\page
# THE SILENT THRONE The Hushed King has plotted and planned his return to mortal realms for a length of time unimaginable to most beings. His faithful Shadow Druids will soon begin a ritual that will change the course of Fate itself and loose the bonds of their master unless a desperate plan to stop them somehow succeeds. ## ADVENTURE SYNOPSIS The evil infecting the Whisper Wood has been beaten back. However, it has been revealed that it was only a herald of a being of great power. Long ago by the forces of good battled a Dark-Lord of the Shadowfel whose evils could no longer be overlooked. He was imprisoned in his own dungeons and his castle destroyed. It was intended that this threat never again taste freedom. But evils contained are evils forgotten… and The Hushed King takes great offense at being forgotten.
Hollow Home is safe, for now. The Whisper Wood has been protected and the forces of the Hushed King pushed back into the Shadowfel. But no one expects them to stay there. In fact they have left an active Portal to the Shadowfel in the Cavern of Lost Hope. This portal presents a real and present danger, one that has proven difficult to close. Those dealing with the crisis are beginning to doubt whether or not it can be closed at all from this side. So in order to deal with the threat a team of adventurers will be sent through and find a way to close it from the other side.
The Players will be prepped and sent into the Shadowfel. They will be given a scroll of Plane Shift in order for them to be able to return once the job is finished. (If they are already there and captive, an NPC will be sent to find them) The goal of the team once there will be to end the ritual that will free the Hushed King. In order to do that they will have to travel across the Plains of Dust and Tears to the ruined Keep of The Hushed King. Once there they will have to traverse the dungeon and find the Hushed King. They will then be faced with those desiring to free him. They will have to stop them before they succeed… or… help them finish the task.
> - Target Party and Level: 4 level 7 players > - Expected Playtime Playtime: 4-6 Hours > - Tone: Fantasy Horror
### CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - Wizards of the Coast and D&D for the amazing job they do providing RPG Content for us to use! - Original Story Written by Amplus Ordo Games - All Maps and Handouts were done by Amplus Ordo Games using Inkarnate - PDF Formatting done using The Homebrewery ``` ``` ### PLAYING AN A.O.G. ADVENTURE If you’ve never played an AOG adventure, I thought it wise to give you some notes on how I write them. Cuz I do some stuff non traditional like. Those notes are in the Appendices. ## TABLE OF CONTENTS
### [SETUP INFORMATION](#p3) ### [ACT 1: Portals and Prisons](#p4) ### [ACT 2: Dust and Tears](#p5) ### [ACT 3: The Silent Peak](#p6) ### [ACT 4: Ruins of Nisholar](#p6) ### [ACT 5: The Silent Throne](#p7) ### [CLOSING](#p9) ### [APPENDICES](#p10) ### [MAPS](#p16) ### [STATBLOCKS](#p21)
### This is Part Three of a Triolgy, but can be played as a stand alone adventure. If you wish to play the entire tale follow the links below.
#### Part 1: Terror in the Whisperwood [Terror in the Whisperwood](https://www.patreon.com/posts/54058579) #### Part 2: The Caverns of Lost Hope [The Caverns of Lost Hope](https://www.patreon.com/posts/54738704) \page
## SETUP INFORMATION ### SETTING **Balinovia**, a struggling nation on the edge of war. Balinovia never really recovered after the calamities. It endured, but only barely. It was at one time a thriving nation and a great example to the world of what could be achieved through cooperation and vision. On the surface it still seems a beautiful kingdom. But the homes are crumbling, and the people have known nothing but cultural decay caused by the constant fighting and the severe poverty of its people. It lies in a wide river valley and is covered by light and cheery forests. The land is fertile and easy to farm. It should be a near perfect realm. But the truth is, it can barely call itself a nation. The land is ruled by warlords who call themselves Nobles and were it not for the threat of invasion from the Orcs to the North they would have already torn each other apart. The people are “taxed” into starvation and those that can hold a weapon are conscripted to fill the ranks of The Blood Watch, the soldiers guarding the Channel of Despair, leaving those too young or too old to work the fields. As a nation Balinovia is one breath away from collapse. Unless something dramatic happens the Orcs will soon invade. And if they break through, which they will, this once proud and flourishing land will cease to exist.
**Shadowfel,** There are a lot of different cosmologies that could be used to determine what exactly the Shadowfel is. Some say it is a demi-plane(s). Some say it is a full plane, but a shadowy recreation that stands opposite of the Prime-Material. Others, that it is a physical reflection of the absence of life and light. Whatever the cosmology behind it, it is a realm of misery and sorrow. In my world’s cosmology, it is a restrictive and imprisoning counterpart to the Feywild madcap freedoms. Instead of bright and colorful sprites and woodland beasts there are shadowy and vile creatures that feed off of life light. The two planes often bleed together and touch one another, and in many places it becomes difficult to distinguish one from the other. “Is this a particularly dark part of the Fey or a rather bright part of the Fell?” It creeps out into other planes as well. Infecting the prime where great evils have transpired. The Mists of the Realms of Terror flow from here. It is the source of undeath, home to living nightmares, and the prison of Dark Lords. It is not quite Hell, but in many ways it is something all together worse.
### BACKGROUND STORY Nulor Thanditas, the Hushed King. He is a broken Elf, an original Sshadar-kai, who long ago gave into his own anger and hatred. It is said he was a High Elf long ago, or an Eladrin. He stood bravely for many centuries against the darkness that encroached upon his homeland. The years of combat and killing creatures of shadow began to wear on him. In this time the whispers of the Dark Powers began to infect his soul. One day, after the poison in his heart convinced him there was no stopping the shadow, he threw down his blade and crossed over the borders into the darkness. Many of his soldiers followed him, and they became Shadar-kai.
There he declared himself King and carved out an existence in the Shadowfel as they plotted and planned. When they were ready they crossed between worlds and staked a claim in a dark borbiding forest, the Whisper Wood became their nation. The seat of the King’s power.
Although no nations had yet formed in the area, there were settlements of people. These settlements proved easy targets for Nulor’s armies, and subjects to his sadistic wrath. At first there was fear and panic, but once hard pressed people do not go quietly into the grave. They formed an alliance and called upon the Divine powers to guide them. An army of Elves marched to the Whisper Wood and began to turn back the tides of darkness. Eventually they fought one another to a standstill. Light and Darkness bordered on a forest stuck in the twilight of war. Nulor never gave up his claim and continued to chip away at the borders. Eventually nations formed away from the Whisper Wood, and the people living in the light empowered by their growth and numbers pushed once more against Nulor. This time they forced him back through his portal, and returned him to the Shadowfel.
There his own turned against him. Hundreds of years of conflict embittered the Shadar-kai beyond patience, and in their wrath they turned against Nulor and they executed him. Somehow, Nulor returned. (lol sorry Starwars fans) The Dark Powers were turning against him for his many atrocities, but no one knew that yet. He refused to go quietly, and was ultimately imprisoned. There he once again began to draw support to his side. A civil war broke out among the shadar-kai. Nulor almost regained control of his people, but betrayal from his closest ally doomed his return. His enemies imprisoned him. Sowing his mouth shut and removing his voice. They locked The Hushed King away in his own dungeon and set what was to be an eternal guard on his prison. It did not last. Now those who still follow him seek to release their former King and restore what they believe was taken from them. But like all the Dark Lords in the Realms of Terror… he is trapped there forever. However, that doesn’t mean he can't unleash great harm on the Prime Material if he grows in power.
### HOOKS - **Main:** The group has played the other adventures and now prepares for the final challenge. - **Backup:** Adventures are being recruited for a daring mission to stop an ancient evil from returning. - **Backup Backup:** They are captured and taken to the Shadowfel. ### ABOUT HORROR GAMES Running an effective Horror game can be a real trick and takes a different set of skills than the average DM employs from game to game. It is my favorite style of game to run, and has been for thirty years, so I have some suggestions for you. You can find those in the Appendices. \page
### IMPORTANT LOCATIONS Many of these places are outside of the Shadowfel, and are used to build the launching area of the adventure. Shadowfel locationas are described in the adventure. More detailed descriptions and maps, if there are any, can be found in the Appendices.
**Balinovia,The Nation:** Balinovia was once an advanced cultural and industrial society that has stumbled backward thanks to brutal infighting and rebellions in the past century. The Blood Axe Dominion: A brutal Orc nation living in the swamps of Blood Marsh. They have made it their goal to destroy Balinovia, their neighbors to the south.
**Cuzzano:** Cuzzano is a fascinating city, with advanced steam level technology city built in a massive cavern riverway and on top of a ten mile round water reservoir. In many ways they hold Balinovia and Cetnovia trade interests hostage with their water supplies, as the flow out of this reservoir is the main feed to the other nations’ major riverways.
**The Franssisi Mountains:** Named after San Franssisi the Parton Saint of nature and beasts the mountains run the length of the southern border of Balinovia. The mountains are forest covered and teeming with wildlife, some of it quite dangerous.
**The Touno River:** (Thundering River) The river that spills down from Cuzzano and across the countryside. Skirting the Franssisi Mountains the river rushes wildy and filled with rapids and waterfalls making it technically impassable by boat, although there are stretches where one could use a small craft.
**The Whisper Wood:** A thick old growth forest covering a 50 mile stretch of land between the Touno River and the Franssisi Mountains. The Whisper Wood has long held a dark reputation. It is said those who wander too far from the road never return, but the truth is the Ghostwise Halflings who dwell there and their Giant Owl mounts have long protected forest. Using their unique skills and culture to keep the area safe and deal with any evils that may try to take root there at bay.
**Hollow Home:** The village of the Ghostwise Halflings of the Whisper Wood. Hidden in the boughs of some of the largest trees of the forest, Hollow Home is one of the more secret settlements in the world. The village consists of only a few structures that could be classified as buildings. The rest of the locals dwellings are little more than covered and furnished hollows in the trees large enough to make a simple home out of. The village typically houses about 100 individuals, most of whom have been trained to ride and use Giant Owls as mounts and hunting animals. The Nightgliders, as they are known, is a small group of Owl Riders who have sworn oaths to an unknown Forest Patron to keep the land free of evils. ``` ``` ### IMPORTANT NPCs More info and Stat Blocks of the NPCs in the Appendices.
**Taryvir Moongaze:** Taryvir is “Captain” of the Nightgliders, the Ghostwise Owl Riders, but only by default. His wife Finla was the Captain until she succumbed to the malady causing the Halflings to sleep. He is bold and brave, well skilled with weapons, and a keen huntsman. But he is a simple man and does not have his wife’s mind for strategy. He is desperate to save his people, and took a great risk in contacting outsiders.
**The Nightgliders:** Normally this a group of twenty Ghostwise Halflings tasked with guarding the Whisper Wood from evils. Only four remain; Glinda, Harlow, Burgan, and Uli. The others have all either
**Hyadis Darkmoon:** A druid of the underdark who has been asked to accompany the players into the Shadowfel and help them get back home once the mission is completed.
**The Hushed King:** A disposed Dark Fey from the Shadowfel who is seeking a return to power in what he considers to be his woods.
## OPENING CUT-SCENE
A figure sits in the darkness. In the same place it was imprisoned long ago. It does not move. It does not twitch. Only the slow rising and falling of its chest even hints at life. Dust has collected on its shoulders. Hooded figures shuffle in the background. There is a flash of magical energy. The being moves its arm. The first time it has moved in several thousand years.
## ACT 01: Into the Plains This act is designed to get them to the Plains of Dust and Tears and have them meet Hyadis Darkmoon, a Duergar Circle of Tombs Druid from the Underdark. When and where is dependent on how they get to the portal. Ideally they will meet him in Hollow Home, but if they went into the Portal without going back he will meet them on the plains just after passing through. Below are the two different scenarios that the game will most likely start with.
### 01a: The Portal If the players managed to defeat the Balhanoth they will begin in Hollow Home preparing to go into the portal. But before they get there they can take a few moments to resupply and prepare… Unless they went into the Portal right away. Hollow Home is no longer a hidden settlement in the Whisper Wood. Instead it has attracted a lot of attention. The Players can take some of the treasures or rewards they’ve come across and cash in for enhancements and upgrades. They can also have access to not just healing potions but other consumables as well. They are also “the'' team being sent. They should be given some equipment and resources as well, as those sending them want them to succeed. There is also a bit more information about the Hushed King now, you can relate the information in the Background Story to them. They will meet Haydis Once they do, the portal disappears, and there is no obvious way back. They will be alone in the Shadowfel. \page
### 01b: The Prisons If they were captured they will start the game in some “well cells”. The Hushed Kings Minions will gather them, some Halflings, and a few other Travelers and place them into a cage caravan to be taken to the Hushed King. They will be rescued by Hyadis Darkmoon who will attack the caravan with a swarm of undead, which should be destroyed in the fight. Hayadis will use them as a Decoy and rescue the Adventurers. If you want you can have the players participate in this battle, and free the captives, but Hyadis will caution them that taking civilians across the Plains will almost certainly kill them. #### NPC: Hyadis Darkmoon: Hyadis is from the Underdark not the Shadowfel. So while a lot of his skills are applicable they are not foolproof. Hyadis has been sent by The Voice, his possibly imaginary deity, to help the players defeat the Hushed King. He is true to the cause, but is a bit “off”. Circle of Tombs is a homebrew Idea that I have among the Duergar.
(In my World several classes have a “Tombs” subclass. They are basically different types of necromancers responsible for speaking with the dead and carrying on the legacies of the lost. Memories and spirits they conjure up tend to leave lasting marks on their personalities and psyche, so they get really weird along the way. Maybe I’ll publish some more specifics one of these days.)
Anyway, Hiatus will inform them that they must stop The Hushed King’s Cultists from using the Dragon Heart Shears to free him from his imprisonment. They are using an artifact known as the Dragonheart Shears (See Lore) to destroy the barriers. The Dragonheart Shears were stolen from a Vault in the Underdark by the Hushed King’s Agents. The Ritual will take some time to complete but it will grow harder to stop as it increases in power. He will be a constant reminder that they should be quick to the Ruins of Nisholar. If they ask him about his knowledge he will simply respond “The Voice speaks and I listen.” ## ACT 02: Dust and Tears They will then have to travel across The Plains of Dust and Tears. In many ways it resembles a desert but with typical Shadowfel Twists. Hyadis will head them toward a mountain in the distance. While crossing they will have to face numerous hazards and take consistent Necrotic Damage, which can be avoided with a Con Save. This phase is designed to make them miserable and possibly drain some of their resources as they deal with the problems at hand. It should take them a “week or more” to travel across the plains. You should use at least one combat encounter, and I would combine it with a Hazard. Obviously don’t let this section drag, but there should be a genuine sense of long travel here. If they try to use magic or items to aid them, let those aids only be partially successful. They should feel like they are making progress, but much slower than they would in the real world. So the mountain gets closer after a day, but not nearly as much as they would have expected. ``` ``` ### Hazards **Choking Dust (Constant Hazard):** Every Eight Hours, Medium Con save or take 1d4 Necrotic damage. An additional save must be made during a rest. If the save is failed during a rest the benefits will not be gained.
**Razor Grass Fields:** Living is a strange word for the Shadowfel. Things here aren’t alive in the traditional sense. But there are things that exist and grow. Razor grass is among those things. Large areas of this “plant” grow throughout the Shadowfel. It is more stone than plant, waist high with remarkably sharp edges, as is best to be avoided as traveling through it tears at anything soft. Unprotected players will take 1d4 Damage per 100’ traveled if they are taking care.
**Petrifying Shade Trees:** Seemingly petrified trees. When approached (30’) these trees begin to quiver and release a cloud of dust that can petrify those who breather it. A Medium Con save avoids this effect, the first failure brings stiffness, the second the sowed condition, the third turns them to stone.
**Bone Shard Vortexts:** cyclones of dust and bones that tear through the area. Not quite Tornado strength, but enough to do some serious damage. 2d12 Dexterity Save for half.
**Dust Pits:** Much like quicksand only dust. Dexterity save or immediately sink to the bottom and begin suffocating.
**Flesh Eating Beetles:** Swarms of beetles head for the party. They can be diverted by fire. If they manage to get to party they will do 2d6 damage per round until the party chases them off.
**Wilting Shadows:** Shadow from anything nearby, including themselves, animate and begin leeching life from the party. 2d6 Max HP reduction. Light will chase them away.
**Creeping Cold:** The air temperature begins to quickly drop. The Party must make Medium Constitution Saves or gain a level of exhaustion.
**Hunger Gnats:** A few gnats begin to hover around the party. (Just a few not swarms) They infest the party’s food. The next time the party stops to eat their rations are ruined. Unless, they keep them in an inter-dimensional space like a bag of holding. When opened, clouds of gnats will come pouring out.
**Corpse Ash Storm:** Similar to a thunderstorm but instead of rain, damp ash falls from it. The ash creates a slick mud on the ground and the area becomes difficult terrain. It also builds up on the ground and players similar to snow but it has a heavy weight. If touched with bare hands players will have visions of the souls attached to the ash… ashes to ashes… dust to dust…
**Lost Clouds:** A fog like phenomenon that appears over an area. It is made up of lost and emotionally broken spirits. Players will need to make Medium Wisdom Saving Throws or be tormented by the pain, anger, and grief of the Lost taking 3d6 psychic damage.
**Wailing Winds:** The wind picks up suddenly and has thousands of wailing and screaming voices on it. Those who hear the winds will take 2d4 psychic damage, and must make a Medium Wisdom Saving Throws or become confused, as the spell, for several minutes. The worse the failure the more greater the confusion. \page
### Encounters **Shrieking Spirits:** A swarm of spirits attack. (1 Banshee, 2 Specters, 1 Wraith, 1 Ghost)
**The Relentless Dead:** Packs of undead descend on the party. It is fun to give them an extra Shadowfel umph. Some extra HP or damage resistances, maybe give them a strength drain attack similar to an actual shadow. (4 Skeletons, 4 Zombies)
**Shadar-kai Hunters:** Followers of the Hushed King have found the party. They come riding on Skeletal Horses. (3 Hunters and 3 Skeletal Horses)
**Shadow Elemental:** An Elemental of living Shadow and Necrotic Energy forms in the center of the part and attacks.
### Horror Events **Shadow Dancing:** The player's shadows begin to dance in a very jerking macabre fashion similar to how zombies walk.
**The Forlorn Songs:** Faint songs can often be heard. Typically these resemble nursery rhymes whose words can never be understood. Sometimes though they are songs that the listener has recently heard. No matter the melody, they always leave those who hear it unnerved and with weakened resolve.
**Waking Nightmares:** Players begin to “daydream” but these thoughts quickly turn dark and grim. This event has no negative side effects but is unavoidable and a player will spend an hour drifting back to the Waking Nightmare.
**The Watcher:** While resting or taking a break the players almost spot someone standing in their peripheral view. When they look that way, nothing is there. ## ACT 03: The Voiceless Maw After a few days of travel across the Plains they arrive at the mountain of the Hushed King. The mountain is flush, but not swarming, with his minions and followers. It should be made obvious that they will need to do some conflict evasion, as alerting the entirety of the Hushed King’s forces will almost certainly result in a TPK. They likely will have to do some dangerous climbing to avoid detection. ##### MAP: The Voiceless Maw
You pass through the jagged rocks and find before you a spiraling plateau that sits dead center among the jagged circles of rocks. At the top of the plateau there is a long ago ruined structure. You might have missed it entirely were it not for the dark pulsing magic coming from them. The plateau is busy with activity. Groups of hushed cultists roam about in a haphazard fashion. As do a number of more militarized outfits. These march in what appear to be planned patrols. There are watchtowers placed on and around the sharp slopes of rock as well. Getting to the top is not going to be easy, and if someone sounds the alarm it is likely the entirety of the Hushed Kings forces will descend upon you
``` ``` ##### **DM NOTES:** The DM should note the areas around the peak where the Hushed Kings followers are concentrated, marked with a skull. These are places your players will want stay away from in order to avoid direct confrontation. The areas marked with a Watch Tower have advantage to perception within a reasonable radius. SHould they be detected then it will be a race to the ruins and the ritual circle. If the players seem intent on doing battle. Hiatus will abandon them, use their foolishness as a distraction, and attempt to complete his task. Chosing to face down the forces of the Hushed King will result in a TPK although perhaps a valiant one. The forces they will face are inexhaustible.
##### **SKILL CHALLENGE:** **Scale the Plateau** The players should engage in a skill challenge to reach the top of the Plateau. Stealth is obviously a solid option for them, however, it alone will likely land them in some trouble. Other skills can be used to cause distraction or aid in stealth. They also do have the option to assassinate groups to help clear the way rather than sneak past them, but they will have to be very quick and quiet.
## ACT 04: Ruins of Nisholar The ruins they are headed for is what is left o f the Hushed King’s Castle, Nisholar. It is haunted by shadows and wraiths. They will have to find a way down into the down into the dungeons. There will be several, but the longer they look the more attention they draw from the undead and possible the Cultists.
##### MAP: Castle Nisholar
### 1) The Gate House
This once majestic gatehouse is barely standing. The gates have been bashed in and it looks as if the flanking towers had been put tot the torch. There is a cold and uncomfortable aura emanating from the gatehouse.
There is a passage through a well into the tunnels below but they will have to fight the Sword Wraith Guards to access them
**ENCOUNTER: Sword Wraiths**
### 2) The Crumbled Keep The central Keep of the ruins has collapsed in upon itself creating a heap of rubble. Parts of the structure have managed to hold together, and from what you can see, it was at one point a majestic structure. Now it is a jumbled mound of debris.
**SECRET ENTRANCE:** THere is a well hidden entrance to the tunnels below out in the rubble. Finding it will require a Hard Check. Furthermore it is guarded by Cultist Druids who will summon Shadow Elementals.
**ENCOUNTER:** Druids and Shadow Elementals \page
### 3) The Great Watchtower
An enormous watchtower once stood here. The upper half of it snapped and tumbled away long ago leaving a line of wreckage in its wake. What remains now sticks up like a jagged spike stabbing at the black sky.
There are stairs down inside of the Tower but a Necro-Wyvren makes its lair here.
**ENCOUNTER: Necro Wyvren**
It has a extremely dangerous sting. Anyone stung within the last day makes death saving throws at Disadvantage. Anyone killed while under this effect rises as a Wraith 24 hours later.
### 4) The Servants Quarters
Oddly enough this building is mostly intact. However it has an extremely dark and foreboding feel to it. The door hangs open and the windows are dark with broken glass. Nothing seems to be present but you can’t help but feel watched.
**ENCOUNTER: The Haunted House Mimic.**
Even looking at it causes an Average DC Saving Throw to be made. Those who fail are overcome with fear and cannot willingly enter this building. Which is likely good for them. Those who enter and begin searching around will suddenly find themselves trapped and needing to fight their way out. They will stick to the floor where they stand, take acid damage every round, and be accosted by Shadows. If they kill the mimic it will leave behind treasure and dissolve, revealing a staircase downward.
**POSSIBLE RANDOM ENCOUNTER: Wraiths**
**POSSIBLE RANDOM ENCOUNTER: Cultists**
## ACT 05: The Silent Throne
After heading into the tunnels they will have to navigate the dungeon and find The Hushed King. They will then have to destroy the magical devices that are sapping the wards that hold him captive and defeat the Druid who is wielding the Dragonheart Shears. The Druid will obviously not be unguarded.
##### MAP: The Dungeon of the Hushed King
### 1) Guard Barracks
Rows of racks with rusted weapons and long abandoned bunks signal that this was likely a guards barracks at one time.
**ENCOUNTER: Animated Weapons**
``` ``` ### 2) Storage and Kitchens
The abundance of tables, barrels, and crated denote this as a storage room of some kind. There are two large stoves on the far wall, so maybe a kitchen? There are a half dozen withered corpses laying about the room.
**ENCOUNTER: Black Ghouls**
Black Ghouls aren’t that different from normal ghouls. However the one difference is quite notable. All of their damage drains max HP. This can be restored with a Lesser Restoration or Long Rest. ### 3) The Torture Chamber
Cages, chains, and implements of pain make this room likely to have been a torture chamber. Most of the items here have been piled into the center of the room in a jumbled heap.
**ENCOUNTER: Torture Golem** A Golem made of Torture devices guards this place. It is a master of capture and hurt tactics. Its mouth is an Iron Maiden. Its arms bladed chains. Its body stretching racks. It will grapple and restrain up to four characters with its various attacks. ### 4) The Lower Great Hall
This large open hall may at one time been a very welcoming and joy filled place. It is now the picture of horror. A smokelike haze fills the air poorly hiding the blood stains that cover the walls and floors. Shadows cast by sputtering torches seem to dance in mockery of your being here. On the Far end of the hall is a black shrine built around a beautiful and ominous statue depicting an elven warrior.
**EVENT: The Silent Call** Approaching the statue will force a Hard Wisdom Saving Throw. If a player fails this save they will begin to feel the Hushed King in their minds. The King does not speak nor give impulsive commands. He is simply there communicating pleasure or displeasure at a player’s actions. ### 5) The wine cellar
This room is filled with rotted and broken wine barrels and smashed bottles. Glowing eyed rats scurry away at your approach. They transform into shadows when they reach the walls and disappear into cracks.
\page
### 6) The Martial Practice Room
This room is set up for combat training. There are practice dummies and targets placed about in strategic fashion. A large decaying mat with concentric rings and other patterns dominates the center of the room.
**EVENT: Trial by Combat** Entering the rings of the mat will summon a combatant. The summon is illusionary and should not be difficult. If they kill they can stay in the ring or leave. If they stay another will appear this one will be harder. This continues until the player is dead or leaves the ring. If they defeat at least three opponents they can have inspiration that grants advantage on attack rolls equal to the number of times they won a fight. ### 7) The Arcanum
This ancient magical laboratory doesn’t appear to have had anyone use it in some time. In fact it looks as if anything of value have long been looted. Except for a large book on a podium on the far wall.
**EVENT: Magical Mysteries** This book will challenge any player who can practice magic that reads the text. This is a series of opposing Spell Attack Rolls. Success refills up to three levels of spell slots. Failure drains them. ### 8) The Treasury
The vaulted door on this room make it rather clear that this was once the treasury. There is nothing left here of value. Only empty shelves and tables.
### 9) The Prison of the Hushed King.
You enter into an unexpectedly large chamber. It is mostly round with some odd variations here in there. In the center of the room is an opaque crystal dome, although you can see a shadow moving inside of it. You can also hear soft chanting from the far side of the room beyond the dome. Figures step out from around the edges and begin ominously walking toward you.
**ENCOUNTER: Battle at the Silent Throne** Think about the battle as a three part event. The Players will be drawn into a battle with the Shadow Druids. Who will be mostly running interference to keep the players from stopping the ritual. The Arch Druid will be protected by Force Wall and will be using the Dragon Heart sheers to cut the lines of fate holding the King prisoner. You may want to describe ribbons of energy criscrossing the room in some sort of strange woven pattern. These threads intersect everything and everyone in the room and will streghten and fade based on their actions. They do not impact the battle in any way other than adding a level of mystery to the fight.
The other Druids will harass and delay the players for two rounds at which point the Arch Druid will make the last cut and inform them that they are too late and the barrier containing the King will come down. It takes three rounds for this to happen after that the King will be free. If they are quick in dispatching the Druids they can buff up and maybe take some shots at the king before he is freed.
You should describe the barrier falling by ⅓ after the first round. This should be a clue to them that they are on the clock. After Round Three the King will be free. Hopefully this will motivate them to kill the druids quickly or else face Driuds and the King. (Do not let Hyadis die during the fight. He needs some plot armor here) After they subdue the King Hyadis will instruct they to place the King back on The Silent Throne and he will begin the ritual to seal the King away again. During this time the forces of the Hushed King will begin entering the room and the players will have to hold them off. For (Insert rounds) until the ritual is finished. Hyadis can now be killed. Bye plot armor. And depending on how this battle resolves itself the ending of the trilogy will be quite different.
**DM Note:** The Dark Powers do not want the King escaping, and the power of the shears could certainly help him do so. If the players begin to strugle they may interefere, and later charge them a costly price.
- **Part 1** **Attempt to stop the ritual** The Players must Deal with the Shadowfel Druids. These Druids come packing The Silence Spell as a Bonus action, and are immune to their own spell. They will open with silencing the room and then Shape Shift into Shadow Elementals. Once in elemental form they will summon 1d4 Shadows every round. The Druids must be dealt with Quickly or the Shadows could overwhelm the players. - **Part 2** **Battle with the Hushed King** Once the King’s barrier is down he will move to attack. He has two abilities always at play. He has a 15’ aura of dissonant whispers and silence. He will once a round use Stolen Words as a reaction. This allows him to steal a spell out of a caster’s mouth and use it. He will also regularly use the Shadow Jump Feature to get into advantageous positions or out of trouble. - **Part 3** **Protect Hyadis** Haydis needs to finish the ritual or else the King will escape. But the Hushed King's Minions are not about to just let him trap their master. \page
## CONCLUSIONS: ### Full Success: If the party stops the Hushed King and manages to hold out long enough for Hyadis to cast Plane Shift and they can go home. This is the ultimate “good guy save the world” ending and should have appropriate rewards. This is the end of the adventure trilogy and so giving them loot isn’t really meaningful. I recommend giving them some local accolades and land that they can decide in closing what they did with. Hero Status that is talked about in your next adventure. The Tale of the Hushed King overheard in a tavern. If you’re running this inside of a campaign then you know better than I do as to how to reward your players. I think for an adventure this long a parcel of Land and a Noble Title is a really nice reward. Maybe something right on the edge of the Whisper Wood? ### The Last Stand: This is a great place for an epic TPK. Especially if you are not continuing with these characters after the adventure. One by one the heroes fall giving their last breaths to make certain that the Hushed King does not escape! So grandiose! They get this ending if they die after Hyadis completes the ritual but they fal to get Planeshift off. It is a success but no one lives to tell the tale. ### Try Again: They get this ending if they die in the adventure, especially just before the ritual is completed. If they perish in this way they will find themselves raised by Hyadis as Revenants and will have to hunt down and stop the King the old fashioned way. I don’t know if I’ll ever write that adventure up but that would be how I finish this if they fail. If this happens early enough in the module they can continue the module as Shadowfel touched Revenants… which sounds really BA if you think about it. They would ultimately die once the King is re-imprisoned. ``` ``` ## Thanks for playing an AOG Adventure. **I do want to take one last moment to sincerely thank you for playing an AOG Adventure. It means a lot to me as a creator. If you enjoyed it please leave me some comments on wherever you found this adventure. You can support more content like this by subscribing to our Patreon. [AMPLUS ORDO GAMES](https://www.patreon.com/amplusordogames)** \page
# APPENDICES ## PLAYING AN A.O.G. ADVENTURE If you’ve never played an AOG adventure, I thought it wise to give you some notes on how I write them. Cuz I do some stuff non traditional like. I’ll put those notes down in the Appendicies. #### Homebrewed World First off, almost all my adventures are set in my Homebrew World of Taalist, particularly the Continent of Krenshad. Which the majority of has a very Gothic Art and Renaissance Period cultural feel to it. With some Greek and Middle Eastern CUltre from the same time period thrown in there for flavor. That said… Almost all of my Adventures can be easily ported into your location of choice. If you would like to play in Taalist my Campaign Guide (All 150+ Pages of it) can be accessed on our Discord for Patreon Members. #### The Lay Out I divide my adventures into “Acts”. An Act doesn’t necessarily reflect an amount of time, but more of an important series of events or locations. Some Acts may take 5 minutes, some 5 hours. Why? I dunno, ask the players who over complicate simple matters and simplify the overly complex. #### Skill Check DCs I don’t spend a lot of time defining DCs as I play with a bit wider scale of success and failures. What does that mean? So for reference the DC scale in 5E looks like this.... Very Easy DC5, Easy DC10, Medium DC 15, Hard DC 20, Very Hard DC 25, Nearly Impossible DC 30. When I list a DC I will tell you it is Hard. But Hard for one party may be easy for another so I leave the actual number value up to you. I also play with a “Success but with Consequences” mentality so if they get close they still accomplish their goal but there is a “but” to that success. An Example? Hard Stealth DC is 20, they roll an 18, I tell them “You sneak past the guard you see but the guard you didn’t see heard something and is headed your way.” I think it adds more to the story that way. #### Search Checks I often reference Search Checks. What is a Search Check? When the players want to “search” something or for something I let them use either Investigation or Perception. I know that isn’t RAW but it just makes things so much easier. I got real tired of explaining to players who have been playing with me for years the difference between the two… just let them look for stuff! #### Opening Cutscene I like to start my games with an Opening Cutscene which is read before anything else happens. These are usually really vague bits of information that give a glimpse into something that will maybe happen later, happened before the adventure, or is story adjacent to it. I have found these to be great tools to set the mood and create a little mystery. ``` ``` #### Setting, Background Info, and Hooks These portions can be used as you see fit. Each one is a little different, so it is hard for me to say how best to use them. Some will play better if you can get them into the hands of the players before the game. Others may have better influence when read just after the Cutscene. Some are really only relevant to moments in the story. But as in all things you do what is best for your game! That is always the way to go. #### Skill Challenges I use the idea of Skill Challenges a lot. What is that? It is an event in the game that isn’t quite an encounter and it isn’t a simple skill check. It is a problem they solve with their whole skill set. Typically they must get three successes before three failures in order to succeed in a skill check. The thing about a Skill challenge is they’re are vague on purpose to allow players to be creative in solving a problem. An example may help here. > - DM says “Your Boat is taking on water. What would you like to do?” > - Player 1 responds with “I use my carpentry tools to fix the hole” and they make a Tool Check. But they roll a 2 so they fail. Too much water. > - Player 2 says “ wants to row harder with the crew to get us toward shore faster” They make an Athletics Check and roll an 18. So that is a success. > - Player 3 “I use Destroy Water to get water out” OK, well it only destroys 10 gallons so it isn’t super helpful, but the momentary reprieve allows a little drywork to happen and allow player 1 to reroll. > > *Stuff like this* \page
## ABOUT HORROR GAMES ##### What is a Horror Game? That question covers a lot of bases! But there are some core values that make a game a Horror Game, and they aren’t what a lot of people think. Sure it can be a gross out carnage and gore run with entrail and blood covered monstrosities, but far more often it is about the tension and mood of the game you are running. Horror games dive deep into setting a specific tension building tone and subverting player expectations. If you have access to Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, read it! It has a multitude of fantastic tips in it on what a Horror game is and can be!
##### Safety and Boundaries VRGtR talks about this a lot. Make sure you know your group’s boundaries and have a safety system in place when you play. You can google info about that real quick if you need to. But basically it is a way for players to let you know that you’re heading into territory that makes them uncomfortable in NOT a fun way. Then you as the DM can pause and redirect. Twas a time I thought that was lame and unnecessary… then I had a player have a breakdown. I didn’t know it was coming and in fact they didn’t either, but the narrative got way to close to home emotionally in regard to past trauma. Were there safety tools in place that player could have let me know, but instead they felt trapped there growing more and more uncomfortable until it was too late. So talk to your players and develop a plan to create and protect boundaries!
##### Tone and Subverting expectations. So lets talk about tone. Not the specific tone differences between say a gothic horror game and a cosmic horror game. The overall tone that horror should create. No matter what the style of the game is, horror games always promote feelings of rising tension and release. A lot of people compare this to a roller coaster, that’s close but coasters usually start big and end slower. Horror tends to work in reverse. Rising tension, small relief, more tension, more relief, high tension, little relief, you get the idea, and then it all comes racing to a finish at the end… or did it? Creating that kind of tension and not making your players miserable with it is a skill that you as the DM will need to develop. And one of the best ways to do that is to subvert their expectations.
This is another place where the Roller Coaster analogy kind of goes off the rails. (Yeah I punned that). You know on a coaster that after a long rise there is going to be a drop. You see it coming. You’ve watched it the entire time you were in line. It built excitement for that moment. But what if the coaster didn’t drop right there? What if it only dipped a little bit? What if the design of the track was intentionally misleading? That is the kind of tension you want to create.
Ever ride a Disney Coaster? Most of them are encased in a building or shoot through massive scenery that obscures your vision. That is 100% intentional, because were those coasters be open air they would be pretty lame, but the fact that you have no idea that there are dips and twists coming on that run-away-mine-train makes otherwise yawnable rides fun. That is horror. The players think something is about to happen, but what is really happening is over here. You ever do the pull a quarter out of a kid’s ear trick? If you’re good at it you learned to get them to look anywhere but at where you’re keeping that quarter, and then the moment they look away you grab their head and scream WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR EAR! OMG!... lol… don’t do that to children… that’s called trauma. But when it comes to Horror Games I’m sure you get the idea. Its basic illusion work, get them looking anywhere other than where the threat is.
You also need to play with tropes and then sometimes turn them on their heads. Folks say all the time they hate tropes. I’m just gonna put this out there… most people don’t know what they actually like and hate. People love tropes, they’re tropes for a reason. We play a game that in all of its core aspects is a living breathing trope and it is really hard to get away from it.
So what we’ve all done is embrace it, sometimes without realizing it, and that gives you a lot of room to take those things and flip them upside down. Horror leans into tropes all the time. A group of people get isolated and a creature picks them off one by one. That is the heart and soul of 90% of horror stories. That’s a trope. Strahd is one of the tropiest tropes that ever troped, and we all still love him. Tropes create a sense of security, players think they know what’s coming, and messing with that is your most effective tool in creating tension.
I ran Curse of Strahd a while back. It is wonderful as written, but I can’t help but mess with stuff so I jiggered the heck out of that module. In the run I introduced Colletta (the “Tatyanna”) character as the typical damsel in distress being chased by a Vampire. But then they met Strahd who was simply done with everything and determined to destroy his own realm. He was of course hot after Coletta as he always is, but more interested in the end of his curse. This turned him into an anti-hero of sorts, and every interaction with him was uncomfortable but helpful. . Now the players Never Ever Ever trusted Strahd, nor should they have. But Strahd was never the Villain of my story. Colletta was. I had given her access to past memories of her former lives and she was determined to not let Strahd free of his curse but instead to strip him of his powers and torment him herself forever. They players did so many horrible things to protect that damsel in distress and all the while were pawns to evil, meanwhile evil was attempting a true redemption that they denied him. Tropes used and expectations subverted. It was a glorious ending full of shock and horror. And I couldn’t have done it without leaning into tropes!
\page
##### Keep your Focus & Remember, Less is More Less is More, this old saying rings true in so many areas of life, and holds a lot of sway over Horror. How many monsters are there in most Horror stories? Most of the time there is only one. If there are more it is usually the same type of creature. There is a reason for that. One you should lean into. One very hard to kill creature is a lot scarier than dozens of slaughterable goons. “If it Bleeds We Can Kill It.” is a statement of Hope not Fact. Hope can be crushed. Now I’m not saying don’t use minions or random encounters or mini bosses. We need those in an Adventure. What I am saying is don’t drown your players in them, and never let the focus off your main threat. It is always there. Looming and lurking. In many ways it is the Monster’s story and no one else's. Doubt that? Think of most of the popular Horror Stories you know, who is easier to remember? The Monster or the People it is after? In almost every regard, your threat is your Protagonist. You still probably want your players to pull out a win, because that is fun for them, but your monster is your true star.
##### The World Doesn’t Work in Their Favor Normally, there are a lot of things that should work in the players favor. NPC cooperation is often one of them. But you’re out to create a general feel of suspicion and distrust. Therefore NPC and the World should give the impression of wanting to cooperate, but they often don’t.
##### Use Good Descriptive Words. It’s not just an Ogre. He isn’t just ugly. He is a hulking monstrocity nearly 10 feet tall covered in oozing sores and with chunks of flesh hanging between its rotting teeth.
##### Hunt Them Being Hunted by a monster is more nerve wracking than fighting it. Building on a feeling of dread and anticipation can really make people unsettled.
##### 2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back, Always… They never fully win. Everything has strings attached and ripple effects. You‘re out to create the shadow of hopelessness. They save a peasant from a monster but while they were helping them, something else bad happened. Not as bad, but they need to start to live with the feeling that they have too many fires to fight. Let them win once and awhile, but they should mostly be partial victories. I mean you don’t want to crush their souls or anything… wait… or do you… ?
##### Use a Kobayashi Maru Otherwise known as a No Win Situation. Someone is sick and dying and they can’t save them. Someone can’t be brought back from the dead because - reasons. They couldn’t prevent a village from being destroyed. And if they pull a Captain Kirk and try to cheat the system… well remind them that Star Trek is fiction and this is D&D.
##### Force Them to Make Terrible Choices In a regular game a BBEG might monologue and they could come up with a way to save the day. Yeah, no that doesn’t happen here. If the BBEG is monologuing it is because he knows they can’t stop them and they think it is amusing. There are two guillotine and two people trapped in them. They literally no matter what can only save one. Those type of things. I have even killed a player very early in the campaign to emphasis that in a Horror Game villains don’t piss around. ##### Enforce Consequences. If they make a bad choice they pay for it. This is a great way to chip away at their morale. However, often a player can easily deal with bad choices affecting them. But… If they have an NPC ally that is helping them. That NPC pays for it. Big Bad Evil Guys don’t like their plans being messed with. Hurt the helpless and your players will become extremely nervous. Hurt someone they don’t want to mess with and they will be down right scared. Now, this does not work on Murder Hobos... at first… because players like that don’t care about things like NPCs… but there are things they do care about, and once the consequence affects those things it hurts bad. ##### Chipping Away at Their Sanity I highly reccomend using a sanity mechanic. There are lots of good ones out there that don't come across as blunt force trauma immediately. The things they see in a Horror Game should unsettle the characters deeply. In fact if we're honest most of what adventurers do and see should leave emotional and psychological trauma in their wake. Lean into that. When they see something have them make a sanity check... the more they fail the harder the checks get. And the more unhinged thier behavior becomes. Will they even be able to tell friend from foe by the end of the game? Hopefully at least one of them wont! Because having someone's character completely go off the rails is a good time in a game like this!
##### SUPER IMPORTANT
##### Give Them a Flower in the Desert The last thing I will leave you with is a very easy and simple notion. Don’t constantly oppress the players. Horror has a lot of things that chip away at a person's resolve, and if you don’t lift them up once and a while they’ll give up. In D&D that means they stop having fun. The Flower in the Desert concept is exactly what it sounds like. Give them something fun and wonderful once and a while. Give them a scene of beauty not terror. Give them a flower in the desert. It keeps them going, becomes a tension release, and helps relieve the stress of the adventure. Humor is often one of your best avenues, but a real spot of world building beauty is something they will always remember!
##### The End? I’ve got a ton more I could say about all things Horror, but I gotta wrap it up somewhere. If you want to pick my brain about it, send me a message where you found this and I’ll get back to ya! \page
## EXPANDED LORE ##### **The Weave Drought** Forty years ago the rivers of magic went dry. No one knows why it happened, although there is great speculation that the Weave withdrew itself to prevent further abuses of its power. The disappearance of Magic caused havoc worldwide as many nations had built the foundations of their societies upon it. Some retained slivers of power, but rarely past rudimentary magics and cantrips. Even then the effort and skill required to cast such spell was great and extremely taxing to the caster. Practitioners of the magical arts whether they were Natural, Divine, or Arcane desperately sought a way to restore their powers. They captured and killed “magical” creatures conducting strange experiments designed to draw power from them. This was rarely successful, and instead drove many of these creatures into “extinction”. They also attempted to recycle the power in Magical items hoping to capture the essence within them. This was a more successful avenue, but even then the results were limited and temporary. What turned out to be most successful was the accepting of dark gifts from shadowy patrons. Hags and other fell beings seemed unaffected by the drought, and while at first they were hunted, they later were sought out so that they might bestow power on supplicants. And of course they did, but always at a high cost to those who came begging. The absence of magic gave rise to what is known as the Age of Red Steel. A time where Warlords brutally ruled the lands but the strength of their sword-arms.
But now, very recently, the power of the Weave has returned. Like a flood it washed over the lands, magical items, places, and creatures, long thought mundane, were now empowered, often in dangerous ways. The governments of the world have taken notice and have initiated a Magica Arms race of sorts. In many lands, those who can touch the Weave are taken captive and forced into the service of the ruling Warlord. In other places, they are assassinated by a nation’s rival in order to strip their enemies of the power they bring. Many casters go into hiding or gather around them an organization that values their skills and can offer them protection. Unfortunately a good many people who find they have power use it for selfish gains and end up causing much suffering for the common folk. And so those who can focus the Weave’s power are often treated with greater suspicion and often violent reactions. ##### **The Dragon Heart Shears** Gilnislinis the Crimson was one of the first among her kind. Born near the dawn of both Dragons and the Material Creation. As she watched the maker form the worlds throughout the planes she was in awe at the manifest power of words made into matter. As the eons passed, before her kind had eternal life stripped from them during the Usurper’s War, she had taken a shine to creating herself. Using the manifestation of destiny she made Astral Garments and Wondrous Tapestries woven with the very threads and cloths of Fate.
When she was cast down along with the Usurper she was forbidden to ever work with Fate again. The punishment was more than she could bear and she plunged her shears into her own heart. These shears absorbed her passions and desires and still to this day hold much of their potency. A being who wields the shears can manipulate the fates of others, one who masters them can change the course of. ## IMPORTANT LOCATIONS #### Balinovia, The Republic of **Summary:** Balinovia was once an advanced cultural and industrial society that has stumbled backward thanks to brutal infighting and rebellions in the past century. It has a Northern Italy feel to it with steep mountains and lightly forested valleys. It is one of the more Racially diverse countries being about 50% Human, 20% Elf, 15% Dwarf, 10% Halfling, 5% Other. Although Racism is prevalent and folk tend to draw into communities of their own people. They tend to be Monotheistic but a little on the mysticism side with a heavy Nature theme. They present themselves as a Republic Governmentally, but the reality is that they are a Dictatorship with fierce infighting Warlords who form a “Noble Council”.
Andro Cordasco, Pirate turned conqueror, sits as “Prime Minister” and rules from the city of Bruchella. Their economy, once the envy of the world, struggles to even care for its own people. The rural communities farm enough to feed themselves, but they are usually taxed so heavily that starvation and hunger among the common folk is rampant. With the looming Blood Axe threat, most of their industry has been turned toward creating implements of war. Balnovians have little respect for law, but there is some for order. Unfortunately the tone of the land are “Everyone for Themselves” and “If you’re not part of my group you’re probably a problem.”
**History:** A Large forest country in the South West of the continent of Krenahad. Balinovian history teaches that Atticus, one of the brothers from the Old Kren Empire, was so disillusioned with infighting and the division of the Empire after their father’s death and sailed west with his army and their families. Shortly after building their first settlement Atticus and his men discovered a local tribe of elves who welcomed the newcomers to their land.
The immense forested area was home to dozens of tribes from nearly every race of Surface Folk all living in relative peace. Atticus invited the tribal leaders to join him in what would later be called “The Council of Nations” and soon after the newcomers were an accepted member of the society. Centuries later Balinova was a racially diverse land with a fully functioning Democratic Republic government. The only country on Krenshad with an Eastern and Western Seaport they became a nation at home on the sea and in the deep forests of the world. In other Nations races people aren’t accustomed to seeing were often labeled as Balinovians
\page
After the War of the Pentad much of that changed. The devastation the Storm Lord brought about fractured this side of the continent. Balinovia was split into pieces. The North West was drowned in the ocean that rushed in upon them and is now known as the Straight of Corpses. The North East struggled for years to recover and eventually become the Nation of Rigochald. The floodwaters washed over the central areas transforming them into The Blood Marsh, a reeking bog land filled with the bodies of the dead. It is now inhabited by the Orcs of Adez-Ogg, the Blood Axe Tribe. The South split away along the river that once marked the line between North and South Balinovia. The fracture was so great that it dropped half of their capital city into the newly created canyon below. The river was widened by miles and created the Channel of Despair which now connects The Sea of Unity to the Dragon Maw Bay. Although few sail this route due to the high risk of being attacked by the Blood Axe Orcs.
**Currently:** Balinovia has become a never ending battlefield as factions and groups attempt to size power for themselves. If it were not for the Blood Axe invasion in 407 the Nation surely would have torn itself completely apart. But they rallied together to push the Orcs back across the Channel into the Blood Marsh. This event brought some unity back to the people, but not much. Balinovians have come to believe that they can only really truly depend on themselves and no one else. They are loosely led by Andro Cordasco, Pirate turned conqueror. Andro cares not if those under him struggle for dominance, as long as the tribute he demands is paid. He runs the Nation under the facade of a Council of Nobles, which is really just a group of local tyrants sharing a semi common goal. Get rich and die old.
#### Adez-Ogg, Clan Blood Axe **Summary:** A brutal Orc nation living in the swamps of Blood Marsh. They have made it their goal to destroy Balinovia to the south. Their racial breakdown is 90% Orc, 9% Goblinoid Races and Kobolds, 1% Other. They have a Tropical Tribal motif, particularly that of the West Indies. Their Government Structure is a form of Barbaric Feudalism where the strongest rule up front and the Priestesses of Gruumsh rule from the shadows. They are currently led by Warchief Zurgha Flesh-Eater and High Prophet, The Night Mother. Their economy is weak with most Orcs infighting for resources. They are capable smiths and weapon crafters however. For food sources they take to hunting and gathering, which includes pillaging of their neighbors. They are extremely religious and faithful to Gruumsh. Their practice resembles a lot of occultic voodooism. While not really a “Lawful” society in a cultural sense, they do deeply respect their own customs and rules. They would be considered quite evil by civilized standards, and are extremely racist toward outsiders “Orc Is Best. Eat All The Rest!”. They have no qualms about murder and mayhem. If they were to be summed up in a local philosophy it would be. “Only the Strong are Worthy”
**History:** The Adez-Ogg, or Blood Axe, Orcs had been isolated in a large valley in the Red Peak Mountains and overlooked for Centuries, rarely coming into contact with outsiders. The Pentad War changed all of that. When the Crimson Brands crash landed in their backyard the Orcs’ eyes were opened to a world beyond. Shortly after that they marched south into the Blood Marsh and claimed the territory. They lived there for decades, completely unnoticed. They had however noticed Balinovia which lay across The Channel of Despair, and in the untraveled hills of the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains they gathered slaves and soldiers from among the other dark races quietly building a powerful army.
The timing of their attack couldn’t have caught the Balinovian’s at a worse time. The county had spiraled into a boody feudal war as local nobles led their people to battle in an attempt to assert dominance. The Orcs swept in and raided the entire center of the nation within a month. Although this forced the Balinovians to work together to push the Orcs back they had already carried off a great amount of plunder. The Orcs withdrew back across the river and have continued to rebuild their strength. Warcamps line the north side of the Channel and the drums of war can be heard up and down the waterway every night. They have also taken to building vessels and raiding merchant ships darting through the Strait of Corpses, but their eyes always lay to the South where from time to time they launch raids against their neighbors, but it is never anything more than a skirmish or a quick plunder run. Skirmishes are one thing, but every Balinovian knows that someday the Orcs will return and when they do there will be blood.
The Blood Axe tribe’s public leader is always The War Chief. War Chiefs are chosen out of the strongest among them. The Orcs gain “Stripes” across their backs. A wicked slice of a poison coated falchion after they perform a great deed. The festering wound stays open for weeks and if the Orc survives then their bravery is true. If they die… they were a coward. A great wound in battle also counts as a scar when it comes to standing among them. So it is not uncommon for the sitting Warchief to have dozens of scars.
The warchief is not always the warrior with the most scars, but the one who is strongest in battle. Any Orc with six or more scars can challenge the sitting Chieftain. But it is not the Warchief that truly leads the Blood Axe Tribe by the prophets of Gruumsh who are the shadowy puppeteers of the tribe’s leaders. No Warchief dare disobey Gruumsh, and it is the shaman who declare the will of their god.
**Currently:** The sitting Warchief is a massive female by the name of Zurgha Flesh-Eater and the High Prophet is a female that goes by the title The Night Mother. They make a terrifying team and have been preparing day and night for their next invasion of Balinovia. Which, they will launch as soon a Gruumsh speaks. Zurgha has a battalion fo 100 of her strongest warriors at her side nearly night and day, and Night Mother has a coven of both Orc and Otherworldly beings dedicated to Gruumsh at her beck and call. Were there not so much hate between the family tribes of Clan Blood Axe, they would be the most dangerous force on the Continent. Even so, they still may be.
\page
#### Cuzzano, The City State of **Summary:** Cuzzano is a fascinating city, with advanced steam level technology city built in a massive cavern riverway and on top of a ten mile round water reservoir. In many ways they hold Balinovia and Cetnovia trade interests hostage with their water supplies, as the flow out of this reservoir is the main feed to the other nations’ major riverways. They are not a hostile society and in many ways resemble Switzerland in both culture and attitude toward their neighbors. Sporting a fairly diverse racial profile with 45% Human, 25% Dwarf, 10% Gnome, 20% Other, Cuzzano doesn’t have the racial tensions that many other places do. They do however run their city under a very severe caste system based off of aptitude and ability. It is said in Cuzzano that if you have skills you don’t need a race. If you have no aptitudes then you don’t exist anyway. Faith wise they’re pretty agnostic, but flavored with some arcane mysticism. Their economy relies almost exclusively on trade, and they have a lot to offer, not just water. Their inventions and toolwork are world renown. Governmentally they’re a bit odd. The country has Councils of Craftsman’s Guilds, Merchants, and Artisans, but all of these are overseen by Baron Xalgrim Bloodgear a genius level gnomish inventor and artificer. Xalgrim is known for his deadly inventions as well as his ruthlessness in both trade and social situations. If there was a national belief it would be that “Advancement is the only worthy pursuit.”
**History:** One of the most interesting locales in Krenshad, Cuzzano is considered by many to be one of the wonders of the world. Nestled high in the mountains between Balinovia and Cetnovia the city is built at the conjunction of several large waterfalls and one large underground river that bursts out of a cavern. Naturally these waters flowed into only Cetnovia, but almost 300 years ago clever engineers from the neighboring countries built an immense retaining wall some ten miles in diameter around the outer edges of the area and let it fill with water creating a vast reservoir. They then opened floodgates on either side letting the water flow into great rivers that feed the both the Blainovian and Cetnovian countrysides. For centuries the two nations considered Cuzzano a shared city and resource, and this arrangement created an extremely diverse racial population.
The city itself is built into three districts. The wealthy have constructed a large settlement on the pillar in at the center of the reservoir some two miles wide. The middle class occupies the space created on the walls and up the sides of the nearby mountains, while the poor live shanty towns in the river cavern where no permanent structures are allowed to be built out of fear that they might endanger the integrity of the cavern and cut off the major water source.
Cuzzano proclaimed its independence after the Plague of Worms, and there was little either nation could do about it. Both had been devastated by natural disasters, the plague, and infighting. Cuzzano now holds both lands' major sources of freshwater for ransom, and demands a high price to keep the rivers flowing. Again, there is little either nation can do to change the situation, a wall large enough to keep in ten square miles of water also happens to be a formidable defensive structure. The Balinovians once attempted to lay siege and Cuzzano simply opened the full flood gate and washed the entire army down the mountains to their deaths. The siege lasted less than a day.
**Currently:** Cuzzano has slipped into a deep Caste System chiefly based on racial and economic standing. Here Humans, Dwarves, and Gnomes make up the bulk of the ruling and middle classes. With other races rarely escaping the caverns. However, it values those with skills and skills produce coin. Folk that display an aptitude for artisan level work whether in practical pursuits or the arts can find themselves quickly elevated out of lower statuses. It is also one of the only places left on Krenshad that bothers to educate its people. Even the poor have access to schooling. Cuzzano is currently governed by Water Baron Xalgrim Bloodgear, a Gnome Artificer turned Warlord. He was born Xalgrim Brassgears. It was the people who began calling him Bloodgear due to his unique style of eliminating his enemies. Xalgrim was tickled by the moniker and adopted it as his surname. #### Hollow Home The village of the Ghostwise Halflings of the Whisper Wood. Hidden in the boughs of some of the largest trees of the forest, Hollow Home is one of the more secret settlements in the world. The village consists of only a few structures that could be classified as buildings. The rest of the locals dwellings are little more than covered and furnished hollows in the trees large enough to make a simple home out of. The village typically houses about 100 individuals, most of whom have been trained to ride and use Giant Owls as mounts and hunting animals. The Nightgliders, as they are known, is a small group of Owl Riders who have sworn oaths to an unknown Forest Patron to keep the land free of evils.
#### The Franssisi Mountains Named after San Franssisi, Parton Saint of nature and beasts, the mountains run the length of the southern border of Balinovia. They are forest covered and teeming with wildlife, some quite dangerous.
#### The Touno River (Thundering River) Spills down from Cuzzano and across the countryside. Skirting the Franssisi Mountains the river rushes wildy and filled with rapids and waterfalls making it technically impassable by boat, although there are stretches where one could use a small craft.
#### The Whisper Wood A thick old growth forest covering a 50 mile stretch of land between the Touno River and the Franssisi Mountains. The Whisper Wood has long held a dark reputation. It is said those who wander too far from the road never return, but the truth is the Ghostwise Halflings who dwell there and their Giant Owl mounts have long protected forest. Their unique skills and culture keep the area safe and deal with any evils that may try to take root.
\page
## MAP: Eastern Balinovia \page
## MAP: The Voiceless Maw \page
## MAP: The Ruins of Nisholar \page
## MAP: The Dungeon off Silence (Player) \page
## MAP: The Dungeon of Silence (DM) \page
## STAT BLOCKS ___ ___ >## Animated Weapon >*Small construct, unaligned* >___ >- **Armor Class** 16 (natural armor) >- **Hit Points** 25 (undefined) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|6 (-2)|14 (+2)|10 (+0)|3 (-4)|3 (-4)|1 (-5)| >___ >- **Senses** blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 6 >- **Languages** — >- **Challenge** — > >___ >***Animated.*** If the object lacks legs or other appendages it can use for locomotion, it instead has a flying speed of 30 feet and can hover. If the object is securely attached to a surface or larger object, such as a chain bolted to a wall, its speed is 0. >When the animated object drops to 0 hit points, it reverts to its original object form, and any remaining damage carries over to its original object form. >The DM might rule that a specific objects slam attack inflicts slashing or piercing damage based on its form. > >### Actions >***Slam.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 6 (1d8 + 2) Weapon damage. ___ ___ >## Banshee >*Medium undead, chaotic evil* >___ >- **Armor Class** 12 >- **Hit Points** 58 (13d8) >- **Speed** 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|1 (-5)|14 (+2)|10 (+0)|12 (+1)|11 (+0)|17 (+3)| >___ >- **Saving Throws** Wis +2, Cha +5 >- **Damage Resistances** acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks >- **Damage Immunities** cold, necrotic, poison >- **Condition Immunities** charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10 >- **Languages** Common, Elvish >- **Challenge** 4 (1,100 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +2 >___ >***Detect Life.*** The banshee can magically sense the presence of living creatures up to 5 miles away that aren't undead or constructs. She knows the general direction they're in but not their exact locations. > >***Incorporeal Movement.*** The banshee can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. She takes 5 (1d10) force damage if she ends her turn inside an object. > >### Actions >***Corrupting Touch.*** *Melee Spell Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 12 (3d6 + 2) necrotic damage. > >***Horrifying Visage.*** Each non-undead creature within 60 feet of the banshee that can see her must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the banshee is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the banshee's Horrifying Visage for the next 24 hours. > >***Wail (1/Day).*** The banshee releases a mournful wail, provided that she isn't in sunlight. This wail has no effect on constructs and undead. All other creatures within 30 feet of her that can hear her must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature drops to 0 hit points. On a success, a creature takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage. \page
___ ___ >## Black Ghoul >*Medium undead, chaotic evil* >___ >- **Armor Class** 12 >- **Hit Points** 22 (5d8) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|13 (+1)|15 (+2)|10 (+0)|7 (-2)|10 (+0)|6 (-2)| >___ >- **Damage Immunities** poison >- **Condition Immunities** charmed, exhaustion, poisoned >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10 >- **Languages** Common >- **Challenge** 1 (200 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +2 >___ >### Actions >***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. *Hit:* 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage. > >***Claws.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 7 (2d4 + 2) slashing damage. If the target is a creature other than an elf or undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute and their max HP is draind by half the damage done. The target can repeat the saving throw for the paralysis at the end of each of its turns, ending that effect on itself on a success. The Max Hp can be restored with a Lesser Resotration Spell or a long rest. ___ ___ >## Ghost >*Medium undead, any alignment* >___ >- **Armor Class** 11 >- **Hit Points** 45 (10d8) >- **Speed** 0 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|7 (-2)|13 (+1)|10 (+0)|10 (+0)|12 (+1)|17 (+3)| >___ >- **Damage Resistances** acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks >- **Damage Immunities** cold, necrotic, poison >- **Condition Immunities** charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 >- **Languages** any languages it knew in life >- **Challenge** 4 (1,100 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +2 >___ >***Ethereal Sight.*** The ghost can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane when it is on the Material Plane, and vice versa. > >***Incorporeal Movement.*** The ghost can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. > >### Actions >***Withering Touch.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 17 (4d6 + 3) necrotic damage. > >***Etherealness.*** The ghost enters the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. It is visible on the Material Plane while it is in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa, yet it can't affect or be affected by anything on the other plane. > >***Horrifying Visage.*** Each non-undead creature within 60 feet of the ghost that can see it must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. If the save fails by 5 or more, the target also ages 1d4 × 10 years. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the frightened condition on itself on a success. If a target's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to this ghost's Horrifying Visage for the next 24 hours. The aging effect can be reversed with a *greater restoration* spell, but only within 24 hours of it occurring. > >***Possession (Recharge 6).*** One humanoid that the ghost can see within 5 feet of it must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or be possessed by the ghost; the ghost then disappears, and the target is incapacitated and loses control of its body. The ghost now controls the body but doesn't deprive the target of awareness. The ghost can't be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, except ones that turn undead, and it retains its alignment, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and immunity to being charmed and frightened. It otherwise uses the possessed target's statistics, but doesn't gain access to the target's knowledge, class features, or proficiencies. >The possession lasts until the body drops to 0 hit points, the ghost ends it as a bonus action, or the ghost is turned or forced out by an effect like the *dispel evil and good* spell. When the possession ends, the ghost reappears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the body. The target is immune to this ghost's Possession for 24 hours after succeeding on the saving throw or after the possession ends. \page
___ ___ >## Haunted House Mimic >*Gargantual monstrosity, typicallyneutral* >___ >- **Armor Class** 14 (natural armor) >- **Hit Points** 123 (13d12 + 39) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|21 (+5)|12 (+1)|17 (+3)|10 (+0)|16 (+3)|10 (+0)| >___ >- **Saving Throws** Con +6, Wis +6 >- **Skills** Persuasion +3, Stealth +6 >- **Condition Immunities** prone >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 >- **Languages** Common, Draconic, telepathy 120 ft. >- **Challenge** 8 (3,900 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >***False Appearance (House Form Only).*** If the mimic is motionless at the start of combat, it has advantage on its initiative roll. Moreover, if a creature hasn't observed the mimic move or act, that creature must succeed on a DC 22 Intelligence (Investigation) check to discern that the mimic is animate. > >### Actions >***Multiattack.*** The mimic makes one Pseudopod attack against every creature within range of it. > >***Pseudopod.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. *Hit:* 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and the mimic adheres to the target. A creature adhered to the mimic is also grappled by it (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained. Ability checks made to escape this grapple have disadvantage. > >***Caustic Mist (Recharge 5–6).*** The mimic sprays a fine mist of acid in a 50-radius from it's center. Each creature in that area must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 14 (3d8) acid damage and is blinded until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn't blinded. > >***Shapechanger.*** The mimic transforms into a hoard or back into its true, amorphous form. Its statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies. ___ ___ >## Necro-Wyvern >*Large dragon, unaligned* >___ >- **Armor Class** 13 (natural armor) >- **Hit Points** 110 (13d10 + 39) >- **Speed** 20 ft., fly 80 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|19 (+4)|10 (+0)|16 (+3)|5 (-3)|12 (+1)|6 (-2)| >___ >- **Skills** Perception +4 >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14 >- **Languages** — >- **Challenge** 6 (2,300 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >### Actions >***Multiattack.*** The wyvern makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger. While flying, it can use its claws in place of one other attack. > >***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. *Hit:* 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. > >***Claws.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage. > >***Stinger.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. *Hit:* 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The sting also has the secondary effect of imposing disadvantage on Death Saving Throws for 24 hours. A Lessor Restoration or similar magic can remove this effect. \page
___ ___ >## Shadar-Kai Hunter (Shadow Dancer) >*Medium humanoid (elf), neutral* >___ >- **Armor Class** 15 (studded leather armor) >- **Hit Points** 71 (13d8 + 13) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|12 (+1)|16 (+3)|13 (+1)|11 (+0)|12 (+1)|12 (+1)| >___ >- **Saving Throws** Dex +6, Cha +4 >- **Skills** Stealth +6 >- **Damage Resistances** necrotic >- **Condition Immunities** charmed, exhaustion >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 >- **Languages** Common, Elvish >- **Challenge** 7 (2,900 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >***Fey Ancestry.*** The shadow dancer has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put it to sleep. > >***Shadow Jump.*** As a bonus action, the shadow dancer can teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see. Both the space it teleports from and the space it teleports to must be in dim light or darkness. The shadow dancer can use this ability between the weapon attacks of another action it takes. > >### Actions >***Multiattack.*** The shadow dancer makes three spiked chain attacks. > >***Spiked Chain.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. *Hit:* 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or suffer one additional effect of the shadow dancer's choice: >- The target is grappled (escape DC 14) if it is a Medium or smaller creature. Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the shadow dancer can't grapple another target. >- The target is knocked prone. >- The target takes 22 (4d10) necrotic damage. ___ ___ >## Shadow Elemental >*Medium elemental, neutral* >___ >- **Armor Class** 18 (plate armor) >- **Hit Points** 117 (18d8 + 36) >- **Speed** 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|18 (+4)|14 (+2)|14 (+2)|9 (-1)|10 (+0)|10 (+0)| >___ >- **Damage Resistances** Cold, Necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks >- **Damage Immunities** poison >- **Condition Immunities** paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone >- **Senses** Superior darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10 >- **Languages** Auran, one language of its creator's choice >- **Challenge** 7 (2,900 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >***Magic Weapons.*** The elemental's weapon attacks are magical. > >### Actions >***Multiattack.*** The elemental's makes three slam attacks. > >***Slam.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. > >***Shadow Strike (Recharge 6).*** The elemental makes one slam attack. On a hit, the target takes an extra 18 (4d8) necrotic damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of the myrmidon's next turn. > >***Shadow Jump.*** As a bonus action, the elemental can teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see. Both the space it teleports from and the space it teleports to must be in dim light or darkness. The elemental can use this ability between other actions it takes. \page
___ ___ >## Silent Arcanist >*Medium humanoid (Shara-kai), neutral evil* >___ >- **Armor Class** 12 (15 with *mage armor*) >- **Hit Points** 45 (10d8) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|9 (-1)|14 (+2)|10 (+0)|17 (+3)|13 (+1)|12 (+1)| >___ >- **Skills** Arcana +6, Deception +4, Perception +4, Stealth +5 >- **Senses** darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 14 >- **Languages** Elvish, Undercommon >- **Challenge** 7 (2,900 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >***Fey Ancestry.*** The Arcanist has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put the Arcanist to sleep. > >***Spellcasting.*** The Arcanist is a 8th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). The Arcanist does not need verbal components and has the following wizard spells prepared: > >At will: *dancing lights* >1/day each: *darkness*, *faerie fire*, *levitate* (self only), *silence* > >Cantrips (at will): *mage hand*, *minor illusion*, *poison spray*, *ray of frost* >1st level (4 slots): *mage armor*, *magic missile*, *shield*, *witch bolt* >2nd level (3 slots): *alter self*, *misty step*, *web* >3rd level (3 slots): *fly*, *lightning bolt* >4th level (3 slots): *Evard's black tentacles*, *greater invisibility* > >### Actions >***Staff.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 2 (1d6 - 1) bludgeoning damage, or 3 (1d8 - 1) bludgeoning damage if used with two hands, plus 3 (1d6) poison damage. > >***Summon Demon (1/Day).*** The Arcanist magically summons a **shadow** with a 50 percent chance of success. The summoned shadow appears in an unoccupied space within 60 feet of its summoner, acts as an ally of its summoner. It remains for 10 minutes, until it or its summoner dies, or until its summoner dismisses it as an action. ___ ___ >## Silent Arch-Druid >*Medium humanoid (any race), chaotic neutral* >___ >- **Armor Class** 14 (hide armor) >- **Hit Points** 90 (12d8 + 36) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|11 (+0)|15 (+2)|16 (+3)|10 (+0)|20 (+5)|14 (+2)| >___ >- **Saving Throws** Dex +5, Con +6, Wis +8 >- **Skills** Nature +3, Perception +8, Survival +8 >- **Senses** passive Perception 18 >- **Languages** Common, Druidic >- **Challenge** 7 (2,900 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >***Siege Monster.*** The druid deals double damage to objects and structures. > >***Speak with Beasts and Plants.*** The druid can communicate with beasts and plants as if they shared a language. > >***Spellcasting.*** The druid is a 12th-level spellcaster and does not need verbal components. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following druid spells prepared, all of which should be Shadow and Necrotic Flavored rather than elemental: > >At will: *dancing lights* >1/day each: *darkness*, *faerie fire*, *levitate* (self only), *silence* > >Cantrips (at will): *druidcraft*, *produce flame*, *resistance*, *thorn whip* >1st level (4 slots): *cure wounds*, *faerie fire*, *thunderwave* >2nd level (3 slots): *beast sense*, *flame blade*, *pass without trace* >3rd level (3 slots): *conjure animals*, *dispel magic*, *plant growth* >4th level (3 slots): *dominate beast*, *freedom of movement*, *wall of fire* >5th level (2 slots): *commune with nature*, *conjure elemental*, *scrying* >6th level (1 slot): *transport via plants*, *wall of thorns* > >### Actions >***Quarterstaff.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage, or 4 (1d8) bludgeoning damage if used with two hands. \page
___ ___ >## Silent Druid >*Medium humanoid (human), any alignment* >___ >- **Armor Class** 13 (hide armor) >- **Hit Points** 47 (9d8 + 27) >- **Speed** 40 ft. (wolf form only), burrow 5 ft. (fox form only), climb 30 ft. (goat form only), fly 60 ft. (owl form only) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|12 (+1)|13 (+1)|16 (+3)|10 (+0)|16 (+3)|9 (-1)| >___ >- **Saving Throws** Int +3, Wis +6 >- **Skills** Nature +3, Perception +6, Survival +6 >- **Damage Resistances** cold >- **Senses** darkvision 60ft. (beast form only), passive Perception 16 >- **Languages** Common, Druidic >- **Challenge** 5 (1,800 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >***Spellcasting (Humanoid Form Only).*** The druid is a 9th-level spellcaster and does not need verbal components. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 14; +6 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following druid spells prepared, all of which should be Shadow and Necrotic Flavored rather than elemental: > >Cantrips (at will): *druidcraft*, *guidance*, *resistance* >1st level (4 slots): *animal friendship*, *fog cloud*, *speak with animals* >2nd level (3 slots): *animal messenger*, *moonbeam*, *pass without trace* >3rd level (3 slots): *conjure animals*, *sleet storm*, *wind wall* >4th level (3 slots): *hallucinatory terrain*, *ice storm* >5th level (1 slot): *awaken* > >### Actions >***Multiattack.*** The druid makes two melee attacks. > >***Ice Sickle (Humanoid Form Only).*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 3 (1d4 + 1) slashing damage plus 5 (2d4) cold damage. > >***Maul (Beast Form Only).*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage. > >***Change Shape.*** The druid magically polymorphs into a shadow beast form or back into its humanoid form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the beast form (the druid's choice). It reverts to its humanoid form when it dies. The druid's statistics are the same in each form, except where noted in this stat block. ___ ___ >## Silent Warrior >*Medium humanoid (any race), any non-good alignment* >___ >- **Armor Class** 17 (Shadow Armor) >- **Hit Points** 60 (13d8 + 26) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|18 (+4)|13 (+1)|14 (+2)|12 (+1)|14 (+2)|16 (+3)| >___ >- **Saving Throws** Wis +5, Cha +6 >- **Skills** Athletics +7, Deception +6, Intimidation +6 >- **Damage Resistances** necrotic, poison >- **Senses** passive Perception 12 >- **Languages** any one language (usually Common) >- **Challenge** 5 (1,800 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >***Commander of Shadows.*** As a bonus action, the warrior can target one shadowy it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target must obey the knight's commands until the knight dies or until the knight releases it as a bonus action. The warrior can command up to twelve creatures at a time this way. If the target is already an ally the warrir then instructs it to use its reaction make the attack action. > >***Master of the Dark Banner.*** While within 60 feet of the knight, any shadow or ghostly ally of the knight has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead. > >***Spellcasting.*** The warrior is an 8th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). It has the following paladin spells prepared: > >1st level (4 slots): *command*, *compelled duel*, *hellish rebuke*, *wrathful smite* >2nd level (3 slots): *branding smite*, *crown of madness*, *darkness*, *find steed*, *magic weapon* > >### Actions >***Multiattack.*** The warrior attacks twice with one of its weapons. > >***Greatsword.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage. > >***Longbow.*** *Ranged Weapon Attack:* +4 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. *Hit:* 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage. \page
___ ___ >## Skeletal Warhorse >*Large undead, lawful evil* >___ >- **Armor Class** 13 (barding scraps) >- **Hit Points** 22 (3d10 + 6) >- **Speed** 60 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|18 (+4)|12 (+1)|15 (+2)|2 (-4)|8 (-1)|5 (-3)| >___ >- **Damage Vulnerabilities** bludgeoning >- **Damage Immunities** poison >- **Condition Immunities** exhaustion, poisoned >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9 >- **Languages** — >- **Challenge** 1/2 (100 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +2 >___ >### Actions >***Hooves.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage. ___ ___ >## Specter >*Medium undead, chaotic evil* >___ >- **Armor Class** 12 >- **Hit Points** 22 (5d8) >- **Speed** 0 ft., fly 50 ft. (hover) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|1 (-5)|14 (+2)|11 (+0)|10 (+0)|10 (+0)|11 (+0)| >___ >- **Damage Resistances** acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks >- **Damage Immunities** necrotic, poison >- **Condition Immunities** charmed, exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10 >- **Languages** understands all languages it knew in life but can't speak >- **Challenge** 1 (200 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +2 >___ >***Incorporeal Movement.*** The specter can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. > >***Sunlight Sensitivity.*** While in sunlight, the specter has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. > >### Actions >***Life Drain.*** *Melee Spell Attack:* +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. *Hit:* 10 (3d6) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the creature finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. ___ ___ >## Sword Wraith Warrior >*Medium undead, lawful evil* >___ >- **Armor Class** 16 (chain shirt, shield) >- **Hit Points** 45 (6d8 + 18) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|18 (+4)|12 (+1)|17 (+3)|6 (-2)|9 (-1)|10 (+0)| >___ >- **Damage Resistances** necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks >- **Damage Immunities** poison >- **Condition Immunities** exhaustion, frightened, poisoned, unconscious >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9 >- **Languages** the languages it knew in life >- **Challenge** 3 (700 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +2 >___ >***Martial Fury.*** As a bonus action, the sword wraith can make one weapon attack. If it does so, attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn. > >### Actions >***Longsword.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage, or 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage if used with two hands. > >***Longbow.*** *Ranged Weapon Attack:* +3 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. *Hit:* 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage. \page
___ ___ >## Torture Golem >*Large construct, unaligned* >___ >- **Armor Class** 16 (natural armor) >- **Hit Points** 115 (10d8 + 60) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|18 (+4)|15 (+2)|18 (+4)|11 (+0)|12 (+1)|14 (+2)| >___ >- **Damage Immunities** acid, poison, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't adamantine >- **Condition Immunities** charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9 >- **Languages** understands the languages of its creator but can't speak >- **Challenge** 9 (5,000 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +4 >___ > >***Immutable Form.*** The golem is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form. > >***Berserk.*** Whenever the golem starts its turn with 60 hit points or fewer, roll a d6. On a 6, the golem goes berserk. On each of its turns while berserk, the golem attacks the nearest creature it can see. If no creature is near enough to move to and attack, the golem attacks an object, with preference for an object smaller than itself. Once the golem goes berserk, it continues to do so until it is destroyed or regains all its hit points. > >***Magic Resistance.*** The golem has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. > >***Magic Weapons.*** The golem's weapon attacks are magical. > >### Actions >***Multiattack.*** The Golem makes two attacks with its chains. > >***Chain.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. *Hit:* 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 14) if the Golem isn't already grappling a creature. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and takes 7 (2d6) piercing damage at the start of each of its turns. ___ ___ >## Wraith >*Medium undead, neutral evil* >___ >- **Armor Class** 13 >- **Hit Points** 67 (9d8 + 27) >- **Speed** 0 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover) >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|6 (-2)|16 (+3)|16 (+3)|12 (+1)|14 (+2)|15 (+2)| >___ >- **Damage Resistances** acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't silvered >- **Damage Immunities** necrotic, poison >- **Condition Immunities** charmed, exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained >- **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12 >- **Languages** the languages it knew in life >- **Challenge** 5 (1,800 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +3 >___ >***Incorporeal Movement.*** The wraith can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. > >***Sunlight Sensitivity.*** While in sunlight, the wraith has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. > >### Actions >***Life Drain.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. *Hit:* 21 (4d8 + 3) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. > >***Create Specter.*** The wraith targets a humanoid within 10 feet of it that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target's spirit rises as a **specter** in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The **specter** is under the wraith's control. The wraith can have no more than seven specters under its control at one time. \page
___ ___ >## The Hushed King >*Medium humanoid (shadar-kai), neutral evil* >___ >- **Armor Class** 17 >- **Hit Points** 125 (20d8 + 60) >- **Speed** 30 ft. >___ >|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA| >|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| >|14 (+2)|21 (+5)|16 (+3)|12 (+1)|14 (+2)|13 (+1)| >___ >- **Saving Throws** Dex +9, Con +7, Wis +6 >- **Skills** Perception +6, Stealth +9 >- **Senses** darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 16 >- **Languages** Elvish, Undercommon >- **Challenge** 11 (7,200 XP) >- **Proficiency Bonus** +4 >___ >***Fey Ancestry.*** The King has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put the King to sleep. > >***Innate Spellcasting.*** The King's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material or verbal components: > >At will: *dancing lights* >1/day each: *darkness*, *faerie fire*, *levitate* (self only), *Silence* > >***Shadow Step.*** While in dim light or darkness, the King can teleport as a bonus action up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space it can see that is also in dim light or darkness. It then has advantage on the first melee attack it makes before the end of the turn. > >***Whispers in the Dark.*** The King is surrounded by a 10' aura of *Dissonant Whispers*. The Save DC is 16, once a creature has made the save they are immune to the effect for 24 hours. > >***Stolen Words.*** The King can use his reaction to cast a special version of counter spell. If successful the King not only stops the spell but can then redirrect it as he so chooses. > >***Legendary Resistance (3/Day).*** If the King fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. > >### Actions >***Multiattack.*** The King makes two attacks with its silent sword. If either attack hits and the target is within 10 feet of a cube of silence created by the sword on a previous turn, the King can dismiss that silence and cause the target to take 21 (6d6) psychic damage. The King can dismiss silence in this way no more than once per turn. > >***Silent Sword.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 8 (1d6 + 5) piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage. The King can then fill an unoccupied 10-foot cube within 5 feet of the target with magical silence, which remains for 1 minute. > >### Legendary Actions >The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The King regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. > >- **Silent Sword.** The King makes one Sword attack. >- **Shadow Step (Costs 2 Actions).** The King uses the Shadow Step Ability >- **Armor of Whispers (Costs 3 Actions).** The King projects an illusion of swirling whispers and shadows causing attackers to have disadvantage against him unless they succeed on a DC13 Wisdom Saving Throw. This effect lasts until the start of his next turn.