NEW TALES: THE LAND REBORNB Y JOHN TE R R A

Table of Contents

Introduction ...............................................................................................................................Scenario One: Wayward Waylan ...............................................................................................Scenario Two: My Mother the Dragon ....................................................................................Scenario Three: Rebirth ........................................................................................................Scenario Four: Of Love and Diplomacy .................................................................................Pregenerated Player Characters ...............................................................................................

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Credits

Design: John Terra Interior Art: Valerie ValusekEditing: Mike Breault Cartography: Steve BeckCover Art: Larry Elmore Production: Gaye O’Keefe

TSR, Inc.POB 756120Lake GenevaWI 53147USA

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ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, and DRAGONLANCE are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. The TSR logo is atrademark owned by TSR, Inc. All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.

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Printed in U.S.A.9395ISBN 1-56076-607-79395XXX1501

Copyright ©1993 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Permission granted to photocopy or print this product for personal use.

INTRODUCTIONOnce more the land of Krynn beckons to theHeroes of the Lance. For though Takhisis has beendefeated, sti l l her minions roam the lands,oppressing good folk everywhere.

The call has gone up for heroes to help clean upthe dregs of Takhisis’s Dragonarmies. In this book-let you will find adventures in the post-war worldof Krynn. Players will once again play the familiarroles of Tasslehoff, Caramon, Raistlin, Goldmoon,Riverwind, Tika, Tanis, and Laurana. Many dangersawait these bold heroes, for draconians and otherevil monsters still rule large parts of Ansalon.

In the adventures contained herein, the Heroesof the Lance wi l l be cal led to Kendermore,Abanasinia, Ergoth, and many other localesthroughout Ansalon. In these places and more,evil still holds sway and must be routed before thewounds of the War can be healed.

Some of the adventures call for certain heroes tobe present, but for the most part players are free tochoose from the eight pregenerated (and veryfamiliar to fans of the DRAGONLANCE® saga)player characters detailed on pages 92 to 95.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT

DRAGONLANCE®

ADVENTURES

A proper DRAGONLANCE campaign bases itselfaround the struggle of good versus evil andaround the characters’ relationships in and withthe world. Not every adventure is an earth-shak-ing event, destined to alter the history of Krynn.However, every one of them should embody thestruggle that characterizes the epic quality of theDRAGONLANCE game world. While most cam-paigns are simply a collection of adventurers’ sto-ries, the DRAGONLANCE saga draws these storiestogether into a coherent whole of epic propor-tions.

DRAGONLANCE adventures promote thepower of truth over falsehood, justice over injus-tice, and good over evil. Good actions will gener-ally be rewarded with blessings, while evil actionsentail grave consequences. Though evil may gaina temporary foothold in a story, good should even-tually win out.

DRAGONLANCE adventures tend to focus lesson the combative aspects of the AD&D® game,and more on thinking and role-playing. Interper-s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s a r e a k e y f a c e t o fDRAGONLANCE game play.

The world of Krynn is markedly different fromothers. Any DM who runs adventures withinKrynn should be aware of these differences. Agood place to gather this information is in theDRAGONLANCE Adventures hardbound book, orthe New Tales boxed set. The features that aremost distinct include new races, the moons ofKrynn and their influences on magic, and theKnights of Solamnia. The races unique to Krynninclude the kender, draconians, and Krynn mino-taurs. Each of these lends a unique flavor to thegame.

The effectiveness of magic on Krynn dependson the three moons. When one’s “patron moon”wanes, so does the efficacy of one’s magic. TheDM must pay careful attention to the phases of themoons when magic is in play.

The Knighthood of Solamnia is the enforcingarm of good. Its goals are not so much to winmore land and glory for good, but to stem the tideof evil on Ansalon. The knights are the main forcefor chivalry, law, and goodness on this continent,and they constantly seek to keep the people awareof the knightly ideals.

And now, the people of Ansalon cry out for thereturn of the Heroes of the Lance, for much evil isafoot in the lands. On to adventure!

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SCENARIO ONE: WAYWARD WAYLANIn which Tika Waylan finds a clue to the where-abouts of her wandering rogue of a father, AlleranWaylan.

Start Up: This adventure requires the characters ofTika Waylan and Caramon Majere. It takes placeafter the War of the Lance, but before Tika andCaramon get married.

Caramon’s brother Raist l in could a lso beincluded, as he was a protege of Alleran Waylan.Tasslehoff is another good candidate.

The party should consist of four to six PCs. Theaction begins in the ruined village of Solace, inthe midst of rebuilding after the War.

This adventure, besides allowing the players torole-play Tika’s search for her father, providesthem with a whirlwind tour of certain portions ofpostwar Ansalon. This is an adventure of travel,complete with overland journeys, a sea trip, inn-hopping, and other such niceties.

DMs should play up the feel of Ansalon as aplace that is rebuilding after the War of the Lance.Remember, the restoration of the Knights ofSolamnia and the return of the gods are big news.Though the people may still be a bit dazed in thewake of the recent war, there is also careful hopeand enthusiasm.

TRACKING AL L E R A N

There may be a temptation for PCs with the Track-ing proficiency to try to use it to follow Alleran’stracks. This will not work for several reasons: first,no one knows what Alleran’s footprints look like.Second, Alleran has been missing for over amonth, and his tracks are sure to have been oblit-erated by the elements, animals, and other travel-ers. (The DM, however, has the advantage of Map1: Waylan’s Route.)

A DISGRUNTLED LEAD

Read the following to the PCs:

The War of the Lance has been over for tenmonths now. The citizens of Solace are busyrebuilding their devastated town. As Heroes ofthe Lance, your skills at warfare are not what isneeded, but rather your strong shoulders arerequired for the task of reconstruction.

The War of the Lance has been over for tenmonths now. The citizens of Solace are busyrebuilding their devastated town. As Heroes ofthe Lance, your skills at warfare are not what isneeded, but rather your strong shoulders arerequired for the task of reconstruction.

On one sunny morning, three riders gallopinto town. You watch as they talk briefly withsome of the other townsfolk. Eventually, one ofthe townspeople points in your direction.

With renewed purpose, the trio rides towardyou. At about a hundred paces, the men dis-mount and walk toward your group. The mid-dle man wears a noticeable scowl. The othertwo men walk one pace behind him on eitherside, their hands close to the hilts of theirsheathed swords.

The three men come right up to your group.The first man, the scowler, looks you over.Though he wears a sword, he seems to be lessof a warrior than the two other men, who bearthe scars of many campaigns.

The first man clears his throat. “I seek TikaWaylan, daughter of Alleran Waylan. Are youshe?” His tone is harsh.

Wait for the group to respond. Providing theresponse is not hostile, and one of the PCs is iden-tified as Tika, continue reading.

The man nods his head with satisfaction and abit of relief, though anger is still foremost onhis mind. “Very well, then. I want my money. Iwant all of it.” He folds his arms and waits.The two men take a step forward, their handsnow resting casually on their sword hilts.

Again, allow the PCs to react. It should bestressed to them that the men have not made anyovertly hostile moves. The first man, Ansun, seemsgenuinely upset about something. When pressedfor information, the man’s cheeks turn crimsonand he barks his explanation.

“Not two months ago, while visiting New-ports, I purchased a warding charm from a so-called wizard. Oh, he seemed friendly enough,and his words spoke much of his level of com-

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petence. These are uncertain times we live in,and a little extra magical protection may be allthat stands between safety and an attack bywayward draconians.

“Several days after this purchase, my threebodyguards and I did indeed run afoul of somedraconians, and we received the bad end of it.As you can tell, that is, if you can count, I nowhave two bodyguards. The charm failed.

“It became obvious that the wizard was afraud. I paid good steel for that worthlesscharm! Well, I was determined to hunt downthe miscreant and teach him a good lesson, aswell as to get my money back, but the charla-tan had already left town! There was talk thathe had taken a boat to Port o’ Call.

“During our business negotiations for thecharm, the charlatan identified himself asAlleran Waylan. He assured me that the charmwas genuine, and told me that he had a livingrelative in Solace who would be able to speakon his behalf. That relative, I guess, is you.

“I decided that traveling from Newports toSolace was far easier than traveling across

Newsea to Lemish. So this is what brings mehere, anxious to be recompensed for my trou-bles. Well? What have you to say?"

Getting through this encounter is going to takesome diplomacy. The man has clearly beenwronged. He wants some sort of compensation,and he will not leave until he has been satisfied.

Since Ansun paid a thousand steel pieces for thecharm, and Tika does not have that kind of money,there is only one civilized course: Tika must findAlleran. Ansun will agree to this if Tika suggests it.If none of the PCs suggests it, then have Ansunoffer the idea.

The terms are simple: Ansun will meet Tika andher friends at the Inn of the Last Home two monthsfrom now. During that time, Tika should eitherretrieve her father and bring him to Solace, or atleast get Ansun’s money back.

Tika and her friends already have a solid lead—while in Newports, Alleran caught a boat acrossNewsea.

Once the agreement has been reached, Ansunis somewhat mollified and is even apologetic forhis earlier outbursts.

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Just in case things between the PCs and Ansun’sgroup get testy, the NPC stats follow:

Ansun Surehand: AC 5; MV 9; F6; hp 48; THAC015; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword); AL LN; ML 12;XP 300.

Ansun wears chain armor and wields a longsword +1. He has a purse with 1,000 stl. In apouch in his cloak he has some hastily scribblednotes, useful especially if the PCs kill him beforehe can explain the situation. The notes tell every-thing that Ansun would have said if he had thechance.

Ansun is a former warrior, now a merchant fromPalanthus. Though he is abrupt and easily angered,he is a fair man.

Mercenaries (2): AC 5; MV 9; F8; hp 60; THAC013; #AT 3/2; Dmg 1d8 (long sword), 1d6 (shortbows and flight arrows); AL N; ML 13; XP 700

Each man has a purse with 25 stl. The merce-naries are loyal to Ansun and defend him to thedeath.

The trio does not accompany the PCs, but ratherconducts some business in Solace, and stays at theInn of the Last Home.

The DM should run the journey from Solace toNewports as a typical overland trip, possibly witha random encounter or two, but no great threats.The trip is 30 miles long, provided the PCs stick tothe roads.

M A P 2 : N E W P O R T S

This small town located on the shore of Newsea isthe only decent place to get a boat. Unfortunately,Alleran Waylan has already been here and hasmade quite an impression.

The little town of Newports lies quietly on theshore of Newsea. As you reach the town lim-its, you can easily make out the docks, twoinns, a marketplace, and an official-lookingbuilding, perhaps serving as a town hall orsimilar function.

At the docks, a number of boats bob gentlyat their moorings. All in all, Newports appearsto be a quiet seaside town, apparently prosper-ing in the postwar times.

TOWN KE Y

1. The Docks: This area is a series of wooden piersand warehouses. No one but the minotaurs knowsanything about Alleran.

There are currently eight boats moored at thepiers. Of these, five are fishing boats and are notfor hire. The remaining three are:

The Rockhull, a gnomish steam-powered paddle-wheel vessel. The vessel is not going to Port o’ Call,but the 48 tinker gnomes manning the ship aremore than glad to give the PCs a free sail to San-crist. Half the time the ship is at sea, the steamengine does not work and the crew uses the backupsails. There is a cumulative 1% chance per day thatthe ship simply turns turtle and sinks. The chance isreduced to zero whenever the ship makes port.

The Sealance, a human-owned vessel fromSanction. It plans to cast off at dawn and head toPort o’ Call. The fare is 5 stl/person. The crew con-sists of 24 able-bodied seamen and their captain,a fat, old, slovenly salt named Captain Lump.

Sailors (24): AC 8; MV 12; F2; hp 12; THAC0 19;#AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (cutlass), 1d4 (dagger); AL CG;ML 13; XP 35

Each sailor has a suit of leather armor, a cutlass,and a dagger balanced for throwing.

The Sea’s Horns, a minotaur vessel from Mithas.This was the vessel that Waylan took. He paid forhis boat fare with magically altered coins, andalso managed to swindle the crew out of some oftheir valuables in some loaded games of chance.

If the crew finds out that a friend or relative ofWaylan’s is around, that person is challenged toan honor duel, a one-on-one non-lethal combat.

If the PC loses, he must forfeit all cash to theminotaurs, or serve for four weeks aboard theship. Should the PC win, the crew takes the PCand all companions wherever they wish to go.

Minotaurs (18): AC 7; MV 12; F6 (Mariners); hp36; THAC0 15; #AT 1; Dmg 1d10+1 (lajangpolearm); AL LN; ML 14; XP 650

The lajang is a polearm with a crescent blade.The shaft can be used to bludgeon opponents.This is the favored weapon for the honor duel.Each minotaur also has a pouch of 10 gp.

The minotaur captain is called Naytaugh. Ifasked, he explains that Alleran hired the mino-taurs to take him to Port o’ Call a month ago. Nay-taugh remembers hearing Alleran say “A blue ladywaits for me!”

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2. The Sign of the Whirlpool: This inn is a dive, a 5. The Town Seat: This building functions as theplace where the dregs and lowlifes gather. It is city hall, constabulary, and general meeting hall.also the place where the minotaurs enjoy drinking The basement contains ten cells for rowdies andand brawling. There is a 40% chance per hour other miscreants (such as those who do not paythat 1d4 minotaurs are present. their father’s inn tabs!).

None here (except the minotaurs) know aboutAlleran Waylan. There is a 65% chance that eachPC gets involved in a fight, and a 30% chance thateach PC has his pockets picked.

Rooms are 3 sp and are poor quality.

3. The Sea Gem: This is a place that middle classand better folk frequent. It is also where Alleranstayed, and his tab remains unpaid (current debt:25 stl). If the innkeeper or barmaids learn that Tikais here, they demand that she pay her father’s bill.Refusal results in a summoning of town guardsequal to twice the number of PCs.

Rooms here are 3 gp, and well worth it.

4. The Market: Between sunrise and sunset, this isthe place to purchase general supplies, food,drink, and anything else that the PCs need.

There is a 30% chance per hour that each PChas his or her pocket picked.

The constabulary has a notice of a bounty onthe head of one Alleran Waylan, wanted for fraudand cheating. As long as Tika and her friends actin a n honest manner while in town, they are not

has six guards on duty.

Town Guards: AC 5; MV 9; F2; hp 14; THAC0 19;#AT 1; Dmg 1d6 (short sword), 1d6 (club); AL LG;ML 12; XP 35

Each guard has a suit of chain mail with thetown’s coat of arms, plus a short sword, club,badge of office, and whistle. When patrolling thetown, the guards are encountered in pairs.

given a rough time.The town seat always

TH E VO Y A G E AC R O S S

Regardless of which vessel the PCs use to crossthe Newsea to Port o’ Call, the ship is attackedtwice, once at dusk, and once at mid-day.

1. Sea Monsters at Sundown: As the sun goesdown, the PCs and crew of the vessel feel athumping below. This happens several times, thenstops.

Several minutes later, the thumping resumes. Itis a juvenile amphi dragon having some sport withthe boat before it attacks. The DM should feel freeto have the beast thump as many times as neces-sary to unnerve the PCs. Once the PCs are trulyshaken (or very annoyed), the amphi dragon’shead surfaces starboard (right) of the ship andattacks anyone on deck.

Amphi Dragon: AC 3; MV 6, SW 24; HD 9; hp 63;THAC0 11; #AT 3 + special; Dmg 1d8/1d8/1d20;SA acid breath (4d6+4), tongue; AL NE; ML 16;XP 4,000

The dragon’s tongue is eight feet long. If it isused to attack a victim and succeeds in a rollagainst AC 10, the victim is held fast and draggedinto the dragon’s mouth by the end of the round.In this condition, the victim is automatically hit bythe dragon’s bite each round. When the victimreaches 0 hit points, the dragon swallows the vic-tim in the next round.

Each time anyone hits the dragon in melee, hemust roll a successful dexterity check or suffer 1d6points of damage from squirting acid.

The dragon has a treasure of 2,000 stl con-cealed in a shipwreck on the ocean floor directlybelow the PCs’ ship.

2. Pirates: During midday watch, the lookouts(perhaps a PC on guard duty) spot a sail on thehorizon. The ship is heading toward the PCs’ ship,but does not give any clue as to its intention untilit just passes them. Suddenly, the other vesselveers sharply toward the PCs’ ship and lets fly abarrage of arrows from the crew. After two suchsalvos, the ship closes and the crew attempts toboard.

Pirates (32): AC 8; MV 12; F2; hp 12; THAC0 19;#AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (cutlass), 1d6 (short bow); ALNE; ML 12; XP 35

Each pirate has leather armor, cutlass, shortbow, 24 flight arrows, and at least one piece of

gold jewelry worth 10 stl.The pirate captain is Jekett Neverwant, a half-

sea-elf who feels unwanted by both the air-breath-ing human society and the Dimernesti (shoalelves).

Jekett Neverwant: AC 2; MV 12; F6/T8; THAC015; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8+2 (cut/ass +2), 1d6 (shortbow); SA thieving abilities, triple damage surprisebackstab; AL NE; ML 14; XP 700

Jekett wears leather armor +3 and has Dexterity17. He wields a cutlass +2. Jekett can breathewater, but he cannot shapechange. He has bluish-white skin, long silver hair, and piercing, dark greeneyes. Jekett’s sour attitude on life gives his mouth aperpetual sneer. He is cruel and unmerciful.

If the pirates defeat the PCs and their allies, thelosing NPCs are put to death. The PCs are strippedof their gear, thrown into the brig, and sold asslaves in the city of Sanction.

The pirate ship, the Reaver, has a hold filledwith 5,000 stl.

If at all possible, Jekett should escape if his sideis losing, perhaps falling into the sea from a pre-sumed hit, only to come back again to pursue thePCs in the future.

MAP 3: PORT o� CALL

Once the PCs arrive, read the following.

At last, you reach the seaside city of Port o’Call! One look at the harbor reveals how thecity got its name. At the docks, scores of ves-sels are moored, loading and unloading cargo.Ansalon is a continent in the midst of rebuild-ing, and nothing helps commerce as much asa victorious war.

A small pilot boat escorts your ship into anempty berth. Once the boat is secured, yourcaptain bids you farewell and suggests that youdebark, for he has other matters to attend to.

On the dock itself, the pace is frantic. Burlylongshoremen load and unload vessels, whilefishermen display their catches. Criers marchup and down the docks advertising some ofthe city’s best inns.

But by far, the biggest commotion involves arather flustered man surrounded by at least ahalf-dozen kender. The man is clutching thehair on the sides of his head, and seems to berunning out of patience.

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The kender are all speaking at once. Someare pulling things from the man’s pockets andholding them up to the man (who of course isso confused that he does not see them doingthis and thus takes no notice). Seeing that theman shows no interest in the objects, thekender put them in their own pouches for safe-keeping.

Despite the din, you can clearly hear theman’s exasperated shouts. “For the last time,I have nary an idea on the whereabouts ofWaylan! Please, by the gods, leave me inpeace and let me tend to the docks!”

The kender, however, appear unconvinced,and continue pressing the issue. Judging by thetone of their voices, the kender seem to be inawe of Waylan and are desperately seekinghim out.

It is possible that the PCs will want to steer clearof the kender. There is nothing wrong with this.Merely allow the kender to end their questioningand move on, leaving the befuddled (and poorer)dock master alone. This gives the PCs a chance to

talk to the dock master and ask for recommenda-tions for lodging and the like.

The dock master can recommend three fineinns—the Sign of the Rose, the Last Call, and theSign of the Steel Chalice.

If asked about a “blue lady,” the dock masterwill scowl and mutter something about it being“the worst bar in the city.”

1. Finding Information: If the PCs attempt to talkto the kender, the small folks’ focus shifts from thebefuddled dock master to the party. If the kenderare queried about Alleran, read the following:

The spokesman of the group, one BuzzibinQuickfingers, approaches you and clears histhroat.

“Hi there! You want to know about AlleranWaylan? Such a nice guy! The seven of uscome from Hilo, and we arrived here in thisnice city, oh, about a month ago.

“There we were, without knowing a soul. Infact, lots of people seemed to be rather rude tous, failing to thank us for our finding the things

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that they had so carelessly mislaid. I tell you,these city people are so absent-minded!

“Anyway, we were staying at the Last Call,when this really nice big fellow in green robeswanders over to our table and shows us somethings that we had dropped from our pouches!

“What a nice man! Anyway, we sharedsome drinks, and he taught us how to searchmore efficiently for objects that others leavebehind. He also played some funny card trickson some of the inn’s customers, but they werea bunch of sore losers and threw him out ofthe inn. I guess they really hated losing, huh?

“We followed him out and went with him tothat Steel Chalice inn. He told us that his namewas Alleran Waylan and that he was a traveler.Poor man has no family except for one daugh-ter, and he said that he wished that he couldsee her again!

“Waylan said that he was going cross coun-try to teach the Knights of Solamnia how tofight dragons. Isn’t that such a nice thing to do?He said he was going overland through Lem-ish, and exploring the Darkwoods, then some-thing about a High Road.

“He promised to take us with him, but henever showed up again! Oh, we’ve looked forhim all around town, but found no sign ofhim! We really don’t think he’d leave Port o’Call without us, would he? Say, do you knowwhere he is?”

Incidentally, during this speech, many of thePCs are so absorbed in the account that they inad-vertently drop 1d3 interesting possessions.

Of course, Alleran has left town. He left a whileback, going northeast up the coast until arriving atthe capital city of Lemish. If the kender find outthat Tika is Alleran’s daughter, they insist on fol-lowing her everywhere.

Even if the PCs demand that the kender remainbehind, the little group follows the PCs out oftown, revealing themselves once the PCs areapproaching the Darkwoods.

The kender would have left to follow Alleranweeks ago, but they “wanted to be absolutelysure,, that he was not in Port o’ Call. They havespent the ensuing days turning the city upsidedown. Though they have found a lot of interestingstuff that people have carelessly dropped, theyhave not found Alleran.

Kender (7): AC 6; MV 9; Handler 5; hp 20; THAC018; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6 (hoopak); AL NG; ML 20; XP270; Thief Abilities: PP 75%, OL 42%, F/RT 30%,MS 40%, HS 41%, HN 20%, CW 90%

The kender all have dexterities of 18. Each has ahoopak and a pouch with 1d4 gp, 1d4 stl, and1d3 small curiosities that look very nice but haveno major worth.

If the PCs do not confront the kender andinstead wander about trying to find Alleran, kindDMs can have a few bystanders point them to theSteel Chalice, which was the last place Alleranwas seen frequenting.2. Going to the Inns: The Steel Chalice is anexpensive place, with a well-heeled clientele. Bedand meals are 5 stl/day. Thanks to the cleanlinessand comfort of the place, as well as the high qual-ity of its food and spirits, it is well worth the price.

Fortunately for the PCs, Alleran did not swindlethis place. A few regular customers recall his visitand his references to exploring the woods to thenortheast, up in the land of Lemish. Optionally, apatron recalls that Alleran stayed at the Last Callbefore coming to the Steel Chalice. Of course,uncovering all of this information costs the PCsthe price of a few rounds of drinks (minimum of

6 gp).At the Last Call, things are different. The

innkeeper and his customers have a bad lastimpression of Alleran Waylan, who ran somefixed games of chance in the common room.

Queries about Alleran are met with sullen looksand abusive language, but that is not all.

A guild of thieves known as the Blue Circle,working in Port o’ Call, was also swindled byAlleran. The guild has not forgotten this, and iskeeping its eyes and ears open for any sign ofAlleran or anyone associated with him. Thus far,the kender haven’t run into the Blue Circle and areunaware that the guild is looking for them.

There is a 75% chance per hour that 2d4 BlueCircle guild members are in the common roomwhen the PCs are present. If the kender are withthe PCs, the guild automatically considers the PCsto be allies of Waylan and begins to plot actionagainst them. This also occurs if the thieves arepresent when the PCs question anyone in thecommon room about Alleran.

When alerted to the PCs’ connection to Alleran,the Blue Circle summons enough members so thatthere are two guild members for each PC. The guildthieves shadow the PCs all around town, then breakinto their rooms while the PCs are asleep, with the

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intention of interrogating them about Waylan. Forgood measure, the thieves try to take some of thePCs’ possessions, as partial compensation for theloot that Alleran swindled from the guild.

Blue Circle Thieves’ Guild Members: AC 6; MV12; T6; hp 30; THAC0 18; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6 (club),1d4 (dagger); SA triple backstab; AL NE; ML 13; XP300; Thief Abilities: PP 65%, OL 57%, F/RT 45%,MS 50%, HS 40%, HN 25%, CW 92%, RL 30%

The thieves all have dexterities of 16. Each thiefis equipped with a suit of leather armor, thieves’picks and tools, club, dagger, cloak, and a pursewith 1d6 sp, 1d8 cp.

Each guild member has a tattoo of a blue circlesomewhere on his person. The more cocky thieveshave theirs in an easi ly not iceable locat ion(exposed forearm, cheek, forehead).

Rooms and meals at the Last Call run 5 gp/day.The Last Call also encourages games of chance. Ifthe PCs have not revealed themselves as peopleinterested in seeing Alleran, they are invited toparticipate in the games.

The Sign of the Rose is a moderate inn, withrooms and meals priced at 1 stl/day. It is a favoredhangout of knights and warriors of all types. Theyhave never heard of Alleran Waylan.

3. The Blue Lady: This is a true dive of a tavern.The signboard over the door has a broken chain,causing the sign to tilt precariously over patronsentering and leaving. The board shows a humanfemale of exaggerated proportions, with strips ofblue cloth draped all over her. The strips leave Iit-tle to the imagination.

The windows of the tavern are dirty—those thatstill have glass, that is. Half the windows haveboards slapped in place, no doubt hasty repairs inthe wake of brawls.

The interior is no better. The main area reeks ofstale beer. The lighting is very dim, best in whichto carry out skullduggery.

The tavern keeper is a ragged old human womannamed Filthy Aggie. Aggie was a thief in her primeyears, until old age and a few failed missions per-suaded her to retire to this alternate source ofincome.

Aggie is a good source of town gossip. The DMshould feel free to insert any rumors specific to hiscampaign and have Aggie be the teller. Aggie isalso a good source for the city’s black market.Things such as rare spell components, poisons,and other questionable items can be bought

through her. Normal items are also available,though at a 25% markup.

For security, Aggie pays the Blue Circle for pro-tection. There are always 1d8 Blue Circle mem-bers in the tavern.

The rest of the clientele consists of non-guildthieves, con-men, pirates, sailors, and any otherhuman flotsam that wanders by. Mischievouskender enjoy wandering in and picking up thingsthat drunk or unconscious clients drop.

Sweet-talking or bribing (minimum 5 gp) Aggiegets her to reveal what she knows about AlleranWaylan. It seems that Alleran did in fact stop here,had some drinks, talked with Aggie, and ran a fewfixed games of chance. Aggie, who happens to likeAlleran, does not begrudge him his livelihood.

According to Aggie, Alleran inquired as to thewhereabouts of a half-elven female assassinnamed Sirilla the Darktreader. Aggie has no ideawhy Alleran would want to hire an assassin. As ithappens, Sirilla is not in town. She went to thecity of Lemish. Alleran apparently needed to dealwith her in the most urgent way, because that iswhere he set off for, going via the Darkwoods.

OVERLAND AGAIN

Once the PCs have exhausted their options in Porto' Call, the only solid clue is Alleran’s supposedtrek to the northeast.

As seen on Map 1, Alleran took the trail to thesmall village northeast of Port o' Call. This seasidevillage, named Corbie, was too small to matter toAlleran.

Alleran proceeded due north from Corbie untilhe ran into another smal l v i l lage known asWoodsedge. Once again, this village was toosmall to hold anything interesting for Alleran. Heplunged into the woods of Lemish.

T H E L E M I S H D A R K W O O D S

The path winds through the Lemish Dark-woods. Because of the huge trees with theirgreat, leafy branches, very little sunlight filtersto the ground. It would seem the woods areaptly named.

Still, the air is fragrant with the scents offresh, moist earth and lush greenery. Animal,bird, and insect noises coming from every-where convince you that the woods are nor-

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A successful Tracking Proficiency Check revealsthe faded trail that winds its way through thesewoods. The trail branches off to the coastal citiesof Walmish and Wayfold, but Alleran kept goingthrough the Darkwoods.

mal, teeming with life, and healthy.Despite the reduction in light, the walk is a

pleasant one. The trail is not easily marked, but itis simple for an experienced group such as your-selves to find. Unfortunately, the trail is rather nar-row, forcing your group to march in single file.

Unfortunately, the trail does pass through thehunting range of a rather gruesome denizen ofdarkness. Alleran, traveling alone, was able toavoid the threat. The PCs may not be so lucky.

For the rest of the woods, DMs should roll forthe chance of a random encounter for each four-hour period that the PCs are in the Darkwoods.

THE DARKNESS IN THE DARKWOODS

After the PCs pass the turnoff to Walmish, a voicebegins to slowly manifest in everyone’s head. Ithappens first to Tika, then Caramon, then Raistlin(if the latter two are in the party). The voice saysthe following:

“The one you seek lies within the caverns eastof the path. His life is threatened. If you wish tosee him alive, come with all due haste and beready for battle! Hurry, heroes, if heroes you be!”

This of course is a lie. Alleran is not in the caves.But there is a horrendous entity, a foul offspring ofTakhisis herself, which since the Dark Queen’sdefeat has taken to these caves. For the last sixmonths, it has set up quite a nice arrangement foritself, luring any passersby to their destruction.

MA P 4: TH E CA V E S O F

DA R K N E S S

1. The Entrance

The terrain in this part of the Darkwoods ishilly. The voice in your head gets stronger asyou walk toward one particular rise. You seeno evidence of an entrance.

The five-foot-high cave mouth is obscured byvegetation. A tracking proficiency check revealsnumerous footprints, including many human andnon-human tracks. If a PC’s tracking proficiency ismore than 6 greater than the roll, the PC noticesthat the non-human tracks go in and out, but thehuman tracks only go in. The human tracks are ofvarious sizes, indicating different humanoid races,such as elves, dwarves, kender, and humans.

2. Illusion Chamber

This cavern is lit by numerous phosphorescentlichens on the rugged walls. Within the cham-ber, a group of six skeletal figures dressed indragon armor turn to face you. You can hearthe squeals of their rusted armor as the figuresmove. The skeletons pull out fiery swords andcharge, saying:

“So, the Heroes of the Lance are come! Wehave waited long for you, to take our revenge!Prepare to die!”

The figures are illusions, spectral forces to beexact. They do not cast shadows in the chamber, adead giveaway of their false nature. If the PCswish to disbelieve the illusion (DMs should notprompt them to do so, let them figure it out ontheir own), the disbelievers get to roll a savingthrow vs. spell. Success indicates that the illusionis dispelled (but only for those who successfullysave).

If the PC who saves successfully informs theothers of the illusion’s presence, the others gain a+4 bonus to their attempts at disbelief. Note thateach attempt takes one round.

The illusions have Armor Class 0 and THAC010. Their fiery swords appear to cause 2d4+1points of damage. When a victim reaches 0 hitpoints, he collapses into unconsciousness andmakes a system shock roll. Failure means that thePC dies. Success brings the PC to consciousnessin 1d3 turns with all damage “healed,” but withan enormous headache and mocking laughterechoing in his ears.

If all of the PCs are rendered unconscious, thehobgoblins from area 5 retrieve the bodies, stripthem of all gear, then toss them into the prison pitin chamber nine.

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3. Side Chamber

The tunnel turns into a series of descendingsteps, littered with stone fragments and shav-ings. At the foot of the stairs, a chamber opensup, its floor apparently covered with numerousbones.

The stairs leading down to this chamber appearto have been carved in the last few months. Thechamber is fil led with the discarded skeletalremains of kender, elves, dwarves, and humans.There is nothing of value here.

4. Chamber of the Balances

This large chamber is dominated by its solecontents: a ten-foot-high set of balance scalesmade of wood. The balances’ central supportshaft is bent askew, rendering the balancesuseless for honest measuring.

Malfesus had its slaves create this thing as a trib-ute to its father, Hiddukel.

A successful religion proficiency check identi-fies the broken scales as the preferred symbol ofHiddukel.

Any valuable item placed in either balance dishvanishes forever, an offering to Hiddukel. The bal-ances have Armor Class -5 and require 50 pointsof damage to destroy. Attempts at destroying thescales cause a terrible racket, bringing the occu-pants of area 5 into the fray.

The southeastern passage is obscured by an illu-sionary wall.

5. Hobgoblin LairA troop of 24 extra large hobgoblins, willing fol-lowers of Hiddukel, are here as guards of the bro-ken scales.

These hobgoblins are also the chief errand run-ners/working staff of the creature that dwells here.

Their lair contains little more than their bedrollsand a single lantern with two flasks of oil and atinderbox.

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Hobgoblins (24): AC 5; MV 9; HD 2+2; hp 18;THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword); 1d8(spear); AL LE; ML 20; XP 65

Each hobgoblin is armed with a long sword anda spear and carries a purse with 1d4 sp. They fightwith a religious mania and keep screaming “Usk-Do!” (the hobgoblin name for Hiddukel). Becauseof their mission to protect the scales, the hobgob-lins’ morale is fanatic.

6. Trophy Room

This room appears to be a waste disposalarea, as its sandy floor is dotted with brokenitems.

This is where the inhabitants of the cave keepmementos of past victims. Rather than displayingthem neatly, however, the relics are simply castabout like so much refuse on the sandy cavernfloor. The PCs must enter the room and get closerto the objects in order to ascertain what they oncewere.

Among the relics are two hoopaks snapped inhalf, a battle-scarred suit of plate mail decoratedwith a crown (it is a suit of armor belonging to aKnight of Solamnia), a broken elven longbow, amedallion of faith formerly owned by a cleric ofHabbakuk, a shattered long sword, and theremains of a spell book, with the spells removecurse, item, phantom steed, fumble, clairvoyance,and cloudkill still readable on its pages.

7. Kapak Draconian ChamberThis chamber is a guard station for a group of dra-conians that are under the thrall of Malfesus. Theirorders are to fight to the death to defend Malfe-sus’s chamber.

The southeastern passage is hidden by an illu-sionary wall.

Kapaks (8): AC 4; MV 6, Gl 18; HD 3+3; hp 24;THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword) or 1d4(bite); SA bite requires saving throw vs. poison orvictim is paralyzed for 2d6 turns; SD when slain,the body dissolves into a pool of acid ten feet indiameter, causing 1d8 points of damage per roundto all within it; MR 20%; AL LE; ML 20 (they arebeing controlled); XP 650

8. Chamber of Deceit

This small cave is currently empty, but anotherpassageway lies on the other side.

The far wal l ’s passageway is an i l lusion,intended to lure intruders into the chamber. Onceinside, the room begins to swirl around and ahaze descends over the PCs’ eyes. Each PC mustroll a saving throw vs. spell with a -4 penalty.

Anyone who fails his saving throw sees the mistfade away. Instead of his comrades, the PC seesKapak draconians, in numbers equal to those ofthe PC’s comrades. The draconians appear to bemaking menacing gestures, as if they intend toattack. There is no sign of the PC’s comrades.

Anyone who fails the saving throw can try todisbelieve this illusion (once again, only if hedeclares that he intends to do so—the DM shouldnot prompt him). Disbelief attempts are with a -4penalty to the saving throw vs. spell.

PCs who pass their initial saving throw aremerely dazed and unable to act for 1d3 rounds.

9. The Prison Pit

The stench of rotting plants greets you as youwalk into this area. The cave floor is sandy. Theonly other remarkable feature of this chamberis a large pit located in the center of the floor.

This chamber consists only of a pit 6 feet wideand 60 feet deep. The bottom is covered in rottingplant matter, meant to break the fall of any unfor-tunate who winds up inside here.

This is where all unconscious victims, minustheir possessions, are deposited. As a rule ofthumb, one hobgoblin guard is stationed here forevery prisoner in the pit.

The walls are slimy; thus climbing attemptsreceive a -40% penalty. Climbing movement rateis ¼ the normal rate.

There are no prisoners in the pit.

10. Kapak lairThis large chamber, lit by several old lanterns, iswhere the Kapak draconians sleep and eat. The airstinks of draconian waste as well as rotting food.

A dozen Kapaks are always present here. Theseare in addition to the guards in chamber 7.

There is nothing of value in this room.

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Kapaks (12): AC 4; MV 6, GI 18; HD 3+3; hp 24;THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword) or 1d4(bite); SA bite requires saving throw vs. poison orvictim is paralyzed for 2d6 turns; SD when slain,the body dissolves into a pool of acid ten feet indiameter, causing 1d8 points of damage per roundto all within it; MR 20%; AL LE; ML 20 (they arebeing controlled); XP 650

11. Kapak Storage and Water Supply

This is a well-lit room, courtesy of torchesstuck in the walls (the torches were obtainedfrom the booty of past victims). The floor issandy. The entire southeastern area of thechamber is dominated by a large pool.

The liquid in the pool is cool, clear water. Thisis the water supply for the entire complex. Thefact that the water supply rests in the draconians’area is a source of irritation to the hobgoblins. TheKapaks, though they eventually do give the hob-goblins the water they need, enjoy tormenting thehobgoblins with needless delays. It is a testamentto the inborn cruelty of the Kapaks that they canstill play these games despite being mentallyenslaved by Malfesus.

In the western corner of the room lie two lockedwooden chests bound with iron bands. One con-tains the entire Kapak cash supply, which consistsof 56 sp, 34 gp, and 12 stl.

The second chest contains some trinkets liftedfrom victims. These include a potion of healing, asmall brass statue of a unicorn (2 gp value), a par-tially torn treasure map, an emerald worth 500 stl,and a knife sheath decorated with cheap fancystones.

12. Antechamber

Unlike the other chambers, this one is linedwith dressed stone blocks on the floor andwalls. Four skulls mounted on iron rods andwith continual light cast upon them give theroom full illumination.

The walls are decorated with crude muralsshowing renditions of Takhisis, a broken scale,and a black egg with a single crack in it. Theblack egg is shown dripping some reddish-green substance.

In the center of the room is a hole ten feet indiameter.

Spiraling down along the sides of the shaft is astone stairway two feet wide.

In each PC’s mind, a voice sounds. The voice isa combination of a seductive whisper and a mock-ing sneer. Malfesus, a bit alarmed that the Heroesof the Lance are within striking range of its physi-cal form, has decided that it would be better off bymaking them go away. The voice says somethingdifferent to each PC, depending on the individual.

Tika: “You have come here searching for yourfather. But ask yourself, why do you search forhim? Why did he never look for you? If he knewwhere you were, then why did he never come tosee you?

“And what of Caramon? Is he not what you trulydesire? To be wed to him and have his childrenand settle down to a life of peace? Do you notdeserve it?

“It is not too late. Turn around and leave whenceyou came. Put behind you thoughts of the swordand take your rest. You have earned it.”

Caramon: “Why have you come on this fool’serrand? Because you love Tika, that is why! Well,there are better ways to show her that you loveher. Turn around and take her from this place,marry her, and settle down.

“Or perhaps you come because it fills yourneed to be needed. Raistlin has always neededyou, but that is rapidly coming to an end. All ofthe Heroes of the Lance are either dead or havereturned to their normal lives. Do likewise, beforeyou miss this chance. If Tika dies, then there willbe no one who truly needs you anymore!”

Raistlin: “You came on this errand becauseAlleran was an old teacher of yours. But whatdoes that matter to you now? You are far, farmightier than Alleran Waylan could ever havebeen! You could crush him without effort!

“Or maybe you have come in order to help Tikaand Caramon. Bah! They do not need you, andyou certainly do not need them! The only thingyou need is more knowledge, more magic, morepower! And you certainly will not find thesethings by mucking around in damp caves, lookingfor a second-rate con man!

“Turn around and go back to the Towers of Sor-cery, wizard! All of you have been deceived!Alleran is not here!”

Tanis: “Neither fully elven nor fully human, youstrive to gain acceptance in both worlds. Thenwhy are you here, looking for some con man,whose existence neither adds nor takes away fromthe moral balance of Ansalon?

“Should you not be concerned with the elves?

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And what of Laurana? Is this how you earn herlove?

“Then, there is always your past love, Kitiara.Where is she now? Are you really doing her anygood by wandering about in dark caves lookingfor someone who cheats at cards? Wake up andgrow up, Tanis! Leave here and set your mind onthings that matter! This is a fool’s errand!”

Tasslehoff: “Why are you here? There is nothinginteresting here, and it is clear that Alleran Way-Ian is not here either! There are far more interest-ing places to go, with lots of interesting things tosee and touch and handle. These caves are notfrightening, just very dull.”

For player-created PCs, the DM should impro-vise something consistent with the above. A goodstart is to play on any reservations that the PCshave voiced about coming into these caves or onthe trip in general. Continue the speech by touch-ing upon something that the particular PC desiresin life.

If there are any Knights of Solamnia in the party,the voice preys upon the PC’s desire to see theKnighthood regain its stature, which cannot beaccomplished by wandering around looking forwashed-out con men.

The speeches are intended to provoke the PCsinto leaving the caves. Since it is doubtful that mostparties will be swayed, the secondary intent is tomerely fire up the PCs with the knowledge thatsomeone or something knows their innermost feel-ings, and whatever it is, it is close by! DMs shouldbuild up the horror and suspense of this fact.

13. Malfesus’s ChamberAnyone who peeks down into the pit sees that thehole extends down at least 60 feet, then trails offinto darkness. If someone has continual light orany other light source that goes beyond the con-ventional 60-foot range, the PCs can see that thepit extends a total of 150 feet. Nothing can beseen at the bottom of the pit. It simply ends in afloor of scattered rocks.

The stair winds into the pit, spiraling alongsidethe pit wall. A rancid smell of rotting organic mat-ter rises and assails the PCs’ noses.

If the group decides to go down, read the fol-lowing aloud to the PCs:

Your footsteps echo on the narrow stone stairsas you descend into the pit. The stench wors-ens and the humidity rises. A cold clamminesssticks to your skin, worming its way aroundyour clothes and armor. Your torches sputter inthe oppressive air.

An evil presence creeps into your hearts. Itstarts as a vague feeling of uncertainty, thenworsens into full-fledged dread the fartherdown you go. It feels almost as if you aredescending into the lair of the Dark Queenherself, but that is ridiculous . . . isn’t it?

When the group at last touches bottom, read thefollowing:

Your feet touch bottom, though the unevensurface of the rocks makes your footing rathertenuous. The stink of carrion is even worsedown here. The feeling of oppressive evil hasreached such an intensity that every fibre ofcommon sense within you screams that youshould not be here, that you should run backup the stairs, leave the caves, and never return.

Unfortunately, you also sense that it is toolate. From the shadows deep in the chamber,something stirs, knocking aside the occasionalrock or bit of debris.

Three sets of twin glowing points of sicklygreen light shine from the darkness, until atlast the creature shifts itself enough so thatyour light sources catch it.

Standing before you is a scaly creature withthree serpent heads. The faces have somevague human features to them, particularly themouths. The rest of the body is snake-like,except for the pair of powerful forelimbs, eachtipped with a four-taloned claw.

“Welcome, fools, to the pit of Malfesus!” thething hisses. “Welcome to the lair of thespawn of Takhisis and Hiddukel!

“The one you seek is not here, though Isensed his presence as he walked by, andreached out to his mind. Unfortunately, it ishard to lie to a born liar, and he spurned myinvitation and continued on his way.

“Fortunately, you are made of softer stuff,following the paths of Good and therefore suc-cumbing to the pitfalls of morality! Your com-passion and heroism are now your undoing!

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“She who bore me will be well pleasedwhen I dispose of the likes of you! She whobore me is much aggrieved by your recentactions against her and her armies! When I

feast on your entrails, she will grant me a placein the sky, with a constellation of my own!Come to me now, heroes! Come take yourreward!”

Malfesus lunges with all three heads. Thishideous union of Takhisis and Hiddukel has somevery special abilities.

The first head can breathe fire in a 40-foot conethat is 20 feet wide at the base every round. Theflame breath causes 6d6 points of damage. Thesecond head can cast suggestion once every otherround. The third head delivers a vicious bite for4d8 points of damage.

The other two heads can also bite for 1d6 pointsof damage if not using their special powers.

Malfesus: AC -3; MV 6; HD 12; hp 90; THAC0 9;#AT 3; Dmg special; SD regenerates 2 hp/round;MR 45%; AL CE; ML 18; XP 8,000

In addition to the heads’ abilities, Malfesus cancast darkness 15’ radius, detect invisibility, causedisease, cause serious wounds, confusion, andspectra/ force, each three times a day.

Malfesus also has the ability to use ESP at will.Once it reads someone’s mind, it can communi-cate by telepathy. These abilities have a range oftwo mi les. Usual ly, Malfesus uses ESP onpassersby, picks up their surface thoughts, andcommunicates with them via telepathy, tellingthem that the thing they seek lies in the caves.

The nature of Malfesus’s ESP is such that it canfind out more about the subject the closer the sub-ject gets to its lair. By the time the subject is in thechamber above (area 12), Malfesus knows theinvader’s identity, powers, goals, and desires.

Malfesus’s pit contains the remains of past vic-tims. Also scattered about are 2,134 stl, 4,987 gp,a long sword +2, three potions of extra healing,and a platinum charm bracelet worth 2,000 stl.

OBSTACLE TO LEMISH

Resuming travel on the footpath, the PCs eventu-ally reach the walled city of Lemish, capital of thesmall nation of the same name. (See Map 5: Lem-ish.) This section of the nation is under the controlof the blue Dragonarmies.

On the outskirts of the capital city of Lemish,

which is firmly occupied by the blue Dragon-armies, a major guard post of draconians overseesentry into the walled city. The PCs see the guardpost before any guards see them.Read them the following:

As the path turns, you are treated to the sightof the city of Lemish off in the distance. Bar-ring the path between you and the city is asquat tower of gray stone blocks. Several fig-ures patrol the parapets.

Several travelers, also apparently going intothe city, are lined up at the tower. Severalcloaked figures accept a coin from each trav-eler and give him some sort of token. The trav-eler then continues on his way toward the citygates.

The terrain is still woodlands, affording the PCsgood cover and concealment. The guard postitself is a simple stone tower three stories (30 feet)high with a single door. The tower is crownedwith parapets.

A total of 18 Sivak draconians man the tower.There are always ten of them on active duty. EachSivak has a blue crystal whistle hanging around itsneck on a leather thong. If the whistle is sounded,the city’s resident blue dragon, ridden by the resi-dent champion, rises from the city and enters thefray in 2d4 rounds.

Bear in mind that the PCs need not necessar-ily attack the draconians. The guard tower ishere to regulate who comes into the city andwhy. It is a city under occupation, but it still hasto keep up its commerce. As long as the PCs donot cause any trouble, they are merely harasseda bit and rudely questioned, but otherwise letinto the city once they pay the one steel piecevisitor’s tax.

Obvious signs of troublemaking include PCs inSolamnic armor, White Robe wizards, good cler-ics with their medallions of faith prominently dis-played, and full-blooded elves of any sort.

Each tax-paying PC is given a brilliant bluelozenge on a leather thong. This is the PC’s citypass; it must be displayed at all times. Loss of thispass results in imprisonment, exile, or death,depending on the temperament of the arrestingguards.

Though it may seem odd, these Sivaks actuallyknow of Alleran Waylan. According to the draco-nians, the con man entered Lemish three weeksago. He went to the largest inn that accommo-

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dates travelers exclusively, the Sign of the SkyDragons.

Inside the tower is a visitor register and a lockediron strongbox with 203 stl. If they thumb throughthe register, the PCs find the name of Alleran Way-Ian, who entered the city three weeks ago anddeparted two weeks ago.

Sivaks (18): AC 6; MV 6, FI 24 (C); HD 6; hp 30;THAC0 15; #AT 3 or 1; Dmg 1d6/1d6/2d6 or1d10 (two-handed sword); SD +2 bonus to savingthrows; AL NE; ML 14 (15 in presence of dragon);XP 2000

All of these Sivaks have blue adornments onthem, symbolizing that they belong to the blueDragonarmies.

Adult Blue Dragon (Topaz): AC -2; MV 9, FI 30(C), Br 4; HD 15; hp 85; THAC0 5; #AT 3 + spe-cial; Dmg 1d8+6/1d8+6/3d8+6; SA breathweapon (lightning, 12d8+6); SD immune to elec-tricity; MR 25%; AL LE; ML 16; XP 10,000

Topaz can create/destroy water three times perday, sound imitation at will, and dust devil onceper day. She has memorized the following spells:

magic missile, charm person, and light. All spellsand spell-like abilities function at 7th-level wizardability.

Topaz is a very arrogant dragon, rather bitter atthe loss of the Queen of Darkness. Worst of all,the forest climate does not agree with her. Shemakes known her displeasure by cruelly playingwith prisoners, much as a cat plays with a cap-tured mouse.

While in Lemish, Topaz stays inside a largestone building that used to be a warehouse. Thebuilding is designed in such a way that it trapsheat, a concession to Topaz’s favored environ-ment. Thus far, the dragon continues to despisethe setup.

The only thing Topaz does not hate is her rider,Lukas Daerleth. Topaz and Lukas have a strongbond of friendship and trust.

Lukas Daerleth: AC 0; MV 6; F10; hp 80; THAC011; #AT 3/2; Dmg 1d8+1 (heavy lance), 2d4 (bas-tard sword); AL LE; ML 15; XP 2,000. Lukas has aDexterity of 17.

Lukas’s possessions include a suit of platearmor and a great helm, a bastard sword, a heavy

lance, a ring of feather falling, and a scarab ofprotection.

Lukas is the trusted champion and lieutenant ofthe lord of the city of Lemish. A young man in hismid-20’s, Lukas has risen quickly through theranks of the Dragonarmy. He is bitter at the lossesof Takhisis’s armies, and longs for revenge, or atleast a renewing of hostilities. He would dearlylove to attack Solamnia. For now, he contentshimself with torturing any good clerics or Knightsof Solamnia he can get his hands on.

Topaz is Lukas’s best friend. Lukas dwells in arichly appointed apartment adjacent to the con-verted warehouse where Topaz stays.

Though Lukas and Topaz are located in Lemishproper, their stats are given here just in case aconfrontation between the draconians and thePCs escalates into something ugly.

There are a total of three gates that grant accessto Lemish. The Southern gate leads to the trail intothe Darkwoods, the path that the PCs used toarrive in Lemish. The Gate of the Sunrise leads toanother path, which goes to points east such asQwermish and Estwilde. The Gate of the Sunsetopens onto the High Road, which leads to the cityof Fangoth and on to Solanthus. Note that thesame guard setup exists at all three gates.

The gates of the city are open from sunrise tosunset. Any who are unfortunate enough to bestuck outside must fend for themselves until day-I ight.

TH E CI T Y O F LE M I S H

Once the PCs get around the draconian guards,they arrive at the city gate. The gate is manned by12 human guards, who check to see whether thePCs went through the proper procedures with thedraconians. If everything is in order, the PCs arewaved through. One guard mentions offhandedlythat the inn most favored by foreigners is the Signof the Sky Dragons.

After the PCs have cleared the gate, they havethe entire city of Lemish to explore. The city isunder the control of the blue Dragonarmies, yet asemblance of normalcy prevails.

There are three Aurak, 60 Sivak, 100 Kapak, and200 Baaz draconians in Lemish. These forces aresupplemented by 2,000 hobgoblin troops and2,500 human troops. All of these forces are underthe command of Lord Tyrion Shattersword, ahuman warrior. Tyrion is the ultimate power in thecity.

A curfew of 8:00 PM is in force throughout thecity, unless a special permit is obtained. Guardpatrols encountered are made up of either eighthuman troops, six hobgoblins, or four draconians.

Lemish is not a city overflowing with innocentswho are begging for release from their cruel tor-mentors. Rather, it is a city of evil, opportunisticpeople who are sullen because someone moreevil and stronger has managed to conquer them.Oh, there are certainly some good people in thecity; it is simply that they must be sought out.

For the most part, the corrupt folk of Lemishaccept the rule of the blue Dragonarmies, mainlybecause Lord Tyrion speaks the language that theLemishites understand: brute force. The city folkknow that they are outmaneuvered and outpow-ered, and they accept their lot. There is no nobleunderground fighting off the oppressors, thoughthe Lemishites, being who they are, have come upwith numerous ways to circumvent the martiallaw they have been inflicted with.

Even the folk who trade with Lemish are not ofthe most sterling character. People would be hard-pressed to find an honest Solamnian merchant ora hard-working dwarven metalsmith doing busi-ness in this city.

There are three thieves’ guilds in Lemish. One,the Split Silverpieces, is an “official” guild, havingreceived Dragonarmy sanction for their continuedexistence. They do the dirty work that Lord Tyrionfeels would sully the reputation of his armies.

The other two guilds are the Phantoms and theBlue Circle. These guilds operate covertly. Beingexposed as a member of either of these guilds ispunishable by death.

During the day, Lemish appears to be a normalcity, with bustling crowds, open shops, activeindustry, foreign visitors, and normal trade. Atnight, the streets are empty, save for the patrols ofiron-shod troops that keep the curfew.

It must be stressed again that finding NPCs ofobvious good alignment is practically impossible.Though there is no doubt that Solamnia has spiesin Lemish, there are no Knights of Solamnia walk-ing around in full regalia, or clerics of Paladinepreaching on street corners.

Elves of all types are also scarce. The Dragon-armies do not trust any elf, period. The only elvesto be found are those who have managed to keeptheir identities secret, usually by means of magic.Fortunately, there is little in Lemish that concernsthe elves.

The city of Lemish also deals in slaves. Thoughthis is not a loudly proclaimed “industry,” it is

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done with the full knowledge and cooperation ofthe occupying army.

DM’s Note: Obviously, the entire city is not fea-tured in this product. The only places that trulymatter are those detailed below. The DM shouldfeel free to flesh out Lemish any way he wants to,staying within the descriptions set for the city. Sev-eral random street encounters are certainly justifi-able.

Human Guards: AC 5; MV 9; F4; hp 30; THAC017; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6 (short sword), 1d10 (hal-berd), 1d6 (club); AL NE; ML 11; XP 175

Each guard has chain mail armor, a badge ofoffice, short sword, club, halberd, and a tunicshowing the city’s colors. One guard in four car-ries a distress whistle.

1. The Sign of the Sky Dragons: This building isthe most popular place of business for visitors. It isa huge, three-storey inn with two common roomsand two side wings filled with guest rooms. Theplace was renamed in order to curry favor withthe conquerors.

The innkeeper goes by the name of Derek. Hegives no other name. Derek, a huge, bald man inhis late 30s, tolerates no magic or swordplay in hisestablishment.

The clientele includes tinker gnomes, kender,minotaurs, gully dwarves, blue Dragonarmy dra-conians (usually disguised, spying on everyone),and people from Tarsis, Sanction, NorthernErgoth, Southern Ergoth, Taman Busuk, and Blode.Most of the clientele are merchants, mercenaries,tradesmen, caravan workers, and the occasionalwandering bard.

Besides having a very high percentage of for-eigners, the Sign of the Sky Dragons is a favoredhangout of the Blue Circle thieves’ guild. The BlueCircle is the guild most often used by foreigners.

Alleran Waylan stayed at this inn, leaving Derekin a cordial fashion. Derek confirms that Alleranarrived here two weeks ago and left just last week.If Derek is given the equivalent of at least 3 stl, hementions that Alleran was looking for an assassinfor some mission. Derek knows that Alleran failedto find the desired assassin.

If the PCs give Derek double the above amount,the innkeeper mentions that the Blue Circle hasbeen looking for Alleran too. For an extra fee (aflat fee of 5 stl), Derek points out the four patronshe knows are Blue Circles. Derek also knows thatthe Blue Circles’ main meeting area is an aban-doned temple close by.

At this juncture, if any Blue Circle member findsout that the PCs are looking for Alleran, theyassume that the PCs are Alleran’s friends andbegin to shadow them. When the PCs leave thecity, two Blue Circles follow for each PC in theparty.

Accommodations at the Sign of the Sky Dragonscost 3 stl/night, which includes dinner.

Some incidents that can occur in the commonrooms are as follows:

* A wandering bard, Tilas Silvertongue, in acolossal example of misjudging his audience,begins singing a song about the Heroes of theLance. Unfortunately, the song includes ratheraccurate physical descriptions. The song is 20minutes long. There is a 5% chance per Hero ofthe Lance in the PC group that a customer recog-nizes the PCs. This check is made four times dur-ing the song.

The chance is cumulative. Thus, if Tika, Cara-mon, Raistlin, and Tasslehoff are in the party, thereis a 20% chance in the first five minutes of thesong that someone in the inn recognizes them asthe Heroes of the Lance. After ten minutes, thechance is 40%, and after fifteen minutes thechance is 60%.

If the PCs are recognized, a Baaz draconian,disguised as a human customer, sneaks out andalerts Lord Tyrion, Daerleth, and the draconians ingeneral. Their intent is to capture or kill the party.

The ways for the PCs to avoid detection are toeither stop the bard from singing the entire song orjust leave the common room.

If the party does leave the common room, cruelDMs can give the bard a 50% chance of noticingthat people are leaving during his performance.Not only this, but he realizes that they are theones of whom he is singing. If he recognizesthem, he does not say anything, but he later visitsthe PCs in their rooms. He makes a nuisance ofhimself, trying to get first hand accounts of theWar of the Lance for his new songs.

* A group of gully dwarves starts a food fight inthe place, which promptly involves the kenderand a few of the more drunk clientele.

* Four Baaz draconians, six hobgoblins, and sixhuman guards burst into the inn, loudly accuse aman of being a Solamnic spy, and take him awayunder arrest. The man is indeed a spy, and hisname is Alorthe Spendryf, a 7th-level thief. Hewill be executed at dawn.

* A 9th-level female cleric of Takhisis offers atoast to the Dark Queen. She then launches into adiatribe about how the Dark Queen will one day

return to crush those who temporarily defeatedher. Many, but not all, of the clientele nod inagreement.

* A brawny mercenary grabs a female kender,the lat ter having “ found” a jeweled daggerbelonging to the man. The innkeeper tells themercenary to “take your business out into thealley.” The soldier, with a cruel smile, signals forthree of his friends to join him, and the four mendrag the kender out the door. All four men are 7th-level human fighters of neutral evil alignment.They all have chain mail armor and long swords.The men intend to drag the kender into the alleyand kill her.

2. The Blue Circle Guild Meeting Place: An aban-doned temple to Kiri-Jolith, now a desecratedruin, is the lair of the Blue Circle thieves’ guild.The temple has a graveyard on part of its grounds.

The guild membership in Lemish is rather small.There are currently only 18 thieves in Lemish’sBlue Circle.

The temple has been ruined by numerousweapon blows, all from long ago. Many of theexterior walls are brown with offal and old blood.All detailed stonework and temple accessorieshave been either destroyed or looted.

A successful religion proficiency check showsthat the temple was built in Pre-Cataclysm days,before there was even a city called Lemish.

All that remains of the place that still identifies itas a temple of Kiri-Jolith is the shattered marblestatue of the deity himself.

The graveyard harkens back to the early yearsafter the Cataclysm, but no one has been buriedhere for the last 100 years.

There is nothing wrong with this graveyard. Peo-ple just avoid it, and the temple, more out ofsuperstitious fear than anything else.

Blue Circle Thieves’ Guild Members (17): AC 6;MV 12; T6; hp 30; THAC0 18; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6(short sword), 1d4 (dagger); SA triple backstab; ALNE; ML 13; XP 300; Thief Abilities: PP 65%, OL57%, F/RT 45%, MS 50%, HS 40%, HN 25%, CW92%, RL 30%. The thieves all have dexterities of16.

Each thief is equipped with a suit of leatherarmor, thieves’ picks and tools, short sword, dag-ger, cloak, and purse with 1d8 gp and 1d4 stl.

Lareen Olres, Guild Leader: AC 0; MV 12; T8; hp40; THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6 (short sword),1d4 (dagger); SA quadruple backstab; AL LE; ML

14; XP 450; Thief Abilities: PP 75%, OL 67%,F/RT 55%, MS 50%, HS 50%, HN 30%, CW 96%,RL 40%

Lareen has an 18 dexterity. She wears a suit ofleather armor +4, and a cloak of elvenkind. Forweapons, Lareen uses a short sword +2, and adagger +1. Her purse contains 2d6 gp, 1d10 stl,and a potion of healing.

Lareen is a rather plain-looking half-elvenwoman in her mid-20’s. She is quite aware thatthe Lemish branch of the Blue Circle guild is notas large as some of the other cities’ branches. Sheis very defensive about this.

In terms of the War of the Lance, Lareen findsherself sympathetic to the blue Dragonarmies, butnot enough to seek official sanctioning. Such adeal costs a guild much of its freedom andanonymity, not to mention 20% of its monthlytake.

Lareen hates elves, and she especially hates theHeroes of the Lance. She would dearly love to killor turn any hero in to Lord Tyrion.

The guild’s current stash is 2,198 gp and 1,004stl. Business has been good. Not outstanding, butgood.

TRYING TO LEAVE THE CITY

DMs should not give the PCs any hint that any-thing is amiss. However, as the PCs are leaving thecity, they must, of course, pass the guards at thegates as well as another encampment of draconi-ans.

This time, there is a snag in the PCs’ plans. Theymanage to clear the gates, but when they go to thedraconians’ tower in order to sign out and returntheir city passes, the draconians indicate that thePCs must wait for a few minutes.

Unbeknownst to the PCs, the clerics of the DarkQueen sensed the arrival of the Heroes of theLance, but they were unsure as to which Heroesarrived. By consulting the books (even if the PCsused assumed traveling names), the clerics wereable to divine who the transgressors were. It wasdecided that the best time to apprehend theoffenders would be as they tried to leave the city.It would certainly be more efficient than mountinga city-wide manhunt.

The draconians begin muttering to each other,looking over the names in the ledger. In true law-ful fashion, Dragonarmy-appointed human clerksread over the books and update them so that all ofthe gates have the same names of those who haveentered town.

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A total of five rounds go by. DMs shouldannounce to the PCs the passage of each individ-ual round. All 18 Sivaks in the tower have beenawakened and put on alert. After five rounds, anAurak draconian, employing change self to resem-ble a human clerk, comes up to the party and saysthe following:

“I beg your pardon, but your little band mustcome with me to the Lord of the City’s hall ofaudience for questioning. If you have neveropposed the armies of the Queen of Darkness,you have nothing to fear.”

If that is not a cue for the PCs to make a run forit, nothing is. If the PCs do decide to run, allowthem a one-round head start. So confident are thedraconians, none of them could imagine that any-one would not do what they say.

Ten of the Sivak draconians, as well as theAurak, give pursuit. Daerleth and Topaz are alsocalled onto the chase, though it takes them 1d8rounds to arrive.

The pursuers are fanatically persistent in theirchase. They do not stop looking for the PCs untileither the PCs are caught or all of the pursuers areslain.

If any PCs are unfortunate enough to be caught,they are taken to Lord Tyrion, who is attended byat least four clerics of Takhisis. After torture andquestioning, the Heroes are sacrificed to the DarkQueen.

The only advantage that the PCs have is that theHigh Road runs through the northern Darkwoods,which offers plenty of cover. Once in there, Topazwould have a very hard time trying to find thePCs.

ON T H E HI G H R O A D T O

S O L A N T H U S

Once the PCs shake off their pursuers, the trip set-tles down. Traveling on the paved, well-main-tained High Road is actually rather pleasant.

As the PCs are about to cross the border intoSolamnia, however, they are ambushed. Note thatthis happens even if the PCs are not using the roadat this point.

Jarg, Bandit Leader: AC 4; MV 12; F7; hp 45;THAC0 14; #AT 3/2; Dmg 2d4 (broadsword), 1d8(sheaf arrows); SA longbow specialization; AL NE;ML 15; XP 650. Jarg has a 16 Dexterity.

Jarg has a suit of leather armor +2, a broadsword+2, and a potion of invisibility. As the leader ofthe bandits, Jarg also carries the main swag bag,with 1,205 gp and 554 stl.

A man steps forward, clad in greens, browns,and leather. He looks as if he has been wan-dering in the woods for quite some time. Theodor that wafts from him removes all doubt.

The man brandishes a broadsword and givesyou an evil grin. “Hold, travelers! Stand anddeliver!” he orders. “Your valuables, yourfood, your wine, and your weapons, on theground in front of you! Now!” He waves hissword idly in front of him. “Rest assured, I amnot alone. My comrades have shafts nocked atyou even as I speak. Act quickly, travelers,since I am in a bad mood. Not too long ago,one man snuck by us, and I have no intentionof seeing all of you pull the same sort of trick-ery and also evade our toll!”

Yes, these robbers ran afoul of Alleran, whopassed by here three days ago. By using his clevertongue, some magic, and a few thieving abilities,Alleran managed to slip by the bandits. This hasdone little to improve the temperament of theleader of this group.

In the brush on either side of the path, 60 feetaway from the PCs, lie four men with long bows,arrows aimed at the group. The demands are sim-ple—the thieves want all money, jewels, food,drink, and weapons. Once these things have beengiven up, the leader moves aside and allows thePCs to pass by. Then the leader tosses back oneweapon to each PC and lets them go on their way.Once the PCs are out of sight, the rest of the ban-dits emerge from hiding and help collect the loot.

Lemish Bandits (8): AC 6; MV 12; F5; hp 35;THAC0 16; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (sheaf arrows), 1d8long sword); SA longbow specialization; AL NE;ML 13; XP 270

Each man has a 16 dexterity. The bandits areequipped with leather armor, long swords, longbows, and 24 sheaf arrows. Each bandit also has apurse with 1d10 gp and 1d6 stl.

A band of robbers, adept at woodcraft, awaits Since each Lemish bandit has an arrow nockedlikely victims. Read the following: and specializes in longbow, they can get off one

2 2

arrow before combat goes to rounds.Each man also has the Tracking proficiency.

Assume it to be a base score of 13.The Lemish bandits are more than willing to let

the PCs pass, provided the robbers can have thelion’s share of the PCs’ loot. If combat is initiated,the bandits do their best to try to keep at least halfthe party alive for sale as slaves back in the capitalcity of Lemish.

If somehow interrogated, Jarg admits that a manfitting Alleran’s description passed by three daysbefore. Through trickery and sorcery, the manmanaged to evade the bandits. The bandits do notknow of anyone named Sirilla.

A T LA S T , S O L A N T H U S!

When the party reaches the city limits of Solan-thus, read the following:

Your long journey is at last at an end. Thespires of Solanthus, under repair from the Warof the Lance, tower in front of you like armsraised in welcome. Your shoulders sag just alittle in relief.

Even though the city is still under recon-struction, it looks beautiful to you. After allyou have endured, your goal is finally in sight.

As you approach the city gates, you see thatmany of the people are in quite a state ofexcitement. From the look of things, someoneof importance is visiting the city.

U R G E N T CO R R E S P O N D E N C E

When the PCs reach the gates, read the following:

As the guards wave you through, one manlooks at your group in an odd fashion. “Is oneof you named Tika Waylan?” He is clutching anote or a letter of some sort.

An affirmative gets the PC the letter, whichreads:

“Proceed to the Solanthus Market Areaaround the midday hour. Look hard for ayoung woman with a white cloak and black

and silver leather armor. Her name is Sirilla.You will know what to do. The rest will beexplained afterward at the Sign of the Rose.Love, A.W."

If the PCs decline to accept the letter (or refuseto admit that one of their number is surnamedWaylan), have a street urchin run up to them andgive Tika the note.

AT T E M P T E D MURDER MOST FOUL

Pushing your way through the masses, you areamazed at the vast number of people in thecity. Everywhere you look, reconstruction isunderway.

The marketplace, the center of commerce,was one of the first things to recover andrebuild.

A portion of the crowd ahead of you beginsto talk in animated tones. A few cheers go up,and a few hands are waved enthusiastically.

If the PCs attempt to see who or what the peo-ple are cheering about, continue reading:

After slipping past a few people, you man-age to see the object of their passions. It isLord Dreyson Belarod, Lord of the City ofSolanthus. Clearly, the man’s success in expe-diting the repairs of the city have made himwell loved by the populace. He acknowledgesthe crowd with a modest, almost embarrassedwave as his four bodyguards usher him to hisnext stop. Unfortunately, people press himfrom all sides, eager to shake his hand ortouch his cloak.

By now, the situation should be obvious, if thePCs have been putting the clues together. Appar-ently, this Sirilla person, a known assassin, is outto kill the Lord of Solanthus. It is easily guessedthat if the Lord was killed, rebuilding would bedelayed, which would be a great boon to Lemishand the Blue Dragonarmies.

In order to find Sirilla in this crowd, each PCmust roll an ability check against half his or herintelligence. A successful check gains them thefollowing information:

2 3

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As your eyes scan the crowd, looking for theassassin, you suddenly see a young woman ina white cloak, leaning up against the wall of abuilding. She looks right and left, making cer-tain that no one is watching her, then producesa small pouch from her belt.

Reaching into her pouch, she pulls outsomething with one hand. Raising her handover her head, she lets sparkling grains of dustcascade on her. As the twinkling motes lightupon her, she vanishes. Before she completelyfades, her mouth twists into an evil, predatorysmirk.

Sirilla has just used some dust of disappearanceand is now heading toward Lord Belarod. Her ini-tial distance from her target is 180 feet. The PCsbegin 40 feet from Belarod, and 140 feet from Sir-illa’s last known position.

If the PCs try to run up to the Lord and warn himof an assassination plot, what they will be doingin effect is drawing the guards away from Belarod.The guards will think that the PCs are the intendedassassins.

Sirilla: AC -3; MV 12; T9; hp 48; THAC0 16; #AT1; Dmg 1d4 (dagger); SA quadruple damage back-stab; AL LE; ML 16; XP 3,000; Thieving abilities:PP 80%, OL 72%, F/RT 70%, MS 80%, HS 66%,HN 35%, CW 98%, RL 50%. Sirilla has an 18Dexterity.

Sirilla wears leather armor, a cloak of protection+4, necklace of protection +3, dagger of venom+3, and dust of disappearance. Her purse contains1d20 gp, 1d12 stl.

Sirilla intends to sneak up on Lord Belarod’sback and backstab him with the dagger of venom.If her plans are foiled, she breaks off the attackand tries to make good her escape, vowingvengeance on those who ruined her attack. Sirillais not one to sacrifice herself in order to fulfill hermission.

ALL�S WELL....

Of course, if the PCs foil the plot, the Lord ofSolanthus is in their debt. They are hailed asheroes of the city, and are always welcome to any

civic function that Belarod holds. As a furtherreward, each PC is given 200 stl.

But the true reward still lies at the Sign of theRose. That is where the note from Alleran indi-cated for the party to meet him.

Once they arrive at the inn, read them the fol-lowing:

The innkeeper welcomes you to his estab-lishment, then halts in mid-sentence and,breaking into a grin, looks at Tika. “You mustbe Waylan’s girl,” he chuckles. “Gods, but youhave his eyes! He asked me to give you this,along with his regrets.” The man hands you anote.

“My Dearest Daughter:“You cannot imagine how proud I am of the

accomplishments of you and your circle offriends in the past unpleasantness with thedragons.

“Of course, I offered to help, but my talentsare far too humble for the sort of work that wasneeded.

“I am terribly sorry for not being there inperson, but many people desire my company,and most of them seem to want either mymoney, my hide, or both.

“I am also sorry for dragging you and yourfriends across Ansalon. I had heard rumors of

the plot on Lord Belarod’s life, but I also knewthat those stuck-up Knights of Solamnia and

those overly solemn, fun-hating priests wouldnot believe a man of my—talents.

“Therefore, it became necessary to lure youand your friends, who have so ably proventhemselves in the Wars, to come to Solanthusjust in case the rumors were true.“No doubt by now, Tika, you and your friendsare now a bit richer. Could I ask you, daughter,to give your share to the fellow I sold the dra-conian repellent amulet to? I neglected to tellhim that the amulet keeps him safe only fromdead draconians, not live ones.

“Some day, my daughter, when the time isright, we will meet again face to face. For now,fate has us going in two different directions.

“Give my greetings to Raistlin. Give him mycongratulations on his sorcerous advance-ments. Give warmest greetings to that big oxCaramon. Heed me, daughter: marry that fel-low quickly!

“May the gods watch over you, daughter! Ilove you, and long to one day give you afatherly embrace. Until then, carry on withyour splendid work.

“Your loving, honest father“Alleran Waylan”

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SCENARIO TWO:MY MOTHER THE DRAGON

In which a group of kender find a treasure mapand wind up getting in way over their heads,which is not so hard considering their height.

Start Up: This scenario is meant for a fun-lovingparty made up of kender, tinker gnomes, gullydwarves, and other fun, preferably short folks.

Ideally, the party should be made up of four toeight PCs. Tasslehoff Burrfoot must go on thisadventure. Other suggested personalities includeBupu, Magpie, Agate the Gnome, Kronn Thistle-knot, and Trapspringer. All of these personalitiescan be found on cards in the Tales of the LanceAD&D® 2nd Edition boxed set.

The adventure takes place in the land of Ken-dermore, nine months after the War of the Lance.Much of the land is overrun by the Black Dragon-armies. (DMs should refer to Map 6.)

The overall tone of this adventure should be oneof lighthearted action, smack in the middle ofsome very perilous terrain. Whimsy and suspenseshould walk hand in hand for DMs running thisadventure. Some parts of this adventure areintended to be hilarious. Even the way this adven-ture is written, especially the parts read to the PCs,presents a kender-like attitude of nonchalance andextraneous conversation.

Having humor and danger side by side in theadventure enhances the impact of both extremes.A good DM should know when to emphasize oneover the other.

The kender immunity to normal fear shouldhelp in achieving this balance. Yes, the stakes arehigh and danger abounds, but it is a chance to dosome exploring, satiate some curiosity, havesome laughs, and perhaps find some neat thingsto handle!

If someone really wants to play a human or anelf, this can be rationalized by making that PCsomeone that the kender have hired to help rid theland of the Black Dragonarmies. In the postwaryears, it was common practice for the kender tohire/cajole/trick/plead adventurers to go into thedragon-occupied areas with the intent of drivingout the scattered forces of the Black Dragon-armies.

The action opens in the tiny coastal village ofGrimdel, resting beside the Bay of Balifor. Grimdel

is located in the nation of Kendermore, also calledGoodlund. The village is situated near the borderof the nation of Balifor, from whence come manyscruffy mercenaries and would-be adventurers,looking for work. Unfortunately, as the PCs areabout to find out, there is never any decent helpfor hire when you need it.

DMs should remind groups composed of allkender or with a majority of kender that kender donot have the same sense of caution that many PCsdo. Normal PCs may recoil at the idea of visitingan area of giant spiders. Kender would rationalizethat these spiders sound terribly interesting, andthey probably have snagged all sorts of interestingthings in their webs.

Remember, kender are not suicidal, stupid, oroblivious to their surroundings. They are justoverly curious, which tends to make them down-play the danger inherent in any area or undertak-ing.

This adventure is actually rather open-ended.Once they finally leave the inn, the kender canexplore any region that is listed on the map.Things are not linear or time dependent. As longas the PCs eventually deal with the dragon and itscohorts, the adventure’s objective will have beendealt with, if not achieved.

Even if the PCs bypass certain encounters, theDM should feel free to simply relocate any situa-tions or personalities that are not in a fixed loca-tion and make sure the PCs deal with them.

For instance, the PCs may miss the rumorsabout the tinker gnomes and the Silvanesti scout,and then compound this omission by bypassingthe gully dwarf community. The DM could stillhave the party run into the tinker gnomes on theway to the dragon’s lair in the ruins, then meet theSilvanesti scout as the PCs are reconnoitering theruins.

THE SITUATION

After the War of the Lance, the various Dragon-armies began experiencing breakdowns in orderand cohesion. It was not unusual for groups ofdraconians to break away from the main body oftheir respective armies in order to seek their ownpersonal fortunes.

One such mixed group of draconians, part ofthe Black Dragonarmy, did just that. They brokeoff from their leaders and wandered on their own,looking for profit and a comfortable life.

Eventually, the wandering draconian desertersfound an old black dragon named Spit. Spit, ahuge female, is a Great Wyrm who was hatchedwhen the ogres returned to Thoradin and madewar against the dwarves in the Age of Might, theyear 930 Pre-Cataclysm.

Unfortunately, Spit has grown senile. Shespends her time lying in her underground lair,tended to by the draconians, who see her as thebeginnings of their own personal power base.

Spit is looking for her children. She has longforgotten that her children left her. The draconianslead her on by telling the Great Wyrm that theyare searching for the children. Sometimes, theyclaim that one of the children has a message forher, and they give some made-up message abouthow Spit should trust the draconians and alwaystake their advice.

The draconians are sitting pretty with thisarrangement. They will fight to the death to keepwhat they have.

MA P 7: TH E VI L L A G E O F

G R I M D E L

The action opens at the Sign of the Happy Hoopak,a modest inn located in Grimdel. After the PCshave been given their starting comments, they canexplore other places in town.

If the PCs used are to be part of an ongoingcampaign, Grimdel would make a fine PC base ofoperations.

1. At the Sign of the Happy Hoopak

Nine months have passed since the success-ful end of the War of the Lance. That nastylady Takhisis was foiled, and now everyone inAnsalon is busy trying to put everything backtogether.

Oh, there is still much to do regarding thearmies of the Dark Queen. After all, the BlackDragonarmies have control of much of thepeninsula, including a chunk of Kendermore

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The Black Dragonarmies include those terribledraconians, some evil humans, cruel hobgob-lins, and huge but terribly interesting blackdragons.

It is bad enough that the Dragonarmies arebad neighbors, but recently they decided thatthey should take even more land than theyalready have. All right-thinking kender knowthat this is unfair. After all, it is one thing tohold onto something that someone carelesslydropped. But the kender are still using Good-lund! No kender has let go of the land, ordropped it, waiting for someone else to comealong and pick it up and hold onto it for safe-keeping!

No, clearly the Dragonarmies are horridneighbors and should be evicted as soon aspossible.

And that is why you are all here at theHappy Hoopak, the finest inn in the village ofGrimdel. Actually, it’s the only inn in the vil-lage of Grimdel (not counting the flophouseaccommodations of “the Market.“)

You have been spending the last two daystrying to get some of those six-foot-tall swordswingers (their swords aren’t six feet tall, theswingers are!) to march into Goodlund andhunt down those draconians and let themknow that they are not welcome here.

For some strange reason, everyone that youhave talked to for the past few days seems tobe surprisingly reluctant to help. Most of them,when they see your little band, back away andstart clutching their purses and belts.

You can certainly understand why they areclutching their possessions, since these peoplehave a tendency to drop things. And, of course,they walk away so fast that you never get thechance to return the things to the rightful own-ers, so of course you have to hold onto thestuff until the men come back.

Well, one nice man dropped a parchment,then ran out of the inn saying really bad thingsabout kender. Certainly he didn’t mean yourgroup. It must be some other group of kender.

Actually, the man was in such a hurry thathe not only dropped a parchment, he alsodropped a gold locket with a tiny painting of apretty lady inside, a small pouch with fourpearls, a tinderbox, and a small crystal bottlewith liquid in it.

So, there in the common room of the HappyHoopak Inn, you and your comrades are sit-

ting contentedly at your booth, looking over-this nice parchment that the man carelesslydropped. The place is filled with people, butnone of them seem competent enough to raisetheir eyebrows, let alone a sword.

It is sundown, and the people are here toescape the encroaching chilly darkness andenjoy the warmth and good fellowship of theinn’s common room.

A copy of the map (Map 8) is on the inside ofthe module’s front cover. This can be given to theplayers to refer to at any time. What the DMknows, and the PCs do not necessarily know, isthat the map has its share of inaccuracies.

The main point of the map that must be empha-sized is the dragon. If necessary, remind the PCsthat the removal of a dragon is an important task,a necessary one for the survival of Kendermore.

If the PCs look around the inn, they see thatthere are no mercenaries or adventurers for hire. Itis up to the PCs to act upon the information.

While sitting around in the common room ofthe Happy Hoopak, a wandering minstrel hap-pens in and, after consulting with the innkeeper,plays for the customers.

This is the content of the bard’s song:

Gather round, travelers, and hear my tale;Should you like it, then buy me some ale.I have just returned from travels east;Where I met dragon-men and other beasts.And though the War’s been over for nine

moons;The threat of the Dark Queen still looms.The wooded Beast Run is well named forsure;For it lairs spiders, giants, ettins and

more.But the worst beast of all, and pay close

mind;Is a specimen of black dragonkind.Spit’s her name, and her spit is foul;Burns your skin and melts your bowels.Her lair lies east of the woods;And if she catches ye, she’ll melt yougood!To beat her, takes people with no fear;But that’s not me, I’ll stay and drink beer.

Well, one can tell that this is not a very profi-cient bard. His rhyming is terrible.

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The crowd applauds politely and tosses him afew silver pieces. The innkeeper shakes his headslightly and grudgingly hands the fellow a mug ofale and a plate of food. Delighted, the bardscoops up the coins and goes and sits by himselfat a table.

The bard is named Dolan Goldenthroat (his pro-fessional name). He is not very good at makingrhymes. But one thing is certain: the bard hasbeen east, to places indicated on the map. ThePCs may attempt to talk to Dolan, who will provea very able conversationalist, provided a fewcoins are sent his way.

Dolan Goldenthroat: AC 5; MV 12; B5; hp 20;THAC0 18; #AT 1; Dmg 1d4 (dagger); AL NG; ML11; XP 350; Spells: 1st level —charm person,friends, taunt, 2nd level——pyrotechnics; Thief abil-ities: CW 60%, DN 40%, PP 45%, RL 25%. Dolanhas a I7 Dexterity.

Dolan wears leather armor and carries a dagger.A lute is strapped to his back. His clothing looksrich, unless one examines it very closely, in whichcase it is actually a bit threadbare. His purse con-tains 1d12 sp, 1d8 gp, 1d4 stl.

In the category of “interesting objects that hemay carelessly drop,” Dolan carries a beautifulquill, several sheets of parchment, a few tortoiseshell picks for his lute, a bag of 23 marbles, acharcoal sketch of a pretty woman he wooed inPalanthus, and a pair of ivory dice.

Like most bards, Dolan enjoys telling tales,especially ones that he has heavily embellished.Any action, no matter how humble or mundane,can be inflated by his exaggerating accounts.Unfortunately, Dolan is also a bit of a coward, andruns away from overwhelming danger, composinga funeral dirge for the companions he has leftbehind.

Dolan knows that a huge, black dragon lives inthe woods, and he can pinpoint its exact locationon the PCs’ map. He also knows that a troop ofdraconians have set up their headquarters near thedragon’s lair.

Dolan may be the only exception to the lack ofhirelings for the PCs. Though no self-respectingmercenary or professional adventurer would becaught dead being hired by a pack of troublesomekender, a down-on-his-luck bard may be just thething.

In fact, if Dolan is hired, he serves as the group’schronicler. As mentioned before, he is utterly use-less in combat, attacking only when he is attacked

and even then only if all escape routes have beencut off.

Until such time as his cowardice is exposed,Dolan tells tall tales of bravery, war, and heroism,supposedly first-hand accounts. This should leadthe PCs to infer that Dolan was in the thick of theaction, and was not bothered by the death allaround him.

2. Torgak’s Goods: This modest establishment isrun by Torgak Byr, a cranky human (Human Cm4,AC 10, hp 12, AL LN). This is the perfect place toequip the party. Common items (no weapons orarmor) from the Player’s Handbook are for salehere.

If Torgak sees a group of kender walk in, heturns very sour and suspicious. The PCs arewatched like hawks until they leave.

3. Fleetal’s Stuff: Imagine a junkyard set up in astore. That is Fleetal’s establishment. The propri-etor is Fleetal Busyfingers (Kender H8, AC 2, hp36, AL N). His cluttered shop is filled with oddsand ends, useless items, knick-knacks, cheapgoods, and other things that seem to get the PCs’attention.

Fleetal knows what his folk are like, so he doesnot care if they handle his merchandise and forgetto put it back. The main reason for this is that Flee-tal himself always manages to find a few itemsthat his kender customers have managed to drop.All things considered, Fleetal usually gets the bet-ter part of the deal.

4. Shrine of Reorx: This is the only building in thevillage of Grimdel that is made entirely of solidstone. It is a very simple affair, most of the interiortaken up by a vast assembly hall with an anvil-shaped altar at the front.

There is no permanent clergy assigned to thisplace. Wandering clerics use the hall to conductimpromptu services. Since the doors are alwaysopen, anyone can enter at any time of the day ornight. Visitors are supposed to leave a sacrifice ofat least 5 gp on the altar.

The shrine has a permanent protection from evilcast upon it.

5. The Market: This is the place where only non-kender (primarily human) visitors tend to congre-gate. A makeshift bar is set up, open from noon tomidnight. The rest of the place has tables, chairs, aflop room (1 sp/night), and a large board.

The place is called “the Market” because it is

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where most kender go to hire some strong folk fordangerous work. The large board has the namesor symbols of mercenaries and professionaladventurers who have come to town looking forwork.

“The Market” is also a good place to findrumors and gossip, especially about the cities ofPort Balifor and Kendermore.

If any player is running a nonkender or a non-short person, that PC can be hired here.

There are no NPCs willing to be hired. If, how-ever, the DM has an NPC that he wishes to havethe PCs meet and do business with, this is theplace to do it.

The current rumors floating around “the Mar-ket” are as follows:

• The Solamnians will pay well for any intelli-gence information having to do with Port Balifor.

• A group of tinker gnomes from Mount Never-mind is heading east toward the Wendle Woods.They say that they are trying to test their anti-dragon device. Have you ever heard of anythingso ridiculous?

• Large numbers of draconians have been seentaking leave in Port Balifor. This could be the pre-lude to an invasion.

• The City of Kendermore is looking for quick-thinking kender interested in escorting caravansfrom Kendermore to Port Balifor.

• Spiders sure are becoming a problem in theBeast’s Run area of the Wendle Woods.

• A Silvanesti kirath (wood scout) passedthrough here. She seemed to want to find blackdragons to kill. Funny, those Silvanesti are sup-posed to keep to themselves a lot. Wonder whyshe’s really here?

SPIDERS, SPIDERS, EVERYWHERE!

A major infestation of whisper spiders is overrun-ning the Beast’s Run section of the WendleWoods. It is no coincidence that the creatureshave set up their lair so close to the footpath thatruns between Grimdel and Balinest. The spidersget to prey upon the travelers who take the well-frequented path. Not too many, so as not to scareoff travelers in general and cause the path to fallinto disuse, but enough to keep the spiders fat.

The spiders are spread out enough so that evenif travelers avoid the path and enter the forest fromsomewhere else, they still run the risk of beingcaught.

When the PCs reach the designated spider area,read the following:

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During the last ten minutes of travel, the plantlife around you has grown increasingly thickerand taller. You have reached the border of theWendle Woods, specifically, Beast’s Run.

The trees loom high above you, their topbranches shading the ground below. Bushesgrow in abundance all around you. Fortu-nately, the path, though slightly overgrown inplaces, provides you with a decent passagethrough the quiet forest.

The last sentence of the above description isimportant. There are no sounds of birds, insects,or other wildlife in the area. This is a result of thespiders’ presence. Most things in this neck of thewoods have either fled or been eaten.

The whisper spiders have set up their webs inthe underbrush in such a way that when peoplewalk through it, they get caught. This happens atthe places where the trail is overgrown.

The trees themselves are laced with webs,unseen unless a PC climbs into the trees andexamines them closely. By that time, it is too late.

As a final hurdle, there are spiders at the bor-ders of the territory, lurking in the underbrush orflattened on the ground, waiting for the chance topounce. Normally, there are six spiders scatteredaround each major web trap area.

The PCs run into four web areas in WendleWoods. Each time, the DM must secretly roll asaving throw vs. paralyzation for each PC. Failureindicates that the PC is caught in a web. The spi-ders come to finish off their victims 1d4 roundsafter the first PC is caught.

If a PC passes the roll, have him roll an abilitycheck using e i ther Inte l l igence or Wisdom(whichever is higher). The PC notices the web ifthe check is successful.

Once the spiders reach their victims, they attackthe helpless PCs, wrap them up in cocoon-likemasses of webs, and take them back to the lair.

It is impossible to track a spider’s progress.However, sharp-eyed PCs rolling a successful abil-ity check using either Intelligence or Wisdom(whichever is higher) can see where the spidersare heading. Each PC only gets one such checkper spider.

A successful check leads the PCs to the under-ground lair of the whisper spiders, deep in thewoods and about two miles off the beaten path.

Whisper Spiders (6): AC 4; MV 9, Wb 12; HD8+8; hp 50; THAC0 11; #AT 1; Dmg 2d6; SA

webs, poison; SD jumps; AL CE; ML 14; XP 1,400A whisper spider’s bite makes the victim roll a

saving throw vs. poison with a -2 penalty. Victimswho fail fall into a stupor for 2d4 turns.

The spiders can flatten themselves on theground and become 80% undetectable. These spi-ders move so quietly that their opponents suffer a-5 penalty to surprise rolls.

The spiders’ webs acts as web spells. Victimscan be freed if an unstuck PC can get some of thesecretions that the spiders have on their feet. Thesecretions enable the spiders to walk on their ownwebs without getting caught. If the PCs can cutopen a whisper spider’s legs and get to the secre-tions, one spider has enough for one PC to coathis own hands and feet for 1d6 turns (roll secretlyand record the results).

THE LAIR

The whisper spiders’ lair is a hole in the groundthat opens into a cavern (see Map 9 on page 31).The four-foot diameter hole is concealed by grass,twigs, and leaves scattered over a spider web.

Two web strands hang from the hole to the bot-tom of the cavern, 65 feet down. If the PCs go intothe lair, read the following:

From the hole, a four-foot-wide shaft extendsdown into the earth for about 30 feet, afterwhich the walls of the shaft abruptly open outinto a deep chamber. Descending down thelength of the shaft, you see that the chamber ishemispherical in shape, about 100 feet indiameter. The shaft that you just came throughis located in the center of the hemisphere.

As your eyes adjust to the darkness, andyour noses grow accustomed to the bitterstench, you are amazed at what you see.

The floor of the circular cavern is crawlingwith dozens of spiders. Not only are there thefeared whisper spiders, but also spiders of thesmaller species. It seems eerie, but it appearsthat the smaller spiders are acting as atten-dants to the whisper spiders.

The floor is also littered with whisper spidereggs—hundreds of them. Much of the floor isalso covered in sticky webs. If you fell to thebottom of the cavern, you would not get hurt.You would, however, get stuck fast.

The walls are clean of webs, but the ceilingis another matter entirely. Great strands ofwebs hang from the ceiling, each one ending

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with a cocoon that ranges from four to six feetin length. A skeletal limb protrudes from oneor two cocoons.

From one cocoon, however, there comesfrantic movement. The cocoon is about fourfeet in length. It hangs from a section of theceiling that is 30 feet from the shaft.

Obviously, the spiders do not tolerate strangersinvading the sanctity of their lair. They rise up toattack any intruders.

The whisper spiders attack first, since by theirstrides they reach the PCs before their smallercousins do.

This reaction assumes that the PCs are attempt-ing a frontal assault. Considering the fact thatkender are supposed to make up the majority ofthe party, such a maneuver would be unlikely.

If the PCs instead decide to sneak and skulk, thespiders do not see them, provided the PCs suc-cessfully use their move silently and hide in shad-ows abilities, or if the PCs have some magicalmeans of concealment.

Whisper Spiders (18): AC 4; MV 9, Wb 12; HD8+8; hp 50; THAC0 11; #AT 1; Dmg 2d6; SAwebs, poison; SD jumps; AL CE; ML 14; XP 1,400

A whisper spider’s bite makes the victim roll asaving throw vs. poison with a -2 penalty. Victimswho fail fall into a stupor for 2d4 turns.

large Spiders (20): AC 8; MV 6, Wb 15; HD 1 +1;hp 5; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1; SA poison (weak,+4 bonus to victim’s saving throw vs. poison); ALN; ML 8; XP 175

The large spiders’ venom is Type A, causing 15hit points of damage if the saving throw is failed,and no damage if the saving throw succeeds.

If the PCs manage to get to the struggling bun-dle (marked with an arrow on the map) and some-how open it, read the following:

As the strands of the cocoon fall away by yourefforts, a male kender emerges. An ugly purplewelt on the side of his neck gives testimony tothe spider bite that paralyzed him.

Once he sees that his cocoon prison hasbeen opened by fellow kender and not by ahungry spider looking for some dinner, hiseyes go wide with joy and he bursts out withenthusiasm:

“Wow, am I ever glad to see you! It was get-ting stuffy in there! I thought you were a bigspider, coming to open up my cocoon and eatme. But you sure aren’t spiders, are you? It isso wonderful to see my kin again! The webswere interesting to look at, but I got tired ofthem quickly. So, are we getting out of here?”

The only problem with this is that the kenderspeaks in a very loud voice. If the PCs have beenskulking in order to avoid combat with the spi-ders, it is all over.

Give the PCs a one-round head start. Duringthis time, the spiders are trying to figure out justwhat has happened and who is in their lair.

If the PCs somehow guess that the cocoon pris-oner is going to be loud as soon as he is freed, andthey decide to take measures to make sure the vic-tim does not blurt out his thanks, then give thePCs a two-round head start. After the time goes by,the spiders notice that one of the cocoons hasbeen opened in a most unspiderlike fashion. Theydecide to give chase.

The cavern floor is littered with interestingitems, including an empty brass locket (2 gp), asilver mirror, a whistle made of wood, a silverhairpin (5 gp), a small obsidian statue of a blackdragon (5 stl), gold spectacle frames with nolenses (3 gp), a pair of green shoes with bells onthe toes, a set of wooden false teeth, 312 cp, 304sp, 42 gp, 23 stl, a dagger encrusted with rhine-stones (3 gp), a human-size suit of chain mail, anda long sword with a gold-plated handle.

The trapped kender is named Tagalyn Wildhair,and he is a very talkative young handler. He waswandering by himself when he was waylaid by thespiders. This happened at least a week ago.Apparently, the spiders were saving him as asnack.

Tagalyn Wildhair: AC 6; MV 9; H5; hp 20; THAC018; #AT 1; Dmg 1d3 (fist); AL CG; ML 20; XP 270;Thief Abilities: PP 75%, OL 42%, F/RT 30%, MS40%, HS 41%, HN 20%, CW 90%. Tagalyn hasan 18 Dexterity.

Tagalyn has no stuff anymore. He dropped it allwhen he was overcome by the spiders. Tagalyngets his name from the fact that his hair is arrangedin two topknots.

If asked, Tagalyn certainly joins the PCs. He isfamiliar with the place where giants supposedlydwell, north of the spiders’ lair. Tagalyn speaks ofseeing giant men with big clubs wandering around

the area, attended by ogres (not Irda). The kenderknows that the ogres act as a line of defense forthe giants, patrolling the woods and eliminatingany who would dare annoy them.

WHOOPS! THERE GOES THEFLOOR!

If the party manages to walk around on the floorof the spiders’ lair, there is a cumulative 10%chance per round that a portion of the floor col-lapses, sending the PCs on a 20-foot fall.

The collapse deposits the PCs into a dark cham-ber. Read the following:

Well, that was certainly unexpected! Obvi-ously, the stone floor was very old, and all thatexcitement must have made it collapse. Youlook up, and, thanks to the dim light filteringfrom above, you can see that much of the floorabove is still intact, though it looks like morepieces could go at any minute.

The air is cool down here, but somethingabout it is not right. If air could spoil, youwould swear that this air has done so. There isalso a feeling of great evil, or more specifi-cally, unholiness. It feels as thick as the websabove you.

So here you are, covered in dusty strands ofwebs, egg cases, and lots of loose gravel andsuch. After the last echo of the collapse diesdown, your ears pick up a new sound—verylarge spider feet cautiously making their wayacross the floor.

The small bit of light enables you to makeout some features in this newly discoveredchamber. You can see a huge stone statue of abeautiful elven woman, but her lower half isthat of a bloated spider. There’s a pretty goldnecklace around the statue’s neck, and hereyes are made of two sparkly red stones, possi-bly rubies.

There is a really ugly picture on one wall;fortunately it looks faded. That, and the dimlight lessens its dramatic impact. The picture

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shows a huge, five-headed dragon, each headthe color of a different evil dragon. The hugedragon is giving birth to a giant spider womanThe final thing in the dusty chamber is a huge

spider body with the chest, arms and head ofan elf, except that it looks like no elf you’veever seen. The elf body is shrivelled up, as ifit’s been dead for a while, but the eyes seem toglow a sickly green.

Of course, the dried-up elf-spider thingwould be a lot less scary if it wasn’t movingtoward you, which it is. As it cautiously closesin, it speaks in a dry hiss.

“So! Takhisis has sent her servants to find theshrine of my mistress Jaithuli! Hail Jaithuli,handmaiden of Takhisis, daughter of Takhisis,she who is trapped in a spider body! HailJaithuli, who selected this humble servant allthose centuries ago to guard her shrine untilher triumphant return! Death! Death to thesycophantic short servants of the Dark Queen!This shrine shall not fall! Death! Death!”

This creature is a form of drider, a creature notnormally found on Krynn. The drider is a half-drow (evil dark elf), half-giant spider.

Jaithuli is both an offspring and a Handmaidenof Takhisis, a demigoddess of evil and spiders. Shemanifests herself as either a beautiful drowfemale, or a giant spider.

Centuries before the War of the Lance, Jaithulicoveted Takhisis’s spot in the sky. Anxious to buildher own power base, Jaithuli created the demi-plane of Deathdark, and bred spider dragons inmockery of Takhisis.

This usurper so enraged Takhisis that the DarkQueen exiled Jaithuli to the Deathdark, trappingher in the form of a giant spider. Jaithuli was stillable to commune with her worshippers, and shemade plans to keep her shrines active while sheplotted to remove herself from this predicament.This chamber is one of those shrines, longforgotten by wholesome, right-thinking folk.

Any PC who rolls a successful Religion Profi-ciency Check (with a -2 penalty, due to theobscure nature of the story), knows the story ofJaithuli.

With Takhisis weakened in the aftermath of theWar of the Lance, Jaithuli is almost out of herprison.

In the meantime, servants such as the one in thischamber continue their unholy vigil, waiting forthe time when Jaithuli returns.

Undead Drider: AC 3; MV 12; HD 7; hp 56;THAC0 13; #AT 1; Dmg 1d4 (bite) or 1d8 (stoneclub); SA bite is poisonous, saving throw vs. poi-son with a -2 penalty or be paralyzed for 1-2turns); SD immune to hold spells, unaffected bynormal or magical webs; MR 15%; ML 20; XP3,000

The undead drider can be turned away by acleric or high-level paladin by using the “Special”category on the Turning Undead table. Its spellabilities are these: web spell six times a day, fearthree times a day, and darkness 15’ radius onceper day.

The drider is convinced that the PCs are ser-vants of Takhisis. No amount of cajoling or per-suading will change its mind.

A quick way to take care of the undead drider isto collapse the ceiling over its head. Only gnomes,dwarves, or someone with the Mining proficiencycan determine the proper weak point in the ceil-ing. It can easily be brought down on the drider ifstruck with a blunt object (such as a mace or ham-mer) with the force of at least 15 Strength. Theceiling is Armor Class 10 for purposes of hit deter-mination. The cave-in kills the creature, burying itunder a ton of rock.

The entire chamber is cursed, so that all non-evil individuals suffer a -2 penalty to all savingthrows and attack rolls.

The two “eyes” of Jaithuli’s statue are rubiesworth 200 stl each. The gold necklace is worth100 stl, but it is cursed. Any non-worshiper ofJaithuli who wears the necklace is plagued withnightmares of talking evil spiders and writhing spi-der constellations in the night sky. Each night, thewearer loses 1 hit point permanently. No healingspells, restoration, or wish can restore the lost hitpoints (see below).

If the wearer is good aligned, he further suffers a-2 penalty to saving throws and attack rolls.

Once the wearer reaches 0 hit points, he isdead and cannot be wished back, resurrected,reincarnated, or raised. If the wearer was neutralor evil, he becomes an undead drider.

The only way to reverse the necklace’s curseand restore the lost hit points is to have a cleric ofPaladine cast remove curse on the victim. Thenecklace crumbles into ash, and the v ict imregains 1 hit point per day until he is at his initialhit point total.

T H E Y M I G H T B E G I A N T S

GETTING THROUGH THE WOODS

A group of hill giants, seeking to be left alone byboth the Whitestone armies and the Black Drago-narmies, have settled in this region (shown on themap on this module’s inside cover).

As a warning sign, as well as an indication thatthey favor neither faction, the giants have proppedthe heads of draconians, elves, humans, dwarves,hobgoblins, and kender on poles and set them ina ten-mile radius from their camp. Anyone travel-ing within the giants’ land encounters 1d10 suchtrophies. The heads also act as grotesque bound-ary markers, showing the self-imposed limits ofthe giants’ territory.

The second manifestation of the giants’ pres-ence are the patrols of ogres that wander withinthe same ten-mile radius as marked by the headson poles. For every mile of travel in the giants’land, there is a 1 in 6 chance of encountering apatrol of ogres.

Ogres (4): AC 5; MV 9; HD 4+1; hp 25; THAC017; #AT 1; Dmg 1d10 (clubs); SA +2 to damage;AL CE; ML 13; XP 175

The ogres’ orders are to patrol the lands, elimi-nating any ordinary trespassers, but knockingunconscious and capturing anyone who seemsremotely interesting. Unfortunately, these ogresare so stupid that each patrol encountered hasonly a 10% chance of remembering the specificorders. Otherwise, the ogres just bludgeon todeath anything that moves.

Quick-witted PCs who decide to follow theogres’ tracks to their origin discover the giants’lair. A successful Tracking Proficiency Check (witha +2 bonus to the proficiency) is needed everymile. If the PCs lose the trail, they get only onechance to rediscover the trail of that particularpatrol.

Since many of the patrols do not overlap eachother, as long as the PCs keep following the tracksback to the giants’ lair, the chance of encounter-ing further patrols drops to 5% per mile.

MAP IO: GIANTS� LAIR

Once the party arrives at the lair, read the follow-ing (presuming of course, that the PCs are con-scious).

The woods abruptly end in a circular clearing.It is apparent that some very strong folk pushedaway or uprooted trees in order to make aclear living space.

But the fact that there lies something herestrong enough to casually uproot trees palesbefore the sight of the actual lair.

What stands before you is a large building,with the bones of dragons as its frame. Some-thing or someone has actually slain dragonsand used the bones as wall supports!

The walls of the building are large, flat slabsof rock and some of the uprooted trees. Theentire building, despite its odd materials,seems quite sturdy.

Draped over most of the clearing like a hugecanopy are the sewn-together skins of greenand black dragons. If a Knight of Solamniawere flying overhead on a gold dragon andchanced to look down, you would guess thathe would not notice the giants’ lair due to thecanopy. The giants seem well hidden here.

In front of the huge lodge, two whole mooseroast on a spit, being attended to by a pair ofthe biggest men you have ever seen.

Well, not men, actually. Though they arehumanoid in appearance, their height istremendous. Huge muscles ripple under theirdirty brown skin. The creatures are each cladin several bear skins crudely sewn together.The giants’ foreheads are slightly sloped, andtheir eyes appear rather vacant. The aroma ofroast moose fills the air.

A wooden barrel eight feet tall stands uprightbeside the spit.

A smaller building lies at the edge of thewoods opposite the huge lodge. This buildinghas been assembled using the trunks of thetrees that were knocked away to form theclearing.

Just when it seems that you have had morethan enough of looking at these brutes andhave decided that perhaps you should leavethem to their cooking, your sharp eyes catch aflash of something shiny from the entryway ofthe large lodge. Now, what could that be? Yourcuriosity begins to gnaw at you. . . .

Obviously, this is the camp of giants, hill giantsto be precise. If the PCs were brought here as cap-tives, the giants place their prisoners in a cagemade of dragon bones and hang it from a treebranch 20 feet off the ground. The cage is 10 feet

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Ogres (6): AC 5; MV 9; HD 4+1; hp 25; THAC017; #AT 1; Dmg 1d10 (clubs); SA +2 to damage;AL CE; ML 13; XP 175

The ogres have no treasure. The interior of thebuilding has nothing of interest, unless the kenderenjoy smelly, moldy sleeping furs.

The lodge is the sole lair for the hill giants. Justinside the entrance, a piece of crystal hangs on afine chain from the ceiling. It is purely for decora-tive purposes. Total value of the crystal and chainis 2 stl.

Besides the two hill giants outside the lair cook-ing, there are two more, sleeping in the lodge.Also in the lodge are several wolves, kept as pets.

Once the PCs are close enough to examine theshiny object and ascertain what it is, read themthe following:

The inside of the lodge is roomy and dark. It isall one large room, and reminds you of a hugetent.

Your eyes make out two huge forms lying in

by 10 feet. Two ogres are posted as guards if anyPCs are confined in the cage.

The two hill giants are indeed doing the cookingfor the camp. The huge barrel at their side is filledthree-fourths full of strong giant spirits. Any non-giant who drinks more than four ounces of thestuff must roll a successful Constitution Checkwith a -6 penalty.

Failing the check puts the PC in a state of loudintoxication. This lasts for 1d3 hours, after whichthe poor fool has a splitting headache (-2 penaltyto all attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks,surprise and initiative rolls) plus extreme nausea(even water is questionable). These two effects lastfor 1d4 hours after the 1d3 hours of intoxication.

If the PC passes the check, he feels a littlelightheaded, but is otherwise fine. Any furtherfour-ounce doses require additional checks,with an additional cumulative penalty of -2 toConstitution.

The smaller building is the lair of the ogres.There are always at least six ogres present, with a20% chance of there being a further 4d4 ogresreturned from patrols.

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one corner. In another corner, several smallerforms begin moving toward you, uttering lowgrowls.

Hill Giants (4): AC 5; MV 12; HD 12; hp 60;THAC0 9; #AT 1; Dmg 2d6+7 (clubs); SA hurlrocks for 2d8 points of damage; AL CE; ML 14; XP3000

The giants are rather stupid, though they demon-strated enough cleverness to build their lair theway they did. In essence, when it comes to mat-ters of construction and concealment, they arequite clever. In all other matters, however, theyare as stupid as rocks.Dire Wolves (4): AC 6; MV 18; HD 4+4; hp 20;THAC0 15; #AT 1; Dmg 2d4; AL N; ML 10; XP175

The wolves are the personal pets of the giants.Each giant has one pet wolf. The wolves are fanat-ically loyal to their masters.

The giants keep their treasure under the wolves’sleeping area. The treasure consists of a brasscrown (worth 5 sp), a tapestry showing a Knight ofSolamnia fighting a red dragon (worth 25 stl), asilver charm bracelet with eight different charms(worth 9 gp), a pewter mug (worth 2 gp), four sil-ver rings with cheap glittering stones (worth 1 speach), a silver brass buckle shaped like a hawk’shead (worth 2 gp), an iron pot filled with 500 stl,plus a potion of polymorph self.

TH E VI L L A G E O F BA L I N E S T

This is a tiny hamlet of 250 kender. The village isrun by an elder kender of the Lightfoot clan.

Unfortunately, since this village is firmly inBlack Dragonarmy territory, the kender here are abit more somber (read dull) than the averagekender. Oh, they certainly have some fun, andthey still have their insatiable curiosity, but theirroutine has been tainted by frequent draconianraids.

Thus, Balinest is boring to kender such as thePCs. The only inn in town is the Shadywood, andthere the PCs can get all the above informationabout the village.

No one in Balinest is willing or able to be hiredas guide or henchman. The village can little affordto let go of a single able-bodied kender.

If the PCs stay in Balinest for more than a day(or if, in the DM’s opinion, the PCs have had an

easy time of it thus far), they experience first handa draconian attack at midnight.

The attack is conducted by 30 Baaz draconians.Two attack each PC, and the rest engage the vil-lage’s defenders.

Thus far, the draconians have suffered only afew deaths or serious injuries in their attacks. Theyare unaccustomed to having adventurers the likesof the PCs attacking them. If the draconians suffercasualties of 50% or greater, they beat a hastyretreat.

Following the Baaz’s trail leads the PCs right tothe draconians’ hideout (and also the dragon’slair)—the ruins of Talin.Baaz Draconians (30): AC 4; MV 6, Gl 18; HD 2;hp 9; THAC0 19; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 or1d6 (short swords); MR 20%; SA when a Baaz isslain, the person who struck the death blow mustroll a Dexterity Check with a -3 penalty. Failuremeans the weapon is stuck in the Baaz’s body,which turns to stone when slain. The statue crum-bles to dust in 1d4 rounds, and the weapon isfreed; AL LE; ML 14; XP 175

These monsters carry short swords, shields, andsomething out of place for these lowest of all dra-conians—each has a small obsidian dragon fig-urine, hanging on a fine silver chain. Thesenecklaces are worth 20 stl each.

If a Baaz is captured alive, it resists any attemptsat questioning. If somehow made to talk it tells thePCs that it and its fellow draconians are the care-takers of Spit, an elderly female black dragon whoresides in the ruins of Talin.

F I R M G U L L I E S

This section details the gully dwarf communitycalled Owr Plays (Our Place).

TRAPPED LIKE RODENTIA

As the PCs draw near to this location, read the fol-lowing:

The woods in this area are less than healthy. Italmost appears as if someone decided to tryhis hand at gardening and forestry, despite aninability to do it right.

Some fruit trees have been pruned so muchthat there is little left to show the world thatthey were once fruit trees. Poison ivy grows

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everywhere in healthy patches. Some shadetrees have been completely stripped of leaves.Other trees have great gashes in their trunks.The gashes are filled with dirt and dead leaves.

Indeed, rather than reflecting any degree ofcare, this wood appears to have been visitedby the cursed elven king Lorac and sufferedthe same twisted, corrupt fate as the woods ofthe Silvanesti. You half expect to see a two-headed squirrel or a limbless gopher lying onthe path.

A sign made of wood bark and written withberry juice says “No traps heer. Dont look forthem. Keep wokin. Awl is safe. We promiss.”

A bad stench, like that of wet burlap mixedwith offal, wafts toward you from up ahead.

This is the border of a gully dwarf community. Thesign is a clever (?) trick set up by the gully dwarvesto hide their traps. These traps are set up along thepath, one every 20 feet in the same order as theyare described below.

The traps are as follows:* A tripwire stretched across the path. The first

two ranks of travelers must roll successful savingthrows vs. breath weapon or trip into a badlycamouflaged pit five feet deep.

The bottom of the pit is lined with sharp bones.Fortunately, the gully dwarves did not anchorthem firmly into the ground. Thus, anyone fallinginto the pit suffers only 1d4 points of damage.

* Another string, which, when stepped on,releases a sack of rocks set overhead. The rocks aresupposed to spill out of the bag. What in fact hap-pens is that the sack plummets in a swinging arc,aimed right at the middle PC (or middle rank if trav-eling two or three abreast) in the marching order.

The victim(s) must roll a successful saving throwvs. breath weapon or be struck full force with thebag. This causes 2d6 points of damage, and thevictim must roll a successful Strength check or theforce of the blow carries him 1d12 feet away.

* A third tripwire sends a log swinging at thefirst PC in the marching order. The PC must roll asuccessful saving throw vs. breath weapon with a+4 bonus. If the PC fails, he suffers 4d6 of damageand is sent flying 15 feet away. If the PC succeeds,the log whizzes inches by his face and smashesinto the bushes to his right. A loud thud, followedby a groan is heard, and a pot-bellied gully dwarf,his bulbous face red and dented, collapses uncon-scious at the PCs’ feet.

After one or more traps are triggered, two gully

dwarves swing f rom opposi te ly located t reebranches in an attempt to ambush the party. Nei-ther gully dwarf hits a PC, and they crash intoeach other and slide to the forest floor withpathetic moans.

Finding the traps is simple; any PC’s find andremove traps ability is given a 40% bonus.

The two swinging gully dwarves attack if thePCs begin deactivating their nice traps that tookthem two days to make (actually four, but theycan’t count that high).

Also, if the traps are deactivated, the third gullydwarf, the one lurking in the bushes to the right ofthe party, does not attack but instead bravely runsaway, screaming to warn the rest of the community.This gives the community enough time to come upwith some really great grovelling routines.

Gully Dwarves (3): AC 7; MV 6; HD 1; hp 4;THAC0 19; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 (fist/bite) or1d4 (pointed stick); AL CN; ML 5; XP 25

Each gully dwarf has a pointed stick, scraps ofleather armor, and a small bag with a dead animalin it (either a bird, a rat, or a squirrel).

If the two swinging gully dwarves actually getinto combat with the PCs, roll a morale check forthem for each round. At the first failure, the gullydwarves drop their pointed sticks and run scream-ing back to the community.

If the gully dwarves are questioned, they gladlylead the PCs to the community, though the direc-tions are interspersed with continual pleas for thePCs to have mercy on them. This happens regard-less of how often the PCs assure the gully dwarvesthat no harm will come to them.

OWR PLAYS

As the PCs enter the community, read aloud thefollowing:

The stench first noticed in the trap areabecomes much stronger the closer you get tothe community.

When at last you see the gully dwarf com-munity, all is made clear. A jumble of hol-lowed out old logs or deadfalls serves as thegully dwarves’ living quarters. In the center ofthe community, a huge iron pot of some thickglop that is best described as “green” bubblesand splurts. The worst smells in the commu-nity come from this pot.

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Occasionally, a gully dwarf head pops outfrom a hole in a log and regards you with fear-filled eyes.

If the third gully dwarf from the ambush was ableto make his escape and warn the community,keep reading.

Suddenly, a loud cry fills the air as over adozen gully dwarves come at you from allsides. Before you can react, they get the dropon you. They exploit this advantage by drop-ping to their knees, clutching your legs, andwailing at the tops of their little lungs:

“We surrenda! No kill us! We nice!”Out of one particularly nice-looking dead-

fall (nice in that it looks less ramshackle thanthe rest of the lodgings, but not by much),three gully dwarves emerge, looking muchmore dignified than the surrendering dozen.

Actually, they look only slightly more digni-fied the more you study them. All three areclearly trembling, their knees knocking. Onegully dwarf is biting his nails. Another is pick-

ing his nose. The third is picking his friend’snose (violating one of the basic tenets of civi-lized society).

Finally, the biggest gully dwarf (the one pick-ing his own nose) clears his throat. After half aminute of this exercise, he addresses you.

“Greetings, mighty warriors! I am King Gorpthe First! Welcome to Owr Plays!”

Before the King can continue, a wet squirrel,chattering deliriously, breaks the bubbling sur-face of the cooking pot and tries to clamberout. An old gully dwarf woman, grovelling atyour feet and wailing with the rest of the com-munity, notices the squirrel.

Frowning, the old gully dwarf woman stopsgrovelling and mutters a barrage of cursewords that would turn the ears of a minotaurmariner bright red with embarrassment. Shethen marches over to the pot. The female pro-duces a club, and with one swing brains thesquirrel, which at this point is almost out of thepot.

The little creature’s eyes roll up into its head,and, with a series of chattering noises followedby a gurgle, sinks back under the glop. With a

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satisfied smile, the female gully dwarf placesher stick back in the waistband of her dress,flings herself at your feet and wails withrenewed vigor.

King Gorp frowns at this display, clears histhroat for another half minute, then resumeshis surrender speech.“Ahem! As me was saying, welcome to OwrPlays! Gully dwarf next me is Zorf, Wizard ofthe.. . uh . . .” King Gorp stops and looksclosely at the tattered robes Zorf wears. “. . .Wizard of the Gray Robes! He our shaman!Other dwarf is Mighty Quag, hero of OwrPlays!

“We surrender to you, mighty warriors! EvenMighty Quag surrenders! What can we do foryou, oh mighty conquerors of Owr Plays?”

The gully dwarf community of Owr Plays con-sists of seven male fighters (this includes the threeat the traps and the shaman), the King, his Cham-pion, six females, and six children.

The gully dwarves grovel and try to be nice tothe PCs. They offer to give the PCs a feast (featur-ing the squirrel in the pot), repair and maintain thePCs’ armor and weapons (allowing them to renderthis service all but guarantees that the stuff fails atsome critical juncture), and even entertain thePCs.

Entertainment includes female gully dwarf bellydancers (a truly revolting sight), a gully dwarf whojuggles the heads of small woodland creatures(most wind up falling into the pot), and a gullydwarf jester who keeps mixing up or forgetting thepunchlines of his jokes.

At long last, when the sun goes down, the gullydwarves offer the PCs lodging for the night. Thefinest hollow logs and deadfalls are made readyfor them.

The gully dwarves offer no information unlessasked. Here is what they have to say about the fol-lowing subjects:

Draconians: “Oh, we see two dragon mensevery day! They come from the same place thesun comes up. ” (They point to the north.)

Silvanesti Kirath: “Pretty elf lady not very nice.Call us dirty, ugly, short, and cowards! We notugly! She look at grass a lot, then leave us. Shewants to beat up dragons and dragon men! Shevisited us two days ago!”

Tinker Gnomes: “Real smart and our size! Theyhave big, noisy thing made of wood, kills dragons!They visited us two days ago, after pretty elf lady

leave us! They say they want to help pretty elfI ady.”

Anything Else: “We need more squirrels!”

When the PCs leave the community, the gullydwarves count this as a great military victory. KingGorp, The Mighty Quag, and Zorf are given aparade by the gully dwarves.

Gully Dwarves (6): AC 7; MV 6; F1; hp 4; THAC019; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 (fist/bite) or 1d4(pointed stick); AL CN; ML 5; XP 25

King Gorp: AC 7; MV 6; F4; hp 22; THAC0 17;#AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 (fist/bite) or 1d6 (rustyshort sword); AL CN; ML 7; XP 175

Gorp has scraps of leather armor, a helmetmade of the skull of a moose (including theantlers), and a rusty short sword.

The deadfall house of King Gorp has the com-munity’s treasure: a bird nest, a cracked egg, thetail of a rat, two iron pieces, and a rolled upparchment showing an illustration of a femalegully dwarf in a supposedly provocative pose. It issigned “Wit luv to King Gorp, luv, Bupu.”

The Mighty Quag: AC 7; MV 6; F4; hp 20; THAC017; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 (fist/bite) or 1d4(club); AL CN; ML 7; XP 175

Quag has scraps of leather armor, a termite-infested wooden helmet, and a club.

Zorf the Shaman is a standard gully dwarffighter, but he wears no armor. He has a pointedsharp stick, and a “magic pouch” fi l led withmoose manure, which he claims is actually thesource of his great magical powers. Zorf is clad ina torn gray robe.

T I N K E R S Ex MA C H I N A

As the PCs near the gnomes, read the following:

You notice that the plant life in this area hasbeen flattened by something very heavy. Itlooks as if a set of massive wagon wheels ranover the vegetation, leaving a large swath.

A sound reaches your ears. It begins softly,but as you draw closer, the noise gets worse. Itsounds as if some great creature clad in clank-ing armor is snorting and puffing as it rumblesacross the land.

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When it at last comes into view, you canscarcely believe your eyes. Facing you is therear end of a huge, armor-plated wagon, huff-ing and puffing steam and black smoke. Vari-ous small, gnome-like figures are atop it,running around, steering, tossing logs intowhat must be a furnace, and performing otherbusy activities.

Once the PCs try to get a closer look, continuereading the description.

The wagon is easily a dozen feet long. It is notpulled by any animals at all. Rather, it seems tomove under its own power. The front of thewagon has what looks like a large pole stick-ing up at a slight angle, like a mast at the bowof a sailing ship, except that this pole is verythick.

Sheets of steel are hammered all over thewagon. One gnome stands at a large woodenwheel, which has a dial and five symbols. Thesymbols are a red flame, a green cloud, a bluelightning bolt, a white snowflake, and a blackdrop of liquid.

The gnomes see you and wave. Their cheer-fulness comes to an abrupt end, however,when the wagon lurches to a halt. A gout ofsteam erupts from the middle of the wagon,and, with a loud rumble, the front wheels falloff and roll into the underbrush.

As teams of gnomes begin swarming overthe wagon, doing repairs, an important-look-ing one dismounts and walks over to you.

“And a good day to you, strangers!” he says,bowing with a polite sweeping gesture. “Youare seeing the future, friends! You are seeingthe very thing that will make the Knights ofSolamnia and their Dragonlances obsolete!

“Th is , ” he says, pointing proudly at themachine, oblivious to the fact that a fire haserupted at the rear of the wagon, “this is anautomatic dragon slayer. Not that it slays auto-matic dragons, mind you, but in fact it slaysdragons automatically.”

A faraway look comes to his eyes as hebegins writing feverishly in a small notebook.“An automatic dragon, automatic dragon,” hemurmurs half to himself. “Not a bad idea, nota bad idea at all. Have some springs and

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gears...perhaps a bellows hooked up to a firesource for a fiery breath weapon, and...OH!”he stops his scheming as he realizes that youare all still here.

“So sorry! Where are my manners? I amPunt. Punt Crankgear. Tinker extraordinaire.Late of Mount Nevermind, now here doing afield test of my automatic dragon slayer, and atthe same time ridding our kender friends of thescourge of dragons! Thank you, thank you verymuch!”

If there are any tinker gnome PCs in the party, thedevice probably holds much fascination for them.Otherwise, there are lots of nice things to handle,such as copper wire, various hand tools, extralong nails, spare iron gears, springs, and smallpots of lubricating grease.

The tinker gnomes welcome help in repairingthe dragon slayer only if the PC offering is a fellowtinker gnome. The tinker gnomes spend four hourstrying to fix the device. Though they manage toget the wheels back on, the steam drive is out ofcommission. Reluctantly, the gnomes switch tothe ESDAE, or Emergency Squirrel-Driven Auxil-iary Engine.

The ESDAE is composed of a large wheel cagewith two dozen squirrels in it. The wheel cage ishooked to the front wheels. There are two gears, orspeeds, of the ESDAE. A cluster of nuts dangled infront of the squirrels is first gear. A drawing of a gullydwarf, dangled in back of them, is second gear.

The tinker gnomes know little of the dragon inquestion. They suspect that it is a black dragonand that it is huge. The gnomes had encounteredtwo draconians, but somehow managed to runthem over with the machine before the two couldbe questioned.

Thus far, the gnomes have not found any sign ofthe female Silvanesti scout.

ONE GOOD SCOUT, MANY BADFOES

This brings the PCs into the ruins of Talin, and faceto face with the draconians. This also enables thePCs to meet the Silvanesti kirath. When the PCsapproach the ruins, read the following:

You are out of the woods now. The trees fadedto shrub and brush, which in turn yielded to

smooth grasslands. However, your group hasmanaged to find a large stand of tall grass tohide in.

Sprawled out as far as your eyes can seefrom this vantage point are the extensive ruinsof Talin. Who knows what this place lookedlike before the Cataclysm? What you do knowis that it definitely looks unfriendly now.

Another thing that is obvious is the traces ofother creatures that dwell here. There aremany footprints, visible even to those notgifted in tracking. The prints are human-sizedbut clawed like a dragon’s feet.

A low wind whistles through the jaggedstone ruins. The air carries a bitter tang to it, anacidic quality. Though the air is not cold, itchills you just the same.

Suddenly, a pair of draconians come intosight. It is apparent that they are on sentryduty. They exchange a few words, the discus-sion gets heated, then one cuffs the other onthe head. Before the argument can escalateany further, a third draconian joins the fray,hits both of them with a rod, and makes ges-tures to indicate that they should get back totheir duties. Grumbling but subdued, the twodraconians wander off, and the third returns tohis vantage point.

The DM should select a PC in the group, prefer-ably either one in the rear or one in the front, andcontinue reading, but addressing only him.

From out of nowhere, a gloved green handgrabs your shoulder. A second hand coversyour mouth before you cry out. A green-hooded head wearing a horrid looking woodenmask pops out of the tall grass. “Where in theAbyss did you fools come from, and why areyou here?” a voice from within the maskhisses. It is a female voice, with an unmistak-able elven accent. You can see strands ofhoney blonde hair peeking out from eitherside of the mask. “Who are you?”

Give the PCs a chance to react, introduce them-selves, whatever. Once the elf finds out who theyare and what they are doing here, the DM shouldread the following:

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This is Larena Talurien, a female Silvanestiscout. Since Silvanesti scouts do not subscribe asmuch to the Silvanesti feelings of racial superior-ity, it is no surprise that a few of the more ambi-tious scouts would eventually begin wanderingthe surface of Ansalon, looking for further chal-lenges and helping the other races out in theirtime of need.

These altruistic tendencies also help out the Sil-vanesti as a people. With their scouts wandering allover Ansalon, the elves can get a good idea on thestate of the continent. This information helps theleaders determine policies and strategies in dealingwith the other races and nations of Ansalon.

Larena is very aware of the Silvanesti rulers’desire to benefit from the wandering kiraths’ accu-mulated knowledge. She couldn’t care less. She ishere, specifically in Goodlund, in order to helpthe kender remove the presence of the BlackDragonarmies. Her being here is purely her ownidea, and she has no hidden agenda.

However, a portion of the traditional Silvanestisuperiority does show through on occasion.Though she acknowledges the kenders’ expertiseat “handling,” she is convinced that they areexperts at little else. Thus, the kender are almostlike children, needing protection from the big,bad Dragonarmies. Her attitude is condescending,which is inflated by her knowledge that she is anelite scout, an expert in her field.

If asked about her own story, she says the fol-lowing:

The intruder removes her mask with a resignedsigh. Blonde hair tumbles into her face. Nowthat you get a better look at her, you can seethat this thin, wiry elf is wearing leather armorand green cloak. A long bow is tied to her.The intruder removes her mask with a resignedsigh. Blonde hair tumbles into her face. Nowthat you get a better look at her, you can seethat this thin, wiry elf is wearing leather armorand green cloak. A long bow is tied to herback, a long sword sits in a belt scabbard, anda jointed staff that is vaguely reminiscent of ahoopak lies at her feet.

She brushes the strands back behind her del-icately pointed ears and locks her steel blueeyes on your group. “If I were you, I wouldturn around and head back the way youcame,” she says in a quiet voice. “This place iscrawling with all manner of draconians, not tomention a huge black dragon!”

“Though this is not the time to socialize, I

know kender well enough that if I don’t answer“Though this is not the time to socialize, Iknow kender well enough that if I don’t answeryour quest ions, I wi l l never get anythingaccomplished!

“My name is Larena Talurien, and I am akirath, or scout, of the Silvanesti race. I am hereout of a sense of duty to the other races of Ansa-Ion, to help them remove the blight of thedragons and the Dragonarmies from their lands.

“We Silvanesti have stayed aloof for far toolong. Perhaps, if we had been more involvedwith the affairs of Ansalon, the war wouldnever have happened. Thus, I am here of myown volition to help rid Goodlund of evildragons.

“And speaking of my quest, it does me littlegood having the likes of you underfoot, thoughI intend no offense by my words. If you can’thelp me, please let me tend to the matters athand!”

The key phrase, of course, is “if you can’t helpme.” This is the closest that Larena comes to ask-ing for help.

If asked about meeting the gully dwarves,Larena verifies that she did indeed pass throughthe community. She reflexively wrinkles her nosewhen she talks about it. Larena knows nothingabout tinker gnomes and has not met them. Thelook on her face conveys her desire not tochange that.

Larena is willing to listen to any decent plan.She is not here to be used as a major force to bemanipulated by the PCs. She is willing to dosome reconnaissance, create a diversion, what-ever it takes to assure the destruction of the dra-conians. She will not engage in any suicidalcharges or the like.

Larena Talurien: AC 4; MV 12; K8; hp 64; THAC013; #AT 3/2; Dmg 1d8 (long sword), 1d6 (flightarrows), 1d6 (soris); AL CG; ML 15. Larena has an18 Dexterity.

Larena has leather armor, long sword, long bow,24 flight arrows, a soris (jointed staff), greenmask,firebane cloak (treat as a fireproof cloak ofelvenkind), an atrakha (a wooden whistle that canimitate bird calls and small animal noises), twopotions of extra healing, and a purse with 5 stl.

Among her mundane items, Larena has a back-

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pack that contains food and elven wine, 50 feet ofrope, and flint and steel. She also carries a secondpurse with a woodcarving tool, a partially finishedcarving of a kender, a pretty piece of quartz thatshe found during her travels (3 sp value), and a skyblue robin’s egg.

ASSAULTING THE RUINS

The terrain within the ruins is strewn with rubble.There are many concealing places in the area, andlots of shadows perfect for hiding clever intruders.

The ruins are home to the draconians. Thismixed group patrols the area in pairs. Each dra-conian type congregates and works by itself, com-ing together only when the need arises or somedecision about Spit needs be made.

When the PCs are wandering the ruins, there isa 1 in 6 chance per round of encountering a patrolof two draconians. If an encounter is rolled, theDM should roll 1d4 and consult the followingtable to determine which draconian type isencountered.

Roll1-2

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DraconianBaazKapakBozak

Each draconian type has its own lair. The major-ity of the treasure the draconians have is whatthey found in the Great Wyrm’s lair. The draconi-ans have wisely kept it there. Furthermore, thedraconians have also placed in Spit’s lair any inci-dental treasure accumulated by waylaying inno-cent folk. The Bozak draconians came up with theidea, and they see it as a wise investment for thefuture.

The best way to get to the dragon’s lair is tosneak around until it is found, possibly capturinga draconian in order to interrogate it about thelair’s precise location. If the idea is suggested,Larena volunteers to sneak out and do this. Shereturns in five minutes with a Baaz.

Baaz Draconians (40): AC 4; MV 6, GI 18; HD 2;hp 9; THAC0 19; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 or1d6 (short swords); MR 20%; SA when a Baaz isslain, the person who struck the death blow mustroll a Dexterity Check with a -3 penalty. Failure

means the weapon is stuck in the Baaz’s body,which turns to stone when slain. The statue crum-bles to dust in 1d4 rounds, and the weapon isfreed; AL LE; ML 14; XP 175

These draconians carry short swords, shields,and something rather out of place for these lowestof all draconians—each has a small black dragoncarving made of obsidian, hanging on a fine silverchain. These necklaces are worth 20 stl each.

Note that the 40 figure includes the 30 draconi-ans that raided the village of Balinest. Adjust thenumber accordingly to reflect casualties.

Kapak Draconians (12): AC 4; MV 6, Gl 18; HD3+3; hp 24; THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (longsword) or 1d4 (bite); SA bite requires successfulsaving throw vs. poison or victim is paralyzed for2d6 turns; SD when slain, the body dissolves intoa pool of acid ten feet in diameter, causing 1d8points of damage per round to all within; MR20%; AL LE; ML 15; XP 650

Bozak Draconians (6): AC 2; MV 6, Gl 15, Fl 6(E); HD 4; hp 19; THAC0 17; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg1d4/1d4 or 1d6 (short sword); SA spells; SD +2bonus to saving throws; AL LE: ML 14; XP 1,400;Spells: 1st level—-burning hands, magic missile,shocking grasp; 2nd level—stinking cloud, web

When a Bozak is killed, its flesh shrivels to duston its bones. This takes one round. In the follow-ing round, the bones explode, causing 1d6 pointsof damage to all in a ten-foot radius (no savingthrows).

The Bozaks are the “leaders” of the group. Thistitle is as much due to their strength as to theirinvention of the best ideas for the group. The ideato mislead Spit was the Bozaks’.

M A P 11 : C O M E T O M A M A

Spit’s lair consists of an arena that collapsed 40feet straight into the ground during the Cataclysm.It was subsequently buried by the earth in theintervening years.

Seeking shelter during the upheaval of the Cata-clysm, Spit found the arena and made her homein it. She has been there ever since.

Access to her lair is via a sloping tunnel into theearth. The tunnel is 140 feet long. The mouth ofthe tunnel is always guarded by two Baaz and twoKapak draconians.

When the PCs are ready to descend into thedragon’s lair, Larena addresses them:

“I shall stay here, and defend the tunnel fromany further draconian interference,” Larenaoffers, her eyes staring coldly at the ruins. Youget a sense that her true hatred lies with thedraconians.

If the PCs managed to kill every single dracon-ian, then the DM should rule that Larena wasinjured in the battle, possibly affected by someparalytic poison courtesy of a sneaky draconian,and must stay behind while the PCs check outSpit’s lair. Larena must not enter the lair. Thedragon encounter is for the PCs only.

Once the PCs manage to gain entrance to thelair, read the following:

The tunnel ends in a vast cavern. This is not anatural cavern, but rather an ancient arena thatmust have collapsed from the surface. Thefloor is strewn with a king’s ransom in coinsand jewels, plus countless pieces of assortedbric-a-brac.

By far the most fascinating feature of thisroom is the humongous black dragon that iseyeing you in a squint-eyed fashion.

This is definitely the biggest dragon youhave ever seen, but something is not quiteright. The dragon, presumably the one knownas Spit, has many scales missing from herflanks. Many spots on her body are encrustedwith jewels that have been driven into herflesh after centuries of the pressure from herenormous weight.

Some of her claws and teeth seem to bemissing. A low wheezing noise emanates fromher throat. You swear that you can hear herbones creak as she moves.

Slowly, painfully, she cranes her neck untilshe gets a good look at you. Her mouth opens,and you are overwhelmed by the acidic stenchthat wafts out. A few of Spit’s teeth have rottedthrough.

The Great Wyrm takes a deep breath, andsays in a voice that is a cross between a hissand a croaking cackle, “Is that you, my chil-dren? Have you come to me at last? I havebeen so lonely here!”

Allow the PCs to react. If they answer in the neg-ative, then Spit wants to know who they are. Aslong as they do not use words like “Knight ofSolamnia, ” “handler,” “paladin,” “ranger,” “dwarf,”

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“elf,” or “kender,” she is liable to believe anything.If the PCs respond in the affirmative, Spit gives

an acidic burp, then croaks for joy. She uses hergreat tail to sweep the party to her side in a crush-ing embrace. Of course, the sheer weight of thetail pins the PCs to her side. She also says:

“Oh, joy of joys! At long last, after centuriesof waiting, my children are back! Such won-derful little hatchlings! I shall never, ever letyou go. We shall spend the centuries together,as a family!

“I was so worried about you when thosefiery mountains plunged to earth! Nice dragonchildren should never play outside when it’sraining fire and blood! Your father must be soworried about you too!”

If the PCs are stuck in this situation, they aregoing to have to think of a way out. Once Spitconsiders them to be her children, she is not eas-ily persuaded otherwise. The key to fooling her isto say that the draconians are in fact her children,and that they were playing a game with her all this

time. Spit wants so desperately to find her chil-dren that she will believe even that.

The PCs can ask Spit questions, especially abouther background. She is delighted to tell them herstory.

Back when Huma drove out Takhisis and herevil dragon cohorts, many evil dragon eggs wereleft behind, though it is not known if this wasintentional or not.

The eggs lay for many years, until at last theyhatched, though the catalyst is not known. Spit’s eggwas the only one in her mother’s clutch that hatched.

Uncertain as to what to do, Spit wanderedAnsalon, always keeping a low profile, especiallysince she never met anyone else like herself.

Eventually, Spit met a male black dragon whowas in the same situation that she was. The maledragon was called Caust. They mated and set up alair far from the prying eyes of the good races.

When the Cataclysm struck, Caust and three ofthe six offspring were killed. Her lair ruined, Spitlooked for a better place, and eventually foundthe crumbling city of Talin.

Spit is actually a great source of old stories. Par-ties of kender and gnomes would be acting cor-

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rectly if they were reluctant to kill Spit. It is clearthat this dragon is declining, and she no longerposes a threat to anyone. She is barely even awarethat there was a War of the Lance.

However, if the PCs attack Spit, she fights to thedeath. She may look feeble, but she is far frombeing anything of the sort.

Spit, Black Dragon Great Wyrm: AC -7; MV 3;HD 20; hp 150; THAC0 5; #AT 3; Dmg1d6+12/1d6+12/3d6+12; SA breath weapon acid24d4+12, fear radius 50 yards, -4 fear savingthrow penalty; SD immune to acid; MR 45%; ALCE; ML 16; XP 16,000

Spit has the following spell abilities: waterbreathing (innate), darkness 120’ radius (threetimes a day), p/ant growth (once per day), sum-mon insects (once per day), and charm reptiles(three times a day).

Her treasure includes 52,342 sp, 36,991 gp,12,403 stl, 4,997 pp, 90 black diamonds andopals each worth 200 stl, staff of striking/curing,ring of projection, dagger +2, long sword +3,shield +3, ring of protection +3, bracers of defenseAC 2, and gauntlets of dexterity.

The lair is also littered with numerous knick-knacks, such as cheap statuettes covered in a thinlayer of gold or bronze, marbles, gold and silvereating utensils, gold plates, gold serving dishes,cheap costume jewelry earrings and bracelets,several nicely carved pipes, two dozen bottles ofassorted old wines (the oldest one has a 400-yearvintage), a set of medallions of faith from each ofthe good and neutral gods, a pair of ruby dicewith gold pips (50 stl value), and a dozen suits ofchain mail and plate armor (nonmagical, butheavily adorned with gold trim, cheap gems, etc.).

The DM should feel free to customize the hoardusing his own ideas of cheap but interestingobjects.

Should the PCs fight Spit and begin to lose, readthe following:

Who would have thought a senile old dragonwould be so tough? It looks like your group isdoomed for sure.

Suddenly, the cavern wall explodes open, toreveal a huge, armor-plated, smoke-belchingwagon, manned by some very determinedgnomes.

The gnomes blow a charge on a small, reedyinstrument and scramble to attack positions.

“Target sighted!” one gnome exclaims.“Black dragon!”

“Black dragon! Confirmed!” another gnome,the weaponer no doubt, echoes while turninga pointer on a wooden wheel. The pointer isset onto a stylized drawing of a black drop ofliquid. “Attack set!” the weaponer announces.

“Fire anti-dragon measures!” the lead gnomeorders.

“ F i r i n g a n t i - d r a g o n m e a s u r e s ! ” t h eweaponer echoes, and pulls a lever. A hugeglob of white material is catapulted straight atthe huge black dragon, the latter looking quiteperturbed at having its nice lair wall torndown. The Great Wyrm inhales dramatically,and begins breathing her acid.

SPLAT! The white glob covers with hermouth. When the acid breath strikes the glob,a stream of pure water trickles out of Spit’smouth.

“A lka l i m iss i le e f fec t i ve ! ” the gunnerannounced triumphantly.

“Excellent!” the leader declares. “Rammingspeed!”

The wagon belches more smoke and, with aburst of speed, crashes into the very surpriseddragon’s flank.

Then comes the explosion.Your group is struck by a hail of gnomes

thrown clear from the blast. The force of theexplosion rolls the gnomes and your groupstraight up the tunnel and spews you out ontothe surface of the land once again. A rain ofcoins and shiny junk pelts you, as the amazedLarena looks on.

From below, you hear a low rumble, as thecavern collapses, killing the dragon and bury-ing her treasure forever.

A F T E R M A T H

If Spit is not killed, the old dragon lives for anotherthree years then dies quietly in her sleep. If all thedraconians were not taken care of, they continueto be a threat to this area.

If Spit was killed and there are draconians stillalive, they scatter and abandon this lair for good.

Larena takes her leave, but she promises to bearound if she is ever needed.

If the tinker gnomes got a chance to use theirdragon slayer, they are rather busy congratulatingeach other on the device’s smashing success.

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SCENARIO THREE: REBIRTH

In which Goldmoon and Riverwind return to Que-Shu in order to restore the tribe, and witness first-h a n d t h e d e v a s t a t i o n w r o u g h t b y t h eDragonarmies. Also, they learn that the word“rebirth” holds significance for more than just thePlains barbarians.

Start Up: This scenario details the exploration ofthe ruined area of Que-Shu, with the goal ofrestoring the tribe.

The party should be made up of between sixand ten PCs. Goldmoon and Riverwind must bepart of this adventure. Other suggested personali-ties include Tika, Caramon, Raistlin, and Tanis.Tasslehoff may be included, but his presence maytake away from the overall serious tone of theadventure.

Custom designed PCs can be run in this adven-ture, with the explanation that they are friends orassociates of Goldmoon and Riverwind.

The entire adventure takes place in the easternregion of Abanasinia, with special emphasis onthe Plainsmen’s lands, such as Que-Shu. DMsshould refer to Map 12 for an overview.

The overall tone of the adventure should be oneof somber exploration, coupled with the hope thatthe Que-Shu tribe can be reborn.

This adventure is not event-dependent or linear.The PCs have the option of exploring Que-Shu firstor heading into the foothills to look for signs of flee-ing survivors. However, the adventure runs easierfor the PCs if they go first to Que-Shu. The DM mayneed to tinker if the PCs mix up the order in whichthey experience the adventure, but by no meansshould they be forced to go through the adventurein the same sequence as presented here.

T H E S I T U A T I O N

At the conclusion of the War of the Lance, agroup of Red Dragonarmy draconians stayedbehind near the village of Que-Shu, appar-ently on orders from one of the Dragonlords.The force’s orders were to remain “on station,”as part of a mysterious ritualistic vigil that hadsomething to do with a message from Takhisis.It was only this order, backed by the word ofTakhisis, that kept such a diverse group of dra-

conians from falling upon and killing eachother. Exactly one year after the war’s end, thedraconians’ purpose was revealed when a reddragon came to their camp and spoke wordsdictated by Takhisis:

“No longer are we able to perpetuate thedraconian race by taking the eggs of the weakdragons who shackle themselves in the moralbonds of Good. Their vigilance makes the theftof their eggs too difficult.

“In my divine wisdom, I have decreed thatthe draconian race needs to have its ownqueens, in honor of my royal personage.

“Thus, each species of loyal draconian willselect six worthy individuals who shall bevested as queens of the species.

“The queens shall be able to mate with dra-conians of the same species and bring forth aclutch of eggs that shall hatch in one cycle ofNuitari.

“Those who mate with the queens must bestrong, the finest of their species. The weakshall not be allowed to mate, nor shall weakhatchlings be allowed to take a second glanceat the sun.

“The matings will be allowed to happenonly once every three cycles of Nuitari. There-fore, there shall be three mating seasons offour months, covering the time from mating tohatching.

“Each mating season, including the one tobegin it all, must start with the sacrifice of ahatched good dragon—color and age matternot.

“in order to mate successfully, the queenmust cut her forearm, creating an open wound.Her mate does likewise, causing their blood tomingle together. This ritual, which passes onthe characteristics of both parents, will enablethe queen to lay eggs.

“For you, my faithful who brought the vil-lage of Que-Shu to ruin, select one queen,from any of the five draconian species.

“So begin the mating seasons, my faithful, atime of rebirth for the draconian race! Followmy commands or suffer my wrath!”

The Bozak draconians, which serve as theforce’s spiritual guides, sensed that all was in

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proper order, and the message was r ight lyaccepted as truth. Thus, the draconians in thevicinity of Que-Shu have taken the Dark Queen’swords to heart and have initiated the ritual. AnAurak was selected as queen.

The PCs enter the situation as the queen for thisgroup of draconians has already laid a clutch ofeggs. A copper dragon was sacrificed to initiatethe mating season. The copper dragon’s young off-spring are being saved for use in the next matingseason.

The red dragon messenger, who goes by thecommon name of Flamm, has remained behindwith these draconians. Flamm is interested in see-ing how closely the draconians keep the word ofthe Queen.

ON T H E R O A D T O R E B I R T H

This is read to Riverwind and Goldmoon:

The past year has been an eventful one. Afterthe War of the Lance, you stayed in the city ofKalaman until Goldmoon gave birth in theautumn.

Once the child was born and Goldmoonwas able to travel, you made your way south-west toward Abanasinia and the lands of thePlainsmen.

At long last, you reached the Newsea port ofNewports. There you stayed until spring.

It has now been one year since the end ofthe War of the Lance. Your child is strong, andall is as well as can be expected. However,deep in Riverwind’s breast burns the desire tosee his homelands, to discover the fate of hispeople, perhaps even to rebuild his people’slands.

With the decision made, your child is to bekept in the care of a trusted friend in New-ports. Whatever lies now in Que-Shu is not fora child to experience.

Friends have been contacted, and an expe-dition has been assembled. It is time to beginto reclaim Que-Shu, and to face once and forall whatever foulness was left behind by theretreating Dragonarmies.

You remember well the last time you sawQue-Shu. It was when you were with yourcompanions, the Heroes of the Lance, in theearlier days of your quest.

The village had been attacked by draconi-ans, hobgoblins, and presumably, dragons, firebreathers by the look of the melted stones ofthe village’s structures.

The Heroes found no trace of the people ofQue-Shu. Perhaps, confronted by superiornumbers, they had fled to the mountains of theEastwall. That, at least, is your hope.

And so, you have two sites that bear investi-gating. First of all, the village of Que-Shu itself.Dare you hope against hope that the peoplehave survived and returned to rebuild?

Second, you have the foothills of the East-wall. Could the remnants of Que-Shu havetaken refuge up in the mountains and simplystayed up there?

The gods only know what you will find. Inany event, enough of this speculation! It is notgetting you any closer to Que-Shu! Onward!The open expanses of Eastern Abanasiniaawait.

A W O R D A B O U T T H E O T H E R

PLAINS TRIBES

If the PCs wish to stop off and talk to the Plains-men of the villages of Que-Kiri and Que-Teh, theyfind the barbarians cool to the idea of anyonegoing to Que-Shu. In their superstitious minds,going to a place of death and stirring things up is asure way to awaken a great evil, possibly affectingthe remaining Plains villages.

The Plainsmen, if told of the PCs’ plans, arepolite and respectful to Riverwind and Goldmoon,but they ignore the other PCs. The PCs, evenHeroes of the Lance, receive no help whatsoeverfor any enterprise that involves going to Que-Shu.No goods are bartered, no hirelings or henchmenare available for hire, nothing is offered.

TRAVELING TO QU E-SHU

The total distance from Newports to Que-Shu, viathe Sageway Broken road, is 40 miles. The DMcan hold off on rolling random monster encoun-ters until the PCs begin traveling in hostile terrain.The PCs are not considered to be “in hostile ter-rain” until after they use the Oldroad Bridge tocross the White-Rage River and head north.

However, the bridge poses its own problems.When the PCs arrive there, read the following:

The Oldroad Bridge comes into view, a sturdystone bridge spanning the swiftly flowingWhite-Rage River. Beyond it lies a road thatsplits off and heads northwest to Que-Kiri,Que-Teh, and Solace, and northeast across

the plains to Que-Shu.However, there seems to be a disturbance at

the bridge. A group of a dozen elves on horse-back, Qualinesti by the looks of them, areengaged in a heated argument with ten Plains-men, also on horseback. Each faction also hasa dozen pack horses, laden with goods.

The argument is getting worse. Several of themuscular Plainsmen are actually yelling, andeven from where you stand you can see theirfaces turning beet red.

It is clear that you will not be able to crossthe bridge without getting into the middle ofthis war of words.

Both groups are trade delegations for theirrespective races. When they met at the bridge,they decided to do some trading on the road.

Unfortunately, the Plainsmen are less thanhappy with some of the elven wares, specifi-

cally some wine of Qualinesti vintage. ThePlainsmen wanted strong liquor “that burns asit goes down,” and instead got some fruity,sweet elven wine.

The Plainsmen thought the Qualinesti werebeing insulting, that the elves were giving them“a woman’s drink.” The fact that they spat outthe wine and began cursing a blue streak didnot sit well with the Qualinesti, either.

The Qualinesti want the Plainsmen to payfor the wine that they drank, about 25 stlworth. The Plainsmen refuse to pay for “fruit-laced swill.”

However, this is not just a simple squabble.One of the Plainsmen is actually an Aurak dra-conian spy from the Que-Shu draconian troop.It has infiltrated the Plainsmen and enjoysmaking forays into Qualinesti and Newports inorder to stir up dissent and stoke the fires ofracial suspicion between the Qualinesti andthe Plainsmen.

It was easy for the Aurak to use the Plains-mens’ natural suspicions toward the Qualinestias leverage. The aurak used suggestion on the

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head of the Que-Teh trading delegation inorder to make the man escalate the incident.The barbarian’s fellows eagerly followed theirleader’s example. The Aurak stands next to theleader at all times.

The Qualinesti are honestly amazed at thesevere reaction from the Que-Teh. All theywant is to be paid for the spilt wine and leave.

Goldmoon and Riverwind know instantlythat the Plainsmen are Que-Teh. A successfulWisdom Check by either of them reveals thatsomething else is bothering the Plainsmen,something deeper than just spilt wine. TheWisdom Check should not be rolled unless thePCs ask whether or not they can tell that some-thing is wrong.

If the PCs look as if they are going to push theirway past and ignore the conflict, the DM shouldmention that it appears that the Que-Teh areabout to pull out weapons and start swinging atthe elves.

The best course of action for the PCs to take isto play the role of peacemakers. Offering to payfor the wine is the simplest, most direct action.This will please the elves and mollify all of theQue-Teh except for the entranced leader. Even theAurak will play the part of a satisfied barbarian.The leader will continue to bluster, and demandthat the Qualinesti pay for their offense “inblood.”

If the PCs do not offer to pay for the wine, butinstead try to ease negotiations, the Que-Tehrefuse to listen to an elven (any type) PC, nor dothe Qualinesti listen to a Plainsmen PC.

Producing a Friendly result for both sides on theEncounter Reactions Table (page 103 of the DMG)pacifies everyone except the ensorcelled Que-Tehleader.

When the bewitched leader attempts to initiatehostilities, the Aurak, in his disguise, backs theleader and echoes his words, trying to rally theQue-Teh to fight. DMs should make another rollon the Encounter Reactions Table under theFriendly column for the Aurak. If it can get aFriendly result from the Que-Teh, they attack theelves. The Aurak can attempt this once per round.

The situation degenerates into a bloodbathunless the PCs can intervene somehow.

Aurak (“Rushlight of Que-Teh”): AC 0; MV 15;HD 8; hp 41; THAC0 13; #AT 2; Dmg 1d8+2

(energy blast) x 2; SA sulfur breath weapon for2d10 points of damage and blinded for 1d4rounds, a successful saving throw vs. breathweapon halves the damage and results in noblindness; SD +4 bonus to all saves; MR 30%; ALLE; ML 15; XP 6,000

The Aurak’s innate abilities include invisibilityat will (which ends when it attacks); polymorphinto any animal its size, three times a day; changeself three times a day to perfectly imitate anyhuman or humanoid he has seen, lasting 2d6+6rounds; detect hidden and invisible creatureswithin 40 feet at will; can see through all illusions;dimension door three times a day, 60 yard range;can mind control one creature of equal or fewerHit Dice for 2d6 rounds; cast suggestion if con-centrates for a full turn.

Spells (cast at 8th-level ability): 1st level—enlarge, shocking grasp; 2nd level— ESP, stinkingcloud; 3rd level— blink, lightning bolt; 4th level—fire shield, wall of fire.

“Rushl ight” a lso carr ies a medal l ion thatenables him to remain in his change self formuntil he dispels it.

When “Rushlight” reaches 0 hit points, he doesnot die. Instead, he covers himself in green flamesand goes into a fighting frenzy (+2 bonus to attackand damage rolls). Anyone coming within threefeet of the flames suffers 1d6 points of damageunless a successful saving throw vs. petrification isrolled.

Dur ing th is stage, “Rushl ight” repeatedlyscreams “Green fire devours, but red fire willdevour all! Rebirth has come, long live the sixqueens!”

Six rounds later, or when the Aurak reaches -20hit points, it stops screaming and changes into aspinning ball of lightning, striking once per roundas a 13-HD monster, causing 2d6 damage. Threerounds later, it explodes, stunning all within 10feet for 1d4 rounds and inflicting 3d6 points ofdamage (no saving throw) on those stunned. Itemswithin range of the explosion must roll successfulsaves vs. crushing blow or be destroyed. Items ona PC who rolls a successful saving throw do nothave to save individually.

Que-Teh Barbarians (9): AC 8; MV 12; F2; hp 16;THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword), 1d6(hand axe); AL NG; ML 10; 175

Each Que-Teh wears leather armor and is armedwith a long sword and a hand axe. The leader ofthis trade group is named Firestream.

Qualinesti (12): AC 5; MV 12; F2; hp 14; THAC019; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword), 1d6 (flightarrows); AL NG; ML 13; XP 175

Each Qualinesti wears chain mail armor andcarries a long sword, long bow, and 18 flightarrows. The leader is a female elf named TianaSharpeye.

The Qualinesti know nothing about the Que-Shu region. The Que-Teh barbarians know that theQue-Shu ruins and the Que-Shu Plains havebecome taboo places, where no sensible Plains-man goes.

RUINS OF QUE-SHU

The PCs can consult their players’ map of Que-Shu (Map 13, inside this booklet’s cover) in orderto determine where they wish to explore first.When the party first reaches the ruins, read aloudthe following to the PCs:

Before you stands the damaged yet still stand-ing walls of the village of Que-Shu. Beyondthe walls lies the village proper, a sad casualtyof the War of the Lance. People cheer the suc-cess of the Heroes of the Lance, minstrels andstorytellers recount the deeds of heroism andthe military victories, but often the victims area forgotten part of those stories.

No one sings their song now except for themourning wind, which whistles through theruins.

Ah, but there is another sound as well, drift-ing from the other side of the village walls. Thesound of raucous laughter and coarse shouts.It is a sinister noise.

As you digest this bit of information, it sud-denly occurs to you that something is oddabout the village wall; it has been repaired.Not neatly, not securely, but it has beenrepaired.

Any PC can figure out that the noises are madeby sligs if the PC speaks the slig language.

A large group of these monsters have movedinto the remains of the village, after gaining per-mission from the draconians. DMs should seemap 14 for a layout of the village.

UNWELCOME MAT

This is a pit trap located at the front gate. Theopening is ten feet in diameter, dropping the PCsinto a 30-foot-deep pit. The pit widens on its waydown, until the bottom is 20 feet in diameter.

DMs should not prompt the PCs into checkingfor pits and traps. If they do not do so on their ownvolition, they are caught. All detection attemptsare halved due to the sligs’ expertise in concealingthe pit.

The trap catches the first two PCs who cross it.The next two must roll successful dexterity checks,or also fall in. The following two PCs must alsoroll the checks, but with a +4 bonus to their dex-terity scores.

PCs who fall in suffer no damage, thanks tolanding on a soft covering. . . of poisonoussnakes. Also, in the course of their fall, they strikea series of brass noisemakers that alerts the nearbygroup of sligs that intruders are about.

The walls of the pit are slippery with animal fat.The surface is smooth and cracked.

Poisonous Snakes (36): AC 6; MV 15; HD 2+1; hp11; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1; SA poison, onset1d6 rounds, 3d4 points of damage if failed savingthrow vs. poison; AL N; ML 8; XP 175

The noisy group of sligs are torturing a pair ofwild goats that they caught. The hideous creaturesare having some fun with the animals before toss-ing them into the animal pit.

If the PCs manage to avoid the trap, the sligs donot notice their intrusion.

Sligs (8): AC 3; MV 9; HD 3+3; hp 24; THAC0 17;#AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d8 (spear), 1d4 (bite); SA ven-omous spi t t le , 1d6 points of damage threetimes/day, ten-foot range, also an attack againstAC 10 is rolled to see if spittle struck victim’s eyes;if so, victim must roll a successful saving throw vs.poison or be blinded for 1d4+1 rounds; sligs alsoget a +2 bonus to damage rolls when usingweapons; SD impervious to normal fires, suffer -1from each die of magical fire damage; AL LE; ML12; XP 270

The sligs try to get help from their comrades.The monsters tend to shy away from open combatagainst unfavorable odds.

Interrogating these wretches reveals only thatthey have been here for the past eight months, andthat their leader and the rest of the group have

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moved into the Que-Shu leader’s former house.The animal pit is close by. It contains three wild

goats, a deer, and four giant rats.Any noisy spells, such as fireball or lightning

bolt, attract the attention of the rest of the sligs inthe village. In addition, there is a cumulative 1-in-20 chance per round that the commotion of battleis heard by the rest of the sligs. If the rest discoverthe PCs, they do not attack, preferring instead towait in ambush. In this case, the remainder of thesligs cannot be surprised.

INSIDE IMPRESSIONS

Once the PCs get a chance to take in the villageinside the walls, read the following:

You now have the chance to clearly see the vil-lage unobstructed by the walls. You cannothelp but feel sadness for what you see.

The stones of the ruined buildings are meltedand blasted black. There are very few build-ings still standing. All of the tents are gone,and most of the stone huts have been reduced

to heaps of charred stone. The village hall hasbeen demolished and some sort of woodenbarrier has been placed around it, reminiscentof a fence. The Ancestors’ Temple has beencompletely razed to the ground. The Chief-tain’s Home is still intact.

Rubble, most of it the smashed remains ofpersonal possessions, lies strewn on theground everywhere.

The sunken arena in the center of the villagestill holds the hated gibbet. Several hobgoblinskeletons still dangle, creaking, on the nooses.

The rest of the place looks deserted, with theexception of the occasional raven that swoopsdown and takes a few pecks at the hobgoblinskeletons, hoping to find a morsel previouslyoverlooked.

This is the sort of thing that you will neverhear sung in a bard’s tale. Perhaps that is forthe best.

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THE RUINS OF THE VILLAGE HALL

The reason the village hall ruins are fenced in isthat the sligs have discovered that they arehaunted. The wooden fence has odd markingpainted on it in blood. Any PC who knows the sliglanguage can tell that these are slig warding sym-bols against evil spirits.

The spirit of a Que-Shu Plainsman, in the formof a spectral minion, wanders the former build-ing’s perimeters each night. The Plainsman was asentry who was charged with defending the vil-lage hall and seeking out reinforcements to helpdefend Que-Shu. He failed at both, so he nowwanders the ruins of the building, waiting for aidto send ahead to the Que-Shu who managed toescape.

Any slig unfortunate enough to get close to thevillage hall has met a grisly death at the hands ofthe minion. The nearby draconians refuse tobelieve the sligs’ stories about the haunting.

When the Heroes of the Lance visited devas-tated Que-Shu early in the War of the Lance, theydid not encounter the minion because the destruc-tion of the village was still fresh, and the minionneeded time to coalesce into a viable spiritualentity. By the time the minion accomplished this,the Heroes had long since departed Que-Shu.

If the PCs cross the wooden boundary, the spec-tral minion appears to the PCs. Read the followingaloud:

As you cross the wooden boundary, a chillybreeze blows from under the rubble of the vil-lage hall and cuts through your armor andclothes with its bone-aching cold.

From under the rubble, following the wind,comes a Que-Shu warrior, his expression amixture of sadness, despair, and anger. Youblink several times as you realize that you cansee clear through the man!

As soon as his dead eyes catch sight of whoyou are, his expression melts into one of relieftinged with grief.

“You have come back at last,” he whispers,though you can hear his voice clearly echoingin your head. A shiver runs up your spine.“You did not wait until I formed myself. Youleft in such a hurry.” He shakes his head.

“I cannot fault you for that. When you camehere, Que-Shu had just died. I perished in thedefense of the hall. The Chief had charged me

to find help. Now, a year later, help hasarrived, in the form of yourselves.” His eyeslight up with something unexpected—hope.“But you are not necessarily too late!”

“When our scouts told us of the advancingDragonarmies, an evacuation was ordered.Though any Plainsman warrior would gladlydie for his people, even our own pride wasinsufficient to blind us to the obvious: thosearmies would slaughter us.

“That is when the most difficult decision hadto be reached. Who would stay behind and tryto stem the tide? Who would accompany thewomen, the young, the aged, to a place ofshelter?

“The Chief made those decisions, and heseemed to age a little more with the pronounc-ing of each name of a warrior who would staybehind. There was much anguish as manyfamilies saw a father, a brother, sometimeseven a sister, get chosen to remain behind. Yetnot one of the chosen hesitated. Not one com-plained. Every one of them accepted his lot,proud to be of service to the Que-Shu tribe.

“The loudest exclamations came when theChief uttered the name of the final warriorwho would remain behind...himself. The pridein the hearts of those of us who would remainbehind doubled in size.

“So, with many tears, farewells, and wishesfor luck, those chosen to leave walked east-ward into the mountains, just before the Drag-onarmies roared down upon us.

“Gods, the heat! The fires were everywhere,exhaled upon us by the flying red dragons! Theair was filled with the sounds of clashing steel,the crackl ing of burn ing thatch, and thescreams of the dying. Black soot hung in theair and burned our throats, already raw fromour battlecries.

“The battle was over so swiftly. All of us whodefended the village perished. At the first ris-ing of Nuitari after my death, my spirit came torest here, my sense of honor preventing mefrom going to my rest until my duty is ful-filled.”

The minion turns to Goldmoon. “Our peo-ple still live, Daughter of Mishakal! Or at leastthey survived the trials and tribulations of theassault on the village! They sought shelter inthe foothills to the east. Whether they havesurvived up there, even I do not know.

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“But there is one thing I do know: draconi-ans, many of them the ones that destroyedQue-Shu, also lie to the east of here. Whereasour people sought shelter by taking the roadcalled Sageway East until it reached the moun-tains, then turned to the northeast, the draco-nians set up camp to the southeast, nevertaking the Sageway into the mountains.

“I must now ask you a question, and I saythat you must carefully consider your answer:Will you remove the draconians? And will youseek out my people and help them?”

If the PCs answer “yes” (and if Goldmoon andRiverwind are in the party, they’d better!), con-tinue reading.

At the sound of your affirmative answer, a newexpression comes to the minion’s face: Joy.The chill in the air abruptly leaves, to bereplaced by a warmth, a warmth that gives youhope and strength.

What appear to be tears form on the face ofthe minion. His image begins to fade. “Free atlast! My quest has been completed! I am goinghome!”

His voice and his image disappear from yoursenses at the same time. You are standing inthe rubble. Perhaps due to some trick of thelight, or perhaps because other powers areaiding you, it seems that no one beyond your-selves heard anything or saw the blindinglight.

A final echo whispers in your heads. It is thevoice of the spectral minion. “Mark this timewell, heroes! It is a time for rebirth. But be onguard, for that word holds significance formore than one people!”

If the PCs refuse the minion, he frowns, insultstheir honor, questions their courage, and thenattacks them, with the intent of driving them awayfrom the ruined hall.

Any good clerics or paladins are cut off fromtheir deities (no spells, turning, laying on of hands,protection from evil, cure disease, or detect evil)until the PCs in question either repent their deci-sion and go after the draconians, or an atonementis cast on each offender by a higher level cleric ofeach of the respective offenders’ deities.

Spectral Minion: AC 2; MV 30; HD 6; hp 48;THAC0 15; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (spectral long sword);SD +1 or better weapon to hit, minion cannot beturned, minion gets -1 bonus to all initiative rolls;MR 20%; AL CG; ML 15; XP 1,400

If the PCs defeat the minion, they split the 1,400experience point award. If they accept the min-ion’s request, each PC gets 1,400 experiencepoints.

M A P 15 : T H E C H I E F � S

H O U S E

GROUND FLOOR

This place has been taken over by sligs as theirmain lair. All interior walls have been knockedout, turning the structure into one large building.

All of the windows in the building have beenboarded up. The front door remains the only wayto enter the slig lair.

There is a trap door in the northeastern cornerof the floor, hidden under some bedding. It leadsto a dirt cellar, plus a 150-foot-long escape tunnelthat deposits the user outside the village walls.

If the PCs have been expected (due to excessivenoise, etc.), a trap is set up at the door and anambush prepared. Opening the door releases anoverhead net that traps the first four PCs who walkinto the lair. The PCs’ chances of detecting thetrap are halved due to the sligs’ cunning in con-cealing the obstacle.

The net automatically hits. It prevents trappedPCs from engaging in any sort of melee or spell-cast ing, and nul l i f ies the vict ims’ dexter i tybonuses and shield effects on Armor Class.

In order to free oneself from the net, a strengthcheck must be made once per round until suc-cessfuI.

Once the net attack has been resolved, the sligsattack, sounding a loud alarm in the process. If theeight sligs near the village gate were bypassed,they hear the noise and arrive in five rounds.

Normal Sligs (18): AC 3; MV 9; HD 3+3; hp 24;THAC0 17; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d8 (spear), 1d4(bite); SA venomous spittle, 1d6 points of damagethree times/day, ten-foot range, also an attackagainst AC 10 is rolled to see if spittle struck vic-tim’s eyes; if so, victim must roll successful savingthrow vs. poison or be blinded for 1d4+1 rounds;

sligs also get +2 bonus to damage roll when usingweapons; SD impervious to normal fires, take -1from each die of magical fire damage; AL LE; ML12; XP 270

Warrior Sligs (8): AC 3; MV 9; HD 6; hp 36;THAC0 15; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d8 (battle axe), 1d8(spear), 1d4 (bite); SA venomous spittle, 1d6points of damage six times/day, ten-foot range,also an attack against AC 10 is rolled to see if spit-tle struck victim’s eyes; if so, victim must roll suc-cessful saving throw vs. poison or be blinded for1d4+1 rounds; sligs also get +3 bonus to damageroll when using weapons; SD impervious to nor-mal fires, take -1 from each die of magical firedamage; AL LE; ML 14; XP 1,400

Champion Slig: AC 3; MV 9; HD 9; hp 72; THAC011; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 2d4 (bardiche), 1d8 (battleaxe), 1d8 (spear), 1d4 (bite); SA venomous spittle,1d6 points of damage six times/day, 20-foot range,also an attack against AC 10 is rolled to see if spit-tle struck victim’s eyes; if so, victim must roll suc-cessful saving throw vs. poison or be blinded for1d4+1 rounds; slig also gets +4 bonus to damageroll when using weapons; SD impervious to nor-mal fires, take -1 from each die of magical firedamage; AL LE; ML 16; XP 4,000

The champion slig is the leader of the tribe. Hewill be the last slig to enter melee, preferring tohave his warriors do the fighting. If it appears thatthe sligs are losing, the leader retreats through thetrap door and goes out the escape tunnel. He pro-ceeds to the draconian camp in order to alertthem. See the Draconian Camp for details on howthis affects the PCs.

The sligs have no treasure. People and othertravelers known to carry treasure are not a com-mon sight in these parts. What little the sligs hadwas given to the draconians as tribute.

If the leader or a warrior slig is somehow caughtand interrogated, it relays the following, if askedspecifically about any of these topics:

The sligs moved into the ruins of Que-Shu eightmonths ago, after getting permission from thenearby draconians. When the sligs went to thedraconians to get permission to move into thedevastated village, they seemed to be in the mid-dle of what they described as a holy vigil, await-ing a special word from the Dark Queen.

If the interrogation is successful, the slig alsotells the PCs the location of the draconians’ camp,only if, of course, it is asked. The sligs do not

know the exact number and types of draconians.They know that there are at least a dozen, but thesligs are not well versed in draconian races,though they did observe that there were at leasttwo strikingly different draconian types.

The sligs’ last visit to the draconians was a weekago. There was a small red dragon with the group.

Giant Boars (4): AC 6; MV 12; HD 7; hp 35;THAC0 13; #AT 1; Dmg 3d6; AL N; ML 10: XP650

The boars are the favored pets of the slig leader.

The rest of the upper floor’s interior consists of astone floor covered with filthy sleeping rags, bat-tered old cook pots, and other simple utensils sal-vaged from the Que-Shu wreckage.

THE CELLAR

The cellar acts as a nursery and storage area. Thesligs keep haunches of meat hanging from theceiling, as well as sacks of vegetables and otherprovisions.

There are six baby sligs sleeping here in crudecribs.

The entry into the escape tunnel is sealed with asecret door. The slig leader has a trap set for any-one but him who opens the secret door and pro-ceeds into the tunnel.

The trap consists of a pressure plate on the floorthat, when three people have stepped on it,causes the ceiling to collapse in the first 20 feet ofthe tunnel. Chances of PCs detecting the trap arehalved due to the typical slig cunning in settingand concealing such dangers.

PCs caught in the debris suffer 4d10 points ofdamage and are pinned under the rocks. A suc-cessful saving throw vs. petrification results in halfdamage and not being pinned. However, thedebris still blocks the tunnel and takes one turn toremove.

The tunnel is 3 feet wide, 6 feet high, and 150feet long.

GETTING TO THE DRACONIANS

If the slig chief managed to escape, a successfulTracking proficiency check reveals its footprints (itis not making an effort to conceal its tracks, con-sidering that it fled for its life). A successful Track-ing check that results in a 1-4 also picks up asecond type of footprints: claw-marked humanoidprints, telltale signs of draconians.

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If the slig chief did not manage to escape, a suc-cessful Tracking proficiency check with a -4penalty to the skill reveals the faint outlines of dra-conian tracks. If the check resulted in a roll of 1-2,the tracking PC also finds a single red scale, froma red dragon.

The correct way to get to the draconians is totravel seven miles due southeast of the village ofQue-Shu.

GETTING TO THE QUE-SHU

The Que-Shu exodus traveled on the Sageway Eastroad for about eight miles, then turned northeastinto the Eastwall mountains and traveled an addi-tional four miles. All tracks have been obliteratedlong since.

The journey to find the Que-Shu is without inci-dent. Once the Plainsmen are encountered, how-ever, things change. See encounter 7, “Finding theQue-Shu,” for further details.

THE DRACONIAN CAMP

The draconians have managed to set up a fortifiedposition in a small canyon. The floor of thecanyon is level. It features a statue of Takhisis.

The walls of the canyon are dotted with caveentrances; these are where the draconians andFlamm the dragon dwell.

W ith representatives from each draconianspecies forced to work and live together, relationsare strained. Each species lives in its own caves,away from the rest.

When the PCs reach the cavern complex, readthe following aloud:

You do not travel far off the Sageway when youcome upon a small canyon nestled in themountains. There is only one passage thatleads into the small area, and you can makeout two winged creatures standing watch.

The walls of the canyon are dotted withcaves. Crude stairs have been carved here andthere into the granite walls.

On the canyon floor stands a pile of rocks andstones that seem to bear a vague resemblance tothe five-headed Dark Queen, Takhisis.

At the feet of the rock pile lie the bones andskin of a dragon. Judging by the way the sunreflects off the skin with a ruddy brown metal-lic shine, the corpse is that of a copper dragon.

For a supposed draconian camp, thingsseem awfully sedate. The two sentries are theonly evidence of draconians in the area.

If the slig leader managed to escape and warnthe draconians, the two Baaz sentries are nowhereto be seen. The draconians are preparing anambush (see “The Ambush Variant” section).

Baaz Draconians (2): AC 4; MV 6, Gl 18; HD 2;hp 9; THAC0 19; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 or1d6 (short swords); MR 20%; SA when a Baaz isslain, the person who struck the death blow mustroll a dexterity check with a -3 penalty, failuremeans the weapon is stuck in the Baaz’s body,which turns to stone when slain; the statue crum-bles to dust in 1d4 rounds, and the weapon isfreed; AL CE; ML 14; XP 175

These Baaz sentries have short swords and oddwhistles carved from copper dragon bones. Theseare used to alert the rest of the encampment.

The rock formation is a rough rendition ofTakhisis. It has a small indentation in which areplaced sacrifices of gems and precious metals. Inaddition, the eyes of the dragon statue (ten eyes inall) are gems of the appropriate dragon color. Thesteel values are for each pair of gems.

Red dragon = Rubies (1,000 stl)Green dragon = Emeralds (2,000 stl)White dragon = Diamonds (2,500 stl)Black dragon = Black Opals (1,500 stl)Blue dragon = Sapphires (1,000 stl)

The entire idol radiates evil for any PC who candetect it.

The dragon bones belonged to a female adultcopper dragon. The head is missing. Some of itsblood was used to draw a circle around it. The cir-cle’s perimeters are decorated with runes.

Any PC who makes a successful Religion profi-ciency check realizes that the runes are symbolsused to denote a sacrifice to Takhisis.

A pair of Bozak draconians always tends theshrine. They defend it to the death.

Bozaks (2): AC 2; MV 6, Gl 15, FI 6 (E); HD 4; hp19; THAC0 17; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 or 1d6(short sword); SA spells; SD +2 bonus to saves; ALLE: ML 14; XP 1,400; Spells: 1st level —burninghands, magic missile, shocking grasp; 2nd level—stinking cloud, web

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When a Bozak is killed, its flesh shrivels intodust on its bones. This takes one round. In the fol-lowing round, the bones explode, causing 1d6points of damage to all within a ten-foot radius(no saving throw).

M A P 16 : T H E DR A C O N I A N

C A V E S

1. Baaz Chamber

The metallic tang of tarnishing brass hangsheavy in the air. The chamber, a natural cavewith walls that were smoothed out by manuallabor, is a messy disarray of bones, rags, andother garbage. Approximately a dozen largeheaps of dirty cloth are scattered about thechamber.

Resting in the midst of this squalor are atleast a half dozen humanoid forms dressed inwhat once was beautiful armor. The figurespull out swords and hiss menacingly.

This is the Baaz sleeping chamber. Six Baaz arealways on guard duty (they do not trust their fel-low draconians) and 15 are asleep.

Unless the PCs are disguised as Baaz draconi-ans, they are challenged half-heartedly andattacked enthusiastically.

The six guards attempt to awaken their com-rades (the heaps of dirty cloth). The sleepers jointhe battle on the round after they wake.

Baaz Draconians (21): AC 4; MV 6, Gl 18; HD 2;hp 9; THAC0 19; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 or1d6 (short swords); MR 20%; SA When a baaz isslain, the person who struck the death blow mustroll a Dexterity check at -3 penalty, failure meansthe weapon is stuck in the baaz’s body, whichturns to stone when slain, the statue crumbles todust in 1d4 rounds, and the weapon is freed; ALCE; ML 14; XP 175

These Baaz have no treasure, a fact that does Iit-tle to help their attitude. Still, in choosing betweenthe PCs and their fellow draconians, the Baazalways throw in their lot with the latter, consider-ing their brethren the lesser of the two evils.

2. Kapak Chamber

The air in this dark cave has a bitter, acidic tang.The walls gleam, slick with moisture. A series of

hammocks hang from the ceiling. Most of themseem occupied by big, bulky things.

Some sort of large head is suspended from theceiling.

The Kapaks in this room have four of theirnumber on guard duty, but they are using theirabilities to hide in shadows (see the map tofind out exact starting locations). This is theirnatural guard state, since they do not trust anyof their fellow draconians.

There are 16 hammocks, and 12 of them areoccupied by sleeping Kapaks.

The guards try to catch the party by surprise,attacking them from behind, then giving thealarm to alert the rest of Kapaks.

Kapaks (16): AC 4; MV 6, Gl 18; HD 3+3; hp 24;THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword) or 1d4(bite); SA bite requires saving throw vs. poison orvictim is paralyzed for 2d6 turns; SD when slain,the body dissolves into as pool of acid ten feet indiameter, causing 1d8 points of damage per roundto all within; MR 20%; AL LE; ML 20 (they arebeing controlled); XP 650; Thief abilities: MS35%, HS 30%, FRT 40%.

Each Kapak has a long sword and a purse with1d4 stl.

The walls are slick with kapak venom, as thedisgusting creatures enjoy having spitting contests.Any PC who touches the walls with unprotectedskin absorbs some of the venom and must roll asuccessful saving throw vs. poison (with a +4bonus due to absorption through the skin ratherthan received through an open wound) or becomeparalyzed for 2d6 turns.

The head suspended from the ceiling belongs tothe sacrificed copper dragon on the canyon floor.The Kapaks consider it a fine jest to have it hang-ing in their chambers.

3. Bozak Chamber

The entrance to the Bozak cave actually has awooden door blocking casual access. The devoutBozaks desire a higher degree of privacy in whichto conduct their worship of the Dark Queen.

The floor of this cave is lined with a crude carpetof weeds and twigs. A cloying scent hangs in thesmoky air, but you cannot easily discern its origin.

At the far end of the chamber, a portion of thewall has been carved into a relief of Takhisis. Asmall heap of stones stands on the floorunderneath the carving. Wisps of smoke comefrom the top of the stone pile. Charred bones areset up in a semicircular pattern around the stones.

The chamber is home to 18 Bozaks. Two arealways on guard in the chamber, and an addi-tional two are posted at the canyon floor’s idol.Two squads of four are posted near the capturedcopper dragon and the queen. Six are asleep inthe crude beds.

Bozaks (18): AC 2; MV 6, Gl 15, Fl 6 (E); HD 4;hp 19; THAC0 17; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 or1d6 (short sword); SA spells; SD +2 bonus to sav-ing throws; AL LE: ML 14; XP 1,400; Spells: 1stlevel— burning hands, magic missile, shockinggrasp; 2nd level— stinking cloud, web

When a Bozak is killed, its flesh shrivels to duston its bones in one round. In the following round,

the bones explode, causing 1d6 points of damageto all in a ten-foot radius (no saving throw).

The pile of rocks is an altar to Takhisis. Thesmell is a bitter incense burned in her honor.

4. Sivak Chamber

This cave entrance is blocked by a stout woodendoor, built by the Bozaks.

The cave has an odor of hot metal mixed withsmoke. There is something else that is ratherunusual about this cave: it has a light source.

A beautiful brass lantern hangs on a stoutcord, providing light to a group of four dracon-ian figures clad in flowing capes. The hilts ofhuge two-handed swords poke out from underthe tops of their capes. The draconians areplaying cards. Each has a large wooden mug,and close by stand two casks.

Farther into the cave lies a group of eightbeds. Four of them are occupied.

The only other remarkable features of theroom are the racks filled with implements oftorture, such as whips, scourges, and tongs.

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Four Sivaks are playing cards while on guardduty. The other four are sleeping. Though theSivaks are absorbed in their game, they are not soabsorbed that they fail to notice the PCs.

Although the PCs obviously don’t belong here(unless they have taken some measures to disguisethemselves), the Sivaks do not attack immediately.They awaken their allies, then, with swordsdrawn, demand to know what the PCs are doinghere. No answer will satisfy the Sivaks.

The Sivaks know that humans are not allowedhere, period. However, they play games with thePCs, pretending to listen to their story (if the PCsgive one) and appearing to believe it.

Once the PCs finish their story, the Sivaks seemsatisfied and offer the PCs something to drink fromthe second cask (they claim that the first cask isempty).

The second cask contains poisoned dwarf spir-its, which the Sivaks were saving to use on theBaaz at a later time. Ingestion causes death unlessa successful saving throw vs. poison is rolled. Asuccessful saving throw results in 2d12 points ofdamage to the imbiber. Onset time of the poisonis 2d4 rounds.

Should the PCs refuse to drink, the Sivaks shrugand appear to go about their business, then attackwithin 1d4 rounds, hoping to catch the PCs offguard.Sivaks (8): AC 6; MV 6, FI 24 (C); HD 6; hp 30;THAC0 15; #AT 3 or 1; Dmg 1d6/1d6/2d6 or1d10 (two handed sword); SD +2 bonus to save;AL NE; ML 14; XP 2000

If a Sivak slays a human or humanoid less thannine feet tall, it takes the form of the victim andremains in that form for as long as it wishes,though if it changes back to Sivak form it cannotshapechange again until it kills another victim.

W h e n a S i v a k r e a c h e s 0 h i t p o i n t s , i tshapechanges into the form of its slayer.

The Sivaks’ serrated two-handed swords have a+2 enchantment.

The non-poisoned cask is also filled with dwarfspirits, and is the Sivaks’ preferred drink.

The card table has a deck of cards, 124 gp, 64stl, and a set of ivory dice. Each of the sleepingSivaks has a money pouch with 31 gp and 16 stl.

5. Aurak Chamber

This cave is sealed off with a stout wooden door atthe entrance and another in the hall leading to theSivaks’ quarters (cave #4).

The noxious odor of sulphur irritates yournoses as you enter this cave. Golden lightspills from inside. The sound of a pair of crea-tures making gobbling noises puts you onalert.

If the PCs investigate the sounds, continuereading the following:

Two long-tailed, scaly, wingless draconians sitcross-legged on the floor, which is covered byan old tapestry.

Between the draconians is a large goldenbowl filled with pearls. The two draconiansscoop out handfuls of pearls and devour themas a kender would eat grapes.

Occasionally, one of the draconians pauseslong enough to pick up a gold chalice and takea long drink. Wine dribbles down its chin.

Paying no heed to the spill, the draconianslams down the chalice and resumes gobblingpearls.

The room is lit by two gilded lanterns thathang from hooks in the walls. There are fourbeds, obviously stolen from a village judgingby their make, but no other creatures are pre-sent in this cave. A barrel stands between thefeasting Auraks and the beds.

Abruptly, the Auraks halt their feasting andsniff the air, then look straight at you. A gleamcomes to their bulging red eyes. It is the madgleam of anticipated violence. They knockaside their dining implements and leap to theattack.

The first thing the Auraks do is extinguish thetwo lanterns, putting the PCs at a disadvantage.Bear in mind that extinguishing the lights is a sim-ple action, and the draconians can still attack thatsame round.

Auraks (2): AC 0; MV 15; HD 8; hp 41; THAC013; #AT 2; Dmg 1d8+2 (energy blast) x2; SA sul-fur breath weapon, 2d10 points of damage andblinded for 1d4 rounds, a successful saving throwvs. breath weapon halves the damage and resultsin no blindness; SD +4 to all saves; MR 30%; ALLE; ML 15; XP 6,000

The Aurak’s innate abilities include becominginvisible at will (which ends when it attacks);polymorph into any animal its size, three times aday; change self three times a day to perfectly imi-

tate any human or humanoid it has seen, usuallylasts 2d6+6 rounds; detect hidden and invisiblecreatures within 40 feet at will; can see throughall illusions; cast dimension door three times aday, 60-yard range; can mind control one creatureof equal or fewer Hit Dice for 2d6 rounds; castsuggestion if concentrates for a full turn.

Spells (cast at 8th-level ability): 1st level—enlarge, shocking grasp; 2nd level —ESP: stinkingcloud; 3rd level— blink, lightning bolt; 4th level—fire shield, wall of fire

When an Aurak reaches 0 hit points, it does notdie. Instead, it covers itself with green flames andgoes into a fighting frenzy (+2 bonus to attack anddamage rolls). Anyone coming within three feet ofthe flames suffers 1d6 points of damage unless asuccessful saving throw versus petrification isrolled.

Six rounds later, or when the Aurak reaches -20hit points, it changes itself into a spinning ball oflightning striking once per round as a 13-HDmonster, causing 2d6 points of damage. Threerounds later, it explodes, stunning all within tenfeet for 1d4 rounds and inflicting 3d6 points ofdamage (no saving throw). Items within range ofthe explosion must roll successful saving throwsvs. crushing blow or be destroyed. Items on a PCwho rolls a successful saving throw do not have toroll saving throws.

The silver bowl is worth 150 gp. There are 22pearls left, each worth 50 stl. The golden chalicesare worth 20 stl each.

The remaining two beds belonged to “Rush-light” and the Aurak who became Queen of thisforce.

6. Meeting Hall

This large cave is in complete disarray. Blood-stains and scorch marks cover the walls, whilethe floor is covered in garbage and the splin-tered remains of bad furniture.

This room is supposed to serve as the meetinghall for the draconians. It turns out that the veryidea is laughable. Each species can barely toleratethe others, and each time the queen has attemptedto bring them all together to engage in planning orthe like, a violent brawl breaks out.

The queen, bowing to common sense, has sus-pended any further meetings. The room has notbeen used in a week.

7. Liquor Storage

This small cave has barrels of all sizes stackedto the ceiling.

This is the draconians’ liquor supply. There are40 barrels of dwarven spirits, 30 barrels of beer,30 barrels of Qualinesti vintage wines, and tenbarrels of (highly flammable) brandy.

The queen has decided to keep the liquor sup-ply unlocked and unguarded so as to boostmorale. It has worked thus far.

8. Guard Posts

Each of these chambers has four Bozak draconi-ans, which is the one species the queen com-pletely trusts. Anything that looks remotely like agood dragon, a human, or one of humanity’sallied races, is to be immediately slain.

Bozaks (4): AC 2; MV 6, Gl 15, Fl 6 (E); HD 4; hp19; THAC0 17; #AT 2 or 1; Dmg 1d4/1d4 or 1d6(short sword); SA spells; SD +2 bonus to saves; ALLE: ML 14; XP 1,400; Spells: 1st level —burninghands, magic missile, shocking grasp; 2nd level—stinking cloud, web

When a Bozak is killed, its flesh shrivels intodust on its bones. This takes one round. In the fol-lowing round, the bones explode, causing 1d6points of damage to all in a ten-foot radius (nosaving throw).

9. Copper Dragon Child

The cave entrance is blocked by an iron portcullis.It requires a lift gates roll to open. The lever usedto raise the gate is located at the X notation on themap.

Besides housing the dragon child, this cave isalso used as a brig for holding unruly draconiansand as a prison for housing captives. Thus far,there have been none of the latter.

This barren cave has numerous shackles liningits rough walls. A large pit lies in the westerncorner.

However, the cave’s most glaring feature iseasily the beautifully colored copper dragonthat lies sleeping on the floor. Massive mana-cles attached to thick iron chains hold the

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poor creature’s neck, all four legs, and its tail.Judging by its size, it can be no older than

50 years, a juvenile dragon.

of the female copper dragon whose corpse lies onThis is Peni, a juvenile copper dragon, daughter

the canyon floor. Peni is slated to be the next sac-rifice several months from now.

In order to keep Peni manageable, the draconi-ans have drugged her with some of their liquor.Even if freed, the dragon child is of little use in afight. Peni is disconsolate about losing her parent,and she is quite incoherent, thanks to the liquor.

The only words that the PCs can coax out ofPeni are:

“ N a s t y t h i n g . . . g o l d d r a g o n e g g . . . g o n ebad...thinks it’s queen now...big red bully...if I wasjust a bit older...lies straight across the way...acidcan’t burn anyway...mother?...”

Quick-thinking PCs who cast neutralize poisonor any other sort of restorative spell on Peni arerewarded with a very coherent dragon child in4d6 rounds. If this happens, she has this to say:

“A month ago, Mother and I had just foundsome nice people called the Kwe-Chew whowere living up in the mountains, east of themelted village, near a mountain that looks likea human’s face. They were happy when wetold them that the war was over, but they weresad that they could not return to their villagebecause of the bad dragon men that camefrom good dragon eggs.

“Mother and I flew to this place to see if wecould help the Kwe-Chew by killing the dragonmen, but we did not know that there were somany, and they had a red dragon namedFlamm helping them!

“Mother could have easily beaten Flamm ifthere weren’t so many of those awful dragonmen around. They attacked her, and. . . and. . .they tied her up with chains and killed her!”

Peni, Juvenile Copper Dragon: AC -1; MV 9, FI 30(C), Jp 3; HD 13; hp 39; THAC0 7; #AT 3 + spe-cial; Dmg 1d6+4/1d6+4/5d4+4; SA slow gasbreath weapon, successful saving throw vs. breathweapon or be slowed for 12 rounds, acid breath8d6+4; SD immune to acid; AL CG; ML 15; XP6,000

Special abilities: spider climb (stone surfacesonly), neutralize poison three times a day, stone

shape twice a day. Peni has been unable to useany of her special abilities because of her weak-ened condition.

Spells: 1st level —light

pranksters and joke tellers, Peni is in no emotionalcondition to make merry. In fact, she clings to any

Though copper dragons are usual ly wi t ty

PC who acts compassionately and tries to comfortthe dragon, especially if the PC is female.

If Peni is not restored to health by magicalmeans, she simply sleeps in her prison until thePCs come to get her. In her current condition, sheneeds to sleep for 12 hours before she is back tonormal.

The pit is five feet in diameter, and leads into ashaft with a 60-foot drop. Halfway down the shaft,the walls curve away sharply, creating a chamber20 feet wide. There are no prisoners down there.

Kind-hearted DMs, rather than killing the PCs inbattle, may have the draconians capture theminstead, strip them of their items, and toss theminto the pit.

10. The Queen’s Chamber

This cave shines with a golden glow. The ceil-ing, walls, and floor are colored with gold. Sit-ting on a throne of skulls is an Aurak, butunlike any you have ever seen.

The seated Aurak wears a golden crown thathas five spikes, each spike tipped with a goldhead representing a different species of evildragon.

The Aurak wears a robe of spun gold and abelt of pearls. A pair of gold and ruby earringsdangles on the folds of the Aurak’s ears.

You would swear that this Aurak, and quite ahuge specimen it is, is dressing as a woman ofroyalty.

Behind her lie six perfect spheres, each onemeasuring one foot in diameter. Their smoothsurfaces are pitch black, with faint veins ofgold running across their surfaces.

The queen stares at your group with greeneyes blazing and says:

“You dare invade my sanctum? You dareinterrupt a holy ritual sent from the DarkQueen herself? Have you no idea who you arefacing?

“Look well at this throne. It is made of theskulls and bones of those we found in thepathetic village of Que-Shu. Not everyone in

the Dragonarmy remained behind, only thoseof us suited to disposing of those fools whodefended the village.

“We are not fools. We know that there aremore of the Plainsmen about. There were fartoo few bodies in Que-Shu. Only the ordersfrom our Queen have stayed our hand andprevented us from searching for the pitifulremains of the Que-Shu tribe. Still, we keepourse lves amused by dea l ing w i th anystrangers or merchants who were foolishenough to use the roads on the plains.“But the eggs shall hatch soon enough, andwhen they do, we will find the Que-Shu. Andwhen we find those pathetic barbarians, weshall slay the fathers, dine upon the mothers,and dash the children on the rocks!

“As for you, let your foolhardy little group bethe first to fall!”

The queen loudly raises the general alarm,which brings any surviving guards from cave #8.The alarm spreads, bringing any other survivingdraconians to the fray in 3d4 rounds.

Aurak Queen (2): AC -1; MV 18; HD 10; hp 80;THAC0 11; #AT 2; Dmg 1d12+2 (energy blast) x2; SA sulfur breath weapon 3d10 points of dam-age and blinded for 2d4 rounds, a successful sav-ing throw vs. breath weapon halves the damageand results in no blindness; SD +4 to all saves; MR40%; AL LE; ML 15; XP 8,000

The Aurak’s innate abilities include invisibilityat will (which ends when it attacks); polymorphinto any animal its size, three times a day; changeself three times a day to perfectly imitate anyhuman or humanoid it has seen for 2d6+6 turns;detect hidden and invisible creatures within 40feet at will; can see through all illusions; dimen-sion door three times a day, 60-yard range; canmind control one creature of equal or fewer HitDice for 4d6 rounds; cast suggestion if concen-trates for a full turn.

Spells (cast at 10th level ability): 1st level—enlarge, shocking grasp; 2nd level— ESP, stinkingcloud; 3rd level —blink, lightning bolt; 4th level—fire shield, wall of fire

When the queen Aurak reaches 0 hit points, itdoes not die. Instead, it covers itself in greenflames and goes into a fighting frenzy (+4 bonusto attack and damage rolls). Anyone comingwithin three feet of the flames suffers 3d6 points of

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damage unless a successful saving throw vs. petri-fication is rolled.

Six rounds later, or when the queen reaches -20hit points, it finally slumps to the ground. Read thefollowing to the PCs:

At last the queen slumps to the ground, com-pletely spent, her life energies draining away.Only a few flickers of green flame still danceacross her twitching form.

Suddenly, the queen’s eyes widen in horror.She begins screaming, though there is noonein the chamber but yourselves.

“No!” she screams. “I tried my best! I wouldhave made a fine queen. Nooooooooooo!”The Aurak queen howls as her body begins tolose its solidness. On the golden wall, an eerieshadow manifests itself, hovering over the fad-ing queen. It is a five-headed dragon shadow.

The temperature in the room drops precipi-tously, and a feeling of suffocating evil perme-ates your innermost thoughts.

W ith a f inal pi t i fu l wai l of defeat andimpending damnation, the body of the queenfades into nothingness, and the shadow on thewall disappears as well. The chill leaves, asdoes the feeling of evil.

Of course, the PCs should smash the six eggs, orthese will hatch into Aurak draconians in threew e e k s .

When the eggs are smashed open, a strongsmell of sulfur causes each PC to roll a constitu-tion check or become violently ill for 1d6 rounds(-2 on all attack and damage rolls).

The half-formed creatures in the eggs resemblesmall Auraks. Since no one has ever seen a babydraconian before, this should be quite a discon-certing sight for the PCs.

11. Flamm’s Chamber

This cave has two entrances, and there is a reasonfor it. Each cave entrance has a phantasmal forceillusion of a wall sealing it off, though this illusionis only visible from the perspective of someoneinside the dragon’s den. Intruders coming into theroom via either corridor see no such wall. Whenthey enter the chamber, however, the den’sentrance that they did not use is disguised withthe p h a n t a s m a l f o r c e spe l l .

The reason behind this trickery is to give Flamm

an emergency exit. If he is losing badly, thedragon dashes for the exit. To the PCs, it looks likeFlamm is about to butt the cave wall.

Regardless of which entrance they use, the fol-lowing description is read to the PCs.

The air in this cave circulates very well, thoughthere are no apparent passageways besides theone you used to gain access here.

Despite the circulation, the air still stinks ofcharcoal, burnt wood, and scorched flesh.

The source of the odor is the red dragon thatlies atop a heap of treasure. It studies you witha keen eye, then says:

“It was inevitable that intruders would findtheir way to this encampment. Have you metthe queen yet? She is nearby, you know, and israther anxious to meet you.

“Have you come to liberate that simperingfool of a copper dragon? That scaled runt isinsignificant, and hardly a worthy sacrifice tothe Dark Queen. Her mother, on the otherhand, was accepted eagerly, I can assure you.

“We have not been properly introduced. Thename you may use in dealing with me isFlamm. Rather simplistic, I grant you, but itdoes describe me well, no?

“I am a messenger of the Almighty and Terri-ble Dark Queen, and you would do well toremember that when you consider your nextaction. I came to bring news of the rebirth tothe faithful draconians who kept their holyvigil.”

If the PCs have dealt with the queen already andsay so, add this to the speech.

“The likes of you were her demise? Regret-table. Ah well. I suppose it means that particu-lar Aurak was a poor choice for such anelevated position.

“No matter. Temper your satisfaction in hav-ing killed her with the knowledge that youhave killed but one queen of just one of thedraconian races. Each race has a series ofqueens. Yes, the Dark Queen, in her infinitewisdom, has provided the means for the dra-conians to reproduce that does not require thetedious act of egg stealing.”

Whether or not the draconian queen has died,Flamm ends his speech:

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“Enough talk. You have come to my lair unin-vited. Leave now, and I vow that you will begiven safe passage at least to the Broken sec-tion of the Sageway. Otherwise, I shall do toyou what I helped my brethren do to thatquaint barbarian village a little over a yearago.” Flamm leers at you, giving an especiallysmug look to any in your number who arePlainsmen.

Due to the nature of the encounter, no surpriseroll is needed. Of course, Flamm expects the partyto attack, so he is ready, thus a standard initiativeroll is necessary.

Though Flamm fights for his life, he is interestedin keeping a third of the party alive if possible.Flamm loves gloating and talking.Flamm, Young Adult Red Dragon: AC -4; MV 9, Fl30 (C), Jp 3; HD 14; hp 70; THAC0 7; #AT 3 +special; Dmg 1d10+5/1d10+5/3d10+5; SA firebreath weapon 10d10+5; SD immune to fire; MR30%; AL CE; ML 18; XP 10,000

Flamm’s special abilities: affect normal firesthree times a day, pyrotechnics three times a day.

Spells: 1st level— charm person, improvedphantasmal force

Flamm, this troop’s mouthpiece of Takhisis, isan arrogant, ambitious male dragon who is tooclever for his own good. Though he disdains thedraconians, he aids and defends them.

If Flamm realizes that there are Heroes of theLance in his abode, he concentrates on capturingthem. The cruel dragon hopes to gloat at them fora while, then offer them as a sacrifices to his DarkQueen.

Flamm’s treasure is composed of 4,206 gp and1,410 stl. He has been frustrated in his attempt toget magical items for his hoard. He may ransomcaptured PCs for magical items.

THE AMBUSH VARIANT

If the slig leader from the ruins of Que-Shu man-aged to make it to the draconian encampment andwarn them, the draconians have a different wel-come in store for the PCs.

First of all, every draconian is awake. Next, thetwo Baaz guarding the entrance to the canyon aredoubled to four, with instructions to act surprisedwhen the PCs attack. The four Baaz are to gradu-ally “retreat” east to the idol.

The two Bozaks are now four Bozaks. They are

hiding behind the idol and under the copperdragon’s remains. Once the PCs are in range, theyattack.

On the second round of the Bozak attack, eightKapaks, four stationed at each side of the entry-way into the canyon, start a rock slide that par-tially seals off the canyon. Once the rocks havesettled (this takes one round), the Kapaks pourstone jars of their slick venom all over the debris(takes another round).

Anyone trying to get by the debris must climbover it. The surface is considered rough withledges and slightly slippery. Non-thieves with noMountaineering proficiency have a base 15%chance (40% minus 25% due to slightly slipperyconditions) of climbing over the debris. Non-thieves with the Mountaineering proficiency add10% per Mountaineering proficiency slot. Thievesuse their Climb Walls skill. DMs should includethe other modifiers as seems appropriate.

Any PC who touches the stones with unpro-tected skin absorbs some of the venom and mustroll a successful saving throw vs. poison (with a+4 bonus due to absorption through the skinrather than received through an open wound) orbecome paralyzed for 2d6 turns.

Once the stone pile is in place and envenomed,the remainder of the draconians in the encamp-ment launch from their cave lairs and conduct anall-out attack on the PCs.

Finally Flamm, who has already left his lair andis hiding in the nearby craggy hills, flies in fromthe northwest, further cutting off the only way outof the canyon.

The draconians spare between one-third andone-fourth of the PCs, subduing them, interrogat-ing them, and finally sacrificing them to the DarkQueen.

T H E Q U E - S H U

The Que-Shu fled to the northeastern hills. Theyleft the village of Que-Shu and traveled eightmiles on the Sageway East road. Then they turnednortheast into the hills for four miles.

The rough terrain of the hills more than madeup for the lack of distance from the road. Besides,the short distance gave the Que-Shu a good van-tage point from which to observe the activities ofthe draconians and ascertain when it would beprudent to return to their lands, if ever.

The area the Plainsmen chose for a new homewas a series of caves set in the mountains. The site

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was close enough to the moors to give the Que-Shu some modest grazing land for herd animalsand places to fish. This, supplemented by hunting,gave the Que-Shu all they needed for food. Hunt-ing parties ventured only to the north, staying ahealthy distance from the west (where Que-Shulay in ruins), east (the cursed lands and XakTsaroth), and south (draconian armies wererumored to be in control of the Sageway).

In this fashion, the Que-Shu remnant survivedthe year. One hundred and eighty of the 300 vil-lagers took part in the evacuation of Que-Shu.There have been 14 births since then, bringing thetotal population to 194.

The spot chosen by the Que-Shu has an unusualrock formation high on its peak. The eastern por-tion of the mountain vaguely resembles a humanface. At dawn, the face appears to be waiting forthe rising sun. Thus, the Que-Shu have namedtheir home Dawnwatch.

FINDING THE QUE-SHU

Having Goldmoon or Riverwind in the partybecomes a great necessity at this point. By usingtheir Tracking proficiencies and making their pro-

ficiency checks by half or less of their proficiency,they (or any other Plainsmen PCs) can discernsubtle signs that the Que-Shu have been in thearea.

The tracking takes eight hours, with one profi-ciency check made per two hours. If a check isfailed by one Plainsman PC in the party, anothermay attempt to find the trail if he has the Trackingproficiency. However, once all Plainsmen PCs havetried once and failed, no more checks can bemade. The trail is cold and can never be recovered.

CALMING THE QUE-SHU

Once the PCs find the face on the mountain, readthe following:

During your wanderings, you come upon anodd stone formation high up the eastern slopeof the nearest mountain. In fact, you are at thebase of the mountain. There are plenty of hugerocks, rubble and loose stones all around you.

A loud, coarse voice barks out “Identifyyourselves, but make no move toward yourweapons! Arrows are already aimed at you!”

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The PCs, it seems, have found the Que-Shu.There are a total of eight warriors behind rocks tothe PCs’ left and right, as well as straight ahead.Two Plainsmen warriors are concealed behind therocks ahead of the party. The remaining six aredivided into two groups and have flanked the PCs.Distance to all three groups is 70 feet.

The Que-Shu warriors have arrows nocked andready. They release one shaft each if the PCs go fortheir weapons or begin pulling out spell compo-nents. This is done even before initiative is rolled.

The voice comes from straight ahead.

Que-Shu Barbarians (8): AC 8; MV 12; F3; hp 20;THAC0 18; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword), 1d6(flight arrows); AL NG; ML 11; XP 175

Each Que-Shu wears leather armor and isarmed with a long sword, a long bow, and 24flight arrows. The leader of this patrol is a malewarrior named Hawktalon.

Unless Riverwind or Goldmoon is clad in thetrappings of their tribe, they are not immediatelyrecognizable as fellow Plainsmen.

If Riverwind or Goldmoon identify themselves,things grow quiet for one round, then one of thewarriors concealed ahead of the PCs run towardthe concealed caves. The voice says:

“If you truly are who you say, then why do youreturn? When last our tribe saw you, it was tostone you for your blasphemy against our ances-tors! Should we take up where we left off?”

Hawktalon is stalling for time. He has sent oneof his warriors to the caves to seek out the newtribal chief and bring him here in order to verifythe identities of the PCs. The warrior runs all theway to the caves, which takes him five minutes.While Hawktalon waits, he continues conversingfrom his concealed spot.

“You and your mate defied the spirits of ourancestors. We know not what foul sorceryremoved you from the fate you deserved, butour ancestors punished us for not administer-ing your punishment swiftly. The dragon-menthat destroyed our village were the judgmentsent by our ancestors.”

Five rounds later, a group of figures emergesfrom the concealed cave entrance 500 yards

ahead of the PCs and 200 feet up the mountain-side.

There are nine figures. One is the warrior sent tofetch the chief. The others are the chief, his sixbodyguards, and a tribal wise woman. They beginwalking down the mountain and toward the party.It takes them ten minutes to arrive at the scene ofthe confrontation.

When the retinue arrives, read the following:

At last, seven warriors emerge from behindtheir rocky hiding places. Each one, a Plains-men barbarian, has a long bow with one arrownocked. The arrows are aimed at your group.

The nine figures who emerged from themountain stand in front of you. One is an oldwoman leaning on a staff, her weathered facebetraying the great number of winters she haslived. Six of the figures are Que-Shu warriors,spears at the ready, long swords at theirbelts. Another is the warrior sent to fetch thechief.

The final figure wears the mantle of tribalchief. The man is tall, over six feet in height.His hair has begun to grow gray at the temples.Piercing dark eyes, flanking his hawk-likenose, stare at you intently. At last, he speaks.

“So, Riverwind the hunter and Goldmoon,daughter of our late chief, return. Why do youcome here?”

Give the PCs a chance to explain themselves.Any evidence they can give that Que-Shu hasbeen cleaned out or the draconians taken care ofis accepted without question.

Once the PCs have finished their initial expla-nations (each PC having said his piece), the chiefraises his hand for silence.

“Much has changed since our departure fromQue-Shu. Our village lies in ruins. I, Thunder-son, am now chief of the Que-Shu. The wise-woman is Spiritdancer, and she gives me goodcounsel. Our tribe now lives in these moun-tains, existing as best we can.

Read the next portion only if appropriate:

“If you have destroyed the dragon men, youhave done us a good deed. Obviously, thegods you venerate have kept you alive through

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If the PCs have nothing more to say, the Plains-men quietly file back to the caves. The PCs arewelcome to stay the night to rest and eat. Most ofthe Plains talk is laced with hints that the PCsshould be on their way by the next day.

If the PCs have not yet faced the draconians intheir camp to the south, the Plainsmen have noth-ing to say to the PCs. They listen to accounts ofthe War, nod their heads, then ask the PCs tomove on. If the PCs offer to go after the draconi-ans, the Plainsmen are more receptive. They canshow the PCs the area where the draconian pres-ence seems strongest.

all the troubles. We no longer seek yourblood, as we have no desire to anger thesegods of yours. Thus, all debts have been paid.

“Goldmoon no longer has any true claim tothe leadership of the Que-Shu, and Riverwindnever was a chief’s son. If you wish to stay withour tribe, I suppose that is your right, thoughtruth be known, we would much prefer it ifyou left us.

“As for what the future holds, we are notcertain. We could return to Que-Shu andrebuild, but some in our tribe, perhaps many,would not want to go back to that place ofdeath. Perhaps we shall build a new village,call ourselves a different name, and start anew.

“We are grateful for the chance you havegiven us to be reborn. Whether we choose toaccept it or not is for us to decide.

C O N C L U S I O N

And so ends the saga of the Que-Shu’s exile. Youhave managed to remove the last small vestiges ofthe Dragonarmies from the area, and you havefound the remaining Que-Shu.

Though the Que-Shu seemed less than enthusi-astic to see you or hear about your deeds, youtake comfort in the fact that the Que-Shu are aproud people who do not impress easily. Nor arethey given over to grand displays of emotion.

More unsettling is the revelation that the draco-nians have found a way to reproduce withoutusing good dragon eggs. While this is good newsto the dragons, it implies that rampant reproduc-tion among draconians is now possible. Thiswhole affair, which has brought rebirth to theQue-Shu, has also brought rebirth to the draconi-ans. Something tells you that the draconian threatis far, far from over.

Still, you can be satisfied in knowing that goodhas prevailed. Rest now and replenish yourenergy, for tomorrow has troubles of its own. Andgods willing, you will be there to triumph overwhatever challenges await.

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SCENARIO FOUR:OF LOVE AND DIPLOMACY

in which Tanis Halfelven once again encountersLaurana and is drawn into elven politics anddangers.

Start Up: This scenario requires Tanis Halfelven.Gilthanas, Laurana’s brother, is recommended,but not crucial. His presence will enhance therole-playing aspect of the adventure. If no oneuses Gilthanas, have him in the party as an NPC.

Any of the other Heroes of the Lance who sur-vived the War are eligible to be included in theadventure. Laurana is an NPC in this scenario,and cannot be played as a PC under any circum-stances. If anyone plays a Knight of Solamnia PC,they know Laurana well.

The party should ideally contain between fourand six PCs. The adventure is not well suited foranything larger than that, though it may be possi-ble to get away with using eight PCs.

The adventure takes place a year after the Warof the Lance, before Tanis and Laurana are mar-ried.

The action begins in Haven, then spans thebreadth of Qualinesti, across the Straits of Algoni,and winding up in the city of Qualimori in South-ern Ergoth. DMs should refer to Map 17.

Emphasis in this adventure is on role-playingover hack-and-slash combat. DMs should play upthe aspects of Tanis and Laurana’s romance in theadventure.

T H E S I T U A T I O N A F T E R T H E

W A R O F T H E L A N C E

When the War of the Lance ended, Tanis and Lau-rana professed their love for each other, but theydid not follow up with any romantic involvement.

Laurana’s fami ly—in part icular her fatherSolostaran, the Qualinesti Speaker of the Suns, herolder brother Porthios, heir to the Speaker of theSuns title, and her brother Gilthanas—is dis-pleased with Laurana’s involvement with Tanis.The Silvanesti elf Alhana Starbreeze, Speaker ofthe Stars, wife to Porthios and daughter of KingLorac, is growing more supportive of the Tanis-Laurana romance.

The Silvanesti elves are based in Qualinesti andare engaged in attempts to reclaim their home-land. The Qualinesti elves are pursuing allianceswith the other peoples of Abanasinia as well aswith the Knights of Solamnia. The elves on South-ern Ergoth (which includes the Kagonesti wildelves) are in the midst of two sets of negotiations:one with each other in order to co-exist, and theother with the nation of Qualinesti in order toachieve equality with (and autonomy from) theQualinesti.

A D V E N T U R E B A C K G R O U N D

The Qualinesti, Silvanesti, and Kagonesti onSouthern Ergoth are assembling in Qualimori fortalks on creating a new elven nation.

The Green Dragonarmy has learned of the plan,thanks to some leaks among the Silvanesti whodwell in the area close to the Green-occupiedterritory.

A plan was put into motion to disrupt the talks.A Sivak spy was placed in the Silvanesti delega-tion, while two Auraks were sent to Qualimorito prepare for the planned attack. The GreenDragonarmy Highlord sent a representative to theogres in Daltigoth and arranged to give themmoney and weapons if they launched a raid onQualimori.

The Highlord also made arrangements with arenegade Silvanesti elf, a mage of the Black Robes,to be the coordinator of the whole operation.

Now, all that is left is for all the principle playersto be in position.

R O L E - P L A Y I N G L A U R A N A

When Laurana first loved Tanis, it was by her ownadmission an undisciplined, petty love. By thetime the War of the Lance ended, she recognizedthat fact, which was the first step in her maturation.

Now, a year later, Laurana has indeed matured.She still is being pulled in many directions. Sheloves Tanis, yet she is under pressure from herfamily not to pursue the relationship. Add to thisthe fact that she is still young and has a way to go

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before being completely mature, and you get awalking mass of contradictions.

DMs should play Laurana as very serious whendealing with the ambassadors, then restrainedwhen dealing with Tanis in a public capacity, andthen mostly nervous and hesitant when with Tanisin private.

Sometimes, she smiles openly at Tanis and giveshim that lovestruck look.

On occasion, she becomes mischievous andtries to make Tanis jealous by paying significantattention to Marek Windsong.

Laurana will not get physical in any way withTanis.

In battle, Laurana does her share and thensome. She does not depend on Tanis to bail herout. in fact, she tries to prove to him that she cantake care of herself.

Laurana is prone to occasional fits of impetu-ousness, doing things at the spur of the moment.

All in all, Laurana is a young lady going throughsome major emotional changes. While deepdown, in her heart of hearts, she knows that shewill soon be emotionally ready to handle a seriousrelationship with Tanis, her head is not yet privy tothis information.

ME S S A G E FR O M T H E KI N G

The scene is Haven, at an inn called the DrunkenBarbarian. The only PC present should be Tanis.

Read the following to the PC:

It has been a year since the end of the War ofthe Lance. Despite the removal of Takhisis asan immediate threat, there is still much evil toput down, and much good to do. It has beenan eventful year indeed.

You are breaking your fast in the commonroom of a Haven inn, the Drunken Barbarian.The name seems rather insulting to you, con-sidering some of the company you keep. Youfind your mind drifting back to Goldmoon andRiverwind, wondering how they are, as youstare out the window at the morning sun.

“Ahem.” Your reverie is disturbed by ayoung elf male, clad in the colors of the Houseof Solostaran, the Qualinesti elf who is Speakerof the Suns. The elf looks you over. “You areTanis Halfelven? I bring a dispatch from

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Solostaran’s household.” He hands you ascroll of fine parchment, gives a short bow,and walks out.

The parchment says the following:“Greetings, Tanis Halfelven;“I, Porthios, son and heir to the Speaker of

the Suns, write this under the authority and bythe command of Solostaran himself.

“A delegation of Silvanesti elves is currentlyin Haven. They are meeting a group of ourpeople, then journeying to Qual imor i inSouthern Ergoth.

“Surely you must known of the delicatenegotiations going on between the variouselven races on Southern Ergoth, as well as themeetings with Solostaran in Qualinost.

“Through a series of unfortunate circum-stances, the escorts prepared for the Silvanestidelegation are not immediately available.Since general knowledge places your where-abouts in the vicinity of Haven, I prevail uponyou to meet the diplomatic party and escortthem safely to Qualimori.

“If you cannot find it in your heart to involveyourself in politics, I should tell you that Lau-rana and Gilthanas are part of the delegation.

“Since the mere mention of Laurana shouldbe enough to insure your presence, enclosedyou will find the details of the assignment.

“We have recruited some other notable per-sonalities and adventurers to aid you. Some ofthem you may know. You and your group areto take the delegation across Qualinesti to theport city of Porliost. At Porliost, an elven ship,the Brightblade, awaits you.

“The Brightblade will take you across theStraits of Algoni to Qualimori. Once youescort the party to the palace, your obligationsare complete.

“You will find the diplomatic party and yourallies at the Sign of the Five Emeralds, the onlyplace in Haven remotely worthy of yourcharges. Proceed with all haste.

“Porthios”

TH E DI P L O M A T I C PA R T Y

The following are the stats for the diplomatic partythat requires escort.

Paran Silverwand, Qualinesti Elf: AC 6; MV 12;F2; hp 16; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6 (staff); ALCG; ML 13

Equipment: silver badge of office (worth 20 stl),staff

Paran is the lead ambassador of the Qualinestiin this group. He is known among the Qualinestfor his somewhat liberal views, which many feewill help in the Ergoth negotiations.

Paran is a wise elf who tries not to allow preju-dices to hamper co-operation.

Laurana, Qualinesti Elf: AC -4; MV 12; F5; hp 30THAC0 16; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6 (short sword), 1d4(dagger); Str 13, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 12,Cha 16; AL CG; ML 14

Weapon Proficiencies: short sword, daggerNonweapon Proficiencies: Read/write Qua-

linesti and Silvanesti 18, blindfighting, etiquette16

Equipment: plate mail +2, short sword +3, dag-ger +1, purse with 20 stl

Laurana is in love with Tanis. Currently, she isrestraining herself from appearing too eager inTanis’s presence. She does this so as not to offendthe elven delegation traveling with her. She is alsotrying to “act mature.”

Laurana is representing the Qualinesti people,the ruling family in particular.

Marek Windsong, Qualinesti Elf: AC 1; MV 12;F4; hp 20; THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (longsword), 1d8 (sheaf arrows), 1d6 (flight arrows); Str15, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 17; ALLG; ML 15

Weapon Proficiencies: long sword, long bowNonweapon Proficiencies: Read/write Qua-

linesti and Silvanesti 15, religion 10, blindfightingEquipment: chain mail, long sword +1, long

bow, 18 sheaf arrows, 12 flight arrows, holy sym-bol of Paladine, 12 stl

This handsome elf has been an assistant of Lau-rana during her dealings with the Knights ofSolamnia. He is the closest that a Qualinesti elfwill come to being a Knight of Solamnia.

Insufferably good and heroic, descended from anoble house, he is filled .with youthful idealismand enthusiasm. He seems too good to be true.

Marek is also madly in love with Laurana. Sheknows this, and she gently keeps him at arm’slength. Gilthanas, however, would very much liketo see his sister marry Marek, and often makes notso subtle hints about his feelings.

If Tanis seems to be ignoring Laurana, some of

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her impetuous nature will creep out and she willfawn over Marek, praising him and almost swoon-ing in his presence.

Alor Lightleaf, Silvanesti Elf: AC 4; MV 12; Fl ; hp10; THAC0 20; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword); ALCG; ML 14

Equipment: ring of protection +2, long sword,chain and badge of office (all gold, worth 150 stl),purse with 50 stl

Alor is the handsome, courageous leader of theSilvanesti delegation. He is naturally suspicious,aloof and rather racist, openly frowning at thingslike half-elves, mixed marriages, or any other raceof elf besides Silvanesti.

Alor’s goal is to see that the Silvanesti in South-ern Ergoth are being dealt with in a fair manner.He also wants to see relations between Silvanestiand Qualinesti stay smooth. Alor is an elf of fewwords.

Ladine Daralathas, Silvanesti Elf: AC 8; MV 12;F1; hp 8; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword); AL CG;ML 14

Equipment: long sword, silver badge of office(worth 40 stl), purse with 50 stlLadine is like a statue carved of ice: beautiful,

quiet, and cold. Having pale grey eyes and silverhair only adds to the metaphor. She is skilled inthe ways of negotiation, and she is here in order toback up Alor. Ladine is just as intolerant of otherraces (including other elves) as Alor is.

However, Ladine is also very logical and prag-matic. She is fully capable of dealing with otherraces in such a way that she does not alienatethem. In a way, Ladine is here to make sure thatAlor does not insult the other negotiators.

Qualinesti Warriors (4): AC 5; MV 12; F2; hp 14;THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword), 1d6(flight arrows); AL NG; ML 13

These troops (two males—Juskan and Noro—and two females—Rosamund and Myrtle) are allthat could be spared as bodyguards. Each Qua-linesti wears chain mail armor and carries a longsword, long bow, and 18 flight arrows.

Silvanesti Warriors (3): AC 5; MV 12; F2; hp 14;THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d10 ( two-handedsword), 1d6 (flight arrows); AL CG; ML 13

These Si lvanest i ( two males—Goliam andTurass—and one female—Alyla) are the body-guards for the two Silvanesti delegates. The twodelegates were fully aware that the Qualinesti

would send some troops to guard them, but itmattered little to the Silvanesti what the Qualinestiwould do. They feel safer with their own guards.

However, there were supposed to be fourguards. One, Aeryn, was waylaid and slain, hisplace (and form) taken by a Sivak spy.

Sivak Spy (resembles a Silvanesti Warrior namedAeryn): AC 6; MV 6, Fl 24 (C); HD 6; hp 30;THAC0 15; #AT 3 or 1; Dmg 1d6/1d6/2d6 or1d10 (two-handed sword); SD +2 bonus to savingthrow; AL NE; ML 14; XP 2000

Equipment: two-handed sword, amulet of non-detection

If a Sivak slays a human or humanoid less thannine feet tall, it takes the form of the victim andremains in that form for as long as it wishes. If itchanges back to Sivak form, it cannot shape-change again until it kills another victim.

W h e n a S i v a k r e a c h e s 0 h i t p o i n t s , i tshapechanges into the form of its slayer.

This Sivak killed the fourth Silvanesti soldier andtook his place. Sent by the Green Dragonarmy, itsmission is to disrupt the talks in Qualimori. Dur-ing the journey it keeps its harassment and attackson the party to a minimum, doing things onlywhen it is absolutely sure that it will not getcaught.

Its real mission is in Qualimori, and it will notjeopardize its cover by doing something overtlyviolent during the trip. The Sivak plays the part ofa loyal Silvanesti warrior, even to the point ofhelping the PCs in combat and such—anything todraw away suspicion.

The Sivak has a secondary role. A Silvanestimage of the Order of the Black Robes has made apact with the Green Dragonarmy. The Silvanestiwill monitor the progress of the diplomatic party,courtesy of a magical talisman that the Sivak car-ries. The talisman enables the elf mage to use hiscrystal ball to see through the eyes of the Sivak.

The party has light warhorses for travel. Eachhorse has a pair of saddlebags, 50 feet of rope, aweek’s worth of rations, two water skins, twoblankets, and a bedroll.

Light Warhorses: AC 7, MV 24; HD 2; hp 14;THAC0 19; #AT 2; Dmg 1d4/1d4; AL N; ML 7; XP35

The city of Porliost is 80 miles due west ofHaven, with forest as the predominant terrain. Thevillages of Bianost and Frenost are situated 25 and45 miles respectively from Haven. Each village is

about a three-mile detour off the PCs’ route.Because of a lack of roads and even of trails in

this thick wood, the journey takes two days. Eachday of travel equals ten hours of actual riding,covering 40 miles a day.

DMs should check for random encounters onceevery hour.

TH E VI L L A G E O F BI A N O S T

Bianost is the first opportunity the PCs have todeviate from the path and seek decent accommo-dations.

The only inn is the Silver Bough, a sleepy estab-lishment where little happens.

There is nothing of any major significance hap-pening in Bianost.

TH E VI L L A G E O F FR E N O S T

Frenost is close to the halfway point in the Haven-Porliost journey. Frenost’s only inn is called theSign of the Trees. This inn is always more activethan Bianost’s Silver Bough.

The Trees is a good place to pick up rumors andstories about recent goings on in Qualinesti. Theinn is frequented mostly by Qualinesti elves, half-elves, and human traders, the latter coming fromor going to Haven.

Laurana suggests that the party stop here for thenight. The Silvanesti agree, and that ends any fur-ther discussion, unless the PCs can come up withsome compelling reason to move on. Sayingsomething like “Time is of the essence, we couldbe attacked at any moment” will not convince theelves to keep going.

During dinner in the inn’s common room, awandering bard talks about the strange events inthe area ten miles north of the village. Somethingsupposedly haunts the area, and several Qua-linesti have disappeared there in the last fewmonths.

If any player mentions that his PC is specificallylooking at Laurana, he sees that she listens to thebard’s story very closely, her brow furrowed indeep thought.

After the bard performs, Laurana goes up to himand speaks to him for a while, then turns in. Lau-rana’s conversation with the bard was about themysterious area.

THERE SHE GOES

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In the middle of the night, there is a frantic pound-ing at the door of Tanis’s room. When Tanisanswers it, read the following:

Marek the warrior stands at your doorway inhis white linen nightshirt, a look of alarm onhis elven features. He is clutching a piece ofparchment.

“She’s gone, sir! Gone, I say! Beautiful shemay be, but she’s a headstrong one, and that’sthe gods’ truth! We must rescue her!”

If the PCs ask Marek to explain, he says:

“I was going to the Lady Laurana’s room to uh .. . discuss the political ramifications of theelven talks, especially as to how it will affectrelations with Solamnia. The Lady was not inher room, but this note was.”

The note says: “As a member of the rulingfamily, I cannot sit idly by in a warm inn whileour people are disappearing. Something mustbe done. Therefore, I have set off to the northin an attempt to ascertain the nature of thethreat and deal with it. Continue on the way toPorliost, and I shall catch up with you once thethreat is dealt with. -L.”

A pained, worried look crosses Marek’syoung face. “We must find her!” he pleads.

Checking the stables reveals that Laurana’shorse is gone.

If the Silvanesti are told about the situation, theydo not go with the PCs. They wait at the inn. If thePCs are not back in one day, they continue on toPorliost, and the PCs will have earned a very badaccount of their actions.

Tracking Laurana is easy. A successful Trackingproficiency check (with a +2 bonus to the profi-ciency) reveals her horse’s shoe prints. The trackshead due north.

A VE R Y CONFUSED LADY

Laurana has had the misfortune of wandering intoa patch of shimmerweeds. She is confused and isconvinced that she is a forest-dwelling fairy. Lau-rana has removed her armor and dropped herweapons, and she is now dancing around in themoonlight.

When the PCs get close enough to see her, read

the following:

he moon provides you with enough illumina-tion to help you make your way through thewoods. Eventually, you hear the neigh of ahorse. Up ahead, contentedly nibbling atsome grass, is Laurana’s horse.

The unmistakable sound of a woman’ssinging drifts through the night forest air. Far-ther ahead, beyond the horse, you see a ring oftrees and a lithe figure dancing around.

As you draw closer, you realize that it is Lau-rana, clad in a wispy linen wrapping, dancingon the grass. Her armor and her weapons lie atyour feet.

While under normal circumstances this maynot be a bad scene, a sense of horror creepsover you when you notice that several skele-tons, half-buried in the grassy earth, also liewithin the ring of trees.

Once the PCs cross into the ring of trees, theyare “attacked” by the shimmerweed. Lauranadoes not come out of the small glade, regardlessof who asks her. She is at first convinced that shemust be a wood-dwelling sprite, perhaps a dryad,then changes her mind and believes that she isreally a wild elf.

If any PCs manage to avoid being affected bythe shimmerweed and reach Laurana, then DMsshould make the roll called for in the confusionspell description. The result is Laurana’s nextaction.

During all of this, however, the true threat inthese woods makes itself known. The shimmer-weed serves as a splendid means of disabling vic-tims for the predator, which in this case is awichtlin.

Shimmerweed (36): AC 8; MV Nil; HD 1 hitpoint; THAC0 NA; Dmg NA; SA confusion; AL N;ML 20; XP 35

The shimmerweed puts on a dazzling display oflight that causes confusion in all who gaze uponit. This patch can confuse 36 levels worth ofadventurers. To destroy the patch permanently, acontinual light spell must be cast upon it. Other-wise, it grows back in one month.

Wichtlin: AC 2; MV 9; HD 4+4; hp 36; THAC015; #AT 2; Dmg special; SA see below; SD +1 orbetter weapon to hit; AL CE; ML 12; XP 1,400

The wichtlin was a Qualinesti traitor who spied

for the Dragonarmies and tried to sabotage theQualinesti evacuation to Southern Ergoth. He wasdiscovered and executed for his treason.

The wichtlin is unaffected by poison, paralyza-tion, sleep, charm, hold, and cold-based spells.

Holy water causes 2d4 points of damage, andthe wichtlin is turned as a specter. Those who can-not detect invisibility suffer a -2 penalty to attackrolls against the wichtlin.

The wichtlin’s left hand causes 2d4 rounds ofparalysis, unless the victim rolls a successful sav-ing throw vs. paralyzation. The right hand inflicts2d6 points of damage from poison, unless a suc-cessful saving throw vs. poison is rolled.

If the wichtlin paralyzes an elven PC or NPC,the victim must pass a saving throw vs. spell or fallvictim to a suggestion (as the spell).

Once Laurana regains her senses, she is in abad mood. She insists that she was right—that assomeone in leadership, she was obliged to help. Ifasked why she did not seek help, she explains thatshe did not want to take away from the diplomaticmission. She did not want to cause a fuss; just goto the site in question, deal with the problem, andbe back by dawn.

TH E CI T Y O F PO R L I O S T

The Qualinesti city of Porliost is a bustling port.Many Qualinesti come streaming out of boats,returning from the evacuation that was necessaryduring the War of the Lance.

Porliost is a bustling city, filled with people ofall races. Dozens of boats are moored at thedocks.

The Brightblade is at dock, waiting for the PCs.It is a large ship, with plenty of room for everyone.The ship is scheduled to leave at dawn after thePCs and the delegation check in.

The Qualinesti in Porliost take the party’s horsesand see that they are returned to the Speaker ofthe Sun’s household.

If the name of the ship sounds familiar, that isno coincidence. The ship is owned by the house-hold of Lady Alhana Starbreeze. She has put theship at the disposal of the PCs.

The Silvanesti elf who captains the ship is namedRythas Starbreeze, a cousin of the Lady Alhana. Heis not pleased with this assignment, and accepts itonly as a favor to his kinsman. His attitude towardthe PCs is one of “stay out of my way and let me domy job, which in this case is sailing this ship.”

T H E B R I G H T B L A D E� S

V O Y A G E

The entire trip is a 200-mile sea voyage. The voy-age normally takes four days.

On the night of the first day at sea, a violentstorm hits. The only potential major consequenceis that each PC on deck (probably doing a shift ofnight watch) must roll a successful Dexteritycheck or be swept overboard. Add a bonus of 6 tothe Dexterity if the PC is secured somehow.

In the middle of the third day, when the shippasses between Enstar and the southwestern coastof Southern Ergoth, the ship comes to a scrapinghalt; it has hit a wreck.

This, however, is not just any wreck. A group ofvodyanoi have boosted the wreck off the reef andlifted it to such a position that it would cause apassing ship to collide with and become stuck to it.

Four rounds after the collision, the vodyanoibegin attacking the vessel from two directions.First, three of the monsters come swarming up outof the ocean and onto the deck. Second, the threevodyanoi remaining underwater begin smashingtheir way through the hull, gaining access tobelowdecks, though unfortunately their effortscause the bow to spring a huge leak.

Vodyanoi (6): AC 2; MV 3, SW 6; HD 8; hp 48;THAC0 13; #AT 3; Dmg 3d4/3d4/1d10; AL CE;ML 13; XP 2000

The vodyanoi lair is a second shipwreck 50yards away from the battle site. The wreck is on areef, but it is barely visible as only a small part ofthe hull juts onto the surface of the water.

Inside the wreck lie 18 pearls worth 500 gpeach.

Silvanesti Sailors (33): AC 8; MV 12; F2; hp 16;THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (spear); AL CG; ML14

The sailors fight to the death, out of loyalty totheir captain.

Rythas Starbreeze: AC 6; MV 12; F6; hp 37;THAC0 15; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (spear); AL CG; ML15; Dexterity 18

Equipment: spear +3, ring of water walking

PCs who aid in fighting the vodyanoi earn thegrudging respect of the crew, especially that ofRythas.

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DMs should fudge events so that Rythas Star-breeze survives the battle. If the party of NPCs C O M I N G A S H O R Eseems too big, one or two of the Silvanesti orQualinesti troops can die in battle, just as long as Once the PCs make it to shore, read the following:the disguised Sivak remains alive. Optionally,when four of the vodyanoi are killed, the othertwo retreat back to their lair.

The sea water rushing into the boat sinks it inten combat rounds. Anyone with the Seamanshipproficiency can tell that the ship is doomed. Noamount of pumping will make it right. The Bright-blade is no more. For such occasions, there arefour small life boats, each of which can hold up toten people.

The Brightblade has its collision four miles offthe shore of the Plains of Kri in Southern Ergoth.Swimming to the shore is the best option if thereare not enough lifeboats.

If some PCs cannot swim or other some otherdisaster befalls them, have the affected PCs loseconsciousness as the waves toss them about.

The Sivak takes advantage of the confusion toensure that the elven guards of the diplomaticparty are reduced to one Qualinesti warrior andtwo Silvanesti warriors (one being the Sivak itself).

At last, your feet touch hard ground again! Thesandy beach is very short, and the lush green-ery of Ergoth greets you just a brief distanceaway from the edge of the beach.

Captain Starbreeze, hands on hips, looksaround, an expression of disgust on his face. “Ithought as much! Name a ship after a deadhuman and things come to no good! Thiscomes as no surprise to me!”

Rythas assembles his waterlogged survivingcrew. “Enough of this. Our obligations are ful-filled. Go on to Qualinost if you will. If you godue northwest you will reach the city soonenough. By my reckoning, it is 70 miles awayas the dragon flies. If you hug the coast, thejourney is 90 miles long, but it will be impossi-ble for you to get lost. My crew and I are goingto strike out to the east to the ruins of Shrengal.It is the closest point to the coast of Qualinesti,and often times a signal fire will catch theattention of passing Qualinesti vessels.”

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The crew begins filing behind their leader. “Iwish you a safe journey,” he says as he turnseastward and begins walking. Silently, hiscrew follows.

You are on your own.

If the PCs were washed ashore unconscious,they have lost some items and all of their money.DMs should determine what things are lost. Themost likely items are shields, swords, and spearsor other pole arms.

T R A V E L I N G O V E R L A N D

The party has two options. They can follow thecoast all the way to Qualimori, or they can takethe straight, direct route. Each option has its ownset of encounters. DMs can also roll for wanderingencounters as well.

HUGGING THE COAST

This takes longer than the straight route, since thecoast is irregular. However, with the sea always atthe PCs’ side, it is impossible to get lost.

TRAP DOOR TERRORS

Read the following aloud to the PCs:

The journey is pleasant enough that everyone’sspirits, while perhaps not jubilant, are at leastcordial. The grassy plain of Kri has no discern-able trails, but the directions are easy enough.The beach is always to your left.

The only ones in the diplomatic party whocan be described as irritated are the two Sil-vanesti ambassadors.

“This enterprise gets more difficult with eachpassing moment, ” Alor murmurs as Ladine sto-ically marches beside him. “What is to benext, in this untamed land of the Kagonesti?Perhaps the very earth itself will open up andswallow. . . .”

And Alor and Ladine are gone. Swallowedup by the earth.

The two Silvanesti elves have just walked overthe trap door of a trap door spider lair. Now thatsomeone has triggered it, the trap door is easilylocated.

Ordinarily, the spiders wait until someonepasses close to the trap door, then pop out, grab avictim, and drag it back to the lair. In this case, thespiders are actually waiting for victims to walkacross the trap door and fall in.

The lair is a ten-foot-diameter shaft, 130 feetdeep. There is a net of webs 70 feet down fromthe trap door, and it is here that the two elves havelanded and are now stuck fast. The spiders, lurk-ing 60 feet farther down at the bottom of the lair,immediately scramble up to the net and attack,trying to drag the elves down the shaft.

Giant Trap Door Spiders (6): AC 4; MV 3, Wb 12;HD 4+4; hp 28; THAC0 15; #AT 1; Dmg 2d4; SAwebs can be shot up to three feet away, acts as aweb spell; poison in bite requires a successful sav-ing throw vs. poison or suffer an additional 1d6points of damage; AL N; ML 9; XP 420

The spiders have no treasure.

A WHALE OF A PROBLEM

Read the following aloud to the PCs:

Your journey continues, with the poundingrhythm of the nearby surf in your ears. The aircarries the tang of salt.

A few minutes pass, and something is amiss.The tang of salt has gotten stronger, as if thesmell of fish has been added to it. The smell iscompounded by the odor of sweat. Cries andthe clash of metal echoes from up ahead,beyond a sand dune.

Once the PCs get over the dune, continue thedescription.

A huge whale lies beached on the surf. It is stillalive, but it appears to be in its death throes.Eight dark-blue-skinned elves labor with netsto drag the unfortunate creature back into thesea.

Ordinarily, this would not be a problem,except for the fact that a dozen ogres, obvi-ously fancying some seafood for their diets,are trying to eliminate the elves. A secondgroup of a half dozen dark blue elves wieldstridents and is trying to run interference fortheir laboring comrades.

One of the sea elves hazards a glance your

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way. The look on her face indicates that she isnot sure if you are friends or foes. Distrust, anda growing feeling of desperation, is reflected inher large violet eyes.

There are three elves and four ogres lying onthe sand.

The situation is fairly straightforward. The Dar-gonesti (sea elves) are trying to rescue a beachedwhale companion, while the ogres are intent onkilling the elves and eating the whale.

The PCs can either ignore the situation, help getthe whale out to sea, or fight the ogres. The whaledies in ten rounds if it is not put out to sea.

If a group of PCs with a combined strength of atleast 50 help, the whale is pushed out to sea intwo rounds.

The Dargonesti pulling the whale are openlydistrustful unless a PC says something to try to winthem over. lust walking over to the whale andhelping push achieves little. The sea elves will tryto drive them off. The Dargonesti’s suspicionsmust be removed first.

Ogres (12): AC 5; MV 9; HD 4+1; hp 25; THAC017; #AT 1; Dmg 1d10 (clubs); SA +2 to damage;AL CE; ML 13; XP 175

Each ogre has a large club and a sack with a fewrocks, 1d12 gp, 1d4 stl, and some dead game ani-mals. These ogres are a wandering band associ-ated with the ogres living in Daltigoth. This bandis on a campaign of raids in this area of Ergoth.They were sent by an ogre chief, who is rumoredamong the ogres to have close ties with somehuman from the Ansalonian mainland, far to thewest near Silvanesti.

If the ogres lose eight of their number, the restretreat to the northeast.

Dargonesti (14): AC 8; MV 9, SW 15 (30 as dol-phin); HD 1+1; hp 5; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg1d8+1 (trident, two hands); AL CG; ML 13; XP175

The Dargonesti are here to help the whale, andthat is all.

If the party helps get the whale back to sea, theDargonesti leader, an elf named Quool Akwom,gives the PCs three silver sea shells and says thefollowing:

“By your actions, you show that perhaps notall surface dwellers are as horrible as wethought. If someday you are sailing on the Sir-rion Sea and find yourselves in peril, drop oneof these shells into the ocean and say: ‘Wind,waves, storms, and gales, come and aid thefriends of whales!’ Aid will come to you. I giveyou three of these shells; know that each timeyou use one, you lose it forever. Once again,our thanks.”

The Dargonesti do not offer to escort the PCsanywhere, nor do the sea elves provide the partywith sea transportation to Qualimori. The shellsare payment enough.

Even mentioning to the Dargonesti that thegroup is heading to some negotiations involvingfellow elves fails to sway them.

“We care not for the land-dwelling elves as arace, and even less for their politics. Let themall talk until they run out of air. So long as theydo not meddle with the affairs of the sea, theirdoings matter little to us.”

THE DI R E C T ROUTE

This route is faster, since it travels in a straight linedirect to Qualimori. Unfortunately, there is nopath and no landmarks. Getting lost here is fareasier to do than if the PCs follow the coast.

A Direct ion Sense nonweapon prof ic iencycheck must be rolled every four hours of travel.

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

As the party crosses the grassy plain of Kri, theyencounter a Kagonesti temporary settlement.Unfortunately, the animosity between the Kagon-esti and the Silvanesti and Qualinesti causesproblems.

As you continue your march across the rollingplain of Kri, you develop an appreciation foryour surroundings. The plain is a verdant car-pet, broken up by the occasional small streamor copse. The terrain is somewhat flat, withonly the occasional gently sloping hill to givethe landscape some variety. All in all, it makes

for an extremely pleasant journey, one thatelves of all types can appreciate.

A group of figures comes bounding out of anearby copse. They look like elves, except thattheir skin is a dark brown color, decoratedwith painted designs. Clad in leather armorand waving war hammers over their heads, thewild elves, which you now recognize as such,ride bareback on stags. The nine Kagonestiride in circles around your party, whoopingand shouting.

Let the PCs have one round to react. The Kagon-esti are not making any signs of attacking, but theydo seem to be rather aggravated by your presence.The Kagonesti especially go out of their way tomake rude gestures at the Silvanesti ambassadors(and any Silvanesti PCs as well).

If the PCs decide to attack, a volley of 20 slingstones comes from the copse where the Kagonestiemerged. The whooping Kagonesti then close infor the attack.

If the PCs are trying to make out what theKagonesti are shouting about, a hearing check (ora hear noises percentile roll) reveals the following:

“Silvanesti worms! Not satisfied with takingour homelands, now you come here to driveus out of this land? Turn back! Turn back! Wewill move no more!”

If the PCs attempt to parley, they must roll a suc-cessful reaction roll to get the Kagonesti to standdown. If the Kagonesti are convinced, then theytake the PCs to their temporary village in thecopse. However, they must surrender theirweapons before entering.

The Silvanesti ambassadors are irritated at this.They have no patience for the Kagonesti and theirquirks. The DM should warn the players that Alorlooks ready to lose his temper and let loose with averbal barrage guaranteed to alienate the Kagon-esti and possibly bring harm to the party. TheQualinesti are taking it all in with grace, and withsome private amusement at seeing the Silvanestiso irritated.

The Kagonesti village is a temporary affair madeof tents camouflaged atop and underneath thetrees.. A large wooden platform rests in thebranches of the largest tree, and this is where theKagonesti hold their councils.

The chief of this tribe is Kylak Quickbranch. He

explains that his people initiated the encounterbecause he ordered them to make sure that theirsettlement was kept safe. The Kagonesti, on seeingSilvanesti, immediately chose to interpret Kylak’sinstructions in their own way.

If Kylak is told about the party’s purpose, hementions that he has heard about the Ergoth nego-tiations. In fact, many have heard, and manyknow that the diplomatic party is coming.

Kylak feels that the negotiations will do little forthe Kagonesti. He knows that the Kagonesti havesent a delegate or two, but he has little hope ofseeing a fair agreement reached.

If the PCs wish to spend the night, one tree’sworth of shelter is provided. The Silvanesti dele-gates are not too happy about this and prefer thejourney to resume.

The tribe has 80 members; 60 of them are com-batants.

Kagonesti: AC 8; MV 12 (15 if sprinting); F2; hp12; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d4+1 (war hammer),1d4 (sling stones); AL NG; ML 12; XP 175

Each Kagonesti tribesman has a war hammer, asling with 20 stones, leather armor, and a pouchthat holds their vials of body paint.

Chief Kylak Quickbranch: AC 6; MV 12 (15 ifsprinting); F7; hp 49; THAC0 14; #AT 3/2;Dmg 1d4+1 (war hammer), 1d4 (sling stones); ALNG; ML 14; XP 975

The chief has a war hammer, a sling with 20stones, leather armor +2, a cloak of elvenkind,and a bronze medallion on a leather thong (hissign of authority).

Kylak is a reasonable Kagonesti, but his mindstill dwells on the injustices perpetrated on hisrace by the other elves. He is very cautious andhard to fool.

The Kagonesti have no intention of escorting orjoining the party. They have their own affairs toattend to.

If the PCs ask for news of the area, the Kagonestiwarn them that the Rocklin Plains have “a seriesof woods that move from one place to another” aswell as a green dragon. Kylak also makes anoblique comment to the Silvanesti that “you willencounter something to show you how misguidedyou are.”

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MAP 18: TROUBLE ON THE

ROCKLIN PLAINS

As the party continues on its straight northwestcourse, they leave the Plains of Kri and enter theRocklin Plains.

In the late afternoon, as the party is crossing theplains, a rainstorm starts up. Fortunately, upahead, there is a grove of trees and a light from anopen window streaming from inside the grove.

Read aloud to the PCs:

As the sun begins to set in the west, dark stormclouds move in from the east. Lightning flashesacross the sky, followed by the rumble of thun-der. You feel a raindrop, then two, then three—then a whole downpour erupts.

Up ahead, you can make out a small forest.From inside the trees, a golden light streamsout. Smoke rises from an unseen but apparentchimney. Someone is burning pine logs.

“There! We go there!” Alor orders. “Weshall not travel in this downpour!”

Alor’s words, backed by a strong, quiet nodof assent from Ladine, leave no room for argu-ment, and so off to the woods you go.

As you approach the woods, you begin tomake out what lies beyond the trees. A stonehouse, two storeys high, stands alone. Smokepuffs from a chimney. Golden, warm lightspills from the windows.

Suddenly, the trees bow toward you andreach for you with their gnarly hands.

The trees are in fact evil treants. The plant crea-tures do not injure the party, but instead try torestrain them. They strike back, however, if any-one chops at them.

The treants ring the house. However, only onetreant attacks any one PC or NPC. In addition, thetreants animate one normal tree per PC and NPC.Thus, each member of the party has one treantand one animate tree to deal with. There are atotal of 48 normal trees growing around here.

Any remaining treants simply stay put and con-tinue to impersonate trees, not letting on that theytoo are treants.

Treants (25): AC 0; MV 12; HD 7; hp 35; THAC013; #AT 2; Dmg 2d8; SD Never surprised; AL LE;ML 16; XP 2,000

The treants (and the trees they animate) have aweakness about fire. All fire-based attacks againstthem gain a +1 bonus to the attack roll and a +4bonus to damage. In addition, saving throws vs.fire are rolled with a -4 penalty.

The treants are allies of the occupant of thehouse. The tree men try to use their strength torestrain the PCs until the occupant comes out. Thetreants each have an effective Strength of 20.Normal Animated Trees (40): AC 6; MV 3; HD12; hp 60; THAC0 9; #AT 2; Dmg 4d6; AL N; ML20; XP 2,000

The trees have an effective Strength of 18.Though there are 48 trees here, only 40 can be

animated. The other eight stay together and formthe supports for a huge mass of intertwinedbranches that serves as a lair for a green dragonally of the mage. The dragon is not home.

ENTER THE MAGE

After four rounds of combat, read the followingaloud to the PCs:

The front door of the house opens, throwingmore warm light into the gloom of the rain-soaked forest. A single hooded figure in robesstands s i lhouet ted in the doorway for amoment, then picks up a staff and begins towalk toward you.

The hooded figure’s robes are dark, a featureyou can tell as the stranger continues walkingtoward you with casual grace despite the rain.Lifting up an arm, it shouts “Sylveh elah!”

Anyone who speaks Silvanesti knows that thefigure just said “Trees, stop!” Continue reading (orparaphrasing):

Immediately, the trees halt their attacks, releas-ing any of your number that were caught. Thefigure walks up to your group, and plants itsstaff in the ground.

He removes his hood. A lightning flashshows you a Silvanesti elf, his silver hair tied ina ponytail.

“My apologies for the behavior of the trees,”the elf says in a calm voice. “Allow me to makeit up to you, by giving you the hospitality of myhouse. I am Alathere, mage, late of Silvanesti.”

Alathere begins walking back toward his house.If the PCs do not accept his offer and continue ontheir way, they are attacked later. If they refuse hisoffer and start attacking the trees anew, Alatheresays “Sylveh marek!” (Trees, kill!)

GUESTS OF THE DARK ROBE

If the PCs enter Alathere’s house, read the fol-lowing:

The first feeling you have is relief at havingobtained shelter from the cold rain. The largeliving room is warm and dry. Several lanternsshed light of the magical variety. A blaze burnsin the fireplace.

All around you, there are signs that Alathereis indeed a mage. Bookcases filled with books,shelves of odd knickknacks such as animalskulls and dragon scales, star maps and draw-ings of various dragons, all are decorationsthat reflect the taste of the occupant.

Alathere sits in a very comfortable chair.With a clap of his hands, some invisible force

takes your soggy cloaks and whatnot and car-ries them into the kitchen to dry off. A tray,carried by another invisible force, is set uponthe room’s table. The tray is laden with gobletsand a huge decanter of wine.

You watch in amazement as the decanterpours wine into each of the goblets, and thegoblets float toward you. One goblet floatstoward Alathere.

Alathere looks at the Silvanesti with greatinterest. His gaze passes over the Qualinesti,except for Laurana, whose form he appraisesfor a few heartbeats. “If you are hungry, dinnerwill be served later. If you need a place tosleep, the upstairs has some beds. But for now,sit and tell me who you are and how you cometo be here on such a gods-forsaken night,” theblack-robed elven mage says. “What couldpossibly possess Silvanesti, Qualinesti, andhalf-breeds to travel together?”

Of course, seeing a wizard in black robes maycause the PCs some alarm. They would not bereassured to know that Alathere already knowswho they are and why they are traveling through

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here. If they ask Alathere to say more about himself, he gives them a brief half-smile and nods.

“I am Alathere, a Silvanesti and a mage of theBlack Robes, as you can plainly see. This is myhouse.

“I came here from Silvanesti after that idiotLorac ruined the land. Word was that SouthernErgoth was a fine place for an elf to start over. Iwould have gone to Qualinesti, but the terri-tory was already choked with my fellow coun-trymen seeking refuge, and I desired someprivacy.”

If the PCs do not tell Alathere their mission,Ladine speaks up and loftily announces that thegroup is a diplomatic entourage heading toQualimori.

Upon hearing the party’s purpose, Alathere fur-rows his brow in slight disapproval and shakes hishead.

“Ah, I had heard that some sort of meeting wastaking place. A waste of time if you ask me.lust another bad decision by those who rulethe Silvanesti.

“First, the land gets ruined by our so-calledgood King Lorac, then his progeny engages inpursuing similar short-sighted policies. Whatwill it avail the Silvanesti to enter into negotia-tions to make Southern Ergoth a nation whereall elves submerge their racial identity? Whyshould a superior culture lower itself to thelevel of inferiors?

“And what will all of this do to the cause ofmagic and pursuing its secrets? No good, Iwould say.

“No, I am afraid that I cannot sit idly by andwatch my race fade in this manner,” Alatheredeclares, his chin set in firm resolve. “I simplycannot allow you people to go on with thistravesty.” Finally, a smile breaks out and herelaxes. “Ah, but it would be bad form for ahost to try to kill those who have accepted hishospitality, would it not? Pity.” He smilesagain.

Alathere does not attack the party while theyare in his house. In fact, he feeds them dinner(and breakfast, should they decide to stay) andsends them on their way.

The rainstorm ends an hour after midnight. If the

PCs choose to leave Alathere, they are certainlyfree to go.

AL A T H E R E�S HOUSE

This two-story stone building has an unusual fea-ture; the house is mobile. Alathere acquired thenecessary enchantment courtesy of a spell scroll.The scroll was obtained from a Black Robe arch-mage who was also working for the Green Drago-narmies.

The house moves by rising two feet off theground and g l id ing at Alathere’s command.Alathere must be inside the house and have nodistractions. The house moves at a rate of 30 feetper round.

The only room in this house that has any signifi-cance is Alathere’s room. The door is wizardlocked at 12th-level ability.

Inside lie Alathere’s spell books, his crystal ball,and a locked chest.

The chest contains 1,221 stl, four potions ofextra healing, one potion of gaseous form, and awand of lightning.

Alathere, Silvanesti Mage of the Black Robes,Specialist Mage (Enchantment/Charm): AC 1; MV12; Ml 2; hp 36; THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6(staff), 1d4 (dagger); MR 05%; Str 9, Dex 18, Con14, lnt 18, Wis 15, Cha 13; AL LE; ML 18; XP12,000

Alathere’s spell book includes the following.Asterisked spells are from his specialist school,and he must memorize at least one for each level.

Spells: 1st level— grease, unseen servant, charmperson*, friends*, taunt*, detect magic, identify,read magic, change self; 2nd level— bind*, forget*, ray of enfeeblement *, detect invisibility invisi-bility, mirror image, magic mouth, wizard lock;3rd level— ho/d person*, suggestion*, clairaudi-ence, clairvoyance, phantom steed, spectral force,dispel magic, non-detection; 4th level—charmmonster*, confusion*, emotion*, f ire charm*,magic mirror *, detect scrying, minor globe ofinvulnerability, polymorph other, polymorph self,wizard eye; 5th level— chaos*, domination*, fee-blemind*, passwall, teleport; 6th level— masssuggestion *, true seeing, death fog, controlweather, mislead

Equipment: robe of the archmagi, staff of strik-ing, dagger +3, ring of shooting stars, potion ofpolymorph self. Alathere also wears a belt bucklethat is carved in the shape of a green dragonhead. If he touches the buckle and says “Wythre,”

a green dragon (see below) comes to his aid in3d4 rounds.

Alathere is an evil elf, but he has a degree ofhonor and sophistication. He is not in favor of theErgoth negotiations.

When the War of the Lance raged, Alathere, dis-gusted with Lorac’s incompetence, allied himselfwith the Dragonlords, particularly with the GreenDragonarmy. The alliance was rather passive innature, as Alathere did not wish to raise a handagainst the Silvanesti people, except for Lorac andhis brood, whom he would gladly crush.

One result of his alliance with the Green Drago-narmy was acquiring a green dragon as a friend.The adult green dragon female is named Wythre,and she lives in the trees that surround Alathere’shouse. When the PCs began approachingAlathere’s area, he ordered Wythre to fly off andreturn either at midnight or when he commandedher to do so.

Alathere’s connection to the Sivak spy is actu-ally very slight. He agreed to monitor the Sivak’sprogress for the Green Dragonarmy, though theSivak does not know that Alathere is an ally. Allthe Sivak knows is that it must wear at all timesthe amulet given to it.

Regardless of the circumstances of the PCs’departure, four hours after they depart Alathere’shouse, the mage comes for them, riding on theback of his green dragon ally, complete with afancy saddle and other riding accessories. Whenhe attacks, he says:

"A thousand apologies, friends, but I must puta stop to your plans. Nothing personal, but theGreen Dragonarmy is depending on me, and I

would so hate to disappoint them."

Wythre, Adult Green Dragon: AC -1; MV 9, Fl 30(C), SW 9; HD 14; hp 98; THAC0 7; #AT 3 + spe-cial; Dmg 1d8+5/1d8+5/2d10+5; SA breathweapon chlorine gas 10d6+5; SD immune togasses; MR 15%; AL LE; ML 16; XP 8,000

Wythre’s special abilities include water breath-ing, suggestion three times a day

Spells: charm person, friendsW ythre’s lair consists of a huge bunch of

branches intertwined atop eight large trees, 45feet off the ground. There are 545 stl in the lair,but little else. Wythre is interested in learningmore magic, and it is magic that excites her.

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Optionally, the DM can still have the PCs runinto Alathere’s house even if the group takes thecoastal route. The house and the wood tend tomove around a lot.

NOTE: If the Sivak spy has already been foundout, Alathere gives no indication that he is inter-ested in the elves’ affairs. He holds back from giv-ing his opinions, and comes across as “merely” aBlack Robes mage.

Once the PCs have left, he summons Wythre,and they shadow the PCs all the way to Qualimoriand participate in the final attack.

T H E QU A L I M O R I W O O D S

No matter which route the PCs take, they eventu-ally wind up in the woods that surround the city ofQualimori. Once the PCs reach the woods, theymust travel north for about six miles.

The Qualimori woods exemplify the elven phi-losophy of harmony with nature, These woods arewell cared for. Any elf taking even a cursoryglance around can appreciate what the elves aredoing here. The woods are teeming with life:birds, small animals, insects. The underbrush iswell controlled, allowing wild flowers to growunhindered.

O B N O X I O U S G U E S T S

Unfortunately, the tranquility does not last long.At a point several miles from Qualimori, thewoods and undergrowth are so thick that travel isonly possible via a well-marked, well-maintainedpath.

As the PCs near the path, read the following:

The woods here have gotten thicker, but every-thing still looks as if careful, knowledgeablehands are guiding the growth. However, sothick is the plant life here that travel is onlypossible by a very obvious foot path.

However, before you can approach it, a sec-ond group comes from the east, emerging fromthe forest, on a course perpendicular to yours.

“One side, one side for the ambassador ofEmperor Mercadior Redic the Fifth, of theErgoth Empire!” a loud voice booms.

You turn to see a squad of six armoredknights on barded horses. They are surround-ing a bald, overweight man, overdressed in

finery and jewelry that looks out of place inthe woods. The man is riding a horse that isjust as over-decorated as he.

The lead knight looks down at your group.“One side, rabble, for someone of importancedeigns to use the path to go to yon city! Yourbusiness can wait!”

Things are about to go downhill rather quickly.Marek Windsong, the Qualinesti warrior, flusheswith anger and deliberately walks onto the pathand sets his hands on his hips. Laurana begs himto be careful.

The Silvanesti glares at the lead knight and says:

“Your impudence perhaps can be excused byyour immense ignorance. We are here on adiplomatic mission. It matters not who goesfirst, but you must show respect for our ambas-sadorial status.”

The Sivak, still in the guise of Aeryn the Sil-vanesti warrior, adds:

“Right! So stay your tongues, you pathetic, tin-wrapped fools! We care not for that bloatedsack of flesh you call an ambassador!”

The comment, deliberately planned by the Sivakto be antagonistic, is met with shock by the North-ern Ergothians, surprise by the other Silvanesti,and quiet amusement by the Qualinesti. Lauranaflushes a deep crimson.

The Imperial ambassador speaks.

“It would appear that these wild, uncivilizedelves and their lackey sell-swords need a lessonin etiquette, Ergoth style! Have at them, men,but only bruise them up a bit. No bloodshed.We are, after all, on a diplomatic mission!”

Ergoth Imperial Knights (6): AC 1; MV 9; Cv7; hp60; THAC0 14; #AT 3/2; Dmg 1d8+1 (heavylance), 1d8 (long sword), 1d6 (horseman’s mace);SA +2 to attack roll with lance, +1 to attack rollwith mace and sword); SD immune to fear, +4 onsaving throws vs. spell that affects the mind; ALLN; ML 15; XP 1,400

Each knight has field plate armor and shield,helmet, a heavy lance, long sword, and horse-man’s mace. Their horses wear plate barding.

The knights use their maces to strike the elvesand PCs senseless. If they accomplish this, theErgoth party takes the path and forgets about theelves. I f the PCs win, the Ergothians vowvengeance.

M A P 1 9 : Q U A L I M O R I

Two of the Qualinesti warriors who guard thehouse of Solostaran are Aurak draconians, whoambushed and slew the two actual guards andtook their places. The two Auraks attempt torecruit the Ergoth knights, by means of magic, inan attempt on the PCs and their charges.

This attack is timed to occur at the same timethat a group of ogres is supposed to make a raidon the Speaker’s house.

The ogres managed to sneak into the town cour-tesy of information supplied by the Auraks duringthe latters’ reconnaissance of the town’s outlayand guard patterns.

Read aloud to the PCs:

The city of Qualimori lies in front of you, nes-tled between the woods to the north and east,and the sea to the south and west.

Unfortunately, Qualimori is less like a mag-nificent elven city and more like a largecolony of wooden structures built up in thebroadleaf and spruce trees.

There are a few buildings of wood andstone, valiant attempts to capture the glory ofthe Qualinost, the city the elves left behind.These buildings are located on the ground,and include three inns and some mercantileestablishments.

In the exact center of town sits the house ofSolostaran, a huge wooden structure thatstands on the ground. Numerous Qualinestiguards mill about the entrance. Obviously, theappearance of your group has been expected.

As Laurana and Paran exchange pleasantwords with the guards, the Ergothian ambas-sadorial party arrives. Two of the Qualinestiguards, who chose not to make small talk, goover and talk to the Ergoth knights, the latter ofwhom stare daggers at your party. The Ergoth

ambassador pays no attention to the Qua-inesti guards, instead keeps busy by readingsome of his documents.

Whatever the two Qualinesti guards said tothe knights must have worked, because tenminutes after they began talking to the knights,the latter appear to have calmed them downdramatically. The knights look at you blandly,then lower their heads in apparent deepthought or perhaps embarrassment, it is hardto tell.

Any further speculation is ended as you areescorted to the audience hall by the two Qua-Iinesti warriors.

Laurana does not follow you. “I am going tomy room,” she whispers to Tanis. “I shall bealong later. Thank you for your service to myfather.” And with that, she is gone.

In the hall, you are amazed at the companyassembled. Solostaran, Speaker of the Suns,sits on his throne. At his feet, sitting to hisright, is his son Porthios, next in line for theposition of Speaker. The Lady Alhana Star-breeze, the Silvanesti Speaker of the Stars, sitsbeside Porthios. And lastly, a female Kagon-esti, adorned in a forest green shift borderedwith silver ivy, sits to Solostaran’s left, at hisfeet. There are two warrior escorts of each elftype—Kagonesti, Silvanesti, and Qualinesti,standing at attention and decked out in theirrespective races’ full ceremonial regalia. Eachtype of elf warrior stands at a discreet distancefrom their leaders.

The old Speaker beckons you into the room.“We lcome, d i s t i ngu i shed ambassadors ,friends, and of course, my offspring. I see thatthe gods gave you a safe journey.”

Solostaran gestures at the female Kagonesti.“This is leyl Summersdew, the Kagonesti’schosen representative for our talks. You are nodoubt familiar with Lady Alhana Starbreeze ofthe Silvanesti, as well as my son Porthios, whowill succeed me someday, someday soon.

“In any event, it is good that you all havemade it safely. We have much to discuss, anation of elves to assemble. And no sooner isthe nation established, than we have to dealwith the Emperor of Northern Ergoth. His rep-resentatives have been in our city for sometime now, and I grow weary of making excusesto not see them.

“Ah well, enough of such talk! Before we get

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involved in the negotiations, we must taketime....”

“Take time to die!” shouts the SilvanestiAeryn. You are amazed as his skin bursts opento reveal a Sivak draconian. “Theeeese negoti-ationnsssssaaaare terrrrminated!” it hisses.

The two Qualinesti guards who escorted youinto the audience hall transform into a pair ofAuraks.

A shout comes from outside, and the doorsburst open, admitting four of the Ergothianknights. “Die, elven scum!” they scream, bran-dishing their swords.

If Alathere is still alive, it is very possible that hefollows the PCs to Qualimori and attacks. In thiscase, Alathere has his crystal ball with him inorder to monitor the Sivak’s progress.

Auraks (2): AC 0; MV 15; HD 8; hp 41; THAC013; #AT 2; Dmg 1d8+2 (energy blast) x2; SA sulfurbreath weapon 2d10 points of damage andblinded for 1d4 rounds, a successful saving throwvs. breath weapon halves the damage and resultsin no blindness; SD +4 bonus to all saving throws;MR 30%; AL LE; ML 15; XP 6,000

The Aurak’s innate abilities include becominginvisible at will (which ends when it attacks);polymorph into any animal its size, three timesa day; change self three times a day to perfectlyimitate any human or humanoid it has seen,usually lasting 2d6+6 rounds; detect hidden andinvisible creatures within 40 feet at will; can seethrough all illusions; cast dimension door threetimes a day, 60 yard range; can mind controlone creature of equal or fewer Hit Dice for 2d6rounds; cast suggestion if concentrates for a fullturn.

Spells (cast at 8th-level ability): 1st level—enlarge, shocking grasp; 2nd level— ESP, stinkingcloud; 3rd level— blink, lightning bolt; 4th level—fire shield, wall of fire

When Auraks reach 0 hit points, they do notdie. Instead, they cover themselves in greenflames and goes into a fighting frenzy (+2 bonusto attack and damage rolls). Anyone comingwithin three feet of the flames suffers 1d6 points ofdamage unless a successful saving throw vs. petri-fication is rolled.

Qualinesti Warriors (2): AC 5; MV 12; F2; hp 14;THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 (long sword), 1d6

(flight arrows); AL NG; ML 13Silvanesti Warriors (2): AC 5; MV 12; F2; hp 14;THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d10 ( two-handedsword), 1d6 (flight arrows); AL CC; ML 13

Kagonesti (2): AC 8; MV 12 (or 15 if sprinting); F2;hp 12; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d4+1 (war ham-mer), 1d4 (sling stones); AL NG; ML 12; XP 175

Ironical ly , the remainder of the Ergothianknights were unaffected by the Aurak’s mind con-trol, but the Qualinesti guards do not allow theminto the audience hall for fear that the knights willreinforce their fellows.

RUNNING THE BA T T L E

The Sivak leaps for Solostaran, one Aurak goes forleyl, and the other attacks Alhana Starbreeze, afterboth have discharged their lightning bolt spells atthe PCs and the warrior guards.

The draconians are hoping for a swift strike totake out the heads of state and ambassadors,thereby utterly ruining the negotiations.

The knights engage the party and run interfer-ence for the draconians.

The two warriors of each elf type immediatelyinterpose themselves between their charges andthe draconians. They are cut down rather quickly.

F U R T H E R CO M P L I C A T I O N S

Once it seems that the PCs are getting the upperhand in the battle, read the following:

A loud scream comes from the southwest, dis-cernable even over the din of battle. A singlevoice, that of an elven female, screams"Tanis!"

The ogres smashed through the wooden walls ofthe Speaker’s house, in the vicinity of Laurana’sroom. She is being threatened by the entire group.Though she is giving a good account of herself,she is vastly outnumbered.

Laurana is down to half her hit points. If she isnot relieved, she is rendered unconscious and car-ried away by the ogres to Daltigoth, where sheneeds to be rescued if the PCs ever want to seeher again.

When any PCs (ideally including Tanis) race toher side, read the following:

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The westernmost hallway leading south is cov-ered with wood debris, as well as two deadogres. Ten more ogres are engaged in battleagainst a desperate Laurana. She hazards aglance at you, her eyes wide with fear.

Ogres (10): AC 5; MV 9; HD 4+1; hp 25; THAC017; #AT 1; Dmg 1d10 (clubs); SA +2 to damage;AL CE; ML 13; XP 175

Once the battle ends, there is still a large messto clean up with the Ergothians. If the PCs wish tohelp in calming ruffled feathers, all reactions suf-fer a +4 penalty on the Encounter Reactions Table.

PO S S I B L E VARIANT

Even if the Sivak spy has been caught, the Auraksand the ogres still attack. In this case, Alathereshould definitely participate in the attack if he isstill alive.

C O N C L U S I O N

Read the following to the PCs:

When the dust of the battle clears, all that isleft is to attend the wounded and mourn thedead. Eventually, the Qualinesti guards find thehidden bodies of two of their comrades, killedby the Auraks, who then took their shape.

Solostaran looks more weary than ever. “Theviolence never stops,” he sighs, as he addressesthe assmebly. “Spies are everywhere. So manybeings wish to see us fail in our endeavors.This is why we must band together, and buildan elven nation that preserves our individualheritages and freedoms.

“We have seen all three elf races, plus evenhalf br...half-elves and humans, all workingtogether to overcome a common foe. Let usnot forget this lesson, as well as the larger les-son of the recent war. I know not how thesenegotiations will turn out, since the gods havenot given me foresight. I only wish to seepeace and unity reign at last.”

Laurana pulls Tanis aside, out of sight of the oth-ers. Read the following to Tanis.

Laurana holds your hands in hers. “I can thinkof one union whose time is nearly at hand,”she murmurs with a half smile. “We both havegrown, Tanis, and it has helped us to becomebetter people. Let us hope that such maturitywill make our love even stronger.

“We have done a good work here. Not onlyhave we shown that the different elf races canand must work together, but I think we alsoshowed my family that you and I belongtogether. Still, until the day when we maymarry without hinder, let this be a token ofthings to come.” Laurana leans over and givesyou a single chaste but warm kiss on thecheek.

With a smile, she turns and heads into theaudience hall, ready to begin work as adiplomat.

91

CARAMON MA J E R EMale Human12th-Level FighterLawful Good

STR 18/63 Hit Points: 95DEX 11 AC: -1CON 17 THAC0: 9INT 12WIS 10CHA 15

Appearance: Sturdy, big, handsome man, feelings easilyshown across face

languages: Common, PlainsmanWeapon Proficiencies: Long sword (specializes), bas-

tard sword, dagger, hand axe, spear, staffNonweapon Proficiencies: Blacksmithing (STR), Car-

pentry (STR), Fire Building (WIS/-1), Reading/WritingCommon (INT/+1), Riding Land-Based (WIS/+3), Sur-vival (INT), Swimming (STR), Blind-fighting, Hunting(WIS/-1)

Equipment: plate mail +1, shield +2, long sword +1,helmet, dagger, backpack

Background: Caramon Majere is the twin brother ofRaistlin Majere. He is an open, trusting individual,cheerful and personable.

Caramon and Raistlin were raised by their half-sisterKitiara. The twins feel loyalty and affection toward her,

RAISTLIN MAJEREMale Human11th-Level MageNeutral (Evil)

STR 10 Hit Points: 35DEX 16 AC: 5CON 10 THAC0: 17INT 17WIS 14CHA 10

Appearance: Sickly man with gold skin, silver hair, andhourglass shaped pupils

languages: Common, Magius, Qualinesti, Plainsman,Solamnic, Hill Dwarf

Weapon Proficiencies: Staff, daggerNonweapon Prof ic ienc ies: Riding Land-Based

(WIS/+3), Reading/Writ ing Common, Qualinesti,Magius (INT/+1), Herbalism (INT/-2), Spellcraft (INT/-2), Ancient History (lNT/-1)

Equipment: Black robes, backpack, spell books, Staff ofMagius: acts as a ring of protection +3, the staff has a+2 attack roll bonus and inflicts 1d8 points of dam-age. It can save its owner by casting feather fall. Onceper day, the staff creates continual light, 60’ radius.When used by a mage of 6th level or higher, the staffdoubles spell durations, adds +2 points of damageper die rolled, and maintains spells for one roundafter concentration is broken.

though things have gotten a little rough with Kitiara’staking up with the armies of Takhisis.

Before and during the War of the Lance, Caramontook care of his frail brother Raistlin. Caramon feelsgreat responsibility for his brother, but he cannot under-stand his cynicism.

Caramon loves adventure and a good challenge. Heis someone who needs to have something to occupy histime. Caramon has grown so accustomed to beingneeded by Raistlin that he now needs to be needed. Ithelps his self-esteem.

Tanis is a good friend of Caramon’s; he finds River-wind to be a bit standoffish.

The object of Caramon’s affections is Tika Waylan.Tika tends to be reckless and needs someone like Cara-mon to watch over her. The two get married about ayear after the War of the Lance.

The staff recharges one charge per hour in the light ofSolinari (up to eight points per evening). The staff cancarry 20 charges.

Spells: Raistlin can memorize spells in the followingschools:

Abjuration, Alteration, Conjuration/Summoning,Enchantment/Charm, Greater Divination, Invoca-tion/Evocation,Necromancy

Spell Progression: Four 1st level, four 2nd level, four3rd level, three 4th level, and three 5th level

Background: Raistlin is the twin of Caramon Majere.Both boys were raised by Kitiara, their half-sister. Bornsickly and frail, Raistlin was constantly being tended toby Caramon. Though Raistlin loves his brother, he isangered by his protectiveness. Lacking his brother’sstrength, Raistlin resolved to be strong of mind, andtook up the study of magic.

Raistlin has a strong sense of justice and cannot toler-ate bullies. He is cynical and not overly fond of people.

Alleran Waylan taught the young Raistlin some rudi-mentary magic. Raistlin admires Tika for her spunk andher efforts to prove herself.

R I V E R W I N DMale Human11th-Level RangerLawful Good

STR 18/35 Hit Points: 62DEX 16 AC: 3CON 13 THAC0: 10INT 13WIS 14CHA 13

Appearance: Tall, stern-looking, long black hairlanguages: Common, Plainsman, Qualinesti, Hil l

DwarfWeapon Proficiencies: Long sword (specializes), short

bow (specializes), daggerNonweapon Proficiencies: Direction Sense (WIS/+1),Tracking (WIS), Survival (INT), Riding Land-Based(WIS/+3), Running (CON/-6), Swimming (STR)Equipment: leather armor +1, shield +1, long sword+2, dagger +1, short bow, 12 flight arrows, 12 sheafarrows, backpack

Special Abilities: Hide in Shadows 70%, Move Silently86%. Can fight two-handed if wearing leather orlighter armor. Chosen enemy: draconians (+4 bonusto attack rolls). Riverwind can easily discern qualityof domestic or non-hostile animals.Spells: Riverwind can learn clerical spells from the

Animal and Plant Spheres. He casts them at 4th-level

G O L D M O O NFemale Human11th-Level ClericLawful Good

STR 12 Hit Points: 46DEX 14 AC: 5CON 12 THAC0: 14INT 12WIS 16CHA 17

Appearance: Beautiful woman with ruddy skin andgolden hair

languages: Common, Qualinesti, Plainsman, Hil lDwarf

Weapon Proficiencies: Staff, sling (specializes)Nonweapon Proficiencies: Riding Land-Based (WIS/+3),

Healing (WIS/-2), Animal Handling (WIS/-1), AnimalLore (INT), Musical Instrument (Lyre) (DEX/-1).

Equipment: Golden circlet, lyre, backpack, leatherarmor, cloak of protection +3, sling +1, Medallion ofFaith (Mishakal): the medallion allows Goldmoon todetect evil, though Goldmoon must touch an evilthing with it in order to detect, and once per day, themedallion can do the following:Bless (60-yard range for 6 rounds)Protection from Evil, 10-foot radiusSlow Poison (as long as the poison victim wears themedallion, he suffers no ill effects from the poison for

ability.Spell Progression: two 1st level, two 2nd level

Background: A former member of the Que-Shu tribe,Riverwind and Goldmoon were teleported away as theywere about to be stoned by their own people for blas-phemy.

Riverwind is called “far hunter.” He is a man of fewwords, preferring quick action instead. He distrustsstrangers, but is a loyal friend and quickly helps a com-rade in need. Riverwind harbors a long-standing distrustof magic.

Goldmoon is his wife. He is extremely protective ofGoldmoon and loves her deeply, though he sometimeshas doubts about his own worthiness.

one day). Staff of Mishakal: The staff is sentient (Intelli-gence 13, Ego 10) and of Lawful Good alignment. Thestaff strikes as a +3 weapon; for each attack the user canchoose to spend one, two, or three charges to inflict +3,+6, or +9 (respectively) to damage. The staff can castany of the following, costing two charges per spell level.

1st: Command, cure light wounds, remove fear3rd: Continual l ight, cure blindness, cure disease,remove curse5th: Cure crit ical wound, raise dead, teleport (15charges)7th: Restoration, resurrection, deflect dragon breath (10charges)

The staff can hold up to 20 charges, recharging in thelight of Solinari at the rate of one charge per day.

Spells: Goldmoon can cast clerical spells from thefollowing Spheres: All, Astral, Charm, Creation, Divina-tion, Guardian, Healing, Necromantic, Sun

Spell Progression (includes Wisdom bonus): Seven1st level, six 2nd level, four 3rd level, three 4th level,two 5th level

Background: Goldmoon was the daughter of thechief o f the Que-Shu t r ibe. Though betrothed toanother, she fell in love with Riverwind, When River-wind completed a quest to determine his worthiness,the tribe tried to stone him for blasphemy. Goldmoonintervened and would have been stoned, but the staffteleported them to safety.

Goldmoon is married to Riverwind, and they haveone child. Goldmoon is pure of heart, gentle, anddeeply religious.

TANTHALAS �TANIS� HALF-ELVENMale Half-Elf11th-Level FighterNeutral Good

STR 16 Hit Points: 71DEX 16 AC: 1CON 12 THAC0: 10INT 12WIS 13CHA 15

Appearance: Tanis has rust red hair and a beard. He isof average height and build. Despite being a half-elf,he looks human.

languages: Common, Qualinesti, Hill Dwarf, Plains-man, Gnome, Kender, Goblin, Hobgoblin

Weapon Proficiencies: Long sword, long bow (special-izes), dagger, staff

Nonweapon Proficiencies: Read/Write Common, Qua-linesti (INT/+1), Bowyer (DEX/-1), Hunting (WIS/-1),Riding Land-Based (WIS/+3), Swimming (STR).

Equipment: leather armor +2, shield +2, long sword +2,long bow, 10 flight arrows, 10 sheaf arrows, dagger,backpack

Background: Tanis was raised as a ward of Solostaran,the Speaker of the Suns of Qualinost, and he grew upwith Gilthanas and Laurana. Gilthanas became a goodfriend, and Laurana became his passion. After a falling

KALIN �TA S S L E H O F F� BURRFOOTMale Kender12th-Level HandlerNeutral

STR 13DEX 16CON 14INT 9WIS 12CHA 11

Hit Points: 44AC: 1THAC0: 15

Appearance: Measuring in at 3’9”, Tasslehoff resemblesa pointy-eared boy with a top knot on his head. Thisis by no means a common kender hairstyle.

languages: Common, Kender, Hill Dwarf, Qualinesti,Gnome, Goblin

Weapon Proficiencies: Hoopak, daggerNonweapon Proficiencies: Read/Write Common,

Kender, and Hill Dwarf (INT/+1), Juggling (DEX/-1),Jumping (STR), Tumbling (DEX)

Equipment: hoopak +2, leather armor +2, ring of pro-tection +3, thieves’ picks and tools, leather map case(stuffed), pen, ink, paper, backpack, pouches, dozensof odds and ends

Thieving Abilities: Pick Pockets 95%, Open Locks 82%,Find/Remove Traps 80%, Move Silently 95%, Hide inShadows 87%, Hear Noise 45%, Climb Walls 99%,Read Languages 65%

out with his adopted family, he left Qualinesti in orderto learn about his human heritage.

In his travels, he encountered and fell in love withKitiara, half-sister of Caramon and Riverwind.

Tanis stood out as one of the great heroes of the Warof the Lance.

Tanis is a kind man and a natural leader, though heoften regrets the burden of leadership. Heroic and self-sacrificing, he is embarrassed at any lavish attentionpaid to him.

Neither elven nor human, Tanis struggles with hisidentity. He feels at home in neither world, and has selfdoubts about his worth as a result.

Tanis is one of the few people to get close to River-wind. He tries to understand Raistlin, and sympathizeswith the mage’s hard life. Tanis is a friendly, trustingman, and none of his friends are aware of his inner tur-moil.

Background: Tasslehoff was born in northern Kender-more (Goodlund), a member of the Stoat clan. He wasstricken with wanderlust at age 16 and left home tocomplete the “great map” of Krynn. He met Flint andTanis when he was examining a bracelet from their mar-ket stall and “forgot” to put it back.

The things Tas went through during the War of theLance were enough to make a normal adventurer quailwith fright. Still, Tas is not obsessed with his accom-plishments during the War. . . the shiny bracelet on thatlady’s wrist, now that’s another matter completely!

Tas is insatiably curious and almost completely fear-less, two attributes common to most kender. He is oftenas amazed as anyone at the objects he finds in his pock-ets. Tas has a 5% chance to have some knowledge onany given subject, something he picked up from hisscholarly parents.

Tas is loyal to his companions, though he can some-times be annoying to them. If anyone loses patienceand yells at him, however, his feelings get hurt.

TIKA WAYLAN MA J E R EFemale Human10th-Level Fighter/3rd-Level ThiefNeutral Good

STR 14DEX 16CON 13INT 9WIS 12CHA 14

Hit Points: 60AC: -2THAC0: 11

Appearance: A wiry, freckled girl with curly auburn hairand an air of innocence, despite her attempts to lookworldly

languages: Common, PlainsmanWeapon Proficiencies: Short sword, dagger, club, short

bow, spearNonweapon Proficiencies: Cooking (I NT), Read/Write

Common (INT/+1), Swimming (STR), Riding Land-Based (WIS/+3), Fire Building (WIS/-1)

Equipment: plate armor, shield +2, short sword +2, dag-ger, heavy frying pan (1d6/1d4), backpack, father’sring on chain around neck

Thieving Abilities: Pick Pockets 40%, Open Locks 38%,Find/Remove Traps 30%, Move Silently 27%, Hide inShadows 20%, Detect Noise 15%, Climb Walls 87%,Surprise Backstab +4 to hit, double damage

Background: Tika was trained to be a cat burglar by

G I L T H A N A SMale Qualinesti Elf5th-Level Fighter/9th-Level MageChaotic Good

STR 12 Hit Points: 30DEX 16 AC: -6CON 12 THAC0: 16INT 14WIS 10CHA 13

Appearance: A slender, handsome Qualinesti withblonde hair and hazel eyes, has a ready smile and aglib tongue

languages: Qualinesti, Common, Silvanesti, Gnome,Kender, Goblin, Hobgoblin

Weapon Proficiencies: Long sword (sp), long bow, staff, d a g g e r

Nonweapon Proficiencies: Hunting (WIS/-1), Spellcraft(INT/-2), Read/Write Common, Qualinesti (INT/+1),Riding Land-Based (WIS/+3), Swimming (STR)

Equipment: plate mail +4, shield +2, long sword +3,long bow, 20 flight arrows, spell books, backpack

Spells: Gilthanas can memorize spells from the follow-ing schools:Abjuration, Alteration, Conjuration/Summoning,Enchantment/Charm, Greater Divination, Invoca-tion/Evocation

her con-man father, Alleran. Unfortunately, due to herfear of heights, she was a failure. She stole a ringbelonging to a nobleman, who sought it back. Alleraninterceded on her behalf, and neither man was seenagain. Tika was left to live off her skills as a thief, and itwas in that capacity that she met Otik Sandath, whooffered her a job as a barmaid. Otik became her family,and it was at Otik’s inn, the Inn of the Last Home, thatshe met her future companions.

Tika served well in the War of the Lance, and fell inlove with Caramon.

Tika tries to project a tough exterior, but this rarelyworks. She is a lot more vulnerable and naive than shewould like to admit. She is fascinated by magic, and haslearned a little sleight of hand.

Inexperienced at romance, she is confused aboutlove, though she already knows that she dislikes boast-ful men, preferring instead the thoughtful, quiet ones.

Spell Progression: four 1st level, three 2nd level,three 3rd level, two 4th level, one 5th level

Background: Gi l thanas is the second son ofSolostaran, Speaker of the Suns in Qualinost. His elderbrother is Porthios, and his younger sister is Laurana.

When Tanis lived with Solostaran, Gilthanas becamefast friends with the half-elf. However, he has opposedTanis and Laurana’s love and still does so, though itpains him to do so. Gilthanas still prizes Tanis’s friend-ship, but the fact that Tanis is a half-elf with no royalheritage makes the Qualinesti elf uneasy.

Gilthanas is brave, charming, and has a great love ofadventure. He is always concerned about protocol,which sometimes annoys others around him. Althoughhe tends to be short-sighted and narrow-minded, he isbasically honest, just, sensitive and well-meaning.

Porthios has no patience for his younger brother’slove of adventure.