51 best finale. We know that the party is not strong, after those fights before. What you need to do is to make the battle as hard as possible while giving them a fair chance to save the day. If you want hard numbers I would go with 350 HP, 2 legendary resistances, all spells available and only -2 penalty on attacks. But I regard a battle like this as highly flexible, you as the DM probably also want the PCs to succeed and get to the epilogue of the adventure. If that is the case then don’t even think about HP. You could decide on a “probable” HP and go with the flow of the battle. You get to decide who gives the winning blow, wait for a good moment, a critical hit, a radiant damage spell, a damaging spell from Orcus’ Wand. Remember that narrative beats mechanics every time. After the battle there should be a grand epilogue to wrap everything up. Notice that the adventure still offers some unfinished business that the players might like to pursue. That would be outside the bounds of the book and into high level campaign style. Some of the unclosed loops are: Vizeran DeVir, Gromph’s Grimoire, the location of Gromph Baenre and the presence of Graz’zt in the Abyss. Plus any others that naturally occurred in your game. There’s also the money arrangement that was made with Davra Jassur in Chapter 8. All in all, it’s a great adventure and the players should be able to take the reigns of the narrative side and explore the different epilogue possibilities. Unless this is not the epilogue and they choose to continue pursuing other goals into high level play. Thanks a lot to everyone who followed my guide. It took tons of effort and time to write it, and it marked the beginning of Elven Tower as a website. It has made my so happy to see so many people getting benefitted from these guide that I’ve written.
52 Appendix 1 – Extra encounters No. 1 he first part of the adventure involves lots of traveling, A LOT OF traveling. According to page 25, you should roll twice daily, while traveling through the underdark. Page 18 explains the time it takes to get from one place to the next, for example, a party traveling from Sloobludop to Gracklstugh will take 28 days at normal pace. Rolling randomly for encounters in this time period can result in over 20+ encounters, quite too much if you want to keep the game dynamic. Also, considering that some people play D&D every two weeks or even monthly, it could take such a group months in real time just to get from one point of interest to the next. This is something I mentioned in chapter No. 2 of my OoTa guide. It is a lot more fluent and convenient to decide before the game, what and how many encounters will the PC’s have while traveling, the number of encounters shouldn’t be related to the time traveling, the underdark is dangerous, yes, but it’s so vast that the PC’s could spend days traveling before encountering a threat. My personal recommendation is to have around 5 wilderness encounters between points of interest. You can adjust it depending on how often your group plays and such. Now, back to “random” encounters, chapter two has a list of terrain and creature encounters. They work great in synergy if they are combined properly, this is why I advice against random rolling them. This article is about my suggestions for combining these encounters for fun challenges, and some extra options to expand in the rather short list of encounters in the book. These options are geared toward the first half of the adventure. 1.-Lava Swell (page 26) with Giant fire beetles (page 28).- This encounter works only if we change the fire beetle and give it fire damage immunity. The encounter starts when the ground opens under the PC’s, some of them could fall into the lava which is a danger in itself. While they panic and try to help their burning friends, the fire beetles emerge from the lava and attack any survivors, be careful, this encounter can wreck an unprepared party. 2.-High ledge (page 26) with 2 grells.- A pair of grells have found the perfect lair, on top of a high ledge. Every time travelers try to go through it, the grells descend on them to feed on them. As the party will be physically separated and unable to switch positions, this encounters is very deadly, and there’s also the danger of falling. 1d6 of bludgeoning damage for every 10ft of falling. Height can be as high or low as you want it to be. 3.-Lost expeditioners.- The party encounters 3 people roaming randomly through caves, Gustaff Gonlid (human), Adrienne Fetherless and a camp servant. They came underground looking for a lost tomb and were attacked by a pack of gnolls, they are the only survivors. If Fargas Rumblefoot is with the party, they recognize him and join the expedition. Fargas was their guide, they thought he was long dead. Regardless of Fargas presence, they will request to join the party at least until they reach a settlement. 4.-Mad people.- The party spots an adjoining cavern some distance ahead, light comes from it in the pattern of campfire. They hear mad laughter and rhythmic sounds, as they get closer they hear people talking in strange unrecognizable languages. When they peer into the cave they see a campfire and 5 people around it, they are almost naked and in a bad state of malnutrition, with scars covering their bodies. Their lips are missing, so they portray a permanent unnerving “smile” They move erratically and ignore the PC’s even if attacked. Their minds are far lost to madness. An arcana check (DC 19) reveals that they are talking in tongues whose origin is the far realm, even if magic is used, their words are unintelligible. A survival check (DC 15) let’s a PC study the area and tracks, the check reveals that they haven’t left the cave in weeks, something keeps them from leaving, they have apparently started to eat each other alive. 5.-Zentharim expedition.- This encounter only occurs between Neverlight Grove and Blingdenstone. Entering a big underground chamber, the PC witness the arrival of an expedition of 10 men and a beholder. They are walking with their backs to the party, so they don’t see the PC’s, except for the beholder who spots them as he enters, but ignores them. They are Zentharim thugs and scouts accompanied by Lorthuun, a beholder allied with the faction. They are traveling to Mantol-Derith. The PC’s should take the hint and ignore them, this is just a foreshadowing of T
53 the Zentharim and beholder in Mantol-Derith. Make sure you describe how the beholder is missing some eyes. If the PC’s confront them for whatever reason, the Zentharim do not wish to fight and offer directions to the next settlement politely. If pressed or followed, the Zentharim will try show muscle to scare the PC’s. 6.-Insect ambush.- 2d6 swarm of insects ambushes the party. In turn 3, three giant spiders descend from the dark to prey on the PC’s. 7.-Renegade drow.- The PC’s stumble upon a group of 2d6 drow. If Sarith is with the party, two of the drow recognize him. They were expelled from Menzoberranzan for opposing the matriarchy. They explain that Sarith’s family name has gained a pretty bad reputation recently, so they advice him not to go back (they don’t know that he was taken prisoner). If Sarith is not around, the drow party attacks immediately, they want the PC’s stuff. 8.-Derro cultists.- Buppido had been building a small cult to himself in the underground complex in Gracklstugh. Since he has been away, some of his cultist were drawn to the underdark wilderness, they don’t know how, but they are being drawn toward Buppido. They eventually find him traveling with the PC’s. Four derro cultists arrive and try to kneel before Buppido, and call him “m’Lord”. Buppido is still trying to hide his identity so he instantly jumps and stops them from showing such deference. They can join the party and help Buppido do his deranged ritualistic murders. Or Buppido might chose a difficult time (like after a tough battle) to show his true colors, now that his followers are with him. 9.-Rocks trap and orogs.- Some orogs have set a trap, they have a net holding a ton of rocks. They watch patiently from a ledge. When the PC’s approach they set the trap and let the rocks fall on them, a Dex save (DC 14) let’s them take only half damage (5d8 bludgeoning damage), also, anyone who fails the save is restrained by the rocks. They can spend an action to do an acrobatics or Athletics check (DC 14) to free themselves. After the trap is set the orogs descend with ropes and attack any survivors. 10.-Gnoll pack with prisoners.- A pack of 2d8 gnolls has set up camp along a cave tunnel, they have darkvision and have no need for a camp so the PC’s don’t immediately see them, but they can hear their mad laughter. The gnolls have 2d4 shield dwarf prisoners, they are killing them to cut them in pieces for easier transportation. The more the PC’s take to rush into action the more cries of pain from the dwarves they will hear. Every 20 seconds another dwarf is killed. 11.-Myconid settlement under attack.- This encounter works well a long time before Neverlight Grove. If stool is with the PC’s he will inform that they are approaching a myconid settlement, he can sense the home spores coming from it. When they arrive, it is under attack ! A group of 3d6 dretches lead by one balgura are wrecking the myconid adults. A lot of them have died already. After being saved, the remaining myconids say that they will start a pilgrimage to Neverlight Grove through the fungi network. Although sad, they rejoice because they have heard that the mistress in Neverlight Grove is having a marriage ceremony that will bring joy to all myconids. Stool guesses incorrectly that Sovereign Basidia is going to get married. 12.-Demonic stampede.- When approaching a big settlement, the PC’s find a small mining town a few kilometers from the big city (which could be Gracklstugh or Blingdenstone). PC’s will probably want to rest or sell/buy things. While this happens, an alarm horn sounds. They miners scream about an attack. They go and hide in a narrow mine, as it is more easily defensible. A huge number of manes demons and dretch demons assault the settlement. These demons aren’t very dangerous to the PC’s and they don’t have the damage resistance of stronger demons, however they have the numbers. The PC’s should defend the cave against endless hordes of demons, with no access to short rests. 13.-Shadow assault.- One shadow demon and a pack of 2d4 shadows lurk the underdark in search of souls to eat. They will attack from the shadows to get the advantage and will try to start by ambushing the party. If dawnbringer is drawn they will focus their attacks on its bearer, and if things get hard they will flee to the shadows, they can wait for hours until dawnbringer is sheathed again to repeat to ambush. 14.-Shield dwarf expedition.- The PC’s come across a big dwarf expedition. They are friendly and welcome them to their camp. They are traveling south on an exploration mission, they are mapping the section of the underdark surrounding the Labyrinth. Eldeth can choose to join them, to be later encountered in Gauntlgrym. 15.-Modron march.- The PC’s encounter a march of 22 monodrones, 1 tridrone and 1 pentadrone. They are traveling south. They are neutral but will fight if attacked. If the PC’s use magic to communicate, the
54 pentadrone can explain that they are marching and recording all the information about the underdark. An arcana check (DC20) reveas that the Great March is the reason for their presence here. If the check succeeds by 5 or more it reveals that the last march happened more then 200 years ago. These modrons are lost. They cannot be convinced to travel in a different direction, the Pentadrone is very stubborn, he wants to go south; he explains that he wants to reach the Maximum Orderer, a modron device they can use to travel back to Mechanus. (This fact foreshadows the Maze engine in chapter 14) If left alone they will continue their way, they will be attacked in the Labyrinth by minotaurs; the pentadrone will die and the remaining modrons get lost in the Labyrinth. They are encountered again by the PC’s in chapter 14. 16.-Friendly slavers.- Traversing the underdark, they come across a caravan of 6 duergar slavers. They are transporting 6 human and 2 shield dwarves to sell in Gracklstugh. They don’t want to fight, instead they will try to barter for “weak looking” members of the PC’s party. They will try to buy Eldeth, Stool, Shuushar or the gnome siblings. (or anyone you like, maybe a PC). They offer 15-50 gold coins, depending on who they want to buy. If denied they go on their way, if confronted, they fight to the death (madness causes this). 17.-Lonely elf.- The PC’s find a one person camp, it was recently used. If they wait for an hour a female elf hunter comes back, she is wary of the PC’s but poses no threat (immediately). He requests to join the party if they mention where they are traveling. She is a succubus in disguise. She will try to seduce and charm a party member. 18.-Deranged Kuo-Toa.- While traveling close to the darklake shore, a group of 6 kuo-toa get out of the water and approach the PC’s, they explain that an important wedding is about to happen in an underwater settlement and that they have been invited. They offer water magic that will let them breath without problem underwater. If the PC’s accept they have to travel 1 hour swimming to the depths of the lake, where there is a small kuo-toa town. They have to fight some sharks to get there. The town’s name is Ploobcludbloot. Two important individuals are to get married, after some eating, swimming and dancing around a weird altar. An aboleth emerges from the dark waters to perform the ceremony. He uses his tentacles and mucous slime to bond together the two kuo-toa. With magic, they are fused together in an abominable confusion of limbs and fish parts. A Madness check is required (DC 14). After the event, the aboleth returns to the depths and the kuo-toa thank the PC’s for attending. They won’t escort them back but will renew the breathing magic. 19.-Corrupted Galeb Duhrs.- 1d6 galeb duhrs attack without warning, they detach seamlessly from rock walls and engage the party. Their appearance has weird black cracks. They were infected by Ogremoch’s Bane and are dangerous. When the party reaches Blingdenstone they will be able to find out that the galeb duhrs were originally there and went rogue. 20.-Old gamble partners.- As unlikely as it seems, the PC’s come across an underdark caravan where some old gamble players of Jimjar travel, they recognize him immediately and request to be paid as Jimjar still owes them 200 gold pieces ! The gamblers can be a group of humans, duergar, gnomes or a mix. Jimjar doesn’t have the money to pay and they might want to snatch him to sell him to slavers, to recover some of the money. If the PC’s pay the debt they go away, if confronted in battle, they will fight. If half of them lose their lives, the rest surrender and leave. So, there you go ! twenty extra encounters to spice your underdark traveling for the first half of the adventure. Remember that although there is a lot of traveling, the focus should be on the settlements, traveling is just flavor for the important bits in the different underdark cities. The book provides only so many wilderness encounters, so I hope this list is useful to all DM’s getting ready and prepping the adventures in the underdark.
55 Appendix 2 – Extra encounters No. 2 lthough teleportation is an option, if you’re following my advice on chapter 9, the second part of the adventure from level 8 through 15 still involves lots of traveling and wilderness encounters. Unfortunately, the book is not very clear in the options available. And when you find what’s available, it’s surprising how “not cool” the experience is. In chapter 9 the book tells us to use the encounter tables in chapter 2. You know where I’m going. Those battle are way to easy for a level 8+ party. Then we find another encounter table in the Wormwrithings chapter, a little better but it’s not enough, and then you have to use it again in the labyrinth. After that there is an encounter table to be used in the fetid wedding, while traversing Araumycos, that’s the worst one. The purpose of this part of my guide is to provide more and better options for fun, interesting or challenging encounter ideas for the second half of the Out of the Abyss campaign. If you’re playing the first half of the adventure you might want to check out the other Extra Encounters for the first part article. 1.-Drider ambush – A group of 2 driders and 4 giant spiders hang from the ceiling hiding. The spiders attack while the driders shoots from the ceiling. If the spiders are killed and driders are reduced to half HP the attempt to flee. 2.-Insane Giants – There’s a big explosion as one wall breaks in. Two stone giants stand before the PCs. They are afflicted by the same condition as Dorhuun in Gracklstugh, they are two-headed and insane. 3.-Merchants in distress – A small miners caravan is making its way from Blingdenstone to any other settlement, transporting salt and minerals. They were recently attacked and request assistance in going back to save some friends and merchandise. Or they could be ok and request escorting to the next city. 4.-Captive angel – Fasriel is an angel that was defeated in the underdark by fiends a very long time ago. We was nailed to a cross in a desecrated area that’s also shielded from detection. He is also cuffed with dimensional shackles. He’s dying but this condition is eternal, he never quite dies. The PCs might stumble upon him by accident, triggering an encounter with the angel’s guards. 2-3 Balgura, 1 Nalfeshnee and scores of Manes. After the battle, the PCs can return the angel to his own plane with a banishment spell or similar. 5.-Kobold hunting party – kobold marauders try to ambush the party, two of them are accomplished spellcasters. They cast fireball and darkness in the first turn. If this go sour for them, they can cast invisibility and flee. 6.-Kobold scammers – kobold fraud merchants who carry a crystal ball and scry people before bartering. They try to guess what their clients are looking for and recreate it with a clever illusion spell. They try to sell a special component for Vizeran’s ritual for 500 gp, like the beholder eye. An investigation check (DC 17) reveals it to be fake. The illusory object appears real to the touch and other senses. It vanishes after two hours. 7.-Serpent warriors – Yuan-ti pureblood cultists attack the party. One of them is a mage, another one is an evil druid. The rest of them (1d6) use the stats of the veteran. 8.-Ooze rain – The roof caves in and a group of 4-5 black oozes fall on the party. They must succeed on a DEX save (DC 15) or take damage equal to the black ooze’s basic damage. 9.-Hyenas on the hunt – A gnoll tracking party is following the PCs, there is one chieftain (Veteran), one healer (gnoll acolyte with the healer feat), and a band of 15 regular gnolls. 10.-Hidden threat – The PCs stumble upon the territory of a Behir. It awaits in the shadows for the best moment to strike. 11.-Lava and demons – The PCs must cross a lava river. When half the party has crossed, a pack of 4 Vrocks attacks. 12.-Down with Primus – A group of rogue and insane modrons mistake the PCs for enemies of Primus. They consist of 3 tridrones, 2 duodrones and A
56 10 monodrones. If the PCs kill two tri-drones and cure the last one with a greater restoration spell, it can command the rest of the modrons to stop fighting. 13.-Down with the fire giants – On a completely unrelated matter, the PCs come across a band of dwarven knights representing the Underkingdom of Belletta. They see strength in the PCs and offer great treasures if they join their quest. They seek to destroy a fire giant camp. 14.-Yes… she’s back – Illvara’s insane soul still roams the underdark, trying to find her quarries. She’s somehow reincarnated as a group of 5 wraiths. All of them are her. Her personality and memories are fragmented in each wraith. 15.-Accomplished spellcaster – An arcanaloth has sensed the magic auras of the PC’s magic items. He confronts them and offers to spare them if they relinquish all of their magic items. He’s not alone, 6 ghasts, 4 ghouls and 8 zombies come with him. 16.-Dreams of tentacles – An illithid arcanist wants to enslave the party. He releases his 4 intellect devourers on them. He has greater invisibility and awaits next to the cave wall. After the intellect devourers use their devour intellect feature, the mind flayer attacks with mind blast. If all party members are taken down, the mind flayer eats one brain and takes the rest to his lair. Now the remaining PCs must escape before dinner time. 17.-Release the spirits – In a small crypt the PCs find an unopened sarcophagus, it’s held shut with a clay seal with runes. The runes talk about leaving the tomb alone, or risk impending death. If the PCs open it (they will), 2 ghosts, 1 banshee and 2d4 shadows attack. The zone is desecrated, granting advantage on turning saves to all undead. 18.-Bulletes pack – What appeared to be an earthquake, turns out to be a pack of bulletes hunting, they leap from floors and walls and attack the party. 2d4 bulletes attack. Optional: if half the bulletes die, the rest of them escape. 19.-Fomorian “town” – The PCs stumble upon an underground fungi forest which is home of a pair of fomorian. They could be working on their crops (they farm fungi), or maybe asleep. Other servants of these fomorians are a pack of lizard folk, 2d8 lizardfolk live here, taking advantage of the food resources and the fomorians protective company. 20.-Arcane threat – The party comes across a buried complex which used to be a library. Many wizards died here and were later revived as flameskulls by the magical nature of the underdark and de demonic energy. 2-3 flameskulls and 2d10 skeletons await in the library. All the flameskulls cast fireball in the first turn. Be sure to reward good treasure after this encounter.
57 Appendix 3 — Maze Engine (narrative) ne puzzling option in the maze engine sequence is the option for destroying all magic items. I thought this options was way too harsh and did not really add to the story. I came up with an alternative which brought the adventure to high new levels. The team just finished the Maze Engine and banished Baphomet, they had already banished Yennoghu in combat. Unfortunately during the Maze sequence, all their magic objects, scrolls included were absorbed through a vortex. The Tridrone told them that they were brought to Mechanus. They didn’t have their Teleportation Helm but the halfling cleric could use Word of Recall to get them back to Hilltoppple, a small settlement that they created just outside Gravenhollow. There was no way for them to planeshift so they contacted Vizeran through Sending, and told them in 25 words that they had banished to demon lords. They caught his attention and 10 minutes later he teleported to them and then teleported back to Araj with them and the Modrons. In his tower they explained to him what had happened, the only two missing items are the Timmasks and the Grimoire, Vizeran explains that he has a big investment and decides to help them. The day after in the floor of Araj, Vizeran has a magic circle drawn on the floor, and 5 human and drow salves shackled and sad, around it. (the team knows that they will be sacrificed to power the spell. A while back the shield guardian was damaged and they brought it to Vizeran who decided to repair it. Later they brought to the tower the 100 refugees from the Vast Oblivion, asked if they could be left there and Vizeran accepted. Next week Vizeran tells them that the shield guardian is ready. Then he tell the druid that he used the life energy of 40 refugees to power it. Blood magic ala Full metal alchemist. When the rest of the party found out they destroyed the control gem and left the useless guardian making company to the stone angels in the labyrinth). Vizeran is about to cast “call Kolyarut” to ask him to bring them to mechanus, the cleric wouldn’t have any of it and they get into an argument and decide to leave. They contact Lord Zelraun and explain the situation, he aids them with a planeshift spell. They get to Regulus, and important city in Mechanus. The modrons have a pyramid hierarchy and each one of them knows a lot of laws related to their level in the scheme. The tridrone explains that he has to give account of his more than 200 years in Eberron since the last great march and then he needs to speak to a Pentadrone. They go to a giant “government” building and start a one-day long process of paperwork, getting seals and signatures and interviews, all to get the audience, the team is going nuts, but for the tridrone this is life. Finally the team and the modrons get to see a pentadrone bureaucrat. First thing he says to the monodrones is that they broke a law level 4 (which they didn’t even know as they are level 1 modrons) that states that a modron in level 3 or lower cannot go into a building with unregistered extraplanar creatures. With a fingersnap the 3 monodrones disassemble to scrap pieces. Then he tells the duodrone they rescued from the vast oblivion that he has to go somewhere to get repairs and a possible promotion to tridrone. Then he asks the tridrone for an account of everything. after that he is dismissed. Then he asks the team to fill a million forms and paperwork to register their stay. It takes them hours. Then they are excused to wait for an audience to state their intentions. Next morning they are called forward to an audience with a Hexton, who tells them that one of the objectives of the last great march 200+ years ago was to deactivate and destroy the maze engine which was broken and got to the material plane by accident. But ! this objective was level 4 and up, so the tridrones, duodrones or monodrones didn’t know about it. only pentadrones and tetradrones. He says that they did a service to Mechanus but also broke a law that states that it was a severe crime to use the broken engine (which they call a “maximum orderer). He doesn’t know what to do exactly and is looking through stacks of paperwork while he talks to them. He then finds a lost clause in a 200+ years old document stating that every law passed has an expiring date of 175 years for extraplanar beings. He declares them guilty of a serious crime but states that he is unable to process them as the crime has expired and they cannot be judged for it. He offers his help. Explains that a few months ago there was an unauthorized teleportation of goods (time passes faster in mechanus), as they belonged to no one they O
58 were transported to a faraway storing place. He offers to Mecha-port them to the place. Which is a form of teleportation in which they transform to the building parts of modrons, small cogs and pistons and whatnot. They instantly disassemble to million pieces and are reformed in a faraway place. They fought some native lifeforms of mechanus before arriving to the storage place in which they found someone waiting for them, it was a chronomancer. He told them that they were criminals against the flow and natural order of things, pointing to the cleric and Derendil. The fight started and they couldn’t get more info from this creature. In the next room they found their stuff intact. When going out they were expected by the creature in the picture. It was an Inevitable Marut, his name Adarasimare. He is very polite and explains that his job is to put a stop to beings that defy death. Explains that life and the universe has a normal way of working, and that the flow must not be altered, or there are consequences. He tells them that they are guilty, he knows their names and a lot about them: the druid is guilty because at some point he reincarnated Derendil (into a real elf by the way). Then pointed to the cleric and told her that she had by this point, raised the druid from the death once, and Derendil 5 times. Then he pointed to Derendil and said to him that his life had already ended 6 times (yes Derendil has died 6 times, he’s full of scars from deathblows, ala Beric Dondarrion from GOT), it was a serious transgression to the natural flow. He said this with a certain sadness. And begged them to not make this longer and just surrender themselves, he told them they could still die like men, in a brave instant. Instead of fighting and dying like dogs with pain and blood. Guess what…. they wouldn’t have any of it and fought this creature, it was really tough but at the end they won, in its deathbed the Marut told them that they had just made this more serious, that the authorities in the great flow of things knew their names and that sooner or later they would be punished for their crimes. Then the fighter cut his head. After this they used word of recall to go back to Hilltopple with their stuff. 2 days later they got the vision from Basidia asking for their help in Zuggtmoy’s wedding. I think this is a nice alternative to that entry in the maze engine that says that all magic items are destroyed.
59 Appendix 4 - The tragedy of Derendil (Narrative) erendil the Quaggoth, easy to angry but noble at heart. In my story the other players like Derendil a lot, he’s become an important part of the team, it started because at first he had so much more HP that the rest of them so he was a great element in battle. But the story of the elf prince trapped in the monster body was appealing to the rest of the guys. When they reached Blingdenstone, they had a access to a greater restoration spell which didn’t do anything. I had some backstory for Derendil too. He was always mentioning things about his past. He mentioned his younger brother, his sister who was a great mage and his father the king. Nelrindenvane, his kingdom. He was always describing this place and its typical food and everything. He said that as soon as they got out to the surface the first thing they should do is go there, they would be received as kings. And his sister would be able to fix his problem, such a great mage she was. The problem was that the kingdom and its location. None of the party had ever heard of these places. So they were wondering if they were real. Still they loved Derendil for what he was. In Blingdenstone there was an encounter with a ghost which had the cleric and Derendil age 30 years. He was now elderly and was not nearly as effective in fights. It was sad that they couldn’t reverse the aging, but he had faith in his sister, if he were restored to his elvish self, 30 years would be nothing. When they got out of the underdark, they had a perilous fight with Orcus. They ran but Derendil lost his life, he was revivified and after that they started his journey to Nelrindenvane. Derendil was amazed at the brightness of the sun, he said he didn’t remembered it to be so bright and intense. Finally they got to a port and took a ferry to the island were Nelrindenvane was. By this time they had realized that that name was just an old elvish form of an elf kingdom that they knew about. In the port and in the island, Derendil found some old friends, who didn’t recognize him, but after a few questions came to realize that it was really him. They were let into the castle and were received by Derendil’s father and sister who asked him lots of questions to make sure it was him. Questions about his childhood and about things he would only know. She asked him about some childhood secrets that were known to only them. And Derendil proved it was really him. So she took him to her wizardry tower to try to find a cure. The PC’s were left to have dinner alone and after that were confronted by the king and a handsome other elf. They demanded to know who was the quaggoth and how he had gotten all that information. They were scared and deranged and difficult to talk with. After some arguing they were told that the handsome elf with the king was Prince Derendil, who had never left the kingdom. They were crazy about this underground monster who knew everything about the prince’s life. The PC’s didn’t know what to say, and at first reacted denying everything, even this so called Prince Derendil. Then the princess came to the room, the mage. She had been analyzing “Derendil” the quaggoth and realized that it was the Fearzness, in a weird turn of events, that had replicated Prince Derendil’s consciousness in the Quaggoth. They had identical memories up to the last few months, which the real Derendil lived in his castle, and the second Derendil had lived with the PC’s in the underdark. At this point the PC’s AND the players were mentally numb. They didn’t know wat to say or what to do. They had been expecting some type of fraud, like Nelrindenvane never existing or something like that, but they really never saw this coming. They asked for Derendil and the princess told them that he was still in the tower, she had already told him the truth. They went to see him, he was in a balcony looking outwards. They couldn’t say much, one of them was in tears. Derendil said he was so confused… “more than 400 years of memories, they’re all false”, “I have never existed”, “All this, my family, this kingdom and everything, even my elvish body and my language… it’s all a joke, just a dream” D
60 The PC’s tried to confort him, saying that he was the real Derendil to them, as they had come to love him for what he is (or was) and that they would find a way to make things better for him. He asked to be left alone to think. The rest of them were given quarters in the castle, the next day they would leave. They found Derendil in his room hanging from a chandelier. Not able to cope with the facts, he had taken his own life. They took the body and parted, the druid in the group had to go with the druid order, to see the greatest of his kin, a giant awakened tree who was itself the most powerful druid. A month later they arrived. The druid, together with the tree, performed a reincarnation ritual on Derendil and he came back to life as an elf. In the afterlife he had meditated a lot about his own existence and decided that he would find in the material world what was the purpose of his life. He pondered about using a new name, as his own was nothing but an illusion. The PC’s would have none of it, they assured him that he was Derendil till the end. He stayed in the druid’s forest for months and was taught some of the druid’s way. So they came back to the under dark with the new “Derendil” who was never again referred to, as a prince. For whatever direction of fate. Derendil died more times in the underdark adventures. By the time they got to the Maze Engine sequence, he had been brought back from death 7 times. 2 of them through reincarnation. The maze engine absorbed all of their magic items and tossed them to Mechanus. They traveled there, where they were eventually confronted by a Marut, this inevitable was there to tell them that they had altered the natural flow of things, he said that Derendil should never had existed, the universe had been trying to erase him, and that their continuous bringing him back to life was a serious transgression to the order of things. They destroyed this creature but before it exploded it told them that this was just the beginning. So this is our Derendil story. It’s the most important arch in our adventure because of the love they feel for him, all the things that they have been through together and all. They have come to realize that even though Derendil is something that was never supposed to be. It has become a type of force, his own will has been given form, and no matter how many times he’s been destroyed, this will, whose name is “Derendil” keeps coming back to give a meaning to its life.
61 Appendix 5 - The Final Confrontation (Narrative) After recovering Gromph Baenre grimoire, the PC’s were somewhat injured after all the fights in the way to Baenre’s inner sanctum. Stepping outside of Gromph’s office, they were approached by a shady drow in spellcaster’s garments. “I’m with the council of spiders”, he said with slithery elven. The drow explained that since Grim’s betrayal, the city’s authorities were in the know about them, and were currently surrounding the tower. But there was a way out; he said that several stories below, there was a chamber that hid a magical crystal, this contraption was the source of the teleportation lockdown; if it were destroyed, nothing would stop them from teleporting away in a split second. They went downstairs, the Druid protected their pass with magic, making them difficult to detect. Drow authorities knew already that the place was a sensitive asset. It was heavily guarded by a patrol of drows, some spiders and a priestess of Lolth. They did their best to stop the intruders but died in the process. After the crystal was damaged they teleported back to Araj and gave Vizeran the grimoire. Vizeran started the ritual while the PC’s went back to Gauntlgrym and some other places to recruit as many allies as they could. When they were ready, they had a small army composed of a lot of humans, a squad of elite dwarf fighters led by Eldeth Feldrun. Basidia gave them 40 miconids and some quaggoth spore servants. The Giants, Dorhun and Rihuud were there too. A pack of wererats from Blingdenstone. Sark Axebarrel and Burrow warden Jadger and some of his ghosts. Nomi Pathshutter and Yantha Coaxcrock were there too. When the ritual was complete, Lord Zelraun opened a portal right into Menzoberranzan’s marketplace. They went through it and the surprised drow immediately prepared to make a stand, but seeing the size of the army, quickly fled to leave this to the city matrons. They waited for a few minutes, there was a build up of static in the air, it became so dry it was difficult to breath. Sparks and micro lightning started to appear out of thin air, and then, giant rifts in the fabric of the world tore the sky apart. Hundreds of them all over the city, and from them, armies of demons and undead poured out. The heroes saw Demogorgon fall from a rift a few blocks away. Their mission was to be close to him and Orcus and wait for one of them to lose the battle. They moved slowly through the city, a lot of places were in ruins or recently destroyed by demons. Drow were everywhere, finding a way out of the city, trying to defend it and some of them, fighting with their former slaves who took the opportunity for mutiny. It was not a joyful sight. The ugliness and gloomy sadness of war pervaded Menzoberranzan. The heroes and their motley platoon fought bravely against hordes of fiends and undead. The cleric had only to raise her holy symbol and scores of undead would turn to dust. The druid commanded fire, ice and the power of beasts to make his way through the streets. The renowned fighter, wielding Yennoghu’s cursed flail had an unfair advantage against the demons. Derendil was still with them shooting arrows from the back. After killing a woman demon with six arms and a giant snake as a body, they came face to face with Thalasskoptis, the prince demon of the depths. A mass of writhing tentacles with a feral child’s face hiding underneath. No one knew that this demon prince was in the underdark. It was a blood bath. Being a demon prince, only magic and Yennoghu’s flail could damage it. Several lives were lost to the monster’s tentacles, after the battle the heroes started to question the plausibility of their quest. The climbed a flight of stairs and when they got to the high ground, the sight left them breathless. Menzoberranzan was in ruins, demons were all over the place destroying everything, killing everything. In front of them they could see Demogorgon and Orcus fighting. To their left, a few hundred meters away, there was a party of demons surrounding a single drow priestess. Two powerful Balors and some lesser demons approached her cautiously, trying to corner her. She raised her hand in an arcane gesture, and when it came down, all the demons turned to pale
62 gray dust. Quentel Baenre was making her way out of the city. The heroes finally came face to face with the demon lords, just in time to see Orcus lose the battle. Demogorgon threw Orcus’ limp body away from him. One of its heads looked to the sky and laughed with madness, the other head was staring directly at the heroes, getting ready to tear them apart. They noticed that Orcus’ wand was lying on the floor, and it was something they could use to battle the demon prince. Demogorgon charged while the cleric used her most powerful spell, one that empowered her allies with sacred energy and protected them from evil. The fighter wielding Yennoghu’s flail lunched forward and they clashed like two meteors, however it was clear who had superior power. The fighter would not last long. The druid invoked the elemental power of the air and transformed into a creature made of wind and air. He flew upwards and fought Demogorgon from the air. It was then that Demogorgon’s cursed gaze fell upon the cleric, a demonic stare that caused her mind and personality to fall apart. She was standing there almost still, you could see in her eyes that she was now stupid, unthinking. Her powerful enchantment faded. The druid had to turn back to his original form to try to restore her mind with his nature magic. The fighter again was alone holding de prince of demons back. To keep him alive, his allies sacrificed themselves as bait for demogorgon’s frenzied attacks. Even Dorhun the stone giant crumbled to pieces protecting the fighter. After the cleric’s mind was restored, she ran towards demogorgon’s feet and there, she took Orcus’ wand. She felt a surge of power and hatred coursing through her arm and body. It was as if it communicated with her, and the message was “Destroy my arch-enemy and you shall be rewarded”. With the power of Yennoghu’s flail and Orcus’ wand, the heroes had the advantage. Demorgorgon’s attack were still ravaging. But its defenses were now open and he was weak from the fight with its blood enemy. Moments later everybody was destroying Demogorgon the prince of demons, its heads roaring in rage and surprise as its body slowly faded and melted back to the abyss. It was over, but there had been a price paid in blood. The fighter and cleric both showed their endless resolve when they beat their cursed weapon’s commands; they tossed them to the ground. The demonic weapons were then covered with cloth and put inside a chest, no one should ever touch them, lest they release the madness inside them. Menzoberranzan was in ruins, but the drow’s retaliation would come soon. They heroes signaled Lord Zelraun, who promptly opened the portal and let the decimated army back into Gauntlgrym. Later on in a celebration with King Bruenor, the heroes were awarded lordships and lands, both in the surface and in Gauntlgrym itself. This celebration was a welcome rest after all the adventures in the underdark, a welcome truce, however, things were not over yet…. Vizeran deVir still had Gromph’s grimoire and no one wanted that, it was too big a risk to forget. Grazzt, the only demon prince who did not show up to Menzoberranzan, was still loose in the underdark. Another adventure was just about to begin.
63 Thank you Writing this guide was the first step towards the creation of Elven Tower. When I started it wasn’t about maps or related illustrations. It was about sharing advice and stuff for other DMs to use. This compilation of my DM guide to Out of the Abyss was really fun to make. Though it took me some time to put it together in a single document, if you bought it, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. My life has changed so much since I started working and writing to create content for the hobby, out hobby. I love sharing this material, my guide will remain an integral part of my website. Shared without cost. As will my next guides be. Thank you for your contribution because it makes my work more rewarding, and you’re not paying only for the content here, but also, you are supporting a freelance author and illustrator in the hobby. I thank you and I hope this guide was useful to you and proved a factor in making your OoTA game a better experience for you as a DM and also for your players. Derek Ruiz