The entity known as Oreiax is a gruesome, stunted monstrosity born of ancient death. Rescued from an eternity of petrification by Doresain the Ghoul King, Oreiax immediately pledged itself to the Ghoul King's service, and thus indirectly, into Orcus's service. Oreiax, born of stone and death, seeks to glorify Doresain by petrifying the world. Pgs. 112-119
The goddess Erathis has never seemed the sort to demand the sacrifice of mortals in exchange for safe trade routes, but that’s exactly what her high priest has demanded. When a local ruler asks the characters to investigate the high priest, a chain of events is set in motion that could shake the city of Wyllea, and the church of Erathis, to its core. This adventure makes extensive use of roleplaying encounters and skill challenges, with fewer tactical combat encounters. There is a substantial focus on politics and intrigue. The Tariff of Relkingham is written for 3rd level PCs, but contains advice for lowering or raising the starting level from 2-4. It also contains a system for calculating an advantage or disadvantage in the final fight based on the players' actions during the adventure. Pgs. 83-103
The Adventurers arrive at a drow outpost in the Underdark. They must either dispose of the drow or ally with them against the invading legions of Orcus!
Darkness looms near Winterhaven! Kobold brigands have grown ever bolder in their attacks, marauding the once peaceful town, and a known explorer has been missing ever since their departure to the excavation site of a dragon burial site. When the party investigates, they will discover that the kobold's leader, Irontooth, bears a tattoo of a ram-headed demon. This is a troubling portent, for the townsfolk will report that this can only mean the dread god Orcus, master of death, has an active cult in that ruined keep! It is up to the party to enter the Keep on the Shadowfell and put a stop to the cult's fell machinations before it threatens all the realm. There they will fight the evil priest Kalarel, Scion of Orcus and seal off the vile portal to the dark realms he is master of. Should the heroes seize victory, glory and treasure are sure to be theirs. But first they must endure the challenges of that dreaded KEEP ON THE SHADOWFELL!
Centuries ago, a green dragon terrorized the civilized lands near its lair. As the beast grew in power, countless cult followers gathered. With the help of its worshipers, the dragon transformed into a runescribed dracolich. The dragon and its cult grew larger and more powerful over the centuries. This, of course, led to war with the surrounding nations. After terrible battles and much loss, the cultists were slaughtered and the dragon destroyed, but its phylactery could not be found. The beast reformed, gathered cultists anew, and again was defeated. The phylactery still could not be found. This time, the powers of civilization decided not to destroy the beast, but to trap it, locking it away and setting various guards. Recently, a divination ritual performed by someone the PCs respect revealed that great peril will arise if a creature lairing in Mount Sorrowspire (the dracolich) is not destroyed. Pgs. 180-185
Death slithers across the Dunes. Nightmares of desert horrors trouble the dreams of the innocent while raiders grow ever bolder beyond the walls of the great city-state of Tyr. Bandits and merchants chase rumors of a temple hidden in the desert, an ancient shrine to the primordial Ul-Artha said to safeguard a fragment of the artifact known as the Crown of Dust. Can the heroes recover a caravan lost in the wastes, repel the threat of vicious raiders, and win the relic form the perilous temple? Now that Tyr is free of Kalak the Sorcerer-King, opportunity abounds in the city and the surrounding wastes. But some see Kalak's fall as the beginning of Tyr's end, and the unpatrolled deserts nearby are rife with danger. Outlaws openly defy the city's Revolutionary Council and threaten outlying holdings. If Tyr is to thrive, heroes must arise to tame the lawlessness and evil that threatens the free city.
“The Temple Between” is an adventure for 9th level characters, and it is challenging enough to take them to 11th level by the time all is said and done. Although intended as the final chapter of the heroic tier portion of the Scales of War Adventure Path, it can be run as a standalone adventure, or as an adventure in a campaign of your own making, with a small degree of modification. It contains elements of urban investigation, dungeon delving, and even wartime conflict, making it a suitable adventure to players of many tastes and preferences. The western end of Elsir Vale has been greatly troubled in recent days. The threat of the orc hordes from beyond the Stonehome Mountains, though turned back at Bordrin’s Watch, still lingers in the people’s minds. Peculiar and hostile creatures of shadow lurk in the caverns and caves below. Political squabbling grows among the city’s powerful dwarf clans. All this makes the city particularly vulnerable to an enemy nobody saw coming - that nobody even imagined. This enemy has goals and objectives far beyond the ultimately unimportant Elsir Vale, but the first step is the utter subjugation of Overlook. An enemy who, at least in part, is already here. In this adventure the player characters start by investigating the strange behavior of the city's clergy. They swiftly discover hints of a conspiracy worming its way through the city hierarchy - some members are possessed while others have been replaced by dopplegangers. After trailing this conspiracy to its source they discover a portal that leads to an ancient temple in the mountains. Using the portal, the PCs go to the abandoned ancient temple where they must confront both a cadre of fey and a band of mercenaries, from whom they learn there is a plot for a full-scale invasion of the region! The PCs must them rush back to Overlook and cement their place as heroes as they face off against the invading forces. Pgs. 4-71
The Tower of Zoramadria is hidden away in the Feywild. The tower is an arcane academy under the tutelage of the lich Parthal. Parthal and his students lead serene lives of study and contemplation, except when they engage in a bout of bloody necromantic research that requires innocent souls as vital components. Parthal has a score to settle, and the Feywild itself might shudder and scream before the lich has had his revenge on those who killed his love. Pgs. 104-111
The PCs have traveled to the Nine Hells to confront an outpost of devils responsible for slave raids on their homeland. In this realm of burning ash and fire-streaked skies, the infernal legions prepare constantly for war. Pgs. 138-143
Days ago, a portal to the Elemental Chaos appeared near the PCs’ home city. Since then, it has grown into an enormous sinkhole that periodically belches fire and brimstone. The rip in reality threatens to overwhelm settlements and a nearby river unless someone ventures through and closes it from the other side. Pgs. 102-107
A City on the Brink of War Missing for decades, the Crown of Neverwinter, symbol of the former ruling family, has emerged at last. Yet not all are pleased with the crown's reappearance. Beset by rebels and plaguechanged, Lord Dagult Neverember must hire a group of adventurers to track down the so-called Lost Heir and discover his intentions for the city. The stakes are no less than the lives of the citizens of Neverwinter, for if the heroes fail, Neverwinter seems doomed to descend into civil war.
In “Rescue at Rivenroar,” the player characters must brave the depths of ancient catacombs in search of prisoners taken from the town of Brindol in a midnight raid. The hobgoblins, bandits that style themselves after an invading horde from long ago, have taken refuge in a dungeon under a ruined mountain fortress, and the PCs must clear them out to find the captive townsfolk and the treasures taken from Brindol. “Rescue at Rivenroar” also marks the first step in a great journey - the Scales of War Adventure Path, which spans 30 levels and put the PCs at the crux of events that shapes the world for centuries to come. While the scope of this adventure isn’t as grand, it represents the seed from which an epic tale will surely grow. Pgs. 4-45
A half-marilith, half-medusa druidess lich known as the Hate Blossom lairs in this dungeon, having been run out of mortal society and shunned by demonkind. She possesses the petrified-yet-still-living body of Melenkir, the first human arch-mage and the single creature to remember a ritual that may save the realm from an extraplanar threat. Only slaying Hate Blossom or convincing her to lift the curse will revive Melenkir. Published by Defy Danger and Save Verses Death
It's a frigid New Year's Eve, and the heroes gather near midnight in a small condemned tavern wihtin the Free City-State of Gate Pass. Located in the mountain pass which separates two hostile nations. Gate Pass has been neutral since the end of their last war. That neutrality is about to be put to the test, as a scourge comes for the city from the nearby empire of Ragesia. By now, every magic-user in Gate Pass knows of the Scourge. The Emperor of Ragesia died barely a month ago, and a witch named Leska has moved to cementer herself as the next empress. Leska leads the Ragesian Inquisitors, clerics specialized in countermagic and has decreed ass disloyal mages to be tracked down and killed to prevent future threats to the empire. Their first target is Gate Pass, whose neutrality has long been viewed as an insult to the nation's honor. This is the first of twelve adventures in the War of the Burning Sky adventure path from E.N. Publishing.
A slaver gang known as the Bloodreavers are terrorizing the countryside from their base deep in the labyrinth under Thunderspire Mountain. But these slavers are only the symptom of a larger threat in the bowels of Thunderspire.
The outpost of Fort Dolor has experienced an unprecedented stretch of peace in recent times. Then nearly the entire garrison disappears on a supposed routine patrol, and the town— still on the frontier— is left nearly defenseless. Can the adventurers dig to the bottom of the mystery at Fort Dolor before they, too, disappear? Pgs. 82-103
A trek across the Shadow Marches leads weary travellers to Blackroot, a quiet village of ramshackle huts nestled among the darkwood trees. Here, orcs and humans live in peace. However, all is not well. Something evil has crawled up from below, threatening to devour the village and its denizens. Only a party of brave heroes stands in its way. In Khyber’s Harvest, the PCs battle an ancient evil threatening a remote village in the Shadow Marches. The dark power of the planes has grown strong in this place. Depraved cultists and twisted aberrant creatures are dragging innocents down into ancient caverns to undergo a horrific transformation. To save these helpless villagers, the PCs must overcome the terrors of Khyber—a quest that brings them to the attention of the dreadful Belashyrra, the Lord of Eyes.
At the behest of Orcus, Demon Prince of Undeath, a mighty deathpriest hierophant has begun assembling a powerful strike force. He intends to launch the first of many assaults on the world, readying it for his master’s arrival. With the help of potent allies and grand rituals, the PCs have discovered a route to the Abyssal headquarters of this hierophant. This delve begins as the PCs teleport from the world to the first of a complex of interconnected chambers deep in the Abyss, linked only by portals. Pgs. 126-131
A group of snaketongue cultists has occupied an abandoned, partially sunken temple near a swamp. They grow impatient waiting for their yuan-ti master to join them, unaware that he has been slain by a rival faction of yuan-ti. Frustrated, the cult strikes against nearby villages in the hope of drawing the favor of Zehir. Investigating rumors of a serpent cult harassing a nearby town, the PCs have explored the swamp and discovered the overgrown temple. Its once-ornate stone door now hangs off its hinges, providing a narrow space for one character at a time to squeeze through. Pgs. 42-47
The Raven Queen’s servants often seek out mighty allies. One of these is the black dragon Quetzallus, who resides in a deep cavern on the Shadowfell guarding a stream of souls flowing into the Raven Queen’s realm. But a death knight named Raxikarthus, betrayed by the Raven Queen in life, now seeks to enslave this dragon for his own purposes. He madly believes that he can stand against the Raven Queen, and seeks allies of all stripes—even her own servants—to do so. The death knight has found a pathway into the Shadowfell thought closed by mortals. Beneath a decayed keep, the undead dragonborn has reopened this portal and led his forces into the Shadowfell itself. The PCs are called in to beard the death knight in his lair. They find it abandoned, but discover a strange passage in the lower reaches. Pgs. 162-167