The spire has existed for as long as locals can remember. Rising above the sand near the ocean, the spire is topped by a natural cave system. Stories about the place circulate around the docks and taverns of the nearby towns—dark tales of ritual sacrifice and the worship of long dead gods of lightning and storm. Many claim the victims of the old cult still crawl through the tunnels accessible at the peak of the spire. Others say a new scaly threat now lairs there, and the storms of late have been most violent near that place. In this explorative and perilous adventure, the party ascends a great rocky spire to face the place’s past and the blue dragon that presently resides there.
"I was taken by the evil dogs while camping near Agav's bog. They dragged me into their lair, and it wasn't until I escaped that I knew the truth of the place: a great and bony wing buried in the side of a hill. They chained me in the dark with a candle made from foul wax and forced me to dig at the marrow. Their bonds were poorly made, and I fled several days later while they slept. What purpose did they have in mining that marrow? I cannot say..." The Marrow Mines are dug in and around the fossilized wing of an unnamed leviathan. A small pack of kobolds lives and works in the mines, which are heavily trapped. The kobolds defend the area fiercely and patrol the region around the mine. At night, a handful of urds make aerial surveys of the territory. The urds live in the deep reaches of the wing's tips.
Rennie and Linde are in search of their father, Petring, who they saw disappear into the crypts beneath town. The crypt is thick with supernatural shadow. Torches can be lit from a brazier of green faerie fire in the entrance that cuts through magical darkness. The torches burn rapidly, and the PCs must travel quickly to preserve their light until they reach the funeral pyre in the heart of the crypt. There they can learn the way to the Carrion Shrine of Qorgeth.
The players and the DM compete in a race against time to see if all humanity can be saved, or if the fiendish servants of the Hells can corrupt the world for their own nefarious purposes. Special time-keeping and resurrection mechanics are included to keep the pace exciting and the plot moving. Prepare to delve into the long-forgotten Tomb of Mercy!
"A Triangle in Shadows" is an umbral vampire lair suitable for a party of four 15th-level characters. Magic weapons are highly advised. This adventure can be completed in one session. The City Fallen into Shadow is the domain of the fiendish umbral vampires, and they are rarely found outside it. But one named Caragorn has fled the city after coming between the lovers Philadon and Zenobia. Philadon and Caragor, however, are secretly meeting at Caragorn's tower behind Zenobia's back. Zenobia suspects them of collusion, and is seeking out the two male umbral vampires to get revenge.
Multiple groups seek a thug’s girlfriend through the streets and alleys of Zobeck. The adventurers’ lives may depend on finding her first.
History states that Zobeck was reborn in blood 80 years ago, thanks in part to the creation of gearforged by a revolutionary coalition of workers and mages. Unfortunately, history has recorded only part of the truth, and the Praetors will do anything to make sure the rest remains buried.
A small band of centaurs have seen their water source fouled by unknown magic. When word of their plight reaches the party, they embark on a day's travel to the centaur camp. Along the way, they encounter injured wildlife and panicked bugbears. Terrifying storms beset the region, raining down acid and oozes. Agreeing to investigate the small corrupted lake, the adventurers discover a long buried evil has awakened—bringing with it oozing undead. The party must navigate the wilds, face the ooze storms, and confront a reanimated warrior who betrayed her god.
A venom maw hydra lair suitable for four or five 10th-level characters. The Red Craw Marsh, so called because of the delicious and plentiful red crayfish that live in the area, is a boon to the nearby village. More than a few intrepid souls brave the swamp each season to collect the crayfish. They either sell the crayfish to local establishments or ship them to nearby cities, where they earn a good price as the crayfish is a delicacy among the wealthy. The villagers have established a tentative peace with a clan of trollkin that inhabit the swamp. The crayfish collectors pay a small fee to the trollkin, who allow them to ply their trade in the marsh without (much) interference. It is a tense but profitable relationship for all involved. A powerful creature has moved into the marsh, however, threatening the delicate balance. When a venom maw hydra decided to move to the area of the marsh between the human and trollkin villages, it brought along a number of creatures that worship and serve it. This hydra and its allies have killed some of the crayfish hunters and some of the trollkin. Each side, unfortunately, believes that the other has broken the truce, thus stirring up animosity and putting both groups on the verge of war.
An evil oracular being has taken up residence in a lonely valley. The only access to the valley is through a thick, dead wood whose shadows draw out foul memories from those who travel there. The oracle, Lurinax, has recently divined the season in which the world will end. This knowledge is greatly prized by many, so the evil fortune teller hides in his lair, protected by maddening winds and the souls of those he slew to obtain his knowledge. In this grim and dark adventure for tenth- and eleventh-level PCs, the party must travel the trail of shadows, face the manifestations of Lurinax’s victims, and finally the evil oracle himself.
Throughout the land, legends of the Dusk Queen persist. They speak of a sometimes kind, other times cruel, yet always mysterious fey queen who ruled from her Dusk Tower—a tall spire of smooth, dark stone in the heart of a great, shadowy forest. Perhaps the most gripping legends, however, whisper of the Dusk Queen’s sudden and mysterious disappearance. Also available in 5e format.
Jobel the genie was famous for his bejeweled creations. But when a job to build a wizard’s tower took a turn for the worse, Jobel was imprisoned in a massive gemstone and buried deep within the earth. For one hundred years, the genie plotted his escape, using subtle magics, and slowly, he was able to work the gem toward the surface, where he’d be much more likely to be found and freed.
While traveling through a jungle expanse, the party meet a trader named Smera with a strange tale. Turned away from a nearby outpost, the trader is now heading back to civilization. Curiosity leads the party to the outpost, which has been destroyed. A strange disease has taken the outpost’s inhabitants, who built the place in support of a scholarly excavation of a nearby temple ruin. Following the path carved through the jungle by the excavation team, the PCs find the temple and its secrets. In this moss-covered and dark adventure, the party explores an old temple, faces its verdant guardians, and finds the source of the strange disease.
The earth churns in a city graveyard, revealing not the undead but an ancient war machine. A great iron transport bores its way up from depths below, disrupting funeral rites and sending the citizens into a panic. With an opportunity to investigate and reap the rewards of bravery, the party closes on the graveyard. There they discover that the pilots of the strange vehicle are soulless automatons who have spent an eternity burrowing toward the battlefront of a long-forgotten war. In this action-packed and gritty adventure, the party must battle automatons, breach the iron transport, and put down its mad and malfunctioning commander.
The party arrange for passage on a fast ship called the Silver Slipper. The good Captain Sara agrees to take them aboard for a reasonable fee. The voyage, however, is marred by strange events, and the crew begin whispering about a dark statue taken aboard as cargo. The statue is to be delivered to a port beyond the PCs' destination. When a fog rolls in one night, the ship is attacked by evil agents of a dark god come to claim the statue. In this nautical nightmare, the PCs must travel aboard the ship, interact with the crew, and save themselves from a boarding party of eldritch evil.
Who Do You Trust? In the cool streets and blazing bazaars, the word is out: a great treasure has gone missing in the Everlasting City of the Cat, and some very ambitious people have set their sights on it. Many paws and claws are out, and everyone is sniffing around for something rich and strange. It’s an odd time for a catfolk thief and a gnoll merchant to make very tempting offers to strangers in town. Or, perhaps it’s not odd at all. Get caught up in the hunt with Cat and Mouse by Richard Pett and Greg Marks! A perfect introduction to the Southlands campaign setting, and it fits neatly into any desert city where cats are sacred and rats are cautious and sly.
Last Gasp is an adventure set in a desert setting, exploring the cursed tomb of an ancient king of great magical power, a magical river, and includes both deadly combats and mysteries to confound tomb-robbers. Seek out the riches of a king, and may fortune favor you!
Bodies are turning up in a city (or large town). The organs of the victims appear to have been turned to solid crystal; in a gruesome twist, the hearts of the victims have been carefully removed. The mayor and the guard captain have hit an impasse in their investigation. Agreeing to assist in finding the murderer, the party find themselves under attack by infernal assassins as they follow the clues to a gemcutter's workshop. In this rich and devilish adventure, the party must find and face a murderer and a charming devil.
In the thriving city of Zobeck, a breakdown of the vital Puffing Bridge is throwing a wrench into the entire city. Workers can’t reach their jobs, merchants and goods can’t reach markets. In short, if this problem isn’t fixed quickly, there’ll be chaos in the Free City. Of course, this isn’t a simple mechanical breakdown but an act of sabotage, and the saboteurs are still at work when characters arrive to investigate.
What happens when adventurers become the owners of a brothel? When a roguish associate asks them to attend an oligarch’s party in his place? What lurks in the Cartways besides kobolds? And what will you say when another thief tells you the only way to find a treasure is to become hunted by the Praetors? Dark dealings, my boys, and a knife in the guts might be the price. Whose guts? Might be yours if you cross the wrong one of the Nine. How much evil should be done for the greater good? How many sinful men should die to save a pure soul?