Minimission
Minimission
Minimission
Adventure Background
The gods of chaos have taken direct hand
upon the prime material plane, and PCs find
themselves upside-down, in a state of personal
reversed gravity, standing upon the ceiling deep
within the recesses of the Necropolis of Rel
Mord.
Wee Jas is not pleased. The goddess of
Magic, Death, Vanity, and Law will set the
proper order back into place, but only if the PCs
who have trespassed unwittingly into her
demesne prove themselves. Their response to
chaos will be weighed and measured against
the strength of their own convictions, as they
confront the City of the Dead, deep below
Nyronds capital. Yet, they need not fail, for
heroes are needed, perhaps especially, among
the dead, where memory and regret live on.
The time of trial is at hand for these PCs.
The appointed task of the PCs is finding a
way out of the Necropolis of Rel Mord without
disturbing the peace of its residents. Doing this
alone will satisfy Deaths Guardian, but not
optimally. Gaining her favor requires a bit more.
If the PCs also succeed at erasing a passage
from the Enchiridion of Lost Souls, one of the
three powerfully magical books secreted within
the Necropolis, the Witch Goddess will find the
PCs satisfactory, and will undo the workings of
the hand of chaos upon the prime material
plane, at least in all areas of her own concern.
Failure will not only prove to the Stern Lady
that she need not take hand to restore order to
the people of Rel Mord, for their heroes are
unimportant failures, but it may also see the
PCs joining the denizens of the City of the
Dead.
Adventure Synopsis
There are three aspects to this mini-mission.
Aspect one is negotiating the labyrinthine
passages of the upside-down Necropolis itself,
with its traps and dangers.
Aspect two is negotiating the citizenry of the
Necropolis, some of whom are properly
entombed dead not to be disturbed, some of
which are undead not to be hazarded, and
some of which are undead lost souls, who have
been Commanded into chambers of the
Necropolis by the Morticians Guild of Rel Mord -a semi-secret organization with ties of faith to
Wee Jas -- who have sent the lost souls here to
give them a place to reside until the unresolved
issues of their former lives can be assuaged,
freeing them to move on to the afterlife. These
lost souls have been sent here by the Morticians
Player Introduction
Please read the following player introduction
when the PCs are ready to begin the minimission.
You have no idea what just happened, but
nothing is as it was a moment ago.
All around you is darkness and quiet.
Some would call it peace. But, it doesnt feel
right. This is not the place you belong. Your
eyes hunger to take in your surroundings, yet
they show you only nothingness.
Has
darkness fallen? It hadnt a moment ago.
And, this is unlike other darkness you have
known. Your ears yearn for sound. The
cacophony of life. But, it will not come. A
breath. Another. You are breathing, which
grants you scent. Only damp and must. Then
finally, a sound.
Drip.
High overhead,
stretching unimaginably into the darkness,
there is the sound of a droplet breaking the
surface of a pool, but are these things only in
your mind? There is no way to verify your
surroundings, and the sound is gone.
A
memory.
Nothingness returns. At least, you are not
in pain. Perhaps you are dead.
The after-effect of the Chaos Strike for these
PCs is not only that they are each affected by a
separate personal reversal of gravity, and that
they have been teleported into a deep unused
chamber within the Necropolis of Rel Mord, but
they are also placed just out of reach of one
another on the ceiling of this chamber, under
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Hazard:
Reverse Gravity: CR --; magical phenomenon
[Chaos]; special trigger; spell effect (reverse
gravity, 14th level Sor). Note: Unlike the typical
reverse gravity spell, this phenomenon has a
range of personal, and affects each PC for a
duration of permanent, until dispelled. It cannot
be dispelled by mortal magic. While attended
items on the PCs will also be affected by the
phenomenon, items that leave the attendance
of PCs will return to normal gravity. This wont
affect a missile or hurled object until it strikes a
surface, but dropped items will immediately fall
according to normal gravity.
After a time, please read the following to the
PCs.
With a slight rush of air, and a sudden
bloom of light, you see a stone door on the
masonry wall in front of you open. But, it is a
strange door. It opens at the highest point
above you, where the wall should meet the
ceiling, a good twenty feet up. The door
opens onto a small landing on the ceiling,
NPC:
Edgegar Smithe: male human Clr9; hp 54; is
not surprised to see the PCs here. He has, in
fact, been informed of the situation by Wee Jas
herself, in a vision. He is appointed to provide
the following information and gifts to the PCs,
then return to his duties. He will carry out this
task with complete efficiency, offering no more
than he has been told to give, and accepting
nothing in return.
Development:
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Judges Note:
The Necropolis itself is a gargantuan ancient
labyrinthine complex, with tombs, crypts,
greathalls, chapels, laboratories, storehouses of
ancient deceaseds belongings, and secrets lost
to all mortal memory at its farthest depths. Most
of the oldest sections of the Necropolis are
currently flooded and submerged, and have
been for generations, as the Duntide river has
burst the barriers that once kept it out, many
years ago. Nevermore will lead the PCs on a
circuitous path through this labyrinth, choosing a
course to avoid proper tombs, undead that
cannot be helped, traps that cannot be
bypassed, and architecture that cannot be
surmounted while the PCs must traverse the
ceiling. Even doing so, the PCs must still
contend with vaulted ceilings, domes, doorways,
slopes, stairwells, shafts, arches, columns, and
the like, from a precarious upside-down vantage,
where a simple hallway might open into a room
with a ceiling/floor scores of feet below the
PCs, and no way down.
Remember,
Nevermore will guide the PCs through this
maze. His path will be long and difficult to
understand, seeming to double back on itself or
go off on unnecessary tangents. Really, the
Encounter 1
Schoolroom
APL 2 (EL 6)
NPCs:
6 Childrens Ghosts, male and female human
undead; CR 2, HD 1d12; hp 9 ea.; Init +0 (Dex);
Spd fly 30 (Perfect); AC 12 (+2 deflection) [touch
12, flat-footed 12]; Atks +0 melee (1d4,
corrupting touch); SA Corrupting Touch; SQ
Manifestation, Undead Traits,
Incorporeal
Subtype, Rejuvenation, Turn Resistance +4; AL
NG; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 10, Dex 10,
Con --, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14.
Skills and Feats: Craft (Arts and Crafts) +4,
Profession (Student) +4, Hide +8, Listen +8,
Search +8, Spot +8; Dodge.
Manifestation (Su): As ethereal creatures,
these ghosts cannot affect or be affected by
anything in the material world, unless they
manifest. When they manifest, these ghosts
become visible but remain incorporeal. While
manifested they can strike with their touch
attacks.
Corrupting Touch (Su): A ghost that hits a
living target with its incorporeal attack deals 1d4
points of damage.
Undead Traits (Ex):
Immune to mindinfluencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis,
stunning, disease, critical hits, subdual damage,
energy drain, death effects, and death from
massive damage.
Incorporeal Subtype (Ex): These creatures
have no physical bodies. They can be harmed
only by other incorporeal creatures, +1 or better
magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or
supernatural abilities. Even when hit by spells or
magic weapons, there is a 50% chance that
they may ignore all damage from a corporeal
source (except for force effects, or attacks made
with ghost touch weapons). They may pass
through solid objects at will, but not force
effects. Their attacks pass through (and ignore)
natural armor, armor, and shields, although
deflection bonuses and force effects work
normally against them.
Rejuvenation (Su): These creatures, if
otherwise destroyed, will return to this place on a
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Tactics:
When a living creature enters the twenty by forty
foot stonework room where the ghost children
dwell, they immediately manifest to continue a
game of tag. They laugh and play while the
PCs are present, and are especially interested
in them because they are upside-down. The
PCs will be seen as other children entering the
game of tag, and each round, the ghost child
who is it will try to tag a random PC. It is very
difficult (Diplomacy DC 18) for the PCs to
convince the children to stop playing tag with
them. The ghost children dont understand that
their game is hurting the PCs.
Any ghost child who takes half its hit points
in damage from the PCs will immediately stop
manifesting.
Development:
These children were killed en masse when an
evil necromancer exploded a negative energy
burst spell in their school many years ago, to
punish the parents of one child. They do not
know that they are dead, have no concept of
time, and continue to believe that they are at
recess, awaiting the school marm to call them
back into class. If the PCs are able to teach
the children what death means, and that they
have died, the childrens souls will be released
from this world and will immediately be escorted
by one of Wee Jass solars to the home plane of
Berei, where their eternal reward awaits. The
solar will not engage the PCs in any fashion,
under Wee Jass orders, but it will nod to them in
thanks before vanishing with the children.
APL 4 (EL 9)
NPCs:
6 Childrens Ghosts, male and female human
undead; CR 4, HD 2d12; hp 18 ea.; Init +0
(Dex); Spd fly 30 (Perfect); AC 12 (+2 deflection)
[touch 12, flat-footed 12]; Atks +1 melee (1d4,
corrupting touch); SA Corrupting Touch, Frightful
Moan; SQ Manifestation, Undead Traits,
Incorporeal Subtype, Rejuvenation,
Turn
Page 5
Tactics:
When a living creature enters the twenty by forty
foot stonework room where the ghost children
dwell, they immediately manifest to continue a
game of tag. They laugh and play while the
PCs are present, and are especially interested
in them because they are upside-down. The
PCs will be seen as other children entering the
game of tag, and each round, the ghost child
who is it will try to tag a random PC. Likewise,
some of the children who are not it will use a
frightful moan in place of laughter, unaware of
its effect on the living.
It is very difficult
(Diplomacy DC 22) for the PCs to convince the
children to stop playing tag with them. The
ghost children dont understand that their game
is hurting the PCs.
Any ghost child who takes half its hit points
in damage from the PCs will immediately stop
manifesting.
Development:
These children were killed en masse when an
evil necromancer exploded a negative energy
burst spell in their school many years ago, to
punish the parents of one child. They do not
know that they are dead, have no concept of
time, and continue to believe that they are at
recess, awaiting the school marm to call them
back into class. If the PCs are able to teach
the children what death means, and that they
have died, the childrens souls will be released
from this world and will immediately be escorted
by one of Wee Jass solars to the home plane of
Berei, where their eternal reward awaits. The
solar will not engage the PCs in any fashion,
under Wee Jass orders, but it will nod to them in
thanks before vanishing with the children.
Tactics:
When a living creature enters the twenty by forty
foot stonework room where the ghost children
dwell, they immediately manifest to continue a
Page 6
Development:
These children were killed en masse when an
evil necromancer exploded a negative energy
burst spell in their school many years ago, to
punish the parents of one child. They do not
know that they are dead, have no concept of
time, and continue to believe that they are at
recess, awaiting the school marm to call them
back into class. If the PCs are able to teach
the children what death means, and that they
have died, the childrens souls will be released
from this world and will immediately be escorted
by one of Wee Jass solars to the home plane of
Berei, where their eternal reward awaits. The
solar will not engage the PCs in any fashion,
under Wee Jass orders, but it will nod to them in
thanks before vanishing with the children.
Tactics:
When a living creature enters the twenty by forty
foot stonework room where the ghost children
dwell, they immediately manifest to continue a
game of tag. They laugh and play while the
PCs are present, and are especially interested
Page 7
Development:
These children were killed en masse when an
evil necromancer exploded a negative energy
burst spell in their school many years ago, to
punish the parents of one child. They do not
know that they are dead, have no concept of
time, and continue to believe that they are at
recess, awaiting the school marm to call them
back into class. If the PCs are able to teach
the children what death means, and that they
have died, the childrens souls will be released
from this world and will immediately be escorted
by one of Wee Jass solars to the home plane of
Berei, where their eternal reward awaits. The
solar will not engage the PCs in any fashion,
under Wee Jass orders, but it will nod to them in
thanks before vanishing with the children.
Tactics:
When a living creature enters the twenty by forty
foot stonework room where the ghost children
dwell, they immediately manifest to continue a
game of tag, immediately invoking their horrific
Page 8
Development:
These children were killed en masse when an
evil necromancer exploded a negative energy
burst spell in their school many years ago, to
punish the parents of one child. They do not
know that they are dead, have no concept of
time, and continue to believe that they are at
recess, awaiting the school marm to call them
back into class. If the PCs are able to teach
the children what death means, and that they
have died, the childrens souls will be released
from this world and will immediately be escorted
by one of Wee Jass solars to the home plane of
Berei, where their eternal reward awaits. The
solar will not engage the PCs in any fashion,
under Wee Jass orders, but it will nod to them in
thanks before vanishing with the children.
Tactics:
When a living creature enters the twenty by forty
foot stonework room where the ghost children
dwell, they immediately manifest to continue a
Page 9
Development:
These children were killed en masse when an
evil necromancer exploded a negative energy
burst spell in their school many years ago, to
punish the parents of one child. They do not
know that they are dead, have no concept of
time, and continue to believe that they are at
recess, awaiting the school marm to call them
back into class. If the PCs are able to teach
the children what death means, and that they
have died, the childrens souls will be released
from this world and will immediately be escorted
by one of Wee Jass solars to the home plane of
Berei, where their eternal reward awaits. The
solar will not engage the PCs in any fashion,
under Wee Jass orders, but it will nod to them in
thanks before vanishing with the children.
Encounter 2
Chamber of Tomes
NPC:
Entrancia Muldoon: female human undead
(ghost) Clr7; hp 63; AL LN; is comported as if
waiting for the PCs, when they are led into this
chamber by Nevermore. She greets the PCs,
tells her story, and informs them about the three
overwhelmingly magical tomes, which sit on
three lecterns in this 200 foot circular, flat-ceiling
chamber lined with columns. Her task is to tell
the PCs how to leave, using the Book of Gates,
but she is also permitted to try and convince the
PCs to rescue herself and her lover from their
unending torment.
Development:
Entrancia was a priestess of Wee Jas in another
age, long ago, during the Suloise empire. She
fell in love with Borok, one of the officers in the
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Treasure:
Libram of Shrouds: This book radiates
magic at strong power levels of the Necromancy
school. Any spellcaster who reads from the
book will be able to take a single spell from the
list below at the next normal opportunity,
provided they could normally cast that spell.
Wizards may scribe it into a spellbook at the next
normal opportunity. Sorcerers may learn it at the
next normal opportunity. And, divine casters
may add it to the list of spells they are permitted
to pray for, doing so at the next opportunity,
unless they are forbidden to do so by their faith.
The list of spells is the following: negative
energy ray, command undead, negative energy
burst, negative energy wave, spiritwall, undeath
to death. These spells can be found in Tome
and Blood.
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Judges Note:
If Entrancias record is erased from the
Enchiridion of Lost Souls by the PCs, i.e. if they
meet the condition that ends her ghostly
rejuvenation by destroying Borok in death knight
form, the avatar of Wee Jas will appear briefly in
this chamber to escort Entrancias and Boroks
souls away. She will do this because they are
being escorted into her own service on her own
home plane. If a PC worshipper of Wee Jas
Conclusion
Exit
When the PCs use the Book of Gates to
teleport to the exit of the Necropolis, read the
following aloud.
You stand before a huge, impressive gate,
which must function as the portal into and out
of the Necropolis of Rel Mord. You are in a
square stone corridor, thirty feet on each
side. Behind you, the corridor slopes into
darkness. Ahead of you, through the gate, the
corridor slopes up to a set of broad stairs that
climb the final distance upward into a patch of
daylight.
But, between you and the daylight lies the
gate. On either side of the corridor a floor-toceiling relief figure merges with the stone of
the wall.
On one side, the figure is a
magnificent solar. On the other side, the
figure is a daunting pit fiend. The figures
stand with their backs to one another, looking
over their shoulders at each other with
intense expressions. From their backs, and
forming the lattice of the gate itself, the
gigantic figures wings merge and interlace in
a masterwork metallic gate. The interworking
of the gate is so intricate that it would be
impossible to tell one set of wings from the
other, if the solars were not made of mithril
and shaped to resemble feathers, while the
fiends are of cold red-rusted iron, shaped to
resemble rags of tattered flesh. In the dead
center of the gate is a fine but simple latch
above a key hole.
The air is musty and still until a slight
breeze wafts your way from the direction of
the daylight, beckoning you away from this
macabre place, if only you can pass the gate.
Enervation Trap: CR 4; magic device;
touch/location trigger; automatic resets; spell
effect (enervation, 16th level Wizard, +8 ranged
touch, no save); Search (DC 29); Disable Device
(DC 29); channeling bypass (Simultaneous
positive and negative channeling sufficient to
turn or rebuke a 5 HD undead, directed at the
gate) in conjunction with a lock bypass (Open
Lock [DC 30]).
Page 12
Page 13
180
270
360
450
540
630
Encounter 2 (Optional)
Defeating Borok, the death knight.
All APLs
390 XP
XP
XP
XP
XP
XP
XP
Exit
Surviving the gate trap. Award nothing if
the PCs required Edgegar to let them
out.
All APLs
120 XP
Roleplaying Reward
For erasing at least one record from the
Enchiridion of Lost Souls
APL 2
45 XP
APL 4
67 XP
APL 6
90 XP
APL 8
112 XP
APL 10
135 XP
APL 12
157 XP
Total Possible Experience
For completing all goals, defeating the
childrens ghosts, the death knight, the
gate trap, and erasing records from the
Enchiridion of Lost Souls. (Note that
mini-mission maximums have been
applied.)
APL 2
225
APL 4
337
APL 6
450
APL 8
562
APL 10
675
APL 12
787
Treasure Key
(L) = Looted gear from enemy; (C) = Coin,
Gems, Jewelry, and other valuables; (M) = Magic
Items.
Encounter 1
The ghost childs dolly
APL 2
APL 4
APL 6
APL 8
APL 10
APL 12
600
900
1,200
1,875
3,150
4,500
gp
gp
gp
gp
gp
gp
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
Encounter 2 (Optional)
The death knights gear.
All APLs
10,233 gp (M)
+2 heavy lance (Adventure; 8,310 gp;
DMG), +1 bastard sword (Adventure;
2,335 gp; DMG), +2 full plate armor
(Adventure; 5,650 gp; DMG), +2 large
steel shield (Adventure; 4,170 gp;
DMG). The armor and shield are
magically coated with a layer of ebony,
and both sport symbols of Wee Jas
prominently.
Total Possible Treasure
For recovering all treasure in the
adventure.
(Note that mini-mission
maximums have been applied.)
APL 2
200 gp each PC
APL 4
300 gp each PC
APL 6
400 gp each PC
APL 8
625 gp each PC
APL 10
1,050 gp each PC
APL 12
1,500 gp each PC
Spell Availability
XP
XP
XP
XP
XP
XP
Treasure Summary
Following is a listing of all possible treasure
that can be recovered for this adventure.
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