1.4 THE DUNGEON (1) This huge (15' high, 20' wide) stone arch is constructed of a black stone not like any ever seen on this world. A hazy, opaque mist is floating within the arch, blocking both view and entry. This arch is the subject of a long-lost spell, SEAL. The description for this spell can be found at the end of the module, but the basic gist of it is this: any character who passes through the arch will find him/herself in the area that is Xusia's lair, and will not be able to escape through any means, physical or magical, without the leave of Xusia (or his destruction). A scrying or commune spell will reveal the basic nature of the arch and the risk that one undertakes by going through it. There is, however, something to spur the party on. After gazing at the mists for any more than ten seconds, they might notice some of the mist congealing in front of the arch. Within thirty more seconds, this random mist will have become a roughly humanoid, twenty-foot tall mist golem, which will attack the party. MIST GOLEM: ac special, hd 21, hp 80, thac0 3, dam choking, sa engulfs, sd immune to physical attacks and most magic, size L, al neutral. This golem can only be affected by wind or air, as follows: a gust of wind will cause it 3-30 points of damage and stun it for one round. The attacks of an air elemental or djinni will cause it normal damage. Other spells or creatures of similar nature will inflict similar damage to the golem, at the DM's discretion. Such attacks or effects may move trapped persons out of the golem's mists - also at the DM's discretion. Each time the golem hits (for it only attacks two people per round), it engulfs the target, blocking all air flow. In two rounds, such a victim will be unconscious from lack of air, and in four rounds, he will be dead. One with a necklace of adaption or similar item can survive within the golem, but cannot escape and may die of starvation instead. The golem can easily have six people engulfed and choking simultaneously. It will attack the nearest people first, and invisibility or mirror images will not fool it for a moment. Note that the golem's form mutates as it gets more victims - it goes from being a rough humanoid to a large, spread-out cloud of dense gas. This is how it can suffocate several people at the same time while still being immune to physical attack. Also note that engulfed characters cannot move through the arch (the permeability of its mists is linked to the state of the golem). Should the mist golem manage to kill the entire party, it will toss all the bodies through the arch, to be put to use by Xusia. If the party is able to dissipate the golem somehow, perhaps they may be inspired to go ahead through the arch anyway. If they flee into the elevator room, then they will be cornered in there. The elevator will not move unless all characters go through the arch, and then it will close and rise back to the surface. Nothing that the party does will be able to move this device back up to the keep. Also note that a new mist golem will form every hour until there is nobody left in the hallway leading to the arch. If the party chooses to enter the mists, read them this: ______________________________________________________________________ | As you enter the mists, your skin tingles and you feel somewhat | | queasy. Black spots dance in front of your eyes as you see many | | visions flash before them. These brief and hazy images depict | | stony tombs, dusty crypts, and dark graveyards. You smell a smell | | not unlike that of freshly unearthed corpses...Then you realize | | that you have emerged from the mists and are in a huge chamber. | | You are immediately impressed with the size of the place. The | | ceiling stretches perhaps fifty feet above your heads. There is a | | wall behind your backs, and four huge tunnels branch away from you | | in different directions. The central room that you are in is semi- | | circular, with an approximate radius of a hundred feet. You hear | | faint cries of despair from the passages. | |______________________________________________________________________| (2) About twenty feet in front of the party is a statue on a pedestal. It is a fairly detailed impression of a king, except that the figure is skeletal, and the stately robes are torn and rotted. The lich-king is holding in its hands an open book, facing the party, and graven into this part of the statue are some words of interest; they will appear to each viewer in his or her or its native language : There are three keys for one door. Each is under the protection of a fearsome guardian. If you would face me, then you will need to find all three of these keys...if you can. Otherwise, you can die and become additions to my army. So many others have before you. You shall soon regret whatever folly led you down here. Your puny weapons and magic items will become new additions to my extensive collection of such toys. There is no escape for you, only death... and undeath. XUSIA Lord of the Un-dead Future ruler of the world If the party for some reason should see fit to vandalize the statue, it will simply vanish. There are four huge tunnels leading out of here (areas 3, 16, 22, 27). All are fifty feet in diameter and semicircular. They are composed of a dull black stone of some kind, and the air is somewhat chilly as well (about 60 degrees F...). The smell of decay is present everywhere. The big tunnels all go on for about two hundred feet before ending in large bronze doors, except for the rightmost (area 27), which ends in the door that requires the three keys. All of the tunnels, and the rooms down here (unless otherwise noted) have 30' high ceilings and slightly moldy walls. (3) This particular tunnel ends with a fifteen foot high bronze door. It is eight feet wide. Upon the door is inscribed, in a long-lost and sinister-looking script, "Beyond lies the final resting place of the clan of House Deakus. There has never been a more malicious family - in life or in death. The family that slays together, stays together." The door can be opened without any trouble. (4) In this room are several bodies: elderly human mage, left leg and arm gone, has broken wand of frost tall elven fighter/thief, head missing, many cuts and bruises, has a dagger +1 and a quiver of broken arrows gnomish illusionist, flattened like a pancake, several crushed potions are in a backpack dwarven fighter, plate mail is crushed into body, broken battleaxe in hands, bent shield +2 nearby ogre magi, chest is excavated, still intact are his boots of elvenkind lizard man warrior, chopped in three, has huge sword snapped in half human priest, imbedded in the west wall inside a crater, robe +4 is shredded beyond repair, mace +2 lies on floor nearby human fighter, back snapped like a twig, no items There are signs of battle but no undead bodies (they got dragged away for recycling). This party was the first of the two who ventured here, and they were defeated by the skeletal warriors in room 5. Xusia ordered his undead to take all of their items but to leave their bodies here as a demoralizer for others (he has quite enough adventurer bodies already). The second party, incidentally, made it all the way to Xusia'a inner sanctum (detailed later) before perishing. A single door leads to room 5. The occupants of that room will emerge before the party opens the door, and pour forth to attack. The door is 25' high and forged of old iron; it opens outward (toward the party). (5) This room is the lair of six skeletal giants (storm giants that is) who will try their best to stomp the characters into the ground. STORM GIANT SKELETONS: ac -2 (plate +3), hd 19+, hp 152 each, thaco 3, dam var + 12 + var, sd half damage from edged weapons, standard undead immunities, turn as Special undead due to amulets. The giants are armed as follows: #1: Gigantic two-handed sword +2, laced with poison +4 4d10+12+2+P #2: Gigantic battle axe +3, of sharpness 4d8+12+3 #3: Gigantic two-handed sword +2, of wounding 4d10+12+2 #4: Gigantic polearm +1, laced with poison +4 12d6+12+1+P #5: Gigantic mace +5 4d6+4+12+5 #6: Gigantic hammer +3 4d6+12+3 These giant skeletons are an example of one of the more useful powers of Xusia's scepter - the ability to convert miscellaneous dead monsters into undead under his control (the battle in which he defeated the six giants is a story unto itself). The party is welcome to take the giants' magical armor and weapons, but they are far too big to be of any use, except maybe to giants. The amulets versus turning are evil, and should be destroyed by any good-aligned priest (for 2000 xp apiece). A door leads to room 6. (6) This spherical room has no walkway, so the characters will have to just slide down the sloped surface of the wall/floor. Floating in the center of the chamber (which is a hundred feet in diameter) is a ten-foot diameter white sphere. If touched, it will explode and release a gas which will have a different effect on each party member (roll randomly): 1: poison, of extreme potency (-4 on saves), save still takes 3d10 hp 2: sleep, save at -4, lasts for 20-80 rounds 3: permanent insanity, save at -3, roll a confusion roll each round 4: paralyzation, save at -3, lasts 10-40 rounds 5: withering, save at -3, affects a random limb, requires a Heal to cure 6: weakness, save at -4 or lose 10 Strength points for 30 rounds A door in the ceiling leads to area 7. (7) This hallway has one end at the hatch down to area 6. The other end is forty feet away, and is an iron alloyed, magnetic wall of great power. This strange wall will snatch anyone clad in metallic armor as soon as they enter through the hatch, and pull them down the corridor to slam into the wall with great force, equal to triple the weight of any metal they are wearing or carrying. Thus, a character in plate mail would almost certainly be pulled to the wall without hope of resisting; one in chain would also be pulled, but with less force; someone carrying a sword might have the weapon torn from his/her grasp. Hitting the wall inflicts damage equal to 1d10 hp per 100 lbs. of metal carried. Any metallic items will be stuck onto the far wall. Metallic items within pockets or backpacks or sacks will either rip a hole in the containers or drag the character to the wall, depending on the strength of the container... One round after the room is entered, the wall right next to the hatch will sprout many three-foot long steel spikes and begin to slide toward the magnetic wall. It moves twenty feet per round, so within one minute and fifty seconds, anybody still pinned to the wall will be fatally speared and killed. Real time is suggested here - start a timer when the wall starts to move. The wall moves with 800 lbs. of force, which means that anyone who can heft 800 lbs. can stall it if a suitable anchor is found. Various magical means may work as well. The spikes are spaced about six inches apart, and cover the 10' x 10' wall; each one can be bent with a successful bend bars/lift gates roll. There is a secret door in the ceiling right above the magnetic wall, which leads to room 8. (8) This is just a hallway. (9) This room is accessed via the hallway. After all party members are inside the room, the door will shut and become flush with the wall all around it. The room is shaped like a cylinder, of ten foot radius and forty feet high. Twenty feet up is an iron grate blocking further ascension. This grate has inch-thick bars and is securely mounted in the wall around it. There are square gaps between the bars (three inches on a side). The grate can be bent by a successful bend bars/lift gates roll with a penalty of -25% applied. There are four rotted bodies on the floor here and another clinging to the grate. None have anything interesting, though. As soon as the entry door is gone, millions of tiny holes in the wall will begin to exude water. The water will rise rather rapidly (ten feet per minute) so in two rounds it will pass the grate level and some of the party may be drowned. Note that it is not possible to attempt to bend the grate unless the character doing so is somehow anchored so he can exert leverage on the grate. There may be other ways to avoid drowning as well. Also, there is a drain in the floor, which is closed right now. It would require a normal (unpenalized) bend bars/lift gates roll to tear this away and drain out all the water, but the drain is not readily visible since it is closed. The drain holes are very tiny and lead nowhere significant; even if the drain is uprooted, a narrow pipe leads down into porous ground (not a viable escape route). Any truly persistent characters who use gaseous form or such means of moving into the drains will find that they cannot advance further than about three hundred feet in any direction (an effect of the SEAL spell). The water will only rise to a thirty foot level. There is an open tunnel in the ceiling, with rungs leading up to room 10. (10) The rungs go up and over a stone lip which is at one end of this passage. There is a pit trap about twenty feet out from the lip; it is only 50' deep and filled with poisoned spikes (damage is 5d10+6d4+poison). The poison is contact poison, save at -3 or die, otherwise take 2d10 hp. Even the slightest pressure on the hallway floor will trigger this trap. Lying on the floor of the pit is a ring of mammal control, covered with grime so as to be unnoticable unless someone searches the floor. There are also three mangled skeletons in rotted clothes impaled on some of the spikes. One was a human fighter, one a human mage, and one an elven thief. Xusia does not often clear the victims from this pit since it is a lot of trouble. A door at the end of the passage has explosive runes on its doorknob. These runes will do 4d6+6 damage to anyone who uses the doorknob to try to open the door. A safe way to get by is to tap out the hinge pins and simply not use the knob at all. Behind the door is a fork, leading to areas 11 and 14. (11) This tunnel appears to shrink into a point, rather like a cone on its side. If the characters walk toward the "end", however, the tunnel will always appear to be "normal" sized. This is because the tunnel shrinks anything that goes through it. It is two hundred feet long and each ten feet traversed will shrink things by one-twentieth of their full size. At the far end of the tunnel, a six foot character will be about three inches tall though he may not notice this fact. There is a "normal" sized door at the end of the tunnel, leading to area 12. The effect will reverse if the tunnel is traversed the other way, so the party will return to normal. It should be obvious to anyone who looks back and sees the gigantic walls behind them that something is afoot here... (12) This room contains a skeletal cat. Yes, a cat. A kitten to be exact. It is a one hit dice monster, but since it was put here before the shrinking corridor was created, it is at twenty times normal stats as far as the party is concerned. GIANT SKELETAL KITTY: ac 0, hd 20, hp 160, thac0 3, dam 20-40/20-40/20-60, size L (16' or so at the shoulder), cannot be turned. The chamber is littered with the skeletons of many adventurers, birds, squirrels, snakes, and a singular cockroach husk too. These are all the previous victims of the kitten and their bones are pretty well crunched up. They are all, of course, giant-sized with respect to the adventurers. There is nothing of value here. One door in a corner leads to area 13. (13) This cavernous room contains six cockroaches, which are now bigger than the characters, just like the kitten. GIANT COCKROACHES: ac -2, hd 10, hp 80, thaco 7, dam 3-30, size L (5' long) There is one item of interest in here - a large (10' long) golden key. It will not be affected by a return trip through the hallway of area 11. (14) This is the right fork from area 10. It ends in a door which has a magic mouth with fangs, which will utter, in Common, "Use the golden key to open me or burn". The entire end of the passage (the last thirty foot turn) has extremely charred walls, floor, and ceiling. Above the mouth is a single word engraved into the stone: DEAKUS. If one of the characters tries to open the door in any way without this insulated key (found in area 13), the mouth will breathe a great gout of flame down the thirty foot length of the last turn of the corridor. This blast does 10-100 points of damage (no save is possible unless one is at the end of the last turn, where it is possible to leap aside). The flame will only happen once, then the door can be broken down by the party. It is locked and leads to area 15, the crypt of the Deakuses. (15) This large circular room has six vault doors plus the entry door, all equidistant around the circumference of the room. In the center of the place is a pedestal with an graven plate, which lists the occupants of this crypt as they were in life: ______________________________________________________________________ | | | CLAN DEAKUS | | | | ...may they rot in Hell... | | | | Clespus, founder of the clan and ruthless tyrant (7399-7481) | | Vern, bitchy wife of Clespus (7403-7466) | | Hissar Sul, second king of the clan and noted anti-hero (7423-7507) | | Ramses, brother of Sul and court executioner (7428-7497) | | Beekus, bastard son of Sul, avid cannibal (7443-7464) | | Grokkin, distant cousin of Sul and murderer of babies (7417-7477) | |______________________________________________________________________| ______________________________________________________________________ | As you finish reading this inscription, you hear long-sealed doors | |open, and a number of rotting creatures emerge from the different | |vaults and encircle your party. | |______________________________________________________________________| About the time that the party finishes reading this, the various vaults will open as the Deakus family comes forth to claim new victims. All attempts to turn undead are made at -4 in here due to the evil nature of the place. Clespus is now a vampire (ac 1, hd 8+3, hp 67, thac0 13, sa charm, energy drain; sd need magic weapon to hit, regeneration, gaseous form) Vern is of course a banshee (ac 0, hd 7, hp 56, thac0 13, sa sight causes fear, wail; sd need magic weapon to hit, mr 50%, immune to cold, elec- trical, etc; turns as special undead) Hissar Sul is now a death knight (ac -6, hd 15, hp 120, thac0 1, dam 1-8 (+3 str)(+2 spec)(+2 sword); attacks 5/2 with his sword+2; standard undead immunities, need +3 weapon to hit, mr 75%, can't be turned) Ramses is a mummy (ac 3, hd 6+3, hp 51, thac0 13, sa rot, sd need magical weapon to hit) Beekus and Grokkin are ghosts (ac 0/8, hd 10, hp 80, thac0 11, sa magic jar, ages 10-40 years by touch, 10 years & flee by sight; sd need magic weapons to hit, must be ethereal to use spells against ghost) The vaults contain no treasures, just a lot of old rotted junk and remains of dead bodies. Around Hissar Sul's neck is the first key needed to open the door in area 27, a small dusty key made of mithril. (16) Back to the central chamber at the beginning of the dungeon; this is the second large tunnel from left. It goes for two hundred feet before ending in a large wooden door. Engraved on the door in the same script as seen in area 3, is this message: "Beyond this door lies Skales, the undead golem, mindless guardian of the second key". This door is not locked. (17) This cavern tapers to a narrow tunnel after the far end. The main body of the room, though, is the rather large cavern. Its ceiling is about fifty feet high, and that and the walls and floor are a sickly shade of brownish green slime. This slime entirely covers all of these surfaces, except the first ten feet inside the door and the narrow tunnel entrance (area 18). Should any character come in contact with this slime (even a boot or weapon will suffice), the fungus-like stuff will spread over his body within three segments, coating the unfortunate one totally. The stuff is highly corrosive and does 9 hp per segment to the victim. A cure disease or any sort of similar healing spell will not remove the slime. A cold spell or effect that does more than 30 hp of damage at one time will render the slime non- acidic for four rounds (it can then be carefully scraped off if the scraper is soon discarded). A fire spell or effect which does more than 30 hp of damage at one time will burn the slime off entirely. Either of these two options will cause equal (full) damage to the afflicted person as well. Electrical or corrosive attacks will not affect the slime. Damage caused by the slime must be cured magically, as natural healing will not occur for these wounds. Keep in mind that in the process of "rescuing" a companion, other party members may come into contact with the slime too. The only safe way to cross this room is to fly or levitate across to the narrow part. (18) This is a narrow (less than three feet wide) passage cut from the surrounding rock. It winds eastward from area 17 for a while, sloping gradually downward until it ends in the door to area 19. This door is locked and has a poison needle trap of great ingenuity (-35% on any rolls by a thief, either to open the lock or find or disarm the trap; warn the thief that the lock is very complex). The poison on this needle is one of the deadliest known toxins (-5 on saving throw, victim takes 4-40 hp of damage even if he saves). The door will take three knock spells to open, using magical means; otherwise, a combined Strength of 100 points is required to bash it in. (19) This is a round corridor, ten feet in diameter and two hundred feet long. It is remarkable in that the floor/walls/ceiling are all one piece of material, and this material is glass, and "outside" the glass corridor on all sides bubbles a green material. This is acid, though they may not figure that out. If anyone is daring enough to walk out across the glass floor, there is a percentage chance equal to their weight in pounds, divided by four, minus their dexterity, that they will crack the glass as they walk over it. This guarantees an acid spray which will hit the character for 5d6 hp of damage. The crack will grow bigger after the first round; the second round will see the spray block the whole passage so that anyone wanting to get through must take damage; the third round, the acid will spray the entire corridor inflicting 10d6 hp of damage; the fourth round, the glass corridor will shatter, and any still inside will die instantly. Even if the party has made it into area 20, they will probably be trapped in the area 20/21 rooms unless they have some means of swimming through acid. It is possible that by trapping themselves, a party will meet Xusia directly, for the lich will come to repair the glass tunnel within a month or so... There is a thick glass door at the end of the corridor, and it is closed. It will only open if magic is used (a Knock spell will do it); there is no way to physically open the door, though it can be shattered. There are no hinges, knobs, or locks. If the door breaks, the corridor will still be unbroken, as they are two separate pieces. (20) This is the room on the far side of the hatch. Should the corridor in area 19 AND the glass door be shattered, a wall of force will pop up in the space where the glass door used to be, and another will pop up on the other exit of this room, which goes to area 21. (21) This is the domain of an undead golem. This unique creature was one of Skorvus' most successful experiments and wears around its neck a small iron key, the second of the three needed to open the door in area 27. ______________________________________________________________________ | You see a vaguely humanoid shape, about twelve feet tall, lumbering | |toward you. It has four arms, and its body appears to be made up of | |chunks of bone, with rotting strips of flesh dangling freely. Dirty | |rags can be seen here and there, covered with blood. The monster | |grins at you, showing yellow fangs and wriggling worms, as it prepares| |to attack. | |______________________________________________________________________| UNDEAD GOLEM: ac -5, hd 15, hp 120, thac0 5, #att 4, dam/att 4x4d10+sp, sa see below, breathe rot cloud; sd need +3 weapons to damage, standard undead immunities, takes half damage from edged, can't be turned; size L. The golem's powerful arms do 4d10 hp of damage upon a hit, and each also inflicts a harmful effect: 1> drains two life energy levels from victim, no save 2> paralyzes victim, save at -4 3> ages victim 20-80 years, save for half 4> withers a limb into a useless stick (determine limb randomly), no save In addition, the golem can breathe once per three rounds. This is a cone of nauseous greenish-brown gas, going out 40' with a terminal width of 40'. All caught within are infected with a terrible body rot, which causes 2-20 points of damage per round, and causes victims to be at -4 to hit. A save is possible only if a victim has a chance to get clear of the cloud. This rot requires a cure disease before any damage caused by it can be cured by spells or time. (22) Back to the central chamber, this is the third large tunnel from left. It ends in a huge wooden door after two hundred feet. Inscribed in the door in the same script as in area 3 is "Beyond this door resides Valdek, last member of the race Draco Mega Necro, the undead dragon". The door is, of course, not locked. (23) This huge chamber is dusty beyond belief and smells even more like the grave than the rest of this level. It is also very cold, so that anyone who is not well-covered by their clothing will suffer 1 hp of cold damage each ten rounds. One corner contains a door to area 24. The floor here is loose dirt, and when the party is about halfway across the chamber, the occupants of the room will claw their way up from the ground and surround the party. 21 WIGHTS: ac 5, hd 4+3, hp 35 each, thac0 15, dam 1-6 + level drain, sd standard undead immunities. (24) This passage is unusually thin, being perhaps three feet wide and seven feet high. Thus, only one character can stand abreast in the marching order. After about forty feet of winding through the tunnel, the lead character will come face to face with a greater vampire lord, who will first charm and then drain him or her of levels while using the unfortunate victim as a shield against the rest of the party. This vampire is called Thargin. GREATER VAMPIRE: ac -3, hd 12+3, hp 99, thac0 9, dam 1d12/1d12 + drains 3 levels upon a hit, sa charm at -4; sd gaseous form, regenerates 3 hp/round, need +3 weapon to damage, resistant to sunlight, turns as Special undead. He wears a ring of telekinesis and will use it as needed. At the same time that this creature attacks the front of the party, twelve additional wights will charge the rear of the party (stats as above). The passage leads to a door to area 25, the lair of the vampire. This door is solid iron, with small holes, so that the vampire can go through it while adventurers will have to force it open (treat it as a magically locked door for this purpose). (25) This room is a lavishly decorated living chamber, the home of the vampire in (24). This vampire, one Thargin, is another of Xusia's many servants. He stays in here reading and generally living it up, only having to do work when intruders approach. If sorely pressed, he will become gaseous and retreat here to heal himself and grab a couple of his magical items. There is a large post bed here, with very old and antiquated sheets and drapes. To one side is a huge dresser, to another side is a stone washbasin full of cold unholy water. Among the various clothes in the dresser is a cloak of the bat and a robe of stars, and on top of it are several dusty books concerning the history of the current continent. One of these tomes has several chapters which discuss the Black Wizards and Xusia. These pages will reveal some of the DM's introduction (see start of module) up until the point where Xusia was supposedly slain. Also on top of the dresser are a pile of gems and rings (gems 12x1000 gp, 3x5000 gp; rings 3x4000 gp). If Thargin comes here, pursued by characters, he will drink some of the unholy water (which will heal all of his damage) and pick up his wand of petrification. He will then wait for the fools to break down the door so he can start stoning them. The wand has 7 charges left. Even if Thargin is slain, he will simply turn into mist and dissipate, for such is the way with greater vampires. Below the bed is a coffin buried in unholy earth, into which his mist form will flow. Should the party locate this coffin, they will be able to destroy him, and will find in his coffin an unholy flail +4, with the power to command undead as a 12th level evil priest. This item is evil and merits destruction by good-aligned persons. A single barred door leads to area 26, where the dragon Valdek makes its home (Thargin often goes in there to have meaningful conversations with the dracolich.) (26) This rocky passage leads to an enormous cave. ______________________________________________________________________ | You smell the reek of rotting corpses as you enter this cave, and | |the cold air bites you to the bone. Even your torches and lanterns | |flicker, and their light does not extend further than ten feet from | |you. Those of you with infravision can see nothing in the huge room | |ahead. You hear a faint rustling and rattling, as if bones were | |being dragged across the cavern floor. | |______________________________________________________________________| Valdek will definitely not be surprised by the party, as he tends to be aware of all living things in his immediate vicinity. Speaking of this, the chamber is a huge cavern, of highly irregular shape but over 200' wide at the entry end and perhaps 500' or more in length. The monster is even now moving toward the party from the depths of the place... ______________________________________________________________________ | You cannot see anything in the pitch dark area in front of you, but | |something is moving toward you from the black void beyond. Something | |very large, for the ground is trembling slightly and the noises are | |getting louder. You sense an overpowering aura of evil in front of | |you, and chills run down your spines and your hair stands on end. | |______________________________________________________________________| If the characters don't find a powerful light source quickly, they are going to be in even more trouble. With the current bad lighting, the characters will incur a -4 penalty to hit the dragon. Any light they can generate would help them immensely. The dragon, Valdek, will speak a brief statement before attacking. ______________________________________________________________________ | "Greetingsss, young mortalsss. I am Valdek, the master of shadowsss| |and the keeper of secretsss, last of the great death dragonsss. You | |may surrender now and see the massster, and it will be lesss painful | |for you that way. You have about two secondsss to make your decision.| |______________________________________________________________________| VALDEK: ac -12, hd 24, hp 192, thac0 -7, dam 1d10/1d10/6d6+12 each, sa breath weapon for 24d12+12 life drain; sd immune to sleep, charm, fear, cold, lightning, polymorph, petrification, insanity, death magic, etc.; sees invisible out to 120', fear aura (save at -4 or be at -2 to hit and damage); alignment neutral evil, size G (160' long + 140' tail) In addition, a touch from Valdek drains 1 level each time, so his claw/ claw/bite attacks are more deadly. He does not fly. He will first engage in melee with the nearest character, and resort to his breath weapon on the second round of combat if pressed. Valdek's breath is a black cone, 200' long and 100' wide at its end, that is freezing cold and drains the strength of its victims in the form of hit points. He can use this attack three times per day, and victims may save vs. dragon breath for half damage. Certain holy spells and items might (at the DM's discretion) offer further resistance to the breath weapon. Should the party decide to surrender, Valdek will bid them remove all of their weapons and armor and clothing and place it on top of his treasure heap. Then they will be told to back away to the far side of the room, all in one place, and shortly Xusia will appear. He will take them with him to his sanctum, where they will shortly be transformed into vampires (or perhaps minor liches) under his control. If they decide to change their minds after surrendering their possessions, they will most likely die (if a naked group of adventurers can defeat Valdek and/or Xusia, they don't need to be in this module!). Far to one side is a heap of his treasure: 17000 pp, 96000 gp, 371000 cp, 91 gems @total 45000 gp, 31 jewelry @total 56000 gp, a helm of death, a set of three marbles of the magus (giant scorpion, carrion crawler, rust monster), a cloak of steel (ac0), a dagger+4, a flask of curses, a mace+4 of crushing, a wand of elemental change (13 charges), and the Book of Yesh. Also present is a small adamantine key, identical in most respects to the other two found on this level. This is the third key needed to open the door at area 27. (27) This is the fourth large tunnel (the rightmost) from area 2, the large central chamber. It goes southward for two hundred feet, then curves westward and goes a bit further. The passage ends in a door. On the door is a large magic mouth, and two beady red eyes above it. Below this mouth are three key holes side by side. When the characters are within fifty feet, the mouth will boom, "HAVE YOU THE THREE KEYS FOR THE DOOR?". If they say yes, and they do in fact have all three, then the mouth will say, "YOU MAY PASS." However, if they say they have them and don't actually have all three, the mouth will say, "BEGONE." If they don't have them all, and admit it, the mouth will then say, "YOU MUST HAVE ALL THREE KEYS TO PASS." If anyone comes any closer, the mouth will say, "DO NOT APPROACH, IF YOU WOULD LIVE TO PASS BY ME." This warning will be given at the forty foot (from the mouth) mark. If any character moves closer, the mouth will spew forth a gout of fire, which will cover the whole passage out to fifty feet. This great blast of flames will inflict 20d6+20 hp of damage on all within range, save for half damage. The fire breath will be repeated once at the thirty foot mark, once at the twenty foot mark, and will be constant if anyone makes it closer than that. The door can not be opened except using the three keys; all three must be inserted and turned simultaneously. At this point, the large metallic door will swing outward with the creak of unoiled hinges. Beyond lies Xusia's inner sanctum, detailed in the second part of this adventure.