousy way to spend eternity. Thegods, after all, were once themselves mor-tal—they understand mortal weakness,and they understand forgiveness. Butwhen death is the only reason an evil per-son stopped committing heinous acts, thegods feel quite justified in withholding thecompassion the deceased never showed.

The unforgiven dead are sentenced towalk the earth until they have made upfor their crimes. Unfortunately, those whomake up the Host just never get it. Theyfind fault with the gods for rejecting theminstead of looking inward with a criticaleye. They use their extended time on Cer-ilia as an opportunity to continue theplots and vendettas they began whilealive. And they enslave the living intoabetting their causes.

The Sluagh live in the great gray cloudsthat drift across Cerilia’s night skies.F rom there, they launch their attacks onthe living. The newly dead tend to focustheir ire on enemies they had as mor-t a l s — p a rticularly if their deaths occurre dat the hands of such enemies. As timepasses, however, this focused hatred ex-pands to encompass all the living, fro mp o w e rful kings to simple farmers todumb animals. Those caught outdoors atmidnight, be they men or beasts, riskd ropping dead—the victim of an invisibled a rt. When someone dies unexpectedly,f rom no apparent cause, the victim issaid to have caught the eye of the Host.

The Sluagh not only interf e re in the af-fairs of the living, but also fight amongthemselves. Folk wisdom says that par-ticularly violent storms indicate mightyclashes going on between factions of theSluagh. Occasionally, the morning aftersuch an event, their blood stains ro c k sand stones. The phenomenon is calledshegh nan sluagh,or “blood of the Host.”

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Though the Host of the Unforgiven Deadcan be deadly in missile combat, theyprove even more sinister in personal en-counters.

Typically, the only sign of an impendingSluagh attack are gathering cumulonim-bus clouds with high vertical develop-ment. The Host can easily hide them-selves in these clouds to gain surprise.

The Sluagh attack from the sky, hurl-ing their invisible darts at those below.Each dart inflicts 1d6 points of damage.Two to three minutes after being hit, vic-tims feel a burning poison (class B) entertheir veins and must attempt a savingthrow vs. poison for each hit. Failuremeans they suffer an additional 20 pointsof damage from the poison; success re-duces the damage to 1d3 points.

Because the Sluagh attack from such adistance (clouds tend to be at least half amile—880 yards—in elevation), they areout of range for nonmagical weapons andmany offensive spells. Dungeon Mastersmay allow characters to use battle spells(as described in The Book of Magecraftand The Book of Priestcraft) during com-bat with the Host.

By far the most insidious encounters withthe Sluagh come when they attempt todominate (per the dominationspell) acharacter’s will. Driven by vengeance, amember of the Host sometimes descendsfrom the clouds to speak to its victim. Themalevolent being addresses the characterin hypnotic, soothing tones to lower thevictim’s guard, then subjugates his or herwill. The master then uses the characterto carry out acts of vengeance against itsold enemies. Should the victim avoidbeing killed by those enemies for his orher actions, and live long enough for theeffects of the dominationto wear off, thecharacter must succeed at a system shockroll or die.

The Host of the Unforgiven Dead is athreat native to Cerilia, and therefore hasno Seeming score. Even if members of theSluagh adventured in the Shadow Worldwhile alive, upon death they lose any per-ception score they attained.

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CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Cerilia, near populated areas

FREQUENCY: RareORGANIZATION: HostACTIVITY CYCLE: Nocturnal, near

midnightDIET: NilINTELLIGENCE: Very (11–12)TREASURE: NilALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

NO. APPEARING: 1–20ARMOR CLASS: 0MOVEMENT: Fl 24 (B)HIT DICE: 8THAC0: 13NO. OF ATTACKS: 2DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6/1d6SPECIAL ATTACKS: Domination,

poisonSPECIAL DEFENSES: RangeMAGIC RESISTANCE: NilSIZE: L (10' tallMORALE: Elite (13–14)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: None/NoneXP VALUE: 4,000

◆

In Cerilia, legends tell of the Diabolyk’s fallat the hands of the Gorgon. Some doubtthat such a mighty awnshegh can truly bedead. They believe that he lies low some-where, biding his time until the day he willreappear.

I doubt no longer.I have seen the Diabolyk—or what I be-

lieve was once him. And if he was fearsomein life, he is even more horrific in undeath.

—Halden, 1467 HC

◆

Summoned by the Cold Rider to serve hisdark bidding in undeath, spectralawnsheghlien are the spirits of slainAbominations from the waking world. Attheir moments of death, the Cold Ridertrapped their essences in the ShadowWorld—it would be a shame, after all, tolet such pure, unmitigated evil merelyscatter to the winds.

Spectral awnsheghlien generally appear asthey did in life, only in semitransparentform. In combat, however, they can be-come corporeal at will.

Spectral awnsheghlien exist at the will(and the whim) of the Cold Rider.Among the most powerful of his min-ions, they act as he dictates; they use

their powers to forw a rd his goals.Characters, however, pro b a b l y

w o n ’t realize that a spectral awn-shegh they encounter serv e s

such a powerful master, un-less the DM chooses to

reveal this fact in thecourse of multiple

e n c o u n t e r s .

This creature provides the DM an op-portunity to bring back favorite major andminor awnsheghlien the charactersthought Cerilia was rid of for good—andnow the monsters are bigger, badder, andmeaner than before, thanks to the ColdRider’s dark gifts.

Spectral awnsheghlien can be found in allparts of the Shadow World. Though nonehave ever been spotted in Cerilia, it’s pos-sible that one could grow powerfulenough (DM’s discretion) to make thecrossing and terrorize the waking worldonce again.

As they were in life, spectralawnsheghlien are solitary creatures. Un-less called together by their evil master,they do not interact with each other.

Though they serve the Cold Rider,spectral awnsheghlien create strongholdsof their own in the Shadow World. Theselairs are not as large or elaborate as theones they had in life, though sometimes aspectral awnshegh will manipulate theSeeming to make a Shadow World homeresemble its Cerilian counterpart.

Often, spectral awnsheghlien havetheir own goals and agendas, which theCold Rider permits them to pursue. Whenhe beckons, however, they must dropeverything to answer his summons andcarry out his plans.

A number of spectral awnsheghliencommand minions. Some of these unfor-tunate servants are undead versions of theminions the awnshegh had in life. For ex-ample, if the Spider died in Cerilia andreappeared as the Spectral Spider in theShadow World, he would likely have a le-gion of undead spiders under his control.

Spectral awnsheghlien also take ad-vantage of the native population of theShadow World, impressing all manner ofcreatures into their service. Depending onthe awnshegh’s level of power, it may en-slave halflings, changelings, members ofthe Seelie or Unseelie Court, varioustypes of undead, or other monsters.

When a Cerilian awnshegh dies, thebloodline of Azrai that it carried in its

54

veins dissipates and travels to the ShadowWorld. This holds true even for awnsheghvictims of bloodtheft. (Recall that evenwith a tighmaevrilweapon, the attackerreceives only 5 bloodline strength points;the rest dissipate.) Only an awnsheghwho invests its bloodline before death isimmune to the possibility of becoming aspecter.

The Cold Rider manages to keep thespectral awnsheghlien in line by magicallytrapping and absorbing part of thisessence. Scions of Azrai in life becausethey carried in their blood a part of theevil god, they become servants of theCold Rider in death because he carriespart of them within himself.

This connection can be broken by theCold Rider if he so chooses. He neverhas.

It is said that perhaps spectral ehrshegh-lien also exist in the Shadow World. If so,such a creature would be connected toone of Cerilia’s new gods, doing the workof that deity in an attempt to improve thelots of those who dwell in lands eclipsedby shadow.

In combat, spectral awnsheghlien areeven more fearsome now than they werein life.

Spectral awnsheghlien retain the samecombat abilities they possessed in life. Inaddition, their spectral nature also grantsthem a shadow touch attack. Each time aspectral awnshegh touches an opponent,it transforms some of the victim’s lifeessence to shadow and drains 1 Constitu-tion point. Should a character’s Constitu-tion drop to 0, the victim turns into aspectre (see the MONSTROUS MANUALtome).

All spectral awnsheghlien have theability to regenerate per the major regen-eration blood ability (described in theBIRTHRIGHT Blood Enemiesaccessory).

One can converse, negotiate, and bargainwith a spectral awnshegh to about thesame extent as when the individual crea-ture was alive. An awnshegh will not,however, listen to a character who was re-sponsible for its death—it will only seekto repay the deed in kind.

The Cold Rider has bestowed greaterSeeming on his minions, a powerthey often make use of in combat.Perception varies with how longan awnshegh has resided in theShadow World: 1 point perdecade.

55

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow WorldFREQUENCY: UniqueORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: NoneINTELLIGENCE: Same as in lifeTREASURE: W, V (H, Vx5)ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil

NO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 0MOVEMENT: Same as in lifeHIT DICE: Same as in lifeTHAC0: Same as in lifeNO. OF ATTACKS: Same as in lifeDAMAGE/ATTACK: As in life +4SPECIAL ATTACKS: Shadow touchSPECIAL DEFENSES: Regeneration,SeemingMAGIC RESISTANCE: As in life +25%SIZE: Same as in lifeMORALE: Fearless (19–20)

BLOODLINE: Azrai, strength varies

BLOOD ABILITIES: VaryPERCEPTION/SEEMING: Greater/VariesXP VALUE: Varies

◆

’Twas a sight I shall never forget—indeed,with each passing hour, it haunts me more.

After fighting my way though a thick,eerie forest and battling countless terrors, Isaw with relief that a village lay ahead. Iapproached it eagerly, fairly running downthe crooked road in my haste.

As I rounded a bend, I encountered ayoung man stumbling toward me. He stag-gered, then fell to the ground. A great axeprotruded from his back, embedded there bysome unknown foe.

I approached the man to see if I couldrender any aid or comfort his last moments.As he lifted his head to meet my gaze, achill passed through my heart.

I was staring into my own eyes.The man looked exactly like me—he even

w o re the same attire and bore an identicalcut to the one I’d just received from a skeletalfoe. As soon as I gasped in recognition, thef i g u re dissipated into the twilight air.

The sighting was a portent of my owndemise. Of this I am sure. But whose axeawaits me—and when?

I now live in perpetual trepidation. Icannot look forward, but always over myshoulder for the murderer’s blade. I have notslept since the moment I saw my double. Ican do naught but hold my breath, waitingfor the axe to fall.

—Aledric, Faylene’s son, 1435 HC,(the night before he died of an axe wound)

◆

A waff is a body double whose imagedepicts a character at the moment

of his or her death. The waff maybe spotted by the character him-

self or by an acquaintance.Waffs are products of the

Seeming, illusions gener-ated by the Shadow

World itself to ter-rorize tres-

passers.

Because a character’s death may be verynear or hover far in the future, the waffmay appear exactly like the characterdoes now or as an older image. The Seem-ing, however, can influence a waff’s ap-pearance: Just because a 20-year-oldcharacter sights a 60-year-old waff, the vi-sion does not ensure that the person’sdeath is indeed 40 years away. It does noteven guarantee that the person will die bythe means depicted—although the shockof a sighting usually leads characters tobelieve they will.

The method of death might be obvi-ous, such as a dagger in the back, a noosearound the neck, or a great suckingwound in the chest. Or it may be moremysterious: The waff might simply wear ahorrified expression. Whatever the cause,the image is always disturbing.

Though they appear corporeal, waffsare creatures of illusion. They cannot beharmed, healed, or held. They are madeof shadow stuff and return to it once theyhave sufficiently shocked their viewers.

Although waffs look like ordinary indi-viduals and can be mistaken for the realpeople they duplicate, waffs cannotspeak. They make no attempt to commu-nicate, even if directly addressed. Theyhave no knowledge of future events andtherefore could not warn a viewer of im-minent danger even if they wanted to doso.

It is said that spotting one’s own waff is ap o rtent of death. It is up to the DM to de-cide whether this bit of Shadow Wo r l df o l k l o re is true. But even if a DM allows acharacter to avoid perishing as “pre d i c t e d ”by a waff, the sighting of a double shouldp roduce shock, paranoia, and eerienessamong the PCs—and their players. Wa ff scan be used as the catalyst for an adven-t u re, or to add a spooky element to the at-m o s p h e re of a Shadow World excursion.

Waffs are encountered almost exclusivelyin the Shadow World. The sighting of onein Cerilia would serve as an omen of not

56

just one individual’s demise—but thespilling over of shadowstuff into the wak-ing world.

Because waffs cannot speak and donot attempt to communicate, they willseem aloof to anyone who tries to addressthem. For example, if Shalana encountersa double of her former adventuring com-panion Daken and tries to speak to it(thinking it is, in fact, Daken), the waffwill ignore her and continue on its way—leaving Shalana believing that her oldfriend has just treated her very rudely.

Waffs coalesce out of the Seeming itselfand exist long enough to fulfill their pur-pose—horrifying someone they encounter.They usually generate spontaneously,though a native Shadow World creaturewith a greater-level Seeming score canshape them from the Seeming (perhaps toprovide a distraction while working to-ward some other end).

Once sighted, waffs dissipate backinto the shadows. This may occur beforethe viewer’s eyes, or while the character’sgaze is averted. (“I glanced away for amoment, and when I turned around,Daken was gone!”)

Waffs who seem perfectly healthy (inother words, not depicting a character’sdeath) have been known to appear on oc-casion. They look like they’re just goingabout their business. They generally existto confuse party members: Which of thesix Dakens is the friend they have cometo rescue?

Most encounters with waffs are shockingbut peaceful, as the double disappearsonce seen.

Upon spotting a waff, characters mustsucceed in a saving throw vs. petrificationor go into shock. If the waff is one’s owndouble (as opposed to that of an acquain-

tance), the character suffers a +3 penaltyto this roll. Shocked characters lose theability to act for 1d6 rounds. For the re-mainder of the turn, the victim has trou-ble thinking coherently, suffering a –2 or–10% penalty to all actions and a –4 or–20% penalty to Intelligence- or Wisdom-based activities. The DM may choose toreduce these amounts if the waff does nottake on a character’s own form. (For ac-tions not involving die rolls, the DMshould impose other appropriate penal-ties.)

Once recognized for the individ-ual they duplicate, waffs dissipateback into the Seeming. Should acharacter manage to land ablow before this occurs, how-ever, the blow passes rightthrough the waff—andwill appear to havecaused the dissipa-tion.

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CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shadow WorldFREQUENCY: RareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDiet: NoneINTELLIGENCE: 0TREASURE: NoneALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 10MOVEMENT: 12HIT DICE: NilTHAC0: NilNO. OF ATTACKS: NilDAMAGE/ATTACK: NilSPECIAL ATTACKS: ShockSPECIAL DEFENSES: InvulnerableMAGIC RESISTANCE: 100%SIZE: M (6' tall)MORALE: Fearless (19–20)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: None/

ExtraordinaryXP VALUE: 0

The true terror of an encounter with a waffshould occur after the double disappears.Was this truly an omen of the PC’s death?What can be done to avoid this fate?

In cases where a character sees his orher own waff, DMs should encourage thec h a r a c t e r’s—and player’s—paranoia. DMscan also use their discretion in imposingpenalties during encounters related to thedeath vision. For example, Aledric’s dre a d ,and distraction, might cause him to suffer

a –3 penalty against any axe-wielding op-ponent. PCs might suffer nightmares orbecome obsessed with the vision.

If well roleplayed, an encounter with awaff should leave PCs looking over theirshoulders for the rest of an adventure, therest of a Shadow World campaign, or therest of their lives.

Waffs are creatures of the Seeming, buthave no ability to manipulate it them-selves.

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◆

A more fearsome spectacle I never witnessed!Bells sounding, hounds baying, hooves thun-dering, the Wild Hunt roared past me, itsspectral riders in hot pursuit of the unfortu-nate elf.

Aledric, 1434 HC

◆

The Wild Hunt is a fearsome party of un-seelie faeries, undead, shadow steeds, andcwn annwn that stampedes throughforests in a never-ending hunt for elves.Most often encountered in the ShadowWorld, the hunters have been known toenter Cerilia in their quest for prey.

The Wild Hunt is truly a spectacle to be-hold. Hunters of all shapes and sizes,sporting gruesome visages, charge forthon shadow steeds in fierce pursuit of flee-ing elves. Baying cwn annwn add theirhowls to the clamor of shouting ridersand thundering hooves as the din echoesfor miles. The Hunt cuts a mercilessswath through the forest, sparing nottrees, nor plants, nor stray creatures in itspath.

And after this violent fury has passedthrough the Shadow World terrain—not atrace of the Hunt remains.

An appearance of the Wild Hunt is alwaysan event, even in its home terrain of theShadow World.

Appearances in Cerilia occur rarely—perhaps once every five centuries—andare considered bad omens. In its after-math, humans and dwarves probablywon’t know what happened (their memo-ries don’t extend far enough). But theelves will become very uneasy, particularlyif the frequency of occurrences increases.Not only does the Wild Hunt present adanger to the safety of the Sidhe, but itsignifies an intrusion of the ShadowWorld’s power into Cerilia.

The deep-rooted fear elves harbor towardthe Shadow World derives in no smallpart from ancestral memories of the WildHunt. The how and why of its origin havebeen lost to time. Some believe it stemsfrom the war between the Seelie and Un-seelie Courts (refer to the “Faerie, Un-seelie” entry), while others think it goesback further, to the time when the seelieand Sidhe people were one (see the“Faerie, Seelie” entry). Regardless, it hasbeen pursuing and persecuting elves aslong as anyone can remember.

Comprising supernatural creatureswho can go on living—or unliving—for-ever if not defeated in combat, the WildHunt is a tireless, ongoing pursuit. Asmembers fall, others join the quest. TheHunt never stops. Sometimes it doesn’teven pause to slay its quarry, but simplytramples the elf to death in its endlessdrive.

The entourage is led by the Master ofthe Hunt, an evil faerie from the UnseelieCourt. The Huntmaster is a tall, gauntfigure with large black eyes and a sinister,toothy grin. His harsh voice, often shout-ing out in pursuit, echoes loudly enoughto be heard above the thundering hoovesof the Hunt’s shadow steeds.

The Master of the Hunt is considereda favored noble of the Unseelie Court,though he never breaks from the Hunt tovisit it. Should he ever fall in battle, theDark Queen would appoint another ofher courtiers to take his place.

Like a speeding train, the Wild Huntc h a rges ahead re g a rdless of what liesin its path—including portals. Occa-s i o n a l l y, the Wild Hunt, in hotpursuit of its pre y, lunges rightt h rough an open portal ands t o rms into Cerilia. Whenthis occurs, the Huntleaves behind evidenceof its passing (un-like in theS h a d o wWo r l d ) .

59

Huge swaths of trees are felled, crops andfields are trampled. The region is left look-ing like a tornado has blown through it.

The Wild Hunt is believed to have in-spired the ghaellie Sidhe.Searching for away to drive humans from their land, theelves created their own Hunt.

The Wild Hunt appears (optionally) in“Courting Danger.”

This section discusses the Wild Hunt as asingle entity. For information about thecreatures that compose it, see their indi-vidual entries in this book and in theMONSTROUS MANUAL tome.

The Wild Hunt creates such a cacophonyas it charges through the forest that itcannot gain surprise against potentialprey. Even the deaf can sense it comingthrough reverberations in the ground.

The hunters use bows to attack from adistance. Though about 200 individualcreatures make up the Hunt, only about20 (10%) of them can get off a clear shotin a single round. Each arrow inflicts 1d6points of damage.

Once the hunt closes in on its prey, ei-ther the cwn annwn rush in to attack(see separate entry) of the riders usetheir momentum to trample theirquarry beneath the shadow steeds’hooves. Trample victims suffer 4d10points of damage and must pass a

system shock roll or die.The Wild Hunt is immune to

illusions and phantasms, s l o wand other movement-aff e c t-

ing spells, and walls. Only aglobe of invulnerability,

limited wish,or w i s hcan divert the

Hunt off itsp a t h .

Though the sum of 200 hunters’ HitDice would exceed 50, that number hasbeen listed as a guideline for “defeating”the Wild Hunt. Should characters manageto bring the Hunt down to 0 hit points,the Hunt disbands and regroups in 6d8hours.

Though the Hunt ignores any creaturesbut elves, it does not divert its path toavoid them. Therefore, even non-elfplayer characters had better dive out ofits way to avoid being trampled.

The Master of the Hunt, as an unseeliefaerie, has the ability to cloak the WildHunt in the Seeming. He generally doesnot bother to do so, however, for it makesa fearsome enough spectacle all by itself.

The Hunt itself has no perceptionscore, though individual members might.

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CLIMATE/TERRAIN: F o rests, primarilyin Shadow World

FREQUENCY: Very rareORGANIZATION: UniqueACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: NilINTELLIGENCE: Low (6—mob

mentality)TREASURE: NilALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1 (200 members)ARMOR CLASS: 2MOVEMENT: 24HIT DICE: 50THAC0: 5NO. OF ATTACKS: 20DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6SPECIAL ATTACKS: TrampleSPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to illu-

sions, slow, wallsMAGIC RESISTANCE: 10%SIZE: Gargantuan

(150' long)MORALE: Fearless (19–20)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: None/GreaterXP VALUE: 46,000

◆

It was the blackest midnight I had ever seen.And cold, so cold I thought I would freeze todeath ere reaching camp. I cursed myself afool for arrogantly believing that I could sur-vive the Highlands winter that had claimedso many before me.

Now I was lost. I had ventured awayfrom camp in search of firewood and had be-come disoriented in the darkness. I shoutedfor the others to light a torch to guide me. Atlast, a light appeared, a faint glow thatbobbed and danced.

Its movement puzzled me. Had my com-panions found it necessary to break campand flee? I dropped the firewood and racedto catch up with them, following the flicker-ing light.

After about an hour, the light suddenlyvanished. I looked around, attempting todiscern my surroundings in the darkness. If Ithought I was lost before, I knew it now.

I wasn’t in Rjurik anymore.—Faylene, 1402 HC

◆

The will o’shadow is a mesmerizing beingthat lures unsuspecting folk into enteringthe Shadow World. It appears in placeswhere the curtain between Cerilia and theShadow World is thin, and feeds on Ceril-ian life energy.

Will o’shadows appear as glowing spheresof light that float and bounce through thenight air. Their size, which ranges from 1to 4 feet in diameter, varies depending onhow soon a portal into the Shadow Worldis about to open: The larger the light, thesooner the event. Their size, however, canbe deceiving, as they are typically viewedfrom a distance.

A will o’shadow can communicatewith others of its kind by varying its pat-tern of movement. The complexity of thiscode renders it unfathomable to any butanother will o’shadow.

The appearance of a will o’shadow in Cer-ilia presages the opening of a portal. Por-tals can (and do), however, open withoutwill o’shadows present.

The evidence a will o’shadow leavesbehind can provide clues to where a por-tal once opened and for how long (see“Ecology”).

Will o’shadows, a variation of the willo’wisp, are often mistaken for their moremalevolent cousins.

One to three will o’shadows generally ap-pear in a single sighting. They make theirhome in the Shadow World in places thatborder Cerilia; however, they are seldomseen there. The eternal twilight of thatland usually renders them invisible to thenaked eye.

When a portal is about to open, theboundary between the Shadow World andCerilia becomes so thin that will o’shad-ows are able to pass through it beforeanything else can. This “head start” mightlast anywhere from one minute to threehours.

Once the portal opens, a strong forcepulls the will o’shadow back into theShadow World. The creature resists, lead-ing to its bouncing, dancing movementsin the air. It attempts to stay in Cerilia aslong as possible, feeding off Cerilian lifeenergy.

Common folk believe that the com-pelling force which summons the willo’shadows back home is the crea-tures’ master, a sapient being suchas the Cold Rider or a member ofthe Lost. The most learned Cer-ilian sages, however, believe itmerely to be the “pull” of theShadow World itself.

Will o’shadowsfeed off thelife en-ergy

61

of Cerilia. That is why they are so reluc-tant to return to the Shadow World.

Once on the Cerilian side of a portal,they try to gather as much strength aspossible, leaving the life around themweaker. Generally, the plant life near a re-cently closed portal (at which will o’shad-ows were present) looks wilted and brownfor 1d4 days per round that the portalwas open.

If animal life (including humanoidsand player character races) is in the vicin-ity, will o’shadows might feed off of it in-stead of plant life. They don’t do so mali-ciously; they merely seek the strongestsource of energy. See “Combat and OtherEncounters.”

Folk wisdom states that will o’shad-ows are Cerilian stars that becametrapped in the Shadow World as a resultof the cataclysm at Mount Deismaar.This, so the stories say, explains why theycan be seen only on the Cerilian side ofthe border, and why they so desperatelywant to stay in our world.

Any time Cerilian characters are within aquarter-mile of a will o’shadow (know-ingly or not), there is a 50% chance thatthe creature attempts to feed off ofhuman/demihuman life energy instead ofother plants and animals in the environ-ment. In such an instance, the PCs mustsucceed at a saving throw vs. poison orsuffer 2d6 points of damage. The vic-tims feel strangely weaker (perhapsdizzy or fatigued) and—if they spottedthe will o’shadow previous to failingthe saving throw—might notice thatthe will o’shadow has grown

brighter.If Cerilian characters are

on the Shadow World side of aportal that’s about to open,

they are especially vulner-able to the creature’s

feeding (provided awill o’shadow

is pre-

sent). Will o’shadows are invisible on thisside of the portal; the characters, how-ever, stand out as the only source of Cer-ilian life energy. In such circumstancesthe characters must roll saving throws vs.poison at a +1 penalty, suffering 2d6points of damage for failure.

Will o’shadows generally avoid direct con-frontation unless provoked. If attacked,h o w e v e r, they enter a feeding frenzy in anattempt to replace lost energ y. Using theirexceptional speed and maneuverability, willo ’shadows dart and swoop at their attackers,t rying to brush against them. The touch of awill o’shadow steals 2d8 hit points of life en-e rgy from its Cerilian victim. (Though thesepoints feed the cre a t u re, they are not addedto its own hit point total.) Will o’shadowsare generally insatiable.

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CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Cerilia and Shadow World

FREQUENCY: RareORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: Night/AnyDIET: Cerilian life

energyINTELLIGENCE: High (13–14)TREASURE: QALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1d3ARMOR CLASS: –8MOVEMENT: Fl 18 (A)HIT DICE: 9

THAC0: 11NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d8SPECIAL ATTACKS: Life drainSPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune to most

magical attacksMAGIC RESISTANCE: See belowSIZE: Tiny to small

(1–4')MORALE: Champion

(15–16)

BLOODLINE: NoneBLOOD ABILITIES: NonePERCEPTION/SEEMING: None/LesserXP VALUE: 6,000

Non-Cerilian victims suffer a burnthat inflicts 1d8 points of damage, butprovides no sustenance to the willo’shadow.

Physical weapons inflict normal dam-age on will o’shadows; however, the crea-tures are immune to most magical at-tacks. Only detect invisibilityand shadowmagicare known to work against them.Magical light sources render will o’shad-ows invisible until the source is extin-guished.

A will o’shadow reduced to 5 or fewerhit points attempts to flee.

If characters succeed at their saving thro w sand do not attack the will o’s h a d o w, theymay well have a perfectly peaceful en-c o u n t e r. That is not to say, however, thatan even worse cre a t u re won’t greet themon the other side of the port a l .

Will o’shadows have lesser Seeming. Incombat, they may camouflage themselveswith blur, color spray, dancing lights,or ahypnotic pattern.

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he barrier between the ShadowWorld and the material world is breakingdown on many fronts. Laws of nature andphysics can no longer be counted upon.What better time to start a Shadow Worldcampaign?

The following adventures are de-signed to help you, the Dungeon Master,i n t roduce some of the cre a t u res fro mthis book into a Shadow Wo r l d - b a s e dc a m p a i g n. If your player characters h a v enot yet begun exploring the ShadowWorld, these adventures can enhancetheir education, giving them extre m e l yvaluable experience with the localdenizens and illusions.

Feel free to intersperse these two sce-narios that follow within adventures ofyour own or adjust them to account forwhatever amount of Shadow World ad-venturing has already taken place in yourcampaign.

The scenarios can be played in anyo rd e r. Both allow parties to begin inCerilia and be drawn into the ShadowWorld, or to begin already in the twi-light realm. PCs might even just wakeup one day and find themselves onthe wrong side of the barrier: Wi t h

divisions between the two worldsb reaking down, not all port a l s

a re gaping maws in the fabricof the world. Some can be

b reached without travelerseven realizing it.

The adventures are deliberately non-specific about their exact starting loca-tion, so that you can easily use them nomatter where your campaign is set andwhat race your player characters belongto. Feel free to add details that give de-scriptions of nonplayer characters

(NPCs) and sites a more local flavor.Though these two adventures each

f e a t u re diff e rent cre a t u res, they share acommon characteristic: an emphasis onroleplaying over straight combat. PCswho attempt to hack-and-slash their wayt h rough the Shadow World are doomedto failure, and these scenarios offer anearly lesson in that fact. Yes, player char-acters will have plenty of opportunity forcombat, but the Shadow Wo r l d ’s gre a t e s tt h reats are more subtle in nature .

The start of each adventure pro v i d e sa list of the cre a t u res that it features. Fa-miliarize yourself with these monstersahead of time, especially noting (wherea p p ropriate) their mannerisms, pattern sof speech, and other traits that can’t besummarized in the statistics boxes.These are the attributes that will helpyou breathe life into the cre a t u res andgive them color that makes them standout in this land of eternal twilight.

Each adventure also provides a sum-m a ry at the outset. Should you decidesuddenly to take your campaign on anunexpected detour into the ShadowWorld, you can familiarize yourself withthe plot quickly and insert it into an on-going game. However, whenever possibleit is best to read through the entire sce-nario before beginning play, to acquaintyourself with new items and locales.

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Creatures Involved: The Sluagh (page52)and the dispossessed (page 21).

Adventure Summary: The characters,while traveling in Cerilia, find themselvescaught out in the open during a surpriseattack by the Sluagh. Seeking shelter,they enter a roadside inn—and, unbe-knownst to them, the Shadow World. Theinn is populated entirely by the dispos-sessed. The spirits are not immediatelyhostile, nor do they look incorporeal, sothe player characters have an opportunityto gather intelligence about the growingunrest between Cerilia and the ShadowWorld from what appear to be normalpeople.

However, the dispossessed’s aura ofdepression threatens to subtly render thePCs unable to act. And, though at firstwilling to converse with the player charac-ters, the spirits become convinced thatthe PCs inhabit their stolen bodies. Abattle ensues. The PCs, if they manage tohold on to their own bodies, soon dis-cover that they have lost their way—forthey are stranded in the Shadow World.And even if they have visited the twilightland before, it never looked like this.

As mentioned earlier in this book, thebarrier between Cerilia and the ShadowWorld has been growing thinner and thin-ner of late. In places where the curtainhas grown particularly fragile, peoplemight see a disruption in the usual Ceril-ian day/night cycle. Darkness can fall atany time, with little warning, and last for15 hours or more before the sun strugglesto ascend once again. Nocturnal creaturesmay appear at nearly any hour. And thereare reports that even when the sun is inthe sky, it doesn’t have as strong an effecton undead creatures as it once did.

Those beginning Shadow World cam-paigns can introduce these ominouschanges into campaigns as a prelude to“Be Our Guest.”

. . . in Cerilia, where the player charactersset out on a journey. Their purpose anddestination does not matter. This can be atour of the domain’s outlying holdings, avisit to relatives, a diplomatic mission, atrip into town on market day, part of atrek begun in a previous adventure—any-thing the DM cares to devise, so long as ittakes the PCs at least a few miles awayfrom home. With the recent incursions ofthe Shadow World, the players may wellinitiate the journey themselves. True ad-venturers, be they kings or commoners,don’t tend to stay housebound for long.

As the party departs, the sky is over-cast, but it looks like any rain (or snow,depending on geography and time ofyear) will hold off.

The journey can be as eventful (ornot) as you like. The PCs may encounterother travelers, brigands, native creatures,or no one at all as they head toward theirdestination.

Once the player characters travel toofar to turn back easily, they see a smallinn in the distance. The inn should notstand out in any way as being unusual;mention it in the context of other terrainfeatures and sites of interest the partypasses en route. Its architecture shouldbe appropriate to the region (e.g., a two-story structure in Anuire, a longhouse inRjurik, etc.), and it should look like apleasant enough place to spend the night.If the player characters are very familiarwith the road on which they travel, theinn appears new.

Though the PCs might decide ontheir own to enter the inn, beforethey can do so they receive someunexpected persuasion. Readaloud or paraphrase the followingtext, which describes the startof an attack by the Sluagh,the Host of the UnforgivenDead.

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Sluagh (8 ): AC 0; MV Fl 24 (B); HD 8;hp 40 each; THAC0 13; #AT 2; Dmg1d6/1d6 (darts); SA poison; SD range(880 yards minimum); SZ L (10' tall); ML 14 (elite); Int very (12); AL CE; XP 4,000.

Notes: Darts contain class B poison; successfulsave vs. poison inflicts 1d3 damage points (in additionto dart’s 1d6), failure inflicts 20 points.

Allow the characters an opportunity to re-spond to the initial deluge, then continue:

The Host fight among themselves around or two longer, then turn their

attention on the player characters.The Sluagh throw poisoned darts

at the PCs, themselves stayingwell out of range of normal

missiles. Though the partymay attempt to fight

back, eventually theplayer characters

must seekshelter at

the

inn to avoid the Sluagh’s darts.The public house the party enters is

the Wanderers Inn.

When the party enters the inn, read aloudor paraphrase the following text.

Though the PCs don’t know it, the partyis no longer in Cerilia. The door to theWanderers Inn is actually a one-way por-tal to the Shadow World. The moment theplayer characters entered, they left theirhomeland far behind.

The host and other patrons are mem-bers of the dispossessed, spirits of posses-sion victims in search of new bodies. TheSeeming makes them look perfectly cor-poreal to the player characters. The PCs,therefore, shouldn’t realize their peril atthis point. To them, the Wanderers Innappears simply an ordinary travelers’ rest.

Roll a saving throw vs. paralyzation

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The wind whips up, threatening anoncoming storm. Light rain [or snow]starts to fall. An eerie howling soundsurrounds you, soft at first but soon re-verberating through the very ground.

Within moments, the storm arrivesin full force. Gusts of wind turn intogales that threaten to knock down eventhe sturdiest among you. Hail mixedwith sleet drives upon you, quicklydrenching you and your belongings.

As a bolt of lightning rips the sky,you see an unnatural glow staining theclouds. The eerie light seems to grantthe clouds humanoid forms, creatinggiant faces in the sky.

As winds buffet you and ice pelts yourface, you realize that some of the rain-drops [snowflakes]have a reddish cast tothem. With each passing second, moreand more red drops fall from the sky,staining both you and the earth, until itappears that the heavens are rainingblood.

The clean, well-kept inn seems an idealplace to escape the outdoor assault. Asyou open the door, tantalizing aro m a sfill your nostrils with the promise of agood meal. The room within is snug andd ry.

The sign above the door outsideidentified this place as the Wa n d e re r sInn, and as you take in the clientele, thename seems apt. About a dozen travel-ers of all descriptions and walks of lifeloiter in the common ro o m — A n u i re a n s ,Khinasi, Rjurik. You think you evenspot a Vos warrior warming herself bythe fire .

The patrons note your arrival, butotherwise pay you no heed. They alsoseem to pay no attention to the tempestoutside. The host, however, calls out toyou from across the room, where he isserving ale to a richly-dressed Brechtmerchant.

“Welcome to the Wanderers Inn,” hesays, traces of a smile flickering over hispale features. He is a slender man in hismid-thirties, wearing plain but well-made attire. He gestures to an emptytable near the center of the room. “Sitdown, sit down. I’ll be right with you.”

for each character. Those who fail suffer ahalved movement rate; they find them-selves feeling tired and run-down. Thoughthis is the start of the dispossessed’s de-pression effect, hint that the wearinessprobably just derives from fighting and/orfleeing the Sluagh’s assault.

The PCs likely follow the innkeeper’sinvitation to take a seat. Read aloud orparaphrase the following text.

Should the characters take advantage ofthis lull to study their surroundings, readaloud or paraphrase the following:

Twilight envelops the inn because it liesentirely in the Shadow World. A formerCerilian inn that centuries ago witnesseda brutal mass-murder within its walls, thebuilding materialized in the ShadowWorld when neighbors burned it to theground in the waking world. Recentevents, however, have caused its image toappear in Cerilia, and unfortunate travel-ers who try to enter find themselvessomeplace they never intended to go.

The host, once a local man, was theinnkeeper of the cursed hostel. An evil spiritpossessed his body and committed the

heinous murders of his guests. Since thatday, his dispossessed spirit has remainedtrapped in the inn, where he goes throughthe motions of operating his business.

Numerous dispossessed who wanderthe Shadow World know of the inn anduse it as a way station in their endlessroaming. If the player characters chooseto observe the other patrons, read aloudor paraphrase the following text.

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Though the host said he’d be right withyou, he seems to be taking his time. Hemoves with slow, deliberate steps, shuf-fling like a man thrice his age. Theweight of a thousand cares seems tostoop his shoulders.

The Wanderers Inn looks larger on theinside than it did when you saw it fromthe road. Eight plain wooden tables fillthe common room, their surfaces wornsmooth by years of use. Benches sur-round them. A few stools, most of themoccupied by other patrons, form a half-circle near the fire.

At either end of the room stands ad o o r. The host disappears through one ofthem, which probably leads to the kitchen.The other likely leads to sleeping quart e r s .

The common room has few windows,and they are small. You can see that out-side the sky is quite dark, though youcan’t hear the storm through the build-ing’s thick walls. The fire casts dancingshadows along the wooden walls.

To your right sit four warriors. Theywear the colors of Avanil and theirarmor bears the prince’s insignia. Eachhunches over a tankard of mead. One ofthem eyes your party warily, fingeringthe sword at his side.

Two merchants occupy the table toyour left. Though the host has justserved steaming bowls of chowder, nei-ther takes interest in the meal. Theypush the soup away and lean forward,propping their chins on their hands.

A family is seated at another table: amother, father, and two children. Theson appears to be about twelve, thedaughter perhaps a year older. Fromtheir manner of dress and blond,braided hair, they look Rjurik.

A woman stands near the fire. Herdark skin, covered head, and flowingrobes reveal her as Khinasi. She slowlynods her head in acknowledgementwhen she catches you watching her.

Another woman also enjoys thewarmth of the fire, this one appearing asbarbaric as her companion seems digni-fied. Clothed in coarse fur robes, shesits on a stool, slowly running a whet-stone along the blade of her sabre. Thefirelight plays across her hard face, re-vealing the wicked-looking tattoos andritual scarring that cover it.

Aside from a few murmurs here andthere, no one speaks. Each patron ap-pears preoccupied with his or her ownreflections—or with observing you.

Roll another saving throw vs. paralyzationfor each character, now and with eachpassing turn. Failures are cumulative;consult the chart below to determine theeffects of failure on PCs.

◆

No. of Failed ResultingSaving Throws Effect*

1 Sadness; movement rate halved

2 Depression; –3 or –15%penalty to attacks and Dex actions

3–5 Apathy (if an NPC,morale halved);additional –1 or –5% penalty per fail

6 Movement rate halved again

*Effects are cumulative

◆

Should the PCs attempt to talk with anyof the patrons or the host, conversationproves challenging. Inquiries about the“surrounding area” meet with answersthat make little sense to the player char-acters—the dispossessed respond with in-formation about the Shadow World, whilethe PCs probably believe they are still inCerilia.

Persistence can, however, pay off forcharacters who ask the right questions.If the PCs have not encountered theSluagh before today, one of the spiritsreveals (from memories of his life inCerilia) the nature of the Host (un-forgiven dead who war endlessly

against each other and humanity).PCs who think to inquire

whether the patrons orinnkeeper know anything

about the Shadow Worldmay gather some or all

of the following in-telligence from

the spirits:

◆ It is said that the barrier between theShadow World and Cerilia thins andtears more every day.

◆ It is also said that a powerful wizardwho dwells in the Shadow World hasfound a way to eradicate the barriercompletely, and only waits for the rightmoment to do so.

◆ Of late, the Cold Rider has appearedwith increasing frequency in the Shad-ow World. Some claim to have seen himactually speaking with others, thoughthe identity of his cohorts is unknown.

The dispossessed dodge questionsabout themselves and their business, orhow they might know so much about theShadow World, instead trying to glean in-formation about the party members. Ifthe player characters don’t attempt con-versation with the patrons, the spiritstake the initiative themselves. As the PCsinteract with the dispossessed, even thosewho succeed at their saving throws feel anaura of sadness, grief, and hopelessnessbegin to weigh upon them. Read aloud orparaphrase the following text.

As conversations continue, draw on eachPC’s individual fears, insecurities, andfrustrations—especially as failed savingthrows accumulate. Play up jealousies andrivalries in personal relationships. (“Real-ization dawns that you will never be halfthe leader your brother is.”) Make thegoal of the party’s present journey sud-denly seem pointless or futile. Push thePCs toward apathy and depression.

You might wish to draw individualplayers aside or pass notes so that otherplayers don’t know how deeply aff e c t e dtheir companions may be. Of course, de-p ressed characters might reveal their innerstate through verbal cues during conversa-

68

As you speak with the other patrons,your mind wanders from the conversa-tion. A wave of melancholy crashes overyou. What a bleak day this has turnedout to be! With the onslaught outsideand the shadows growing longer eachminute, your destination seems furtheraway than ever. You might as well justresign yourself to spending the nighthere.

tion. They might also become withdrawn,feel sleepy, or drink more than usual.

After a while (perhaps when at least halfthe PCs have failed one or more savingthrows), each player character finds her-self the subject of a particular patron’s cu-riosity. The spirit asks questions aboutwhere the PC is from, how old she is,who her parents are, and so on, pressingin closer during the conversation to get agood look at the individual. The other dis-possessed hover around the edges of theroom, positioning themselves to block theexits (without looking too much likethey’re doing so).

The questioning dispossessed (here-after called the “directly involved” spiritsfor ease of reference) believe one or moreof the party members is inhabiting theirstolen bodies. This conviction is a con-struct of the Seeming and may well crossgender, racial, and class lines. For exam-ple, the spirit of a female Vos warriormight think a male Khinasi wizard haspossessed her body.

Now that the spirits have moved in soclose, PCs with lesser perception scoreswho have not failed a saving throw maynotice that something doesn’t seem quiteright about the other patrons—perhapstheir noncorporeal nature begins to showthrough, or their dress appears archaic.Even player characters with no previousShadow World experience may grow sus-picious at the odd nature of the spirits’questions. But any character who hasfailed at least one saving throw is too dis-tracted by internal angst to notice.

If a perceptive PC confronts the dispos-sessed, the spirits respond by attackingimmediately. If not, one of the patronseventually points an accusing finger at aPC and cries out, “Thief! Body thief!”

All 13 of the dispossessed close in. (Ifthe PC party is large or very experienced,feel free to bring in more spirits from thekitchen and/or sleeping quarters at any

time during the battle. Should the party besmall or otherwise outmatched, some of theindirectly involved spirits can be of goodalignments and refrain from attacking.)

Those who believe specific PCs in-habit their bodies focus their attacks onthose individuals. The rest attack whoeveris nearest. At least some of the PCs willlikely be slowed and hampered by the ef-fects of depression.

Details of the dispossessed’s combattechniques, including the special “touchof despair” attack, appear in the creaturedescription in Part I. Should the host faila morale check, he begs for mercy orhides in the kitchen. Any patron who failsa morale check flees, unless it is a directlyinvolved spirit. In the latter case, the spiritremains so convinced that its former bodyis present that the cre a t u re cannot leave it.

If the PCs attempt to escape, the di-rectly involved dispossessed pursue theminto the twilight.

In the event that one or more members ofthe dispossessed succeed in stealing aPC’s body, proceed to “Continuing theAdventure,” on the next page.

Should the player characters defeatthe dispossessed, they can question anyunslain spirits about their nature to learnmore about the creatures. The patrons an-swer a few inquiries patiently, then askfor leave to continue searching for theirbodies. The innkeeper (if he survives thebattle) remains at his post.

The dispossessed carry no tre a s u re ,but other travelers have stayed in—anddied in—the hostel. Careful explo-ration of the kitchen will reveal aloose brick in the fireplace. Be-hind it is hidden a pouch con-taining 200 gp, four pre c i o u sgems, and bracers of perc e p-t i o n (a magical item thatadds 5 points to a char-a c t e r’s perc e p t i o ns c o re when worn ) .The innkeeper,if not slain,w i l l-

69

ingly gives the PCs these items in ex-change for his life.

Once the player characters have fin-ished exploring the inn—or if they losethe battle and have to flee—they step out-side once again. Read aloud or para-phrase the following text.

In addition to any treasure found at theWanderers Inn and experience points forany slain spirits, player characters whosurvive their encounter with the dispos-sessed gain perception points. PCs add 1point to their permanent perceptionscores, and benefit from an additional +2perception bonus when encountering dis-possessed spirits in the future.

No matter how the adventure ends, it willtake a while for the effects of the PCs’ de-pression to wear off—a fact that will influ-ence future encounters. Refer to “TheDispossessed” creature description fortiming details.

If one or more of the player charactersfell victim to a possession attempt, aquest to retrieve the stolen bodies ensues.At the DM’s whim, this endeavor canprove as simple as catching the body-snatcher after a brief pursuit, or becomean adventure in itself that requires days(even weeks) of constant searching. De-tails of how a character goes about repos-sessing a stolen body appear in “The Dis-possessed” creature description.

Finally, “Be Our Guest” serves totransport the player characters from Cer-ilia to the Shadow World. From here, theDM can let the characters explore a bit,or segue straight into an adventure set en-tirely within the Shadow World. “Court-ing Danger” makes a good followup, oranother adventure of the DM’s own cre-ation.

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You step outside into crisp, cold air. Twi-light cloaks the land, draping it in shad-ows so thick you cannot see the road.

Then you realize that you can’t seethe road because it isn’t there. Nor isany of the familiar terrain from earliertoday. A vast gray wasteland stretchesout before you, in every direction, as faras your eyes can see.

Creature(s) Involved: Seelie faeries(page 23), unseelie faeries (page 29) andshades (page 43). Changelings (page 16)are indirectly involved.

Optional: The Wild Hunt (page 59),plus DM’s choice of standard AD&Dmonsters listed in the appendix.

A d v e n t u r e Summar y : The player charac-ters find themselves lost in the Badlands ofthe Shadow World, a stark, seemingly end-less terr i t o ry. They come upon Gilken, aseelie faerie who tricks them into challeng-ing a nearby monster in order to reveal thepath out of the Badlands. The monster is ashade who, during his human years, livedamong the Seelie Court as a changeling.Since his conversion into a shade, the cre a-t u re has been in thrall to Lussina, the DarkQueen of the Unseelie Court.

Though Gilken himself can help theparty find its way out of the Badlands, hewants the PCs to fight the shade so thathe can retrieve the Amulet of Seeming,apowerful magical item the shade hasstolen from the Seelie Court at Lussina’sbehest. A disruption in the Shadow Worldhas caused Lussina’s control over theSeeming to weaken, and she needs theamulet to reassert her command.

Depending upon the outcome of theirbattle with the shade, the PCs could endup visiting (willingly or not) one of thefaerie courts and becoming involved inthe age-old war between them. Both fac-tions may look to the party for informa-tion—or blame—regarding the changesshaking their homeland. The player char-acters conclude the adventure havinggained either a tentative ally or yet an-other Shadow World enemy.

. . . in the Shadow World Badlands. Par-ties who have just completed “Be OurGuest” found themselves in the Badlandsat the end of that adventure. Otherwise,DMs can take advantage of the ShadowWorld’s shifting geography to suddenlydeposit PCs in the middle of a bleak,eternal wasteland.

Read aloud or paraphrase the follow-ing text.

The Badlands are actually a rather smalla rea, but the Seeming hangs so heavy uponthem that the region appears vast. Becausethe Badlands have an environmental Seem-ing score of 20, characters need a perc e p-tion score of at least greater level to suc-cessfully navigate the terrain (and eventhen, unless they are Shadow World na-tives, they have difficulty). Those withlower scores become confused by the shift-ing shadows and hills. They wind up cover-ing the same ground over and over again.In fact, travelers have been known to starv eto death mere yards away from game-filledwoodlands that they could not see.

The player characters should be unableto find their way out of the Badlands.Let them wander until they get goodand frustrated. Though they passthe same hills and landmarksdozens of times, the Seemingand shadows perpetually alterthe terrain’s appearance.

Feel free to insert ran-dom encounters with afew cre a t u res to keepthings intere s t i n g .A surprise ap-p e a r a n c eb y

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A gray, chalky desert surrounds you onall sides, punctuated by grotesquelychiseled buttes. As icy winds buffet you,roaring in your ears and plastering yourhair to the sides of your face, it is nothard to imagine how the hills came bytheir eerie shapes. For millennia, eachpassing year has carved its initials intothe landscape, whittling away at the bar-ren, hard-packed soil.

Yet the sinister aura of this terrainbespeaks an unnatural hand as well. Theharsh angles of the earthen sculpturescast ominous shadows—shadows thatseem to pulse with a life of their own. Itfeels as if evil itself has sculpted thisland in its own image.

the Wild Hunt (see page 59) could fit inwell here, as could some skirmishes withskeletons or other nonconversant undead.See the appendix of this book for ideas ofa p p ropriate monsters to include.

E v e n t u a l l y, the PCs should grow doubt-ful of their ability to find their way out ofthe Badlands by themselves. Let that feardevelop for a little while. Feed it. Ask howmany rations they have left. Ask how muchwater they’re carrying. Then read aloud orparaphrase the following text.

The voice comes not from the outcrop,but from behind it. Assuming that theplayer characters investigate, continuewith the following text.

If the PCs call out to him or do somethingelse to attract his attention, he glances upi m m e d i a t e l y. If not, he continues for aminute as if he doesn’t realize they’re pre-sent, then looks directly at them.

Gilken is a seelie faerie, the former trea-surer of the Faerie Queen’s court.

Gilken (faerie, seelie): AC 5; MV 15; HD 4+2; hp 22; THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d4(dagger) or by spell; SA Seeming,spells; SD immune to illusions andcharm spells, invisible at will, knowalignment; SW iron, salt; MR 25%;SZ S (2’ tall); ML 10 (average);Int High (14); AL LN; XP 2,000.

Notes: Perception/Seeming scores of65/62. SW—Iron weapons inflict an additional 3points of damage with each hit; salt thrown onGilken neutralizes his invisibility ability for 1d4turns.

Spells (5/day): Any priestly en-chantment/charm spell of 1st or2nd level, plus create water, entan-gle, faerie fire, light, protection fromevil, purify food and drink, shille-lagh; barkskin, goodberry, produceflame, speak with animals, warpwood; continual light, create foodand water, pyrotechnics, seelie spellof forgetting, tree, water walk. Cancast the seelie spell of forgettinganunlimited number of times per day.

G i l k e n ’s linguistic gymnastics (refer tothe section about faerie speech in the“Faerie, Seelie” entry of this book) manifestas mathematical calculations laced thro u g h-out his statements. The computations he

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As you approach an outcrop that lookseerily like an enormous winged gar-goyle, you hear a warbling voice. Itsounds humanoid, and, though you can’tmake out the words it seems to besinging.

A remarkable sight greets your eyes. Inthe middle of this desolate, endlesswasteland rests an enormous dinnertable so laden with food that it nearlybows under the weight. A cornucopia offruit spills onto the tablecloth. Goldserving dishes cradle roasted meats, as-sorted cheeses, breads, pastries, andany other dish your heart could desire.Place settings of fine bone china, crys-tal, and silver stand at attention.

Though large, the table sits very low tothe ground, almost like an extremely longc o ffee table. Small chairs line its sides.

At the head of this elaborate feast sitsa lone diner. He is a curious little figure ,p e rhaps two feet tall, clad in a suit thatappears to be woven from ivy vines. Hisblond hair bears a greenish cast, like theinside of a still-quick twig. Compared toa human, his head seems dispro p o rt i o n-ately large, and his legs dispro p o rt i o n-ately short. The latter, he swings backand forth while sitting at the table.

The little man’s facial features arescrewed up in concentration as he cutsthe food on his plate. All the while, hetalks to himself in a sing-song voice:

“Six eights are forty-eight,Eighty halved is forty.Seven eights are fifty-six,Sixty halved is thirty.Eight eights are sixty-four,Forty halved is twenty. . . .”

“My name is Gilken. Nine eights areseventy-two. Who might you be?

interjects usually have absolutely nothing todo with the topic of conversation.

Gilken has been temporarily banishedfrom the Seelie Court because he lostpossession of the Amulet of Seeming, atreasury item for which he was responsi-ble. Lussina, the Dark Queen of the Un-seelie Court, sent a shade to steal thepowerful magical item from the seeliefaeries. Gilken cannot return to the SeelieCourt until he gets the amulet back forthe Faerie Queen.

Gilken, however, hasn’t the courage toc o n f ront the shade dire c t l y, so he hopes totrick some traveler into doing it for him.He could hardly believe his good fortune atthe sight of the player characters perpetu-ally wandering around in a 100-yard circ l e .

Gilken immediately invites the partyto partake of his feast. Read aloud the fol-lowing text.

Though the player characters may hesi-tate to accept Gilken’s invitation, themeal he offers is perfectly safe for con-sumption. It is plain fare, generated viacreate food and waterand enhanced by theSeeming to look, smell, and taste like anelaborate banquet. Gilken proves an at-tentive host, doing his best to make thePCs comfortable in their small chairs atthe short table. He does not, however, re-veal the source of the meal if asked, call-ing it simply “Just something I conjuredup. Six fives are thirty.”

Should the PCs decline his hospitality,Gilken does not pre s s u re them. He does,h o w e v e r, continue eating his own meal ashe talks with them, in hopes of changingtheir minds. He really does want to dosomething nice for the player charactersb e f o re he sends them off on an errand thathe fears spells swift and certain doom.

If the party asks why Gilken is diningin the middle of a wasteland, he responds,“I live here. Eight and eight are sixteen.”(The statement is true enough—he mustdwell in the Badlands until he recovers

the Amulet of Seeming.) Should the char-acters inquire about the nature of theShadow World or the Seeming, Gilken re-sponds with similar vague half-truths. Ononly one issue is the faerie outright de-ceiving: how to leave the Badlands.

F rom watching the party cover thesame ground re p e a t e d l y, Gilken knows theg roup is lost in the confusion of the Seem-ing. His plan is to trick the PCs into be-lieving they must defeat the shade whoholds the amulet in order to escape theBadlands. At first, he waits for the part ymembers to initiate any discussion of theirplight and ask for directions. If necessary,h o w e v e r, he brings up the subject himselfafter establishing a comfortable rapportwith the PCs. He does so in his character-istic roundabout way, however, askingw h e re the characters are headed, how longthey have been traveling, and so on.

Once the party asks for directions orhelp in finding its way out of the Bad-lands, read aloud the following text.

In Gilken’s moral view, he has just toldthe truth: The shade is at fault for thePCs’ predicament, because Gilkenwould have helped them sooner if hedidn’t have the creature to worryabout. And the path out of theBadlands will be revealed uponthe shade’s defeat—byGilken. He can’t help it ifthe player charactersconstrue a strongercause–effect rela-tionship be-tween thoseevents

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“Have you traveled far? Three from tenis seven. You must be hungry. Please—join me. Five and one is six. There’splenty of food for all, and I was growingquite lonely. Dining by oneself is so dull.Thrice four is twelve.”

Gilken scratches his head. “Leave theBadlands? A tricky matter, that. Oncetwo is two.”

The odd little character leans for-ward. “A fearsome monster dwells notfar from here,” he says in a conspirator-ial whisper. “Twice two is four. He’s thereason you have not been able to findyour way out. Half four is two. Defeatthe creature, and the path shall be re-vealed.

“Half two is one.”

than he intended, can he? In seeliespeech, passive voice is a wonderful thing.

Should the party inquire about the na-ture of the monster, Gilken replies:

Again, Gilken speaks the truth (his versionof it): For someone 2 feet tall, a 6-footc re a t u re i s p retty large. As for being ugly—well, such matters have always been subjec-tive. The faerie avoids naming the cre a t u reor describing it in more concrete detail,though if pressed he will offer a few moresynonyms for “ugly.” Recall that shades canpass for humans—you want the PCs to beexpecting something more monstrous.

If the player characters are hesitant toconfront the creature, Gilken employs allthe powers at his disposal to persuade them.He first uses just “plain” seelie speech, sug-gesting that the monster—while ugly—might not be too tough. Should that fail, heattempts to c h a rm person or mammal. As alast re s o rt, he waits until the PCs leave hispresence and invisibly accompanies themwith the intention of subtly guiding theminto an unintentional encounter.

Assuming the player characters decideto confront the monster (they are adven-turers, after all), they need to know whereto find it. Read aloud the following text.

When they turn around to face Gilkenagain, he is gone.

Gilken hasn’t left the part y — h em e rely turned invisible. He ac-

companies the PCs so hecan collect the Amulet of

S e e m i n gwhen (and if)they defeat the

shade, but heo t h e rw i s e

does not

plan to interf e re or reveal his pre s e n c e .The shade’s camp is about 30 min-

utes’ walk from Gilken’s banquet.G i l k e n ’s tacit presence enables the PCsto negotiate the terrain successfully thistime instead of wandering in circles asthey did before. The player characterst h e re f o re should have little trouble re a c h-ing the spire, although you are welcometo interject a random encounter or twoalong the way.

When the party nears the shade’scamp, read aloud or paraphrase the fol-lowing text.

The “something” is, of course, the mon-ster Gilken has sent the PCs to find.

Abbed (shade): AC 3 (+2 chainmail); MV 18; HD 10; hp 75;THAC0 8; #AT 1; Dmg 2d4+3(broadsword); SA blink, quasi-images, Seeming, surprise; SD seein shadows, +3 bonus to savingthrows, regenerate, teleport; MR 30%; SZ M (6' tall); ML 14(elite); Int high (14); AL NE;XP 6,000.

Notes: Perception/Seeming scores of 6/19. Special items: Amulet of Seeming,faerie mail (+2 chain mail).

Once a human changeling child raised bythe seelie faeries, Abbed embraced dark-ness when he left Ti t a n i a ’s court. His evilactions earned him the attention of

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“Oh! It’s a huge thing! And ugly—reallyrevoltingly, hideously ugly. Four seven-teens are sixty-eight.”

Gilken directs your attention to a tall,pointed outcrop in the distance. “Seethe spire yonder? That’s where its lairlies. Once naught is naught.”

The outcrop rises from the unyieldingearth like a great twisted horn or talon,its edges blurring into indistinction withthe twilight. The elements seem to havecarved a small depression or cavern intothe formation, but the murky lightingrenders you incapable of determininghow deep it might be. Without, largerocks and sections of long-petrifiedtrees lie scattered like a child’s aban-doned toys.

The dusky light plays tricks on youreyes, draping a shadowy veil across theland that obscures objects and makesyou feel as if your vision is out offocus. As you try to distinguish shapes,something seems to move in the grayl i g h t .

Lussina, who captured him and turn e dhim into a shade. Knowing his history,she believed he could prove useful in herongoing war against her mother.

Just over a week ago, Lussina put herplot into action. She instructed the shadeAbbed to infiltrate the Seelie Court, usinghis former affiliation to gain entrance onthe pretense of soliciting aid. Once inside,he stole the Amulet of Seemingfrom theFaerie Queen’s coffers.

Abbed has been instructed by Lussinato wait here with his prize until an emis-sary arrives to escort him back to the Un-seelie Court. Meanwhile, he has created atemporary camp in which to pass thehours more comfortably.

The shade blends into the shadows sowell that he spies the approaching partylong before the PCs discern his outline inthe twilight. The advance warning enableshim to formulate a plan: He will try, asbest he can, to pass himself off as his for-mer human self in the hope that the partywill leave him alone and move on. Out-numbered, he dare not chance losing theamulet.

Though ordered not to experimentwith the amulet or use it toward his ownends, the shade will employ it in self-de-fense if the PCs engage him in battle anddefeat appears imminent.

AMULET OF SEEMINGWhen Lussina was a child in the SeelieCourt, her mother, the Faerie Queen,fashioned the Amulet of Seemingas a giftfor her beloved daughter. The oval charmis made of a unique silver-green metal andinscribed with the Sie word gwesyn(guardian). Titania intended for theamulet to help Lussina learn to masterthe Seeming, and thus be a betterguardian of the seelie people.

But Lussina’s ambition exceeded herd u t y. After her thwarted coup attempt,Titania took the powerful item away.Lussina, however, believes the amulet isrightfully hers and wants it back. Fur-t h e r, recent events in the Shadow Wo r l dhave caused her to fear she may lose hergrip on the Seeming, so she wants theamulet to help her maintain contro l .Lussina won’t rest until it is re t u rned toh e r.

The amulet draws on the power ofthe Seeming to create illusory effects. Ifthe amulet is directed toward an inani-mate object and one charge is used, theobject appears to come to life. It func-tions according to the will of thea m u l e t ’s owner, operating as an a d v a n c e di l l u s i o n cast at 10th level. The ownermust have a purpose in mind for the illu-sion when activating the charge (attack-ing a foe, creating a distraction, etc.);o t h e rwise the animated object simply ob-s e rves whatever transpires around it. Theobject remains animated for 10 ro u n d s ,unless the owner chooses to end the ani-mation sooner.

If directed at the ground and twocharges are used, the amulet createsshadow monsters(per the wizard spell, as ifcast at the 10th level of ability). Thesecreatures are constructs of the Seeming,and thus cannot be disbelieved in thesame manner as ordinary illusions.

Both the animated objects and theshadow monstersexist as if fashioned bysomeone with a Seeming score of 50, re-gardless of the owner’s actual Seemingscore.

The amulet can also increase an indi-v i d u a l ’s command over the Seeming, pro-vided that individual already possesses aSeeming score of slight or higher. Ifaimed at oneself, another person, or ac re a t u re, the amulet temporarily raisesthe re c i p i e n t ’s Seeming score by 7points. Multiple charges may be used tocumulative effect, to a maximum in-c rease of 49 points. The boost lasts 1d6t u rns, re g a rdless of how many charg e sw e re used.

P re s e n t l y, the Amulet of Seeminghas 47 charges. It can hold a maxi-mum of 80 charges, and can bere c h a rged only by the FaerieQ u e e n .

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When the party draws near enough, readaloud or paraphrase the following text.

After Gilken’s build-up, the party may besurprised that the dreadful monsterthey’ve been sent to defeat appears to bean ordinary human. Abbed tries to sustainthis impression as long as possible. If ap-proached peacefully, he introduces him-self as a fellow Cerilian traveler and doeshis best to get the party moving alongwithout sounding rude.

Abbed cannot direct the PCs out ofthe Badlands himself; his own perceptionscore is low enough that he needs thehelp of the unseelie escort he awaits.However, he is not above pointing in arandom direction and telling the party tohead that way, just to get the group toleave.Though Abbed works hard to maintainhis disguise, the player charactersmay discover through perfectly in-

nocent questions that the Khinasiwarrior is not what he appears.

Because Abbed was stolen asan infant, he knows next to

nothing about his nativeculture, or any other

Cerilian culture.What little infor-

mation hedoes

have is distorted and filtered through thefaeries and other creatures and travelershe has encountered. Sharp PCs may al-ready have noticed that Abbed lacks thetraditional Khinasi head covering. Disso-nant answers to questions about hishomeland or travels may provoke furthersuspicion.

The shade watches the PCs carefully,gauging their reactions to him. But havinglived isolated from other humans hiswhole life, Abbed lacks the ability to fi-nesse a personal encounter. If the PCsgive any indication of doubting his hu-manity or harboring hostile intentions, heseizes the initiative and strikes first togain the advantage of surprise.

Gilken helps the party as much aspossible while remaining invisible (for ex-ample, by casting spells), but doesn’t ex-pose himself to injury.

Depending upon the PCs’ fighting skillsand the extent to which the DungeonMaster wants to influence the direction ofthe adventure, the battle can resolve itselfin a number of ways.

Abbed seeks only to get away from theparty so he can complete his mission. Ifthe player characters flee, he does not fol-low them. Should the player charactersinsist on fighting to the death, however,he obliges.

A PC defeat can take two forms:

THE SHADE WINSPlayer characters are killed or subdued,or perhaps surrender. Any surviving PCsare bound over for delivery to Lussina.See “Lussina’s Dark Domain,” page 78,for guidance on handling a visit to theUnseelie Court.

SHADE LOSES, HIS ESCORT ARRIVESIf the party defeats (or nearly defeats)Abbed, but the DM wants the PCs to en-counter Lussina, the shade’s unseelie es-cort arrives. The escort comprises 2 to 12living evil faeries; the exact number de-

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Out of the misty twilight, a human fig-ure emerges. The object of your scrutinyappears to be a Khinasi man in his mid-thirties, though he is not dressed in na-tive garb. He wears old-fashionedAnuirean-looking clothing with hisarmor, and his long, thick hair is tied atthe nape. His mail is of unusual con-struction, its rings varying in hue to cre-ate a swirling, dizzying pattern.

He holds a broadsword in his lefthand, but does not brandish it threaten-ingly. Instead, he lowers it as he takes astep toward you.

“May I help you?” he asks.

pends upon how many are needed tooverpower the party. The escort capturesthe PCs, scoops up the amulet, and con-ducts everyone back to Lussina. Gilkenaccompanies them (as a captive if he hasalready revealed his presence, unseen ifhe hasn’t).

See “Lussina’s Dark Domain” on thenext page for guidance on handling a visitto the Unseelie Court.

Should the player characters defeatAbbed, Gilken immediately reveals him-self to claim the Amulet of Seeming. Readaloud the following text.

The remainder of the adventure willbe determined by how the player charac-ters respond to Gilken:

ALLOWING GILKEN TO TAKE THE AMULETIf the player characters accept the factthat the amulet doesn’t belong to themand permit Gilken to have it unchal-lenged, the faerie uses the Seeming tofashion a path out of the Badlands. Thispath leads to wherever you, the DM,wish.

If he did not exhaust his spellcastingabilities in the shade battle, Gilken nowcasts whatever beneficial spells he can onthe party’s behalf (such as protection fromevil, create food and water,etc.). He doesso without the PCs’ knowledge.

Finally, though the player charactersdo not realize it, their honorable treat-ment of Gilken has earned them a loyal

ally. Once Gilken returns the amulet tothe Faerie Queen, he may again shadowthe party, providing help when they leastexpect it.

ATTEMPTING TO THWART GILKENShould the party physically or verballychallenge Gilken’s right to the amulet, thefaerie employs every means possible toescape with the magical item. He firststarts with seelie speech, attempting totrick the player characters into releasinghim and the amulet. If unsuccessful, henext uses any remaining spells against thePCs and unleashes the full range of hisSeeming abilities.

Gilken refuses, under pain of death,to reveal the nature of the amulet, its ori-gin, or how it works.

If the party succeeds in withholdingthe amulet from Gilken, they have gaineda powerful magical item—at a high price.If Gilken is left alive, he becomes a swornenemy. He will do his best to hinder thePCs at every turn, and encourage otherseelie faeries to do the same. And the he-roes won’t exactly have endeared them-selves to the Faerie Queen, either.

A VISIT TO THE SEELIE COURTShould a particularly clever player charac-ter sufficiently master the twisting logic ofseelie speech, he or she may manage toconvince Gilken that the faerie has nochoice but to escort the party to thequeen, where they can return the amuletthemselves. Use your own discretion indetermining whether a player characteris creative enough to beat Gilken at hisown linguistic games. One potentialmethod might be spouting incorrectmathematical calculations betweenall one’s statements. The blas-phemy will torture poor Gilkeninto promising nearly anythingto make it stop.

See “The Court of theFaerie Queen” on thenext page for guidanceon handling a visitto the SeelieCourt.

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From the pulsing twilight around you,Gilken emerges.

“You did it!” he exclaims. “You de-feated the monster! Ten tens is one hun-dred!”

The little fellow hurries to the fallencreature and wraps his thin fingersaround an amulet hanging from Abbed’sneck. With a strength that belies hisdiminutive size, Gilken snaps the chain.

“That hideous beast stole this frommy queen,” he says, grasping the shim-mering charm tightly. “Twice naught isnaught. But now I can return it to her,and you can leave the Badlands.”

The party’s visit to the Seelie Court pro-vides you, the DM, with a chance to pointyour Shadow World campaign in any di-rection you wish. The PCs can learn in-formation, gain allies (or enemies), or en-counter the catalyst for their next adven-ture here. It’s up to you where you wantto take things from this point.

The faerie folk may take little noticeof the player characters’ arrival, regardthe party with curiosity, or sweep in witha barrage of questions and proddings. TheFaerie Queen does not greet them ini-tially; if they wish to speak with her, theymust request an audience through Gilkenor one of her other courtiers.

Should the party be so fortunate as towin an audience with Titania, the en-counter is brief. The Faerie Queen sel-dom shows herself to mortals, but shetakes advantage of this opportunity toquestion the party about the recent tu-mult in her homeland. After thanking thePCs for their role in retrieving the Amuletof Seeming, she asks them about theirtravels in the Shadow World.

The Faerie Queen has sensed a shiftin the fabric of the Seeming, and suspectsher daughter may be involved. She doubtsthat Lussina alone is powerful enough tocause such a ripple, but knows that if theDark Queen colludes with the ShadowWorld’s other major forces, the combina-tion could prove deadly indeed. Titaniaknows that the Cold Rider is gatheringstrength and is rumored to be on themarch. She has heard that the Riderhas enlisted the aid of his old ser-vants, the Lost. And she has felt thedark energy, awnmebhaighl, pooling

and eddying into new sources.Titania quizzes the player

characters, in as roundabout away as possible, to confirm

these impressions and ru-mors. When she fin-

ishes, she presentsthem with a

gift and a

word of warning before sending them ontheir way.

The gift is a small tin containing asalve of seeing.By dabbing a small amountof the salve into one eye, a character cansee any disguised or invisible seeliefaeries in his or her visual range. Shouldthe PCs learn any information that wouldbe valuable to the Faerie Queen, they areto use the ointment to locate one of heremissaries and send word to her. The tinholds three applications; each lasts forone day.

Once the player characters’ visit is atan end, they are escorted out of Titania’sdomain and charmed with the seelie spellof forgettingso that they cannot find theirway back.

The player characters arrive in the Un-seelie Court as prisoners, and endure thejeers and jabs of its unsavory population.Before long, they are brought before theDark Queen herself. When they see her,she is, of course, wearing the Amulet ofSeeming.

Upon hearing that the heroes attackedher servant Abbed, Lussina becomes con-vinced that the party is in league with theFaerie Queen. She interrogates them forhours about their involvement, Titania’splans, and the shift in the Seeming thatshe is convinced her mother has somehoweffected.

Pleas of ignorance only increaseLussina’s suspicions. She offers the PCs achoice: Either they voluntarily swear alle-giance to her, or she will command it aftertheir deaths. If they swear allegiance, shereleases them, but considers them ser-vants who can be called upon at any time.

Like a visit to the Faerie Queen’srealm, an encounter with the UnseelieC o u rt offers you, the DM, the perfect cat-alyst for continuing the story in any man-ner you like. A whole adventure could re-volve around escaping Lussina’s clutches,avoiding a plan to turn all the PCs intoshades, or engaging in an espionage at-tempt to uncover Lussina’s involvementwith other Shadow World forc e s .

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In addition to any experience pointsgained for defeating the shade, at theDM’s discretion player characters mayalso earn the following:◆ 1,000 XP and 1 permanent percep-

tion point each for the experience ofdealing with Gilken. Double thisamount if PCs realized before Gilken’sreappearance that defeating the shadehad nothing to do with finding theirway out of the Badlands.

◆ A +2 perception bonus in future en-counters with seelie faeries. Triple thisamount if the party visited the SeelieCourt. If characters visited the Unseel-ie Court, they receive a +4 perceptionbonus in future unseelie encounters(more, if you prolong the PCs’ timethere with an adventure of your own).

◆ A +5 perception bonus during futureexcursions into the Badlands.

◆ An additional +5 perception bonus inseelie encounters for any character whomastering seelie logic well enough towrangle a visit to the Seelie Court.

If the player characters avoided a trip toone of the faerie courts but kept theAmulet of Seemingfor themselves, theyhave obtained a powerful magical item.However, the amulet comes with a dan-gerous string attached—and Lussina isholding the other end. The Dark Queenwill stop at nothing to get her amuletback. Until she has it in her possessiononce more, she will make the PCs’ lives—and deaths—miserable. The Faerie Queenwants the charm back as well, so theparty may find itself caught in the middleof the Seelie War.

If the player characters visited one ofthe faerie courts during this adventure,one of the queens could charge them withperforming some task or service—eitherduring the initial interview, or at some un-expected time in the future.

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he creatures described in this vol-ume were created specifically for theBIRTHRIGHT setting. However, a numberof standard AD&D monsters are also ap-propriate for Shadow World adventures.Dungeon Masters may use their own dis-cretion in determining whether to intro-duce the following monsters into theircampaigns.

◆

Key to MonstersUnless otherwise noted, all the creatureslisted in this appendix are detailed in theMONSTROUS MANUAL accessory. Excep-tions are as follows:1 C re a t u re appears in the MO N S T R O U S

COMPENDIUM Annual, Volume One.2 C re a t u re appears in the MO N S T R O U S

COMPENDIUM Annual, Volume Two.3 C re a t u re appears in the MO N S T R O U S

COMPENDIUM Annual, Volume Three.

◆

Aranea 3: Often looks like a human orhalfling in humanoid form; commonlyfound in Shadow World forests.Arch-Shadow 2: Appears with rarefrequency in the Shadow World.

Baatezu: Any extraplanar crea-ture summoned or gated to

Cerilia must pass through theShadow World; occasion-

ally they get stuck thereand never make it to

Aebrynis. Otherfiends are

sum-

moned directly to the Shadow World byevil inhabitants such as the Lost. Baatezumay serve a master, or may have escapedenslavement and roam free.Banshee: Often found near portals inelven domains, trying to lure their livingbrethren into the Shadow World.Bat: The Night Hunter and Sinister vari-eties are common in the Shadow World.Bonebat 3: Appears with rare frequencythroughout the Shadow World.

Brownie: Dwells among the Seelie Court.Brownie, Quickling 2: A member of theUnseelie Court.

Cat: The Giant Lynx (great cat) and WildCat (small cat) are the most common va-rieties found in the Shadow World.Cath Shee 2: These faerie cats live amongthe Seelie Court, often as pets. They havea slight command of the Seeming.Cloaker: Appears with uncommon fre-quency in the Shadow World.Cockatrice: Both the cockatrice and thepyrolisk can be found in the ShadowWorld, each with uncommon frequency.Crawling Claw: Employed as guardiansby powerful spellcasters; can also befound among the Unseelie Court.Crypt Thing: Appears with rare fre-quency in the Shadow World.Curst 2: Can be found throughout theShadow World.

Death Knight: Appears in Cerilia withrare frequency.Dog: Wild Dogs are common; Death Dogsappear with rare frequency in the ShadowWorld. Blink Dogs on Cerilia briefly enterthe Shadow World when they "blink."Dog, Moon: Appears with very rare fre-quency in the Shadow World; has beenknown to lead travelers to havens.

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Doppleganger: Appears with rare fre-quency in the Shadow World; thought tobe spawned from the Seeming itself.Doppleganger, Greater 2: These crea-tures usually serve powerful denizens ofthe Shadow World.Dracolich: A unique creature in theShadow World. Only one, transformedcenturies ago from a Cerilian Dragon, isknown to exist.Dragonet: Faerie Dragons can be foundamong the Seelie Court.Dream Spawn 3: In the Shadow World, adream spawn is an independent being,not a servant of the Nightmare Court. Itappears with very rare frequency.Dream Weaver 3: Appears in the ShadowWorld with rare frequency to influencetravelers’ dreams.

Elemental: Kin varieties appear veryrarely; others appear with the frequencynoted.Ettercap: Appears with common fre-quency in the Shadow World.Eyewing: Appears with uncommon fre-quency in the Shadow World, usuallyswooping in on parties traveling acrosslarge plains or other open terrain.

Faerie Fiddler 3: Member of the SeelieCourt. An evil faerie fiddler dwells amongthe unseelie faeries.Faerie, Petty 1: Squeakers and Stingersdwell among the Seelie Court with rarefrequency.Faerie, Petty 3: Brambles dwell amongthe Unseelie Court; gorse, among theSeelie Court.Fish: Many nasty varieties inhabit theShadow World’s murky lakes, rivers, andseas.Flameskull 1: Appears with very rare fre-quency in the Shadow World.Fungus: All varieties appear with com-mon frequency in the Shadow World’smany dark, dense forests.

Galeb Duhr: Appears with uncommonfrequency in rocky Shadow World terrain;of neutral evil alignment.Gargoyle: Appears with rare frequency inthe Shadow World.Ghost: Appears with uncommon fre-quency in the Shadow World.

Ghoul: Ghouls, Lacedons, and Ghasts allinhabit the Shadow World.Giant: Many varieties appear with veryrare frequency in the Shadow World.More commonly, smaller creatures usethe Seeming (consciously or not) to ap-pear as giants.Gibberling: Appear with rare frequencyin the Shadow World.Gloomwing: Both the Moth and theTenebrous Worm appear with commonfrequency in the Shadow World.Golem: Flesh, Clay, Bone, andNecrophidius golems appear with veryrare frequency in the Shadow World.Gremlin: Member of the Unseelie Court.Grimlock: Appears with rare frequencyin the Shadow World.

Hag: The Seeming often causes ordinarywomen in the Shadow World to look likehags.Haunt: Appears with uncommon fre-quency in the Shadow World.Hell Hound: Appears with uncommonfrequency in the Shadow World.Heucuva: Appears with rare frequency inthe Shadow World.Hound of Ill-Omen 3: May appear in boththe Shadow World and Cerilia.

Imp: Member of the Unseelie Court.Very rarely, Mephits can be found amongthe Unseelie Court or conducting theirbusiness elsewhere in the Shadow World.Invisible Stalker: Summoned by power-ful Shadow World denizens with very rarefrequency.

Jackalwere: Appears with very rarefrequency in the Shadow World.

Leprechaun: Member of the SeelieCourt.Lich: Not a generic monster.Each lich in the ShadowWorld is a unique character(in the same way thatthe awnsheghlien andthe Lost are). DMsa re free to cre-ate theiro w n .

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Lycanthrope: Many varieties populatethe Shadow World. Often, they are for-mer Cerilians who strayed through a por-tal and found themselves cursed with ly-canthropy.

Magebane 1: Appears with very rare fre-quency in the Shadow World.Mastiff, Shadow 3: Native to the ShadowWorld.Mist: Both Crimson Death and VampiricMist inhabit the Shadow World with rarefrequency.Mummy: Appears with rare frequency inarid regions of the Shadow World.

Naga: All varieties are very rare in theShadow World.Nightmare: Shadow Steeds (see entry inthis book) become Nightmares uponcrossing into Cerilia.Noran 1: Appears with rare frequency ingnarled Shadow World forests.

Ogre: The Seeming causes many ordinaryhumans in the Shadow World to appear asogres.

Phantom: Appears with uncommon fre-quency in the Shadow World. Also knownto appear in Cerilia depicting a death thatoccurred in the Shadow World.Plant, Dangerous: Many varieties populatethe Shadow World, including the Blood-t h o rn2, Twilight Bloom2, and Boring Grass2.Plant, Intelligent: The Hangman Tree,Obliviax, Quickwood, and Strangleweedall appear with uncommon frequency inthe Shadow World.Plant, Vampire Moss 1: Grows inShadow World forests, marshes, andswamps.Poltergeist: Appears with uncom-

mon frequency in the ShadowWorld.

Rakshasa: Appears with veryrare frequency in the

Shadow World.Revenant: Appears

only rarely in theShadow

World.

Shadeling 1: Appears with rare frequencyin the Shadow World.Shadow: Appears with uncommon fre-quency in the Shadow World.Skeleton: Ordinary skeletons appearcommonly in the Shadow World. Giantand Warrior skeletons appear with rarefrequency.Snake: Many varieties inhabit theShadow World, appearing with very rarefrequency.Spectral Wizard 1: Generally found inmore populated areas of the ShadowWorld.Spectre: Appears with uncommon fre-quency in the Shadow World.S p i d e r : H a i ry, Large, Huge, and Giantspiders appear commonly. The uncommonPhase Spider enters the Shadow Wo r l dwhen it "phases" out of Cerilia. Garg a n-tuan Spiders appear with rare fre q u e n c y.Sprite and Sprite, Seelie Faerie 2: Mem-bers of the Seelie Court.Sprite, Unseelie Faerie 2: Member of theUnseelie Court.

Tanar’ri: Any extraplanar creature sum-moned or gated to Cerilia must passthrough the Shadow World; occasionallythey get stuck there and never make it toAebrynis. Other creatures are summoneddirectly to the Shadow World by evil in-habitants such as the Lost.Treant: Most Shadow World treants areof chaotic neutral alignment.Tree, Singing 1: Can grow in any ShadowWorld forest.

Undead Lake Monster 1: Appears withuncommon frequency in Shadow Worldlakes.Urchin: Found in and near many ShadowWorld bodies of water.

Vampire: Appears with very rare fre-quency in the Shadow World.

Wight: Sometimes roams the ShadowWorld in small bands.Will o’Wisp: Related to the Willo’Shadow (see entry in this book).Wolf: Ordinary wolves appear commonlyin the Shadow World; Worgs and DireWolves appear with uncommon fre-quency; Winter Wolves are rare.

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Wolf, Vampiric 1 or Zombie 1: Appearswith rare frequency in the Shadow World.Wolfwere: Appears with very rare fre-quency in the Shadow World.Wraith: Unlike standard wraiths, in theShadow World they can be found any-where, not necessarily near tombs orplaces of their deaths.

Yugoloth, Guardian: Appears with veryrare frequency in the Shadow World.

Zombie: All varieties of zombies appearwith rare frequency in the Shadow World,except for the Sea Zombie.

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