Conan RPG - [CN2] Conan, The Mercena

8/12/2019 Conan RPG - [CN2] Conan, The Mercena

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CONAN The MERCENARY

Official Game Adventure by Kim Eastland

Editor: Anne Gray McCreadyCover Art: Larry ElmoreInterior Art: Jeff ButlerCartographer : Dave "Diesel" LaForceTypographer: Kim N. Lindau

1985 TSR Inc. All Rights Reserved.

PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAG INATI ON a nd the TSR logo aretradem arks of TSR Inc.

1985 Conan Properties. Inc. All Rights Reserved.Conan and the distinctive likeness thereof are trademarks ofConan Properties, Inc.

Distributed to the book trade in the United States by RandomHouse, Inc., and in Canada by Ran dom House of Canada, Ltd.Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distribut-ers. Distributed in the United K ingdom by TSR UK Ltd.

This adventure is protected under the copyright laws of theUnited States of America. Any reproduction or other unau-thorized use of the material or artwork contained herein isprohibited without the express written permission of TSR Inc.

TSR, Inc.POB 756

Lake Geneva,WI 53147

TSR UKLtd.The Mill, Rathmore Road

Cambridge CB14ADUnited Kingdom

TSR, Inc.PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION

ISBN 394-54854-XTSR0600

74020-88038-233-3Printed in the U.S.A.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2How to UseThis Booklet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Howto Use the Map andSetting. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .2MapKey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3MapKeyExplanations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

GENERAL BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5Adventure Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Adventure Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Sweet Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8TheBaronial Audience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9TheForgotten Grove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10IntotheEarth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

THEUNDERGROUND LABYRINTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Encounters withthePriestsofJhebbelSag. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 12TheMainNetwork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12TheNorthern Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16The Western Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

INTO MELENA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Random Encounter Explanations

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20TravelingtoHanyax'sTomb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20FixedEncounter Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Non-Player Characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24NewMonstersandCreatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Exotic Flora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28CultsandMagicalItems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Ruinsand Lore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Player Handouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31


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Map Key

WH refers to a reference found in TheWorld of Hyboria booklet that comes withthe CONAN Role Playing Game.

Alphabet Key:A letter on the map showsthe placement of a creature, plant, hern,or feature. A letter followed by a periodand a number indicates that there is morethan a single creature present, for instance,

RH.3 means that there are 3 HangingSnakes in the ceiling Roots in the area.

A: Ancient Slaver Chains, seepage 29.

B: Bowl of Stats, see page 29 .

C: Crack or Crevice, see Fea-tures.

D: Demon, Strangling, sum-

moned by the priests to guardthe artifacts, see WH page

38.

E: Ebony Standards, see page

29.F: False Wall/Secret Door, see

Features.

G: Glowing Fungus, see page

28.

H: Harmless Encounter , see this

section following.

I: Iron Hooves, see page 29.J: Jetton of Asap, see page 29.K: Kladon, see Features.

L: Large Bats, see page 26.M: Masked One, see page 29.N: Neo-thog in a Tidal Area, see

page 25.O: Omnivorous Moss, see page

28.

P: Priest of Jhebbel Sag, see

page 29.

Q: Quicksand, seeFeatures.

R: Roots, see page 28.

RH: Roots with Hanging Snakes

among them, see page 27.S: Swamp Beast, summoned by

the Jhebbelites to guard the

artifacts, see WH page 39.

T: Tidal Area, seeFeatures.U:

Undercat, see page 27.V: Vines, see page 28.W: White Mold , see page 28.

WE:Web Spinners, see page 27.X: Xanthic Mushrooms, see

page 28.

Y: Yawning Snapper, see page28.

Z: ZiXit, see page 27 .

Features:The following natural features are spreadthroughout the labyrinth. More features maybe explained in other sections of this adven-ture.

Crack:This marking indicates that there is anarrower crevice leading away from the exitmarked. It is usually large enough to crawlinto and can go in any direction, including upor down (Judge's discretion). If a crack leads toanything useful it will be listed under thenumerical references. These are just false leadsthat abruptly end after 1d10 x 5 feet. If a char-acter persists in following them there is achance he will get stuck.

To check if a character gets stuck, find thecolumn on the Resolution Table that matchesthe greater of the character's Climbing or Gen-eral Prowess ratings. Then roll the dice and con-sult the Resolution Table. If the result is white,the character is stuck. Any other result indicatesthat he is safe. A stuck character remains so untilhe rolls a successful check. A check can be madeevery 15 minutes thereafter.

False Wall/Secret Door; These cleverly dis-guised sections either are hinged like doors(usually on each end of a shortcut) or large sec-tions of thin stone used to block an area sel-dom used (like catacombs). The only way tospot these is through a successful orange or redResolution check against an Observation tal-ent. Tracking talent may also be used if theperson being tracked has used a secret door.Secret doors require a Strength talent of 8 toopen, False Walls require a Strength talent ofover 20 to move. These required Strengths canbe a combination of many characters. Falsewalls do not close by themselves and any thatare opened will remain so unless closed. False

walls that are broken open or solidly wedgedopen will remain so until someone with aStructural Engineering or Mining talentrepairs it (these are NPC, self-explanatory tal-ents.) None of the priests alive know how todo this. It would also take the proper equip-ment and quite some time.

Kladon:Sections of this underground mazewere a kladon mine long ago. Kladon is achalk-like substance used in making white-wash for buildings. It is easily dug from thewalls and a fist sized-chunk can be used tomark a line on the walls for 200 feet. Kladondiluted in a pint of liquid can provide enough

paint to make a line up to 400 feet. When thismark is shown on the map it means a vein ofkladon is found in the walls.

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Quicksand: Occasionally a sandy under-ground area has mixed with a partial tidal areato form deadly quicksand. It is always a patchthat is 10+1d10 feet in diameter. Aweighted-down character (heavy armor orlarge pack) will sink in 3 combat turns if hedoes not have anything to grasp, like a rope orpolearm extended to him by a companion. Anormally attired person or someone removingtheir pack or armor will sink in 12 combatturns unless they belly-crawl to escape themire. This is the only way to safely movethrough quicksand. An extremely weighted-down character (three-quarter armor, carryinglots of loot or a body) will sink immediately.

Any character who sinks without having arope attached can hold their breath and hopeto be rescued by his companions. He can holdhis breath for a number of combat turns equalto 6 plus his StaminaorGeneral Endurancerating. He receives 1 point of damage for everyturn beyond his limit that he does notbreathe.

The quicksand pits are usually 20 feet deep.Because of the bad lighting underground anddust that covers everything, it is almost impos-sible to detect quicksand before stepping intoit. Only by tapping the floor in front of them-selves can a group of adventurers hope todetect quicksand traps.

Stalactites and Stalagmites:These eerie for-mations are often found within the caverns. Ifthey are important, it will be mentioned inthe numerical references. Otherwise use theirforeboding presence and the eerie shadowsthey cast when describing an area where noth-ing else is happening.

Tidal Area: The tidal areas that lie withinthe caverns are actually smaller tunnels whichconnect the cavern area to the nearby under-ground river. The tidal area of the Neo-thogand the large area south of the river are con-stantly filled with churning water. The othersflush up and empty out every five minutes,making the stone there wet and slippery.

Underground River:The subterranean lab-yrinth is a combination of natural formationsand an old kladon mine which was floodedyears after it was abandoned. The floodingwhich occurred because a surface riverchanged its course, resulted in the main shaftof the mine becoming an underground river-bed. The river runs west and has a strong cur-rent. The roar in the river tunnel is deafeningand can even be heard through the walls ofparallel caverns.

To the east of the map the river continues

for three miles and then runs down an incredi-

ble underground rapids that is impossible toclimb. Downriver, to the west of the map, theriver continues for nine miles before tumblingover a breathtaking waterfall. Anyone goingover these falls will sustain 10 + 1d4 points ofdamage (DR - 35). If a character goes over thefalls safely, he will eventually wash out in theBlack River.

Hidden DangersThe dangers adventurers face when travel-

ing in subterranean realms are many: gettinglost, dangerous descents and ascents, runningout of a light source, starvation, and exoticcreatures and plants. A Judge should tell aparty just what they see within the light radiusand what they might hear outside of theirsight. Light sources are listed below. Remem-ber that each square on the map is 10 feet.

Homemade Torch: Light Radius of 5 feet;Duration of 20 minutes. The torch can beused as a club causing + 1 damage, but has a50% chance of going out per swing.

Purchased Torch: Light Radius of 15 feet;Duration of 45 minutes. The torch can beused as a club causing + 2 damage. It will notgo out if used as a weapon.

Small Oil Lamp: Light Radius of 10 feet;Duration of 60 minutes. The lamp can becomfortably held in one hand and easily setdown. It is prone to blowing out in strongdrafts. It holds one pint of oil.

Large Oil Lamp: Light Radius of 15 feet;Duration of 120 minutes. It can be tiring ifthe lamp is held with only one hand and isdangerous if knocked over in combat. It willnot easily blow out. It holds one quart of oil.

Glowing Fungus: Light Radius of 5 feet;Duration of 60 Minutes. These statistics aregood for a large amount of fungus wrapped

around a sword or mace. You can actually seethe large patches of growing glowing fungusup to 40 feet away as an eerie blue area.

When light brighter than glowing fungus isimmediately cast on characters who have beenin the dark, any player character or NPC whois not a priest suffers a -2 penalty for all Reso-lution checks for any actions they wish to per-form in the next two combat turns as their eyesbegin to adjust. The priests, because of theirexcellent darksight, suffer a -4 penalty. Thisincludes running into a well-lit area from a

dark one, the sudden flaring of a torch orlighting of a lamp, or any other light sourcethe characters do not slowly (6 combat turns)become used to.

Movement:Because the underground areasare so treacherous, movement is shifted twocolumns to the left on the Combat Movementand Travel Tables. This means a Movementtalent score of 5 allows a person to Crawl at 1 ,Walk at 2 , Jog at 3 , and Sprint at 10 . But thelight sources provide such a limited range thatanyone who sprints could possibly be in dark-ness after one Combat turn. Treat characterswho collide with a wall while Sprinting in thedark as if they fell the same distance. Charac-ters who collide with a wall while Jogging usethis same formula, but halve the distance.

Moving in total darkness is disorienting and acharacter can easily wander in different direc-tions if his hand is not touching a wall. A charac-ter moving in the open darkness must roll 1d10every combat turn he moves. Keep track of hismovement on the map with a pencil.

Die Roll Direction

1-2

3-45-67-8

9-10

LeftRightAheadCircle in Place

Stumble

Combat in the Dark: Anyone fighting inthe dark suffers a -6 column modifier and canonly swing at sounds or where the last attackcame from. If just two people are fighting inthe dark, they should move at the slowestcharacter's adjusted walk rate in the samedirection. Roll a die and consult the move-ment chart above for the characters if they losecontact with a wall or identifying surface. Ifmore than two characters engage in melee it

can be very confusing. The Judge must keeptrack of everyone's location as any combat willalways be between the two closest beings,unless something identifies them to eachother such as calling out their names, thesound of a specific type of armor, the unusualsound a creature makes (like a Neo-thog andan Undercat).

The major exception to darkness fighting iswhen attacking someone who is either in alight source's radius or backlighted by one. Anexample of the latter would be a party walkingdown a tunnel toward you, holding a lamp,then pausing while someone scouts aheadwithout a light. As he comes toward you, he isoutlined by the light source directly behind

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him. You would still be in the dark andimpossible to see. You can strike at him withperfect accuracy but he suffers a -6 columnmodifier. Firing a ranged weapon into alighted area is more effective because the tar-gets have even less of a chance of knowingyour range, and exact location. Anyone tryingto fire back at the shooting attacker who lies in

darkness has no chance of hitting him.Undercats do not suffer the full penalty

since they can see very well in the dark. Theyattack with a -2 column shift in total darkness.

Harmless Encounters:These encounters can

be normal bats, rats, lizards, and birds, or a deepred fungus, giant purple mushrooms, swaying

vines that suddenly scurry over the character's

feet, or drape over his face. It can also be tricks ofthe mind; unnatural noises, the feeling that eyesare following them, or a whisp of air that feelslike a breath. The encounter should always beharmless to the characters but should not neces-sarily appear so.

Using 3-D Game Aids:It may be difficult forthe players to determine exactly where they areon the map. To clarify positions use 3-dimensional paper characters, cardboardcounters, or miniature metal figures to representthe characters. A plain sheet of paper with die

approximate walls of the area or obstaclesquickly scrawled on it is a common way Judges

show their players the immediate setting.

Now make the map and setting more per-sonalized. The entire cavern network south ofthe river has been left blank for you to do so. Ifyou wish, use the area south of the river toreroute the course the characters take toMelena. Create a new society of creatures, settraps, invent new clues for future adventures.You can do this with the areas that are alreadymarked. Also, if you create something new,don't forget to number it on your map andadd the corresponding number to your writ-ten description.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Adventure Theme

This section is for the Judge's benefit andgives a. brief synopsis of the entire adventuretheme. Whether the Judge wishes to use thisfor a continuation ofConan the Buccaneeroras an independent campaign, the suggestedadventure theme is the same.

Once, in another dimension, existed a greatand glorious civilization called Melena. Themagnificient majesties King Hanyax and QueenVisnatia ruled. Their kingdom represented thehighest ideals, the best to which men on theirplanet could aspire. But into this kingdom oflight and goodness came the King of Demons,Yama. So evil was he that his own demonic fol-lowers finally drove him from their own world.

Yama quickly destroyed Hanyax's empireand crumbled the civilization that was sogrand. Though there was suffering anddespair everywhere, a few brave men soughtto prevent Yama from spreading his pestilenceto other worlds. They were able to steal Yama's

most powerful artifact, the Orb, and secure itin Hanyax's tomb. In that location all themagic that was known to them was woven intoa barrier of amazing strength. It became theonly known location Yama could not enter.But mortals could. For years Yama worked hiswiles and finally was able to influence ayoung, greedy man in the Hyborian age totake the Orb for him.

The horror that now besets the lands ofAldoc resulted. Over a century ago an oldpriest, wise in the knowledge of secret artifacts

and the ancient tales of Yama, was persuadedby the young thief to tell him of the secret of

Melena and the Orb of Yama. The thieflearned of its power and yearned to possess it.The aged sage knew of one of the many portalsfrom Earth into the extra-dimensional worldof Melena. What he did not know and couldnot tell the thief was that many curses that sur-rounded the Orb.

The thief crossed into Melena and, by use ofancient artifacts that were always provided atthe departure site, crossed the trans-dimensional gate and made his way safely tothe Tomb of Hanyax. What occurred in thereis a mystery, but the thief left the tomb a fewhours later with the Orb of Yama in hand.Instantly a hot desert wind began to blowfrom the east. On it, in the distance, was thedemon-king Yama. Swiftly he came andplucked the Orb from the startled mortal'shand, then tossed the young man into hisfiery maw. While this took place in the land ofKhitai, it would greatly effect the people ofthe Barony of Aldoc in the land of Zingara

hundreds of years later.The Baron Etarti ruled this land, as did his

forefathers for centuries. But he could pro-duce no children himself and soon fell intodespair over the imminent end of his family'slineage. Soon despair turned into despera-tion, which became obsession, and finallyfanaticism. The Baron turned to the BlackArts for a solution and entered into a pact withthe god Yama, "King of the Demons." Thedemon-liege gave the Baron the powerful Orbof Yama, which would not only give Etarti

control over the magic in his realm, but granthim immortality as well. In exchange, Yama

would be able to enter the Hyborian worldwith ease and once again take up his longquest to control mankind. Etarti could expandhis power only if he spread the belief of Yamato his realm. However, there were curses setupon the Orb of Yama eons ago by the

eldritch gods. These would eventually upsetthe Baron's lust for power.

To invoke the curses, the Orb must bestolen from the owner (in this case the Baron).Once this occurred, he or his loyal men wouldnot be able to ascertain its whereabouts. Neu-tral agents, unaware of the real power the Orbpossessed, must be used for this. In such amanner, the Orb may fall into the hands ofrighteous men who could again secure it in theTomb of Hanyax in Melena.

Another aspect of the curse was that until itwas returned to its former owner or Yama wassummoned by its new owner, Yama could notcross from his realm into the Hyborian world.Since the lore of the Orb was generally known

to only a few cults, the possibility of Yama'sreturn was greatly reduced. Once stolen, themagic that was suppressed by the Orb's pres-ence will almost immediately rise again to itsformer state. If the Orb of Yama was returnedto the Tomb of Hanyax, Yama's powers wouldcontinue to diminish until he was no more. Ifthe Orb is brought into the Tomb, then takenout again, Yama will instantly know of itspresence. He will descend upon the Orb-

holder, retrieve his Orb, and thank him byconsuming him on the spot.

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Etarti began his rise to power by starting thesecret order of the Masked Ones. With theiraid, and the power of the Orb, he began per-secuting all known religions in his realm toincrease his realm. The more he increased hisrealm, the more he could spread the word ofYama and could, thus, increase his power.

Though he has had possession of the Orbfor a decade, the Baron has restrained fromtolling the virtues of Yama until his strengthamong the Zingaran nobleman wasunmatched. This he could do by marryingKaletar, a distant cousin of his and heiress of

the vast lands adjoining his. Once DukeMardy was assassinated, and the Baron inher-

ited the lands, he would begin his mission ofconverting his subjects to the ways of Yama.The assassination has not yet taken place, butthe suppression of all other religions is neatlycomplete.

The last priests to flee, the followers ofJhebbel Sag, secretly moved into an under-ground maze of tunnels and caverns near Etar-ti's capital city of Kaslaer. They later foundunexpected support from the Baroness Kale-tar, herself a Jhebbelite who was secretly

shocked by her husband's persecutions. Therethey have lived over the years, waning inpower and influence, yet waiting for the daywhen the power of the Baron might be in

jeopardy and they could help topple him.Recently, good fortune has smiled upon theenemies of the Baron. The Baron carelesslyleft the Orb unprotected and Kaletar stole it.Upon the advice of the Priests of Jhebbel Sag,

she sent it with her trusted man-at-arms, Fan-

chix, into their subterranean labyrinth. Oncein the land of the priests, the Orb-bearer wasshown their most guarded secret, the trans-dimensional gate into the fabled land ofMelena, now a desert wasteland inhabitedonly by Yama, a few mindless creatures, andthe shades of men who once lived there.

Fanchix, using the "Melena artifacts" pro-

vided by the Ihebbelites. succeeded in return-ing the Orb to the ancient and wondrousTomb of Hanyax. Inside the tomb, Hanyax, astatue, spoke to him and told him that insteadof destroying the Orb as the priests hadinstructed, he was to merely place it on a ped-estal. Once done, Hanyax instructed Fanchix

not to speak of this to anyone, then returnedhim through the trans-dimensional gate.

Fanchix, wishing to obey Hanyax, did nottell the Jhebbelites of his conversation, only

that he had destroyed the Orb. But the nextday, only hours after Fanchix had left the

priests, one of them awoke from a dream inwhich the Orb was calling to be rescued.Immediately the priests knew they had beenbetrayed and sent two of their Undercats todetain Fanchix for questioning. Fanchix, hav-ing had an altercation with a Neo-thog (inwhich he lost the Jetton of Asap), was now onhis way out of the caverns. He was caught justas he entered the last cavern that led to the

Forgotten Grove. Frightened and bewildered,he attacked the Undercats and was slain bythem. The priesthood has not notified theBaroness because they are no longer sure theycan trust her.

Meanwhile, the Baron's first instincts, to

have his men search the town for the Orb,have proven useless. It is then that he remem-bers the curse Yama spoke of if the Orb isstolen. He realizes that neither he nor his loyalforces can detect the Orb, those who stole it,or the place where it is hidden. Only an inde-pendent force, mercenaries, can find it andclaim it for him. Of course he must be carefulwhat he tells them, lest they discover the truenature of the Orb.

Now, the Baron needs to send a band ofmercenaries to recover the Orb. As a precau-tion, he will send a few Masked Ones to followthem to ensure they do not discover the truthabout the Orb. Once the location is known,

he need not rely on these mercenaries and cankill them, then hire more to do his bidding.The less those who work for him know aboutthe Orb, the safer the Baron feels.

The Baroness, having heard nothing fromFanchix or the Jhebbelite priests, has been

eavesdropping on the Baron in hopes of pick-ing up more information. She will smuggle anote to any mercenaries he hires before theyleave.

The Priests of Jhebbel Sag trust no one andwant to make sure that no emissary of theBaron crosses over into Melena. Converselythey cannot cross over themselves and needsomeone to go and destroy the Orb.

The mercenaries have just arrived in Kaslaerand are looking for work. Instead they findtrouble.

Give the players the the notes and belt illus-tration on page 31 when they gain the infor-mation.

Adventure Introduction1. If you use this adventure with the Conanthe Buccaneeradventure, read the following.If not, read 2.

After completing the mission on Atothar, the

survivors set sail for Messantia and home. If theyare shipwrecked on Atothar, a Zingaran vesselblown off course by a storm spots them and picksthem up. During the return voyage, however, aterrible storm from the south sweeps the vesselnorth. After two days of battering, the stormabates and the skies clear. Fortunately, land can beseen to the northeast. But the storm was savageand all equipment or gear that was not specifically

stated as being battened down is lost. Worse yet,of die members of Antony's crew (NPCs) whohad survived the island, only half survived thestorm. The others were swept overboard.

The land sighted is Zingara, just north ofthe Black River. They can see a medium-sizedtown which Antony believes is the port of Kas-laer. While all may want to sail to Argos, theship has large leaks and could not possibly gofurther. Just after she has been unloaded, the

sound of groaning, then splintering timber,shakes the wharf and she quickly sinks.On the docks, one of Mennifir's colleagues

will recognize her and greets her with a smile.

Aware of the terrible storm, the NemedianChroniclers have been searching the coast for apossible emergency beaching of the expedi-tion's ship. Mennifir may fulfil l all of her obli-gations (and receive rewards as described inConan the Buccaneer) right there on thedocks. Neither Conan nor Jayapakash areknown or wanted in Zingara. Antony sendsany remaining crew members back to Messan-

tia along with any information that will helphis family. If Martina is still alive and with

them, the entire party can agree to send herback to her family. Antony may stay with hisnew friends and try to raise enough money fora new boat. Xystus will find Zingara boring,

so he will stay with the others.The weary travelers will now most likelywant an inn. The Empty Barrel is located a fewblocks away. Go to 3.

2. If you are using this adventure on its own,read the following.

The Judge decides how the player charactersarrive at Kaslaer in Zingara. This gentle sea-

side town, dominated by the massive CastleEtarti, is the starting place of the adventure.The characters should have arrived recentlyafter a long journey and be weary. There are a

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number of ways in which you can entice yourplayers to send their characters to Zingara:

A.Design a small adventure in which theparty is hired as mercenaries to guard a travel-ing merchant. Devise some short encountersfor the journey to Zingara. Upon reachingKaslaer, the merchant becomes ill and mustbe confined for months. The characters arepaid enough to support them for a while, andare now out of ajob.

B. The characters flee to Zingara becausethey are wanted by a government, cult, reli-gion, or private powerful individual for pastoffenses. The Judge could bring about retri-bution for past adventures in which the playercharacters have offended somebody.

C.The characters are sent into Zingara asspies by a government, cult, religion, or pow-

erful individual. Rumors of sudden bloodypurges have reached the outside world. Theextermination of magic also worries manypeople. The group is sent to investigate themassacres under the guise of wandering mer-cenaries. Although Conan doesn't care muchfor magic or religions, he despises governmentpersecutions of any type. Go to 3.

3. A Quiet Night at the Tavern. Kaslaer is amedium-sized port with a reputation for bore-dom and frequent, savage pirate raids. TheCastle Etarti is unusually large and grand forsuch a small barony. Recently Kaslaer hasundergone an amazing economic rejuvena-

tion under the Baron Etarti. It is now a grow-ing commercial hub and has the potential tobecome a future major trade center. Unfortu-

nately, expansion has overtaxed the local inns,of which there are few. The Empty Barrel isthe only place left with a room. There are sol-diers everywhere and the Baron's grip on hisbarony is tight.

Use the Tavern Map on page 32 of the ConanGame Rule Book for the tavern section of the inn.When the characters enter for a drink and some-thing to eat, there are nine local people inside in

addition to the innkeeper. Place the NPCs whereyou wish, except at the middle diagonal tableunder the words "table and benches." That is theonly clean or empty table in the place. During thecourse of their meal it will be obvious that thepatrons are drinking quite a bit and something iswrong in town. If any of the characters try to listenin on the conversations, they will catch importantphrases now and then, including:

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"Don't know what they're looking for butthey've gone into every home, store, or stall intown on the Baron's command." "Alfansosays he saw a demon last night (general laugh-ter). Says it came out of one of the castle win-dows (sudden silence)." "Wish Etarti wouldfall out of one of the windows himself, thewretched blasphemer." "Be quiet man, areya' daft?" In a quiet voice. "Ya' know there

are ears everywhere." "...good thing abouthim is his choice in wives," followed by aheartfelt "Aye" from all. "Not the man hisfather was. Cruel!" "...der what they'relookin' for? Sure must be important."

These comments are made so quickly thatthe characters can say nothing. There is apause when one of the men leaves for thenight. If any of the party asks any questionsabout what was said or if the character is obvi-ously eavesdropping, one of the locals statesrudely that they don't take to spies and

sneakthieves in Kaslaer. This can quickly esca-late into a brawl.

If the player characters ask no questions andget up to leave, one of the drunker patronsaccidentally bumps into them and a fightstarts as a result.

The bar brawl is almost inevitable. See BarBrawlers on page 25 for statistics. No morethan six locals get involved unless there are sixplayer characters in the tavern. Then the otherthree PCs will join in. These NPCs are accus-tomed to handling "foreigners" and eachfights with two short, club-like saps in theZingara Fighting tradition. Unfortunatelythey are drunk and so have a -2 penalty to any

Fighting or Agility talent they try to use. Sincethey are also brawlers they may abandon theirclubs for chairs, tables, or mugs if the playercharacters use edged weapons.

The brawlers circle the PCs and try to herdthem to the middle of the room, underneath ahuge wooden chandelier. If the player charac-

ters huddle in the middle, the brawlers cut therope, dropping the chandelier on the players.Each player in the middle receives 3 points ofdamage and is incapacitated for one combatturn. The brawlers are also fond of throwingtheir clubs, which does no damage but candistract the mercenaries for one combat turn.All of the brawlers carry three clubs and theyoften will distract the first character who takesoffense by this throw, while one or two moreslide behind him and grab him.

The innkeeper remains uninvolved, butwill eventually call for the soldiers. The fighteither ends with the soldiers arriving after theplayer characters throw out the locals, all of

the characters being beaten by the locals, or bya mutual truce enforced by intervening sol-diers. After their food, ale, and fight, theplayer characters may retire for the night.Nothing is disturbed in their rooms when theyreturn upstairs.

Sweet Dreams

The following dreams appear to the playercharacters tonight and tomorrow night, or, ifthere are only a few player characters, over the

next few nights. Depending on the number ofcharacters, some might have numerousdreams. It is important that all of the dreamsbe read. Take each player away from the groupto read their character's dream to them. Thedreams are vivid so you may repeat the dreamor the player may take notes. The players maydecide what the player characters tell eachother. Part of the challenge of this adventureis for the characters to share information andwork as a team trying to work out the mean-ings of their dreams.

1. You see an incredibly beautiful woman

in your dreams. She seems to be dying.She lies on a bed of gold inlaid withpearls and designed in a sea motif. Shehas the features of a Kshatriyas but theclothes and setting seem to be differentfrom the current inhabitants of Ven-dya. Her breathing is labored and shelooks at you with sad eyes, trying to saysomething. She lifts her hand towardyou, then drops it abruptly as she shud-ders with her last breath.

2. You dream of sailing on a silver ship andgliding over smooth waters. But yourheart is not light. It is heavy with griefas you gaze upon the coffin on the

ship's deck. It is golden with inlaidpearls and a sea motif. You feel that itholds someone dear to you. You thinkto yourself, "When she lies within, Ishall face the demon-spawn." Startledby this thought, you leap up fullyawake.

3. Tonight your dreams are strange. Yousee a desert as if you were an eagle fly-ing far overhead. In the distance youspot a beautiful city and head in itsdirection. As the sun rises you realizeyou are flying east over the city, deco-rated in black, as if in mourning. Onthe eastern outskirts of the city, next toa wide ribbon of river, you see an armyassembling, as if to make war withsome foe that threatens the city. Butyou see no foe. You continue flying eastacross the wide river toward the valleysbeyond. A spot of black catches yourattention and you swoop lower. It is afuneral procession winding its way backfrom the valleys to the river. Back in the

valley you see a man standing before hugedoors set into a cliff. Noble of visage anddressed for war, he is sobbing. Suddenly hedraws his sword and screams something

toward the heavens. The glint of sunlightfrom the sword snaps you out of yourdream.

4. Your dreams tonight are terrifying andyou wake suddenly, your body soakedwith sweat. You remember fightingsome awesome evil in a battle. You

seemed to know your cause wasdoomed from the start but you had totry to defeat the foe. Spears rainingdown on you from the night heavenspersists in your thoughts. When you

finally drive that fearsome image awayanother takes its place; a gallant cavalrycharge against something abnormallylarge, then sheets of fire sweeping overthe desert and destroying horses andmen alike. Above all, the image of anOrb in a taloned hand haunts you.

Read this dream the second night to thecharacter who has already dreamt number 2.

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5. You dream, tonight, of sailing on a shin-ing silver ship gliding over smoothwaters. But your heart is not light. It isheavy with grief as you gaze upon thecoffin on the ship's deck. It is silverwith inlaid pearls and is carved in a seamotif. You feel that it holds royalty.You think to yourself, "when they bothlie within, the demon-spawn shallreign." This last thought is so terriblethat you wake up screaming.

6. Tonight you sleep fitfully, feeling asthough someone were standing overyou. Finally you roll over and open youreyes. A man is watching you, tall andolive-skinned, with long black hair anddeep brown eyes. There is somethingcommanding and reassuring about himthat stops you from calling out. "Iguard the Orb. Trust no one else, butkeep your dreams among your friends,as your true intentions. Yama. threatensall," he says. He grasps your shoulder infriendship and is gone.

Read this the second night to the characterwho has dreamt number 6.

7. The same feeling of being watched haspervaded your dreams and you hear thesame firm voice that spoke to you thenight before. "Sell or give away noth-ing you find, for they may be parts ofthe great puzzle. Keep the treasure,open the crypt, and touch nothing."Again his hand touches your shoulder,but you awake to find no one there.

8. A man's voice, deep and resonant, whis-pers in your ear during the night, "Go

below, use the belt, find the wards,read the frieze, use the bridge, use thewards, avoid the walls, cross the water,open the doors, wait for me."

9. In your dreams tonight you hear a mysti-cal voice, "What are the dreams ofHelena now?" This is followed by thesounds of horse's hoofs, clanking

chains, a bell's gong, then some-thing heavy thudding into muffledground like tentpoles in sand.

10. Your dreams are being interrupted byfar away whispers:

"Dust on tomes and carven frieze;A noble summoning within his lair.When a desperate man on

trembling kneesCalls on forgotten gods, beware!"

11. This entire night your dreams arehaunted by the feeling that you are in adying city. People and items are crum-bling to dust around you. Even thewalls and spires, when you touch them,come crashing down killing scores ofpeople. A sad voice entones, "Melena'sdoom is set and sealed." You awake in acold sweat.

12. A cold female voice, from what soundslike a great distance away, chants all

night long, "Beware those who use youfor their own sake. Trust friends only.You are in an evil land, but must go toone that is worse to destroy the evil."

If the party has an odd number of charactersor if you have a large number of players in this

adventure you may want to repeat somedreams to different players (especially 8 and

9).

The Baronial Audience. Read the playersthe following after their dreams have beendiscussed.

The next morning you all feel on edge andexhausted. You have just dressed whensomeone knocks on the door. A deep basevoice on the other side answers that he is

Arturus of the Baron's elite guard andwishes to talk to you. If anyone glances outthe window they notice that there are anumber of soldiers in front. The possibilityof escape is thin at best.

Arturus is here to discuss last night's tavernfight and apologize for the city's rudenesstoward strangers. He has an invitation to noondinner from Baron Etarti, but the "offer"sounds more like a command. His politenessseems genuine and he leaves only when theparty agrees to meet the Baron. While his atti-tude continues to be polite he can becomequite insistent about noon dinner if the play-ers balk. He even hints at some type of

"employment" to persuade the characters.If the player characters wish to spend the

morning trying to gather information aboutAldoc, the Baron and Baroness, or any Lorefrom their dreams, various things will come to

light.

1. General information about Baron Etarti canbe gleaned (statistics, fame, claustrophobia,and an abbreviated history except for any-thing in regard to religion or the MaskedOnes).

2. Non-religious information about the Bar-oness Kaletar can be gleaned (statistics, fame,and an abbreviated history).

3. The Baron and Baroness seem to have astrained relationship. The Baroness is liked byalmost everyone.

4. There are either demons or men possessinggreat talents who disguise themselves asdemons about. Some believe they may be inleague with Baron Etarti because they havebeen seen in the castle vicinity more than any-where else. Some believe they are agents ofother Zingaran nobles sent to assassinate theBaron. Some even believe they are conjuredup by the survivors of the religious purge toexact vengeance. There is no documented orfactual proof for any of this.

5. No religious others, priests, temples, orshrines exist anywhere in the city. Everyoneknows that the Baron Etarti persecuted all reli-gious beliefs and clergy a decade ago. No one

knows why or what beliefs the Baron or Baron-ess may hold.

6. Sometimes strange animals can be seen atnight with message containers strapped tothem. It is believed the elite guard uses them.

7. The Baron is a dictator, but during hisreign, the Barony of Aldoc has flourished. He

is the last of the Etarti family who have ruledthis land as long as anyone can remember. His

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marriage to Kaletar will eventually extend hisrule over much of Zingara. Everyone is sur-prised that she is not yet pregnant with theheir, as that is the main reason nobles marry.

8. The local Loremaster knows of no Orbs, butdoes know of the Lore listed on page 30including the poem.

9. The most powerful religion before the cur-rent Baron came to power was that of JhebbelSag. No one knows what has happened to hispriests.

10. The last few days the Baron's soldiers have

been turning the town upside down lookingfor something, but no one knows what it is. Itis smaller than a skull judging by the placesthey were looking.

11. Soldiers have been seeking mercenaries inthe last day or two. No one knows why. Per-haps the Baron is going to war.

12. The Baroness has shut herself away the lastfew days.

The noon dinner with the Baron is a goodchance for the Judge to develop his actingskills. The Baron is pompous, confident, rich,egotistical, and vain, but needs a small com-

pany of mercenaries to do a job for him. Hesays that the castle has been entered andsomething has been taken; an Orb that hiswife gave to him as a wedding present. She hasshut herself away and is angry with him,declaring she will not speak to him again untilhe recovers the Orb. He seems to be quiteembarrassed about this and will explain thathe does not want the information to leak out.His soldiers have already done what they canand he does not want to lose their respect byhaving them look further for a purloined wed-ding present.

It is worth quite a sum of money to him(Judge's discretion) to have his domestic mat-ters settled. Rewards of positions in his servicemay also be available for successful characters.If the players seem hesitant he reminds themthat they are in his lands and subject to hiswill. He even conducts them on a tour of hislavish castle, ending in the dungeons.

The Baron will have the castle staff assem-bled for questioning by the characters. Someof the staff wenches are quite friendly, puttingtheir arms around the male characters in jest.Only a few facts become evident: no oneknows anything about the Orb, the Baron and

Baroness have not been getting along of late,and everyone becomes silent if anything issaid of demons (they have all seen them on thegrounds).

When the interviews are over the Baronreturns and, as way of advance payment andto show his good intentions, offers the charac-ters the hospitality of his storerooms so theymay stock themselves for a mission. They areeach allowed to take up to two pieces of armor,a new weapon of their choice, a horse and sad-dle, a packmule for carrying their supplies,one week of rations, and their choice of rope,torches or lamps for night searches, arrows orbolts, or water skins.

The characters can spend the rest of the dayasking questions around town. When they allmeet at the inn that night they discover thatone of the male characters has had a noteslipped into his pouch or pack without know-ing it. This could have been done any timeduring the day (it was slipped in there by oneof the castle wenches who secretly serves theBaroness). Hand the players the appropriatenote at this time.

Ifyou value your life and hate evil meet me atmoonrisetomorrow night north of town in theForgottenGrove. Tell no one. The Baron is a dan-gerousman.

Make sure that the characters know it is toolate to leave town tonight; soldiers are every-where . If a character asks a local resident aboutthe Forgotten Grove, they will think for amoment, then direct the characters to an areaabout a day's ride north of town. Once theycross over a small bridge there will be a standof trees to the right and a large hillsidebeyond. Within the grove there is a facelessstatue. No one can remember who the statueis or why it is therehence the ForgottenGrove. Once the characters are asleep, readthe remaining dreams.

The Forgotten Grove.On the outside of theadventure cover is a full-color map of the For-gotten Grove. The characters can reach thegrove from the town of Kaslaer by the NorthRoad. After riding a full day by horse, theroad turns east over a bridge before it con-tinues to the north. Just across the bridge, onthe south side of the toad, is a grove of treesnestled against the side of a hill.

The grove is ancient and no one remembersto whom it was devoted. (It was a shrine to

Jhebbal Sag at one time.) In the middle of thegrove are the remains of the temple. This areais best described as a Stonehenge-type struc-ture but in far worse shape. Most of the stoneshave fallen and are broken. The center is stillclear, though, and the charred earth showswhere many campfires have burned in thepast. To the right of the main circle, set fartherinto the trees but still reachable by an animalpath, is a large statue. It has eroded over thecenturies and its face is no longer distinguish-able. The statue appears to be a humanoidmale of a non-threatening nature. There is aneerie silence that surrounds the area.

Surrounding the grove are overgrown

heather fields providing perfect cover forgame birds, small animals, and awaiting assas-sins. 'To the west of the grove and fields, asmall but strong river flows to the south. Ifanyone tries to follow the river south it even-tually flows into a large crevice in the hillsideand disappears from view. To the south of thegrove and fields is a steep hillside. An animalpath leads from the grove to a small openingin the hill (large enough for a man in armor tocrawl through).

The Judge should arrange it so that theparty of adventurers do not arrive until earlyevening, just before dusk. A thunderstormwill prove useful to delay them for a while.

You might even want to add a short adventureof your own at a roadside farm or inn.

When the characters arrive, there will betime to set up camp before moonrise. If theysearch the area around the statue they find thebody of one of the wenches who they ques-tioned at the castle yesterday. She left in themiddle of the night to make sure she was herein time. She has been dead for about fivehours and died of a crushing blow to the skull.Anyone with a Medicine or Animal Handling

talent has a chance of having seen this type ofwound before. A successful Resolution checkusing either of these talents results in the char-acter recognizing a killing blow from a bearclaw. The bear is far away by now and stum-bled onto her quite accidentally. Before theyhave a chance to search her, the Zingaran Bri-gands attack.

The five brigands are at these locations: onenear the statue, two in the heather just west ofthe grove, and two in the heather south of thegrove. When one is discovered or if the girl is dis-covered, they all attack at once, rushing towardthe main concentration of player characters. Thebrigands believe the characters are special sol-diers sent by the Baron to hunt them down. This

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is obvious to any character listening to the bri-gands as they are screaming "assassins," "soldierscum," "whatever Etarti paid you to kill us you'llfind this brigand band will make you earn it,"and "where is your precious Arturus and yourfine uniforms, dogs?"

If this confusion can be cleared up beforethe brigands are killed, they may either makean alliance with the characters or apologizeand leave them alone, hither way, they haveno desire to extend the combat once the truthis known. If, for some reason, the brigands aregetting the best of the player characters, thethree Masked Ones who have been trailing theparty since they left the Empty Barrel, sneak

up on the brigands and quickly eliminate atleast three of them, then slip away into thenight. It is to their advantage to keep the char-acters alive until they find the Orb's departurepoint.

A search of the girl reveals a hand-written

note in the same hand as the one slipped tothe party yesterday. Hand the players theappropriate note at this time.

The Baron is an evil man who wishes to enslavethe world, He worships demons but has now lostsome of his power. Destroy the Orb if you find it.

For the truth, go below.

That night, while the characters sleep, theyall dream of a man with olive-colored skin andlong black hair walking among them andlaughing gently. He walks down the south ani-mal path right into the hill where the smallopening is. Upon awakening the next morn-ing all of the player characters feel an incredi-ble urge to explore the south path from theclearing. There, at the end of the path, is asmall opening in the hill, as if a wolf or bearmade its den there.

Into the Earth. When a character looks

through the small opening in the hill, he seesa tunnel that goes into the hillside for at least

15 feet. The first thing of note is the over-whelming smell of rotting flesh within. Aftercrawling inside for about 15 feet the tunnelopens up into a cavern that gradually slopesdown and stretches far back into the hill.

After the party has advanced into the caveabout 20 feet they find the body of a soldierwho wears different livery than that of BaronEtarti's men. If a Zingaran Brigand is withthem he is able to identify it as one of theBaroness's household guards. The soldier hasbeen dead for a few days and it is evident thatthe killer was some kind of clawed animal ormonster. A successful Resolution check usinga Medicine or Animal Handling talent deter-

mines that the animal was a large feline andthe animal is not related to whatever killed thegirl in the grove. A bastard sword lies next tothe body and has dried blood on it.

A quick search of the body reveals a largesupply sack full of xanthic mushrooms, a dirk,

flint and tinder, a small metal lamp, and asmall container of oil which miraculously wasnot broken in the fight. The body was alsoequipped with a buckler, a barbutte, onesplint arm guard, a small horn message con-tainer, and a strange belt worn over the body'sshoulder and of no obvious purpose. Insidethe message container is a note in the samehandwriting as the two previous notes men-

tioned in the text.

Fanchix,The Orb must be secured from the unbeliever.

Follow the guide-belt to its destination. Askthose who guard what should be done. If then so

desire, cross the silver bridge into Melena. Onyour return trip leave the warded items within

the tunnels for future expeditions. Do not allowthe Jetton of Asap to come to harm. It is all thatstands between you and the "little ones." Your

mission is sacred and the destruction of evildepends on it. That which consumes must betamed."

K.

The note was from the Baroness Kaletar toher man-at-arms (and lover) Fanchix directinghim on the mission that would bring the Orbto the priests of Jhebbel Sag and take it intoMelena. The Baroness always instructs by mes-sage, never in person. The belt's holes havebeen punched in a strange pattern.

Hand the players the illustration of the beltand the note found on the body from page 31.The belt's holes are a guide through the twist-ing caverns below to the trans-dimensionalgate. It is read by facing the buckle away fromthe character. The buckle is the opening at theback of this cavern that leads far below to thesubterranean labyrinth. A hole has been

punched for every time a decision on directionhad to be made in the twisting maze. A holeon the right means turn right, left means turnleft, centered means go straight, and a wideslash means search for and go through thesecret door in an upcoming area. The Judgeshould go through the belt guide before thegame so he can see how it was made. Some-times, because of the misperceptions of thebelt maker, a straight hole may mean taking apassage that is slightly right of exact center,and other such deviations. The belt is a puzzlewhich can help the players if they figure it out.The Judge should not assist the players in fig-

uring out the guide.

If the cavern is studied very closely, numer-ous animal tracks with claws similar to theones that slashed the dead soldier's body, canbe found going back and forth through thecavern. One end of the path is the small open-ing into the grove area. The other end of thepath is a large crevice at the back of the cave.This crevice is in the floor and opens into adescending shaft about 10 feet wide and over60 feet deep. There are claw marks within thisshaft; apparently the animals who made thosetracks can climb solid rock. No other trace ofanimal tracks or lair leavings can be found inthe cavern except those of the soldier's, both

following the path to the back of the cave andreturning to the opening, where he was killed.

There are suitable places to tie a rope at thecrevice opening. See page 13 of the Conan

Game Rule Book for notes on climbingassisted and unassisted. This shaft is a difficult

climb and cannot be done safely withoutassistance. Most of the crevices listed on themap are unassisted climbs for anyone with theClimbing talent. Any difficult climbs requir-ing assistance will be noted. The urge thatbrought the characters into the hill can still befelt, albeit much slighter. It is now a persuad-ing feeling that they should enter the crevice.

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THE UNDERGROUND LABYRINTHThe caverns are divided into three main

networks north of the underground river:main, north, and west. The main network ismostly used by the Priests of Jhebbel Sag asback-up food sources, animal lairs, and as asecurity system that must be bypassed to get tothe other two networks. They travel through itmore frequently than the north but far lessthan the west. It is their main access to theworld above.

The northern network is a single passage-way to the trans-dimcnsional gate. It also con-tains shrines, storage areas, further securityareas, and additional meditation chambers. Itis the least used of the networks but most

important.The western network features the living and

working quarters of the Priests of Jhebbel Sag.It is separated from the other networks andcan only be reached by the treacherous under-ground river. This is where most of the priestswork, eat, and sleep.

Encounters with the Priests of Jhebbel SagEventually the adventurers encounter the

Priests of Jhebbel Sag. The reaction of thepriests depends on the actions of the adven-turers. If the characters attack immediately,the priests will know they are enemies and tryto stop them. If the characters talk to the

priests and produce the notes from Kaletarthey have been given or found to prove thatthey are on a mission, the priests try to con-vince them that the Orb is evil and must bedestroyed and the Baron should be deposed.

The priests need someone to cross the trans-dimensional gate, go to the tomb of Hanyax,and destroy the Orb. They are still suspiciousafter Fanchix's deception but they must makesure the Orb is destroyed. Because they testanyone they send into Melena first, they givethe characters directions to the general areaswhere the four "Melena artifacts" are hidden.The priests tell them that they need the itemsto travel in Yama's world. The characters thenmust return to the priests with the items. Nomention of traps or animals is made, though aclay symbol of Jhebbel Sag is lent to them forthe item gathering. It provides protectionagainst the large Bats and Undercats, whoallow passage to a character showing this sign.

Once the characters return with the items,the priests provide them with lodging for thenight and feed them wondrous herbs andbroths. In the morning, all the characters'damage is healed, as are normal wounds (sev-ered limbs cannot be replaced). The priests

then escort them through the large chamberwith the ZiXit (thus negating the ZiXit's ani-mation). Before sending the characters overthe bridge, the priests give them a copy of theDreams of Melena to help guide them.

If the characters have been friendly, thepriests fill their skins from the fountain in area29 and give them xanthic mushrooms androots, which will not spoil in the desert heat.They also tell the characters what lore theyknow concerning Melena, including the Orbof Yama, the Trans-Dimensional Gate,Hanyax, and that the Baroness Kaletar sentthem the Orb for disposal. The priests reallydo not know how the "Melena artifacts" are

used or from what they protect the users. Fur-thermore, they are forbidden from asking.

If the characters bypass the priests and gothrough the gate on their own, the ZiXit reactas explained in their description. If they havefound some or all of the "Melena artifacts"they have a chance at success. If they do nothave the artifacts with them, the mission isprobably doomed.

The Main Network

The following descriptions coincide withnumbers on the map and are for the purposesof further clarification of encounters or fea-

tures in the numbered areas.

1-3. Once the party has descended into themaze and has spent at least 12 hours here, theMasked Ones who have been following themwill also descend. After they have lookedaround for a minute they will realize that thisis the beginning of the pathway to the depar-ture point where the Orb left the Hyborianworld. They decide that the player charactersare now expendable and hide in locations 1, 2,and 3. When the player characters return, theMasked Ones are still waiting at these loca-tions and jump the party in the junction justnorth of location 2.

4. This small cavern is covered with xanthicmushrooms. It is one of the newer "farms"that the priests have cultivated far afield. Anylight introduced into the area that is strongerthan glowing fungus attracts the large Bat inthe side channel.

5.This smaller channel is another beginningfarm operation. An Undercat here guardsagainst any harmless animals that feed on theyoung mushrooms. When the Masked Ones

have moved into position (see 1-3) the Under-cat returns to his lair, location 13.

6. To reach location 6 a character must gothrough the tidal area. This is a 10-foot sec-tion of water that pumps in and out every fiveminutes. If the character tries crossing it whenfull, he has a 40% chance of falling into thetidal hole itself. The character immediatelysubmerges, soaking everything carried orworn. Once in the hole, there is a 15 % chancethat the water suddenly siphons out, suckingthe character with it. If this happens, the char-acter emerges in the underground river exactlysouth of this location.

7.The area south of location 7 and north ofthe river is the lair of the Swamp Beast. It cansee anyone coming down the long, diagonaltunnel because they are outlined by the largeglowing wall behind them. It attacks anyone

entering this tunnel who is not a priest. TheSwamp Beast was summoned to guard, to hisdeath, the first of the artifacts. To the west ofthe beast's location is a reserve xanthic mush-room farm. On the floor of this farm is thefirst of the "Melena artifacts," the ancientslaver chains. A character must enter the sidecavern to see them.

8. This 10-foot section is actually a 30-footvertical drop into this cavern. Anyone withClimbing talent can make an unassisted climbup the shaft. Otherwise it must be an assistedclimb.

9.This large farm area is quiet and peacefulexcept for chirping crickets. It smells of pro-duce. The area is protected by a YawningSnapper behind a wall of vines. Anyone step-ping through here is immediately attacked bythe Yawning Snapper, but it appears that thevines are attacking. The priests have a semi-narcotic powder they toss into the snapperwhich allows them to pass freely. There areboth xanthic mushrooms and roots growing

here. Deep within the tangle of roots, twohanging snakes have recently taken up resi-dence.

10.This 10-foot section is actually a 30-footvertical rise out of the cavern. The areabetween locations 8 and 10 is 30 feet lowerthan the average level of the maze. It is identi-cal in difficulty to location 8. The adventurersmust either use a grapple and hope it catches afirm hold or have someone with Climbing tal-

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ent risk the climb unassisted, then attach thegrapple. Use the following chart when using agrapple. A character without Climbing talentmust first roll to see how well he throws thegrapple. There is a 75 % chance that the grap-ple does not go where the character aims it.No check is required for a character withClimbing talent.

The distance of the throw depends on con-ditions surrounding the thrower (roomenough to swing the rope, angle of throw,etc.) and is at the discretion of the Judge.Also, the stronger the character, the longer thethrow. There is at least one player character inthis adventure who has the strength to makeall the throws. The Judge should roll on thefollowing chart for every grapple that isthrown and makes it past the precedingstages.

Roll Results

01-10 The grapple misses the targetentirely. If a vertical throw was beingattempted the grapple returnsharmlessly to the ground.

11-20 The grapple strikes a rock outcrop-ping, just missing the target area. Itricochets off the rock in an unpre-dictable manner. If a vertical throw

was being attempted there is a 10%chance that the grapple hits some-

one below (Judge's discretion).Damage range should be 1-4 points.

21-35 The grapple appears to be holding,but once a character climbs up therope the grapple gives way. In a ver-tical climb the height obtainedbefore falling is never more thanhalf the height of the climb andshould be rolled randomly by the

Judge. Falling damage is taken bythe character who was climbing.Again, there is a 10% chance thegrapple falls on someone below.*

36-00 The grapple is firmly entrenchedand there is no chance of it slippingas long as only one character at atime uses it. There is a 20% accu-mulative chance per character of thegrapple slipping on the rope at thesame time. For example, three char-acters on the rope at the same time x20% is a 60% chance that the grap-ple will slip per combat turn.

* When characters cross horizontally over a

pit or chasm, the Judge should decide ran-domly how far the character was across thespace before the grapple slipped. That is howfar the character falls or swings below theanchor lip. Take half that height and figurefalling damage for the climber if the chasm isdeeper than the distance the character crossed.For example, Larss has thrown a grapple acrossa 30-foot-wide pit and caught some rocks onthe other side. He is 20 feet across when thehook slips and he swings down into the pit. Ifthe pit is deeper than 30 feet, he swingsagainst the side, hitt ing hard. Falling damageis as half that height, or the same as falling 10

feet. If the pit was shallower than 30 feet, hewould have hit the bottom, so he would takethe damage of a 20-foot fall.

11.This is a waste disposal area used by thepriests for materials they cannot throw in theriver, such as certain foods and broken items,for fear of them surfacing downstream andgiving their location away. Glowing fungusgrows here along with a thick bed of moss thatlooks like it might be used as a sleeping sur-face.

12.These four web spinners are situated overthe junction and attack the last person walk-ing past them. They recognize the Priests of

Jhebbel Sag who feed them small tidbits tokeep them here. They serve as part of theirsecurity system.

13. This is an Undercat lair. Xanthic mush-rooms grow in the back of the lair. The priestshave taught the Undercats how to push theirmeal remains through the vines into thequicksand so the lair stays clean. The thirdUndercat who belongs here is normally onduty in location 5. If the Masked Ones aredeployed, he joins the others here. Faced witha fierce foe, the Undercats jump through thevines, apparently in retreat. But they actuallycling to the rock walls on each side of the

quicksand and the floor beyond if the thirdUndercat is here. They defend themselvesfrom the walls, with just one claw or bite,while trying to draw the invaders into thequicksand.

14.This 10-foot section is actually a 90-footvertical drop into a cavern. It is a dangerousclimb down for anyone.

15. Since the "deception" of Fanchix, thePriests of Jhebbel Sag have hidden the bowl of

stars here and summoned a Strangling Demonto guard it. As the party enters this area theyhear a panting sound, as if a large dog were

here. This is the sound of the demon "tast-ing" the air. Then there is utter silence. Thedemon slipped in through a crack in the walland cannot be seen until the characters enterthe chamber. Then he pounces on the nearestcharacter. His orders are to guard this cham-ber, so he does not stray more than 10 feetfrom it, even if someone grabs the bowl andruns.

16. This is a secret passageway used by thepriests to bypass the Neo-thog in the tidal areato the south. Anyone entering here sees manyfootprints, as if this was a much-used passage.

17.The lair of the Neo-thog at first appears tobe a normal tidal area, but is not. In additionto the Neo-thog and some glowing fungus,there are two important alcoves here. The firstis directly south where Fanchix's Jetton ofAsap was hurled by the Neo-thog after rip-ping it off his neck. The second alcove is loca-tion 18.

18.In the past decade many have found theirway down here. None have returned to tell oftheir adventures. One of them, a famous

thief, sought refuge down here and wastrapped in this alcove by the Neo-thog. Hisremains are in this alcove, hidden by thevines. Among his remains lie some pitons, asmall hammer, and a rotted pouch. Inside thepouch is a red spider about six inches long. Itis made of wood and used by the thief to drawattention away from himself. There is also anopal (worth 15 GL) in the pouch. Unless acharacter has seen an opal in his adventures,he will not knew the true value. Just tell any-one looking at it that it is a small , smooth rockwith scintillating colors in it.

19.This is a highly polished 20-foot rock slide

rising to the north. It is used for sliding bas-kets of food down from the upper farm cavernto the north. Crawling up is difficult unless acharacter uses the handholds cleverly hiddenin the walls (requires an Observation talentcheck to find them). Coming back down thisslide is hazardous unless the character sitsdown. Otherwise there is a 50% chance offalling and taking 1 point of damage.

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20. This is a rich farm cavern, 45 feet tallerthan the normal caverns. Huge mushroomsand roots grow everywhere. In the northeastcorner of the cave is a cluster of four HangingSnakes, all in a single 10-foot area. In thenorthwest corner or the cave, behind somehanging roots, is a passage used by the priests.

21.Area 21 (between and including the twonumbers) is a security area. Between the twoareas is a pit 10 feet wide, 30 feet long, and 30feet deep. The bottom of the pit is quicksand.A character who has a Climbing talent cantake his chances on the walls but there will betwo Climbing checks made for this horizontal

climb. A character with no Climbing talentcannot cross without a tope. A character cross-ing the pit on a rope has an 80% chance ofmaking it across without slipping. This is

modified by -5 % for every large piece of metalor heavy weight he is carrying (shield, sword,

helm). It is further modified by adding a per-centage equal to the character's Strength (STR10 = 10% bonus). It is possible to tightlypack heavy equipment and pull it across byitself.

The appearance of the pit does not give aclue to its quicksand bottom. Only by tossingsomething in or falling in do the charactersrealize what it is. Priests who come this way

usually bring a wooden plank with them.

22. The cavern to the north is completelylined with glowing fungus and is the brightestnatural site in the maze. Some of the priest'srites are conducted here.

23. This area includes the chambers to thenorth and west. The numerous crevices in thisarea eventually run to the outside or to theriver. The crossdraft is very strong and a torchor small oil lamp will go out immediately

upon entering this area, but they can be relitin the west chamber. The west chamber is hid-den behind vines. It is a small farm area withone hanging snake for protection. The north-ern chamber contains three large Bats whoattack any non-priest. Review the combat indarkness section on page 4. Each of thesecaverns is 25 feet high; keep in mind thatglowing fungus only has a radius of 5 feet. Theshadows and sounds in this area are especiallyeerie. In the northern chamber are the ebonystandards needed to safely venture intoMelena.

24. A plant-raft located here can carry five

people. It is used to transport large quantitiesof food down river to the priest's chambers. Itseems to be newly made of woven vines cover-ing inflated animal skins. Three planks ofdrift wood are also in here, for use as ruddersor paddles. Ropes are fed through metal ringswoven into the raft, to prevent the raft frombeing swept away. Anyone with a Sailing tal-ent can immediately recognize the raft as atype of small river barge.

25.This 10-foot section is actually a 100-footvertical ascent shaft opening up above intochambers 26 and 27. This is a dangerous climbbecause it is impossible to throw a grapple up

the shaft.

26. In this lair of four large Bats is a strongdraft that will extinguish homemade torches,

has a 75% chance of putting out a small oillamp, a 40 % chance of putting out well-madetorches, and a 10% chance of putting out alarge oil lamp. Once the large bats have beenvanquished, the characters can find a widecrevice in the southeast corner of this room.This crevice is only big enough for an unar-mored human to crawl into. It ascends in acorkscrew fashion for over 100 feet and thenopens onto a hilltop.

27.This is a waste disposal center used by thepriests for materials they cannot throw in theriver for fear of them surfacing downstreamand revealing their location. Glowing fungusgrows in here, in addition to a thick bed ofmoss that looks like it might be used as asleeping surface. The chamber looks likesomeone's personal sleeping quarters.

28. The 20-foot area south of here is solidlyfilled with vines which grow to the floor.When pushing or hacking through, the char-

acters cannot see where they will step next;into a wall, open air, or quicksand.

29. This hidden and protected alcove has a

small fountain. There are many strange runeschiseled around the chamber giving it a highlymagical appearance. The water is magicallypurified. Anyone drinking this water gainsback 1 point of damage lost. The maximumanyone can gain in 24 hours is 3 points ofdamage from the first three drinks.

30.This area is kept secret by false walls thatblock the entrances. It is a catacombs wherethe Priests of Jhebbel Sag who have died since

Baron Etarti's persecution began are buried.The atmosphere is unnerving and a horridsmell permeates the air.

31. This 10-foot section is actually a 40-footvertical descent ramp leading down into asmall chamber. This ramp is not polished andthe climb is difficult, but not dangerous. Atthe base of the ramp are passageways to theleft and right; either one takes the charactersto the same small chamber. Hanging from theceiling in the middle of the chamber is a 3-foot-wide ha ll of glowing fungus. It is a

strange plant that the glowing fungus hasslowly covered. Touching the ball causes it to

explode. The explosion covers anyone in thechamber with sticky glowing fungus. Every-one in the room will glow in the dark untilthey can wash their clothes, equipment, and

themselves. The explosion also causes therelease of millions of tiny spores which act as a

gas cloud for 5 combat turns. No one can seeanything in the chamber during that time.

When the characters enter the room theywill not see the four web spinners in theshadows unless they specifically mention thatthey are looking for them. When the charac-ters are in the area, one of the web spinnersfires at the ball while the other three fire websat the characters. If the web spinners miss the

characters, they won't know they wereattacked. The web spinner shooting at the ballwill not miss. After the spores clear, any webspinner who did not hit a character before fireshis web again. Meanwhile, those web spinnerswho have successfully webbed a target rundown the line and spit acid at close range,then run back up again and prepare another

web.

32.A strange network of small holes in here,because of the churning air and water, give offa horrible monster-like sound. To reach loca-tion 32, a character must go through the tidalarea. This is a 10-foot section of water that

pumps in and out. If the character tries tocross it when full, there is a 40% chance offalling into the tidal hole itself. The characterimmediately submerges, soaking everythingon him or carried. Once in the hole there is a15% chance that the water will suddenlysiphon out, sucking the character with it. Ifthis happens the character surfaces in theunderground river exactly south of this loca-tion.

33. The area north of location 33 is a large

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farm that is normally guarded by an Under-cat, Yawning Snapper, and large Bat. Butbecause the priests have moved the last of the"Melena artifacts," the iron hooves, into aside channel here, they have increased secu-rity. There is now a giant beetle in the tunnel.This man-sized insect wandered across thetrans-dimensional gate some time ago and thepriests kept it for a guard. It is so wide that itcan block the corridor and only two characterscan fight it at any one time. If the charactersuse much light when battling the beetle, itattracts the attention of the Undercat andlarge Bat. They enter the fray at once. Thelarge Bat flies overhead and the Undercat

crawls up on the walk and attacks with justone claw or bite. All three monsters concen-trate their attack on the two characters infront.

34.The vines in this area form a wall across thetunnel. Behind the vines is a small opening inthe floor where someone fell through the thinrock a few months ago. Ever since then, harm-less animals have been falling into it andbreaking away the hole a little more eachtime. Inside is a very rare form of insect life,the Cavern Ant. The Cavern Ant is com-pletely dormant until food is within a few feetof it, or drops into its nest, then it instantly

comes alive.Anyone who walks up to the vines willbreak through the floor into the ants' pit. Thepit is 15 feet deep, 10 feet long, and 10 feetwide. To burn all of these ants requires twoquarts of oil or seven torches. In the bottom ofthe pit, under the ants, are the few non-edibleitems the prior victim was carrying: an ivoryring (10 GL) and an unusual metal flask.Inside the flask is golden lotus extract, a rareand expensive elixir that cures any kind ofmadness (even the Baron Etarti's fanaticism).The amount of gold lunas paid to a characterfor selling the elixir depends on where he sellsit, what the conditions are, and the presentbalance of the campaign

35.This small system of passages and cham-bers between two secret doors is a shortcutused by the priests. It connects the main net-work with the northern network that containsthe shrines of Jhebbel Sag and the trans-dimensional gate. Within area 35 is an Under-cat lair, a channel filled with omnivorousmoss, and a small root farm. In the middle ofthe root farm are five Hanging Snakes. Noteven the Undercats know they are here.

36. This small docking area has metal ringshammered into the wall and a coil of rope thatreaches to the dock entering into the westernnetwork (350 feet). It is guarded by a singlelarge Bat whose orders are to notify the priestsit any strangers enter this area. Fifteen min-utes after this large Bat flutters away, threepriests come paddling up the river to this dockto investigate.

37. This area is identical to area 36 exceptthere is no rope here and the dock is for thenorthern cavern network. Five minutes afterthis large Bat flutters away three priests, eachwith a large Bat, come paddling up the river to

this dock from the west network to investi-gate.

The Northern Network

When the player characters first enter thisnetwork they will hear a muttering sounddown the passage. As they proceed along the

passageway the muttering increases to quiettalking (near location 39), then it can be heardas chanting (near location 49), which willgrow louder (near location 53) and louderuntil the characters are not able to hear eachother speak (near location 57 on cast).

Though there are only a few priests in thetrans-dimensional gate room, the strangeacoustics amplify their voices. Their chant is award preventing Yama's crossing fromMelena. Its lyrics and rhythm are bizarre andshould cause concern among the characters.There are even passages of silence within thechant where the appropriate hand gestures areto be made. Therefore, the noise will sud-denly stop, then slowly start again a fewmoments later. It is up to the Judge to conveythis impression of sound and silence to theplayers.

38. Another Strangling Demon guards thispassageway. He is perched high in the ceilingamid the hundreds of huge stalactites. He is to

attack anyone not wearing priest's garmentswho passes north or south of this area, unlessthey are accompanied by a priest. He may con-tinue in either direction until he catches andslays them. Then he must return to his perch.The only way to see him is to stand directlybeneath and look up.

39.In the back wall of this small chamber is asemi-circular depression neatly cut out. It issurrounded by runes which only a Priest of

Jhebbel Sag can read. Before Fanchix washere, the bowl of stars was kept in this cham-ber.

40.Old chains are fastened to the wall in thischamber, but they have been occasionallycleaned. They look like the ancient slaverchains artifacts. This is where the priests keeptheir prisoners; anyone who has entered theirdomain and cannot be allowed to leave. Thechains have not been used for a few years butthe remains of an old prisoner still hang here.Two large Bats have made their home herealso.

41.Two priests returning from a religious ritewalk down the hallway. They have been medi-tating and both are silent. They cannot beheard above the distant chanting. The glow-ing fungus in the corridors allows them to see.Only a character with a Danger Sense or Ani-mal Sense talent may attempt a Resolutioncheck to see if they detect these priests. Other-wise the priests notice the party and sneakaway. They summon their brethren back downthe hallway.

42.This alcove has two horizontal slots carvedinto its walls. Before Fanchix, the ancientslaver chains were kept here.

43.The entire stretch of wall on both sides ofthis channel, 115 feet long and 15 feet high, iscovered with a mosaic. It was started when thepriests first came here so that their story couldbe told if they all died. The right side showshow they were purged by the Baron andforced underground. The left side is a dreamthat came to the now-deceased priest whocompleted this mural. It shows huge sheets offlame sweeping across a desert, destroying ahuge army led by an olive-skinned, black-haired man. Any of the characters who look atthis mozaic will instantly recognize this as theman in the dreams.

44.This central channel has an entire wall thatis a bas-relief of Jhebbel Sag surrounded by alltypes of animals.

45. This shrine is full of small statues offormer leaders of the Priesthood of JhebbelSag. There are slow-burning torches alight inhere at all times. The party does not recognizeany of the images.

46.The importance of this shrine is denoted

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by the two Undercats that always guard it . It isa tomb-like chamber with golden braziersburning brightly. Inside are two ivorycolumns, each one about 20 feet high and 4feet wide. They have ornate carvings workedinto them with an artistry none of the charac-ters have ever seen. One is accompanied bythe poem, The Dreams of Melena.The othershows two vast panoramic views, one of aremarkable city, alien in architecture butbeautiful nonetheless, the other of a king andqueen in a tomb that is overflowing withriches. Below the first scene are the words,"Melena, City of the Blessed." Over the sec-ond scene are the words, "The Lost Tomb of

Hanyax." If any of the player characters get achance to ask the priests about these columnsthey will reply that the columns were broughtfrom the ruins of Melena into the Hyborianworld ages past.

47. This long chamber was once a massivetreasure room, but most of the priesthood'swealth has been sorely depleted. There arefive rotting chests, one trunk in good condi-tion, two long planks that the priests use tocross small pits and quicksand, a metal lockbox, and a puzzle chest.

There is nothing in the rotting chests andthey simply fall apart when touched. Thetrunk has a "theft-proof lock" that will snapout a long needle with poison on it if touched(the poison is old3 / 2 / 3 hrs). There is a 60 %chance of tripping the trap by just touchingthe lock. The actual entrance into the trunk isbeneath, through a sliding door. Nothing is inthe trunk except an old written account ofhow the priesthood was started in Zingara.This is of some value to the Nemedian Chron-iclers. The small metal box is empty except for

its key. The puzzle chest is six feet high andmade of ironwood. It is equipped with fivelevers, four buttons, three keyholes, and twosliding door sections. To open it, all four legsmust be turned counter-clockwise, until it col-lapses. There is a small sack of sapphires inside

worth 120 GL.

48. This small alcove has vertical groovescarved into its walls. The ebony standardswere kept here before Fanchix's deception.

49. This priest is just exiting area 50 as thecharacters approach. If he is not successfullygrabbed at once he escapes to location 54 toget help.

50. This is a vestment chamber where theornate vestments are kept that the Jhebbelitesuse on special holidays. They are sealed intrunks. Any character trying to disguise him-self as a priest in these vestments is identifiedimmediately by the priests, though not byUndercats, large Bats, or the StranglingDemon in location 38.

51.There are four square depressions carvedin the walls, each about the size of a one-footcube. These once held the iron hooves of the"Melena artifacts."

52. The 40-foot passageway to the north of

this area is actually a stairway leading 40 feetdown. See the Steep Stairway Combat Tablein location 55.

53. The 20-foot passageway to the south ofthis number is actually a stairway leading 20feet down. Its steepness presents an unstablefighting surface.

54.These two priests are scrubbing the insideof this cavern as a penance for breaking theirfast. They can hear any loud voices or unusualnoises from area 53 to area 56. They arearmed, as are all the priests, and investigate.

55.The area from 55 to 57 is a stairway thatdescends 100 feet at a treacherous angle. Thesame dangerous fighting conditions exist onthis stretch of stairway as exist on the others inthis network. When fighting on steep stair-ways use the following Steep Stairway CombatTable. Notice the large crevice just to the eastand north of area 55. A single defender canblock the opening of the crevice and no morethan one character can fight him at a time.While the attacker has a level footing, anyonefighting on the stairway must consult the fol-lowing table every combat turn. There is apriest on guard duty in the crevice at all times.

Steep Stairway Combat Table

Add a percentage bonus equal to the charac-ter's Acrobatic talent.If a character has an ACR-10 then he receives a+ 10 on the following roll.If a character tumbles, figure the damage as afall for the area tumbled, then halve it.

Roll Result

01-10 Falls and tumbles 1d10 x 10 feet.11-20 Trips and tumbles 1d10 x 5 feet.21-30 Slips and tumbles 1d10 x 2 feet.31-45 Loses footing. No movement or

attack allowed.46-75 Off-balance. No attack allowed.76-00 Normal combat.

56.This appears to be a vine-covered cul-de-sac. The northest branch houses anotherguard priest who, like the one in area 55, isfighting from a vantage point. If he does notthink he can take all of the intruders he will

run down to area 58 and send the large Batmessengers for help. The stairway continuesthrough the vines to area 57.

57.This is the end of the stairway. The passageeast of here narrows to five feet for a distanceof 20 feet. If the priest in area 56 has decidedto warn the priesthood of intruders, he sendstwo large Bats to summon help from the west-ern network, sends the other four large Batsinto battle, and guards the passage himselfwhere no more than one character at a timecan fight him.

58. Any unescorted non-priests who passunder this glowing fungus are attacked by six

large Bats.

59.This massive chamber was hewn out of liv-ing rock eons ago. It is 60 feet high and has nostalactites or stalagmites in it. It acts as a natu-ral sound amplifier. The chanting is now soloud that it is almost unbearable. There aretwelve small stone men in here and fourpriests. The statues are the ZiXit and animateafter the player characters cross through thetrans-dimensional gate unless the charactersare protected by the Jetton of Asap or havebeen given permission by the Priests of Jheb-bel Sag. If the six large Bats outside of thischamber enter into combat, one of the four

priests in here will know and automaticallyretreat to the area just outside of the vines inthe southeast corner and waits. He is notallowed to leave the chamber and does notimmediately attack any player characters.

If player characters enter the large chamber,the three remaining priests continue chantingbut rise and draw their weapons. When ready(only 1 combat turn ) their chanting stops for a

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Conan RPG - [CN2] Conan, The Mercena

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