måndag 27 april 2020

Eight shrines

1    Ashwold

South of Tinslay is a tall square building of uneven rocks, veiled by spider web that extends in long white tresses to the surrounding trees and over the ground. A withered statue of great age rise out of the web; its pedestal bears the arrow-like mark of the Consolers and a nigh-unintelligible inscription reading DICIO * SATOR. Inside lives a great spider, tending to six large egg sacs of dense web that slowly moves. Denser patches of spider web on the grond cover six pit traps; if a character walks on them, they fall into the pit and lose their remaining movement. When they emerge, 1d4 young spiders follow.
GREAT SPIDER: Large (1d8), HD 4+2, AR 2, MV 6, dmg 1d6 + poison.
+ Climb: Each 1d8 turns, the spider leaps up in the ceiling, tree, or web; there it remains until it suffers damage, spraying a noxious acid at its turn (dmg 1d6, ranged, 3" area, everyone hit must save or armour is dented).
+ Poison: if at least 1 point of damage goes through armour, the target must save or suffer 1d4 damage/round until successfully treated
+ Erratic movement: if attacked and missed, the spider immediately moves 1d6" in a random direction.

YOUNG SPIDER: Small (-1d8), HD 1, MV 9, dmg 1d6 + poison.
+ Poison: if at least 1 point of damage goes through armour, the target must save or suffer 1d4 damage/round until successfully treated
+ Spider sense: the spider can evade any number of attacks and makes evade rolls at +6.

Egg sacs

1:    Corpse of a man, wearing a deep red robe. When opened, 1d4 young spiders crawl out from the sac each round until it is completely destroyed. The dead man has almost no nose and appears to have been an itinerant merchant of some sort, for with him is a wide array of pouches and goods. Most is now useless, but two firebombs, 1d10 pieces of glimmering red gold, and a parchment scroll. The parchment is badly damaged, but if carefully restored it contains a clue.
2-5:     wild animal, barely alive and crawling with spiderlings - when opened, all adjacent characters must evade or suffer a -3 penalty to all actions for the next round as their skin crawls with countless spiderlings. The dying animal has 1 HP and will move 1d4" in a random direction each round until dead. As long as it is alive, all adjacent characters suffer the -3 penalty.
6:    ragged man, alive but severely disfigured by the spiderlings feeding from him - when opened, all characters within line of sight must roll INT or be SHAKEN. The man is disoriented from the spider's poison but if saved, he turns out to be a local farmer who briefly travelled with Raillarde the Paynim as a guide. After a bandit ambush - which he had nothing to do with, he swears - he fled and never saw the knight again. Last he know, the knight was headed north, towards Belmyre.

2    Loudreác

Nine nine miles east of King's road is a small stone shrine, adorned with imagery of queen Aelwydd and surrounded by a low wall that is dwarfed by thistles and shrubbery. The wall is partly destroyed by the encroaching forest, but curiously has no visible gate. A statue of a old woman lies toppled among the weeds, its head missing. The inscription reads: GENTRX * CELSUS * NOSTER.
Inside sits a knight, motionless and reclining against the wall. If approached, the knight comes to life.
GODRYDD THE ACCURSED: HD 5, AR 6, Shield (1d8), MV 6, dmg 1d8+1d6 (longsword)

3    Langonne

An old chapel, slowly keeling into a dark pond. The chapel is adorned by the the tear-shaped mark of the Consolers, but the scarred oak trees surrounding the pond speak of ceremonies still older. If there ever was a statue or idol, it is long since lost. Inside the dark chapel lies a mummified arm in a monstrance, black like tar and smelling of rancid apples.
HAUNT: HD 2, AR 0, MV 5, dmg 1d8 magic
+ Deathless: The haunt is immune to all physical damage, but is immediately vanquished if its relic is destroyed.

4    Orvault

On a small island in a reed-covered lake are the ruins of a shrine, dwarfed by a cairn that better withstood the test of time.  The island is home to a band of goblins, whose cooing calls can be heard across the lake. Using sleds and snow-shoes of twigs, the light goblins can move through the dense reeds without getting wet; for everyone else, the reeds counts as difficult terrain. A great lamprey lives in the lake, feeding of animals that get stuck in the mud, and the goblins are careful to move quickly across the reeds and stay away from any open water.
GOBLINS (3d6): small (-1d8), HD 1, AR 2, mv 6, dmg 1d6 (bows: ranged, poison arrows - save or DOWNED) or 1d6 (spears).
+ Pack tactics: Ignores size penalty if outnumbering target

GIANT LAMPREY: HD 4, AR 0, MV 8/4 in reeds, dmg 1d4 + grapple
+ Motion sense: The lamprey relies on motion to find its prey; each round not in melee, it prioritizes moving towards the largest splash or disturbance of the water surface, then the nearest, or else moves at random. It will only attack characters or creatures that are in the water.
+ Grapple: A target successfully grappled by the lamprey is pulled under water, where they suffer 1d4 fatigue per round from asphyxiation.
+ Submerged: The lamprey only rises from the water to attack, otherwise its position is only revealed by the parting reeds. When submerged, the lamprey is in full cover to all but adjacent characters.

5    Egwyn Fach

A sturdy shrine built from neatly-fitted and perfectly square stones sits untouched by time among elderflower trees and rows of salsnip. A pathway lead across the garden to the shrine, each of its of white stones carrying a brown mark looking like a cloven hoof. Inside the floor is covered by hay and fragrant branches. Here lives a peaceful hermit Eroästes and his sheep, collecting wild flowers to adorn a large statue of the God Mother. The hermit speaks only sparingly, but is otherwise happy to help. He knows medicine and has a few books; if studied, one of them provides a clue.

6    Soudan

A walled-up cave by a small stream forms an inconspicuous shrine, built at the foot of a long path leading up a steep hill. A nearby stone reads FARAN - AELWYDD THEODCWEN - BYLDED - CIRCE. Inside the shrine is a travelling merchant.

7    Derrill

By a swampy pond leaking into the Wallingwall channel is a wormstung timber shrine. Inside, the floor stones form the tear-shaped mark of the Consolers. The nun Odille is resting inside; fleeing from Whitesun she is terrified of man-masked demons, but is friendly if convinced that the PCs are mortals.

 8    Pyworth.

A turret-like shrine, walled by several low rows of standing stones. Outside the perimeter of the stones is an encampment, flying the flag of Tuillote of Haute-Occ. His retinue is currently tending to the badly wounded knight and several graves give testimony to recent casualties.

Inside the shrine, stone stairs leads down into a vast, dark chamber where the Foot of the Bleeder is kept. Here resides Lantern Knight Gwent, the formidable foe who has so ravaged the noble knight outside.
TUILLOTE (wounded): HD 2 (fights as HD 5), AR 6, Shield (1d10), MV 6, dmg 1d14 + 1d4 magic (spear called Segwryck) or 1d8 (sword).
RETINUE (2d4): HD 2, AR 4, Shield (1d6), MV 6, dmg 1d10 (axes)

torsdag 23 april 2020

1d6 graves of fallen knights

1.

A large rock, overgrown with ferns. Crushed underneath are the remains of a nameless Knight. The troll that hurled the rock still lairs nearby; ancient and wicked she carries the skull of the dead knight on her club, occasionally swearing at it or ridiculing it.
HAG-TROLL: Huge (2d8), HD 6, AR 3, dmg 1d12 (gt club: knockback, area) or 1d12 (boulder: ranged, 2x2 square area)

+ Mesmerizing song: Each 1d8 turns, save or be paralysed.
+ Regenerates 1HD per round. Immune to magic.

2.

The pine-forest here is quiet, and bones litter the ground. Among the lichen-covered trees lie a heap of toppled stones - all that remain of the once-splendid grave of Byrla the Shield. Each night the dead knight returns to cursed life, intent only on killing. If vanquished, the knight begins hauting again at the next full moon unless the body is placed in hallow soil.
CURSED KNIGHT: HD 5, AR 4, Shield 1d16 (3), dmg 1d8 + 1d6 magic (cursed sword).

+ Unhallowed charge: Each 1d4 rounds, the knight charges 2d4 squares forward and attacks with an impaling strike: target must save or suffer 1d12 magical damage and lose 1d4 Spirit.
+ Fay Shield: The Fay Shield of Byrla protects against all types of damage, and reflects the damage back at the attacker if the shield roll is higher than the damage roll. If taken from Byrla, it breaks and withers on a roll of 1.
+ Cursed: Cannot cross running water, must return to corpse at daybreak.

3.

A solemn stone of pink granite marks the grave of Brathos of Werelden. The inscriptions read "As in life, so in death." A large family of wild boars have partly exhumed the bones through extensive burrowing; curse-stricken, they now hunt for food. The boars secrete a dark oil that turn their manes into porcupine-like quills, and gradually kills the forest surrounding their lair. On the week of a full moon, there is a 1-in-4 chance that Gloso is among them.
QUILLED BOAR (3d4): HD 2, AR 2, MV 9, dmg 2d6
Charge, knock down, disengage

+ Bristles: when evading an attack, the boar deals 1d6 damage to the attacker
+ Death struggle: when reaching 0 hp, the boar immediately makes a melee attack before dropping dead.

GLOSO: Large (1d8), HD 6, AR 4, MV 9, dmg 2d8
Charge, knock down, disengage

+ Poisonous exhale: Each 1d4 rounds, Gloso exhales a cloud of black smoke covering 1d8x1d8 squares. The cloud obscures line-of-sight and dissipates at a rate of 1 square in each direction per round. Everyone in the cloud must save or suffer 1d6 poison damage (no armour).
+ Bristles: when evading an attack, Gloso deals 1d6 damage to the attacker
+ Death struggle: Each 2 HD lost, Gloso immediately makes a melee attack.

4.

A great heap of branches and fallen trees adorned with feathers mark the nest of a huge bear-like creature. Beaked and feathered like an owl, it hunts mainly at night and is at disadvantage in direct sunlight. Tangled in the roots in one of the storm-felled trees are broken human bones, barely held together by fragments of green fabric with gold-tread inlay. This is the remains of a nameless knight. If investigated, a sword can be retrieved from the light-brown soil (as longsword; crit on a 19-20).
OWLBEAST: Large (1d8) HD 4, AR 4, MV 6, dmg 1d8 + knockback (area) or 2d6 + grapple

+ Pounce: Each 1d8 turns, the Owlbeast leaps forward 2d4 squares. All PCs in its path must evade or be pushed forward and suffer 1d6 damage (half protection from armour) as they are crushed under the terrible weight of the landing beast. In addition, the Owlbeast may make a single melee attack with its beak upon landing, dealing 2d6 damage (rending: armour reduced by 1).

5.

In the flooded ruins of a small stone temple lives a tribe of leech-skinned goblins. Inside the temple is the remains of Sir Folming; mummified in the marsh, the goblins have exhumed the body and distorted it into an grim idol.
LEECH-GOBLINS (3d6): Small (-1d8), HD 1, AR 4, mv 6, dmg 1d6 (spear).

+ Pack tactics: Ignores size penalty if outnumbering target
+ Impossible to shake: The goblins gain a +3 bonus to grappling; when the grappling goblin is removed, the grappled character suffers 1d3 damage for each failed attempt to break free from it.

GOBLIN LEADER: Small (-1d8), HD 4, AR 4, Shield 1d4(2), mv 6
dmg 1d8 +1d4 magical (sword)

+ Command: Each 1d8 turns, the leader issues an order and the other goblins must immediately charge towards a target or hurl their spears at a specific target. All goblins must follow the same order, towards the same target.
+ Spear of Folming: the leader uses the head of the mummified knight's spear as a sword. If repaired into a spear, its damage increases to 1d10 + 1d6 magical but any failed attempt will dent the weapon.

6.

The wind carries the sweet fragrance from a glade where butterflies swarm over ever-flowering thorns. In the middle of the glade lies the remains of sir Heaved, peacefully as if resting. If the body is removed, the glade will slowly die but similar flowering thorn-bushes will sprout forth over the course of 1d6 days from all dead matter the body touches until it is placed in hallowed soil.