OFFICIAL GAME ADVENTURE

An Adventure for Character Levels 10 -14

RED SONJAUnconquered

by Anne Gray McCready

CREDITS

Editor: Tim KilpinCover Art: Clyde CaldwellIllustrations: Clyde CaldwellCartography: Dennis KauthTypography. Betty ElmoreModel for Cover and Interiors:

Jeanne Stanley

ADVANCED DUNGEONS A DRAGONS, AD&D,PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION, and the TSRlogo are trademarks of TSR, Inc.

RED SONJA ©1986 Red Sonja Corp. All Rights Reserved.RED SONJA and the distinctive likenesses thereof aretrademarks of Red Sonja Corp.

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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.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

9183

Preparing for the Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Riddle of the Ruby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Journey of Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The Burial Grounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MapsMap 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Map 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Map 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inner gatefold2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . outer gatefold3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inside covers

Pre-rolled Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-14, 19-20NPC Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

New Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .New Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Players'Players'Players'DM MapDM MapDM Map

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Red Sonja of Hyrkania"If you but have the will, Sonja, you mayuse your strength to make the world yourhome. You may become a wanderer, theequal of any man or woman you meet."

Red Sonja #1. The Ring of Ikribu

Sonja was not yet 20 years old when themercenaries came. Her father had been oneof them once, but he'd lost his left leg in acampaign, and now it was all he could do tofarm a small plot of land and feed his family.Over the years, Sonja's father taught heryounger brothers the art of swordplay. Shewould watch very carefully, then steal awayto the woods to practice on her own. Andthat fall, just shy of 20, Sonja promised her-self that one day she would be her brothers'equal in battle. That was the fall the merce-naries came.

There were six of them in all. The leaderhad come to recruit Sonja's father for a win-ter campaign, but was refused. The leaderordered his men to kill the crippled man.And as they carried out their orders, Sonja'sbrothers rushed from the house in defense;they too were killed. To quiet her screams,Sonja's mother was slain as well.

The mercenaries found Sonja in the houseand assaulted her, then set the house afire,leaving Sonja to die. But Sonja was strong,and she escaped the burning house just intime. She ran into the woods—her woods,her place among the ruins. And it was here,with the memory of her family etched intoher mind, Sonja honed her battle skills...inpreparation.

One night, a vision lit up the black skyabove the woods and spoke to Sonja. "Aninner strength has now been awakened inyou, Sonja, and you will be the equal of anyman or woman if you take this vow: youmust never allow yourself to be loved by an-other man unless he can best you in fair bat-tle ." And then the vision offered to Sonja herfather's sword.

And from that night forward, she becameknown across the lands of Hyboria as RedSonja, the greatest woman warrior of all time.

Red Sonja is a character borrowed from Ro-bert E. Howard of "Conan" fame. Originally,the character was known as "Red Sonya ofRogatine" and was a 16th century crusaderwho wielded dagger, saber, and pistols.

Adapted by Marvel Comics, Sonya be-came the character as she appears here,"Red Sonja of Hyrkania." In 1981, she madeher debut in Ace Fantasy Books.

Suggested ReadingYou may want to better familiarize yourselfwith some of the settings and characters ofRed Sonja's world before running this ad-venture. The Red Sonja adventures fromMarvel Comics are a good starting point, asare the following books by David C. Smith:

Red Sonja #1: The Ring of IkribuRed Sonja #2: Demon LightRed Sonja #3: When Hell LaughsRed Sonja #4: Endithor's DaughterRed Sonja #5: Against the Prince of HellRed Sonja #6: Star of Doom

DM BackgroundThis adventure is designed for four 10th to14th level player characters (PCs) from theHyborian world: Achmal, Kynon, Galon,and Red Sonja. Character profiles are pro-vided in the PC pull-out section in the centerof the booklet. Players may also use their ownPCs for this adventure. However, make surethey understand that Hyboria is unlike otherAD&D® game worlds; the PCs provided hereare best suited to this adventure.

You must also be prepared for runningthis adventure in a new world. While basicrules are not affected, some new guidelineswill affect how players approach the adven-ture. Carefully read the "AD&D® Rules inHyboria" section before you start the ad-venture. Also let the players get familiarwith the large fold-up map included withthis adventure. This will give them a feel forthe world in which they'll be adventuring.The adventure notes will outline when youshould show other maps to the players.

Abbreviations Used in StatisticsAC = Armor ClassAL = AlignmentC = ClericCE = Chaotic EvilCG = Chaotic Good

Ch = CharismaCN = Chaotic

NeutralCon = ConstitutionD = DexterityDmg = DamageF = FighterFS = Fear StatisticHD = Hit Dice

hp = hit pointsI = Intelligence#AT = Attacks/

round

LE = Lawful EvilLG = Lawful GoodLN = Lawful NeutralLP = Luck PointsMR = Magic

ResistanceMU = Magic-User

MV = MovementN = True NeutralNE = Neutral EvilNG = Neutral GoodS = StrengthSA = Special AttacksSD = Special

DefensesT = ThiefW = Wisdom

AD&D® Rules in HyboriaThese rules modifications will help makeyour AD&D® adventure in Hyboria moreexciting and challenging. Keep in mind thatthese rules are not official or binding, butneed only apply when your PCs are adven-turing in Hyboria.

Sonja's VowThe vow Sonja took is that she will love noman who cannot defeat her fairly in battle.This means she may not compromise herselfin any way to further her goals. She may useher feminine wiles to a certain extent, butthe power of her beauty is likely to over-come many men, so this approach couldwork against Sonja.

Make sure that the person playing Sonjaunderstands this vow. If Sonja abuses herpower over men during the adventure, shewill lose some of her exceptional abilities forthe rest of the adventure. It's up to you todecide if such a situation arises. If it does,Sonja's Strength falls to 8, her Dexterity to11, and her Constitution to 7. She also loses8 Luck Points and 35 hit points. She can besurprised on 1-3 on 1d6.

Fear FactorMany inhabitants of Hyboria are instinc-tively fearful of unnatural things, such asmagic and unusual creatures. Such thingsare not commonplace in this world.

Because of this fear, some characters may"freeze up" or flee during the adventure.This fear lasts until the character overcomesit, or until he is somehow affected by whathe fears (attacked by a creature or affectedby a spell). Other characters, who are morefamiliar with unusual occurrences, are notaffected by fear.

In the adventure, some characters andcreatures have a Fear Statistic. This is anumber from 1 to 10—the smaller the num-ber, the more fearsome the object.

Use the Fear Statistic by having PCs makeFear Checks. Make these checks whenever:1. the PCs encounter at close range a mon-

ster with a Fear Statistic;2. a spellcaster with a Fear Statistic per-

forms some magic action;3. the encounter description calls for it.

Once a PC has made a Fear Check for a par-ticular creature or object, he doesn't have tomake another check if confronted againlater in the adventure, even if the PC failsthe first check.

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How to Make a Fear Check;Multiply the object's Fear Statistic by the

PC's Wisdom. Then roll d100 (percentiledice]. If the dice roll is equal to or less thanthe amount (FSxW), the PC passes the FearCheck. In some cases the PC's percentilescore will be greater than 100. If so, the PCcannot be affected by that object's Fear Sta-tistic.

A PC who passes a Fear Check earn moveand act normally. A PC who fails this, checkcannot act, unless he is attacked or dis-tracted, or until he passes another FearCheck on the next round, Only one FearCheck may be made per round.

Heroism and Luck

The PCs may sometimes be able to performfeats, that are beyond the range of AD&D®risks. These: feats are governed by LuckPoints,

Each PC begins the adventure with 10-20Luck Points. Don't use Luck Points if theplayers are using their own PCs for this ad-venture.

Any time during the adventure, a PC mayattempt some amazing feat (e.g., makingmore than the allowed number of attacks,striking a deathblow). To do so, the player

must dearly describe the intended action.Then, you must decide if the PC succeeds, byusing the following guidelines:

1. Spending 1 Luck Point allows a PC to:a. make one extra attack in a round;b. automatically hit an opponent;c. climb without falling;d. catch something tossed to him;e. leap a chasm or river;f. tear a door off its hinges;g. pick up a man-sized object.

2. Spending 2 Luck Points allows a PC to:a. make two extra attacks in a round;b. knock an opponent out cold with a fistor weapon;c. spring back from a trap just in time;d. climb while carrying another person;

3. Spending 3 Luck Points allows a PC toperform a heroic action beyond thescope of the rules (use your judgment).

A PC may try to deliver a deathblow (kill-ing an opponent with one attack) by spend-ing Luck Points equal to 1/2 the Hit Dice ofhis opponent. The PC then rolls a normalhit. If the result is 20 or higher (includingmodifications to the dice roll), the PC slayshis opponent, If the dice rol1 is lower than20, resolve the attack normally.

Luck Points can never be used to affectany of the following:

1. A dice roll that has already been made.2. Any saving throw (Luck Points should

be used to avoid situations before they oc-cur).

3. Fear Check.

PC Luck PointsBefore you begin the adventure, make

sure you explain to the players how LuckPoints work. Do not, however, tell themhow many Luck Points their characters startthe adventure with. The PCs should notknow how many points a certain feat re-quires, nor should they know how manypoints they have remaining at any time dur-ing the adventure. After all, it's, all up toluck! The PCs' Luck Points are outlined be-low.

Red Sonja — 13 Luck PointsAchmal — 16 Luck PointsKynon — 17 Luck PointsGalon — 11 Luck Points

Some of the PCs' opponents in this ad-venture also have Luck Points. These arelisted in the opponents' individual statistics.

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If the players use their normal PCs for thisadventure, don't use the opponents' LuckPoints.

HealingMost Hyborian deities will simply kill anymortal follower who calls upon them for as-sistance. Tarim and Erlik, commonly wor-shipped gods of this land, are known fortheir wickedness. Anyone who calls onthem could be in for worse trouble thantheir current lot!

Because of this, clerics as they appear inthe AD&D® rules are non-existent in Hybo-ria. While there is little magical healing ofany type available here, the strange proper-ties of Hyboria do allow beings to heal veryquickly.

Characters adventuring in Hyboria heal 1hit point per day, even if they do not rest. Inaddition, a character who rests one day willregain hit points equal to 1/2 his Constitu-tion score (round fractions down).

If players use their own PCs, allow themto use this Healing rule only if there is nocleric in their party. If a cleric is present, thePCs must heal normally. However, all NPCs(non-player characters) will heal at the ac-celerated rate; this is because NPCs are na-tives to this world, and the players' ownPCs are not.

The Hyborian WorldRead this section carefully before you beginplay, as adventuring in Hyboria is quite dif-ferent from other AD&D® game worlds. It'simportant that you share this informationwith the players throughout the course ofthe adventure; use some of the details toliven up routine conversations with NPCs.This give-and-take will help the PCs get afeel for adventuring in Hyboria, and will getthem even more into the spirit of the game.

History and GeographyRed Sonja's adventures take place on ourEarth, but it is an Earth of a much differenttime. It is a time between the fall of Atlantisand the rise of the known world. It is a landthat bears little resemblance to our own.Since the time of Red Sonja, mountainshave cracked, lands have sunk, and new is-lands have risen in the waves. And as thelands changed, so did the basic laws of theworld. The arts of magic were lost, and themany fantastic creatures disappeared.

In the Hyborian Age, the world was a sin-gle, vast continent, populated by manykingdoms and races of people. Although

history gave this continent no official name,it is usually called the Hyborian World orthe Hyborian Kingdoms. This name comesfrom the ancient race that originally settledthe land, the Hybori.

The lands and climate of Hyboria rangefrom the snowy wastes and tundras ofAsgard and Turin, to the barren deserts ofSouthern Turan and the tropical jungles ofKhitai. Much of this land is wilderness, bro-ken only by small areas of settled farmlandand caravan routes.

Many parts of the world are unexplored,and many areas that were once traveled havelong since been forgotten. Hidden awaythroughout the continent are the remains ofprevious empires and civilizations; most are inruins, although some are still occupied bydwindling numbers of ancient races.

HyrkaniaHyrkania is the land of Red Sonja's birth.Located east of the Vilayet Sea, it is a land offorest, prairies, and tundra. It's best known,however, for its broad, barren steppes.Tribal warrior clans, led by khans, inhabitthese steppes. Clad in sheepskin and furcaps, these warriors are skilled raiders whoplunder villages on horseback, fighting withbow and arrow. The Kuagir Nomads areone of the steppes' largest tribes.

PeopleThe borders in Hyboria are formed mostlyby racial differences. There are many differ-ent races of people in Hyboria; while manyof these races intermingle, it is easy for evenoutsiders to tell the basic differences be-tween them.

One clearly identifiable difference be-tween the races are the languages theyspeak. Each kingdom in Hyboria has itsown language. Most people are able tospeak several languages, however, andmany of these tongues share common ele-ments. These languages are not difficult tolearn.

Different races also have easily recogniz-able attitudes and behavior patterns. Hy-rkanians, for example, are hard-working,sometimes rebellious farmers and raiders.The Turanians prefer intrigue and luxury.The people of Stygia, noted for their interestin magic, have an evil reputation. And thePicts, barbaric and cruel, are given to war-fare and feuding.

There is not a time in the Hyborian Agewhen some kingdom is not fighting with orplotting against another. Spies, sorcerers,and assassins are often the tools of kings and

princes. Quick PCs will keep their eyes outfor NPCs from suspect areas.

Demi-humans and humanoid races areextremely rare in the Hyborian World.There are no elves or halflings, nor are thereany organized races of dwarves or ore-likebeings. Any humanoids that do turn up inthis world are treated as freaks and oddities.

TechnologyThe crafts and skills of the Hyborian Agerange from very primitive to highlyadvanced. Many craftsmen are quite skilledIn working with metals, and can make steelweapons that are impossible to break. Ar-mor, however, is a rarity here; warriors gen-erally use little more than scale armor orchainmail. Leather armor is common. Allnormal medieval weapons are available.Siege weapons, such as catapults, are notuncommon; if necessary, PCs will be able tohave them built.

Transportation is available in several dif-ferent forms. Horses are common, except inthe northern areas; where they are availa-ble, chariots are often used. Camels can befound only in the deserts. Almost any typeof boat can be found in use, including row-boats, galleys, and sailing ships.

EquipmentThe cost and availability of certain pieces ofequipment are different in Hyboria. Use thefollowing list as a guide.

ArmorBandedPlateSplint

LivestockHorse, draftHorse, heavy warHorse, medium warHorse, light warHorse, ridingPony

Tack and HarnessBarding, chainBarding, leatherBarding, plateBit and bridleSaddleHarness

TransportGalley, warShip, large merchantShip, war

350 gp1,500 gp

350 gp

200 gpl,000gp

800 gp600 gp400 gp100 gp

1,000 gp300 gp

5,000 gp15 gp50 gp5gp

25,000 gp(not available)(not available)

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MonstersMonsters as they are known in the AD&D®game world are extremely rare in Hyboria.None live in or near the settled lands, unlessmagically bound to a specific site or kept assome powerful person's pet, and even theseoccurrences are uncommon.

In the wild, monsters aren't quite as rare.The creatures most likely to be found inthese areas are the normal predators:wolves, bears, lions, and tigers. They aremore ferocious than usual, however, andseldom flee a fight, particularly with hu-mans (which, in their eyes, make for won-derful feasts!).

Small monsters, such as stirges, blinkdogs, or owl bears, do not exist in Hyboria,with the exception of the occasional giantrat, snake, or spider.

Those monsters that PCs are most likelyto encounter are truly powerful and danger-ous: elementals, frost giants, and iron andstone golems. These creatures usually actalone, hunting for themselves or at the bid-ding of a spellcaster.

Some of the monsters to be found herehave been summoned from other dimen-sions, and their existence in Hyboria wouldbe impossible if not for this summoning.

In the end, the most fearsome foes thePCs will encounter in this adventure areNPCS. Keep this in mind if you run furtheradventures in the Hyborian world.

SpellcastersWhile still practiced to some degree in theHyborian World, magic is a fading art.Knowledge of the full power of magic is indecline, and much of its history has beenforgotten or obscured. Only a few are will-ing to devote their lives to the study and tra-vel necessary to gain true magical powers.Furthermore, it is a dangerous occupation;many things can go wrong for the unwaryor ignorant student. As a result, there arevery few spellcasters in this world, but thosefew are extremely powerful.

In Hyboria, the title "priest" may be usedfor any type of spellcaster. This title has lit-tle to do with religion, even though most ofthese spellcasters are associated with oneform of religion or another.

There are two general types of spellcast-ers in this world: magic-users and illusion-ists.

Magic-UsersThese spellcasters are more common in

Hyboria. They gain their powers by study-ing carefully, traveling to distant lands to

gather rare powders and plants, and direct-ing their agents to search ancient ruins forfabled objects of great power. They rarelyget directly involved in the action, choosinginstead to control and manipulate othersthrough threats.

Years ago, these threats often were morepowerful than the magic itself. All a craftymagic-user had to do was threaten to use hispowers, and ordinary people would dowhatever he wished. Many kingdoms fellunder the indirect control of magic-users asa result.

When magic is now used in this world,the types of magic tends to be summoning,illusion, charming, and death-related.Magic as heavy artillery (fireballs, lightningbolts, etc.) is very rare.

ClericsThere are very few clerics in this world.

Those clerics that do live here offer theirservices to the injured, but use most of theirpowers for the advancement of their deity.Any NPC cleric encountered in this adven-ture should be willing to offer assistance tothe PCs only in the forms of informationand detection.

Magical ItemsLike spellcasters, magical items are rare inHyboria. When they are found, they gener-ally bring grief rather than help to thosewho hold them. These items are all left overfrom previous ages, and most people knownothing of them or have forgotten they everexisted.

These items are usually of use only tospellcasters, and it's extremely dangerousfor anyone else to even attempt to use them.Since the items generally hold such black se-crets and horrible histories, spellcastersmust do careful research and study beforeusing them. Failure to do this homeworkcan lead to extremely unfortunate results.

The PCs shouldn't expect to acquire newmagic items during this adventure. If a PCdoes find a new item, he will have a toughtime figuring out how to use it correctly.

If the players are using characters fromanother world, any magic items those char-acters have at the start of the adventure willstill function as expected.

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Djemal: Mercenaries' LegacyUse DM Map #1 for your reference whilerunning this part of the adventure. Read thefollowing boxed text to only the person whois playing Red Sonja.

crumbling to bits. A broken table liescrumpled in a corner, an intact woodenchair next to it. A wonderful stage for afight...

Your blow flattens the sweaty mercenaryagainst the crumbling wall. His bloodiedchest heaves with each labored breath.Nearly dead, he reaches feebly to the skyto fend off your final blow. But youwait, and he falls back, crimson dropletstrickling slowly from his wounds.

You stand silent, momentarily sad-dened by the waste of this well-muscledyouth. But the shouts and screams ofyour companions quickly snap you backto attention. None of you are safe yet.

The PCs have crossed the trail of a wickedband of mercenaries who has ravaged andruined many settlements in the area. Thesebloodthirsty killers have managed to avoidany armies so far, as they have stormed onlysmall settlements in outlying areas that arenot protected by any ruler's forces.

The tiny village on the outskirts of Dje-mal that the PCs now find themselves in isno different. There is no army here, and themercenaries have done their work well.There are a few survivors, and only onewho can give the PCs any information. In apartially destroyed hut, the PCs find adying farmer who tells them the following:

"They come in search of a magic item,something very special. They say they willburn every settlement in the steppes to findit. But no one here knew what they weretalking about. These animals, they have nohearts—they seem...possessed. When webegged for our lives, asked them whom theyserved, they just howled and went on kill-ing. They.. .must be stopped." As the farmerexpires, his eyes go wide and he points to aspot behind the PCs. Read the followingboxed text to the PCs.

Still out of breath from your last battle,you whirl around to find three moremercenaries poised to attack. Black-haired and grimy, the three sneer at youand swing their blood-stained swords inthe air. But their expressions change toawe when they notice Sonja, for not onlyis she a woman wielding a sword, shestands fully a head taller than all ofthem.

There are four dead mercenaries atyour feet, and the house vou're in is

Mercenaries (three 7th level fighters): AC 6;MV12"; hp 18 each; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8

Because of the bodies and rubble on thefloor of the hut, the PCs' and mercenaries'movement rates are cut in half. The merce-naries attack immediately, and will fight tothe death.

At first, the mercenaries are careless inbattle. Even though they're outnumbered,they make light of the situation: after all,one of the party is just a girl if Sonja shoutsinstructions to the party, the mercenariesfind this hysterical: a wench commandingtroops?!? But as the battle progresses, themercenaries become distracted as theywatch Sonja in awe. They begin to realizethat this isn't playtime; this is a serious bat-tle.

If during the battle the PCs question theirattackers about the magical item referred toby the farmer, they mention "some magicguy who wants it real bad." That's all anymercenary will say, unless a sword is beingheld to his throat, in which case he will sayonly, "the tablet." The mercenaries knownothing more than this. You can have themercenaries say either of these things asdying words as well.

If the PCs search the mercenaries' bodies,all they find is a total of 72 gp. Their swordsare worthless.

If the PCs search through the ruins of thesettlement, they find only a few gp and sev-eral small gemstones. As the PCs search, thesurviving villagers slowly return. Thoughthey are timid, they stare in amazement atSonja, who is unlike anyone they have everseen.

If the PCs question the villagers about themercenaries' raid, they aren't able to getmuch helpful information. The villagers aretired and broken; these raids are a commonoccurrence. One villager says that the raidwas no doubt the work of "Sotha." If thePCs ask who that is, the villager replies,"you will know soon enough. He will findyou." As the PCs continue to investigate,have one of the villagers say the followingto the PCs:

"Why is it we stay here? They come andthey raid and they burn our houses andslaughter our children. We should havemoved to the city long ago...but this is ourland, our farmland. And yet here we have

no protection from Sotha. Our army isgone; they scattered after the very firstraid."

The villagers explain that their lands havebeen hit by floods, wind storms, and otherstrange events on a regular basis. "All of it,"says a villager, "is the work of Sotha. Hesends great creatures to destroy our crops."

If the PCs continue to ask who Sotha is,the villagers grow more uncomfortable."Please, ask no more of him," says one. "Weshouldn't even speak his name—he mayhear us."

Sotha is a sorcerer who lives somewherein the nearby mountains. He has indeed cre-ated monsters to ruin the farmers' crops, butthe floods and storms are not his work. Thefarmers have chosen a plot of land situatedin a valley that is susceptible to violentstorms.

As the PCs continue to rummage throughthe ruined settlement, have Sonja find asmall velvet pouch hanging on the belt of adead mercenary. Then read the following tothe PCs

As you open the pouch, out falls a smallstone. Precisely cut, this pale red ruby isstreaked with three veins of gold thatmeet at certain point. There is a smallhole in the back of the stone which en-ables the stone to be strung on a cord orchain.

The farmers know nothing about the stone.They have never seen it before.

The PCs find four horses belonging to themercenaries. Tracks from the mercenarieswho have already left this settlement behindlead off toward the northeast.

The PCs may take the mercenaries'horses, but the steeds are nearly exhausted.The horses will travel for only about 4 hoursbefore they begin to stumble. If allowed torest for 4 hours, the horses will be back tofull strength. If the horses aren't allowed torest, they collapse and won't move for an-other 8 hours.

The PCs may choose to follow the merce-naries' trail, which leads to the ZaporoskaRiver. Or they may travel back the waythey came: from the northwest, along aroad that runs beside the river toward theVilayet Sea. Go to the Trail of Blood regard-less of their decision.

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Trail of BloodGive the players the maps found in the cen-ter of this booklet. The PCs should use Play-ers' Map 1 to chart their journey during thisadventure. Don't let the players look at theother maps yet.

Wolf Attack!

It's so quiet here that every step you takeechoes through the countryside. Thetrail is hard and cracked; it seems tocreak beneath your weight. But you cansmell the river, and as you draw closer,the trail gets damp, then muddy. Thenyou see the footprints.

It looks like they were made by somedoglike creature. They cross the trail inseveral places, then lead off into thebushes that surround the trail.

The tracks were made by wolves. If the PCsstop to listen, however, they hear nothing.No matter what precautions the PCs take toavoid wolves, they encounter a pack ofseven wolves along the trail in 3 rounds.The wolves attack immediately. Neither thewolves nor the PCs can be surprised by thisattack.

Wolves (7): AC 7; HD 2+2; hp 12 each;MV 18"; #AT 1; Dmg 2-5; SA Nil; SDNil; MR Standard; AL N

The Stone TabletIf the PCs continue down the trail in thesame direction after the wolf attack, theydiscover the following in 2 turns. If the PCsturn back, they discover the following after30 minutes of backtracking. Read the fol-lowing to the PCs.

Sprawled face-down in an unnatural po-sition beside the narrow dirt road is themotionless body of a young man. Dirty,tattered clothing partially covers his paleskin. A knee-length tunic of dull blue silkis clutched in his hand.

A trail of blood that has soaked theground leads from a thick bush about 40feet from the road up to the spot wherethe man now lies. Doglike tracks coverthe road, but there are none closer than 4feet to the man.

gash across his chest. Blood has escapedonly from this wound. Lying beneath thebody is a small tablet of granite.

The chest wound is from a mercenary'sdagger. The mercenaries stabbed the manand left him to die when he would not givethem the information they sought. The manhad hidden the tablet in the bushes when heheard the mercenaries coming. After theyleft him to die, the man managed to crawlback into the bushes to retrieve the tablet,but he died before he could get any fartherup the road.

The man is Doma, Maren the sorcerer'sapprentice (for details, see Sotha's Story).Make sure the PCs learn the man's identityat some point during this part of the adven-ture.

Doma was carrying the tablet to Djemal,where the priests there were to hold it forsafe keeping.

The small tablet of granite has beencrudely carved from a solid piece of stone.In its center is an oval indentation, whichappears to have once held something. Darkveins emanate from the edges of the inden-tation, but they do not cross it.

If the PCs figure out that the ruby Sonjafound in the village must fit into the tablet'sindentation, point out Players' Map 2 (onthe reverse side of Players' Map 1). Don'ttell the PCs anything more about the tablet.

The half-moon-shape marks on Doma'sbody were caused by a nika (explained be-low). The nika came upon Doma after themercenaries had left. If the PCs stay in thisarea for at least 6 rounds, the nika appears.

The NikaRead the following to the PCs if they en-counter the nika.

A violent gust of wind suddenly ripsacross the trail. Though the wind isn'tcold, it makes you shiver. Slowly, rightbefore you in the middle of the trail, alarge cloud starts to take shape. About30 feet across, the pale, reddish-browncloud grows a strange head and toursmall appendages. The cloud creaturemakes no move to attack.

If the PCs examine the body, they find thatthe man's skin has been pierced by severalstrange, half-moon-shaped marks, eachabout 3 inches across. There is also a wide

If the PCs attack the cloud, it suddenly be-gins darting about the area in an attempt toconfuse the PCs. As the cloud moves, itshoots nut painful streams of electricitythrough its "limbs" at the PCs. The electric-ity cannot kill the PCs, but wounds themwith strange, half-moon-shaped marks. Thewounds do not bleed, but they burn bright

red on flesh for several hours, then fade topink. The markings will be visible for fourdays.

Nika: AC -1; HD 10; #AT 4; Dmg 1-6each appendage; MV 12"/24"; SA elec-tricity, energy drain; SD invisibility; MR70%; AL LE

The nika has been put under a spell by So-tha, a sorcerer who lives in cave nearby, soit doesn't attack the PCs if not provoked.The creature serves as the sorcerer's guard,but it occasionally strays from duty. Whenthe sorcerer so desires, the nika lures trav-elers from the trail to the sorcerer's cave. Ifthe nika fails to lure his prey to the cave, thesorcerer himself appears on the trail.

When the PCs encounter it, the nika is onone of his "luring" missions. The sorcererhas requested this of the nika because of allthe trouble the mercenaries are causing; hewants to talk to anyone who travels thistrail.

If the PCs continue to move on, the nikaslowly drifts from the trail toward a nearbygroup of hills. The creature then tries to leadthe PCs through the hills to a clearing sur-rounded by small rocks. The nika then dis-appears.

If the PCs do not follow the nika, go toMeeting the Sorcerer. If the PCs do followthe nika, go to The Enchanted Trail.

7

The Sorcerer SothaThe Enchanted Trail

This path twists so tightly through thehills that it's practically impossible to tellwhat direction you're heading. But that'snot the bothersome part of this journey.Whenever you step off the path, the tallgrasses along the way part to make wayfor you. Branches that hang in your waybend to allow you to pass. And the far-ther you go, the faster the landscape it-self seems to move!

This area has been enchanted by Sotha thesorcerer. When the PCs are on the trail, eve-rything is as normal. But when they step offthe trail, strange things start to happen. Ifthe PCs look down at the ground, they be-come dizzy. They are magically traveling attwice their normal speed. The trees andgrasses along the trail will "help" the PCstravel for as long as they follow the nika.

If the PCs allow the nika to lead them allthe way to Sotha's cave, go to Sotha's Cave.

Terror TerrainIf the PCs try to turn back, the terrain be-

comes hostile. Rocks trip them up, smalllandslides suddenly block their way, andtree branches reach down to entangle them.If the PCs are kept off the trail by this "ter-ror terrain" for more than 4 turns, they suf-fer 1d4 points of damage each.

If the PCs are off the trail for more than 6turns, a cold, hard rain begins to fall; thenthe rain turns to hail. If the PCs keep tryingto move, they become disoriented, eventu-ally ending up very near Sotha's cave. Theythen stumble onto a small trail that leadsstraight to the cave. At this point the nikareappears and tries to lead the PCs to Sotha.If the PCs stop, the hail worsens with eachhour. In the midst of the storm, a "vision"(Sotha) appears and leads the PCs into hiscave. Once the PCs are in Sotha's cave, thehail immediately stops.

Go to Sotha's Cave,

Meeting the SorcererIf the PCs don't follow the nika, Sotha ap-pears in the middle of the trail. Read the fol-lowing to the PCs.

ing before you. Seconds later, the windabruptly dies, and the man in yellowtakes one step toward you.

His long gray hair reaches well past hisshoulders. His wrinkled, weather-wornface has sharp features like a Stygian's,but it is softened by a slight smile. Hiseyes are a gray like his hair, and appearwarm and trusting. He wears no shoes;his bare feet are clean. A wide leatherbelt sags around his slender waist andholds a small, clear glass orb caught by awoven net. Around his neck hangs alarge blue stone on a silver, finely craftedchain that has tarnished somewhat.

"Please stop where you are," he askspleasantly. "I must speak with you. Imean you no harm."

A cool breeze sends a slight shiver downyour spine. You look up to see a mandressed in a pale yellow robe materializ-

If the PCs do not stop, but continue to movetoward Sotha, the sorcerer casts a charmspell on them so they will listen to what hehas to say.

The sorcerer introduces himself by say-ing, "My name is Sotha. I dabble in the artsof magic. I am very glad to see you. I needyour help. Would you be so kind as to dinewith me this evening?"

If the PCs are friendly to Sotha, he leadsthem to his cave. Go to Sotha's Cave.

If the PCs refuse or attack Sotha, he castsa suggestion spell on them; the PCs sud-denly find themselves traveling through thehills with the sorcerer. If three or more PCssave against this spell, Sotha continues tocast his spell until he has control of the PCs.

Sotha (15th level magic-user, 5th level illu-sionist): AC 10; HD 14; hp 105;#AT 1;Dmg by weapon type; SA see spell list

See p. 32 for more information about So-tha.

The glass orb that hangs from Sotha's belt isa small crystal in which the sorcerer can seeslight glimmers of the future. While the sizeof the orb limits how much of the future So-tha can "see," the item does provide himwith critical information when he needs it.To use the orb, Sotha must have 5 rounds ofundisturbed concentration. Then he utters astrange, ancient spell. The PCs will not rec-ognize or understand the spell; not even So-tha knows quite what it means. He can usethis orb only twice a day.

The blue stone around Sotha's neck hasno special powers. He wears it merely for itsbeauty. Sotha will often threaten to "un-leash horrid powers" held in the stone to gethis way in certain situations.

Sotha's CaveIf the PCs have not yet met Sotha, heemerges from his cave at this point to greetthe PCs (see Meeting the Sorcerer for de-tails). If the PCs resist, Sotha casts sugges-tion spell on the PCs and leads them inside.

Though you had to squeeze through a 4-foot-high opening to get in here, thiscave is surprisingly large. It extends 30feet from side to side and 50 feet to theback. The crudely carved out ceiling is10 feet high.

The walls are lined with shelves filledwith books, bottles, clothing, and food.A large round table, surrounded by fourcrude wooden chairs, sits off to the sideof a stone fireplace that dominates thecenter of the cave. The embers of a dyingfire flicker beneath a huge silver pot thatrests on the fireplace's edge. The backwall of the cave is covered by a largestraw curtain that looks as if it rolls upfrom the floor.

Large round globes hanging from thewall, each about 6 inches in diameter,give off an eerie, orangish glow in thecave. Everything looks discolored, al-most diseased, here.

Sotha is eager to talk with the PCs, and an-swers all of their questions in great lengthand detail. He wants very much for theparty to trust him, and will offer almostanything they ask for, except magical items.

If the PCs investigate Sotha's cave, thesorcerer doesn't get angry. In fact, he's quitehelpful (see Investigating the Cave).

Sotha offers to feed the PCs and servesthem a meal of cheeses, butter, bread, andfruit, washed down with a thin, waterywine. He apologizes for not having anymeat, but says, "At least your bellies will befull. This is better for you anyway. Meat isnot pure." When the PCs are ready, Sothawill begin his story (go to Sotha's Story).

If the PCs attack Sotha at any time, go toIf the PCs Attack Sotha,

Investigating the CaveIf the PCs ask about the orange globes

that light the room, Sotha says, "It is a fun-gus that grows in but one place high in themountains. I make special trips there severaltimes a year to replenish my supply. Thelight, it will burn this way and light my cavefor 5 weeks."

If the PCs touch the orange fungus, it ex-plodes into a fine dust that stains any sur-face it touches, including skin. The fungus

8

can be speared and thrown with a sword orstick, however. The fungus does no dam-age, although the dust can cause temporaryblindness (3 rounds).

If the PCs investigate the silver pot, theyfind in it the powdery remains of three or-ange globes. Sotha explains, "I'm trying todetermine if this fungus has any magical ap-plications, but I'm afraid I've not been suc-cessful." The PCs, however, may discoverthat, when mixed with healing potions, thepowder can increase the strength of thesepotions.

If Achmal tries to cover his finger of Yajur(listed on Achmal's Player Character sheet)with this powder, it stains the magical item.The glow from the powder then lasts 3rounds, during which time the finger's ef-fects are doubled. After 3 rounds, the glow-ing stain disappears.

Many of the items on Sotha's shelves aremagical, but the sorcerer doesn't revealwhich ones. Achmal may recognize a few ofthem as ordinary sleight-of-hand tricks,however.

If any PC tries to go behind the straw cur-tain at the back of the cave, Sotha rushesforward to plant himself between the PCand the curtain. "Do not trouble yourselfwith this! It is merely decoration."

If a PC acts quickly enough, however, hemay get a glimpse behind the curtain. Atfirst, the PC sees another hollowed outroom that holds a small table and chair. Butseconds later, an intense yellow light burstsforth from behind the curtain, momentarilyblinding the PC. Sotha then steps awayfrom the curtain. "If you are so curious,then step into the room. I warn you, youmight not be able to step out." If the PCsheed Sotha's warning, nothing more hap-pens. Sotha dismisses further questionsabout the room, saying, "I would not in-trude on your temple. There is nothing herethat would interest you."

If the PCs try to enter the small room, theyellow light becomes even more intense,sending jolts of pain through their bodies.They are barely able to stay standing. If thePCs close their eyes, the pain stops, andthey may "feel" their way out of the room.When the PCs' eyes are open in this room,each suffers 1d4 points of damage for every3 turns. After 4 turns, Achmal suddenlyfeels no more pain and is able to see in theroom. Achmal will know this is where So-tha practices his magic. He won't be able totrace the source of the light.

Sotha's Story

"Very long ago, just before the time ofthe Prince's War, my father gave mybrother and I to a local sorcerer wholived in the mountains outside Djemal.He did not do it because he hated us, forhe loved us—very much so. And that iswhy he sent us to learn from this wisemagic-user.

"At that time, men and boys were be-ing forced into service in preparation forthe great violence we all knew was aboutto erupt. I had not yet seen 12 summers,and my brother, only 10. My father didnot wish to see his only children perish ina senseless conflict as his own father hadmany years earlier. He knew that sol-diers would never dare even to comenear the home of a sorcerer, so he knewwe would be safe. Studying under a sor-cerer wasn't exactly what my fatherwanted for us, but there was no otherchoice.

"My brother Maren and I, we were notgood students; we spent most of our timequarreling with each other. Our teacher,T'Neya, would threaten to send us intothe service of the prince, but we knew hehad neither the strength nor the desire tosend us to certain deaths. Besides, he hadno children of his own—no other stu-dents. This is a lonely life,' he would say,'be prepared to spend long hours study-ing your craft. It is the only thing thatwill fill the void.' T'Neya would tell ushow people would avoid meeting oureyes, or even coming near us. He saidthat we would always be treated withdistrust.

"Maren and I continued to fight overthe years. But as we neared manhood,our anger grew to hatred. Soon, wecould no longer bear to live under thesame roof. We decided to leave. T'Neyawas truly dismayed. He had tried foryears to reconcile us, but he had failed.So as a last resort, he gave us each a thinsliver of a silver bracelet. Separately,they appeared to be nothing more thansimple ornamentation, but when fit to-gether, T'Neya said, they would createan incredible magical effect—one thatwould give its wearer amazing abilities.

"It was T'Neya's way—if we wouldbut end our fighting, we would have thisfantastic power. It seemed so easy, sosimple, until we realized that it meantonly one of us could have this power at

any one time. Naturally, we didn't trusteach other. Over the many years, wehave tried to come to an agreement, butwe have failed every time.

"Now I have learned of my poorbrother's death; I may obtain the braceletto have this power myself. But it is notfor selfish reasons that I desire this item. Iwish to stop these marauding bands ofdesert scum, these barbarians that ruinour lands. Help me stop this destruction.I can offer you much in return."

If the PCs ask Sotha what he will offer them,the sorcerer gives Achmal a magical item,the belt of Marcol (see New Magical Items,p. 32). He offers the rest of the PCs severalgemstones worth a total of 1,200 gp. "A sim-ple matter, I think, to find this bracelet," So-tha says. "My brother is dead—what couldpossibly stop you?"

If the PCs ask where they might startlooking for Maren's burial site, Sotha's facebecomes clouded with concern. "I'm afraid Ihave no idea. In his efforts to avoid me,Maren moved many times over the past sev-eral years. I meant no harm to him any-more. I had grown weary of the struggle.

"I have heard word that there is a mapwhich shows the burial grounds whereMaren rests. His apprentice, Doma, proba-bly has it. But Doma has apparently disap-peared."

If the PCs show the stone tablet theyfound with Doma's body to Sotha, the sor-cerer's eyes widen with excitement. His toneturns from concern to anger, and he ques-tions the PCs viciously about how theycame to possess the tablet. Beads of sweatform on his brow as he becomes increasilyfrantic. Read the following to the PCs.

"Where is the rest of the map? I MUSThave the rest of the map! I cannot findhim without the rest of this tablet!" So-tha is going crazy—sweat is rolling downhis face, and his hands are shaking! "Areyou certain this is all you found? Wasthere any more? Did he have the rest? Iwill give you more gold if you have therest of this map. I will give you greatmagical things! WHERE IS THE RESTOF THIS MAP?"

If the PCs do not show Sotha the stone tab-let or the ruby, or if they take them out butrefuse to surrender them, go to Withholdingthe Map.

If the PCs don't show Sotha the ruby, the

10

meeting between the two parties ends; So-tha doesn't trust the PCs, however, and fol-lows them when they leave.

If the PCs give Sotha the ruby that fitsinto the tablet, Sotha feverishly puts theruby in place, then shows it to the PCs.

"Fools! You have done all the work forme now. This map tells me where mybrother lies. It is not far from here—forme anyway. For you it is days away.Nothing can stop me now!"

If the PCs then question Sotha's involve-ment with the mercenaries, he admits whathe has done.

"Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten the littleerrand I'd sent those stupid men on.They were upon this tablet and didn'teven know it! But now I can build uptheir forces with the bracelet. My armywill be the mightiest in the land—I willcontrol all of Hyrkania one day. One daysoon perhaps you will join me? You willnot be safe in these lands otherwise."

If the PCs agree to join forces with Sotha forany reason, the sorcerer allows them tocome with him to the burial site. He agreesto hold either the ruby or the map, and letsthe PCs hold the other.

Sotha will not tell the PCs of his workwith the mercenaries if he doesn't have boththe tablet and ruby in his possession.

At this point, Sotha and the PCs begintheir journey to the burial grounds. Go tothe Journey of Fear section.

Withholding the MapBy now, the PCs should have determined

that the stone tablet and the ruby togetherform a map of Maren's burial site. If the PCsdon't show Sotha the map, they may try tofind the burial grounds themselves. In thiscase, Sotha quietly follows the PCs on their,journey. The PCs won't know that Sotha ison their tail, but they do feel the strange sen-sation of being watched and followed.

If the PCs take out the tablet and ruby,but refuse to give them to Sotha, the sor-cerer remains calm, then plots to steal theitems from the PCs as soon as possible. So-tha doesn't want to attack the PCs, since heis too close to getting what he wants to riskit by wasting his strength on these adventur-ers.

If Sotha successfully steals the map, thePCs can still reconstruct it correctly frommemory (unless they have been foolish

enough to pay very little attention to it upuntil this point). Galon is familiar with thelands shown on the map.

If the PCs Arrack SothaIf the PCs attack while in Sotha's cave,they're in for a rough time of it. This is So-tha's home turf, and he uses it to full advan-tage. Keep in mind while running this battlethat Sotha's main objectives are:• to escape to Maren's burial site (if he has

the map);• to steal the map from the PCs (if he

knows they have it);• to keep the PCs from following him.

Sotha (15th level magic-user, 5th level illu-sionist): AC 10; HD 14; hp 105; #AT 1;Dmg by weapon type; SA see spell list(p. 32)

Sotha's EscapeIf Sotha has taken possession of the map, orif he is on the losing end of a battle with thePCs, he rushes to the back of his cave anddisappears behind the straw curtain. ThePCs hear the loud scraping of rock againstrock, then the crash of a large stone slab.

If the PCs raise the straw curtain, theyfind a huge stone door blocking their way.The PCs cannot move or lift the door, as it isa magical doorway. Read the following tothe PCs.

Bright yellow streams of light shinethrough the cracks in the stone door. Youhear Sotha's muffled chanting. He isspeaking in a strange tongue. His voiceseems higher and more strained than be-fore. The light is growing brighter andbrighter...

Suddenly, the beams of light that areshining through the cracks converge intoa massive beam in the main cave. Theroom starts to shake as an eerie wailingsound rises and a horrible, distorted hu-man face—Sotha's—takes shape withinthe light. The face tries to speak, but allthat comes out is this terrible wail.

If the PCs run out of the room at this point,they are safe. A few seconds later, they see abright yellow light shoot out of the cave en-trance and head northeast across the sky.

If the PCs stay in the room, read them thefollowing.

The air pressure is building rapidlyaround you. Your head pounds withpain. The air is thinning and you can'tbreathe! The floor of the cave starts toquiver, feeling as if it is going to giveway.

If any PC now tries to move, he must makea Dexterity check at -2 because the crum-bling stone walls have left piles of rubble allacross the cave. Read the following to thePCs.

Suddenly, the yellow light darts quicklyaround the room, then shoots out of thecave entrance. The noise and shakingstop immediately, and you can breathenormally again.

Sotha has escaped the cave in magical form.There is no other way for him to escapefrom behind the stone door. He does not tryto escape the PCs while in human form.

The yellow light has a Fear Statistic of 2.The PCs must make Fear Checks when thislight first appears inside the main cave frombehind the curtain.

Sotha's cave has been badly damaged byhis transformation, but the PCs can still getback inside after he has left. They may takeanything they want. They cannot, however,get into the back room.

The only way the PCs can try to stop ordelay Sotha is by using the belt of Marcol(see New Magical Items for details). Theycan try to stop Sotha only every 6 turns,

In his magical form, Sotha can reach theburial ground in 20 hours.

Sotha's yellow light leaves a wide trail inthe sky that doesn't fade. The trail extendsto the river, following its twists and turnsuntil it ends near the site of Maren's tomb. IfSotha did not have the map when he es-caped in his magical form, the yellow lightcircles back and follows the PCs. Sotha thenwaits until the PCs arrive at the burialgrounds to confront them again.

11

The Zaporoska River

The river is unusually high for this timeof year. The melting snows of the moun-tains have caused the muddy banks ofthe Zaporoska to narrow considerably.The hoof prints of several horses coverthe soft banks. Tall grasses and bushesalong the banks are trampled where theland has narrowed and made the passingof horses difficult.

An ominous yellow light streaksacross the sky in a wide path, closely fol-lowing the course of the river.

The PCs can continue traveling into thenight, but they'll have to leave their horsesbehind after about 2 hours. As it is, thehorses must be watered and rested periodi-cally throughout the day, and they will needto rest through the night. The horses' move-ment has been slowed so much by the mudthat, if the PCs want to leave them behindand travel on foot, they will still move atabout the same rate.

The yellow light was created by Sotha. IfSotha escaped from the PCs earlier in theadventure, this yellow light represents So-tha's path toward Maren's burial site. If So-tha is traveling with the PCs, he has createdthe magical light as a guide based on themap, and as a means of keeping the PCs ner-vous and edgy.

The light doesn't drain physical strength,only mental. For each day the PCs suffer theeffects of the light, they each lose 1 point ofConstitution (which can go no lower than5). As the light affects them, the PCs be-come irritable and less cooperative. Oneday after escaping the light's effects, how-ever, the PCs' Constitutions are restored.

First Night's CampShortly before nightfall, the PCs find aclearing about 30 feet by 40 feet. There isplenty of grass for the horses to graze on,and plenty of nearby trees to provide fire-wood. The PCs can catch a few fish in theriver, or some small rabbits beyond theclearing. Setting up camp should be un-eventful for the PCs.

The night sky is still lit by the yellowlight, now bright as a moon as it stretchesacross the darkness, following the path ofthe river.

The night passes without incident. If oneof the PCs is on guard duty, he sees nothingout of the ordinary, except that at differentpoints during the night, each man in thegroup stirs uncomfortably as if having a bad

dream. Then he cries out quietly, and fallsback asleep. Sonja sleeps soundly when sheisn't on watch.

When the PCs awaken, the men find thatthey are unusually weak and tired, as if theynever rested at all. Each had a disturbingdream during the night and can rememberonly vague details. Read the following tothose who were attacked.

Your dream last night was vivid, but asyou try to put it all together, it doesn'tmake any sense. You were on a long jour-ney through treacherous territory, yourbody was weary and your mind numb.Then there was this woman—fair-hairedand pale—naked but for the flowers inher hair. She spoke strange words andthen all was dark. When you could seeagain, you saw her vanish into a finemist.

The men have been attacked in their sleepby a succubus. The creature attacked eachman only once and has drained one energylevel from each. If Sotha is with the party,he is not attacked by this creature.

Succubus: AC 0; HD 6; hp 32; MV 12" /18"; #AT 2; Dmg 1-3/1-3; SA energydrain; SD +1 or better weapon to hit;MR 70%; AL CE

If the PCs take time to rest again sometimethe next day, the succubus strikes again. Thecreature attacks whoever is asleep first, andthen moves on to attack anyone who isawake. If all the PCs are on guard, the suc-cubus attacks Kynon first, then Galon, andfinally Achmal. If the PCs defeat the succu-bus before it has the chance to drain anotherenergy level from each PC, the creature dis-appears and does not return.

If you want, you may choose to run ran-

dom encounters during the PCs' second dayof journeying. Try to relate these encountersto the burial grounds, or to the mercenaries'attacks.

Second Night's CampThe PCs are in for a more lively time the sec-ond night they camp. First, the PCs meet upwith a pack of wild boars. Then the succu-bus from the first night returns (if she hasn'talready attacked during a rest stop on thesecond day).

Wild Boar AttackTo start the action, give the PCs some

clues that there is a pack of wild boars livingin the surrounding bush (animal tracks,matted down grass, etc.). above). Also, givethe PCs some clues that there is a band ofwild boars living in the surrounding brush(animal tracks, matted down grass, etc.).

Then, if they are alert, the PCs may hearmuffled grunts coming from the nearbybrush. If the PCs move quickly, they maysurprise the boars, attacking them beforethey emerge from the brush.

Wild Boars (2): AC 7; HD 3+3; MV 15";#AT 1; Dmg 3-12; SA Nil; SD Nil; MRStandard; AL N

The boars squeal horribly if wounded, andthis sound brings two more of the creaturesto help. If the PCs wound the second twoboars, their squeals bring three more boars.No more boars appear after that.

The boars attack until they they arekilled. They are perfectly suitable to eat, al-though the meat is tough.

12

Red SonjaFighter:Strength:Intelligence:Wisdom:Dexterity:Constitution:Charisma:

Hit Points:

11141710171118

75

Sonja is surprised only on a 1 in 1d6.Equipment: broadsword, dagger, leatherarmor

Red Sonja of Hyrkania, your power liessolely in the promise you made years ago.You shall let no man love you unless he bestsyou in battle. Keep to that promise and yourstrength shall hold. Forget that promise,and you will be like any other other power-less wench, caught by the grip of helpless-ness and servitude.

Do not be foolish in your youth. You havemuch to lose. The world awaits you.

GalonFighter:Thief:Strength:Intelligence:Wisdom:Dexterity:Constitution:Charisma:

Hit Points:

144171312151715

70

You are a seasoned fighter who will oftencome to the aid of those who seem to need itmost. You thought at one time that RedSonja may need it, so you agreed to ventureforth into the wilds with her—only becauseyou were convinced she couldn't handle asword. You thought it would be a terriblewaste that such a beauty might not surviveon its own.

Now you have witnessed her great skillwith a sword and, out of respect and admi-ration, you travel with her to this day.Hardly any man, you know, could fight theway she does.

14

KynonFighter:Thief:Strength:Intelligence:Wisdom:Dexterity:Constitution:Charisma:

Hit Points:

116

141210101816

64

Quiet, observant, and obedient, you weretrained to be a nobleman, but have little usefor those skills now. You stole away at a ten-der age when you realized there might be noother way to see the world.

Then you stumbled across Sonja, liter-ally, at an inn, spilling ale down her armor.In your haste to make amends, you en-deared yourself to her. Now you are alwaysready to aid the beautiful Sonja, patientlywaiting tor her approval.

Can you hide the glimmer in your eyewhen she is near?

AchmalMagic-User: 10Illusionist: 4Strength: 12Intelligence: 7Wisdom: 12Dexterity: 14Constitution: 11Charisma: 15

Hit Points: 40

Magic-User Spells:

1st level: detect magic (x3), protection fromevil

2nd level: detect evil (x2), ESP, locate ob-ject

3rd level: clairvoyance, haste, hold person4th level: fumble, polymorph self5th level: animate dead, teleport

Illusionist Spells:1st level: detect illusion, light, wall of fog2nd level: detect magic (x2)

Magical Items:

Beads of the Night: Achmal has a string ofblack beads that can be thrown, or simplypinched, one at a time, to create a dark cloudwherever he chooses. The cloud covers a 50-foot-square area and lasts for 3 turns.

Finger of Yajur: This well-preserved digithas the power to either heal or wound, butthe user doesn't know which it's going to doat any given time.

The finger heals or causes 1 point of dam-age each use. It can be used only five times aday. To determine if the finger heals orwounds, roll 1d6. On 1 or 2, the fingerwounds. On 3-6, the finger heals.

You are a young sorcerer who hadn't trav-eled extensively until you met up with RedSonja. You needed new challenges and waysto test and practice all you had learned.

You are confident—perhaps too much so.You sometimes rush into situations beforeyou've thought them through. But Sonja is agood traveling partner. Together, you bal-ance each other well.

20

Nearing the Burial Ground

As you draw closer to the burial ground,the yellow light overhead grows brighterand brighter—and you feel worse andworse. Your skin feels like it's crawlingwith thousands of insects. You are edgy,impatient, and anxious. Even the horsesare restless.

As the PCs near the end of the yellow light,they see a small settlement resting at the sideof a hill about a mile away. The settlement isnear a large curve in the river. A smallerriver flows from the base of the hill andfeeds into the Zaporoska.

The PCs continue to feel discomfort.They sweat profusely, and stopping to restdoesn't seem to help at all. A magical spellmay help relieve the crawling sensation, butthe effect only lasts 2 turns.

The Royal Army of Djemal

Tiny flickers of movement catch youreye as you survey the riverbanks and thenearby settlement. All is quiet, however;nothing seems amiss. In fact, the last twomiles have been unusually quiet—no an-imal sounds, not even the wind. The airis slowly growing thicker, more humid.The yellow streak in the sky casts a gar-ish tint on everything; the grass, thetrees, the water, it all looks diseased.

As you draw closer to the settlement,the flickers of movement become moreobvious. Flashes of light—as when sun-light glints off metal—catch your eyes.

No matter what precautions the PCs take,they suddenly find themselves surrounded bya group of men on horseback. If the PCs try tosplit up, the men quickly round them up.

These soldiers are dressed in tunics ofmany different colors: gray, green, andbrown. At first it appears that these men areall from different armies, but all of their tu-nics are decorated with the same emblem.Thin, rusty brown armor covers the sol-diers' bare thighs; flimsy leather boots arepulled up to their knees. They wear simple,silver helmets that extend down over theirforeheads, eyes, and noses. The soldierseach carry a sheathed longsword.

"Make no move!" a soldier's voicebooms, shattering the calm. "Make nomove and you will live. Who are you?"You can't tell who is speaking at first,

then two horsemen move aside and arider conies toward you. With some dif-ficulty, he removes his helmet to reveal athin, haggard face framed by long, blackcurls that are matted and unruly. Whilehe speaks, he keeps his eyes on Sonja.

"What business have you here? Iden-tify yourselves or be bloody stew for thevultures...except maybe for this one."The commander winks lecherously atSonja. "We could all dine nicely on her!"

PC is free of the ropes. Modify the secondand third Dexterity rolls by -2.

The Army's Camp

If the PCs reveal their identities to the sol-diers, the commander explains that his menare the Royal Army of Djemal. He doesn'timmediately trust the PCs, so he orders hismen to guard them closely while the armyreturns to camp. Go to The Army's Camp.

If the PCs attack the soldiers, they are infor a rough fight, as they are severely out-numbered . The commander of the army or-ders his men to take the PCs prisoner, butnot to harm them.

Djemal Soldiers (90 3d level fighters): AC6; HD 3; hp 16 each; MV 12"/24"mounted; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8

Commander (8th level fighter): AC 5; HD8; hp 43; MV 12"/24" mounted; #AT 1;Dmg 1-8 + 2

Though the soldiers will try not to hurt thePCs, they may still draw blood.

If Achmal uses any spells against the sol-diers, they are momentarily stunned andfrightened. The commander quickly re-stores order, however. If Sotha is with thePCs, he uses no spells in this battle; in fact,he doesn't even resist, as he doesn't want toreveal his terrific powers at this point.

If any PCs manage to escape, the com-mander sends two soldiers to follow, butnot capture the PCs.

If all of the PCs somehow manage to es-cape the soldiers and head for the burialground, the soldiers follow them and waitto see what happens. The soldiers are fearfulof entering the burial grounds and willavoid it at all costs.

If the soldiers capture all of the PCs, theysecure them tightly with ropes and chains.Then the army sets out for its camp. Everyturn, each PC has a chance to loosen theropes that bind him. During the first turn,he may be able to loosen the ropes by rollinghis Dexterity (modified by -3) or less. Onthe second turn, a successful roll means thePC loosens his rope a little more, and on thethird turn, a successful roll means the the

The soldiers herd you on horseback to agrassy area surrounded by trees. Thearea appears large enough to serve as acamp for the entire army. A few tents arestaked, but most of the soldiers appar-ently sleep in the open air. Several smol-dering fires dot the campsite. Twosaddled horses are tied to a tree behind alarge tent.

As the soldiers enter the camp, thecommander dismounts and enters alarge, flimsy tent that stands about 50feet away.

If Sotha is with the PCs, the soldiers takehim into the tent for questioning first. Go toSotha's Interrogation. Otherwise, the sol-diers take Sonja to the tent. Go to Sonja's In-terrogation.

Sotha's InterrogationDo not run this section if Sotha is not travel-ing with the PCs.

Sotha causes great fear among the sol-diers, and they are quite nervous when theyare forced to be around him. Sotha doesn'thelp matters much by tossing off the occa-sional showy incantation designed to con-jure up some great evil; everything he saysand does is harmless, but the soldiers don'tknow that.

Sotha doesn't reveal who he is to the sol-diers, since it is his name that is most men-tioned in conjunction with the mercenaries'raids over the past several years. He wantthe army's cooperation.

Sotha remains in the tent with the com-mander and two soldiers for 1 turn. Duringthis time, the PCs hear the commander'sloud, raucous laughter coming from thetent. After the turn, Sotha emerges from thetent with a slight grin on his usually expres-sionless face.

As Sotha walks toward the PCs, the yel-low light overhead begins to swirl furiously,flinging out across the sky as far as the eyecan see. A fierce wind kicks up, and the sol-diers' horses rear up in terror. Suddenly, thewind dies down and the yellow glow stopsswirling, settling all across the sky from ho-rizon to horizon.

Sotha smiles at the PCs, who should beable to figure out that he has put on this lit-tle demonstration merely to frighten theDjemal soldiers.

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The commander emerges from the tent tosee what is causing the disturbance. He, likethe men, is visibly shaken by the incident.Hesitantly, he calls for Sonja to be broughtto his tent.

Sotha tells the PCs that he has told thecommander nothing, which is true.

Sotha can manipulate the yellow light, ashe created it, but he cannot remove it. SeeThe Yellow Light for details.

Sonja's InterrogationRead the following to the player who is run-ning Sonja.

"Bravo, bravo! What a fine entrance! Ihad no idea you were so skilled an enter-tainer." As your eyes adjust to the dimlight in the tent, you see a man seated ona wooden frame chair slung with leatherskin. "Now, if you are quite finishedwith this exhibition, we will proceed."

A single guard leads you roughly to thecommander's tent. "I suppose he'll bewantin' to take more time with you," hemutters in your ear. "He never seen onequite like you. Just don't put up a strug-gle, or you'll be sorry."

The man in the tent is the army's com-mander, Gaven. He is the same man who or-dered that the PCs be brought back to thecamp.

Scattered about the tent are crumpledblankets and two sleeping cots. If Sonjalooks behind her, she notices that a singlesoldier stands just to the right of the en-trance to the tent. The commander appearsto be unarmed, but in tact he has a sword ina sheath across his back.

If Sonja tries to free herself from the soldier,he simply gets rougher and propels her to-ward the tent. He shoves her inside so thatshe loses her balance and lands on theground.

The commander eyes your sword. Hestands and steps slowly toward you, hishand outstretched to take your sword. "Idon't think you'll be needing this any-more. A woman with such a fine sword,what a waste..."

If Sonja makes a move to protect her sword,

the soldier by the door rushes forward andstops her cold even before she can react. Ifshe struggles, Gaven tells the soldier tobring her to him. He draws his sword andholds it to Sonja's throat. "Would yourather cooperate, or would you rather I sim-ply spilled your blood?"

If Sonja is cooperative, Gaven seems sur-prised. He becomes less threatening, andquestions her calmly. He wonders aloudhow a woman can handle a great swordsuch as hers; he seems unconvinced that shecan use it or even defend herself properly.

If Sonja is offended, Gaven smiles andsuggests that she display her skill in a swordmatch with one of his soldiers.

He motions to the guard to lead Sonjaoutside. Caven returns her sword as an-other soldier steps forward with his. "Showme what you can do," Gaven prods. "I coulduse some entertainment." With that, Gavensweeps his hand up in a grand gesture andshouts, "Let the games begin!"

The soldier clutches his sword with bothhands and rushes toward Sonja. He exertshimself only enough to parry her blows—until Sonja gets the upper hand. Then hefights with all his strength, but he will notkill Sonja if he has the chance.

Soldier (3rd level fighter): AC 6; HD 3; hp16; MV 12"; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8

If Sonja wounds the soldier, Gaven stops thefight, suitably impressed with her skills."You have proven yourself worthy of evenmy army, by Erlik. I think it is time we listento what her people have to say if they have awoman among them who can fight likethis."

If Sonja kills the soldier or accidentallyharms anyone else during the battle, shecauses enough confusion to allow her to es-cape. The other PCs should also be able tocapitalize on this confusion if they thinkquickly enough.

In this case, Gaven doesn't try to recap-ture the PCs, but instead sends two scouts tofollow them. If the PCs head for the burialgrounds, the army surrounds the grounds,but does not enter.

If Sonja has not seriously harmed anyoneduring her brief battle, and if she truthfullyexplains her group's mission, Gaven be-comes more cooperative. He then makessure that all of the PCs have their weaponsreturned to them. He agrees to discuss theirplan of action, but only if Sotha is notnearby.

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The Commander's StoryRead the following to the PCs when thecommander has assembled them all in histent.

"Much is happening here that we do notunderstand. But I see you feel the anxietywe do; it is heavy in the air. Its power isundeniable. It drains us even as we standhere." Gaven points toward the burialgrounds. "Something evil is causing it.Something evil is about to show itselfhere. I only hope we can stop it."

If the PCs question Gaven further about whathe has seen, he tells them the following.

"My army was returning from the Hime-lian Mountains after giving chase to asmall band of marauding cutthroats whoentered Djemal and left with blood ontheir swords and gold in their purses—Djemal blood and gold. We managed toovertake them, only to learn they hadbeen sent by a much larger group to actas decoys. Well, it worked. We receivedword yesterday that the second groupmoved in and wiped out the outerreaches of the city. Those who were un-able to flee were slaughtered.

"We found and killed the band wesought. When we find the others, theytoo will die."

The mercenaries that confronted the PCs atthe beginning of the adventure were part ofthe large band that raided Djemal. If thePCs tell Gaven that they helped lessen themercenaries' numbers, he is very apprecia-tive. He knows now that he has found allies.

"On our return, we watched as that evilyellow streak in the sky headed towardus. I've never seen anything move soquickly. We feared that it was some hor-rible spirit coming to claim us, but then itstopped— here.

"Something horrible is going to hap-pen. 1 feel it. My men feel it. The feelingcrawls across our skin like a thousandangry flies.

"We need your help in vanquishingthis danger. Who knows where this yel-low stretch of evil will go, and what itwill do. We can offer you but a modestreward from the city of Djemal. I hopeyou will accept the offer, not only be-cause of the dread that hangs over our

land, but because of the threat that itposes to all of us. Already we feel theweakness in our bodies. Is this how weare all to die? Like helpless plants wither-ing under a scorching summer sun? Wemust do something before it is too latefor all of us."

If they want, the PCs may tell Gaven whatthey know of Sotha's quest.

The PCs can now discuss with the com-mander what to do next. Gaven guaranteesthat his army will cooperate completely withwhatever plan the PCs devise. All he knows isthat Sotha is the cause of all this evil, and he iswilling to do anything to help stop him.

By now, the PCs should also be clearlyaware that Sotha is the source of all thetrouble. They may have set out at the begin-ning of the adventure with the innocent planof helping the sorcerer, but it should now beplain to the PCs that they must stop him.

The PCs may agree that the best way todo this is keep Sotha in sight, and so thearmy may become the PCs' "escort" to theholy burial grounds. After the PCs have for-mulated a plan, go to The Burial Grounds.

Gaven knows that his army cannot actu-ally enter the burial grounds, at least as acombined force; he feels helpless, since hecan do nothing to assist the PCs once theyget to that point.

Gaven's only other concern is the PCs'plans for the bracelet if they manage to getboth halves of it. He is most relieved if thePCs tell him they plan to destroy it, or atleast use it for good purposes only.

If Sotha is not with the party, but has fol-lowed them here, he now materializes in thearmy's camp. Go to Sotha's Appearance.

If Sotha escaped his cave with the com-plete map to the burial grounds in his pos-session, he is now prepared to enter theburial ground in search of Maren's tomb. Hehas waited until the PCs and the army are inclose proximity, so he can use them for hispurposes once he has claimed the bracelet ashis own. Go to Sotha's Appearance.

Sotha's AppearanceRead the following to the PCs only if Sothahas not been journeying with them.

The yellow light that streaks the skyoverhead suddenly begins to pulsate, asan icy, violent wind tears through thecamp. The soldiers, aware only that theyare somehow about to be attacked, pre-

pare to do battle. The fierce gale ripstents from their stakes and sends horsesgalloping off in terror.

The wind rises to a piercing, high-pitched howl, then suddenly stops. Theyellow light fades, but doesn't disappear,as a small swirl of dust in the center ofthe campsite slowly takes a solid form—a human form. It is the sorcerer Sotha.

"Well, well! We are all together again,eh? My hearty adventurers and their vi-cious she-warrior! You have been a greathelp to me. I had suspected my brotherMaren was buried near here, but youhave confirmed it for me. Now—youand your ragged army will wait herewhile I search the ground for Mar—MYbracelet. And entertain no thoughts ofstopping me—" Sotha casually lifts a fin-ger and all the campfires burning nearbysuddenly flare up in a blaze of sparks—"or I'll be forced to do something reallyspectacular." Still facing you, Sothawalks slowly backward toward the bur-ial grounds.

Sotha has cast a shield spell to guard againstattack. He does what he can to ward off anyoffensive the PCs and the army may mount,but his chief objective is to get into the burialgrounds and find Maren's tomb. The spellwears off after 10 minutes, but Sotha is too en-grossed in his search to cast another spell.

The PCs and the commander must nowdecide how they are going to keep Sothafrom getting the bracelet. Go to The BurialGrounds.

The Yellow LightSotha conjured this yellow light in his cavefirst as means to escape the PCs, then as away to frighten those who might preventhim from finding Maren's tomb. While So-tha can alter the light's shape and intensity,he cannot remove it. In conjuring the light,Sotha accidentally allowed the spiritual es-sences of his brother's life force to intermin-gle with its power.

If Sotha tries to remove the light, a greatstruggle ensues between himself and the un-seen forces of his brother. Use this as anevent whenever Sotha threatens to get toomuch of an upper hand over the PCs, or ifSotha is about to take possession of the en-tire bracelet. When Sotha tries to removethe light, he becomes involved in a terrificstruggle for at least 2 turns. Sotha loses thebattle and collapses in an exhausted heapfor 5 rounds.

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Use DM Map 3 while running this section.Allow the players to open up their mapsheet to Players' Map 3. They should usethis map as their guide during this part ofthe adventure.

Investigating the DwellingsIf the PCs enter this area by crossing theriver (running north and south along theright-hand side of DM Map 3), they find theshallow river to be easy going.

D1. Rheya's HomeThis spacious home is sparsely decoratedwith crude furniture. It has no interiorwalls, and the roof sags in the middle as a re-sult. An uneven table sits exactly in the mid-dle of the home.

In the shadows of a corner is a bed strewnwith clothing: two long gray robes, andthree white cotton tunics. Under the bed is alarge wooden box that holds 27 gp and 37sp.

A small, crude barn, apparently recentlybuilt, stands outside the home. A pile offreshly-cut vines lies just outside the barndoor. Inside the barn is a large, healthyhorse munching on dried grass and straw.Vine baskets line the walls. More piles ofvines are stacked along the wall.

A large field of hay covers the gently roll-ing land north of the house. Tall grassesgrow beyond the field, and the ZaporoskaRiver cuts through the land several feetaway. North of the river, the hills grow intomountains, as they do to the south.

Rheya, a retired advisor to the DjemalArmy, lives here. Valued for her tactical ex-pertise, she held this position for many dec-ades. Through the years she honed herfighting skills and, despite her age, remainstaut and muscular from the training. IfGaven so requests, she is glad to help anyway she can. She helps the PCs only if theyare with the army.

Rheya (3d level fighter): AC 6; HD 4; hp28; MV 12", #AT 1; Dmg 1-8

D2. Hunter's ShackThis poorly built shack made of logs andmud is in danger of falling down. The agingwood is rotten in many places, and there arehuge gaps and holes in the walls.

To the east of the shack is a large vegeta-ble garden.

The occupant of this shack is Jeb, a hunterwho was sent here by the Djemal priests togrow food and hunt for those on duty. He

supplies the occupants of the other nearbydwellings. Though Jeb is no fighter, he is adeadly aim with a bow and arrow.

Jeb (1st level human): AC 8; HD 1; hp 7;MV 12"; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type

D3. Horseman's HutThe main room of this simple hut holds onlya carved table and two chairs. A largebucket of water, half full, sits in the cornerto the right of the door. A small room in thenortheast corner of the hut is furnished witha bed and a carved wooden chest. The chestholds only clothes, but beneath the chest is awooden trap door that covers a hole. In thehole is a battered stone box that contains 53gp and a fine woven necklace of gold.

To the east of the hut is a horse pen thatholds one well-mannered, healthy horse.

If the PCs ask Rheya (D1) who lives here,she tells them it is a man by the name ofTyler. He tends horses for the local resi-dents. Tyler has been gone for several days,traveling to Djemal to find young horses toreplace two that recently died.

If the PCs ask about the necklace of gold,Rheya tells them it belongs to Tyler's late wife.If the PCs have been foolish enough to throwabout items they have lifted from othershomes, Rheya gets extremely angry and tellsGaven about the incident. Make sure the PCsrealize they've made a costly blunder and areabout to lose 90 well-armed allies.

D4. Magic-User's RetreatA pale, reclusive young man lives in thissmall, well-built dwelling. The walls of thishome are built of stone packed with a veryhard, strange substance between them.

The man leaves his home only once aday— in the morning, when he takes abucket and disappears into the mountainsfor several hours. He returns before noon,his bucket full of strange plants, and doesnot venture out again the rest of the day. Noone in this settlement knows his name.

If the PCs try to enter the home when theman isn't in, they find the heavy thatcheddoor unlocked. Inside, a straw mat andblanket are spread out on the floor, an openbook lying nearby. Several bunches of dry-ing herbs hang from wooden beams alongthe edge of the ceiling. A black cooking potsupported by iron rods hangs over a smallbrick fireplace that stands in the center ofthe room.

If the PCs investigate the book, they findthat it is written in an unfamiliar language.If Sotha is with the PCs, he doesn't recog-

nize the writing, either, but the book itself issimilar to one Sotha used as a boy. It con-tains recipes for concocting potions thatproduce mild magical effects.

The young man who lives here is namedTimmerear. If the PCs enter his house whilehe is in, they find him mixing dried herbs to-gether in the cooking pot. He speaks manylanguages, trying several before he finds onethe PCs understand. He asks to be leftalone, and refuses to help the PCs unlessthey threaten him or his store or hard-to-replace herbs.

Timmerear has lived here for more than ayear, gathering these herbs and testing hisrecipes. He claims the potions are harmless.He doesn't resist if the PCs take the recipebook from him.

Timmerear knows nothing about the bur-ial ground, as he pays no attention to it. Theyellow light overhead doesn't seem tofrighten him.

D5. Priest of DjemalThere is always at least one priest of Djemalon duty here, standing watch over the holyburial grounds. A trio of priests shares this"guard duty" on a weekly basis.

The priest here tries to prevent the PCsfrom entering the grounds. Because they arearmed, the PCs appear to the priest to belooters. The priest tells them, "Be gone,mercenaries. You have the look of murder-ers; you have spilled blood. There has beenenough tragedy here already. Leave thesegrounds their peace." If the Djemal army isaccompanying the PCs, the priest abso-lutely forbids the warriors entrance.

The PCs can enter the grounds if theysneak in quietly, one by one. If a PC ap-proaches the priest alone, he can convincethe priest that he is here on a holy visit.

If the PCs explain their quest to the priest,he is reluctant. If Sotha is with the PCs, thepriest does not recognize him, but is veryskittish around the party. But he does agreeto lead the PCs into the holy grounds.

If Sotha is not with the party and the PCsmention him, the priest gets very nervous."My powers are not great enough to with-stand the strength of Sotha. We will be de-stroyed if we anger him." Once the PCsexplain the danger of Sotha finding Maren'shalf of the bracelet, the priest reluctantlyagrees to allow the PCs entrance to thegrounds.

The priest will explain the history of thevarious areas of the grounds to the PCs, buthe doesn't know any more than anyone elsein this area.

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On the Burial GroundsFuneral Pyres (A-H)These areas are the charred remains of fu-neral pyres. Pyres A, B, C, E, and H holdnothing but ashes and bits of brittle, burnedwood.

Fresh ash covers pyres F and G. The PCsmay find a few pieces of melted copperamong the ashes, but little else.

Pyre D is where Maren, Sotha's brother,was burned. His remains are now held in avase in crypt 4. If the PCs sift through theashes of this pyre, they find two small piecesof silver that have melted into indistinguish-able forms. (They are merely melted silvercoins). The PCs also find a small red rubycut in a way similar to the ruby veined withgold that makes up part of the map to thesegrounds. This small ruby holds no specialpowers, and is worth 150 gp.

River Cavern (Area I)At this point, water flows from the moun-tain into an underground river that runs be-neath the burial grounds, emerging again atthe base of the hill (near dwelling D5). Theopening at area I is large enough for one per-son to squeeze through. Once inside the un-derground river cavern, a person can floatdown the river, but may receive serious in-juries from the sharp rocks that jut up fromthe riverbed.

Since the water is not high at this time ofyear, small banks line the edge of this river.These banks, which vary from 1 to 2 feetwide, are solid enough for PCs to walk on.The top of this underground cavern, how-ever, is only 4 feet high in its tallest places,so no normal-size human will be able towalk upright.

Burial Crypts1. Chamber of Izak

The entrance to the chamber isblocked by two stone slabs. Small inden-tations are carved into the stones wherethey meet, forming a circle.

This pale stone chamber is 12 feet wide.The stones that make up its walls arefinely finished; there are no gaps be-tween them. Two slabs of stone at the en-trance serve as steps that lead up to thechamber floor. The stone roof slants up-ward to form a conical roof, the top ofwhich is flattened off.

Tangled, overgrown branches sur-round the chamber, intruding on thesteps. They appear to nave been inbloom not long ago, but now all that re-mains are a few wilted leaves and somewithered purple berries.

The flat roof of this tomb is open. Though PCscan see through this opening, they can't fitthrough it. The PCs can see part of the coffinthrough this opening, but nothing else.

The bushes are normal; if a PC eats theberries, however, he must make a successfulsaving throw vs. poison or be incapacitatedfor 2 turns.

The small indentations in the stone slabscan be used to slide the slabs sideways. Acombined Strength of 32 is needed to movethese slabs.

The chamber holds the remains of a highpriest, Izak of Djemal. His remains lie in an or-nately carved coffin that rests in the northwestcorner of the chamber. If the PCs open the cof-fin, they find only bones and a small necklacedecorated with the symbol of the Djemalpriests. The symbol of the priests is a circlewith a vertical line crossed at the top and bot-tom by two horizontal lines. The necklace ismade of silver and is not magical. It is worthonly a few copper pieces to most; in thepriests' eyes, however, it is worth many goldpieces to see that the necklace remains in theirhands. The priests fear the wrath of their godsif such a necklace touches the hands of one notin their order.

If Sotha is with the PCs, he tries to takethe necklace, but it burns his hands andclothing.

If the PCs take the necklace, many minormisfortunes begin to befall them. These irri-tations should not be life-threatening, butshould continue until the PCs either returnthe necklace to the crypt or give it to a Dje-mal priest. When a PC has the necklace, roll1d6 and refer to the following table to seewhat happens to that PC.

EFFECTS OF HOLY NECKLACEDie Roll Effect

1 Severe, incapacitating headachefor 6 rounds

2 Bitten by small snake (1 point ofdamage)

3 Nothing happens4 Twist ankle (reduce MV to 1/2

for 6 rounds)5 Severe, incapacitating nausea for

6 rounds)6 Lose voice for 6 rounds

In the southwest corner of the crypt is alarge, 4-foot-high vase. The red glaze thatcovers the ceramic piece is badly crackedand faded. The vase is sealed with a crum-bling piece of wood, which turns to powderif the PCs touch it.

Inside the vase are the bones of a cat and acat's collar made of fine silver. The priest ap-parently chose this pet to accompany himon his death journey, and had him placed ina vase and sealed in the chamber with him.

Along the sides of the dusty floor are nar-row slits that allow the drainage of waterfrom the chamber that might seep inthrough the opening.

2. Crypt of Meninoa

This small stone crypt is crudely built ofrough, grayish stone. There are manygaps between the stones, and thousandsof insects crawl through the gaps to theirnests built into the side of the tomb.

The door is a flat stone slab that restsagainst the outside of the crypt. Anotherflat stone slab makes up the roof. Be-cause the walls are irregular, the doorand roof do not fit together properly.

Gargoyles carved from pale whitestone stand on each side of the door.Their horrid expressions show fear morethan anger of viciousness. The crafts-manship of these gargoyles is poor.

The ground to the north of this crypt isblack and sooty from a nearby pyre.Ashes are scattered near the corner of thebuilding, which has been blackened bythe nearby fire.

The gargoyles are carved out of a soft stonethat has gradually deteriorated over theyears. They do not attack if the PCs enterthe crypt quietly and reverently. If the PCsare noisy or disrespectful, however, the gar-goyles will attack.

Gargoyles (2): AC 5; HD 4 + 4;; hp 30 each;MV 9"/15"; #AT 4; Dmg 1-3/1-3/1-6/1-4; SA Nil; SD +1 weapon or better tohit; MR Standard; AL CE; FS 9

The crypt holds only a child-size coffin.Crawling insects, similar to centipedes,cover the crypt floor.

Inside the coffin is the body of a young girlno more than 10 years old. The body looks asif it's been here no longer than 5 years. The girlwears a fine off-white robe of silk and velvet.Small pearl earrings dangle from her ears, andfine satin slippers cover her feet.

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The girl is the illegitimate daughter of anobleman from Djemal. She is kept in suchpoor surroundings as a disguise. Althoughshe was her father's favorite, her identitycould not be revealed. He visits her often,claiming that she was one of his beloved ser-vants.

If it is a holy day (roll 1d6; 1-2 means itis), there is a 50% chance that this noblemanwill be here when the PCs arrive.

Lord Rekam: AC 7; HD 2; hp 12; MV 12";#AT 1; Dmg 1-4 or by weapon

Lord Rekam has 10 Luck points. He wears asmall dagger inside his right boot.

Rekam can give the PCs only brief infor-mation about most of the burial chambers.He will not enter chamber 3 because of therumors he has heard about i t . If the PCspress him, Rekam explains the history ofthat particular vault (see crypt 3 for infor-mation). Rekam also tells the PCs that crypt4 seemed to appear from nowhere, and cantell them nothing about it, as he refuses toenter it.

3. Empty Vault

This vault is constructed of small, red,brick-like stones stacked in an irregularpattern and interspersed with pale, beigestones. No door blocks the entrance,which is level with the ground. The vault'sstone roof slants up to a squared-off point.

To the right of the entrance is a life-sizestatue of a man dressed in ordinaryclothes. His expression is one of greatfear, as if he had been frozen in horror.

Nothing grows around the outer walls ofthis vault; the ground nearby is bare dirt.

The vault is empty, except for some deadleaves and other debris. The dirt floor hasbeen dug below the wall line, as if a stonefloor were yet to be laid.

The vault is well-built, and appears fairlynew. The beginnings of a decorative designhave been carved into one stone on the backwall.

If the PCs ask someone about the statue,they learn that according to legend, thevault was being built by an elderly peasantfor himself. The peasant secretly dabbled inthe art of sorcery and put a curse on thevault so that, while he was building i t , noone would break in and remove his fine

stonework. One night, another peasanttried to steal into the vault and, as a result ofthe curse, was turned to stone. The elderlypeasant died soon thereafter, but no onedared place his body in the vault, so it re-mains unfinished and vacant.

If the PCs enter the vault, they aren't af-fected by any curse—because there never wasone. The old peasant carved the statue andplaced it outside the vault and then created thestory to keep out looters while he worked.

4. Maren's CryptGo to The Crypt of Maren when the PCs en-ter this area.

5. Tomb of Alaryn

The corner of this tomb lies a mere 4 feetfrom the one to the southwest, but it ison somewhat higher ground. It's built ofgray stones that are f i t tightly together.The construction is strikingly similar tothe other nearby tomb.

A yellow marble-like stone extendsfrom the building on the southeast side.The stone is hard and slick; it appears toserve as a step into the entranceway,which is made of the same yellow stone.

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Small horizontal slits are cut into the top ofthe walls near the roof of this tomb, allow-ing some light to filter in.

Inside the tomb is an elaborately carvedcasket, made with several kinds of inlayedwood that form an unusual design. The cas-ket holds the remains of Alaryn, anotherpriest of Djemal.

Two 3-foot-tall vases made of glazed ce-ramic flank the casket. One is white, the otherbrown. Both are similarly shaped. Marbledisks, sealed with a hard wax, cover the vases.It takes a Strength of 15 to pry open one of thevases. There is nothing in either vase.

6. Chamber of Dareal

This small chamber is made of stonewalls supported by wooden poles thathave been driven into the ground. Thereis no door blocking the entrance, andthere are no decorations or plantingsoutside the crypt.

Inside the chamber is a simple wood casketin which an upright arrow is embedded.Jeb's uncle Dareal (see dwelling D2) is en-tombed here. Dareal was a practiced archerwho was the victim of a hunting accident inwhich an arrow backfired, killing him.

There is nothing of value in this chamber.

The Crypt of MarenRead the following to the PCs when they en-ter Maren's crypt.

This crypt is constructed of mottled graystones neatly fit together to form thick,solid-looking walls. A wide piece ofstone serves as a step up to the crypt's en-trance. Two small bushes with tinyleaves flank the step.

The entrance to the crypt is unusual.Two stone slabs, each with a single, largeround hole at the top, hang fromrounded, cylindrical stones that extendout from the building above the doors.The doors themselves are slightly an-gled, so it appears that the stone slabsswing to the sides to allow entrance.Wide slits, which would appear to allowthese slabs to slide into place when thedoor was opened, are built into each sideof the entranceway.

This is Maren's crypt. A Strength of 16 is re-quired to move aside each of the stone slabs.The doors don't stay open, falling back intoplace quickly, so any PC who doesn't get out

of the way of these slabs will suffer 1d4 pointsof damage if he fails a Dexterity check. If thePCs have no light, they'll have to find a way toprop open the doors to investigate the tomb(the tomb itself has no light source). The PCscan remove the stone slabs from their pegs. Acombined Strength of 40 is required to removeeach of these slabs.

The leaves on the bushes outside the cryptmay be dried and brewed into a tea. Ifbrewed strongly enough, the tea can causehallucinations that will make whoeverdrinks it think he is seeing into the future.Even when the effects of the tea have wornout, the victim will still believe that what-ever he hallucinated is really going to hap-pen. There are enough leaves on the bushesto brew 25 cups of very string tea.

When the PCs enter the crypt, they hearthe sound of rushing water. If they have alight source, they fins that the water rushesdown from the ceiling into a well.

Carved into the well is a repeating patternthat may look familiar to the PCs. Sothawill recognize it, but say nothing to the PCs.If a PC makes a successful Intelligencecheck, he recognizes the pattern as beingsimilar to the design of Sotha's half of thebracelet. There is nothing else in the crypt.

The crypt's walls are made of a shiny,marble-like gray stone heavily veined withblack. The floor is made of a similar shinystone.

The water flowing from the ceiling ap-pears to have no visible source. It looks asthough it simply pours out of the ceiling.And in fact, it does. The water is a magicaleffect created by Maren's apprentice. Theapprentice knew that the sound of runningwater had a calming effect of Maren, so as aprecaution to appease Maren's restlessspirit, he created this indoor waterfall.

The water form the ceiling falls into thewell, and then runs underground. Maren'sapprentice built the crypt above the riverthat surfaces at the base of the hill. The wa-ter flows from the well and down into theunderground river.

As the water falls from the ceiling, someof it splashes onto the floor, making theshiny stone extremely slippery. If the PCsare barefoot, they'll get good footing. Orthey can throw down some kind of rug orcloth. Otherwise, the PCs must each make asuccessful Dexterity check each round theyare in the crypt. On a roll of 1 or 2 on 1d6, aPC slips on the water and takes 1d4 pointsof damage.

If the PCs (or Sotha, if he is with them)are able to stop or redirect the flow of water,they can see down the well and into the ca-

vern below. They can then lower them-selves, if they want to investigate.

Because the river flows directly below thewell, the PCs can jump down the well andsuffer no damage. The river flows rapidly,however, so the PCs must move quickly toget to the banks after they have jumped. APC with a Dexterity of lower than 12 mustcheck to see if he manages to reach the banksafely. It the check tails, the PC is carriedalong by the river until he makes a success-ful Dexterity check. If he continues to failthese checks, the PC is eventually depositedat the base of the hill where the river sur-faces. He then suffers 2d4 points of damagefrom the sharp rocks at the outlet.

The jump down from the crypt to theriver is 10 feet. The water here is about 3 feetdeep.

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The Underground CavernRead the following to the PCs who havesuccessfully fallen into the cavern belowMaren's tomb.

Your steps echo throughout this darkchamber. You feel your feet squishinginto the mud. From the dim light above,you can see that banks run along bothsides of the river.

If the PCs have no light, this is all they cansee. If the PCs do have light (for example,Sotha's waterproof fungus, if the sorcerer iswith the PCs), they can see the area clearly.

The river is about 10 feet across. Itsmuddy banks are each 6 feet wide. The ca-vern begins to narrow gradually about 40feet downriver. The banks shrink down tonothing at 50 feet from where the PCs nowstand. The cavern roof is lower here, so thePCs must crawl through the cavern to reachthe river's outlet.

Standing about 20 feet from the PCs, oneach bank, is a large vase. The vase on thewest bank is black; the vase on the east isdark blue. The vases are similar in shape,and both are sealed with a tight-fitting cir-cular stone.

If the PCs walk through the water nearthe vases, or if they somehow disturb thewater in this area, read them the following.

The waters of the stream suddenly shiftfrom their gentle course. The waterchurns up, splashing against the banks.You can't see anything below the surfaceof the water, but the thrashing just growsmore pronounced.

Drowners are attacking the PCs. Any PCwho is in the water at this point is immedi-ately covered with these creatures. If a PCisn't actually in the water, but gets splashed,the drowners attach to his body as well. Thedrowners then start crawling out of thestream to attack any dry PCs.

Drowners (35): AC 7; HD 2; hp 9 each; MV12" /24"; Dmg 1-4; #AT 1; SA none; SDnone; AL N; FS 7

At first, the PCs will feel as if water is run-ning up their legs. Their clothes are sud-denly soaked. When the PCs discover thatthey are being attacked by the jelly-likecreatures, they must act quickly to removethem. Otherwise, the PCs will drown 6rounds after coming in contact with the

drowners.Fire is useless against drowners; it doesn't

even slow them down. If the PCs cut thedrowners up, they merely create more ofthem; no matter how small a piece adrowner is cut into, it grows back to normalsize (within 8-12 hours).

The PCs can peel the drowners off theirskin and clothes, but the watery creaturesmove rapidly, so merely knocking themaway won't help the PCs in the long run.

The PCs can destroy these creatures bydrying them out. If the PCs create a wind orlight breeze (magical or otherwise), thedrowners shrivel up and die. If Sotha is withthe PCs, he creates a gust of wind to kill thedrowners.

The PCs can also use cloth to dry the crea-tures out.

If Sotha is with the PCs, he now makes amove for the black vase. He hasn't noticedthe blue vase, nor does he notice if the PCsgo to inspect it. He's obsessed with the blackvase, sure that it contains what he seeks. Goto The Black Vase.

If Sotha is not with the PCs, go to Sotha'sReturn.

Sotha's ReturnAt this point, Sotha's path must again crosswith the PCs' (if he is still alive, of course).

Sotha (15th level magic-user, 5th level illu-sionist): AC 10; HD 14; hp 105; MV12"; #AT 1; Dmg by weapon type; SAsee spell list (p. 32)

If some of the PCs are in the cavern and oth-ers are still above ground in Maren's tomb,Sotha approaches the PCs in the tomb (go toSotha in the Tomb).

If all of the PCs are in the undergroundcavern, Sotha appears on the west bank ofthe cavern 4 rounds after the PCs enter thearea (go to Sotha Underground).

Sotha in the TombSotha is now hot on the trail of his broth-

er's half of the bracelet, and is in no moodfor pleasantries. He demands to knowwhere the other PCs are. If the PCs havesomehow stopped the flow of water fromthe ceiling, Sotha has an idea of where tolook for the missing PCs.

If the PCs know that Sotha has been ontheir trail, they can set a trap for him here.Sotha won't attack the PCs unless he is at-tacked first. Because he is so focused, Sothauses up as little time and energy as possible

in battling the PCs.If Sotha is somehow prevented from en-

tering the cavern below the tomb, he casts adisintegrate spell, which causes the crypt tostart shaking violently. The intensity of theshaking increases every turn for 3 turns, un-til the crypt starts to crumble.

If any PCs still in the area (above groundand in the cavern below) haven't retreatedafter 6 turns, the walls start to tumble downaround them. After two more turns, theabove ground well will be blocked. Sothawill continue to destroy the crypt and ca-vern until he's gained access to the cavern.

If the well is blocked, the PCs' only meansof escape in this situation is by floatingdownstream and out to the river's outlet. Ifthe PCs try to take the vases with them, theydiscover that the vases have become firmlyattached to the ground, and they can'tbudge them at all.

As the cavern collapses, it sinks into theearth, making it impossible to dig for thevases. The river washes over the collapsedcavern, filling the hole where it once stood.After a short time, the hole fills up com-pletely, and the river changes course to sur-face here, rather than farther down the hill.

If Sotha does get into the cavern aftercasting his disintegrate spell, read the fol-lowing to the PCs.

The walls suddenly begin to rumble andshake violently. You can hardly standyour ground. Rocks loosen and tumbledown from the walls. Suddenly, amid allthe noise and falling rubble, Sotha ap-pears. With a mad gleam in his eyes, thesorcerer races toward the black vase.

If the PCs are near the black vase, they canphysically keep Sotha from it for 3 rounds.After that, Sotha gains enough composureto use some of his magic. Then go to TheBlack Vase.

Sotha UndergroundHere, Sotha confronts all of the PCs in the

underground cavern. He makes no move toattack, but instead lunges for the blackvase. He hasn't even seen the blue vase. So-tha uses magic if the PCs try to keep himfrom the vase.

If Sotha gets the vase, he pauses a mo-ment to laugh in a twisted, strange way.Then he prepares to open it. Sotha isn't con-cerned with the PCs at all; he knows he cankeep them at bay if necessary.

So obsessed is Sotha that he won't evennotice if the PCs make a move on the bluevase on the other bank.

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Go to The Black Vase when Sotha or thePCs are about to open the the vase.

The Black VaseThe vase is veined with small cracks, mak-ing it appear less than sturdy. The seal onthe vase is tight, but comes loose easily ifpried open with some kind of sharp object.The cracks on the vase grow larger from thisintrusion, and the vase eventually crumblesinto small pieces.

The vase holds only a small pile of horri-ble smelling ashes. These are the remains ofMaren. The vase was constructed so that, ifdisturbed, it would fall apart.

If Sotha has opened this vase and foundnothing, he now notices the blue vase (if thePCs haven't already opened it).

The Blue VaseThis heavy vase is thick and solid. The sealis extremely tight. No matter what the PCstry, they cannot open the vase from the top.

If the PCs try cracking the vase, it takesthem 7 rounds to make even a small hole init. It takes them another 3 rounds to crack itcompletely open.

Sotha will try his magic on the vase, butthat too will be unsuccessful. Sotha mustuse the same means to open the vase that thePCs use. It will take Sotha 10 rounds tocrack the vase open.

Read the following to the PCs once theyhave opened the vase.

Inside the vase is an intricately carvedwooden box, which is inlayed with awhite stone in an ornamental geometricpattern. The box is 12 inches square. Itsdark wood shines as if it has been pol-ished with rich oils.

Small, blackened metal hinges are at-tached to the back of the box. A heavy,blackened metal latch holds the lidclosed.

There is nothing else in the vase.

When someone tries to open the box, readthe following.

The lid to the box springe open when thelatch is released. Inside is a paddedbrown velvet lining, upon which rests apale blue silk bag. The bag is tightly tiedwith a white, shiny cord.

The silk bag holds Maren's half of the magicbracelet.

If the PCs close the box without examin-

ing or disturbing the silk bag, nothing hap-pens. If they remove the bag, or if they keepthe box open for longer than 6 rounds, readthe following to the PCs.

A low moaning rises up, engulfing youand bouncing off the walls of the cavern.Its drone is almost hypnotizing. You findyourself becoming more relaxed; itseems as though your motions have beeninvoluntarily slowed. Your mind dullsand drifts to other thoughts.

Seconds later, though, the volume andpitch of the moaning increase. You arejarred from your trance, mentally andphysically. The sound continues tobuild, higher and higher, louder andlouder, until you're practically drivenmad by its intensity.

If the PCs stay in the cavern and don't blocktheir ears, they suffer permanent hearingdamage (hearing half as well as before,changing chances for surprise to 1-5 on1d6). This damage can be healed magically,however. Sotha is magically able to blockthe noise from his ears.

No PC can magically stop the sound; tocast such a spell requires more concentra-tion than the sound will allow.

The painful sound in the cavern also af-fects the PCs' ability to move. The PCs canmove at only half their normal speed whilethe noise continues. Sotha's movement isnot affected.

After 12 rounds, the sound fades and thePCs can faintly hear a voice speaking veryrapidly. Eventually, the words slow downand become understandable.

If Sotha is not in the cave, read the fol-lowing to the PCs. If Sotha is here, go toMaren's Revenge.

"He who dares pass this way must be pre-pared to suffer greatly, suffer often, orsuffer death," wails the loud, inhumanvoice. A quick, cold gust of wind carriesthe voice away temporarily, but it onlyreturns stronger and more urgent mo-ments later to repeat the same message.

If the PCs stay in the cavern, they don't hearthe voice anymore. Try to create anxiety inthe PCs by telling them, "your punishmentmust be waiting for you later," or "maybethe voice is deciding how to make you suf-fer." Create an atmosphere so mentally andphysically uncomfortable that the PCs willbe in a hurry to leave.

For every round the PCs stay in the ca-vern, each loses 1 hit point.

If Sotha is dead, the PCs can take thebracelet with them when they leave. Noth-ing happens to them; the threats on theirlives were merely that: threats.

If Sotha is alive but not with the PCs, thePCs may leave the cavern, but anyone hold-ing the bracelet is magically shielded fromleaving. An invisible barrier has appeared.If the PCs try to throw the bracelet throughthe barrier, it simply bounces off. No magicor weapon can remove this barrier. Thebracelet must be left behind. This is one ofMaren's ways of preventing the braceletfrom falling into Sotha's hands. The PCsmay want to destroy the bracelet if theycan't take it with them. They can eitherhammer it flat or use some magical means todestroy it.

If, after the PCs leave the cavern, Sothatries to enter and retrieve the bracelet, hecan't find it. The cavern collapses, sinkinginto the ground. Sotha is trapped and can'tescape.

Once the PCs are ready to leave the burialgrounds, go to Ending the Adventure.

Maren's Revenge

"That which is not yours, you cannotclaim," the voice moans. The source ofthe voice seems to have moved closer toSotha. A cool gust of wind kicks up loosedirt from the floor and sends it spiralingaround the sorcerer, but the dirt doesn'ttouch him.

Sotha tries to be unafraid, but thebeads of sweat forming on his brow saysomething else altogether. His neck mus-cles tighten as he turns his face to the skyand closes his eyes. "Brother, if it be youand not one of your mangled creations, Ihave come to make a plea. I have cometo claim your bracelet for unselfish rea-sons. I need it to help extinguish a greatevil that threatens to despoil our land."

"I know of the evil that passes throughthis land," booms the voice. "I know,too, that you cannot be trusted, mybrother. Even in death I cannot befooled."

With that, the bracelet is wrenched from thehands of whoever holds it. The bracelethovers in the air momentarily, 20 feet awayfrom the party. Sotha begs Maren to let himhave the bracelet. If the PCs ask for thebracelet, they are thrown against the cavernwall with such force that they are stunnedfor 3 rounds.

Sotha continues to plead for the bracelet.Read the following to the PCs.

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"Very well, evil one, you shall have yourbracelet." With a great whirling motion,the bracelet spins and hurtles toward So-tha. It makes a high-pitched screamingsound as it approaches him. Sothareaches forward to grab it, but he misses.Instead, the bracelet whips around So-tha's neck, sticking to the sorcerer like amagnet to iron. Before Sotha can react,the bracelet, with a terrible screechingnoise, starts to strangle the sorcerer todeath.

Fear floods Sotha's face. He falls to hisknees, the life force draining quicklyfrom him. Strange choking sounds gur-gle up from his throat. He begs with hiseyes for you to help him.

"It is yours, my brother. Yours!" thevoice cackles. "Are you satisfied now?"

If Achmal acts within 3 rounds, he may beable to prolong Sotha's life, but he won't beable to keep him alive for long, as the sorcer-er's windpipe has been severely damaged.

Sotha collapses, dying after 10 rounds ifthe bracelet is not removed or if he isn't keptalive magically. The bracelet can be re-moved only by separating Sotha's headfrom his body and sliding the bracelet off.

If the PCs search Sotha's body, they findthe other half of the bracelet and two smallcloth bags of strange herbs. The herbs,

when ground, brew into a strong healingpotion (one cup heals 1 point of damage;herbs applied directly to a wound heal 2points). There are enough herbs to heal a to-tal of 10 points of damage.

The blue stone around Sotha's neck is ofno value. The glass orb hanging from hiswaist may be of use to Achmal, who may beable to use it to see into the future in somelimited fashion.

If the PCs fit the two halves of the bracelettogether, they hear a demented, twistedlaugh fill the room and then slowly fadeaway to silence. Nothing else happens;T'Neya made the bracelet so only Maren orSotha, or their blood off-spring could use itto its fullest powers.

The water that flows from the ceiling inMaren's tomb ceases; an eerie silence en-velops the PCs. What's left of the two vasesslowly deteriorates into piles of dust.Maren's ashes disintegrate and disappearinto the deep, black earth as if they weremelting ice. Only the bracelet and the boxthat held it now remain.

Ending the AdventureIf the PCs prevent Sotha from fusing thetwo halves of the bracelet together (eitherby destroying the bracelet, or by seeing thatSotha is destroyed), the yellow light thathung over the land suddenly disappears, as

do all of its horrible effects. If this occurs,the Djemal army will insist on escorting thePCs back to Djemal, where they will be re-warded handsomely with two huge dia-monds, a strangely shaped blue sapphire,three rubies, and 150 gp.

If the PCs return to Sotha's cave, theyfind that it has collapsed. They find nothinghere.

If the PCs want to continue adventuringin Hyboria, here are a few extensions of thisadventure:

1. Sotha's Revenge: The PCs are trackeddown and attacked by Sotha's two sons,who know of the bracelet and intend toclaim it for themselves.

2. Spirit of Maren: The PCs, through theteachings of Maren's spirit, learn how to usethe bracelet in a limited fashion.

3. Conquest of the Raiders: Sotha's ma-rauding raiders continue to ravage the coun-tryside, unaware their leader has perished.The PCs must stop these deadly bands.

4. Diamonds of Djemal: The treasuresgiven the PCs by the Djemal Army are actu-ally magical items of great power. The PCscould try to determine how to use the items,while their previous owner, a banned evilpriest of Djemal, plots to regain them.

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NikaFrequency: RareNo. Appearing: 1Armor Class: -1Move: 12"/24"

100" when invisibleHit Dice: 10% in Lair: NilTreasure Type: NilNo. of Attacks: 4Damage/Attack: 1-6 each appendageSpecial Attacks: Electricity, energy drainSpecial Defenses: InvisibilityMagic Resistance: 70%Intelligence: MediumAlignment: Lawful EvilSize: L (30')Psionic Ability: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

The nika is an immense monster who has nosolid physical form. It appears as a large,reddish-brown cloud with four indistinctappendages that taper to a point. The nika isa summoned creature who, although of me-dium intelligence, can be controlled and ma-nipulated easily by magic-users.

When it travels, the nika becomes invisi-ble, allowing it to move at speeds of up to100 feet per round. Otherwise, it movesnormally.

Because the nika lacks a solid form, itcannot be damaged by normal weapons.

The nika's appendages each end in a nar-row, half-moon-shaped tip. These append-ages can shoot electricity out to causehalf-moon-shaped wounds that will eventu-ally kill a victim. If a nika manages to sim-ply wound a victim, it can draw energyfrom the victim's body with its appendages.

DrownersFrequency: RareNo. Appearing: 10-45Armor Class: 7Move: 12"/24"Hit Dice: 2% in Lair: NilTreasure Type: NilNo. of Attacks: 1Damage/Attack: 1-4Special Attacks: NilSpecial Defenses: NilMagic Resistance: StandardIntelligence: LowAlignment: Lawful NeutralSize: SPsionic Ability: Nil

Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

These transparent creatures look like flatglobs of jelly. When mature, they are aboutthe size of plate. Most are colorless, butlarger drowners may have slight tints ofblue or green. The creatures feed on smallmicroorganisms present in water.

Drowners reproduce by sections thatbreak off periodically throughout theirlives. If cut into pieces, a drowner becomesseveral independent drowners. These pieceswill reach full size in 8 to 12 hours if theyhave a source of food. If taken out of waterfor more than 4 hours, drowners begin todehydrate.

Drowners attack by seeking sources ofmoisture on a body, filling the orifices, andsuffocating the victim. A standing victimcan be suffocated within 6 rounds if hedoesn't defend against the creatures. Aprone victim can drown within 3 rounds.

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Belt of MarcolThe belt of Marcol is a simple magical itemwith simple magical powers. It can be usedto slow a person or object, or hold some-thing if it is in close range. The belt is madeof a piece of heavily-oiled, aged brownleather with a tarnished, horseshoe-shapedbrass buckle.

The belt can be used once every 3 turns byits wearer. To slow a person, the wearertightens the belt one notch and concentrateson the effect he wishes to have on his victim.The effect lasts 3 turns. To slow a person re-peatedly, the wearer must keep tighteningthe belt. Obviously, a thin person will havemore chances to use the effect.

If the victim is within 30 feet, the slowingeffect is powerful enough to hold the personfor 3 turns.

Non-Player CharacterSothaMagic-User: 15Illusionist: 5Strength: 9Intelligence: 16Wisdom: 15Dexterity: 8Constitution: 10Charisma: 11

Hit Points: 105

Magic-User Spells:

1st level: charm person (x2), protectionfrom evil, shield (x2)

2nd level: invisibility (x3), levitate, web3rd level: haste (x2), suggestion (x2)4th level: confusion (x2), dig, remove curse5th level: stone shape, teleport6th level: disintegrate, move earth7th level: charm plants, Mordenkainen's

sword

Illusionist Spells:

1st level: change self (x2), detect illusion,light

2nd level: misdirection, ventriloquism3rd level: paralyzation

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