AD&D - DLC1 - Classics Volume 1

trance to the fortress itself. If you the caravan was raided and Gilthanas Take your priests and read them this
accept this opportunity, you not freed. Six Kapak draconians have passage!
only offer freedom to those of also been carried to the elven city,
your kin trapped within the walls and even now move to attack the The landscape you lie upon is
of the fortress, but you offer our characters. Whether the PCs move to blurred, as is often the case in
beleaguered folk a chance to es- investigate or simply hold their dreams.
cape Qualinesti alive, a chance to ground, they are attacked by the
live that many of ours were not Kapaks as the huge serpent, now The wind has died away, and the
given when your people caused bearing two riders, rises across the air seems far less chilly than it did
the Cataclysm, the turning away red moon as Toede shouts, “Your loy- before. Indeed, a glowing warmth
of the gods.” alty is touching, my little Kapaks! To spreads across your back.
give your lives is all that my grand-
Thus is presented the plight of the ness could ask of you!” When you turn toward the
elves and the suggestion for the he- source of the heat, you see that
roes’ help. If the heroes take on the The Kapaks were sent by Toede to Qualinesti forest is burning. The
quest, go directly to encounter 90 create a diversion, then abandoned. fire withers aspen, snaps ever-
below. If they decline, go directly to Left on their own, they fight to the green, and the woodland erupts
encounter 91. death. The noise of the skirmish into red columns of flame.
arouses the community, but no elves
90. Kidnap! are near enough to intervene until Dark shapes lope toward you
the battle is over. By then, it is obvi- out of the fire. A rain of arrows and
Speed is important; Gilthanas feels ous that this was an isolated raid and spears cannot stop the rushing
that the party’s chances to enter Pax not a general attack. draconians, their wings flapping
Tharkas are greater if they enter the as they charge across the ground
Sla-Mori at night. Therefore, the elf If the PCs mention Laurana, the like large, wounded bats. Your
urges that the party leave the next elves know of her absence at once. If comrades fall around you—first
morning. This should bring them, af- not, it is morning before they realize one, then another, as your weapon
ter a long day’s travel, to the mouth she is missing. In either event, noth- grows heavier in your hands.
of Sla-Mori. Also, since draconians ing can be done about the kidnap-
prefer not to travel by day, this ping. The elves react to the Finally, seven draconians turn
lessens the chance that the PCs will kidnapping with sad acceptance, and toward you—toward you alone.
run into them. tell the heroes to sleep while they Three of them lick their swords.
have the chance, for the next day’s Their lidless eyes stare hungrily at
The council has adjourned. As mission must go ahead as planned. your throat. They move coldly and
they part, the people sing an ancient, firmly in your direction, whisper-
haunting song of the elves. At this While the heroes sleep, the elves ing in dry, rattling hisses. They
time, you may read or sing the song load their packs with two weeks’ surround you; one of them lunges
“Elvenhome.” Immediately after- worth of the nourishing elven quith- at you with a spear, and a white-
ward read this passage. pa, a kind of dried fruit. Quith-pa hot pain explodes in your chest.
functions in all respects as iron ra-
Laurana leads the way back to the tions. The dragonmen appear to dou-
quiet hilltop grove. “Sleep peace- ble in size, and then suddenly
fully, for the road tomorrow is At this point, Gilthanas may be- shrink to the size of sparrows.
long,” she whispers, then moves come a player character. Theros Your weapon falls to your side.
silently down the hill. elects to remain with the elves. Your legs do not work. Everything
is dark now.
Suddenly, the stillness of 91. If the Heroes Refuse the
Qualinesti shatters. A sharp fe- Elves If the PCs still do not take up the
male scream rises from the direc- quest, the dream comes true almost
tion Laurana has gone. Even as Of course, the Innfellows may reject to the letter. Qualinesti is in the
the echoes bounce from the hills, the elves’ appeal. In this case, the hands of the Dragon Highlords in
a dark shape blacks out the elves are considerably colder to the 1d6 days; no matter which direction
moons, settling among the aspens PCs; they no longer extend their hos- the PCs go after one game day they
of the city. pitality, asking the PCs to leave. The encounter draconians as they did in
next morning, Gilthanas and a band encounter 94. These skirmishes con-
A wyvern, ridden by Fewmaster of hand-picked elven warriors leave tinue, one every game hour, until all
Toede, lands in Qualinost. Toede has for Pax Tharkas, gravely weakening the PCs are dead.
decided to capture one of the party the fighting strength of the
as a peace offering to Verminaard, Qualinesti nation.
who is surely going to be angry that
The elves do not bother the PCs if
they consent to leave Qualinesti qui-
etly. At the first nightfall, priests in
the party have a prophetic dream.

49

The heroes make a long day’s march and hobgoblins lie grotesquely in The wounded man is Eben Shat-
and are at the Sla-Mori at nightfall. the places where death claimed terstone (see Supplementary PC
Today, also, the Dragonarmy them. cards, page 114, 115). Eben wears
marches out of Pax Tharkas toward clothes that once were very fine, but
Qualinesti. A groan sounds from the center a lot of rough wear has tattered them
of this carnage, and a battered hu- somewhat. He has straight, jet-black
Dawn is just beginning to color the man warrior rises from a pile of hob- hair, cut fairly short, and his face is
sky as Gilthanas leads the way goblins. His eyes appear glazed and ruggedly handsome. A faded red
through the aspenwood of unfocused as he turns his head cape hangs from his shoulders, and
Qualinesti. The trail descends about, finally looking at the trail his fine chain mail is rather tar-
gradually to the south. Soon the where it enters the clearing. He nished. He also wears a scarlet hat.
whisper of a rushing stream rises struggles to stay on his feet, but
from nearby, as the path begins to gives up with another groan. Eben is completely self-serving,
follow a clear brook. The route willing to do anything to win favor
grows steeper and steeper, and the Suddenly a look of surprise with those whom he sees as in power.
water deepens and roars as it tum- crosses his face, and he points to Right now, this is the Dragon
bles toward the sea with increas- the dense pine forest. “Look out! Highlord Verminaard, who has sent
ing force. Dragon . . .” The effort proves too Eben to infiltrate the party and try to
much, and he topples onto his direct them to Pax Tharkas, where he
The aspens of Qualinesti blend back again. is to betray them. Eben is not evil,
with the tall pines of the lowlands, nor will he risk his life for the Dragon
and by the time the sun is high, 92. Ambush Highlord, so if he does not have a
there are no signs of the silvery chance to betray the party safely, he
trees of the plateau. Dark and Immediately after this statement, 12 will not do so. If at all possible,
looming, the evergreens crowd Baaz draconians rush from the pines Eben’s mission should not be discov-
the trail, making the brightly to attack the party from all sides. If ered. If it is, however, and the PCs
sunny day seem closed and dusky. the heroes heed the wounded war- turn on him, see to it that Eben
The stream still roars, but the rior’s warning, they are not surprised meets an obscure death—that his
sound has become threatening, by the ambush; otherwise, check body is lost.
like some unspeakable thing in normally with a 1d6.
tireless pursuit. Eben has blood upon his legs and
The draconians attack savagely, arms. He graciously denies that he
Suddenly, the pines spread to fighting to the death. If the battle needs any magical healing and sug-
reveal a clearing about 150 feet seems to be going in the heroes’ fa- gests that the magic should be saved
across. The grass has been vor, the wounded man climbs to his for a later time. In fact, he is not
churned into mud by a furious feet, joins the melee, and strikes a wounded at all: he has staged the en-
combat. The bodies of both men Baaz from behind after most of the tire encounter so that he might join
draconians have been killed.

50

the group of heroes. He will attempt A narrow trail climbs steeply from 96. The Ways of the Sla-Mori
to betray the party later. the plains into the wooded valley.
Splashing with impartial cheer, a A whiff of musty, dead air emerges
Eben thanks the PCs many times, clear brook emerges from the cut as the huge block moves aside.
and offers his aid wherever they in the mountains, as Gilthanas The passage plunges directly into
might be bound. Gilthanas urges leads the party ever higher. Soon, the heart of the mighty peak that
haste in continuing to Pax Tharkas, the elf leaves the path and begins guards the eastern flank of Pax
and if his opinion is sought, remarks to pick his way through under- Tharkas. A thick coat of dust lay-
that an extra swordsman always brush made especially dense by ers the floor, and cobwebs hang
comes in handy. the falling of night. loosely from the ceiling nearly 15
feet above. The tunnel is 20 feet
Soon the pines give way to the 94. Trolls wide and completely dark.
open plain, and in the southern dis-
tance, Pax Tharkas sits wedged be- The trolls in this valley always place a Despite the many birds and
tween mountains. By moving guard to cover the approach from the small animals in the nearby
steadily, the party can see the plains. This troll alerts its partners, woods—all chattering noisily but
Tharkadan walls by late afternoon. and the three monsters attack the a few moments ago—the area is
rear of the party as it leaves the trail now covered by a stunned silence,
93. The Hidden Valley and begins to move toward the Sla- as though the mountain protests
Mori. Check normally to see if the this break-in and the animals have
The sun has almost disappeared in PCs are surprised. paused in sympathy.
the west; the important fortress of
Pax Tharkas is nearer still. The The trolls try to kill two PCs and Gilthanas advances firmly into the
tops of its two mighty towers rival carry the bodies to their lair—a small tunnel. If the PCs falter, he pauses
the mountain peaks for control of cave on the opposite side of the val- and urges them forward with a whis-
the sky. Between the towers, a ley, about 1,000 yards away. The per. He knows this area only through
massive wall closes off all passage cave is 30 feet wide, 50 feet deep, lore—he has never traveled it—and
through the mountain gap. A sin- and ten feet high. It contains a collec- the grim passage makes him uneasy.
gle gate, 30 feet tall and 20 feet tion of bones, worthless scraps of ar-
wide, seems to be the only en- mor and weapons, a rusty key amid The tunnel is obviously ancient.
trance. the rubbish at the back wall, a shield Whether it was carved by hand or cre-
+ 1, and a locked strongbox. The key ated by the flowing of water is impos-
Suddenly, the massive gate opens the strongbox, which contains sible to determine. Loose chunks of
swings open. Even before it fin- 257 sp and three gems, worth 150 rock litter the floor, and the walls and
ishes moving, column after stl, 100 stl, and 200 stl. ceilings are crumbling. The dust on
column of armed troops march the floor looks as if it has not been
out. Rising clouds of dust soon ob- 95. The Gate to Sla-Mori disturbed since the Cataclysm.
scure their exact numbers, but
surely several thousand pass from Gilthanas leads the way along the 97. The Crossroads
the fortress onto the plains. The base of a tall granite cliff for sev-
road they follow leads to eral hundred feet, halting at a A crossroads offers a choice of di-
Qualinesti. slight niche in the wall. He takes a rections 120 feet into the moun-
small, glowing gem from beneath tain. The corridor continues
“The Dragon Highlords’ power,” his tunic and holds it forward with straight ahead but it also branches
says Gilthanas grimly. “The time his right hand. Making a set of mo- to the right.
has come.” The elven warrior tions in the air, he chants an an-
points to a narrow vale leading cient series of incantations. More significantly, the dust on
into the mountains just east of Pax Suddenly and silently, a tremen- the floors of the tunnels now
Tharkas. “Here lies the approach dous stone block moves to the shows the passage of many feet.
of the Sla-Mori. We must move side. The marks extend into both of the
carefully: this valley is sometimes passages continuing into the
not a safe place.” Use the Sla-Mori map for the follow- mountain; only the corridor lead-
ing encounters. The numbers of ing to the gate seems to have been
The elf refers to rumors of a band of these and all further encounters are untraveled before.
trolls that has come down from the keyed to areas on maps.
high mountains into the valley. He The tracks in the dust were made by
tells the PCs about this if they ask a number of different types of crea-
him. Urging haste, he then leads the tures. Most of the tracks seem to be
party into the valley, to the secret humanoid, although it is impossible
gate of the Sla-Mori, or “hidden to tell more. Most of the animal
path.” tracks are those of small, clawed
creatures.

51

The corridor continuing straight 99. The Closed Corridor The wraith pursues trespassers. If
ahead has more tracks in it. the intended victims enter area 102,
The corridor widens to 60 feet, the zombies emerge and aid the
98. Hall of the Ancients still continuing forward. The air in wraith; if the PCs flee into the loop at
the room is stale and musty; loose 101, the wraith follows them before
An eerie, gigantic hall has fallen boulders and stones litter the the sliding wall closes.
into decay. Many tall columns rise floor, but apparently a wide path
to a lofty ceiling, others have runs down the center of the corri- 101. The Sliding Wall
fallen over and litter the center of dor. This path is free of any speck
the room like the felled vallen- of dust. In the area marked on the map is a
wood trees of Solace. From be- sliding section of wall, constructed
hind the rubble comes a chittering The far end of the corridor has been centuries ago as a trap for tomb rob-
and scratching. caved in by the Cataclysm. Boulders bers. The wall cannot be detected
the size of houses are wedged to- when open, as it is when the party
A huge, granite throne sits gether to form an impenetrable wall. first passes by.
against the eastern wall, flanked
by two large statues. The stone A giant slug has cleaned the path When they reach the western sec-
guardians are warriors three times through the chamber. It lives off the tion of the loop (marked with an X),
the height of a man, each armed refuse created by the rats in Kith- the lead characters feel the floor sink
with a broad, granite sword. Kanan’s tomb. slowly down one foot. There is no
other perceptible effect unless a
Dwarfed by these images, the The slug is wedged amid the boul- character is very near the sliding
decayed remains of a man sit atop ders at the far end of the room. It wall, which closes when the trigger is
the throne. Gaunt, empty sockets does not detect the heroes until they sprung. When closed, the sliding wall
and bared teeth stare from an an- advance to within 60 feet. Then the can be discovered as a secret door,
cient skull. A worn, once-regal monster slides forth and attacks, and opened when pushed by com-
cloak covers his body; a sheathed pursuing if necessary. The slug can bined Strength of 50 or greater. Up to
sword lies across his lap. turn around in a 20-foot-wide corri- three characters may push at once.
dor; in any area narrower than this it The door cannot be opened from the
Further examination of the chamber must continue forward until it lo- outside.
reveals that the wall opposite the tun- cates a wider space.
nel entrance has collapsed, appar- 102. Tomb of the Zombies
ently triggering the fall of the 100. Chamber of Doom
columns. A huge pile of rubble here The tunnel breaks into the corner
is riddled with small tunnels and pro- The winding of the narrow tunnel of an old hall, obviously con-
vides shelter for thousands of rats. finally ends in a dark chamber. structed with care in some distant
The rodents are timid creatures, The air is heavy and cold here, and age. A wide center aisle stretches
however, and represent no threat. a nameless sense of evil throbs to the limits of sight, and a row of
somewhere within these slick, stone doors line each side.
The double doors at the western stony walls. A thick layer of dust
end of the room are closed, but they covers the floor, as if the fright- Rats have passed over the dust
swing open easily. They are made of ened creatures living in the tun- on the floor throughout the Sla-
bronze, now well-tarnished, and cov- nels know better than to come Mori, but much less often in here
ered with a relief drawing of Pax here. than in most other areas. None of
Tharkas. the tracks approach the doors,
Lurking in the northwestern alcove which are supported by huge iron
This is the burial chamber of Kith- of the room is the source of this hinges spiked right into the stone.
Kanan, founder of Qualinesti. The el- nameless evil: a wraith. This potent Each door has an iron handle, but
ven prince and his dwarf comrades spirit begins to move forward as soon apparently no lock.
built the fortress of Pax Tharkas dur- as it detects life in this room. Its at-
ing the Age of Dreams. His tomb has tack is swift and merciless. This is the tomb of Kith-Kanan’s elite
been sealed further by the cata- royal guard. Through a lifetime of
clysm, which has closed off access to This undead creature is the evil rem- valued service to their lord, these
Pax Tharkas proper. Your adventur- nant of a graverobber who broke into honored elves, dwarves, and men
ers, of course, will have to find this the Sla-Mori trying to plunder the have earned the right to burial here.
out the hard way. tomb of Kith-Kanan. Forcing entrance
through the gate, he became trapped In the centuries since, however, an
The sword across Kith-Kanan’s lap inside. Nourished only by the force of evil perversion has corrupted the
represents one of the most potent his own evil, his mortal body perished bodyguard, creating a band of 44
weapons of his age: it is Wyrmslayer, and left only the sinister presence that mindless zombies dedicated to only
a two-handed sword +3. If drawn now dwells in this room. one task: kill all intruders!
from its scabbard, it gleams brightly
with magical radiance.

52



The undead lie on stone biers, two Tharkas (103-107 on the map) have hind the gate of the fortress, block-
behind each door. They arise and at- not been traveled in over a century. ing any attempts to batter down the
tack when any of the following occur: The rats and other small creatures portal with even the most massive of
roaming the outer tunnels, as well as rams.
* One of the tomb doors is opened. wandering monsters, never pass
* A magical spell, rod, wand, etc. is through the Tomb of Zombies into The chain rises through the ceiling
used in the room (not including mag- this area. Therefore, thick dust cov- of the room, 100 feet above, in a nar-
ical weapons used to shed light). ers everything, and the adventurers row channel, to the Chamber of the
* The double doors in the western have no encounters in these areas. Chain in Pax Tharkas (see area 131).
end of the room are opened. Although the chain nearly fills the
* The wraith (from area 30) enters 104. Trap chute, a small individual (a kender or
the room and commands the zom- a human man child) could climb the
bies to arise. A single bronze door swings open chain and emerge into the chamber.
easily into a short corridor that Such an ascent would require thiev-
Coldly and silently, the zombies runs for 60 feet to another bronze ing ability and a successful climb
close in on the party and try to de- door, identical to the first. Each sheer surfaces roll.
stroy them. Any that are turned by a door bears the inscription of a jew-
cleric escape by the most convenient eled crown. 106. Tharkadan Treasure
route, returning to their tombs if they Vaults
can. The dust in this corridor is very
thick, and undisturbed by any Having detected the secret door,
The double doors at the western tracks. locating the concealed latch is a
end of the room are made of solid simple matter. It releases with a
bronze. Like the doors to Kith- Dwarven engineers rigged the last 20 soft click, and a section of the
Kanan’s tomb, they bear a raised out- feet of the corridor as a trap for un- stone wall swings silently inward.
line of Pax Tharkas, done in wary trespassers. When any pressure
considerable detail. This design is applied to the false door, either The room beyond is fairly large,
adorns each side of the doors. They pushing or pulling, a 20-foot section and nearly filled with yellow,
are unlocked, and open silently with of the floor drops away. All charac- brick-like objects that glitter
a push. ters standing on it fall 20 feet into a through a layer of dust.
pit and suffer 2d6 of damage.
103. Hall of Columns Stacked 25 high, 25,000 gold ingots
105. Chain and Support line the walls around the room. Each
This large chamber echoes softly contains the equivalent of 1,000 gp
with the sounds of any passage, no The long, dusty corridor finally of the metal. Gold was valued highly
matter how quiet. Puffs of dust passes through a bronze door into by the dwarves of Pax Tharkas in the
rise with each footfall on the a large, circular room. Here, as in Age of Dreams, but it is of little use
floor—here again is an area that the corridors leading into the to the current adventurers.
seems not to have known the pas- chamber, the dust on the floor is
sage of a living soul in decades. thick and unmarked. A curious 107. Gates to Pax Tharkas
feature of the room is the column
The passage gradually widens in its center, which slants to one Do not read this passage until the ad-
from the doors, but the true di- side and climbs far out of sight venturers have discovered the secret
mensions of the room are lost in above. door.
darkness. A row of stately granite
columns lines each wall. These are A closer look shows you that the The wall seems to block the corri-
plain supports with no ornate carv- column is actually a massive dor is a secret door, apparently ac-
ings or unusual shapes, but they chain, supported by a huge iron tivated by a small catch near the
seem to have been constructed bracket sunk into the center of the ground. Beyond the portal is si-
with great care. The fact that they floor. Each link is as long as a lence.
have survived the Cataclysm in- man, and the iron bands forming
tact indicates that their builders the links are nearly a foot thick. Finally your adventurers have
were accomplished engineers. The bracket in the floor is 15 feet reached the walls of Pax Tharkas it-
across and nearly three feet thick. self. If they decide to advance, use
This chamber is the fruit of dwarven the map of Pax Tharkas.
labors, designed as a fitting entryway This chain is the final support mech-
to the resting place of Kith-Kanan’s anism for the heavy stone defenses
elite. that protect Pax Tharkas against at-
tack from the north. If it is released,
You should make careful note that massive blocks of granite drop be-
the chambers from here to Pax

54

The cut-away map displaying Pax as coming from Solace and Gateway. the dragonmen move to fight at
Tharkas should be used for the fol- Also in the large room is a deep once.
lowing series of encounters. Note
that the map does not show the en- well, capable of providing fresh wa- A savage-looking dragonman
tire fortress, only those areas the he- ter in times of siege or if the streams hauls a young woman by the arm.
roes are able to visit. This includes flowing from the mountains outside He hurls her toward a door on the
the ground floors of each of the two of the fortress should dry up. far side of the room, growling:
towers, as well as the underground “My lord Verminaard requires
level and second floor of the eastern 109. Lower Guardroom your presence! Who are you to
tower. Also shown are the wall con- refuse his noble calling?” The
necting the two towers and the hold- Listening to the door to this room re- monster advances toward the girl,
ing bin for the tons of rock used to veals the rasping voices of dragon- menacingly, while three other dra-
block the gate. men mingled with a woman’s voice. conians watch, their faces twisted
The woman sounds upset. The door into hideous grins.
In area 133, immediately inside is solid, but not locked or stuck.
the doors to both the eastern and The Kapak draconian takes the girl
western towers, are two ropes at- If the heroes open the door slowly from the room, unless interrupted by
tached to an alarm mechanism. If and carefully, they can watch the fol-
any members of the Dragon lowing scene for a few moments. Of
Highlord’s army see the heroes and course, if they smash down the door,
manage to pull one of these, the for-
tress is alerted. In this case, double
the number of random encounter
checks and double the number of
creatures encountered in the for-
tress. Surprise is impossible after the
defenders are alerted.

As the party enters the fortress,
Gilthanas should mention that there
is a gate-blocking mechanism within
the walls. This can be used to seal the
gates for a long period, and—if the
party could activate it—would be
useful in delaying pursuit by the
Dragonarmy that just marched off to
the north.

108. Cellar

Three tunnels lead from the secret
door through a maze of crushed
stone and broken timbers. The
tunnels have been cleared from an
area that was once totally caved
in. A thin, undisturbed coat of
dust covers the floor.

The tunnels all lead to a large cellar
room, with rough and rocky walls to
the east, but a finely crafted, smooth
stone wall to the west. A large,
wooden door stands near the center
of the western wall.

To the heroes’ left as they enter is a
pile of wooden crates, nailed shut.
These contain clothing, pots and
pans, curtains, heavy coats, boots,
and blankets. A character passing a
Wisdom check can identify the items

55

the heroes. If combat erupts while 111. Women’s Prison #2 not attack her, even if she should
she is in the room, the girl runs to the awaken. She is half mad, and
southern end and crouches there un- This chamber is the prison of more of there’s no telling what she might
til the fight is over. the mothers from the northlands. do if aroused.”
Sixty women between the ages of 18
If attacked suddenly, the Kapaks and 40 are locked up here, in much 113. Chamber of the Aghar
have no time to envenom their the same conditions as the women
blades. If more than one of them is next door. A series of strange noises rise
slain, survivors try to escape through from behind this door: first, a loud
the western door and alert the for- 112. Maidens crash, followed several seconds
tress. later by a dull thump, and then
This room holds 45 young women, gales of raucous laughter. The
Although Laurana is quite startled between the ages of 12 and 20, who laughter dies down slowly, and af-
by her sudden rescue, she is spirited have not married or borne children. ter a minute the pattern repeats.
and courageous, and she quickly re- As in the other two rooms, the condi-
covers her wits. She has been kept in tions are squalid and dirty. The women have no idea what is in
area 112, but knows that 111 and this room. The door is quite typical,
110 also contain some of the women The women from all of these cells and does not seem to be locked. In
from the north. The keys to all of react with quiet joy to the thought of fact, it is not even stuck and opens to
these rooms are kept on the belt of rescue; this reaction, however, cools reveal the following:
one of the draconian guards. with the knowledge that the red
dragon above still watches the chil- A long timber is balanced on a
If the PCs do not enter the room dren. boulder in the center of the room.
before Laurana is dragged out, she is At each end of the timber is a
taken before Verminaard. If not res- The women explain the situation wide, dish-shaped container. Set
cued by the heroes, she dies an “ob- to the heroes, including the proce- on the ground by these containers
scure death” and returns later in the dure for tending the children every is a pile of large stones and a tall
saga. evening. The women also know that wooden box. Huge mattresses of
many other women are held on the straw have been spread on the
110. Women’s Prison #1 bottom floor of the western tower. floor beyond either end of the tim-
The men are forced to work in the ber. A dozen short, stocky crea-
This cell holds 34 women from Sol- mines, and are kept in a crude cave tures scurry frantically around the
ace, Gateway, and Haven. Rude straw south of the fortress during those timber, shouting and cursing each
mats line the walls, and several low brief periods when they are not work- other. They wear oversized tin hel-
chairs are scattered about. No other ing. mets, and several wear swords in
furniture or other accommodations their belts. Because these swords
are present. The women also send a group of are several inches longer than
12 up to the mines to feed the men their legs, those creatures who
Maritta the Seamstress is one of every night. They wear heavy shawls wear them often get them tangled
the prisoners in this room. She is and robes to protect against the au- between their feet, sprawling
generally regarded by the women as tumn chill, and the guards pay little headlong onto the floor.
their leader and spokesperson. It is attention to those on either feeding
she who leads the group of ten mission. Thus, any characters con- Shortly a pattern emerges. One
women each evening up to the cham- cealed as these women would be able of these creatures (who by now are
ber on the ground floor (room 117) to to move about the fortress fairly recognizable as Aghar gully
feed and tend to the children. The safely, as long as they could conceiv- dwarves) climbs into the dish at
youngsters are imprisoned there un- ably be on one of these feeding mis- one end of the timber, dropping
der the watchful eyes of the red sions. that end to the ground like a large
dragon Flamestrike. see-saw. Three other Aghar climb
If the heroes do not think of this, onto the wooden box at the other
Also in this room is a battered Elis- Maritta suggests that armed men, end of the timber, where com-
tan, injured from a fall in the mines. disguised in women’s robes, could rades have already raised three of
Because of his influential position, enter the chamber where the chil- the large stones. The Aghar on the
the Dragon Highlords allow the dren are kept and rescue them. boxes drop the stones together
women to tend him, when they would into the dish below them, drop-
let most prisoners die unaided. Even If the PCs decide to make a rescue ping that end to the ground and
so, Elistan is near death and needs attempt in this way, Maritta has the catapulting the dwarf at the other
magical healing. following advice about Flamestrike:

If the PCs heal Elistan, he aban- “You must try to pass the dragon
dons his disbelief and embraces the quietly, as she sleeps very deeply. I
true gods. He renounces his past be- don’t think she would normally
liefs and begins to worship Mishakal, harm the children—in fact, she
or whichever of the true gods the PC seems very fond of them—but do
priest who healed him worships.

56

end through the air, over the heads being held prisoner in area 120 for trail mars the center of the floor.
of the three on the box, and into the crime of aiding the escape of a Some of the tapestries, depicting
the mattress of straw. group of Fewmaster Toede’s pris- pastoral woodland scenes, have
oners. If the heroes aid in his rescue, been defaced: charcoal has been
After each of these stunts, all the Aghar are much more willing to used to add a beard and mustache
the Aghar laugh uproariously, take risks for the party. to an elven princess, and long
then run around crazily for a while slashes ruin a scene of elves and
until the process is ready to start 114. Storage Room dwarves in council.
again.
The door to this room is locked. This hallway connects most of the
These Aghar are servants of the dra- rooms on the first floor of the tower,
conians, amusing themselves in Many rows of crates, boxes, and and thus receives a lot of traffic. Dou-
their off-duty moments. If the PCs do barrels line the walls of this large ble the usual number of random
not announce their presence, the room. Several boxes containing encounter checks while the party is
dwarves do not notice them for 2d4 iron nails are open nearby. All in this area.
rounds. other containers are closed.
Standing outside the throne room
When and if the Aghar discover Stored here are 72 barrels of oil, 20 (area 121) are two hobgoblin guards.
the adventurers, they cease their barrels of fresh water, 12 barrels of They do not attack on sight but are
game immediately and dive for cover salt, 20 crates of nails, 140 boxes of very suspicious of any armed charac-
behind the timber and stones. A min- grain, 43 crates of wool woven into 4’ ters in the hallway and demand iden-
ute later, several of the tin helmets X 8’ pieces (430 pieces total), 12 tification. If alarmed, they rush to get
peek out from behind this cover. crates of leather in the same dimen- their comrades from area 119.
sions (60 pieces total), and 30 boxes
Finally, one of the sword-bearing of pots and pans. 116. Reception Room
gully dwarves swaggers forward. His
face is hidden behind a bushy beard, If the oil is ignited, the contents of Much like the outer hallway, this
and his tin helmet shadows his eyes. the room burn up in two turns. One room has the appearance of
In fact, he can see very little; as he turn after such a fire begins, the hall- former luxury now fallen into de-
nears the party, he trips over his way outside fills with smoke. PCs in cay. The carpet is slashed and
sword and falls headlong, his helmet this area suffer 1d6 points of damage spotted; many fine pieces of furni-
rolling to the feet of the forward PCs. per round until they reach fresh air. ture are strewn across the dirty
The dwarf rushes to snatch his hel- floor. Some fancy chairs have
met back, blustering about tres- The smoke continues to spread at been splintered, apparently so
passers and uninvited guests. this rate, filling all adjacent areas their legs can be used as firewood,
each turn if no door blocks the way. since a smoky blaze struggles in a
This is Highklahd Drooth, leader Areas behind doors take two turns to huge fireplace.
of the Klahd Clan of the Aghar. An- fill with smoke. Those rooms adja-
grily he demands an explanation cent to rooms filled with smoke fill A strong smell of ale hangs in
from the party; although what they on the following turn (or two, if a the air, and a large keg lies on its
are supposed to explain is unclear. door blocks the way), and so on for side in the center of the room. An-
20 turns, when the fire extinguishes other keg sits in the center of the
These 12 Aghar are no friends of from lack of air. room. Another keg sits in the far
the Dragon Highlords and only re- corner, and around it crouch five
main here because Pax Tharkas has 115. Upper Hallway draconians.
been their clan home for centuries.
Although suspicious and cranky, This hallway is furnished with These Kapak draconians have been
they will not betray the party, and great care, creating an atmos- drinking. If they are disturbed, they
may offer aid if approached with “ap- phere of comfort and luxury. A react aggressively. They take time to
propriate honor.” plush purple carpet blankets the envenom their blades as they charge
floor, and many tapestries of rich across the room.
The Aghar are quite familiar with red and golden colors decorate
the layout of the fortress, and even the walls. Each of the several If three draconians are killed, the
understand how the stonedrop doors is made of dark-grained val- remaining two realize that the PCs
mechanism to seal the gate operates. lenwood and has golden rivets, are tougher opponents than they
Their services must be purchased, hinges, and latches. thought, and they bolt for the other
however; rope, weapons, armor, door. Once in the hallway, they raise
food, clothing, or things that might At closer examination, how- a cry, alerting the fortress.
work as toys can all be used for bar- ever, the luxury begins to wear
ter. Note that the Aghar are essen- thin. Dark stains blot the carpet in
tially cowardly, and do not many places, and a wide, muddy
voluntarily get involved in risky busi-
ness.

The Aghar are aware that Sestun is

57

117. Dining Room great splashes and loud cursing. A This room is the duty quarters for 28
third gully dwarf snarls: “Dinner hobgoblin guards. They have been
For some reason, this elegant ain’t gonna be ready for hours if playing various gambling games,
room escaped the destruction we can’t get some privacy what to eating, or practicing with weapons.
rampant throughout the rest of work in! Now get lost!” He moves They rush to attack any intruders.
the fortress. A shiny table made of forward, a heavy frying pan raised
smooth vallenwood occupies the aggressively. If the heroes enter the room and
center of the room. It is sur- fight with the door closed, the for-
rounded by a dozen finely crafted These Aghar are the official cooks tress is not alerted. Otherwise, the
chairs. An undamaged carpet, of for Verminaard, present lord of Pax alarms certainly go off. The hobgob-
the same rich purple found in the Tharkas. While they are afraid of the lins fight to the death.
hallway, covers the floor. Dragon Highlord, they are rude and
unpleasant to everyone else. Hanging on a nail in the wall is a
Three golden chandeliers hang key that unlocks the cell next door
from the ceiling, each ablaze with If the heroes attack them, the gully (area 120). Scattered about the
dozens of candles. Many more dwarves turn and run. room, on tables and the floor as well
candles flicker from sconces in as carried by individual hobgoblins,
the wall, bathing the room in If the heroes identify themselves are 54 stl, 187 sp, and 327 bp.
bright and cheery light. as enemies of the Dragon Highlord,
the gully dwarves become much 120. Prison Cell
The table is set for four, with friendlier, although they are still sus-
fine china and silver. A large plati- picious. They explain that they are The door is heavy and barred and
num pitcher is placed in the center preparing Verminaard’s dinner, and has a small hatch near the bottom
of the table; beads of moisture that he is planning to entertain one of A massive lock protects the latch
have collected on it. Four match- the women from downstairs as his to the door as well as the hatch.
ing platinum goblets stand next to guest. The meal consists of fresh
the pitcher. bread, a fine haunch of venison, po- If the heroes pick the lock, or use the
tatoes, and apples. These Aghar are key found in area 119, read the fol-
The pitcher contains ice water. If a actually not bad cooks, so the meal lowing. Note that this door cannot be
player asks about the length of the will be a good one. smashed in.
candles, inform him that no wax has
dripped from them, so they have ap- The Aghar cooperate very little if The large room contains only a
parently been lighted very recently. the heroes ask for any kind of aid. In single occupant: a dirty, un-
no case do the gully dwarves do any- shaven, and very smelly gully
If the party remains in this room thing (such as poison the meal) that dwarf. He looks up angrily from a
for two rounds, the gully dwarves might cost them their heads. They straw mat on the stone floor, then
from the kitchen enter, carrying trays might provide secret aid, however, if seems surprised by the appear-
of steaming food. (See area 118 for they have very little chance of being ance of his visitors.
gully dwarves’ reaction to the PCs.) caught.
Note that these Aghar are encoun- This is Sestun, the gully dwarf who
tered in one place or the other, but These dwarves know that Sestun is freed the heroes from their cage in
not in both areas! imprisoned in area 120. If the heroes the slave caravan. Although he
aid him, the gully dwarves will be slipped away from the caravan, he
118. Kitchen much friendlier to them. was captured by a party of dracon-
ians as he moved southward. Now he
A long counter is covered with a 119. Guardroom is being held prisoner while Vermi-
wide variety of foodstuffs, and sev- naard attempts to come up with a
eral ovens spew smoke into the If the heroes listen at the door here, suitably vicious punishment.
air. Four Aghar run busily around they hear loud laughter and argu-
the room, armed with pots, pans, ment within. The voices are not As revealed by his actions in the
and in one case, a large meat those of draconians. caravan, Sestun is an Aghar of high
cleaver. Several inches of liquid— courage and spirit. He despises the
perhaps some kind of gravy— Many chairs and benches of rude Dragon Highlord and hates their dra-
spread over the floor, and the gully wooden construction are scat- conian and hobgoblin servants.
dwarves are coated with all kinds tered about this room. Sitting or
of food. moving around the room are sev- Sestun is willing to participate in
eral dozen ugly guards, their grin- anything that is likely to anger Ver-
As the door opens, two of the ning faces displaying yellowed minaard; he knows that he has no fu-
Aghar turn their attention toward tusks. Their skin is a ruddy yellow ture working for the Dragon
it and collide headlong with each color, and they are all armed with Highlord. If he is offered a chance to
other, falling to the floor amid swords and daggers. escape, he will do so, causing as
much trouble on the way out as pos-

58

sible. When the slaves make their es- incompetence, that priest has half damage, the dragon flees
cape to the south, Sestun will tag been allowed to live, bringing my through the double doors and up
along in the background. opposite power back among men! through the chimney, but not before
Find them and slay them all . . . he has stopped and let Verminaard
If any PCs are captured in Pax bring me their heads before the mount. (Statistics for Ember and Ver-
Tharkas, they are disarmed and day is out! minaard can be found in the Com-
placed in this room. Their posses- bined Monster Statistics Chart and in
sions are taken to Verminaard and “If that traitor that I planted the capsules, respectively.)
placed behind his throne. In 2d6 among them does not do the job,
hours, the Dragon Highlord calls the then the task is on your shoulders. Verminaard’s face is concealed be-
captives before him, asking them to Hear me well, Toede: either your hind the grotesque mask of a Dragon
betray their comrades and explain head or theirs will decorate my Highlord—a vicious visor that has a
their purpose in Pax Tharkas. Re- throne room tonight!” pair of wicked horns curving from
fusal results in being fed to the red the forehead. He wears shiny blue
dragon Ember. The figure before the Dragon plate mail and a billowing blue cape.
Highlord cringes even more, and Standing well over six feet tall, Ver-
121. Verminaard’s Throne begins to speak in a pathetic minaard presents an imposing im-
Room whine, “Your most worshipful age of evil.
lord, I offer my hopelessly inade-
The massive double doors that lead quate apology. If I had known that Verminaard is dedicated to the
into this room are unlocked and push the ones you seek were impris- ruthless destruction of good in all its
open silently. If the heroes open oned in my caravan, I would have forms. No shred of conscience dis-
them only slightly, they may hide and brought you their heads person- turbs him in his quest for power. He
observe the discussion described ally as I brought you the elf maid controls all of the lands from the
here. Laurana. If not for the treachery of Seeker kingdoms south to Pax
one of the loathsome Aghar, they Tharkas. He is constantly striving to
The PCs may also observe this dis- would even now be kneeling be- extend his power.
cussion from the balcony (area 130) fore you, prisoners to your tender
or through a crack in the wall of the mercies . . .” 122. Verminaard’s Quarters
chain room (area 131). Of course, if
the party visits several of these “Enough!” roars the Dragon Verminaard has taken over these
places, they observe this scene only Highlord. “You have my warning, three connecting rooms as living
the first time they look into the now go!” The voice lowers, heavy quarters. The doors are all polished
throne room. with menace. “And Toede, do not vallenwood, and locked securely.
fail me again . . .” Verminaard himself carries the only
This huge, looming chamber was keys.
Toede turns and scuttles for the
obviously the throne room for the doors, while two draconian guards 122a. Waiting Room
elven and dwarven races that built pull them open to allow the Fewmas-
the great fortress. Tall columns ter quick exit. Of course, any in- This room has kept its former
brace the ceiling, and a huge truders at the door are discovered at splendor: The plush carpet on the
this time. floor is undamaged, and the chairs
stone throne occupies a central and couches are all richly uphol-
spot. As Toede races for the door, Vermi- stered. A small table sits in the
Tall, silvery mirrors line the naard leans back in his throne and center of the room, and a pair of
walls, creating the impression that slowly surveys the room. If any he- crystal goblets and a crystal de-
the room is even larger than it re- roes are watching from the door, the canter filled with a golden liquid
ally is. In the middle of the west balcony, or the chain room, he sees sparkle from atop the table.
wall, a pair of huge doors—easily them in the mirrors. He calls: “Em-
12 feet high by 20 feet wide—lead ber!” and the red dragon immedi- A large tapestry covers the far
from the throne room. ately pushes through the double wall. This is the only indication
A figure seated in the throne doors on the west wall. “Destroy that the fortress has recently
wears the hideous mask of a them!” is Verminaard’s next com- changed hands: it displays a huge,
Dragon Highlord. His hoarse voice mand. red dragon, jaws agape, spewing
rasps from behind the grotesque flames over a small village. Sev-
covering, addressing a cringing There are six Kapak draconian eral large candelabra provide
figure before him: guards in the throne room, as well as steady light for the chamber.
“Toede, you miserable rodent, Verminaard (an 8th-level priest). The
you have the gift of ruining the draconians enter the combat only if,
simplest plans! As if kidnapping for some reason, the dragon seems
the elf maiden wasn’t bad enough to have trouble making the kill. Ver-
. . . now thanks to your idiocy, your minaard stays out of range and
watches the fight; if Ember suffers

59

122b. Private Dining Room showing the gradual increase in locked. If the fortress has been alerted,
lands controlled by the Dragon there are six Kapaks here. Use Ran-
Half of this chamber is filled by a Highlord. On top of the pile is a map dom Encounter 4.
polished table of gleaming dark of Qualinesti, showing that peaceful
wood. A buffet with glass doors land pierced by three great daggers: 124. Storeroom
displays a priceless collection of one each moving from the northeast
china and silver. Light spills from a and northwest, and one advancing Many shelves line the walls of this
pair of golden chandeliers, each straight from Pax Tharkas, just as the small room. Stacked upon them
supporting many flickering can- elves had reported. are blankets, cloaks, tiny boots,
dles. and a number of toys similar to the
Another sheet of paper diagrams ones strewn about the playroom.
A pair of tapestries has been the permanent defenses of Pax
added to the eastern and southern Tharkas, showing how the chain and The cloaks are all children’s sizes.
walls of this room. One shows a stone mechanism (room 132) oper-
massive red dragon landing amid ates to block the massive gates. 125. Chamber of the
a troop of armored horsemen and Nursemaid
wreaking gory havoc. The second The desk has one drawer, firmly
shows a region of black moun- locked and guarded with a dose of The arched tunnel enters another
tains, heavy with mist and sleep gas. If the lock is picked with- room, even larger than the play-
shadows, where a looming for- out deactivating the trap, all in the room. No windows shed light into
tress rises up in the distance. room fall asleep for 2d6 turns, no this area, but a soft, wheezing
saving throw. This drawer contains noise gives evidence of another
A small, locked drawer in the bottom two sheets of rolled parchment, each presence here. Soon, the torch-
of the hutch is trapped with a poison a priest scroll. They contain these light falls across a monstrous red
needle (successful saving throw vs. spells: tail, then massive crimson flanks
poison or suffer 15 points of dam- that rise and fall with a slow, rhyth-
age). Within the drawer are four Scroll #1: cure serious wounds, mic pattern.
small bottles containing two potions prayer, find traps
of extra healing, a potion of gaseous Scroll #2: light, augury, cure light Now the great head appears:
form, and a potion of invisibility. wounds eyes closed, forked tongue ex-
tending from wicked jaws, and
122c. Verminaard’s The closet contains several robes, a nostrils flaring ever so slightly
Bedroom black cape, a pair of boots, and a suit with the slow breaths. This cham-
of black plate mail. ber is occupied by an ancient red
This chamber seems to be a com- dragon!
bination office and bedroom. A 123. Children’s Playroom
huge bed, lushly canopied and At first, Flamestrike looks every
quilted, nearly fills the southern This door is barred on the outside bit as awesome as is usual for her
end. A large wooden closet sits with a heavy wooden beam. kind, but a closer look reveals that
next to it. Across the floor are this dragon suffers some of the ill ef-
spread rugs made from the skins This large, open room has no fur- fects of age. Many of her teeth are
of many of the large carnivores niture. Scattered about, however, blunted or broken (accounting for
found throughout Krynn: brown are many small bits of wood and her lessened bite damage), while one
bears, jaguars, panthers, wolves, rags carelessly carved or sewn of her eyes is cloudy and apparently
and a tiger. into dolls, wagons, balls, and blind. Long scars mark her weath-
other toys. A tall arch in the east- ered flanks, and she looks unusually
The other end of the room is ern wall leads into darkness, and slender, even scrawny.
taken up by a large desk, plain next to the arch is a normal
wooden chair, small table, and wooden door. A pair of huge doors Flamestrike lost her brood of
washbasin. Three tapestries, pic- in the southwestern corner appar- young to an unknown enemy years
turing scenes of dragon-wrought ently leads outside, since four win- ago, and this tragedy has deeply
destruction, add a dark touch to dows in that same wall admit scarred her personality. She is a very
the walls. Several smoky torches some cool, fresh air. careful guardian of the children, and
flicker in sconces. Several candles would never harm one of them under
and a lamp sit on the desk, but The double doors are held by a very any circumstance. She deals harshly
they are unlit. heavy beam, requiring a total Strength with those she believes threaten
of 25 to remove. There is a similar “her” children. The only visitors she
Spread upon the desk are many beam on the ground outside these allows are the ten women who, once
maps of this portion of Ansalon, doors that may be used to bar them a day, arrive to feed and care for the
and keep something (i.e., Flamestrike) youngsters.
inside. The door to room 124 is not

60

126. Food Storage and The great red dragon slowly raises Nothing lives in this room, so the he-
Preparation her head, muttering softly: roes may take their time here with-
“Maritta, you take all of my chil- out being bothered. If they wish to
On the right-hand wall of this dren together . . . is it not easier examine the pictures closely, they
room, several shelves are piled with a few at a time?” Blinking her will see that the oldest paintings are
high with goods. To the left, a one good eye, Flamestrike slowly directly before them. They seemed
large oven and a pot-covered looks around and sniffs the cham- to be organized chronologically, get-
counter run along the wall. The ber. Suddenly, she screams with ting more recent as the viewer moves
small room is cluttered with food rage and springs to her feet! to the left.
and utensils.
“You cannot steal my children!” Read the following if the party
In this room the women prepare the takes some time to look at the art-
food for the children. Barrels of salt Flamestrike tries to attack the he- work.
pork, beans, salt, flour, lard, dried roes with teeth and claws. She will
meat, and potatoes sit on the never use her breath weapon while The first paintings show a high
shelves. the children are nearby! mountain pass glittering in the
light of the sun. Snowfields flash
127. Children’s Room If the heroes escape with the chil- among the peaks, and thick for-
dren to the outside, Flamestrike can- ests cover the lower slopes. Many
This large room bustles with sev- not follow them through the double streams, frequently interrupted by
eral hundred children, ranging in doors. She will not emerge from the ponds and waterfalls, wind into
age from infant to about 12 years fortress until the moment described the lowlands.
old. Their frightened, questioning in “Escape from Pax Tharkas.”
faces stare at the doorway. Several A large band of sturdy dwarves
of the older boys and girls stand 128. Upper Landing labor in the pass, building a low
protectively before the younger stone wall across the opening.
children, as if to spare them the The stairway emerges into a long, Now many elves appear, bearing
sight of anything horrible. narrow room. Two silver-coated huge logs on low wagons, and the
doors, embossed with an image of wall takes on a familiar form. First
Although fear and hardship an elf and a dwarf holding a lute the main wall of Pax Tharkas goes
have struck these youngsters un- between them, lead to the left. The up, elves and dwarves working
justly, their spirit has not been bro- lure is an ancient symbol of peace side by side in the monumental
ken. Courage and resolve shine in in Krynn, so the artwork dates task. Then, even as two curtain
the faces of the older children, and these doors to the period of elven walls rise on the slopes below the
the younger ones look to their and dwarven cooperation when main wall, two mighty towers be-
older brothers and sisters with re- Pax Tharkas was built. gin to inch their way into the sky.
spect and pride. Not even the
smallest baby is crying. The secret door operates by twisting After a few pictures displaying
a stone that is set into the door itself. the various stages of construction,
There are 180 children in this room. during which the seasons make
They will recognize and instantly re- 129. Gallery the yearly cycle several times, the
spond to Maritta, if she is with the he- fortress assumes its current
roes. Otherwise, a very mature boy This huge room is chilly, exposed shape. Following this series are a
and girl advance to talk privately with to the autumn drafts by a number number of portraits displaying
the PCs, seeking information about of slit windows along the curving various elves and dwarves, usually
them. The children will never consent walls. To the left, it follows the an- dressed in shiny plate mail and
to leave unless convinced that their gle of the wall of the fortress out of bearing gleaming weapons. A
parents will join them in freedom. sight. number of these paintings have
been crudely defaced.
If the heroes begin to rescue the The entire outer wall of the
children, they file slowly and silently room is covered with paintings. Then begins a series in which
past the sleeping Flamestrike. The The different styles and varying mighty dragons rage about the
red dragon stirs in her sleep, but degrees of aging indicate that they towers of Pax Tharkas. Acid, light-
does not awaken until all but a few were created over a long span of ning, fire, and cold all rain down
dozen of the children have passed— Krynn’s history. The paintings upon courageous defenders, driv-
unless of course, a PC attacks or show woodland scenes, rugged ing them from the parapets to
arouses her. mountains, several views of Pax shelter within the solid walls.
Tharkas, and portraits of various Soon, the mighty dragons land all
When the dragon wakes up, read elves and dwarves, dressed in fine over the fortress, and it seems that
the following: costume. mighty Pax Tharkas has fallen.

But then new weapons appear.
Long, slender, and gleaming like

61

polished silver, these lances are 131. Chamber of the Chain walkway, apparently connecting
carried by fighters of highest cour- somehow with the stone blocks on
age. Slowly, at a fearful cost, the This cavernous room can be entered the right.
dragons are driven from the tow- through the secret door in room 128,
ers and walls. Great gashes bur- or (by a halfling) by climbing the At the far end of the walkway
row into their scaly hides, as they chain that is anchored in the Sla- (marked “A” on the map), a large
begin to bleed and die. Finally, al- Mori. screw and winch mechanism can
though the parapets are red with be used to release the chain. This
the defenders’ blood, the skies are A thick layer of dust coats the requires a combined Strength of
free of dragons, and it seems that floor of this vast chamber. Much 40 to operate, and takes 3d6
peace has once again returned. rubble, in the form of boulders rounds to activate.
and small stones, lies strewn
At this point, the course of his- about. Running along the wall is a When the rocks fall, the crash-
tory has carried halfway around mighty chain, made of foot-thick ing shakes the foundations of the
the room. Several more portraits steel bars bent into six-foot-long entire fortress. Anyone in area
follow, this time displaying hu- links and held taut by unimagina- 133 is killed outright by tons of
man leaders in historic poses; ble force. stone. Area 132 fills with so much
then the series ends. dust that movement and vision are
A thin trickle of light leaks impossible for 1d6 rounds.
Faded spots on the wall show through a crack in the wall, lead-
that more paintings hung here at ing into a large room. Voices can 133. The Great Wall
one time; a pile of blackened be heard through the crack.
ashes at the far end of the room This area is basically a large corridor
provides a clue to their fate. If a player looks through the crack that runs the length of the Tharkadan
into the throne room, describe the wall. Massive winches operate the
130. Balcony situation there as in area 121 (unless mighty gates, requiring a Strength of
this incident has already taken place, 80 to move. Even then it takes two
Many slender columns support a in which case area 121 is empty). Re- turns to open or close a gate. The
high ceiling. Twenty feet from the member that the mirrors enable Ver- northern gate is slightly open (a six-
wall, the floor drops sharply into a minaard to catch sight of the foot-wide crack), while the southern
deep pit-actually, two pits sepa- eavesdropper eventually, at which gate is shut.
rated by a stone wall. The larger of time he will send Ember up to
these is well lit, and voices rise breathe fire into the crack. 134. Western Hallway
from inside it. The second,
smaller pit is dark. Although an intelligent hero can The double doors leading from 133
avoid the fire by moving to the side, into this area stand open.
If the heroes advance into the lighted the chain turns bright red, then white
pit, read the scene described for area from the heat of the blast. Finally, it The walls of this hallway are dirty
121 (unless they have already wit- stretches, snaps, and releases the and bare, and the floor is covered
nessed Toede’s interview with Vermi- stone blocking mechanism, sealing with mud. Several broken chairs
naard from another vantage point, in the mighty gates for at least a month. and a small table, only two of its
which case room 121 is empty). If four legs intact, are the only furni-
they look into the darkened pit, read A stairway in the northwestern cor- ture. The double doors in the
the following: ner of the room climbs to the next northern wall and a single iron
level of the tower. Six more levels door in the western wall are all
Enough light filters over the wall can be found this way, but all the closed. The double doors look as
and through the huge connecting rooms are dusty and empty. if they have been hacked with a
doors to cast a faint glow on the blade of some kind.
bottom of this pit. Curled up there, 132. Gate-Blocking
alert eyes blinking warily here and Mechanism The iron door is locked; the double
there, is the serpentine form of a doors are not. Listening at the iron
monstrous red dragon! A narrow stone walkway, covered door reveals low sounds of conversa-
with dust, leads through the tion and occasional laughter.
Any untoward noise from the PCs, or length of the Tharkadan wall high
other signs of their presence, brings above the ground. To the right, ten
Ember flaming upward for the kill. feet below you, are scattered piles
Her statistics are listed in the Com- of massive granite. To the left, the
bined Monster Statistics Chart. mighty chain stretches across the
darkness. Many chains, only
slightly smaller, lead from this
massive chain underneath the

62

135. Western Guardroom alarms have sounded by this time, the walls, and a wide aisle runs
the PCs run risks by stopping to an- down the center of the room.
Several ugly guards sit at a table in swer many of these questions. Three sets of doors give access to
the center of this long room, play- the room, and the shelves cover
ing some kind of gambling game. Any attempts to smash open the the rest of the wall space.
Two more of the guards are double doors leading outside suffer a
grappling—apparently in -2 penalty to the roll. Stacked on the shelves are hun-
practice—at the far end of the dreds of suits of leather armor, a
room, while another two, swords 137. Monster Mess Hall similar number of shields, rows of
drawn, rush toward the door! heavy boots, cloaks, and capes,
If the heroes have already battled the and a number of sealed wooden
The eight hobgoblins in this room monsters from this room because crates and barrels.
are charged with guarding the the guards from 135 have sum-
women held in area 136. Seven at- moned them, read only the first para- The sealed wooden crates contain a
tack any intruders, fighting to the graph of this description. mysterious smoked meat (wild dog).
death, while one slips out the back The barrels contain oil. If a fire starts
door and tries to get help from the This room is dimly lit by a number here, it spreads with the same smoky
monsters in area 137. of flickering fireplaces, and the air effects described in area 114.
is gray with smoke. Many long ta-
If the escaping hobgoblin is not in- bles and benches sit in the 139. Kitchen
tercepted, five rounds after the he- shadows, and the stench of foul
roes enter this room, they are food and cheap ale fills the air. This room resembles a large mili-
attacked from behind by the seven tary kitchen that has been ravaged
Baaz draconians and six hobgoblins Suddenly, scraping sounds of by a tornado. Stale food covers
from room 137. movement erupt from the dark- the floor and counters, ashes from
ness, followed by gruff challenges the ovens are spread around, and
Scattered on the table are 23 stl, and the whisper of swords being pots and pans lie overturned, spill-
15 sp, and 2 pp. One hobgoblin car- drawn. A bench falls over with a ing sticky garbage over the rest of
ries keys that open the doors to this crash, and shadowy figures lunge the mess.
room and room 136, as well as a out of the darkness. Blades up-
pouch containing a 300-stl ruby. raised, the troops of the Dragon This kitchen served the draconian
Highlord charge! hordes while they were stationed in
136. Large Prison the fortress. After cooking the last
The seven Baaz and six hobgoblins meal before the army moved out, the
The single door to this room (from attack desperately, fighting to the hobgoblin servants simply left things
135) is made of iron and is solidly death if necessary. If any of them as they were.
locked. It cannot be smashed open. make it through the door, they try to
sound an alarm and alert the fortress. A deep well, four feet in diameter,
A cavernous chamber stretches sinks through the floor in the north-
far off into darkness, but the num- The stairway in the northern part ern end of the room. The water is 20
ber of people crowded into it of the room climbs to the second feet below, and it is quite drinkable.
makes the room seem small. Sit- floor, which is a huge, empty room This well can be used to support the
ting, standing, or lying down, sev- that the draconians once used as a garrison in times of siege.
eral hundred women turn their barracks. The former residents were
attention listlessly toward the the troops that the party saw march- 140. Armory
door. ing to the north toward Qualinesti.
The double doors to this room are
Those nearby leap to their feet A stairway leads from the second made of thick timbers and are solidly
in surprise; a wave of excitement to the third, fourth, and fifth floors. locked. Any character trying to
spreads through the room like a Each of these was used as a barracks; smash them suffers a -2 penalty to
spring breeze. All of the women each contains 1d20 Kapak dracon- his open doors roll.
rush toward the door. A thousand ians that somehow were left behind
questions fill the air, but no one when the army moved out. Treat Row after row of wooden racks
waits for answers. these as random encounters (see cover this room. Although most of
Random Encounter 4 or 2 1). Nothing these racks are empty, a few
In this room are 287 captive of value can be found on any of these chipped swords, broken spears,
plainswomen. The PCs receive many upper floors. and rusty daggers show that this is
frantic questions about the children, an armory. Many thousands of
followed by queries such as “Who are 138. Western Supply Room
you?” and “Where did you come
from?” Since it is likely that some This is a well-stocked supply
room. Many sturdy shelves line

63

weapons could easily be stored 141. Smelter and Mill 143. Mines
here, if the racks were filled.
This deep cavern has a huge en- Hundreds of swearing, muscular
If the players try to gather some trance, about 80 feet wide and 20 men toil across this great strip of
weapons here, they find that most of feet high. Acrid, sulphurous mountainside, raising picks or
those remaining are unusable. They smoke billows in the chamber and pushing shovels to scrape a rusty
will, however, be able to pick up 23 drifts out to the valley. Gully red ore from the earth. Several
short swords, eight long swords, 108 dwarves scramble to and fro in dozen draconians are scattered
spear heads (no shafts), and 60 dag- their usual hectic fashion, al- about the area, but they seem to
gers. All of these are somewhat rusty, though there seems to be a bit take little interest in their pris-
but may be cleaned up and used. more organization than usual. oners. After all, with their women
and children safely locked in
The Tharkadan Mines Many of the Aghar use huge mighty Pax Tharkas, these men
hammers to smash red rock into can ill afford any thoughts of es-
Areas 141-143 are not in the fortress gravel. Every few minutes, an- cape!
proper, but have been excavated other batch of rock falls through a
from the mountainsides south of Pax hole in the ceiling, and the Aghar When they have collected a
Tharkas. They represent an impor- attack it fiercely. Other Aghar great pile of ore, the slaves drag it
tant part of the Dragon Highlords’ carry the pulverized rock across on pallets across the mountain-
operations in the region. the cave, to huge vats that sit atop side to a hole directly above the
smoky fires. smelting cavern. Other slaves
If the heroes leave Pax Tharkas to the shovel the ore into the hole, where
south, read the following passage: Great bellows feed air to these it lands among the gully dwarves
fires, while gully dwarves pile on below.
A narrow mountain valley winds coal. The sulphurous smoke
steeply down to the south. In the belches from the vats in great, yel- There are 310 men working here. If
eastern wall of this valley are the low clouds. Although the Aghar the slaves see their loved ones
mouths of two large caves. From work furiously, there is no sign of brought from Pax Tharkas, they turn
these caves, several narrow and draconians or other masters. on their guards and slay them easily.
treacherous trails wind up the Running down the narrow trail to the
slope to a gaping scar on the This is the processing plant for the bottom, they soon rejoin their fami-
mountainside, two hundred feet iron ore that the slaves mine on the lies and begin rejoicing. Despite the
above. Tharkadan slopes. Although the pleas of PCs, the people insist on lo-
gully dwarves are unsupervised, they cating those closest to them, a proc-
A band of dull red streaks the do not stop working for anything ess that takes 15 or 20 minutes.
rocky surface of the scar, while short of a cave-in; they have been
hundreds of human-like figures threatened with death if they do not
toil to scrape the rock away and re- produce a high quota of iron.
veal more of the rusty red mate-
rial. This is the fabled Tharkadan 142. Slave Quarters
iron mine.
This huge cave is deserted now,
If the heroes talk to the miners before but the floor is virtually covered
they rescue the children, either dis- with dirty straw pallets. Several
guised as women or by sneaking up fire scars dot the interior, and
here at night, they discover that the some rotten wooden buckets leak
miners are slaves and that the slaves dirty water onto the floor. Any un-
are very lightly guarded (since the fortunate souls that live here put
children are held under the watchful up with hardship indeed.
eyes of Flamestrike, the Dragon
Highlord has very little fear that the This is home for all the male pris
miners will escape). oners from the north. They are at the
mines for 16-18 hours a day. There is
Indeed, no prisoner is willing to nothing of value in this cave.
join any risky undertaking without
assurances that the women and chil-
dren are safe.

64

If the heroes have rescued the dragons lock in a fearsome melee,
women and children, Flamestrike is thrashing their mighty bodies
battering against the barred doors, across the valley and bringing
the men rush down from the mines, boulders tumbling from the
and the thousands of troops that mountainsides.
marched out of the fortress to the
north are rushing back to answer the If the heroes take advantage of this
alarms. The mass of people, around diversion, they can lead the band
800 of them, should be collected on down the valley and out of sight of
the southern side of the great for- the fortress while the two dragons
tress. struggle. Verminaard barely survives
the fight, and it takes 12 hours before
At this time, read the following he sends his army after the escapees.
passage: If the heroes have succeeded in drop-
ping the gate-blocking mechanism,
Suddenly, with a splintering crash, it is four days before he can send an
the double doors holding Flame- army.
strike fly outward. The great beast
slithers out of the tower toward If the heroes make good their es
the crowd of prisoners. cape at this time, read to them from
the following passage:
“My children! You shall not have
my children!” Her voice is shrill The autumn sun disappears be-
and strained. “Leave me my chil- hind a mountain ridge, as 800
dren!” she demands, lumbering people huddle among a cheery
down the gradual slope. grove of tall pines. Tired and hun-
gry, they are nonetheless happy
Now another great crimson for their nearly miraculous es-
shape appears, flying. Bellowing a cape.
challenge, a second huge red
dragon lands on the mighty This small side valley should
Tharkadan wall. On its back is the provide shelter for the night from
imposing figure of the Dragon any draconians that have been
Highlord Verminaard, still con- sent on the hunt. No doubt fresh
cealed by the fearsome mask. His problems will arise tomorrow, but
voice booms through the valley. for now the plainsmen are safe.

“This is the final insult! I have The biting chill of the wind
tolerated your impudence far too brings warnings of the winter that
long. . . slaves are cheap and plen- is soon to come. The wilderness
tiful. Now you pay for your foolish yields little food, but many
daring!” As the people scream and mouths need to be fed. The great
turn to flee down the valley, his silver moon rises and the stars
evil voice picks up more power: blink into sight.
“Now, I destroy you! I destroy your
wives! I destroy your children!“ The heroes may easily locate skilled
teachers among the rescued pris-
As Ember leaps from the wall, oners. This enables all fighters,
Flamestrike pauses in her ad- mages, and thieves to gain one level
vance. Confusion shakes her as of experience immediately. Multi-
she looks from the children to the classed characters advance in the
great engine of death above her. class that requires the least number
Suddenly, her dim eyes take on of experience points.
clear focus as she makes a deci-
sion. Priests who have learned of Misha-
kal or another of the good True Gods
Curling her long neck upward, of Krynn may gain one level by medi-
Flamestrike sends forth a horrify- tating and praying to their deity.
ing spout of fire, straight at the fly-
ing dragon and the Dragon
Highlord. With a scream, Vermi-
naard vanishes in the glowing
cloud, and his dragon-steed bel-
lows in pain. Quickly, the two

65

Much of this adventure involves lead- Table 1: Refugee Attrition Table 2: Combat Modifiers
ing 800 refugees (not counting lead-
ers, PCs, and named NPCs) through Circumstance Chance Attrition Circumstance Modifier
the wilderness to safety. Use the fol- Terrain Advantage +20
lowing rules to run the refugee popu- Each night in the Surprise +10
lation. Defending +20
open without cover 80% 2d10 Outnumbered by 50%
Movement or more -10 for
Each day in camp Magic Use each 50%
The entire refugee population mov-
ing as a group can travel one hex per without moving 60% 1d10 Unarmed Fighter +20 per
hour on the Abanasinia Wilderness caster
map. The refugees have carts and Each day without -1 each
supplies that slow down their move-
ment. If the refugees panic (during a food 2 0 % 1d10
draconian attack, for example), they
can flee at a rate of 18 for up to 20 Panic or rout 100% 4d20
rounds. Panicked refugees automati-
cally lose all supplies and wagons. If Each time that a circumstance oc- All modifiers are cumulative. Use
the refugees decide to abandon all curs that might cause attrition, roll common sense w h e n j u d g i n g
supplies and leave behind the weak percentile dice. If the result is less whether a modifier applies.
and sick, they can move two hexes than or equal to the chance of attri-
per hour. tion, roll for attrition as listed. De- Each side rolls percentile dice and
duct losses from the total refugee adds their Combat Modifier to the
Regardless of movement rate, the population, taking only 10% of any roll. Consult Table 3 for casualties.
refugees can travel no more than 12 attrition loses from the fighters.
hexes per day. Spread losses evenly among the five Table 3: Combat Losses
refugee camps (see “Politics”), un-
Supply less common sense says that one Modified Losses Result
camp should suffer most or all of the Roll
In their rush to escape the mines of attrition. 4d20 Enemy panics
Pax Tharkas, the refugees plundered 100 or 3d20 Enemy retreats
what they could. There is one wagon Combat more 1d20 Continue Battle
for every 20 refugees (40 wagons to- 80-99 1d10 Continue Battle
tal). The wagons contain enough The refugees are far from combat 60-79 1d6 Continue Battle
food to feed all the refugees for two ready. Only 10% of the men (80 to- 40-59
days, and they also carry enough tal) have combat experience, and 20-39 1d4 You retreat
blankets for everyone. Keep track of only half of these have weapons. 10-19 0 You panic
the total food supply. Each wagon Treat these as 1st-level fighters. Keep 9 or less
lost means 20 hungry and cold refu- track of the fighters separately from
gees. the main refugee population. All losses are taken from NPC fight-
ers. Civilians become combat casual-
Attrition The following system is used to re- ties only if all refugee fighters are
solve mass combat involving refugee killed. Player characters, henchmen,
The refugees were starved and fighters. Use normal combat rules and named NPCs can be killed only
beaten in Pax Tharkas, and the cruel for smaller melees. All combat in- in individual melee. Repeat this proc-
weather and conditions of their es- volving PCs or named NPCs uses ess until one side is destroyed, sur-
cape has weakened them further. It is normal combat rules. renders, retreats, panics, or
likely that some of them will die be- withdraws. Unarmed fighters can ac-
fore they reach safety. Attrition pri- For mass combat, compare Total quire weapons from dead enemies.
marily affects the weak and ill, rather Refugee Strength and Total Attack
than the few remaining fighters Strength. The Total Refugee Politics
among the refugees. Keep track of Strength is the sum of the remaining
losses in the refugee population. refugee fighters, plus 5 for every PC Because the heroes liberated the ref-
or named NPC present and fighting. ugees from Pax Tharkas, they auto-
Consult Table 1 for conditions that The Total Attack Strength is the total matically have a leadership role in
cause attrition. number of attackers. the refugee community. However,
politics is part of the human condi-
Roll percentile dice. If the result is tion, and there are other leaders who
greater than the Total Refugee also play a role.
Strength, the refugees panic and
flee. (See “Attrition” for the effects of From the time of the escape from
flight. All wagons and supplies car- Pax Tharkas until the refugees first
ried by panicking refugees are lost, make camp, the heroes are com-
regardless of the outcome of the bat- pletely in charge. The refugees do
tle.) whatever the players wish.

Next, determine the Combat Modi- When the refugees make their first
fier for each side, using Table 2. camp, they begin to select their own
leaders: the Council of Freedom. The

66

draconians enslaved community Eben Shatterstone, leader of the Free the parts of the Council members
leaders as well as regular folk. Now, Peoples. As a secret agent of Vermi- yourself. Encourage role-playing
those people are again asserting naard, he plays a complicated game. and active participation rather than
their authority. Publicly, he is friendly to the heroes just rolling dice.
and supports them. Privately, he is al-
The Council, once established, di- lied with Locar to discredit the he- Table 4: Political Rating
vides the refugees into five camps, roes and take control of the refugee
each with one representative. The movement. He is very charismatic (Base Political Rating = 40)
PCs are appointed Advisors to the and is working to sway Briar and
Council, but they have no votes. Brookland to the side of Locar. To Modifier Circumstance
Laurana, whose political and diplo- keep on everyone’s good side, he al-
matic skills are very strong, should ways votes last and votes with the - 5 Each vote taken
be the PCs’ primary liaison to the majority. If he is forced to break a tie,
Council. he votes according to the PCs’ wishes - 5 Each day in wilderness
50% of the time. If the PCs should
The Council members and their suspect Eben, try to kill him, or exile - 5 Each time refugees
camps are as follows: him, he heads for Verminaard and
does not reappear until later in the must break camp and
Elistan, leader of the Believers. He is adventure.
actively friendly to the PCs, and move
votes according to their wishes 70% The voting tendencies of the Council
of the time. He and Laurana work members are meant to be advisory -10 Each combat
closely together on matters concern- only. Not even Locar will vote against
ing the party. a plan to gather food or to build shel- - 1 Each refugee death
ters for the sick. However, if the deci-
Locar, leader of the Seekers. Locar sion to be made is even slightly -20 Each day without food
hates Elistan, who was once a controversial, political intrigue
Seeker, for his new faith. Locar wants comes into play. -50 PCs use violence
to take control of all the camps, pre-
ferring to lead than follow. He is ac- The Council must vote on any de- against any Council
tively unfriendly to the PCs, and cision affecting all five camps. Each
votes according to their wishes only leader is responsible for running his member
10% of the time. He works to under- own camp, and decisions by that
mine the PCs’ role at all times. If the leader are final. (Locar, for example, +10 Each 800 food units
PCs try to kill him or remove him by can refuse to allow PCs access to his
force, Briar and Brookland both turn camp.) found by PCs
against the heroes.
The voting tendencies of the +20 Refugees reach
Briar, leader of the Plainsmen. He is Council, and the reactions of any in-
neutral to the PCs, except for Gold- dividual leader, are modified based Encounter Area 21
moon and Riverwind, both plains- on the political rating of the PCs.
men. He is basically a good but Consult Table 4, in the next column. + Reaction Charisma of
suspicious man. Locar can influence
him on complex matters. He votes All political rating modifiers are cu- Adjustment character trying to
according to the PCs’ wishes 30% of mulative. In addition, add or subtract
the time, but is more cooperative on up to 10 points based on your judg- persuade the Council
matters that are simple, straightfor- ment of the PCs’ proposal. To deter-
ward, and easily explained. Political mine the Council’s decision, add the Experience Points
persuasion used on Briar tends to cumulative political reaction modi-
backfire. fier to each Council member’s base In addition to normal experience
chance to vote as the PCs wish, and points for combat and treasure, each
Brookland, leader of the Woodfolk. roll percentile dice. If the result is PC receives 10 additional experience
He is friendly to elves and half-elves less than or equal to the modified points for each refugee still alive at
and can be swayed by Laurana. He is chance, the Council member votes in the end of this adventure.
a good man who seeks only the favor of the PCs’ proposal.
safety of his people. He votes accord-
ing to the PCs’ wishes 40% of the Do not let these rules get in the
time, but he cannot be stampeded way of common sense! The political
into a vote without consideration. intrigue and goals of each Council
member can make for very entertain-
ing role-playing. Encourage the play-
ers to act out the situations, and play

67

This chapter is divided into encoun- the sounds of pursuit stop and the kingdom—yet no one knows where it
ters (keyed to areas) and events sounds of the refugees get closer. can be found!
(keyed to time). The order of events
and encounters depend on the play- After 1d6 turns, the characters The Council requests that the PCs
ers’ actions. Keep track of both loca- catch up to the fleeing refugees. help find a temporary resting place
tion and time to know which event or for the refugees and the gates to the
encounter to run next. Wind-driven snow attacks 800 dwarven kingdom. One clue is
huddled forms as the refugees known: that the location of the dwar-
Encounters are keyed to the trudge wearily through the moun- ven gates might be found some-
Abanasinia Wilderness map—think tain pass. They move slowly, push- where in the tomb of Fistandantilus,
of it as a large, outdoor dungeon in ing their heavily laden wagons rumored to be deep underneath a
which Encounters happen as soon as through the snow and ice. mountain shaped like a skull.
the PCs cross an encounter border.
The adventure begins with event 1. Event #2: The First Night Event #3: Elistan is Called

Events This event occurs the first time the This event takes place following the
refugees stop for the night. first meeting of the Council. Gold-
Event #1: Escape moon (or another PC priest) sud-
A few campfires flicker in the denly has a vision of Elistan clothed
The PCs start at the location marked snow-covered wilderness. Around in the robes of a priest of Paladine.
with a cross on the Abanasinia Wil- them are gathered tired, weak, He carries the disks of Mishakal and is
derness map. and scared families. Several refu- bringing word of the True Gods
gees ask you to attend a meeting throughout Krynn. This vision lasts
Your lungs ache from breathing of the leaders of the people. only a moment. The priest has a
the bitterly cold air. A heavy snow- strong feeling that Elistan must read
fall blurs the Kharolis Mountains This is the formation of the Council the disks of Mishakal right away. This
to either side. Behind you is the of Freedom. Introduce the Council, vision takes place whether or not El-
evil Dragonarmy. Before you are using the information given under istan was converted to the worship of
nearly 300 families just liberated “The Refugees of Pax Tharkas.” The Paladine earlier.
from the dungeons of Pax Council begins by thanking the PCs
Tharkas. for their valiant help, and offers them If the priest speaks with Elistan
a non- voting advisory role. If the PCs about the disks, he appears mildly in-
Suddenly, you hear the war cries argue for voting membership, Locar terested and says he will look at them
of your draconian pursuers! explains that the people are more later. That night, he takes the disks
likely to follow known leaders than and stays up all night. The next
Four Baaz draconians attack the strangers. (Locar’s opposition to the morning he emerges refreshed and
PCs. The sounds of the fleeing refu- PCs should be revealed gradually.) It with new power and determination.
gees recede southward into the is apparent that Elistan is the PCs’ Overnight, he has become a 7th-level
snows. As soon as the draconians are best friend on the council. Laurana cleric of Paladine. From this point
defeated, more screams come from offers to be the PCs’ primary liaison on, use Elistan’s character card.
the north within 1d6 rounds. to the Council. Remind Gilthanas’s
player about his sister’s diplomatic Event #4: Changing Weather
Unexplored canyons of sheer rock skills. (Day 2, Turn 1)
and snow form a maze before you.
The ever-present shock troops of Once the Council is set up, all po- The dawn breaks clear and cold.
the Dragonarmy pursue you re- litical rules are in effect. The snow-laden clouds have
lentlessly as you plunge headlong moved off to the east, leaving a
into the snowstorm. The Council then discusses what chilly, blue sky.
must be done to ensure safety for the
If the PCs stay where they are, an- refugees. It is clear that the Dragon- For the next seven days the weather
other party of draconians attacks. army will attack soon. The PCs’ expe- is clear.
Each time the PCs are attacked after rience with draconians shows that
remaining in place, one more dra- the refugees must move quickly. El- Event #5: Dragonarmy
conian than before attacks. istan suggests that a way south be Breaks Through
found. The Kharolis Mountains lead
If the PCs flee southward, they are into a valley, site of the ancient If the characters sealed the gates of
attacked again, but this time by one Dwarfgate Wars. Somewhere in that Pax Tharkas during the escape, the
fewer draconian than before. Each valley are the gates to the Kingdom Dragonarmy takes four days to get
1d4 turns, they are attacked again, of Thorbardin, home of the moun- over the wall. If the characters did
but by one fewer each time. Finally, tain dwarves. The only escape from not seal the gates, the Dragonarmy
the valley is through the dwarven takes two days to organize pursuit.

68

When the Dragonarmy breaks solved normally; each attack against The chill of night is pushed back
through, this event takes place. the refugees causes 1d6 casualties. by a tremendous bonfire in the
Once the attacks are made, the great center of the camp. This night, at
In the distance, clouds of snow rise dragon flies off. If Verminaard or Em- least, the people do not live in fear.
from the ground as though kicked ber is killed, he should meet an ob- The sounds of merriment and mu-
up by some tremendous wind. scure death. sic float over the crackle of the
Soon, the glint of weapons and ar- fire. Elistan, with quiet majesty,
mor can be seen. The Dragonarmy Event #7: Fizban Found stands. A hush falls over the peo-
has escaped Pax Tharkas! ple.
This event takes place only if the PCs
The Dragonarmy advances in a cau- enter encounter area 160 before they “Hear now the retelling of the
tious yet disorderly fashion. They are enter encounter area 162. Great Tale, the Canticle of our peo-
highly suspicious of a trap and slow ple,” he says.
to a movement rate of 10 when they A strange, shabbily dressed old
first see any PCs or refugees. man is just ahead of you. He wears Ask each player in turn to read aloud
a long beard and a floppy hat. He one verse of the Canticle, from first
The Dragonarmy occupies one seems to be deeply involved in to last.
encounter area every four game conversation with a large tree. The
hours. In order for an area to fall, it tree does not seem to be respond- Encounters
must border an encounter area previ- ing. As you watch, the old man
ously occupied by the Dragonarmy. gets very frustrated that the tree is Encounters in this chapter are keyed
The Dragonarmy cannot occupy not answering. to the Abanasinia Wilderness map.
encounter areas 161 (Snow Passage), Whenever the PCs cross an encoun-
163 (Hopeful Vale), 174 (The Bog), or Fizban welcomes any invitation to ter border on the keyed map, the
175 (Skullcap) at this time. join the party, since he has nothing encounter takes place immediately.
better to do. Even if the party doesn’t If the PCs enter an area with the same
If the Dragonarmy and the refu- invite him to tag along, he will follow number more than once, simply re-
gees are in the same encounter area, anyway. peat the encounter.
50 Baaz draconians attack the camp
once per day. Event #8: The Final Battle 144. Ice Passage

If the PCs enter an encounter area When the Dragonarmy occupies all Sheer walls of granite form a nar-
occupied by the Dragonarmy, double row canyon through the snow.
the normal number of random encounter areas in Event #5, it From the north comes the distant
encounters. In addition, the PCs thunder of siege engines. The
encounter parties of eight Baaz dra- pauses for two days to consolidate its south is silent, except for the
conians once every six turns. mournful wind.
conquests—then it advances once
Event #6: Dragon Attack! Each turn that the PCs are in this
more. It takes one encounter area area, they are attacked by eight Baaz
This event occurs after Event #5. draconians who fight until killed.
There is a 10% cumulative chance, every 12 hours, saving encounter
checked every six hours, that this 145. Pax Tharkas
event takes place. It can happen sev- area 164 for last. If the refugees have
eral times. Each time the event takes The fortress of Pax Tharkas looms
place, start the checks over again. not escaped by then, the Dragon- on the horizon. The sounds of a
great army resound over the stone
An ancient, huge, scarred red army finds them. Each hour, 100 walls. A thundering boom shakes
dragon appears overhead. Its the earth. The armies of the
great wings send gusts of wind to Baaz draconians attack until all refu- Dragon Highlord demand pas-
mark its passing. The Dragon sage!
Highlord Verminaard is clearly vis- gees and PCs die, flee, or are cap-
ible on its back. The dragon Dark forms climb onto the wall,
wheels overhead, then swoops to tured. If this happens, the PCs have spread leathery wings, and glide
attack. down to the canyon floor.
failed. Make a note of how much
Verminaard and Ember make two This assumes that the gates to Pax
passes against the refugees. Vermi- time remains before the Dragon- Tharkas were blocked during the es-
naard casts spells and Ember uses cape. If not, then the Dragonarmy is
his breath weapon. They do not land. army conquers all—this determines
Attacks made against PCs are re-
how much time the PCs have to com-

plete the remaining adventures of

this first book of the
DRAGONLANCE® saga.

Event #9: The Refugees
Encamp

This event takes place on the first
night the refugees reach encounter
area 163.

69



mustering before the gates. 147. Canyon Trail 150. Kingdom of the Neidar
Eight Baaz draconians discover
The snow-filled canyon slopes A tribal village lies beside a frozen
the heroes after three rounds and gently upward. Footprints form a lake. Wisps of smoke issue from
wavering line up the canyon floor.
fight until killed. PCs who try to hide the lodge-pole buildings and curl
have a base 50% chance (thieves add These are the same tracks that were into the air.
their hide in shadows chance) of es- discovered in encounter 146.
caping the notice of the draconians. This is the village of the Neidar tribe.
Check once every three turns. 148. Spire If the heroes have made friends with
Zirkan, they are invited to stay in the
If the PCs are discovered, the dra- The canyon opens into a great guest lodge for the night. The lodge
conians attack and also call for help; mountain bowl rimmed by majes- consists of one room and a fireplace.
1d4 draconians join the melee every tic peaks. In the center of the bowl,
three rounds. a single mountain peak towers If the heroes have not met Zirkan,
into the sky. The wind howls and they are greeted with suspicion. The
Draconians continually clamber snow spirals upward. Neidar are always ready to fight, and
over the walls of Pax Tharkas. Once they attack unless the heroes man-
down, they form into squadrons and Several canyons open into this age to convince the tribesmen of
move south down the pass. bowl: one to the north, one to the their good intent. There are 50
east, and three, filled with snow, to Neidar tribesmen and 100 noncom-
Any captured draconians coerced the south. A lone set of footprints batants in the village.
into talking (60% chance) say that winds from the eastern canyon to
the entire Dragonarmy is inside Pax the middle canyon on the south. Since Flint is a hill dwarf, he is well
Tharkas, but it is only a matter of received. The Fireforge family is
time before they march against the These are the same tracks that were known to the Neidar, but Flint does
refugees. discovered in encounter 146. not know any of the Neidar person-
ally.
146. Southern Road 149. Neidar Trails
The Neidar are fascinated with
The broken remains of an ancient A pine forest blankets this valley. fighting prowess. If a battle breaks
roadway glitter with windswept Winding through the trees and up out between the Neidar and the PCs,
ice. Here and there, old monu- into the craggy canyons are many each dwarf retreats after his hit
ments of stone jut from the frozen well-traveled paths through the points drop below 50%. After 15
ground. Their surfaces are cov- snow. In the snow are tracks that dwarves have retreated, the Neidar
ered with snow-filled runes. show that something recently chieftain orders the battle to cease. If
moved this way, dragging large the PCs agree to a truce, the chieftain
To the south, the way branches. objects behind it. The trail runs up praises their fighting ability and
The roadway, mostly buried in the into a narrow canyon. seems quite friendly.
snow, turns to the east. To the west
is a mountain pass that leaves the The first time the PCs follow any of The chieftain grants an audience
road. A set of small footprints fol- the Neidar trails, they encounter 12 to the PCs. Although cordial, he
lows the southwest route. dwarven axemen of the Neidar (Hill) makes it clear that the refugees can
dwarf tribe gathering wood. They are only stay overnight. He does grant
The monuments are ten feet tall and led by a dwarf named Zirkan. safe passage through his kingdom.
four feet in diameter. The runes are He listens to warnings about the
written in the Thorbardin dwarf lan- Zirkan and his people do not trust Dragonarmy but refuses to flee.
guage. Anyone who can read dwarv- strangers. They fight unless the he- “Better to die in battle than live in
ish has a 70% chance of roes make it clear that they come in cowardice,” he says.
understanding the runes. The runes peace.
tell of the ancient dwarven kingdom If asked about escape from the
of Thorbardin and of the Road of If the heroes convince Zirkan that Dragonarmy, he says that the only
Kith-Kanan that linked the dwarves they mean no harm, Zirkan offers to escape is through the kingdom of the
with their elven neighbors to the take them to his village, and escorts mountain dwarves, sealed off long
north. them to encounter area 150. ago during the Dwarfgate War. He
does not know where the gates are,
A ranger inspecting the footprints although he believes that important
can tell they were made by a dwarf. clues lie within the tomb of Fistan-
The prints are close together and can dantilus under Skullcap Mountain
be easily followed. (chapter 13). He says that others of
his tribe have tried to explore the
tomb, but none have ever returned.

If asked about food, the chieftain
tells the PCs about encounter area

71

153 (Honeycomb). He insists that the 152. Southern Exit 154. Cold Cathedral
PCs give the Neidar 10% of all food
gathered there. If they bring back the Thin clouds of vapor billow from A waterfall is frozen in mid-
royal jelly, he gives them each a bat- an arch carved into the stone of descent, forming a wall of ice over
tle axe +1 and a shield +1. the mountain. Over the arch are a steep ravine.
carved dwarvish runes.
If Flint is with the party, the Neidar Characters can climb down the fro-
chieftain gives him a gift of a battle Anyone who reads dwarvish has an zen falls by rolling successful Dexter-
axe +2, a shield +1, and a suit of 80% chance of reading these runes. ity Checks (failure means a slide of
chain mail +3, because of his noble They say: 60 feet and 3d6 points of damage).
ancestry.
Exit ye hereby 155. Crystal Lake
151. Valley of Clouds The lands of Thorbardin
Leaving on the road behind you A clear lake reflects the snow-
The tall peaks of the Kharolis capped peaks that surround the
Mountains disappear in a deep, The justice valley. To the southeast, the frozen
rolling fog that seems to arise Of the Nine Thanes below. meadowlands drop steeply into a
from somewhere in the canyon canyon. To the northwest, a can-
ahead. Beyond the arch, a hall extends as far yon opens into a mountain-
as can be seen. A cobblestone road rimmed bowl.
PCs who enter the valley find them- runs from the arch and turns to the
selves in the midst of the clouds. The southwest. 156. Bridge of Derkin
farther they go, the warmer the air
gets. Soon the humidity becomes al- The hall leads to encounter area If Fizban the Fabulous has not yet
most unbearable. 189 of chapter 12: Outpost Mines. been encountered, run event #7 im-
mediately prior to this encounter.
At the southern end of the valley, 153. Honeycomb
vents in the earth spew forth boiling The highlands end in a precipice
hot steam. Anyone who falls into a Sheer cliffs lead into a beautiful that drops into a steep canyon
vent suffers 3d6 points of scalding valley. The cliff face to the west is leading southeast. On the north-
damage each round. perforated with hundreds of ern edge, an ancient cobblestone
caves. road runs straight into a sheer cliff
At the far end of the valley, where face in one direction and onto a
the visibility is only a few yards, PCs There is a 20% chance (thieves add large bridge in the other.
find the following. hear noise chance) to hear a deep
buzzing sound coming from within The bridge is weathered, and its
The hot, clinging mists part to re- the caves. stones are loose. Great arches rise
veal a large, carved archway, more out of the glacier below. The
than 50 feet high. Runes are There is a 30% chance each game bridge leads to a road on the other
carved into the surrounding stone. turn that 1d10 giant worker honey- side. The span of the central arch
The stonework is obviously of bees emerge from the caverns. has given way—a gap of 30 yards
dwarven manufacture. blocks passage across the bridge.
If the heroes enter any cave, they
Anyone who reads dwarvish has an find a swarm of giant honeybees The glacier drops 50 feet and
80% chance of understanding the working inside a vast complex of levels off. its ice is very smooth; a
runes, which state: honeycomb. In the lair are 48 giant climber could easily slide into the
worker honeybees, seven giant sol- canyon and the unknown lands be-
Enter ye hereby dier honeybees, and one giant queen yond.
The lands of Thorbardin honeybee. The bees attack intruders.
Follow the road that lies beyond “Stand back!” Fizban suddenly
There are 2,400 food units of cries, acting as if he just woke up.
Into the justice honey here. If the queen bee is killed, He stares out across the bridge
Of the Nine Thanes below. the PCs find a deposit of royal jelly, and then spreads his arms wide,
the equivalent of four potions of his sleeves flopping over his
Through the arch lies a hall that goes extra-healing with the side effect of hands. “I see the way! Behold!” His
into the mountain. The hall leads to cure disease, worth 3,000 to 8,000 stl hat topples over his face. “The
encounter area 176 of chapter 12: if a buyer is found. powers. . . I. . . uh . . . powers. . .
Outpost Mines. I . . .” He bats at the tassel that
swings in front of his face. “Uh . . .
oh. . . yes. . . powers I bring forth!”

72

With a flurry and rustle of loose 160. Ice Forest nificantly larger—in fact, it is large
sleeves, the strange magician enough to hold one more than the
looses his spell. Improbably, a Ice-covered pines glitter in the number of people who enter it.
bridge span appears to cover the sun. Broken sections of an ancient
gap, bathed in brilliant light and road run from southeast to north- The old man is, indeed, Fizban the
apparently made completely of west. Fabulous, absent-minded sorcerer.
silver and gold. He introduces himself, whether or
This road connected with the road in not he has already met the party. He
Fizban’s triumph is short-lived. encounter area 158, but that was be- talks in a very loud voice, causing the
Moments later, the bridge col- fore the Cataclysm. Now the south- canyon walls to rumble ominously,
lapses completely, on both sides, eastern route ends in a solid cliff but his voice never adds to the ava-
taking the ground on which you face. lanche score.
stand with it. Fizban falls first,
quickly disappearing into the can- 161. Snow Passage He explains that he is building a
yon below. Uncontrollably, you “secret defense” against the Dragon-
slide down the glacier chute. The The canyon narrows here, with army. He urges the PCs to bring the
last thing you see as you slide off huge snowdrifts piled on either refugees through the canyon to
at breakneck speed to the south- side. The drifts creak and groan safety.
east is the golden span, still float- under their own weight, threaten-
ing high overhead. ing to collapse at the slightest vi- If the refugees enter the canyon,
bration or sound. the dark shapes of draconians ap-
The characters slide into encounter pear just behind them! A major force
area 157. Any sound louder than a whisper of nearly 1,000 foot soldiers charges
causes rumbling and shaking. Small the party!
157. Glacier Chute chunks of snow tumble down the cliff
face. An avalanche does not occur until
Players find themselves sliding down the refugees are safely through the
the chute on their faces, backs, and There is a chance that an ava- canyon and past the snow fort. Fiz-
sides, in complete disorder. Each PC lanche occurs. Score any noises ban tells the PCs to wait until the ref-
must roll six Dexterity Checks; each made as follows: Normal Voice = 1; ugees are safely past the small fort,
failure results in 1d6 points of dam- Loud Voice = 2, Shout = 3. Noise then says, “Now for my secret de-
age. scores are cumulative. When the to- fense!” He points with pride at the
tal noise score reaches 7, an ava- immense wall of snowballs. “We’ll
If the refugees also slide down the lanche occurs. throw them at the enemy!” he says
chute, total losses are 1d10 wagons with glee, and then does so.
(and all supplies carried) and 1d10 An avalanche hits everyone in its
refugees. path. PCs and named NPCs suffer Of course, the thrown snowballs
1d10 points of damage. Refugees do not stop the draconian advance.
158. Ice Forest caught in an avalanche lose 1d20 But, as the snowballs are taken from
wagons (and supplies carried) and the wall, the overhang of snow over
Pine trees coated in ice sparkle in 1d20 people. the pile becomes dangerously frag-
the light. Billowing clouds swirl ile. It creaks and rumbles, and then
about. The frozen remains of a On the first occasion that PCs en- begins to collapse.
stone roadway lead southwest ter any encounter area 161, run the
through the trees. following section. If the PCs have al- “Hurry! Into the fort!” Fizban cries
ready met Fizban, he disappears as the wall collapses.
The clouds cover encounter area shortly before this section is run. See
152. The road leads to encounter event #7 (and Fizban’s NPC capsule) The avalanche crests over the
area 162. for details of Fizban the Fabulous. snow fort and decimates the oncom-
ing army. All attackers perish. When
159. High-Mountain Bowl As you enter the canyon, you see a the heroes emerge, they find nothing
lone figure scurrying in the dis- but silence. Most of the draconians
This snow-covered valley is filled tance, busy at some task. It seems are buried under huge snowdrifts.
with pine trees. to be an old man making a snow However, enough short swords are
fort. Beside him is an immense found to equip all the fighting refu-
wall of snowballs. gees with weapons.

The snow fort is shaped like a small 162. Southern Bowl
igloo, about four feet high and five
feet in diameter. Inside, it seems sig- Several canyons lead into the gen-
tly sloping valley before you. The
biting wind moans through the
trees.

73

163. Hopeful Vale 167. South Road the arrows point to the sunset marks
when it is actually sunset, a ringing
A valley five miles wide, carpeted The plain of Dergoth stretches sound comes from the lens. A bril-
in great evergreen trees, lies be- south. A few miles away is a tower liant red shaft of light appears and il-
fore you. In the middle of the val- by a huge stone slab. Next to them luminates the stone slab. Glowing
ley is a wide clearing containing a are the faint tracings of a road letters of gold appear where the light
frozen freshwater lake. leading south. Beyond the tower strikes. As the sun slowly sets, the
are roiling hills dusted with snow. shaft of light moves slowly down the
Tracks of game animals are eve- In the distance, purple mountains slab, illuminating the mystic writing
rywhere. Loose and broken timber line the horizon. line by line. The runes are written in a
is scattered about. The howling dialect of dwarvish easily read by
winds are now just a gentle breeze. 168. The Eye of Elar anyone who can read dwarvish. They
state:
The refugees make camp here. A solitary stone tower stands in
Enough food is available for the refu- the lonely plain. A single door of In the time of Derkin,
gees to gather at least 800 food units iron hangs twisted and open. Lord Thane under the mountain,
per day. On the first night in this val-
ley, run event #9. Next to the tower, about 100 Did the world sunder
feet away, is a giant, black slab of And darkness fell upon Krynn.
164. Southern Branch stone. Once runes were carved Look now upon the plain of war
across its face, but they have worn Whereon brother slew brother,
The canyon walls broaden into smooth over the centuries and can And surged as a tide of death
snowy plains to the south. A river no longer be read. To take that which was not theirs
runs down from two mountain From those who were cold of heart.
canyons and through the center of The tower is a hollow stone cylinder Look on as did Fistandantilus,
the valley into the plains. 100 feet high and 100 feet in diame-
ter. A ten-foot-wide spiral staircase Magician past his age,
165. Fallen Forest leads to a platform at the top. Through the Eye of Elar
At the Gates of Thorbardin,
A hardwood forest provides some On the platform, a steel frame- Sealed now and forever against
shelter, yet there is something pe- work supports a huge glass lens, now
culiar about these woods. chipped and pitted at the edges. It is Love and life.
mounted so that the lens can be ro- Now only he holds the key
The western edge of the woods is tated as well as tilted. A smaller Buried with him far below.
normal. Toward the east, however, frame just to the right holds a sec-
the forest changes. Trees lean toward ond, smaller lens that is fixed at 169. Way of the Warrior
the west. The eastern side of the about eye level.
trees have burn marks of increasing Powdery snow blows in gusts
severity. A hammer symbol is engraved on across the ancient stones of a
the floor of the tower behind and road.
During the final throes of the slightly to the left of the large lens. To
Dwarfgate War, the wizard Fistandan- the left of the hammer is an engrav- Scattered about are relics of the
tilus cast a devastating spell that de- ing of a sunset. An arrow is engraved Dwarfgate War—here a rusted helm,
stroyed the Plains of Dergoth and in the base of the frame perpendicu- there a broken weapon. All found
much of the forest that covered it. lar to the plane of the lens. An arrow items are rusted beyond use and
is also engraved along the tilt axis of have no value.
166. Blackened Wood the large lens.
170. Winterfruit Grove
Blackened and scarred tree trunks This strange device has two pur-
can be seen through the snow. The poses: showing the location of the Here, the dead forest comes alive
trees all seem to have fallen in the gate to the dwarven kingdom and re- with strange, copper-leafed trees.
same direction. vealing the writing on the marble
slab. These are winterfruit trees, which
These trees are also part of the dev- bloom and give fruit in the winter.
astation caused by Fistandantilus. If the arrows on the plane and tilt The fruit of these trees is unusually
The refugees can find shelter here for axes of the lens are aligned to point nourishing; PCs can gather 2,400
a night against the wind and cold. to the hammer mark, a character food units here. Although there is
However, this position cannot be de- looking through the smaller lens food, there is no safety against the
fended against the Dragonarmy. sees the magnified image of a sheer Dragonarmy here.
cliff face. This is actually the
Dwarfgate, but there are no land-
marks or clues to help locate it.

If the large lens is aligned so that

74

171. Trampled Plain 173. Battle Plain The waters of the swamp are sur-
prisingly warm to the touch. If PCs
The mountains march north on ei- This flat plain shows scars of the enter the swamp, the sounds of bat-
ther side of this three-mile-wide Dwarfgate War. The blasted heath tle seem to get closer. Within 1d10
valley. is punctuated by the rusting hulks rounds after PCs enter the swamp,
About a mile away is a dark spot of ancient, broken war machines. ghostly spirits (guardian spectral
in the snow. The wind howls across the plain. minions) rise out of the swamp to
fight each other. They ignore the PCs
The dark spot is a party of eight Baaz Rusted, broken swords, shields, for 1d6 turns unless attacked. There-
draconians lying dead in the snow. and armor litter the plain, ob- after, one spectral minion attacks the
They have been stripped of valuables scured by sand and drifting snow. PCs. Each round the PCs remain in
and weapons. Surrounding the The great iron war machines stand the swamp, one more spectral min-
corpses are large footprints of crea- draped in ice, monuments to de- ion attacks. No more than two spec-
tures that are not draconians. struction. tral minions attack any PC
simultaneously. This process con-
If the PCs do not turn back, they There is nothing of value here. tinues until the PCs leave the swamp
are attacked by a party of 1d10 or are killed.
ogres. Every 1d6 turns that the PCs 174. The Bog
remain in this area, they are attacked 175. Skullcap
by a new group of ogres—each group Clouds of vapor rise from the
consisting of 1d4 more ogres than warm surface of the swamp and fill A great mound of rubble rises
the previous one. the area with a thick chilling fog from the swamp. Its craggy fea-
Brown reeds clog the area so that tures resemble a skull half buried
172. Hills of Blood you can see only a few feet ahead. in the bog. The eye holes of the
skull are gaping caverns leading
Snow-capped hill roll in seem- The characters hear the distant clat- into the mound.
ingly endless procession to the ho- ter of swords and faint battle cries in
rizon. There is no wind here, yet every direction. Sometimes the Any exploration of Skullcap leads di-
the moaning and rushing sounds sounds seem very far away; at other rectly to chapter 13: Skullcap.
of wind are heard. times they appear to be very close.

75



The dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin comfortably hot. The northern 179. Southeastern Road
once controlled this entire region. entrance connects to encounter area
Outposts—small cities—were built 151 in chapter 11. A corridor runs southeast for 280
in convenient caverns. When the feet, then turns south for 50 feet.
gates of Thorbardin were sealed for- 177. Junction The clouds of steam become
ever during the Dwarfgate War, the thicker and hotter. Vision is lim-
small outposts were left to fend for The steam grows hotter and ited to ten feet, regardless of the
themselves. Only one of the outposts thicker here. Three corridors in- light source.
survived, but even that is inhabited tersect at this point: one leads
now only by the ludicrous Aghar north, one southeast, and one The heat quickly grows unbearable.
dwarves. southwest. To the southeast, the If characters take off armor and
steam gets denser and hotter and winter garb, they can progress nor-
Use the Steam Caverns map for a distant hissing sound is heard. mally. If they do not remove these,
the encounters in this chapter. they lose 1 point of Constitution
All three corridors are 60 feet wide. every round they remain in the area.
Encounters Giant, broken statues line the way. If a character’s Constitution reaches
The ceiling is 100 feet overhead. 0, he faints and does not revive until
176. Northern Entrance brought to a cooler location. Lost
178. Southern Route Constitution points return after 1 d 10
Clouds of warm steam pour from a rounds in a cooler environment.
carved opening in the mountain A corridor runs southwest for
wall. A 60-foot-wide corridor runs about 850 feet and then turns 180. Steam Caverns
deep into the mountains. Giant south for about 1,000 feet. As you
statues, now broken, line the hall. travel down this corridor, the tem- Natural vents in the earth blast
perature changes from uncom- forth steam. The roar of the escap-
The broken statues are of long-dead fortably hot to comfortably cool. ing steam is deafening. A maze of
dwarven heroes. There is nothing The clouds of steam thin and dis- stalagmites and stalactites weaves
special about them. The corridor appear. through a huge cavern.
runs 600 feet south to encounter
area 177. The air grows warmer far-
ther down the corridor, becoming un-

77





Characters cannot see farther than Once the guard has decided that with the Dwarves of Thorbardin?” If
ten feet, regardless of the light the party can pass, he asks, “Are you asked about Skullcap, the Dwarf-
source. lnfravision cannot be used. here to see the great secret treasure gate, or Fistandantilus, the device
For every five feet characters travel of the Aghar?” If the answer is “Yes,” tells the story of Fistandantilus.
in the steam, there is a 1 in 3 chance he offers to lead the heroes to the (Read the introductory material at
(1 or 2 on 1d6) that their path is Aghar Highphulph, Lord of Phulph the start of chapter 13.)
blocked by either a steam vent or a Clan Aghar. If the heroes ask what
stalagmite. the “great secret treasure” is, the The device answers only three
Aghar won’t tell them, since it’s a se- questions per day.
Lurking in the cavern are ten cret.
ogres, a vanguard of Verminaard’s The Highphulph is ecstatic that he
army that is searching for the refu- This map block consists of the has finally found out how to use the
gees. They wandered into this cavern Great Gate and various shops and great secret treasure. He asks the he-
through the south entrance and, lik- storehouses, mostly empty. All stairs roes what boon he can offer them,
ing the warmth, have decided to stay lead nowhere. The Aghar leads the and provides anything within reason.
for a while. They attack the heroes, heroes directly to encounter area (The Aghar are poor and stupid.
trying for surprise, and fight until 183. They cannot provide very much.) He
killed. offers to allow the heroes and all the
183. Court of the Thanes refugees to come live in his kingdom
Constitution penalties (as in area forever. (If the PCs propose this to the
179) also apply here. You walk down a wide corridor Council of Freedom, the leaders of
with large columns on either side. the Woodfolk and the Plainsmen bit-
181. The Steam City The guard opens double doors terly oppose living underground with
that lead into a huge court. At the Aghar.) He can provide up to 400 foot
Although this city once held over far end, a semicircle of thrones units, all unpleasant-tasting.
1,000 dwarves, now only 200 Aghar sits on a raised dais. On one of the
dwarves live here. The Steam City is thrones sits another Aghar The rest of encounter area 183
a fine example of dwarven architec- dwarf—this one wearing a crown consists of royal chambers (squalid),
ture, consisting of traditional map three sizes too big and ill-fitting temples (mostly useless), and store-
blocks grouped together to build a robes. The guard whispers, “Don’t rooms (filled with garbage).
community. Now, most of the city be afraid. It’s just His Magnifi-
has fallen in one encounter section. cence, the Highphulph!” 184 & 185. Walls of the City
The players should not try to explore
the entire city. If the players stray off The Highphulph welcomes the he- The great wall forms a defensive pe-
course, improvise encounters with roes in his squeaky voice. He asks rimeter about the ancient city. Store-
the Aghar society, such as it is. them if they have come to see the rooms and barracks, both empty, can
great secret treasure. If the heroes be found here. There are stairs that
182. East Gate answer “yes,” he leads them to a once went somewhere, but no longer.
small temple room (labeled “A’ on Pits lead deep into the earth. Any
This corridor leads into a wide the map). In the center of the room is dwarf with the party recognizes them
courtyard. Before you is a wide a great slab of black stone. Before as the Pits of Reorx (god of the
gate, obviously the work of master the stone is a circular dais of white dwarves), a religious feature com-
builders. In front of the gate is a stone. Gold letters are carved around mon to dwarven settlements.
strange sight: a single Aghar the edge. Unfortunately, the Aghar
dwarf standing guard in the mid- cannot read (the Highphulph admits There is nothing here of value or
dle of the gate. His helmet is fall- this with some embarrassment), and particular interest.
ing over his eyes and he is having thus they have no idea what to do
considerable difficulty keeping next. 186 & 187. Residences
his oversized halberd from falling
to the ground. The inscription is written in an old These blocks formed the residential
dialect of dwarven, readable by any- area of the dwarven community.
This dwarf is supposed to guard one who knows that language. It Now, most of the houses are empty.
against intruders, but he has a poor says, “Stand and ask, if you would re- The ones inhabited by Aghar are eas-
idea of how this is to be accom- ceive knowledge.” If any person ily found by their smell. Stairs lead
plished. As the characters approach, stands on the dais and asks a ques- nowhere.
he calls out in his most challenging tion in dwarven, fiery letters appear
squeaky voice, “Halt! Answer me be- in answer on the slab. 188 & 189. Passages
fore I let you pass! Are you supposed
to come into this kingdom?” If the All questions must be about These passages are identical to those
answer is “Yes,” he lets the party pass dwarvish matters, or else the answer in areas 177-179, except that area
without question. will always be, “What has this to do 188 runs between 180 and 181, and
area 189 leads outside, through area
152.

80

Following the Cataclysm, the hill the magic. It was in this form that he Rubble is piled 50 feet high before
dwarves and men of the Xak Tsaroth greeted the Cataclysm. It was in the the cavern. It can be climbed easily.
regions fled southward seeking ref- rabble at Thorbardin’s gates that he The remaining 30 feet is made of the
uge in the kingdom of the mountain saw his chance to regain the power glassy black material that covers all
dwarves. This kingdom, known as he had lost. of Skullcap.
Thorbardin, could not support the
hundreds of thousands of refugees, He built a magical fortress at the The surface of Skullcap is blue-
and thus the Thanes (rulers of the roots of a mountain, and formed a black, as though burned and melted
Kingdom) closed the gates against great army to take Thorbardin. The by tremendous fires. It is now icy and
the refugees. battle raged across the valley. And, cold to the touch, and impossible to
when his defeat looked certain, his climb normally (climb walls penalty
Disorganized and without leader- vengeance knew no bounds. He of -50%). Ropes or other devices
ship, the refugees proved no match loosed the most powerful magic he must be used.
for the organized and motivated knew, and both his armies and his en-
forces of Thorbardin. emy’s were consumed. His mountain Jagged stalactites and stalagmites
fortress was blasted until only the form the “teeth” of the skull. Once
Then came Fistandantilus. shattered and glazed form of a giant inside the cavern, characters see the
Fistandantilus was an ancient skull remained—Skullcap. following:
mage of the Age of Might that pre-
ceded the Cataclysm. Magic at that Deep beneath Skullcap, legend Stalactites and stalagmites form
time was despised as an “impure” has it, are the remains of Fistandanti- grotesque rows of teeth. At the
profession. Wizards, both great and lus and the path to the gates of Thor- back of the opening, a natural tun-
small, became outcasts. Yet Fistan- bardin. nel descends into the mountain.
dantilus foresaw a time when mages
would again be important in Krynn. Encounters The tunnel is made of the same fused
He knew not when, but he swore that black rock as the outside of Skull-
he would be there when the time 190. Jaws of Death cap. After 20 feet of gentle down-
came. ward slope, the angle of the tunnel
The years came and went, but the The mouth of the skull-shaped changes to a 70-degree incline—too
day of magic’s reign did not come. mountain, 80 feet above the steep and smooth to walk. Charac-
Eventually, Fistandantilus used mag- swampy plain, forms a cavern ters can use ropes and spikes to de-
ical means to prolong his life, until leading deep inside. scend, or they can slide down the
there was nothing left of him except

81



smooth tunnel. The tunnel leads to The cavern is 100 feet across. A pool 195. Generals’ Way
encounter area 194. Climbing up the of water covers the cavern floor from
tunnel from the bottom is the same the exit to area 203 to the lower plat- Ancient dust fills the corridor.
as climbing the smooth exterior of form (area 193a). Behind the lower Stains streak the metal finish on
the mountain. platform is a small tunnel (leading to each of the doors.
area 218) that serves as the drain for
191. Eye of the Dead the pool. These doors are oak covered with sil-
ver, worth 1,000 stl each.
The eye sockets of the skull- A waterfall empties into the pool
shaped mountain form caverns from the bowl above (area 192). At 196-200. Empty Rooms
leading deep within. the level of the waterfall is an upper
platform (area 193b). A five-foot- Broken furniture is strewn about.
Both these caves are identical. At the wide ledge at the level of the upper
back of each is a small tunnel leading platform goes around the entire edge The room is otherwise empty. There
down at a 70-degree angle. However, of the cavern. is nothing of value here.
they are not made out of the fused
glassy material, and handholds are On the upper platform, beside the 201. Brass Buttons
available for an easy descent. waterfall, resides a shadow dragon.
On a broken table is an old tunic
Both tunnels lead to the same The shadow dragon, an ancient, with brass buttons on it.
place: a metal framework overlook- huge member of its race, was bound
ing encounter area 203. There are no by Fistandantilus long ago to guard A spectre appears and attacks if the
handholds down; characters must tie this fortress as long as Fistandantilus brass buttons are disturbed.
a rope to the metal framework and remained alive on this earth. The
lower themselves to the floor, or use shadow dragon, who can speak, 202. Priesthood West
equivalent means. mentions this to anyone it has not yet
eaten. This room is empty.
192. Rubble Crater
The shadow dragon prefers to rest 203. Great Stairwell
A large crater forms the top of on the upper platform and wait for
Skullcap. The crater is filled with adventurers to raid its store of trea- A central stairway descends deep
rubble. Strange and tortured sure. Then it attacks, using breath into the mountain. Torn by the
shapes of stone twist skyward, ob- weapon and spells first. same terrible forces that long ago
scuring the bottom of the bowl. A ravaged Skullcap, the iron frame-
pool of water has collected at the The shadow dragon has an Intelli- work that once supported these
bottom. gence of 18 and speaks common, hill stairs is now twisted and
dwarf, mountain dwarf, and all wrenched. Overhead, the ceiling
If characters explore the bottom of dragon tongues. It has the following is shattered, revealing the iron
the bowl, they find a 20-foot-wide spells (cast as an 8th-level mage): frame that once held the stairway.
shaft descending at a 60-degree an- 1st Level: magic missile, phantasmal
gle. It can be climbed slowly and with force The stairwell is 60 feet in diameter. A
some difficulty. After 70 feet, the 2nd Level: darkness (15’ radius), fog ten-foot-wide staircase circles down
walls become glass-smooth. cloud about 20 feet to area 2 14 (Twisted
3rd Level: fireball, suggestion Iron). The dome above leads to area
The shaft leads to the upper ledge 4th Level: confusion, shadow mon- 191.
of encounter area 193. The pool of sters
water has an outlet at the bottom five 204. Armory
feet wide; it leads to the waterfall in The treasure consists of 900 pp, 21
area 193. 500-stl gems, 3,000 stl, one suit of A grey hemisphere shimmers in
human-sized chain mail +2, two po- the center of the room. Armor
193. Shadowlair tions of clairaudience, and boots of stands gleaming against the walls.
levitation.
The sound of rushing water fills Anyone who enters the room can see
this large cavern. A waterfall 194. Lords’ Hall into the hemisphere. Read the fol-
pours into a large pool covering lowing:
the cavern floor. In the middle, Faded tapestries, depicting men
surrounded by water, is a small is- and dwarves at war, line the walls.
land, on which are piled gems and
weapons.

83

A gleaming metallic dragon is fro- breath weapon, the brass dragon any attack and do not fight back.
zen in mid-flight, its mouth gaping flees and Ember pursues. Blaize flies
open. Below it, a goblin is also fro- toward the nearest mountain and 211. Ballroom
zen, this one in mid-stride as weaves among the sandstone cliffs.
though fleeing for its life. Both weave out of sight and do not An immense hall stretches into
return. darkness. Shadowy figures swing
If a nonmagical piece of iron or steel and sway to a music that cannot
touches the grey hemisphere, it van- Blaize is a small, adult brass be heard.
ishes like a popped soap bubble. dragon, and has the following spells:
Nothing else will break the spell. The 1st Level: magic missile, protection Most of the dancers are harmless
instant the hemisphere vanishes, the from evil, sleep spirits like those in area 210. How-
temporal stasis that holds the two 2nd Level: continual light, web ever, the room contains two spectres
creatures breaks. With a lunge, the that were once generals in the army
brass dragon devours the goblin in a The armory contains the following of Fistandantilus. They move to at-
single bite. Then it notices the party. treasure: three suits of plate mail, tack.
three shields +1, two javelins of light-
The brass dragon is understand- ning, and two cloaks of protection 212. Altar
ably confused, since it has been fro- +2.
zen for 350 years. Shocked by the A skeleton lies draped over a low
changes, it pauses. If the characters 205. West Guards Hall altar along the far wall. Its armor is
attack first, it will fight back, but if rusted, but a gleaming sword lies
they do not, it asks them what has This room is empty. next to the figure, still grasped in
happened. its hand. A rolled parchment is
206. Arrow Slits clutched in its other hand.
The brass dragon’s name is Blaize.
It was part of the attacking force dur- Six wraiths are in each of these This is the skeleton of a good warrior
ing the Dwarfgate War, and the last rooms. They are armed with bows who died in battle here. It is not ani-
thing it remembers is Fistandantilus and arrows and fire through the slits mated in any way. The armor is use-
casting a spell. It does not know any- at anyone in area 207. less, but the sword is a vorpal long
thing about the disappearance of sword +3. The scroll shows general
dragons from the world, or about the 207. Gateway details of the mountain forest before
recent reappearance of the evil drag- its destruction. It shows that a gate-
ons. When the current state of the The iron doors are bowed inward, hall once extended from the north
world is explained, it does not have yet remain shut. A half-inch slit is side of the mountain to what is now
any idea why the good dragons have open between the doors. area 207. The map shows that the
not entered the fray. central stairwell was the only way to
Any character checking the walls dis- reach the lower levels. The chambers
Blaize is a bit of a braggart and covers the arrow slits. If anyone of Fistandantilus are marked on the
loves to talk about its great feats in opens the doors at the northern end, map. They appear to be directly be-
the war. the wraiths close the doors at the neath the bottom of the staircase.
southern end and begin firing. The chambers can be reached only
The dragon is very interested in through a huge room that is not de-
the history of the current war. It tells 208-209. Trashed Halls scribed on the scroll map.
the characters that it will seek out
good dragons, if any remain, to help Each of these rooms contains lots of 213. Eastern Priests’ Room
their cause. In the meantime, it offers smashed furniture and a nest of 4d10
to accompany the heroes for the a giant rats. This room is empty.
while. It can fit through double
doors, though not through single 210. Guardians 214. Twisted Iron
ones.
The doors open to reveal a once- The stone steps circle down about
Blaize remains with the party until plush room, now in rags. Golden 20 feet, and then stop. The shaft
one of three events occurs: Vermi- double doors at the far end of the once occupied by stairs is torn and
naard and Ember attack (see Event room are closed. Shadowy forms blasted. A tangled mesh of twisted
#6), the heroes battle the shadow lurk about. iron framework hangs down into
dragon (area 193), or the heroes the cold darkness below.
leave Skullcap. These are the harmless spirits of the
fine lords and ladies who once
If Blaize fights the shadow dragon, feasted in this hall, but died during
run combat normally until the Fistandantilus’s defeat. They ignore
shadow dragon is dead.

If Blaize fights Verminaard and
Ember, he flies up and engages the
red dragon. When Ember uses his

84

All the floors between the first floor cannot be climbed without magical Neither the skeleton nor the keys are
and the bottom of this staircase were aid. magical. The keys (there are seven)
gutted by Fistandantilus’s final spell. are the Keys of the Guardian, and will
Nothing remains but rubble. Most of 219. Collapsed come in handy later.
this shaft, in fact, is now made of the
same glazed material as the exterior Once, there were additional levels 222. Locker
of Skullcap. here. Now, only the edges of the
floors remain, edges glazed This room is empty.
The iron framework hanging in the smooth, jutting from the walls of
darkness once supported the center the shaft. 223. Crystal Maze
of the fortress. It now hangs sus-
pended from the top seven floors of Ropes can easily be secured on these You are standing on a balcony
the collapsed area, and hangs freely ledges. If characters try to climb overlooking a 70-foot-square
down to a depth of 270 feet. By fate, from ledge to ledge without ropes or room that is 60 feet from floor to
one end of the frame was imbedded equivalent aid, they must roll a suc- ceiling. The balcony you are on is
in the wall ten feet above the cavern cessful Dexterity check when they ten feet from the ceiling. Across
entrance at area 215. reach each ledge, or they fall to the from you and on the wall to either
bottom. side are identical balconies—four
Although the frame looks danger- total, including the one you oc-
ous, it is actually well secured. 220. Shifting Corridors cupy. Beneath you is a second set
Climbing down, however, is tortur- of four balconies, each 20 feet
ous work at best. There is a 20% At the bottom of the shaft, a tan- above the floor. Four archways
chance per turn that the characters’ gle of jagged stone and iron forms exit the room from the floor level.
movement causes the entire struc- a steep mound. In the center of the The room is brightly lit by a globe
ture to sway. Each person not se- mound, a narrow funnel leads in the ceiling.
cured by rope or other means must down to the top of an iron frame-
roll a Dexterity check. Characters work that was once a dome. Be- But none of this is as impressive
who fail start to fall off the structure, neath the dome is a rubble-strewn as the creature in the middle of the
but they get to roll a second Dexter- floor. room —a hydra constructed en-
ity check, this one with a -5 penalty tirely of metal. As you enter the
to their Dexterity, to catch onto an- Climbing is easy here. If the rubble is room, it grinds slowly into motion.
other part of the frame. If the second searched, broken bones and skulls One of its 12 heads turns toward
check fails, the character falls to the are found. you while another spews flame
bottom, suffering normal falling against the ceiling!
damage. As soon as characters reach the
iron framework, they are attacked by The iron hydra is a mechanical con-
Blaize cannot climb down or fly three skeleton warriors. These be- struct. It is AC 0 and hits as a 12-HD
down the shaft. He offers to wait until ings are still enslaved by Fistandanti- monster. Its breath weapon causes
the characters return. lus’s powerful magic, and they attack 6d6 points of damage (successful
the adventurers until dead or the ad- saving throw reduces this in half).
215-216. Crevasse Climb venturers flee. While attacking, they Each head can attack once per
beg the heroes to recover the circlets round, inflicting biting damage of
The blast caused a deep fissure in and free them from their servitude. If 2d8 points. Each head takes 20
the rock here. Although the fis- the characters succeed in recovering points of damage to destroy; the en-
sure is made of glazed stone, the circlets and give them to the war- tire monster can withstand 100
cracks in the stone make conven- riors, the warriors instantly disap- points of damage before falling
ient hand holds. pear. PCs should receive full apart.
experience points for such a noble
The tunnel rises steeply for 150 feet act, as if they actually defeated the Once, each of the 12 heads could
and then descends slightly to area creatures. breath fire three times per day. Now
217. the hydra in the western room has
221. Skeleton Key only three functioning heads, while
217. Drain that in the eastern room has only one
A skeleton in once-fine robes functioning head. Both creatures ex-
This is where water from the tunnel slumps over a stone table in the pend one breath against the ceiling
at area 193 runs out. The tunnel con- center of the room. A set of rusted in warning.
tinues west. keys on a ring hang at its side.
Both the eastern and western
218. Waterway rooms are actually magical mazes.
The open room the adventurers see
The water from the tunnel at area is the product of permanent invisibil-
193 washes down here. The tunnel ity and permanent illusion spells.

85

Actually, there are three floors of 225. Wrong Turn 227. Eastern Entrance
walls, ceilings, stairs, and shafts—a
maze of crystal to trap the unwary. This room is lit by dim red globes This area is identical to area 224. The
on the ceiling. In the center, a only difference is that the statue
The actual room contents can be large stone statue of a dwarf smiles at movement toward the east-
seen only if a wizard casts both detect stands. Its legs are planted on the ern doors and frowns at movement
invisibility and detect illusion (either floor, its hands press against the toward the western doors.
one alone will not suffice), or a detect ceiling. Another set of golden
magic spell. doors is behind the statue. 228. Pressure Pot

The invisible walls of the maze re- The stone walls have scorch marks This room is empty except for
sist the hydra’s breath. If the proper on them. If the golden doors are stone double doors in the middle
route is followed, adventurers can opened, a smaller room is revealed. of both end walls.
walk through each level of the maze There is nothing in it.
to the appropriate exit, descend to If the stone door at the southern end
the next level, and eventually depart Once, long ago, there was a fire- is opened, a fireball trap is sprung,
the maze. If a character walks into ball trap here, but it was triggered causing 10d6 points of damage to
the shaded area of the map, he falls long ago and never replenished. everyone in the room.
into the pit (there are no railings on
the magically concealed stone walk- 226. Trap! 229. Alcove
ways), suffering falling damage, and
is attacked by the hydra. If a charac- This room appears identical to area A statue stands in the shadows of
ter walks into an area not protected 225, including the stone statue. an alcove where the two corridors
from the hydra by a wall, the hydra meet. Double doors made of iron
first breathes and then attacks with This room has a permanent reverse face north.
1d4 heads. gravity spell and a stone golem oper-
ating in it. There is only one way to The iron doors are wizard locked and
In addition to the iron hydra, the travel through it without activating can be opened only by a knock spell
room is also occupied by three invisi- the golem. or by the Keys of the Guardian (from
ble stalkers (detect invisibility also de- area 221).
tects them) that attack anyone not When Fistandantilus wished to
carrying one of the Keys of the pass through this chamber, he en- The statue is of Nuitari, the god of
Guardian (encounter area 121). If tered through one set of doors and dark magic, in his aspect of Knowl-
Fistandantilus is finally destroyed, was immediately pulled to the ceil- edge. This is one of the Seven Faces
these stalkers vanish. ing by the reversed gravity. To avoid of Nuitari. A magical spell allows Fis-
hitting the ceiling, he grasped an in- tandantilus to see any visitors
Each room’s maze occupies three visible stone ladder to the right of the through its eyes, so he cannot be sur-
levels. The exit from each maze (la- doors. Once on the ceiling, he prised.
beled “E” and “F” on the map) leads walked to the other set of doors,
down to Level 3, where the PCs ad- where the reversegravity spell ended, 230. Rites of Passage
ventures in Skullcap will conclude. and he used the invisible stone lad-
der by those doors to prevent himself The iron doors open to reveal a
224. Western Entrance from smashing onto the floor. short corridor 20 feet wide that
leads to a second set of iron dou-
A grotesque statue of a man with a If characters miss the invisible ble doors. On either side, alcoves
single huge eye stares at the stair- stone ladder, they fly up and hit the contain statues draped in heavy
case. A set of golden double doors ceiling (or fly down and hit the floor, shadow.
stands on either side of the statue. at the far doors) for 1d6 points of fall-
ing damage. Any character who falls Four sets of double doors separate
The giant eye seems to follow the to the ceiling or floor immediately area 229 from area 231. Signs of the
characters as they move about the activates the stone golem. The final blast of Fistandantilus streak
room. If they move toward the west- statue attacks all moving creatures the walls here.
ern doors, the statue appears to in the room. The golem senses its
smile. If they move toward the east- prey by movement: if all characters Each set of double doors is wizard
ern doors, the statue appears to stand still for two rounds, the golem locked, and can be opened only with
frown. It does nothing else. returns to its original position and a knock spell or with the Keys of the
the characters can move safely. How- Guardian.
If the statue is attacked, it falls and ever, if anyone falls again, the golem
shatters. The head continues to func- is reactivated. The shadowy figures in the alcoves
tion as long as it remains intact. (two in each segment of corridor) are

86

statues of the remaining six faces of This is the demilich form of Fistan- 235. Western Treasure
Nuitari. Each statue radiates magic. dantilus. If the characters do not at-
As the characters move through the tack it, after three rounds it settles A dome of brilliant white light illu-
corridors, they pass through the back into dust. It does not move from minates the room. Piled about the
magic fields between the statues. the spot where it stands, and does floor is the treasure of Fistandanti-
The magic effects, described below, not stop the passing of the adventur- lus. A shining dwarven helm
can be prevented either if a dispel ers into the next chamber. adorned with large gems is promi-
magic spell is cast, or if the Keys of nent in the pile.
the Guardian are inserted in a small Recovering the circlets is not con-
keyhole at the base of each statue. sidered an attack. The treasure consists of 4,500 stl,
8,000 pp, 52 800-stl gems, 12 pieces
The first pair of statues represents 232. Treasure Junction of jewelry worth 1,000 stl each, a set
Death and Chaos. The magical field of dwarven plate mail + 3, and the
casts dispel magic on anyone and Twenty-foot-high archways open helm of Grallen.
anything passing through. There is in both the western and eastern
no keyhole in the base of these sides of this hall, leading into bril- The helm of Grallen is a dwarven
statues. liantly lit treasure rooms. A set of helm set with 12 large gems (1,000
iron doors to the north stands stl each). The enchantment of the
The second pair of statues repre- closed. helm is that if the wearer should be
sents Might and Wealth. The magical killed, his soul is instantly magic
field polymorphs any weapon pass- The doors to the north are wizard jarred into one of the gems.
ing through it into wood. The weap- locked and can be opened only with a
ons return to normal if they are knock spell or the Keys of the Guard- The helm was made for Grallen,
passed through the field in the oppo- ian. Prince of the mountain dwarves and
site direction (when exiting, for ex- son of the great dwarven king, Der-
ample). If characters look through the kin, when he rode off to fight Fistan-
archways, they see areas 235 and dantilus in the Dwarfgate War.
The third pair of statues represents 236. Read the descriptions of those
Youth and Passion. The magic field areas if requested. Anyone who puts on the helmet
casts a charm person spell on any activates the magic jar spell. The soul
person passing through, with the The archways are actually telepor- of Grallen possesses the wearer (no
specific effect that charmed charac- tals. The western archway leads di- saving throw). The wearer’s life force
ters cannot harm Fistandantilus. rectly to area 233; the eastern is transferred to a gem.
archway leads to area 234.
231. Chambers of When this happens, Prince Grallen
Fistandantilus The only way into the treasure immediately bows to the characters
rooms is by casting a dispel magic and tells the following story:
The ceiling, once a dome of mar- spell, which negates the teleportal
ble, is now shattered. Huge stone for the duration of the spell, or by in- I am Grallen, prince of the moun-
blocks litter the floor and block serting the Keys of the Guardian in a tain dwarves, killed by the forces
the opening above. In the center of secret keyhole (discover as a normal of evil in the Dwarfgate War.
the room, a metallic object shines secret door).
brightly. By means of this magical helm,
233. Western Cages I have survived these centuries
The metallic object is actually three that my tale and fate may be told.
circlets—the controllers of the skele- Rows of cages contain the skeletal
ton warriors at area 220. remains of those once trapped I rode forth on the morning of
here. the last battle in the great charge
The circlets lie next to the broken of Hylar dwarves. We came from
skull of a human lying among shat- Anyone entering the great archway the North Gate of Thorbardin
tered bones in a pile of rubble in the leading to area 235 suddenly finds across the Plains of Dergoth. My
center of the room. If the characters himself in area 232. troop assaulted the mountain
approach within 20 feet of the skull, home of the Dark Wizard here. My
the following occurs: 234. Eastern Cages brothers fought with courage and
valor; many fell with honor at my
The broken skull rises into the air, Rows of cages contain the skeletal side.
the dust from the rubble swirling remains of those once trapped
up in a howling wind and forming here. Yet when the tide of battle
about it in the rough shape of a turned in our favor, and I con-
man! Anyone entering the great archway fronted the wizard in his lair, he
leading to area 236 suddenly finds smiled, and a great magic rushed
himself in area 232. from his being. A flame of power
and horror broke through stone
and steel.

87

Thus, in his rage and despair, he Once all questions have been The map case contains a map show-
destroyed both his allies and his asked and answered, Grallen sends ing the route from Skullcap to the
enemies. his life force back into the gem. The gates of Thorbardin.
wearer of the helm becomes normal
Thus did I die. again, though he is disoriented and In addition to the map, there are
Now I beseech thee, return my cannot fight for 1d6 turns. 5,000 stl, 5,000 pp, 42 500-stl gems,
soul to the kingdom of the Hylar in and 12 pieces of jewelry worth 1,000
Thorbardin, tell my story to the 236. Eastern Treasure stl each.
Council of Thanes, and give me a
proper resting place in the Valley A globe of brilliant white light illu- 237. Access
of the Kings. minates the room. Piled about the
floor is the glittering treasure of The double doors open into a
Grallen stands silently after his story Fistandantilus. Prominent among square room with great archways
is told. He explains how to find the the treasure is a dwarven map on either side. Each archway leads
North Gate entrance to Thorbardin if case. to a 10-foot-deep alcove.
asked. He answers any other ques-
tions put to him to the best of his The western alcove is a teleportal to
ability. and from the southern alcove in area
235. The eastern alcove is a telepor-
tal to and from the southern alcove in
area 236.

88

This portion of the adventure ends
when the heroes find a safe tempo-
rary home for the refugees (area 163)
and discover the route to the doors of
the dwarven kingdom. When those
conditions are met, read the follow-
ing:

Tonight is a time for feasting and
celebration-the first moments of
happiness in many long days. For
the refugees of Pax Tharkas have
found at least temporary safety
from the advancing Dragonarmy,
and you have discovered informa-
tion leading to the long-lost dwar-
ven kingdom of Thorbardin.

Tomorrow you will adventure
once more, but tonight the Coun-
cil of Freedom toasts your suc-
cess. Even dour Locar, the Seeker
leader, praises you tonight. And
Elistan, a true priest and good
friend, pledges you the support of
the people.

You accept the cheers of the ref-
ugees, and you drink the newly-
made mead around the warm
campfires. In spite of great dan-
gers to come, tonight there is
hope.

89



The PCs’ Mission Elistan has received a dream vi- ground is soft beneath your feet
sion from Paladine, and has gone and a sweet, warm wind blows. But
Eight hundred refugees are fleeing the into the dream world to battle Vermi- as you walk, the tower changes.
naard. The PCs do not learn this until Now it is made of steel and stone,
army of the Dragon Highlord. They the end of the adventure. and the wind is bitter. And now it is
made of tough, decaying stone,
were forced to enter a wilderness Elistan cannot be revived by any and the tower is in ruins.
means available to the party. He ap-
ringed by impassable mountains. The pears dead, but his body does not There are seven open archways
grow cold. into the tower. As you watch, a
only route to safety is through the an- group of hooded pilgrims ap-
The Council asks the PCs to leave proaches. As they come closer,
cient dwarven kingdom of in the morning to find a way through they begin to change into dracon-
Thorbardin. If the characters found a ians, but they do not attack you.
Thorbardin—but the gates to Thor- map to the gates earlier, they know They enter the tower.
where to go—otherwise, Fizban the
bardin have been hidden for over 300 Fabulous (see the NPC Capsules) You see a long, dimly glowing
now reveals that he knows exactly tunnel that leads inside. You and
years. The PCs must find the gates to where the gates are. your companions enter, and sud-
denly find yourselves in a large
Thorbardin, get permission for the ref- Event #2: Dreams of chamber!
Darkness
ugees to cross through, and get back Seven hallways radiate from
This event takes place the same this room. Six are brightly lit; one
before the Dragonarmy attacks the night as event #1, as soon as the he- is dim. From the dim hall whispers
roes fall asleep. All sleeping charac- the voice of Elistan: “I have en-
refugee camp. ters have the following dream: tered this door and cannot come
back. Please! Follow me and bring
Time You are standing in front of a huge that which I left behind!”
door. You feel that there is a great
As mentioned earlier in this adven- evil behind it. The voice of Elistan, In the six bright hallways are
ture, the Dragonarmy conquers ar- now very weak, is calling for you. your heart’s desires—glory,
eas of wilderness on a regular basis. power, wealth. But you know that
Be sure to keep track of the time “I have entered this door and your doom lies down the dim cor-
available to the refugees. If you have cannot find my way back,” he ridor.
lost track, assume that the heroes cries. “Please! Come and bring
now have seven days to complete that which I left behind!” He does Suddenly, you wake in a cold
their quest. Do not tell the players not seem able to hear anything sweat, deeply disturbed. Some-
how much time they have. The Epi- you say; he just repeats his cry thing horrible happened to you
logue tells what happens if the he- over and over again. and your companions—but you
roes succeed or fail. can’t remember what!
Ask each player in turn if his PC will
Events open the door. If all players refuse, Event #3: The Dragon
the dream ends and the PCs awake; Highlord Arrives
Event # 1: Departure of skip event #3 below. If even one char-
Elistan acter opens the door, read the next This event takes place the following
boxed section. morning. If no hero opened the door,
The adventure begins in the camp of t he event does not occur.
the refugees at midnight of the same You feel yourself floating in a vast
night in the Epilogue after chapter nothingness for an uncertain Out of the rising sun comes a dark
13. length of time—whether mo- shadow and a rush of wind. It is a
ments or centuries, you cannot huge red dragon, its wings terribly
You are summoned to a late night tell. Suddenly, you are standing on scarred. Astride it is the Dragon
meeting of the refugees Council of an empty plain. In the distance, Highlord of Pax Tharkas—
Freedom. When you arrive, you mountains are silhouetted against Verminaard!
not ice that Elistan seems a starry sky. Before you is a tower
strangely peaceful. “The Dragon- made of crystal, silver, and pure The huge dragon hovers above
army is approaching, and now you white marble. Beside you are your you, its mammoth wings beating
must find the way to the gates of companions in adventure. slowly.
Thorbardin. It is the only hope for
our people. There is little time; You walk toward the tower. The Verminaard calls out to the heroes,
waste none of it. As for me, I now using both voice and telepathy. “Piti-
know what must be done,” he says. ful fools,” he sneers, “to think you
could defeat me in the Mind of Evil!”
“To the hope of safety!” he says,
lifting a flagon and drinking.

Although the flagon contains only
water, as soon as Elistan drinks, he
grows pale and shudders once. Then,
eyes rolling back, he pitches for-
ward.

91

When Verminaard uses the phrase, with spells, but it does not use its * A knock spell can open the door.
“the Mind of Evil,” any hero who breath weapon. Fizban does not use that spell.
opened the door in event #2 sud- * The door-opening mechanism can
denly remembers the terrible dream If the heroes reject Verminaard’s be found if any elven or half-elven
of the night before. offer, he says, “Fools! I could destroy character successfully checks for se-
you as you stand. But I have other cret doors a second time. The device
Memories flood into your mind. In uses for you...and there are things is a two-foot-square door that is eas-
the dream, you walk down the dim worse than death!” ily opened. Within the door is a small
corridor, afraid and despairing. opening with a mechanical hand in
Each step you take is harder than With that, he commands the it. If any character shakes the hand,
the last. At last you enter a large dragon to fly off to the north. the door slowly opens.
chamber.
Event #4: the Dwarven Gates When the door begins to open, a
There, before you, stands Ver- deep rumbling sound (like an earth-
minaard, holding Elistan prisoner After event #3 (or the next morning, quake) is heard. The ledge and cliff
in a crystal cage. A small golden if event #3 does not occur), the Coun- face begin to shake. The door sud-
lock holds the cage shut. Elistan cil urges the PCs to seek out the denly breaks free and pushes out five
sees you and tries to speak, but he dwarven gates without delay. Using feet; anyone standing in front of it
cannot. the Abanasinia Wilderness map, a must roll a successful Dexterity
map discovered earlier, or instruc- check to avoid falling off the cliff. No
Verminaard raises his hand. Out tions given by Fizban (who goes with matter how the door is opened, Fiz-
of the darkness step fearsome the party in any case), the PCs reach ban manages to be caught on the
fighters. He laughs, and lowers his the doors after four hours’ travel. ledge, and falls down, apparently to
hand in a chopping motion. The Run normal wilderness random his death (though his body is not
fighters attack! encounters. After four hours’ travel, found). The door continues to move
the heroes see the following: outward at a rate of five feet per
Give each player an appropriate round.
Dream Card (see the Appendix; you The steep defile suddenly opens
may photocopy these cards and up onto a narrow, five-foot-wide The door is built on a giant screw
hand them out). Once the players ledge. Below you, a cliff drops shaft propelled by a mechanism
have read their dream cards, Vermi- 1,000 feet to the valley. Above, the within the mountain. Originally, the
naard laughs chillingly. “So, fools, cliff climbs 500 feet to become door would rest on the wide ledge
now you remember your night in the part of the mountain range. An- that once was here. However, during
Mind of Evil!” other defile can be seen at the far the Cataclysm, much of the ledge
end of the ledge, almost 100 feet collapsed. Therefore, after the door
The Dragon Highlord speaks to away. has moved out 15 feet, the machin-
each member of the party, revealing ery begins to strain. Strange noises
that he knows exactly what hap- A large secret door is in the middle of are heard. In the next round, the
pened to each person in the dream. this cliff face. There is only a 15% screw shaft breaks, and the door,
He mocks the futile efforts of the he- chance that it can be found by non- which weighs several tons, plunges
roes to resist him, and belittles their elven races. Elves and half-elves over the cliff face, falling 1,000 feet
accomplishments both in the dream have normal chances to find the and crushing anything beneath it.
and in the real world. He gloats of his door. If the PCs have a map, they
victories and their defeats. know that the door is supposed to be The entrance to the lost dwarven
here. kingdom of Thorbardin has been
“It is pointless for you to continue found. The door, once opened, re-
in this lost cause,” he says. “Wealth The defile on the far side of the mains open forever.
and power can be yours if you but ledge leads into a box canyon dead
take your place beside me, and place end.
your swords in my service.”
If the PCs cannot find the door, Fiz-
Verminaard has no intention of ban locates it for them.
keeping his word. If the heroes be-
tray the refugees, Verminaard takes The following methods can open
them back to Pax Tharkas with the great door:
promises of rich rewards. Once
there, he orders his troops to feed * A fireball spell can open the door. If
them to Ember. Fizban is with the party, he tells ev-
eryone to stand back, then casts his
If the heroes attack, Ember flies fireball. Fizban stupidly stands right
out of missile range. Verminaard in front of the door, and appears to be
laughs at the futility of the attack. If destroyed in the blast. The door
the heroes actually hit either Vermi- slowly opens (see below).
naard or the dragon, Ember attacks

92



Using the Dwarven dom are currently inhabited, others 3. Kings Wall Corner 1
Kingdom Maps are in ruins. Modify the block de-
scriptions below based on the infor- The Kings Wall is an inner defense
The great kingdom of Thorbardin is mation in each chapter. for the dwarven city. It is made up of
detailed on the color Kingdom of city blocks 3-7. The Kings Wall is
Thorbardin map. This map shows the City blocks are connected to each generally an upper-class area, filled
locations of cities, major corridors, other by the little extensions on each with expensive inns, homes of the
lakes, caverns, and the like. Also on block, which are open. If a city block rich, and lush temples.
the map are the 16 city blocks that doesn’t connect with anything, the
make up the dwarven cities. All the extensions are just alcoves. If there is a city level below a Kings
city blocks have north at the top. Wall block, then the pit drops
Some of the cities of Thorbardin through to the next level, 100 feet be-
It has been said that if you’ve seen are not visited in this adventure. You low. If there is no level underneath,
one dwarven city, you’ve seen them can create your own dwarven cities the pit is 50 feet deep.
all. Nothing could be more true. just by preparing “crossword puzzle”
Once a dwarf finds something he maps, and set your own adventures The temple in this block is used by
likes, he sticks with it. Dwarves leave therein. visitors to the city, rather than by city
architectural innovation to the elves, residents.
who enjoy that sort of thing. In the City Block Descriptions
world of Krynn, all dwarven cities are 4. Kings Wall Gate
made of the same city blocks, re- The 16 dwarven city blocks are de-
peated endlessly. scribed below. Some areas of the The Kings Wall Gate controls access
kingdom are currently inhabited and to the inner city. The drawbridge is
To find your way around a dwarven active. In those areas, use the full de- made of wood and can be burned (ten
city, a third type of map is used. This scription. Some areas are deserted rounds until collapse) or removed by
map resembles a crossword puzzle, and lie in ruins. In those areas, ma- soldiers (this takes five rounds).
made up of small boxes with num- chinery does not work and every-
bers and letters in them. thing is covered with the dust of Beyond the drawbridge are heavy
centuries. In the Northgate area, iron doors and portcullises lined with
Each chapter has one or more of scars of the Dwarfgate War are every- arrow slits on either side.
these maps in it. Each box on the where: skeletons, rusty armor, etc.
map represents one of the 16 city Nothing is of use to the players. In inhabited areas, guards are sta-
blocks on the large map. tioned at the drawbridge and also oc-
Because it is important for the he- cupy the guard houses inside the
In each box is a place for a city roes to get through the dwarven wall.
block number (one of the 16 city kingdom quickly, not a lot of detail is
block types), facing (a compass direc- provided for the various cities. Keep 5. Kings Wall I
tion: N, E, S, W, or R for Random), the characters on track as they move
and encounter (keyed to an encoun- through the kingdom. If they wander In this block are the homes and tem-
ter number in of the chapter). All into areas not described, or need a ples of the upper class. If this block is
boxes have a city block number and level of detail not provided in the ex- above another city block, the air
a facing; only some of them have planation, you must improvise to fit moat opens onto the level below—
encounters. the situation. otherwise it drops into water 20 feet
below the floor.
The left box in the example on If you decide to create additional
page 97 contains a “2” and an “E.” adventures in the halls of the 6. Kings Wall II
On the large map, “2” is a Great Hall. dwarves, you can add whatever addi-
(Remember, all city blocks on the tional detail you need to the city This block contains upper-class
large map are facing north.) Since blocks. homes, temples, and shops.
the direction is “E,” rotate the block
90 degrees so that the top of the city 1. Gatehouse 7. Kings Wall Corner II
block, which formerly faced north,
faces east. It connects with an “8E.” Gatehouse blocks control access to This area is similar to city block 3.
Looking again at the large map, you the dwarven city. The immense gate
see that “8” is a Court of Thanes. is powered by a water-driven ma- 8. Court of Thanes
Since it, too, faces north on the large chine that turns a huge screw.
map, you must rotate it to face east. The royal court is lined with sculp-
The court contains an encounter, as 2. Great Hall ture and tapestry—the finest art of
well. Refer to the current chapter’s the dwarven kingdom.
encounter section to find out what The Great Hall forms the main street
happens in the court. of a dwarven kingdom. Merchant The seven thrones are for the
shops line the passage. Seven Ruling Thanes Under the
(Note: If the direction is “R,” assign Mountain, the rulers of each of the
a facing at random.) major dwarf races. Once there was a
High King of Thorbardin, but no one
Some areas of the dwarven king- has risen to claim the throne since

94

the days of Derkin. ter of dwarven life. Assembly halls cise facilities. Not all cells were
This block also contains quarters are the homes of plays and music. locked, depending on the status and
Major bazaars and shops are located behavior of the prisoner, since exit
for visiting thanes, as well as temples here. There are also smaller public from the cell area is so tightly con-
for use by the court. Government of- worship halls and guildhalls for the trolled. If Dungeon Blocks are adja-
fices are also located here. dwarven artisans. cent, there is frequently free
movement between them, but all
9. Residence 11. Wharf connection with the outside is still
controlled by the guards.
Most dwarves live in residence Dwarven cities sometimes open onto
blocks. A few stores operate in the underground lakes and rivers. The 14. Smithy
residence blocks, but goods are dwarves in these cities carry on trade
mostly purchased elsewhere. by water, and occasionally fish. In the great smithies, the dwarves of
ages past created wondrous works.
10. Transport Shaft The wharf area contains boat slips, Stone troughs convey metal from the
warehouses, government offices, central furnace to the many stalls
The Transport Shafts are the primary and repair facilities for boats. where dwarven craftsmen work. A
method of travel between levels in large cauldron hangs over the cen-
the dwarven kingdom. The central 12. Great Temple tral fire pit, controlled by complex
circular chamber is a shaft that machinery. The cauldron can be
stretches through many levels above The dwarves of Thorbardin are swiveled, tipped, or pulled out of the
and below. among the few races of post- fire to be filled. The floor of the fire
Cataclysm Krynn to retain knowl- pit is covered in several feet of soot
Driven by a mechanism at the bot- edge of the True Gods. The primary and ashes. The floors and walls of the
tom of the shaft (city block 15), chain god of the mountain dwarves is smithy are streaked with hardened
ladders and great hanging buckets Reorx, the forger. bits of metal and scorch marks.
move up on one side and down on
the other. Platforms lead out over the According to dwarven religion, the 15. Transport Machinery
pit so that it is easy for a traveler to holy kingdom of Reorx is located far
step into one of the buckets as it beneath the earth. If the temple is lo- The large pit in the central chamber
moves slowly past, and then to step cated above another city block, the is filled with the machinery that oper-
off when the desired level is reached. pit opens up onto the next level. Oth- ates the transport system. A net is
erwise it is at least 1,000 feet deep, suspended above the machinery. The
In deserted areas of the dwarven for the dwarves believe the deeper net serves two purposes: it reduces
kingdom, the shafts are abandoned the shaft, the more holy the temple. falling damage by 50%, and it pro-
and the driving mechanisms disen- tects the machinery from anything
gaged. The chains and buckets do Climbing down a Shaft of Reorx falling into it.
not move unless someone climbs on, would be considered a vile sacrilege
and then they allow only downward to a dwarf. 16. Gardens
movement. The chains cannot be
climbed unless the locking mecha- In a typical Great Temple block These beautiful, well-kept gardens
nism in city block 15 is engaged. there are small stores selling reli- are the parks of the dwarven realms.
gious items. Dwarven priests nor- They are lighted by shafts of crystal
To get onto the chain or into a mally live in a Temple Block, and leading to the surface (a primitive fi-
bucket in a deserted area, a charac- have a private temple in the block for ber optics system). The garden con-
ter must jump ten feet from the edge their own use. tains small trees, shrubs,
and catch a chain. This requires a mushrooms, and fungi.
Dexterity check. If the check suc- 13. Dungeons
ceeds, he descends slowly. If the Encounters in the
check fails, the player makes a sec- Although fierce in battle, the Northgate
ond check to arrest the fall. If that dwarves allow opponents to surren-
check succeeds, he catches a chain, der. There are both random and set
but suffers 2d6 points of damage. If encounters in Northgate. Use the
the second check fails, a third check The dungeons have cell areas ac- random encounter chart in the Ap-
is made. If the third check succeeds, cessed through special rooms called pendix to determine random
the character falls 30 feet before transit areas. A special mechanism encounters; do this once for each
catching a chain, and he suffers 3d6 controlled from the guard area oper- city block the PCs enter in
points of damage, but then descends ates first one portcullis, then the Northgate. Whenever the chart indi-
normally. If the third Check fails, the other, serving to control access to cates that a random encounter oc-
character falls the full distance of the the cell blocks. A key is required to curs, roll 1d8. Each city block has
shaft and suffers normal falling dam- operate the mechanism. Outside the
age of 1d6 (cumulative) per 10 feet cell area are guard quarters and
fallen to a maximum of 20d6. weapons storage areas.

The Transport Block is in the cen- The internal areas are the cells
proper, including dining and exer-

95

the numbers 1-8 located on it. The An armed party of dwarves steps A stunted dwarf, pale of skin and
encounter occurs at the die result into the corridor before you. The with large eyes, sits mumbling to
(e.g., a roll of “6” means that the leader steps forward. Strength and himself and pulling at his hair. He
encounter takes place in location 6 confidence show in his every is clothed in black, oily rags with
in that city block). move. The large hammer at his bits of leather and metal sewn into
side is held loosely but ready. He them. He looks up and begins to
The heroes may decide to bring rumbles, “What business have you cower before you.
the refugees along with them into strangers among the halls of the
Thorbardin. If they do, 20 dwarves of Hylar?” This is Krothgar, a Theiwar, recently
the Theiwar kingdom (also known as ousted by his clan for cowardice.
dark dwarves) attack 1d6 turns after The leader is named Arman Kharas
the refugees enter Northgate. An ad- (see the NPC Capsules in the Appen- If he is offered food or safety, he
ditional 20 Theiwar attack each 1d6 dix). With him are 12 Hylar dwarves, agrees to guide the party through the
turns. After three attacks, if the he- each wearing chain mail and carry- dwarven kingdom. Actually, he plans
roes have not already decided to ing shield and war hammer. to guide the party to the Theiwar
have the refugees retreat, the refu- community on the upper level
gee council decides to turn back. If the heroes attack, the dwarves (encounter 244) hoping to redeem
The refugees make camp outside of fight fiercely. If it looks like the Hylar himself by offering his clan these
Northgate to wait for the heroes’ re- will be beaten, Arman surrenders. If strangers from the outside world.
turn with permission to enter. The the heroes talk, Arman listens to
refugees have heard many awful ru- their story, though his men remain 241. Prisoners
mors about the dwarves of Thor- ready to fight.
bardin, and they are very fearful. No random encounters occur in this
If the heroes treat Arman with re- block. In the spot labeled “1,” two Hy-
Because the refugees have now spect and honor, he decides to take lar dwarves are held prisoner—one is
moved farther from the approaching them before the Court of the Thanes Pick, Arman Kharas’s half-brother. In
Dragonarmy, the heroes have an ad- for judgment. There they might be the spot labeled “5” are 2d4 Theiwar
ditional 48 hours to get passage granted safe passage. If the heroes guards. At the “8” are other pris-
through Thorbardin. are disrespectful, Arman orders oners, including Aghar, Hylar, and
them out of Thorbardin and attacks Klar dwarves.
All drawbridges in Northgate are if they refuse.
down and can be crossed. The draw- If Pick sees the party, he calls out
bridge mechanisms are rusted and The Hylar usually avoid Northgate, for rescue, and says his family will re-
cannot be repaired. since it is held by the Theiwar ward his safe return. The other Hylar
dwarves, sworn enemies of the Hylar. dwarf in the cell is dying of a rotting
238. Dwarfgate However, the Theiwar have captured disease; he dies an hour after rescue
Arman’s half-brother Pick, and Ar- if nothing is done to cure him.
The scars of fierce battle streak man is searching the halls of
the walls. The floor is littered with Northgate for him. If the heroes offer Once rescued, Pick would gladly
broken shards of pottery and to help Arman rescue his half- lead the party through Thorbardin,
rusted metal. Ancient wagons, brother, Arman takes them to the but unfortunately doesn’t know
their axles broken, litter the major Court of the Thanes even if they are where he is or how to get home.
corridors. The skeletons of disrespectful.
dwarves and men lie where they 242. Anvil’s Echo
died so long ago, clothed in rusted Arman has an idea where Pick may
armor and rags, silent witnesses to be held (see encounter 241), and A vast cavern opens up before
the terrible conflict that once leads the heroes toward the dungeon you, spanned by a bridge that
raged in these halls. if they agree to help him. leads off into the darkness. The
slightest whisper seems to echo
Everything is deserted and in ruins. Once Pick has been rescued, Ar- endlessly in the black depths. Low
There are no random encounters in man leads the heroes to the City of stone rails, three feet high, line
this block. The mechanism that once the Hylar (chapter 16) by the most di- each side of the wide bridge. The
operated the doors is rusted and bro- rect route. rails are held up by carvings of
ken. small dwarves.
It is very important that the heroes
239. Arman Kharas accompany Arman and do not fight The cavern is called the Anvil’s Echo.
him. Encourage peaceful negotia- Legend has it that the sound of a
If this encounter has already oc- tion and highlight Arman’s good in- dwarven hammer on an anvil will
curred, do not repeat it. tentions and behavior. echo for eternity in this dwarf-made
cavern. The ceiling is 100 feet above:
240. The Dark Guide the floor of the cavern (encounter

If this encounter has already oc-
curred, do not repeat it.

96

245) is 100 feet below. the chains. See city block 10 for op- 245. Floor of Anvil’s Echo
The bridge is part of the Northgate eration of the transport system.
A huge, rectangular cavern is
defense system. Murder holes in the The Theiwar can ride the chains, carved out of the solid stone. The
ceiling were used to drop missiles, but they do so only in emergencies. floor is lined with rubble. Scat-
boiling oil, molten lead, and boul- Since they do not see this as an emer- tered about are skeletons long
ders on attackers—but the defenders gency, they do not pursue. dead, fallen from the great bridge
of Northgate are long dead. above.
If Krothgar is guiding the party, he
Halfway across the bridge are two runs back in the direction from which Northgate
ropers, flattened against the stone he came, since these Theiwar are
guard rails, waiting to ambush the from a different clan, and would
party. gladly kill him, too. Krothgar finds
the nearest stair and runs to the up-
Attack of the Theiwar per level, which is occupied by his
own clan. The Theiwar do not pursue
A clan of Theiwar dwarves is forag- into what they consider enemy terri-
ing in this block. Unless the party is tory.
totally silent, the Theiwar are not sur-
prised. There are 75 Theiwar. As the 244. City of the Theiwar
heroes approach the center of the
block, the dark dwarves fill the main Krothgar’s clan occupies the small
hallways to the south and the east. walled fort on the upper level of
Northgate. There are 250 Theiwar
If the party is being led by Arman led by a savant. If the party enters the
Kharas, he races down the west end clan fort, the Theiwar try to capture
of the hall shouting for all to follow the party, take their possessions,
him. He leads all who follow to the then throw them into the well of An-
nearest Transport Block, and jumps vil’s Echo (encounter 242) to their
to catch one of the chains. All of Ar- deaths.
man’s men follow him onto the
chains; they all succeed in catching

Encounters captured heroes for 24 hours, then 248. The Second Road of
bring them before the Council of Thanes
246. Leaving Northgate Thanes in the Hylar city.
This is identical to the First Road, ex-
If the party leaves Northgate in the The party departs Northgate either cept it leads to the middle level of the
company of Arman Kharas, Arman on the First Road of Thanes (if they North Hall of Justice.
guides them through the dwarven left Northgate from the lower level)
realms to the city of the Hylar by the or on the Second Road of Thanes (if 249. The North Hall of
safest and most direct route. He they left from the middle level). Justice
knows where the Theiwar strong-
holds are, and he avoids them when- 247. The First Road of The North Hall of Justice (see map) is
ever possible. Arman wishes to avoid Thanes a small complex of city blocks that
combat, intending only to get his once served as government offices
half-brother Pick to safety and to A wide tunnel through the moun- and a second line of defense. When
take the party before the Council of tain leads into darkness. Metal Thorbardin was sealed off from the
Thanes. tracks in the center of the stone outside world, the North Hall of Jus-
floor are worn smooth. Once, tice fell into disuse. It is now occu-
Arman answers questions about thousands of dwarves must have pied by Theiwar, who prey on unwary
the dwarven kingdoms to the best of walked here. Now, there is only travelers.
his ability. As a son of Thane Hornfel, dust and emptiness. Your foot-
leader of the Hylar, he knows much steps echo in the deserted corri- Sentries are posted in the Great
of the rivalry that plagues the king- dor. Halls on the lower and middle levels.
doms of Thorbardin (especially be- A party of 40 Theiwar wearing
tween the Hylar and the Theiwar). At The Roads of the Thanes are the ma- leather armor and carrying light
every occasion, he talks about his jor highways that connect the cities crossbows with poison arrows is sta-
supposed descent from the dwarven and outposts of Thorbardin. In the tioned in each Kings Gate Block in
hero Kharas. civilized areas of the realm, small the complex, where they can fire on
cars roll along the metal tracks, intruders through arrow slits in the
If the heroes depart Northgate pulled by cables connected to dwar- Kings Wall. All Theiwar are of the
without Arman, they must find out ven engines. Cars pulled by beasts of lowest type. Arman knows nothing
what to do and where to go by them- burden travel along the roads, as do of their presence; he came to
selves. Most of the possible encoun- dwarves on foot. Northgate by a different and more
ters in this region of Thorbardin are dangerous route.
with Theiwar dwarves, who try to lure The First Road leads to the lower
unwary adventurers into a trap. If the level of the North Hall of Justice. If the party inflicts more than 50%
heroes reach the West Warrens, they casualties on the Theiwar, the remain-
encounter numerous Hylar farmers, ing fighters flee; they are not inter-
who call for guards to capture the in- ested in prey that fights back. Arman
truders. The guards imprison any and his warriors help the heroes.

98