Who wants to do the "Return Azalin to power adventure?&

[HuManBing]

I don't remember much about Tavelia's stats (I believe she was statted out in the Grim Harvest trilogy) but did she have spellcasting ability to create magical items? Or was that something later added to her profile?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

And the Kargat would be a threat to a group that:
- Managed to defeat the horsemen
- Defeated the leader of the Kargat (little Tavy)
- Is not even in Darkon?
Are you sure?

I don't know. I think given time (which he always has) Azalin could whip up sufficiently powerful servants to hunt them down. But still, if they have done all that and are still afraid enough of Azalin to flee the domain... they've got to have some weakness he can exploit.

[alhoon]

Intelligence 24 and a life(/undeath)time of 400+ years is nothing to be triffled about, even if he was a 1st level commoner.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Sorry for the blunt question, but why was this adventure never published?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Because the product line was discontinued first.

[Alanik Ray]

I Found this:

A Completely Un-Official Wizard.COMmunity Outline
Death Undaunted:
The King is Dead. Long Live the King.

Warning: the following is composed entirely of brainstormed fan speculation and is a very rough outline for a mega-adventure.


In the final moments of the Requiem Azalin Rex slew himself in a failed attempt to become a demilich, a being with enough power to escape the shackles of his physical body and the demiplane of dread. This half-worked. Instead of becoming a demilich his body was destroyed and his spirit scattered across the land. His mind became one with every living, thinking thing in Darkon, a disembodied presence unable to effect change on his land such as closing the borders although the automatic responses, such as the dead rising to halt invasion, remained in place. Over the course of three years he focused and gathered his essence into a few select bodies across the domain, individuals where he pooled his essence enough to affect the minds of his faithful and trusted. This is where our tale begins.

It is the year 755 and Azalin Rex has been dead for five years, the land is fragmented into smaller kingdoms ruled by lesser lords. While not a true darklord Death is the defacto ruler as the most powerful and influential being in the land, but it knows its powers are limited, especially compared to other dread lords. While it could once roam freely across the land since the Requiem is has been confined to the Shroud around Il Aluk.
Then the Drowning Dreams begin, sent out by Azalin two years prior. These are messages sent to the faithful (and others) as Azalin exerts his presence into their minds. Their consciousnesses are partially submerged by the mind of Azalin who also struggles to keep his own identity from sinking; he also takes this opportunity to send out the message telling how his return can be instigated.
A device known as the Soul Focus must be constructed and then used to channel his essence into a new body.

The heroes can get involved in one of several ways. Firstly is the Mad Priest, a holy man of the Eternal Order driven insane by the Drowning Dreams. His god has literally spoken to him from beyond the grave and this has unhinged his mind, he believes he has a divine task and has been chosen to act as god’s hands on Earth. He spreads the word of the return of the king, his rebirth from the Pale Realm, while also attempting to cleans the land of the wicked so the Rex may be reborn into a sanctified land. This, of course, has to be stopped.
Another method to involve the heroes has those already in Darkon become involved in the Drowning Dreams, a member of the party becomes the host of some of Azalin’s essence. An arcane spellcaster might find themselves channeling new spells or possessing knowledge from an unknown source. Azalin’s mind is overlapping with theirs. But as time passes the victim begins to adopt traits from the foreign mind falling deeper into darkness.
Finally are the Horsemen, grim undead raised by Death to act as his hands outside Il Aluk. They ride forth and rampage across the land. As they ride they slaughter, sometimes for their greater purpose but often simply for sport. The heroes may be drawn in to stop the carnage.

Azalin has concentrated his essence into a handful of mortal frames while his agents construct the Soul Focus, an elaborate crystal device similar to the fabled Apparatus of Mordent. However, instead of splitting souls it takes pieces from many and unites them in the middle. It literally focuses souls. Death has other plans. By slaying the Dreamers, those who carry the essence of Azalin, he hopes to funnel the former lord’s power into himself. The Horsemen absorb the lord’s might and can return it to their master and creator the next time they meet.
Meanwhile the Kargat is searching the land for the Dreamers hoping to find them before the Horsemen and gather them all together in Avernus where the Soul Focus has been constructed. They will happily let adventurers do the leg work for them, gathering and escorting the chosen while defending them against Death’s minions. The heroes must find these folk while fending off the divided attacks of the Horsemen.

Things come to a climax after as many of the Dreamers can be assembled in Avernus. The heroes must combat the combined forces of all three Horsemen while the Kargat works hard to restore Azalin. At the last minute Tavelia, a Kargat vampire, betrays her comrades attempting to steal Azalin’s power for herself. By placing her own undead frame at the heart of the Soul Focus she hopes to make herself the repository for Azalin’s knowledge and powers but not his mind. The heroes must divide their attention between the Horsemen and a dangerous Nosferatu.

If Death wins he will have the full power over undead and undeath as Azalin and the Shroud will engulf the land. If Tavelia wins she will be the new Queen ruling over the land.


Of course, this does not take into consideration the recent hints JM has supplied over the past couple years such as the Tavelia/mysterious gentleman thing where she talks of marriage and the Horsemen monsters.

Any comments?

[Ail]

Was there any option to make the confrontations with the Horsemen any easier or harder based on PC knowledge? Were there plot options to allow non-combat-intensive PCs to research their weaknesses and/or predictable tactics?

Yes, in a fashion. If you read the Horsemen's stats in the web extra I put out a while back, you'll notice the "antithetical tokens" to which they're vulnerable. The first time the PCs encounter a horseman (Famine, in the Rivalis market), it's completely out of the blue. The PCs don't know about the tokens, which makes Famine nearly unstoppable. Afterward, they meet Oldar and Balitor, who clue them in and at least give PCs a shooting chance.

This reminds me of a Spectrum game from Ultimate called, iirc, Nightshade. The villains were four and each can be destroyed by one special object. I'll just quote from Sinclair User 43:

Meanwhile, there are four hypernasties - a mad monk, a skeleton, a ghost, and Mr Grimreaper, death himself. They are scattered about the village, and must, we suppose, be sought out and destroyed, presumably with four special objects, the eggtimer, Bible, Hammer and Cross.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Because the product line was discontinued first.

Thank you for the info. So, the property belongs to WotC now?

At the last minute Tavelia, a Kargat vampire, betrays her comrades attempting to steal Azalin’s power for herself. By placing her own undead frame at the heart of the Soul Focus she hopes to make herself the repository for Azalin’s knowledge and powers but not his mind. The heroes must divide their attention between the Horsemen and a dangerous Nosferatu.

... But in the end, somethign goes wrong, and Azalin enters Tavelia's body...



So, it is safe to say Azi's a gal now?

He be not wearing these skirts for nothing, I guess...

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

No, I think it's confirmed that Azalin's in Irik's body somehow now. Don't know how that came out of the proposed adventure.

But even if he did end up in Tavelia's body, liches revert over time to their original undead appearance, no matter what kind of corpse they move into.

[Lucius]

No, I think it's confirmed that Azalin's in Irik's body somehow now.

That´s right. Its mentioned in Secrets of the Dread Realms and in Gaz 2.

[Mangrum]

Here's the actual plot breakdown:

Introduction

Thus, thus alas! I have mispent my time,
My youth, my best, my strength, my bud, and prime,
Remembring not the dreadful day of Doom,
Nor yet the heavy reckoning for to come,
Though dangers do attend me every hour
And ghastly death oft threats me with her power . . .
— Anne Bradstreet, “The Four Ages of Man” (1650)


What has Gone Before

This the adventure background. Here's the final two sections, which lead directly into the adventure. (Interestingly, the quoted section below also represents how Death Undaunted brought Lord of the Necropolis back into canon.)

Return of the Lost King
Death’s presence created half of the “Shroud,” but the suffocating dreams came from Azalin himself. Azalin was helpless after the Requiem, unable to distinguish his own thoughts and memories from those of his subjects. Ironically, it was the Falkovnian invasion that woke Azalin from his fugue. As the people of Nartok reacted to Drakov’s troops with shock and fear, Azalin too found himself able to focus on the threat, closing the borders to defeat the invaders. His moment of coherence was both fleeting and exhausting, but it was enough. Necropolitans took the rising of the dead as a sign that their king was not truly gone, even as Azalin slipped back into his distorted nightmares.

But now Azalin saw a path to salvation: Whatever occupied the minds of Necropolitans filled the thoughts of Azalin as well. The legend of the Lost King spread across the domain, subtly prodded by the lich himself. Each new mind that prayed for Azalin’s return made it easier for Azalin to contemplate that goal.

However, even with the thoughts of more and more of his subjects supporting him, concentration was still taxing; Azalin’s thoughts continually bled into the dreams of the Necropolitans, and vice versa. It took Azalin three years to conceive of a plan to restore himself, only to realize that, once again, he would never be able to complete the task alone. He would need assistants who could act as his hands, and who could be counted on to reliably remember their plan from one moment to the next, a task still beyond Azalin himself.

To this end Azalin turned to the only two people in Necropolis he felt he could trust: Balitor, a former baron of Il Aluk, and Oldar Wahldrun, a peasant whose namesake ancestor had earned Azalin’s oath of protection. Azalin started sending visions to the pair, detailing the creation of a soul focus. Based on the magical principles of his own phylactery, the completed talisman would have the ability to reconsolidate Azalin’s dispersed essence, restoring him to his former power.

Oldar proved particularly receptive to Azalin’s visions, but the process remained torturously slow. Not only was it still difficult for Azalin to concentrate for more than a few moments at a time, his memories remained distorted. At different times, Azalin might believe that Balitor had entered the infernal machine to become Death, or that Oldar had served Azalin alongside the Kargat, or even that Azalin had now joined the ranks of his own so-called “tormentors.” Azalin’s lack of focus also meant that whenever he communicated with Oldar or Balitor, many others would receive the visions as well — sometimes even Death itself.

Azalin spent a year trying to teach Balitor and Oldar how to construct the soul focus, but to no avail. It was Balitor who first realized the futility of their task. Not only were the needed spells incredibly complex and their instructor hopelessly incoherent, neither Balitor nor Oldar had the slightest aptitude for magic.

Equally frustrated and desperate, Balitor eventually resolved to call upon more skilled help. He and Oldar collected the notes they had transcribed from Azalin’s visions and took them to Tavelia, one of the most powerful remaining leaders of the Kargat. Balitor had met Tavelia on a handful of occasions through Azalin’s court, and knew that she possessed the magical resources they so desperately needed. However, if all the years spent under Azalin’s wing had taught Balitor anything, it was that only a fool would place his trust in a woman who was secret police and a vampire besides. Thus, although Balitor gave Tavelia all the notes she would need to construct the talisman, he feigned ignorance as to their true origins or purpose.

Balitor’s mistrust of Tavelia was a mutual affair. After all, Balitor was a living human who, thanks to Azalin’s gifts, had seen more years than even the vampiric Tavelia herself. Wary of what other magical gifts Balitor might be able to call upon, she agreed to create the talisman, hoping to quickly appease Balitor and send him on his way.

While Tavelia oversaw construction of the soul focus, Balitor and Oldar turned their attention to the rest of their plan. For the soul focus to function, they would also need to obtain Azalin’s phylactery, in theory still somewhere within Azalin’s keep, Avernus. Balitor again called upon his contacts, recruiting the bandit leader Galf Kloggin to obtain the phylactery and guard over Avernus until the talisman was complete. As he had done with Tavelia, Balitor told Kloggin nothing of his true plans, merely enticing the greedy halfling with promises of vast future wealth.

Death was not idle during these events. Death and its minions had received many of Azalin’s visions, and Death’s expertise in magic allowed it to fully grasp Azalin’s plan. Death knew that the soul focus was being constructed somewhere, even if its minions had been unable to discover its location. Growing impatient with the Unholy Order of the Grave, Death created new, more powerful servants: the Horsemen. Legendary heralds of the Ascension made real through Death’s awful power, Death’s three “knights” now rode across Necropolis in search of the soul focus, spreading hunger, plague, and savagery in their wake.

Recent Events
Several weeks ago, just as fearful tales of the Horsemen were starting to spread across the domain, Tavelia and her assistants in Martira Bay completed the soul focus. Tavelia first guessed the talisman to be some kind of life-draining weapon, useless against her soulless kind, but as she continued the experiments, she gradually grasped the talisman’s true purpose. To her lasting frustration, full realization came only after she had delivered the talisman to Balitor and Oldar.

Now well versed in the workings of the soul focus, Tavelia seized upon an immense opportunity. By creating a weaker replica of the talisman, Tavelia could trap half of Azalin’s essence, simultaneously restoring and enslaving him. Tavelia immediately started work on the false focus and unleashed her own servants — the Kargatane — to recover the true soul focus before Balitor and Oldar could restore Azalin.

As the PCs begin the adventure, Tavelia’s servants have just stolen the soul focus from Balitor and Oldar. As the Kargatane rush their prize back to Martira Bay, Balitor and Oldar find themselves in a desperate chase — and facing desperate odds — to recover the talisman in time. And as others vie for control of Azalin’s future, Death’s Horsemen are closing in for the kill.

And what the heck; from Dramatis Personae here's Tavelia and Valana. Of the other major characters, Balitor and Oldar come straight from the novels, Kazandra made it into Gaz II, and I've released the Horsemen elsewhere.

Tavelia of the Kargat
Tavelia possesses the fragile, flawless, and ageless beauty of a porcelain doll. Her long raven hair flows smoothly down her back, and her stunning violet eyes are the talk of Martira Bay. Even more folk are impressed by her charitable nature and insight into the teachings of the Overseer.

Tavelia has spent years creating an immaculate public image. Rarely seen out of the blue and silver robes of the Overseer’s priesthood, she presents a demure façade of innocence and intelligence to the people of Martira Bay, who know her as the likely successor to High Cleric Derakoth.

In her role as the leader of the Martira Bay Kargat, Tavelia is a master manipulator cast from Azalin’s mold. No detail escapes her notice, and she is painstakingly methodical in the misdirection of her foes. Tavelia’s duality is her one true weakness: having toiled so long to create her pristine persona, she will lunge to destroy anyone or anything that threatens to unravel her web of lies. If her perceived foes survive her violent overreaction, they may be able to take advantage of it.

Background
The mortal woman Tavelia entered undeath more than 160 years ago in the grip of the Kargat vampire Malamare (MAL-ah-MAR-ay). Enslaved by her creator, Tavelia joined the ranks of the Kargat and quickly demonstrated a natural gift for subterfuge, taking her cues from the methods of Azalin Rex himself. Eventually the darklord took note of his talented protégé. To reward Tavelia for her successes and loyalty, Azalin destroyed Tavelia’s less impressive master, freeing her from his control.

Tavelia quickly rose through the ranks, and in 640 Azalin appointed her the leader of all the Kargat in Martira Bay. With her new resources, Tavelia started developing her “great flytrap,” inventing the Faith of the Overseer from whole cloth. Outwardly the beneficent religion of a good and lawful god, the faith was actually a hollow shell designed to entice and identify insurgents and would-be “heroes” for subsequent elimination. Meticulous as always, Tavelia took several years to craft the tenets of her false religion, writing its holy scripture herself and gaining insight into many mystical topics as she did so. By 650 the Temple of the Overseer had been built and was drawing in the “flies.” Tavelia has maintained the Overseer’s benevolent façade so skillfully that in more than a century not one self-styled “champion of good” has discovered the faith’s hollow core and lived to spread the tale. This success carried Tavelia’s Kargat through the Requiem as well. While other cells run for cover, the Martira Bay Kargat agents remain not only powerful but also above suspicion.

Tavelia’s insight into Azalin’s procedures was also invaluable to her success. In the years of the Grim Harvest, Tavelia analyzed Azalin’s increasing preoccupation with his secret experiments. Deducing Azalin’s true plans, Tavelia had time to prepare for the coming collapse. In the shadow of Azalin’s neglect, Tavelia recruited new agents loyal only to her, and pruned away anyone who might contest her power.

Over the past century, Tavelia has become something of a victim of her own success. Her creation has attracted a large following in Martira Bay, and with the collapse of the Eternal Order the religion has started to spread to neighboring cities. In fact, the Overseer is threatening to grow beyond Tavelia’s direct control. Tavelia is also chafing at her Pollyanna public image. When Balitor approached her with sketchy plans for the soul focus, Tavelia had been trying to soothe her ennui by grooming her public persona to take over as High Cleric. When she discovered the talisman’s true purpose, Tavelia knew her time had come.

Goals
In recent days Tavelia has secretly created a false soul focus. This duplicate can restore Azalin like the true talisman, but will trap half of his essence, weakening Azalin and shackling him to Tavelia’s will. To obtain her goal, Tavelia needs to keep the real soul focus out of Balitor and Oldar’s hands long enough to acquire Azalin’s phylactery and perform the necessary rite. If Tavelia succeeds, she intends to abandon her innocent guise in style. In a bloody public ceremony, she will restore Azalin Rex and marry him to rule as the queen of an enslaved king. Tavelia craves the day she is safely upon the throne, so she can finally unleash a century of suppressed spite for the “mewling peasants” of Necropolis.

Here's Valana, as she was meant to appear before she was co-opted by Champions of Darkness. Trivia: This would not have been her first appearance in the pages of Ravenloft.

Valana
Valana was glorious, in her day. Her dark tresses and deep black eyes once bewitched every man who crossed her path, but Valana lost her beauty when she was exiled by her people, the Vistani. Although Valana is barely older than Oldar Wahldrun [he's 34], the years have cruelly ravaged her beauty. Once voluptuous, her figure is now gaunt and angular. Her features are sunken and her skin is leathery. Only Valana’s ebon hair and eyes retain their glamour, but even her black eyes betray the festering anger and madness seething behind them. The palm of Valana’s left hand bears the mark of her ritual exile: six angry scars, radiating outward like a sunburst.

Valana still wears the exotic fashions of the Vistani, complementing them with a riding skirt, but she eschews flamboyant hues for the colors of charcoal and dried blood. Valana also carries several changes of clothing to aid her guerrilla tactics, including simple dresses and cloaks to blend into giorgio crowds.

Although still an intelligent tactician, Valana teeters on the brink of madness, relentlessly driven by obsession — a fact immediately apparent to anyone who speaks with her. She is prone to spouting her deranged prophecies of doom to anyone who will listen.

Background
Valana was born a Vistana, a child of the tribe of Hyskosa. She had barely come of age when the Vistani identified her kinsman as an emerging Dukkar: a legendary foe of the Vistani fated to bring doom to his people. The Vistani entrusted Hyskosa’s own tribe with the vital task of stopping their kinsman before his catastrophic prophecies could come to pass. Ultimately they failed, and in 740 Hyskosa’s Six Signs culminated in the Grand Conjunction. The damnation of the entire Prime Material Plane was only narrowly averted.

Madame Eva summoned Hyskosa’s tribesmen to the Vistani camp in Barovia to account for their failure. Valana and her kin claimed that Azalin Rex had captured Hyskosa and imprisoned him deep within the dungeons of Castle Avernus. They swore that Azalin had guided Hyskosa’s Hexad to ensure its passing, while guarding his prized seer with spells so powerful that not even the Vistani could breach them.

Their pleas fell on deaf ears. Damning evidence proved that many in Hyskosa’s tribe had actually helped carry out the Hexad by steering giorgios into fulfilling the prophecies. In one of the darkest hours of the Vistani’s history, Madame Eva herself ritually exiled the entire tribe of Hyskosa — men, women and children. The women of the tribe retained their prophetic Sight, but were cursed to share Hyskosa’s fate, driven mad by the futures they saw.

Their mystic connection to the Land of Mists forever severed, the tribe of Hyskosa focused on the one course left to them: vengeance. Desperate to find a scapegoat for their own treachery, Hyskosa’s kin blamed the lord of Darkon. Though scattered to the winds, Hyskosa’s kin have ever since been the avowed foes of Azalin. They sought to ensure that Azalin shared in their suffering, and dedicated themselves to foiling all his best-laid plans, whatever they might have been, whatever the cost.

Despite their best efforts over the decade that followed, the scattered tribe of Hyskosa caused Azalin no more consternation than a swarm of gnats. Azalin merely brushed off the interference they threw in his path; he was simply too powerful to defeat. But now, with Azalin personally helpless and his remaining defenses crumbling, the kin of Hyskosa hope to see their nemesis destroyed forever. Enter Valana. Driven half-mad by her visions of the future, she has foreseen that the player characters will be instrumental in Azalin’s return. This she will not allow.

Goals
Valana has foreseen the future that awaits the Demiplane of Dread should the heroes succeed in their quest to restore Azalin. Her goal is to stop the heroes at any cost. Aware that she is outnumbered, she first tries to merely scare the heroes off. As the adventure proceeds and the heroes demonstrate their persistence, Valana escalates to hit-and-run attacks, hoping to break the party’s morale or weaken them in the face of more powerful foes. If Valana is still alive in Act Three, desperation will drive her into a direct assault.

Valana is fully aware of the tragic fate awaiting the domain if Azalin is destroyed. She simply does not care.

Next post: The Drowning Dreams.

[Mangrum]

Introduction

I'm just going to post the whole section to save myself some work.

The Drowning Dreams
The heroes come under the effects of the Shroud in Act One, although they may not notice this right away. As mentioned in the adventure background, the Shroud manifests in two ways, each effect stemming from a separate source. One effect is caused by Death’s ongoing efforts to drain the life energy out of the domain; this is detailed in Scene Four: The Shrouded Realm.

The Shroud also manifests in the form of jarring nightmares. Commonly known as the Drowning Dreams, they stem from Azalin’s tortured spirit, which permeates the entire domain and all within it. As Azalin struggles to concentrate or lapses into memories of his past failures, his daydreams bleed into the thoughts of his people. The heroes also experience these visions throughout the adventure; since these visions slowly change from one act to the next, they are all presented in this section for quick reference.

Eight dreams are offered below. The Dungeon Master should allocate one or two dreams to each player character (assuming a party of four heroes) before beginning play, but can split up the visions however she sees fit. In larger groups, the DM should make sure that each PC is assigned at least one dream. Alternatively, the DM can just roll 1d8 to randomly assign dreams. All dreams are marked by the presence of Azalin’s chilling, necromantic aura.

Dreams I through III are symbolic interpretations of Azalin’s dispersion. Dreams VI through VIII are Azalin’s disjointed memories of the Grim Harvest and the Requiem, giving heroes insight into the person they are working to save. The DM should ensure that one PC receives Dream IV; this source of an ancient regret can enhance the drama of the final scene. If more dreams are needed for an extremely large party of heroes, the DM can create new symbolic dreams or cull more flashes of Azalin’s history from his previous appearances in RAVENLOFT accessories.

All Drowning Dreams follow the same pattern. In Act One, the message of each dream is obscure at best, baffling at worst. Azalin is unfocused, and his visions are thoroughly mingled with the heroes’ own memories. In Act Two, Azalin takes vague notice of the heroes, and his increased attention results in more distinct, detailed imagery. In Act Three, the heroes possess the soul focus, which by its mere presence enhances the darklord’s ability to gather his thoughts. Thus, visions in Act Three are drawn nearly intact from Azalin’s memories. As the thoughts and fears of Necropolis fall away, the message of each dream finally becomes clear.

Each hero should experience at least one dreaming episode per Act (or one for each dream, if two are assigned). If more than two opportunities for dreaming episodes arise, a dream can repeat itself, differing in a few details. The DM can insert a dream whenever there is a lull in the action, particularly in the following situations:

* While a hero is resting quietly or asleep
* Whenever a hero is engulfed in deep darkness
* During any ritual connected to Azalin
* Whenever the heroes discuss Azalin or Death
* Anywhere else the DM sees an opportunity

At the appropriate times, the DM should briefly take each player aside and present the information below, adapting it to each character’s history. Dreams presented in italics can simply be read to the player; the DM should paraphrase other dreams, mixing it with moments taken from the hero’s past. The DM should provide any additional details a player asks for, but heroes cannot affect the visions they witness, so it’s best to keep the action moving.

Dream I

The dreamer recalls a familiar lake, pool, or other large, calm body of water. The scene suddenly grows dark and cold, as if clouds have obscured the sun. The dreamer then notices he or she is holding a jet-black stone in his or her hand, and flings it out into the water. As the stone breaks the surface with a splash, concentric ripples expand to the edges of the pool.

The scene repeats itself, but this time the dreamer discovers he or she is holding a small black skull that feels painfully cold to the touch. The dreamer flings the skull into the middle of the pool. The skull dissolves in the water, so the ripples carry the skull’s ebon tint, staining the entire pool an inky black.

Again you stand at the lip of the deep pool. Darkness has already fallen, and the calm waters remain bottomless and black. You see the reflection of stars in the pool’s mirrored surface and look up. A vast nocturnal landscape stretches before you, dotted by cottages and dusted with snow. You note the towers of a distant city mere moments before they are engulfed by a shockwave of utter darkness. The ebon wave expands in perfect silence and at a terrific speed. As you watch, helpless, it closes the miles in seconds, draining the heat from your body. Just as the darkness washes over you, you wake, still shivering from the utter chill.

Dream II

The dreamer flashes back to the last time she was scribing a spell, writing a letter, drawing a map, etc. As the dreamer dabs her quill into the inkwell, a chilling shadow falls across the scene. Undeterred, the dreamer continues writing, but the moment she puts pen to paper, the ink floods outward from the quill, ruining the page.

The events of the dream repeat themselves, but this time, when the ink floods, it does not merely blot out the page. Instead, it soaks into the parchment, staining the entire page yet leaving the writing legible. Strangely, just before the vision ends, the dreamer realizes that the ink seems to have subtly warped the words or designs on the page.

Again you find yourself with quill in hand, recording your notes. The room is cold and dim, but this does not distract you from your work. You dab your quill into the crystal inkwell, idly noting that it is now shaped like an hourglass. Turning back to the parchment, you discover your work has been replaced by a map of Darkon. You touch the tip of your quill to a city labeled ‘Il Aluk.’ The ink immediately washes over the page, soaking into the parchment and distorting the map’s details. The ink flows with intelligence, blotting out Il Aluk and reshaping the letters of ‘Darkon’ to spell ‘Necropolis.’ With a start, you realize the smears of ink have formed the pattern of a malevolent skull! It hangs in your vision for a moment as you wake.

Dream III

The dreamer flashes back to the last time she used any divination magic or (as in the example below) visited a Vistani fortuneteller. Cold darkness washes across the scene as the dreamer inquires about a character of personal importance; a close friend or loved one, perhaps. The seer directs the dreamer to gaze into a crystal ball, and the dreamer is suddenly able to hear the thoughts of the subject in question — in the form of a curdling scream of unbridled terror.

The dreamer is again scrying as the cold darkness descends. The dreamer’s thoughts leap from one subject to another, and with each name that comes to mind, the dreamer can suddenly hear the horrified screams of that person as well. Unable to withdraw, the dreamer’s mind is quickly filled by a chorus of horror, adding voices with each passing moment, building into a cacophony of anguish that drowns out the dreamer’s own terror.

You are momentarily disoriented as you take in new surroundings. You seem to be within a crystalline compartment. Through the curved walls, you can see the distorted images of a larger, stone chamber beyond. Chanting figures and flickering candles surround you, but you only have a few seconds to take in these details before you are engulfed by a searing burst of light. As your vision fails, your consciousness explodes. In the space of seconds, you hear the shrieks of those in the chamber, then of the thousands in the city outside, then of the many thousands more throughout the lands beyond. Each mind adds its terror to the chorus, drowning your thoughts in their nightmares. The terror of countless thousands still rings in your ears as you wake.

Dream IV

The dreamer flashes back to a death she regrets. This could be a captive the dreamer failed to rescue, an unwilling foe the dreamer was forced to destroy, an innocent bystander the dreamer could not protect, etc. As the events of that death play themselves out again, the hapless victim suddenly turns to meet the dreamer’s gaze, and a cold darkness sweeps over the scene. The victim speaks in a gentle yet discordant voice, saying, “I forgive you,” just before death strikes.

You stand in a darkened city street. The stars shine coldly in the sky, and you can see the breath of the townspeople gathered around you. Somewhere in the distance, a clock tower tolls midnight, and everyone turns to stare into the distance. As the bells chime twelve, a tremendous explosion rocks the street. Everyone is frozen in terror as a wave of shimmering darkness sweeps across the city, instantly slaying all it touches. Oddly, one man turns to face you. “I forgive you,” he whispers, in the instant before he is consumed. In the last moments before the wave overtakes you all, another townsperson faces you. “Nonetheless,” she whispers, “I still forgive you.” Then all goes black.

You stand on a platform in a castle courtyard, bathed in the early morning sunlight. You are dressed in a regal cape and crown, and you hold a heavy, bejeweled sword. Hundreds of peasants press in tightly around the platform, all eyes on you in silent, fearful anticipation. A row of headsman’s blocks stretches down the length of the platform. All but one is accompanied by a headless corpse lying in a spreading pool of crimson. One last prisoner stands by the nearest block. He is tall and calm, with a youthful face. You know him as your son, Irik, and you gesture for him to kneel. Irik turns to face you. You find no malice in his face, no matter how desperately you search.

“I forgive you,” he says, softly.

You hear yourself speak in a harsh voice. “But I cannot forgive what you did, the deceit you practiced, nor what you have become.”

Irik bows his head. “Nonetheless,” he says with regret, “I still forgive you.”

As Irik kneels over the block, you raise the sword, addressing your words to the crowd. “Let all who witness my action today,” you proclaim, “take forth the word that justice and the law apply equally to all!”

The blade drops. You wake, your hands trembling.

Dream V

The dreamer flashes back to the last time the party made a dramatic escape from the lair of a powerful foe. The events replay themselves until the dreamer comes within sight of the final exit: freedom and safety. Suddenly an aura of cold darkness falls over the scene, and something snatches the dreamer from behind in a vice-like grip. As the dreamer struggles to break free, her companions make good their escape. The dreamer is spun to face her captor, a pale vampire dressed in black and red finery. “We’ll never let you go,” he hisses. The vampire (which should be referred to as “Your tormentor”) drags the dreamer back toward her doom.

Suddenly you plunge into a bottomless, inky sea. Your lungs burn for air, and you desperately try to swim to the unseen surface, but your legs are tangled in the shapeless tendrils of your tormentors. You try to break loose; their grip is too strong. You draw a weapon to hack your way free; more tendrils wrap around you. Despairing, you realize that no matter how often you break free, your tormentors will always entangle you once more. To escape, you must be as fluid as the water around you. Yes, to escape you must take a form that your tormentors cannot hold.

You stand within a dark and musty cavern, illuminated only by the dim glow of ancient spells. You turn your attention to three items on a platform in the center of the cavern. The remains of an ancient mage lie upon the platform, now little more than a crumbling skull in a pile of dust. Two treasures lie upon a granite table at the center of the platform, untouched by time. The first is an ornate silver box, which you know at once to be a phylactery: a magical receptacle to hold life energy. You confirm that, like the dusty remains, this phylactery has been abandoned for centuries.

Now you study the second item, a grimoire lying open to a complex and unfamiliar spell. This is what you have spent the last year searching for: the secret to forever shedding your physical body, to escaping your tormentors forever. Unable to contain your excitement, you begin to study the tome’s contents, but just as you comprehend each new spell, it slips from your memory. No! The key to freedom lies at your fingertips, yet you can remember it only as if waking from a dream. Your mind reels with the silent laughter of your tormentors. Very well. If your tormentors have blocked this path to freedom, you simply must find another…

You struggle to retain this thought as you wake.

Dream VI

The dreamer recalls the last time she learned or researched a new spell or acquired a new magic treasure. As the dreamer tries to use this new prize for the first time, cold darkness descends. The dreamer’s prized belonging (the treasure, a spellbook, holy symbol, etc.) suddenly disintegrates into ash, leaving the dreamer wondering aloud, “What have I wrought?”

You are working within a cramped wizard’s laboratory. You sense years passing as you pore over ancient tomes, seeking new uses for your old lore. You flip through a book of diagrams, admiring your progress. You see the golden skull of a human, followed by the skull of a dragon. Then a crystal skull, throbbing with life energy; next a crystal hourglass, swirling with black blood; then a golden coffin. The last page reveals a massive hourglass, surrounded by skulls. Growing impatient, you reach for a book filled with new spells, the very magic you need to reach your goal. But as you touch the book, it collapses into ash, and with it crumbles all the rest of your work.

A flash blinds you, and your body is consumed by foul energies. An instant stretches into an eternity. You feel the agony of thousands as their souls are torn from their bodies, dooming them to the agony of undeath. You hear your own failure echoing in the chorus of screams even now consuming your mind. With your last thought, you realize you have failed. You realize that all your labor has wrought nothing more than a city of the dead: a Necropolis. The chorus of torment echoes the name of your failure. Even as you wake, the word comes unbidden to your lips.

Dream VII

The dreamer flashes back to the aftermath of a fierce battle where one or more allies were seriously injured. As the dreamer prepares to cast curing spells or treat a companion’s wounds, cold darkness descends over the scene. The dreamer suddenly notices that a nearby enemy is still clinging to life. “This one is far less worthy than you,” says the dreamer to the fallen friend. The dreamer places a hand on each of the fallen, and a tendril of silvery energy sparks to life between the two. As the companion’s wounds knit, the foe’s flesh shrivels on its bones.

You stand at the edge of an overhanging balcony, looking down into a vast, rounded chamber. Dozens of extravagantly costumed nobles fill the chamber below, looking on in stunned silence. At your bidding, two figures are suspended above the crowd, a tendril of energy connecting them. The man hanging at your right hand looks like Balitor, but shifts into the shapes of your friends and family. You do not know the man hanging to your left, but he changes into petty foes from your past. Suddenly, cold, dark mist flows from this man into Balitor. As the crowd gasps, Balitor grows younger and the other man ages decades. After a moment, you release the men, addressing your aged victim. “Your heart is perhaps not as loyal and pure as you thought.” You glare at the rest of your guests. “Are there others who would like to test their worth?” These words are still on your lips as you wake.

Your surroundings suddenly shift, and you find yourself standing on the parapets of a lofty tower. Oblivious to the cold, you stare down at the winter vista stretched before you. You sense the approach of a servant behind you. A moment later, it speaks. “The Doomsday Device is ready, my lord,” it whispers. “The ascension waits on your command.” Your gaze hangs on the distant spires of Il Aluk. Perhaps sensing your ambivalence, the servant continues. “The mortals pass from birth to death in the flicker of a heartbeat. Their lives are nothing more than phantoms.” Your advisor slides into view. It is a monstrosity: a skull and skeletal hands suspended in a misty body of ash and shadow. “They are far less worthy than you,” it croons. You can still feel the creature’s unholy gaze upon you as you wake.

Dream VIII

The dreamer recalls a time when she felt betrayed. This may have been an act of true treachery or merely a misunderstanding among friends. Whatever the form of the perceived betrayal, the dreamer flashes back to an earlier time when she still trusted the “traitor.” The scene is interrupted when roiling clouds roll over the sky, casting the scene into a chilling shadow. Suddenly, the “traitor” draws a blade and stabs the dreamer in the back. The dreamer slumps to the floor, staring up at her attacker. The traitor grins, hissing, “Long live the king.” A flash of lightning casts the entire scene in harsh shadow, plunging the traitor’s body into darkness while making his face and hands gleam bone white.

You stand in a vast temple dedicated to the gods of death. Your gaze focuses on the object at the center of the chamber. It is a huge gold coffin, adorned with strange symbols that continually flow into new patterns. A tall, emaciated man lovingly runs his hands along the lid of the coffin. He wears the ash-gray robes of the Eternal Order. He addresses you, excitement obvious in his sunken eyes. “I await with eager anticipation the hour of my ascendance from this prototype,” he preens. “I await, with even greater joy and anticipation, the day on which you shall ascend from the master device. Great shall be our power then! Great shall be the fear of the mortals we command!” Suddenly, a flash of lightning casts him in harsh shadows. For just a second, his robes are lost to darkness, and his jutting features gleam like a skull.

You find yourself floating within the upper half of a vast hourglass. Already you can feel new energy flowing through you. A fine rain of ash trickles past you, floating down from an unseen accomplice who is currently tightening clamps in the lid above, sealing you within the device. Now the pulse of energy drowns out the lifeless chanting of the robed figures in the chamber beyond. Finally, nothing stands between you and freedom from your tormentors. The last clamp twists into place, and your unseen aide floats down to peer in at you one last time. Its skeletal head and hands float within a body of mist and shadow. Its eye sockets gleam with malevolent red light. The energy consumes you now; the chanting stops; your moment of victory has come! At the last moment, the grim spirit leans close to bid you farewell. “The king is dead,” it hisses too quietly for anyone else to hear. “Long live the king.” Its icy voice drips with spite; for an instant you have doubts — and then you are consumed. The creature’s words cause you to shudder as you wake.

[Mangrum]

Prologue

There sat the Shadow fear’d of man;
. . .
And bore thee where I could not see
Nor follow, tho’ I walk in haste,
And think, that somewhere in the waste
The Shadow sits and waits for me.
—Alfred Lord Tennyson, “In Memoriam A. H. H.” (1850)

The Prologue presents several encounters the DM can use as adventure hooks to get the PCs headed in the right direction.

Scene One: Enter the Heroes

These are the adventure hooks.

Ravenloft Heroes

Two options are presented here: "Pulling Heartstrings" and "Pulling Pursestrings." Both assume the PCs are currently staying at the Perching Erne, a roadside inn just outside Lurdendorf in Lamordia. It's just a stand-in inn, though, so with a few changes, it can be relocated to any domain bordering Necropolis.

Pulliing Heartstrings: The PCs befriend a down-on-his-luck halfling commoner named Wat Brambledon, a wandering tinker. He decided to travel the world, had a bad time of it, and is now trying to get back home to his family in Rivalis. However, he's terrified of staying outdoors at night, and he can't afford the inn. If the PCs help him out and accompany him to Rivalis (two days' walk from here), he promises his family richly reward them -- if, perhaps, only with the finest meals they'll ever taste. Wat speaks of his homeland in glowing terms, though he does sadly admit that it has taken a turn for the worse without Azalin's protection.

Pulling Pursestrings: The PCs enjoy a quiet evening at the inn. Some locals are also present, including a group of men who are focused in hushed conversation among themselves for a while. This lot is the local thieves' guild (less than a half dozen rogues in total) and a Necropolitan rapscallion named Barton. To his associates, he's known as Barter the fence. After Barter concludes his business and the local toughs leave, he has the rest of the evening to kill, so he invites the PCs to join him in a night of cards (or whatever gambling games appeal to the PCs). Barter doesn't cheat, and if he loses, he calls it a night after losing about 200 gp. However, he's essentially casing the PCs while playing; everything he tells them about himself is a well-practiced lie, and at some point in the middle of the night, after everyone's retired for the evening, he attempts to steal some valuables from the PCs. Whether he's noticed or nabs the loot, he's makes off for Rivalis without delay. If the PCs want their loot back -- optimally, he happens to steal an item of significant value to its owner -- they'll have to track him down. The innkeeper knows all about Barter and can point them in the right direction.

There's also a few adventure hooks for extended campaign use.

The First Horseman
Within hours of making the decision to go to Necropolis, the PCs have their first run-in with Valana, though they likely don't even spot her yet. Valana skewers the Horseman card from her tarokka deck onto a throwing knife or crossbow bolt and, using sniping techniques, fires it as a "purposeful miss" near a PC's head before withdrawing. Knowledge (arcana), bardic knowledge, or informed sources can learn a few things about the tarokka deck and the meaning of the Horseman card in particular, plus that no Vistana in their right mind would destroy a tarokka card like this. Valana also writes a message on the back of the card:

"You control his destiny, but you will share his fate."

beyond the Mists
If outlander PCs start out in another world, the Mists boil up one night, surrounding the PCs. When the Mists withdraw... the PCs are still right where they started. However, one PC (preferably an arcane spellcaster) has been "marked" with a Horseman card mysteriously slipped into his or her gear. In this case, however, it's intact and doesn't bear Valana's scrawl.

Days, weeks, or months later, after the PCs have wrapped up their current business, they encounter another manifestation of the Mists in the form of misty horsemen, akin to the opening encounter in Dark of the Moon. As each PC is run down by the misty horsemen, they vanish into the Mists. When the PCs emerge from the Mists, they're in Ravenloft, near the border of Necropolis.

Bringing Horror Home
Some basic tips on adapting the adventure for use in other settings.

Scene One: The Doom Prophet
The PCs have a mostly uneventful trip to Necropolis. On the way there, however, Valana sets them up for another unsettling ambush. (Thanks to Valana's twisted version of the Sight and the PCs importance in the prophecy she foresees, she knows the routes they'll take before they do.)

A day from the border, in the rocky foothills of the Sleeping Beast, Valana (female Zarovan Vistani darkling Rog5/Asn2, CE) sets up her ambush, firing her crossbow from cover and hiding after each shot. She sticks around just long enough to fire off three shots, aiming at the PCs' mounts, if they have them, or at the least armored PCs themselves otherwise. Each bolt is treated with paralytic poison and has a scroll tighly bound to its shaft. If the PCs unwrap the scrolls and read them, they read as follows:

"YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU WREAK"
"MY NIGHTMARES KNOW YOUR NAME"
"THE KING OF DEATH MUST NOT BE FREED"

...none of which, of course, will make a lick of sense to the PCs, not least because Valana is seriously deranged to begin with.

Valana designs the encounter to give herself the maximum chance of escaping, rather than doing any real damage, so odds are she gets away for now. (She knows she's no match for the PCs in a straight fight and acts accordingly.)

Scene Three: Silent Sentinels
When the PCs reach the border of Necropolis, they encounter a group of clerics of the Eternal Order (the clergy of the Rivalis temple) as the latter are fleeing the domain. When the PCs first lay eyes on Bishop Skrale (human Clr5 of the Eternal Order, LE) and his five acolytes (human Clr1, NE), they're busily erecting a pair of crude gallows by the side of the road. If the PCs don't interfere, the priests then haul a bound man and woman from their wagon and string them up by their wrists, with wooden placards hung around their necks. The "couple" are actually a pair of fresh corpses that Skrale animates as zombies on the spot; the signs read "BEHOLD ALL THAT AWAITS YOU HERE."

This encounter can devolve into combat if the PCs run in swinging; otherwise, Skrayle can offer the PCs a little advice and information as he goes. He knows about Death, Azalin, and the Horsemen, but his viewpoint is based on his religious teachings and folklore rather than personal experience. If the PCs ask him about the "King of Death," he assumes it refers to Death, and explains what that is.

When the PCs enter Necropolis, they move on to Act I.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

wow! Thanks, John, for sharing that with us...

EDIT: Now I'm confused, though. I thought you once said that the CoD version Valana contradicted the Death Undaunted version enough that you would have had to rewrite a lot of the module. But what you presented here seems pretty close to what's in the book, even down to lifting several sentences nearly exactly. The only difference I see is making Hyskosa her brother rather than "kinsman" and making her Canjar rather than Zarovan. That and the CoD addition of Eva pronouncing her raunie. And the picture has the scar in the wrogn shape on the wrong hand, but big deal. I thought specifically the age was an issue, but CoD says late 30's, and here you say barely older than 34, which seems right, considering that CoD is a few years after DU. Am I misremembering? or did I miss something.

[Mangrum]

Act I: Into the Land of the Dead

For he is gone, where all things wise and fair
Descend - oh, dream not that the amorous Deep
Will yet restore him to the vital air;
Death feeds on his mute voice, and laughs at our despair.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Adonais” (1821)

Act I (like Act III), can be considered "railroading" -- a linear series of events that more-or-less must occur in a certain (if, hopefully, natural) order.

Act I begins when the PCs enter Necropolis.

Scene Four: The Shrouded Realm

At the moment the PCs step foot in the domain, an eerie chill passes through them, and they fall under the effects of the Shroud. A few PCs may even hear their own names being softly whispered on the breeze, as if the land is beckoning to them.

At some point during Act I, each PC should experience at least one drowning dream.

Domain Overview
A very basic overview of western Necropolis -- nothing really that you can't find in Gaz II.

Traveling Encounters

Here's the whole section.

At first glance, Necropolis still appears to be a thriving kingdom, despite its empty throne. Sadly, the domain is rotten at its core. The barons of the cities bicker with each other and ignore the troubles brewing beyond their city limits, but the continuing political collapse pales before the supernatural melancholy imposed by the Shroud. As the heroes journey across the domain, they can encounter numerous examples of Death’s enervating influence over the domain.

* Almost to the last, be they human or demihuman, young or old, the inhabitants of Necropolis look ashen and wan, as if they have been ravaged by a raging fever. A few people have suffered unduly from the Shroud, and appear so pale and consumptive that unwitting heroes could be led to suspect the mass predations of vampires.

* The heroes encounter a frail madman (male human Com1) begging for alms by the side of the road. If anyone offers the beggar any charity, he falls upon that PC, pitifully thanking him or her. Suddenly the beggar bursts into tears, begging for help and wailing that he has lost his soul, or even, bizarrely, that his soul has died yet his body lives on as an empty shell.

* Any more sensible passersby the heroes choose to speak with can confirm that, yes, everyone’s health is slowly failing, and many people suffer from strange and terrible nightmares. These locals are quick to blame these ailments on “the Shroud,” and explain that this is all caused by Death’s presence. “All life has been wrapped in Death’s Shroud.”

* Although the Eternal Order is all but extinct in this region, it has left its mark. Many people believe in the tales of Azalin the Lost King, or that death itself rules Il Aluk and is gathering its armies for the day it conquers Necropolis to establish a new kingdom of the dead.

The heroes can also sense the weight of the Shroud on the land itself:

* While out in the countryside, the heroes enjoy a quiet moment. Far too quiet, in fact, as total silence briefly falls across the land. If this occurs during the day, the heroes realize the landscape surrounding them has grown completely still. No breezes stir the trees, no birds sing overhead. If the DM uses this encounter at night, a character on watch at midnight can notice that the soothing nocturnal chorus of crickets has suddenly fallen silent, as though a predator is nearby.

* Any animals owned by the party may abruptly fly into a panic without provocation, requiring successful Handle Animal checks to soothe them.

* The land seems to be filled with phantasmal bogeymen. Seen out of the corner of one’s eye or in darkness, random objects and shadows appear to take on malevolent shapes. A pile of clothes on the floor takes on the silhouette of a tiny corpse; a stain on the wall resembles a tortured face.

Death's Embrace

Details of Death's half of the effects of the Shroud. At the stroke of midnight on the first night after PCs enter the domain, the PCs experience Death's touch. If they're asleep at the time, they experience a vivid nightmare:

Your eyes snap open, suddenly awake. You struggle to breathe, and to your horror you feel a massive, unseen weight pressing on your chest, pinning you. Straining to peer down at your chest, you see nothing strange there — but beyond there lurks a living darkness, deeper than any shadow. A pale skull with eyes like embers floats within a dark shroud of mist and shadow, glaring at you hatefully. The creature somehow looms over you, yet seems far away. You can only watch as the spirit stretches a skeletal hand toward you, plunging it into your chest. Waves of torturous cold flow through your body — you would scream if you could — as the ghostly hand pulls a shimmering, misty heart from your chest. As the specter clutches its prize, it whispers its consolation to you in a chilling voice [roll 1d6]:

1. “This was never yours.”
2. “One less sliver to take.”
3. “Surrender this life.”
4. “Return what is mine.”
5. “Your loss is my strength.”
6. “This was wasted on the living.”

The monstrous specter withdraws into the night, taking its prize with it, and you sink back into oblivion.

When the PCs wake, they feel weak and fatigued. They suffer 2 points of drain from their highest ability score. If they recover from these effects (fatigue by bed rest, the ability drain by magic), the effects hit them again a few days later, again at the stroke of midnight. In addition, while living within the Shroud, if a PC takes at least 10% of its normal hit point total in damage, its effective maximum hit points drops by 10% until they leave the Shroud. This effect is a one-time occurance; maximum hit points can't drop below 90% this way.

Scene Five: Enter Famine

This is the scene where the PCs really get embroiled in the events to follow.

Rivalis
The PCs reach Rivalis, and have a some time to settle their business (taking Wat home and enjoying his family's hospitality or tracking down Barter).

Basically, the PCs have time to breathe before they're directed toward the town's open-air marketplace. If they're here with Wat, they can go with him to shop for the celebatory meal; if they're hunting Barter, leads indicate he'll be there.

The Hungry Child
Rivalis has a bountiful marketplace, but prices are 50% above normal. If the PCs ask about this, it's because many farmers in the area have recently suffered strange crop failures -- their crops have literally been withering in the fields, without rhyme or reason.

If the PCs aren't with Wat or hunting Barter, they have a minor encounter that tips them off about the situation: A painfully thin human urchin named Petris steals apples from a halfling's cart, and goes running with the owner hot on his heels. The PCs can intervene however they like. If the PCs don't catch Petris, the local constables do. Petris begs for mercy, saying his family's crops "won't grow right." The applemonger is sympathetic but can't simply let the child get away with theft. If the PCs offer to pay for the kid's apples, however, he sees fit to let Petris go. (Petris is hauled away by a constable for a "stern talking to.") The PCs can then ask the merchant about the blights.

From Feast to Famine
While the PCs are going about their business at the market -- perhaps just after the PCs have spotted Barter and taken chase through the crowds -- the Horseman Famine bursts onto the scene.

As you push your way through the milling crowds, a sudden chorus of terror erupts ahead of you. Mad panic flashes through the crowd, and you struggle just to keep your footing as shrieking townsfolk pour past. As the crowd thins, you behold the source of their terror: An emaciated corpse slumps upon the exposed spine of a similarly wasted horse. The skin of both horse and rider is stretched tightly across their bones, and the rider’s belly is grotesquely distended. Both look like they should be dead after years of starvation, yet they stand before you, silently observing the chaos around them. The horse’s head sags weakly towards the ground, but the rider — wrapped only in a fraying burial shroud — watches the fleeing villagers with malevolent glee in its eyes. In growing horror, you notice the stalls surrounding this wasted monster. Fruit withers as you watch, and once-fresh meat shrivels and blackens in seconds. Yet dozens of people caught in this aura of decay are wrestling each other to reach this rotted food, and stuffing it into their gagging mouths!

Grinning wickedly, the rider reaches out with a tarnished sickle, snagging the shoulder of a fleeing passerby. The shrieking victim is hauled up onto the saddle, his legs kicking wildly. Suddenly you realize that you recognize this horror’s hapless captive!

Depending on the chain of events that led the PCs here, Famine's doomed captive is either Wat, Barter, or Petris.

Here's the Wat/Petris version ("The Innocent Dies"):

The withered horror presses the child, Petris, tightly against the saddle. “Ah,” it coos to its thin captive. “You are my child.” The creature does not have a true voice. When it speaks, it forms words from the sounds of buzzing flies and cracking wood. The creature turns its hateful attention to the terrified crowd. “We seek a Fiery Eye,” it announces, “and the two men who bear it. Give them to us, and the suffering of this innocent will end.” The creature does not seem upset that its demand produces nothing but blind terror. Without prodding, the emaciated steed takes a few heavy steps further into the marketplace. As the horror moves, its dire influence spreads; more food rots and more people collapse, weakly trying to devour what remains.

“Not one of you will save this innocent?” buzzes the horror. “Then look upon us and know fear. Your fear speaks to us. Remember this day, and spread your terror to all who will listen. Let all who live know that we seek the Fiery Eye, and that we shall plague you until we have what we want. Seek an eye of gold and crystal, think upon your terror, and we shall hear you.”

As the fiend continues to lecture the terrified throng, you realize that its captive’s struggles have faded to faint twitches. Suddenly you see why; like the food in the stalls, he is wasting away before your eyes!

And the Barter version ("The Bigger Fish"):

The withered horror presses Barton tightly against the saddle. “I know you, mortal,” it coos to its helpless captive. “You would steal candy from the mouths of babes.” The creature does not have a true voice. When it speaks, it forms words from the sounds of buzzing flies and cracking wood. The creature’s tone twists from amusement to spite. “We seek a Fiery Eye,” it announces, “and the two men who bear it. You have seen that which we seek; I taste it in your fear. Give us the Fiery Eye, and this suffering will end.” Barton tries to respond, but chokes on his words, unable to speak. The creature does not seem upset that its demand has produced nothing but blind terror. Without prodding, the emaciated steed takes a few heavy steps further into the marketplace. As the horror moves, its dire influence spreads; more food rots and more people collapse, weakly trying to devour what remains.

“Will any of you step forward to save this man?” buzzes the horror, addressing the terrified crowd. “No? Then look upon us and know fear. Your fear speaks to us. Remember this day, and spread your terror to all who will listen. Let all who live know that we seek the Fiery Eye, and that we shall plague you until we have what we seek. Seek an eye of gold and crystal, think upon your terror, and we shall hear you.”

As the fiend continues to lecture the terrified throng, you realize that its captive’s struggles have faded to faint spasms. Suddenly you see why; like the food in the stalls, he is wasting away before your eyes!

Whoever Famine has nabbed is doomed. The PCs can attack, of course, but at this stage of the game they'd be lucky to so much as get within melee distance before succumbing to the Horseman's powerful aura.

If the PCs do attack Famine, all they really do is gain its attention. Without nudging, its steed calmly clops over toward them, plunging the PCs into its aurs if they aren't aready affected. Once Famine has the PCs at its mercy, it finishes whatever it still had to say, patiently waiting for its captive to starve to death. It then concludes with this:

The withered horror glances at the limp victim folded over its saddle, then glares down at you from its high perch. It frowns, its desiccated skin crinkling like parchment. “You are bold to oppose us,” it buzzes. “But all mortals come to us, in time.” Without flourish it releases its captive, allowing the lifeless bundle of dry bones to collapse on top of you.

The unholy horseman tugs at the reins of its lifeless steed, and they turn away, spreading more famine in their wake. The creature halts at the edge of the marketplace. It does not turn to address what remains of the crowd, but you hear the sound of buzzing flies offering its farewell: “Remember that we are never far away.” With that, the abomination gallops towards the fields with surprising speed and power, the echoes of its hooves hanging over the market long after the monstrosity has gone.

Aftermath
The bucolic marketplace has now been transformed into a scene of death and horror. Swarms of constables converge on the scene, helping the dozens of affected victims recover and attempting to restore order. As paniced witnesses flee the marketplace, they spread the word and unsettle the entire town.

If the PCs chase Famine, they'll likely need mounts to keep up with its galloping steed. If they can keep up, they following its aimless trail around the countryside. They catch up with Famine soon enough, and this time Famine stands its ground. The PCs aren't capable of permently destroying Famine, and more likely would be lucky to escape the encounter with their lives.

If the PCs stick around to help out at the marketplace, they overheard a lot of terrifying gossip about what they just saw. All the villagers agree that it was the legendary Famine. Someone spreads claims that another hamlet to the north, Carnari, was wiped out by War less than a month ago, but a second person chastizes the former for spreading such tales: No creature killed the people of Carnari -- they all killed each other with every tool at their disposal.

If Barter just met his end, he still has the stolen goods on his corpse, along with a little extra loot for good measure.

The "Fiery Eye" Famine demands is the soul focus -- it's crafted in the shape of Azalin's personal symbol (which is displayed on banners all over the place). The Horsemen are unsubtle interrogators, so their plan is simple: Terrify as many people as possible, and get them fearfully thinking about the fiery eye. As more people think about it, Azalin will start thinking about, and Azalin's thoughts will bleed through into the Drowning Dreams. Death can then pick up on the clues and narrow down the soul focus' location. Their need to spread fear is essentially all that's holding the Horsemen back from simply destroying everyone they encounter.

Scene Six: Friends and Foes
This scene occurs in the immediate aftermath of Scene Five. The PCs are leaving the marketplace and still reeling from the event.

Old Enemy
Once the PCs have gone a few blocks in any direction, Valana launches her next attack. The PCs are likely still on their guard, so just before she strikes, they might notice a pair of men acting suspiciously -- they seem to be trying to sneak away from the marketplace without being noticed. (And of course that's just what draws attention to them.) These two are Oldar and Balitor, not that this means anything to the PCs just yet.

You take note of a pair of burly men as they slip out from between two buildings. Like you, they seem to be coming from the general direction of the marketplace. One burly man has a boyish face, and is taking directions from his even larger, bearded companion, who looks to be twice his age. Each man wears threadbare clothes, bears a sword on his hip, and carries a small, caged bird in one hand. Though none of this might strike you as noteworthy on any other day, after the horror of the marketplace the pair’s skulking glances draw your attention. As the men start to cross the street, glancing furtively back and forth as they walk, you get a look at the older peasant’s sword: the extravagant hilt gleams with inlaid gold and jewels.

While you keep an eye on the two men, a slight movement beyond them distracts you. You shift focus to a dressmaker’s shop at the end of the street. Gauzy curtains flutter from an open window on the shop’s second floor, almost hiding the dark figure crouching behind them. The dark shape leans forward, and a loaded crossbow slides out into the sunlight.

Valana knows that the meeting of the PCs and O&B is a significant step toward the fate she is trying to prevent, so she uses this moment to spring a risky attempt at arranging a face-to-face confrontation.

She starts out by firing her crossbow at Oldar (she's still poisoning her bolts). Whether or not that first shot hits, she starts sniping at any foe that gives her a shot. (And yes, if the first shot hits Oldar, she uses the old sniper trick of using a fallen target to lure other foes out in the open.) She maintains as much cover as she can throughout the firefight.

The simple fact that the same sniper who attacked them is now going after these two stangers should be enough to tip off the PCs that there's some sort of connection here. Balitor makes the same connection and offers to join forces with the PCs.

For the moment, however, the pressing concern is for the PCs to work their way up to the shop Valana has commandeered.

Valana is on the second floor of the shop; her horse is waiting in the garden out back. When the PCs burst inside the ground floor, they find Sirta, the seamstress who lives here, a crossbow bolt still jutting from her shoulder. She's bound and gagged, and just starting to recover from the effects of Valana's poison. She begs the PCs for their help -- the madwoman is upstairs -- with her baby! The PCs may also notice something else rather disturbing: Valana has liberally splashed numerous flasks of lantern oil all over the walls and floor. This wooden building is a tinderkeg!

When the PCs get upstaits, Valana is waiting for them.

The door swings open to reveal a chilling sight. A wooden crib stands in the center of a humble bedroom. A chubby baby sleeps calmly within the crib, oblivious to the oil splashed all over the walls, the floor, the bed — and soaking into the crib itself.

A gaunt and angular woman stands on the far side of the crib, waiting for you. A crossbow is slung under her arm and a belt gleaming with throwing knives encircles her narrow waist. Her clothes are cut in exotic gypsy fashions, but all are black, gray, or the color of rust. Lustrous black hair falls past the dark, leathery, and sunken features of her face, and wide black eyes give you an icy stare.

Your attention is immediately drawn to the blazing torch the woman loosely holds with the fingertips of one spindly hand. In the instant you first see the woman, she addresses you, her smoky voice quivering with tension and hatred.

“If I let go of this, we burn,” she hisses, her voice thick and exotic. She dips her head toward the infant. “All of us.”

This, in Valana's mind, is how one arranges for a conversation. Using the baby as a hostage, Valana wants to talk. Oldar and Balitor back off immediately (assuming Balitor isn't back in the street, tending to Oldar's wound).

If the PCs hear Valana out, she starts by barking orders: Everyone is to back down the stairs. She picks up the baby and carries it downstairs, and they'll talk down there. When they're done, the PCs will go out the front door, she'll go out the back, and she'll leave the baby on the back stoop.

Valana keeps a readied action throughout the encounter -- if anyone tries anything, she tosses a poisoned dagger at them (preferably disrupting any spells being cast). The second time anyone makes a move, she drops the torch (knowing she and the baby are the first to burn).

So, what does Valana have to say?

“This is your final warning! The worst evils all rise from the failure of the best intentions. I have seen the future you will bring forth! I cannot block it out! My eyes burn from what I see! The King of Death would destroy the world for the sake of a single soul, and it is you that will unleash him from his prison. Leave these lands today, and never return! If you do not stop marching blindly towards your fate, then I will be forced to bring an end to you.”

(The fact that the heroes vastly outpower Valana is the only reason she hasn't tried simply killing them, as a note.)

The PCs can ask questions, but Valana mainly just rants about the "King of the Dead" in her deranged fashion. She never clarifies just exactly who she's talking about (so let the PCs keep their assumptions that she means Death).

Valana does her best to escape this encounter alive. If the PCs obey her demands, she keeps her end of the bargain, leaving the baby in the garden as she gallops away. If the PCs kill her -- well, she isn't done just yet. Either way, Valana dispenses with the threats from here on out. If the PCs don't heed her warnings and flee the country for good, she starts plotting their deaths.

New Allies
Once the encounter with Valana is resolved, the PCs can get to know these new guys Balitor and Oldar, who are obviously involved somehow. In fact, unless the PCs beat him to it, Oldar makes the first connection, peppering the PCs with questions about the madwoman who just attacked them: Who is she? What does she want with us? Oldar and Balitor have never encountered her before, so they assume the PCs must know something. Balitor shuts him up after a few questions, however, not wanting to spill any secrets.

Oldar is receptive to Azalin's dreams, but otherwise ultimately just a farmboy. Balitor is an experienced adventurer, but mainly just has decades of insider information on his side. Together, these two guys know they have no chance going up against Tavelia's Kargat, so they'll take any help the PCs can offer.

Oldar and Balitor can answer lots of questions -- the section is basically a rundown of what they do or don't know and what they'll admit -- but Balitor in particular is fairly cagey with what he'll reveal. He explains the basic situation, but, for now, keeps to himself that the king they're trying to rescue is himself an undead monster. Oldar's fresh off the turnip truck himself, so between them they can give the PCs a broad, but heavily whitewashed, version of the current situation. I won't go into the whole thing, but the information categories covered are "Oldar & Ballitor," "Azalin Rex & Requiem," "The Shroud & Drowning Dreams," "The 'Fiery Eye' (Soul Focus)," "Their Plan," "The Kargat," "Tavelia," "Death & the Horsemen," "The Kargatane," "Galf Kloggin," "Darklings & the Tarokka," and "Martira Bay."

Here's the section on Galf for a quick example:

* Balitor contemptuously describes the halfling currently guarding Avernus and Azalin’s phylactery as easily lured by the scent of gold; the greedy leader of a gang of highwaymen who plague travelers in the Forest of Shadows. Balitor claims to have learned of Galf through a few ex-Kargat that joined his bandits. As he did with Tavelia, Balitor gained Galf’s aid by telling him only what he wanted to hear. Balitor promised Galf the keys to a massive, secret (and nonexistent) treasury if the bandits would occupy Avernus until Balitor returned.

* Unfortunately, Kloggin’s bandits cannot be called upon to help recover the soul focus; being the dishonorable brigands they are, if Galf learned that Balitor’s goal was to restore Azalin’s iron rule, his men would waste no time in putting a blade in Balitor’s back and cutting themselves a better deal. But Balitor assures the PCs that there is no reason to worry; isolated off in Avernus, Galf has no way to learn what Balitor is really planning until the deed is done.

The section is, ultimately, a massive info dump, but it isn't intended to be ladled out all at once. For the rest of the adventure, whenver the PCs ask these two about an above topic, the DM would just check back here to see what info to provide.

Scene Seven: No Escape
This scene covers what happens if the PCs decide to bail out on the adventure and simply run for it.

Rats from a Sinking Ship
As the PCs flee the domain, they encounter a Necropolitan merchant, Beltan Miktis, who is frantically packing up his entire family to escape the "curse" that's fallen on the land (the Shroud). Beltan exaggerates the immediate threat of the curse -- he thinks it's killing his family -- but he has a cousin who fled to Lamordia and has written back, saying his health was restored almost immediately upon crossing the border. Basically, the purpose of the encounter is to relieve some of the pressure on the PCs' cooker -- letting them know that the Shroud isn't a permanent condition, and they'll be fine whenever they do leave.

In addition, Oldar and Balitor do their utmost to warn the PCs of the dire fate awaiting Necropolis if either Tavelia enslaves Azalin or Death consumes him. They also refuse to flee with the PCs -- Oldar won't abandon his family, and Balitor judges that he'll crumble to dust within a year without Azalin's magic, so there's no point in him fleeing. In other words, guilt trip.

Ultimately, however, if the PCs want to simply run away at this point in the adventure, there's nothing stopping them. Oldar and Balitor try to go it alone and fail; without the PCs events ultimately culminate in "Tavelia Triumphant."

Recovering from the Shroud
If the PCs do flee the domain, simple instructions on how the effects of the Shroud fade over time.

Act I ends when the PCs reach Martira Bay. Next post: Act II.