Shrine of The Jaguar Princess
Shrine of The Jaguar Princess
Shrine of The Jaguar Princess
JAGUAR PRINCESS
CREDITS
Design
Sersa Victory (linktr.ee/sersavictory)
Editing
Erin Kelley
Illustrations
Front Cover — Jenn Mansell
Other Illustrations — Pixabay, game-icons.net
Inspiration
Elements of this module were inspired in part by the works of Robert
E. Howard and C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan by Harold
Johnson and Jeff R. Leason
LICENSE
Shrine of the Jaguar Princess is an independent product published
under the Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License and is not affiliated
with The Arcane Library, LLC. Shadowdark RPG © 2023 The Arcane
Library, LLC. Module text © 2023 Trident Gamebooks, LLC.
1
CHARACTER LEVEL
Shrine of the Jaguar Princess is a deadly sword-and-sorcery dungeon
delve designed for 4th-level characters.
ADVENTURE BACKGROUND
Those who sail merchant vessels along the civilized waterways of the
Hyborian kingdoms all speak of one pirate who fills them with terror:
the Queen of the Black Coast. Renowned for her cunning and
infamous for her cruelty, the corsair-queen’s flag spells death for all
unfortunate enough to spy it on the horizon.
However, the Queen of the Black Coast tires of plundering jugs of ale,
bundles of wheat, and spears bound for trembling conscripts. With
her crew of criminals, outcasts, and exiles, she sets sail for the mouth
of the forbidden Zarkheba river. It is on those treacherous banks that
the hidden shrine of a long-lost civilization is rumored to house a relic
cast by malevolent gods: the Golden Jaguar of Princess Nochtli.
ADVENTURE SUMMARY
• Part I: Poisonous Catacombs. The characters must escape from
poison gas-filled catacombs beneath the jaguar princess’s
ziggurat.
• Part II: Her City of Gold. The characters explore a miniature city of
gold in the heart of the ziggurat.
1
SHRINE LEGENDS
Each character knows one random legend (re-roll duplicate legends).
The truth (T) or falsity (F) of each legend is listed in parentheses. Do
not tell characters the truth or falsity of each legend.
LEGENDS
d8 Legend
2
QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST
In this adventure, the characters are loot-hungry corsairs aboard a
ship captained by a legendary pirate known as the Queen of the Black
Coast.
Each member of the party must choose or roll a vice from the table
below—this vice is what caused the player character to be ejected
from their society, forcing them to join the Queen’s pirate crew. A
character’s chosen vice makes them more susceptible to certain
dangers in the shrine.
VICES
d4 Vice
1 The Bottle
2 The Boudoir
3 The Feast
4 The Pipe
When a character finds an item from the category they have chosen,
they may choose to discover a second copy of that item. For
example, a character with a greed for scrolls who discovers a scroll of
spell catching may say that they find another.
Each character may use this ability only once per adventure.
3
However, indulging in greed has a cost—eventually, the pirates’
fortunes will run out.
GREEDS
Potions Scrolls Weapons
4
5
PART I
POISONOUS CATACOMBS
Every 30 minutes of real time, the GM gains a poison gas token. The
GM also gains poison gas tokens when instructed to by the text.
Poison gas tokens should be represented with green beads, dice,
poker chips, or something similar.
6
POISON GAS
Cost Effect
DANGER LEVEL
Unsafe. Check every three crawling rounds for random encounters.
RANDOM ENCOUNTERS
d4 Details
7
8
1. CLAY WARRIOR GALLERY
Darkness: Characters regain senses atop heap of debris. All is silent
except rattling of last falling pebbles and their own breathing. Rows
of Clay Statues: Each depicts 8’ tall warrior-woman. Stylized wooden
jaguar masks. Feathered clay spears. Loincloths.
2. PLASTER PROCESSION
Long Passageway: Stretches seemingly endlessly into darkness.
Plaster Murals: Cover tezontle walls, depict animal-headed figures
hurling spears, gathering corn, erecting ziggurats. Cave-In: Blocks
passage to east, corpse with skull coated in melted gold half-buried
in rubble (worth 20 gp).
9
BUNDLES
d10 Contents of bundle
10
• Giant Sarcophagus: Filled with human skeletons stained green by
poison gas. Each died during 5,000 year sleep. One skeleton
clutches scroll of protection from felines.
4. EMBALMING BATH
Bath: Diamond-shaped pool framed by polished ochre marble. Water
has perfume scent despite being centuries old. Reagents: Clay
bottles, oils, bowls sit along rim of pool. Mosaics: Dark-haired women
sending cornhusk-mummified bodies over waterfall in canoes.
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WERE-JAGUAR MUMMIFICATION
• Character is considered undead.
• Immune to poison gas.
• Half damage from non-magical or non-silvered sources.
• Double damage from fire.
• Agility grants +2 AC.
• Gain extra bite attack each turn, deals 1d8 damage and is
considered a magical attack.
6. HALL OF THUNDER
Stone Faces: Large and protrude from walls. Wolves, eagles, bison,
axolotls, and jaguars. Once-vibrant paint peels to reveal cracked
limestone underneath. Murals: On walls between faces. Depict
women in stylized jaguar masks raising hands toward ziggurat struck
by lightning. Smell: Rain.
12
• Trap Demonstration: When characters first look into hall, cave
creeper scuttles into passageway from opposite site. Wriggles
toward characters, but hesitates when stone animal faces grind
open. Calamitous sound of thunder reverberates from mouths,
blasting apart cave creeper. Check for random encounter
because of sound.
TEMPLE COLLAPSE
Vice Collapsed miniature temple
13
7. EXPIRED BRAZIER
Limestone Brazier: Large bands of gold inlaid along rim. Filled with
cobwebs and disintegrated coals.
• Cut Open Caecilia: Digestive tract contains gold anklet worth 400
gp and onyx pyramid struck through with nebula patterns.
14
• Treasure: Amulet of protection against turning hangs from
Nahuacoh’s branches.
9. ROYAL TOMB
Painted Clay Figures: Size of children, stand all throughout cluster of
square tombs. Limestone Slabs: Set into center of walls, depict
women in feathered crowns stringing teeth onto necklaces. Bare
Footprints: Faintly visible in thin layer of ash covering floor.
• Twist Heads Off Figures: Clay figures are actually urns. Most
contain damp ash, one contains necklace of polished teeth worth
20 gp and potion of extra-healing.
15
• Fire Beetle Swarms: Two swarms emerge from cracks in walls
and attack once they sense vibration of footsteps or voices.
16
11. NEREID TOMB
Saltwater: Drips from cracks in low ceiling. Statue: Muscular man in
feathered headdress, stained from dripping saltwater. Clutches small
silver coffin in thick fingers festooned with stone rings. Small Silver
Coffin: Etched with likeness of diminutive woman, skin decorated
with seaweed patterns. Muffled sound of woman singing inside
coffin. Sealed with wax.
• Melt Wax: Can only be melted by magical fire, pale flame from
brazier, or heat of fire beetle.
17
▷ Fracturing the Monoliths: If two or more characters fail,
singing is loud enough to crack monoliths in area 3. This frees
1d4 agitated vampire thralls of Tlacaetica. Announce that
“THE VAMPIRE THRALLS OF TLACAETICA HAVE ESCAPED
FROM THEIR MONOLITH PRISONS.”
18
• Kneel: Character sees Underworld scenes materialize beneath
translucent floor—throngs of broken bodies under crumbling
mountains, wailing figures clutching at flesh flayed by wind-
blown daggers, rivers of gore stalked by giant jaguars.
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PART II
DANGER LEVEL
Quiet. Check every ten crawling rounds for random encounters. If an
encounter is indicated, roll on the Shrine Events table (p. 54).
20
21
• Inspect Miniature Buildings: They’re not solid gold, but rather
gold-plated tezontle. Takes five trips fully loaded to strip city of
its gold plating—doing so fetches 2,500 gp. Roll on Shrine Events
table each time characters leave with gold.
Note that one or more temples might have been destroyed by the
Hall of Thunder trap (area 6).
22
MINIATURE TEMPLES
Temple Jaguar-masked statuette Eye in altar
23
24
16. JADE SNARE
Narrow Corridor: Leads to statue of muscular man in feathered
headdress. Statue: Holds slab. Piles of jade on slab. Giant Slug: Dead
and withered at statue’s feet.
• Open Pit Trap: Leads down to area 17. Crumpled skeleton covered
in melted gold visible directly under pit.
25
• Approach a Clay Priest: Magic mouth appears and commands
character to “KNEEL, SPEAK YOUR GREED, AND PRAY THE STAR-
EATER FINDS YOU WORTHY.” Molten gold begins to drip from
holes in walls.
PRIEST’S JUDGMENT
Warn characters before they kneel about the d6 roll to determine
if the molten gold jet trap is triggered. Speaking their greed is a
risk-versus-reward choice they must carefully consider.
26
18. PRIEST-SKULL SEPULCHER
Two Reliefs: Set into two walls that form the eastward-pointing
corner of chamber. Each depicts eye tyrant, their eyestalks the points
of two pentagrams. Cube-Shaped Shelves: Set into relief at each
point of star. Many contain painted skulls. Central Shelf: Sits between
both reliefs, displays sacrificial dagger.
SHELF CONTENTS
Location Contents
N5 Heap of dust
27
• Take Sacrificial Dagger: Entire ziggurat rumbles. Ceiling above
passages back to area 13 cave in, blocking retreat. Section of floor
gives way, broken stone splashing down into pool in area 4.
28
• Gold-Dipped Jaguar Masks: There are presently no gold-dipped
jaguar masks in the ziggurat. However, clever characters might
make their own by dipping wooden masks from area 1 into gold
they’ve melted themselves.
29
30
20. JAGUAR PRINCESS APPARITION
Chamber: Bare and cramped. Slick with mold, stagnant. Ghostly
Young Woman: Wears huipil adorned with polished bones and strings
of jade beads. Crown of flowers on phantom dark hair. Pets golden
jaguar idol, whispers soothing words to it in ancient language.
THE END?
Seeing Nochtli’s golden jaguar turn to mere stone, the characters
might believe that the object of their quest was a ruse all along.
The Queen of the Black Coast won’t be so easily dissuaded.
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22. EBON DISC OF THE FIRST OFFERING
Circular Disc: Door-sized, set into north wall, glassy darkness. Solid to
touch and emits painful chill. Corpse: Boy prince, slumped against
disc. Chest cut open to reveal empty rotten cavity.
32
33
PART III
DEVOURED STAR
DANGER LEVEL
Orbit. Do not check for random encounters, as the devoured star is a
small, isolated rock in orbit 1,000 miles above the earth.
34
35
25. EBON DISC—FRACTURED
As area 24, but ebon disc is fractured. Perhaps characters can mend
disc, opening portal to future adventures on worlds beyond
imagination.
36
ENDING THE ADVENTURE
If Mictlan is defeated, his body melts away into a acrid sludge that
drains away through the circular opening in the floor. His ichor
drifts through space, where he will land on another planet and
reconstitute his form in 5d100 years.
With the godly power of the golden jaguar in her hands at last, the
Queen of the Black Coast will rule the seas unchallenged. The
spoils of looting the hidden shrine along the Zarkheba river have
made each of her corsairs wealthier than most monarchs. Those
who tire of the pirate life may retire in luxury among the various
peoples of the Hyborian Age.
However, there will certainly be those who retain their zeal for
adventure, who wish to stay aboard and raise the black flag over
lands not yet plundered by their pale mistress. And who can say
what occult treasures lie beyond the ebon discs…
37
MONSTERS
CAECILIA
An enormous gray worm that digests the bones of the dead.
38
FIRE BEETLE SWARM
Luminescent beetles that burn from within with pyre flame.
AC 13, HP 14, ATK 2 bite +3 (1d6 + burn scroll), MV near (fly), S -1, D +3,
C +1, I -3, W +0, Ch -3, AL N, LV 3
Burn Scroll: Target must roll DC 15 DEX or have one scroll they’re
carrying be burned up (target’s choice).
AC 17, HP 32, ATK 2 flail +6 (2d8), MV near, S +3, D +0, C +3, I -2, W +0,
Ch -2, AL C, LV 7
39
NAHUATL, THE REVELATOR
One of the Star-Eater’s servant demigods, manifesting as an elder
gibbering mouther in the shape of a giant jaguar.
AC 14, HP 34, ATK 8 bite +6 (1d4), MV double near, S +4, D +3, C +1, I -3,
W +1, Ch -3, AL C, LV 7
CONFUSION
d10 Confused action
40
REVELATION OF NAHUATL
One random character finds that they are immune to the
babbling. Instead, they can understand the hurried words being
spit from the hundreds of mouths in the language of outer gods.
Inform that character that she may attempt to draw close to the
gibbering mouther and listen to the message being spoken. Doing
so provokes 8 bite attacks, but if she survives, she receives the
Revelation of Nahuatl (p. 51).
SUN PRIEST
A wandering sun-worshipper exiled from the nearby land of Stygia.
His skin is painted the same brilliant yellow as the noonday sun.
AC 14, HP 19, ATK 1 flail +4 (1d6) or 1 dart (near) +3 (1d4), MV near, S +0,
D +1, C +0, I +0, W +3, Ch +2, AL L, LV 4
41
TARANTULA-FILLED JAGUAR MUMMY
One of Nochtli’s sacred jaguar pets, mummified with cornhusks and
stuffed with venomous tarantulas.
AC 13, HP 13, ATK 1 bite +3 (1d4 + rotting curse), MV double near, S +2,
D +3, C +0, I -2, W +1, Ch -2, AL N, LV 3
Rotting Curse: DC 15 CON or lose 1d4 CON each rest until rotting
curse is lifted.
STAR-EATER VENOM
A character afflicted with Star-Eater venom sweats profusely and
begins a hideous transformation.
After 30 minutes of real time, the victim’s eyes fuse into a single
central eye. She may cast dispel magic from the eye once. After
60 minutes, her hair falls out and eyestalks grow from her scalp.
She may project an eye ray once, with an effect based on her vice:
sleep (bottle), charm person (boudoir), hold person (feast), or two
acid arrows (pipe).
After 90 minutes, the victim’s body withers away and her head
becomes a blast spore. The blast spore floats under the
character’s control until she bumps into something, at which time
the spore explodes, dealing 3d6 damage to all near creatures.
42
VAMPIRE THRALL OF TLACAETICA
Once peasant women, these unfortunate souls now serve as the
thralls of the vampire priestess Tlacaetica Who Beheads in Smoke.
AC 14, HP 25, ATK 1 bite +5 (1d10 + blood drain), MV near, S +3, D +2,
C +2, I +1, W +0, Ch +4, AL C, LV 5
AC 14, HP 9, ATK 1 claw +1 (1d8) or 1 spell +2, MV near, S +1, D -1, C +0,
I -1, W +2, Ch +0, AL C, LV 2
Conjure Vision: May cast any tier 2 or lower spell, provided that spell
is thematic to a vision of underworld punishment described by
characters in area 12.
43
YARECOEHUA, WARDEN OF
THE JAGUAR PRINCESS
This centaur-like armored mummy stands nearly thirteen feet tall. It
has the upper body of a tanned muscular man, the lower body of an
elephant-sized jaguar, and a featureless iron mask.
44
MICTLAN, THE STAR-EATER
Hailed as a god by the lost civilization of the Jaguar Princess, this
aberration from beyond the stars manifests as a pair of conjoined eye
tyrants weeping tears of molten gold.
AC 16, HP 58, ATK 2 bite +8 (1d12) and 1 anti-magic ray (special) and
3 eye rays (special), MV near (hover), S +3, D +3, C +4, I +4, W +3, Ch +5,
AL C, LV 12
Eye Rays: May only target a given character with one ray per round.
DC 18 DEX to avoid, roll effect on table below.
EYE RAYS
d8 Eye ray
45
TREASURE
Benefit: Once per moon cycle, you may detect the most suitable
candidate for a sacrifice within 10 miles.
46
AMULET OF PROTECTION
AGAINST TURNING
A grinning skull is painted onto this heavy cast iron amulet.
AXE OF TLACAETICA
The handle of this limestone axe is decorated with painted couatl
feathers and wrapped with deer leather. Incantations are inked onto
the leather.
Benefit: Wielder can cast the following spells each once: fireball,
knock, telekinesis.
47
CIRCLET OF THE CLAY TITANS
This clay circlet bears embossed images of titanic women sitting at a
kiln the size of a watchtower.
48
GOLDEN JAGUAR OF NOCHTLI
Cast by the Star-Eater and given as a gift to his most faithful human
princess, this immaculate golden jaguar idol possesses powers
beyond mortal comprehension.
Benefit: The specific powers of the golden jaguar idol are left to the
GM. However, they should be suitably campaign-altering. Consider
giving the bearer of the golden jaguar the power to summon the
wind, control the tides, rearrange the stars, and communicate with
outer gods that dwell in visible planets.
LYCANTHROPY TOTEM
A wax totem shaped into the figure of a woman with a jaguar’s teeth,
a bat’s wings, and a snake’s scales.
MIRROR OF TLACAETICA
A mirror of dark glass inlaid with gold and jade. A sentimental
possession of a vampire who can never again look upon her own face.
Benefit: Can absorb (negate) or redirect three eye ray attacks before
shattering. Character attempting to redirect eye ray rolls DC 12 DEX
or INT. Success redirects ray at near target, failure causes bearer to be
hit by ray and fail any checks ray might force.
49
POTIONS
Extra-Healing: Regain 3d6 HP or 10 HP (drinker’s choice). Can be
thrown at near undead creature with DEX vs. AC roll to deal 3d6
damage.
50
REVELATION OF NAHUATL
A gruesome gift offered to those chosen few who seek to be nearer to
the Star-Eater.
RING OF DELUSION
An unassuming—but dangerous—ring given as punishment by cruel
monarchs to those who fail them.
51
ROD OF ELECTRIFICATION
A steel rod cast in the likeness of a feathered serpent wreathed in
bolts of jade lightning.
Benefit: One character may use kit to give herself sacred labret
piercing. Time it takes to give piercing triggers random encounter
roll. If character pierced in this way darkens her lips with soot of a
companion incinerated by lava-spewing idol of Xiuhuani, she gains
the power below, usable once.
• Mournful Kiss of Nochtli: One creature you kiss or bite must roll
DC 15 CON or be disintegrated. If victim succeeds on check, they
may make an attack against you in retaliation.
52
SCROLLS
Hold Animal: One near creature that is wholly or part animal cannot
move for 1d6 rounds. It may still make attacks or defend itself.
TALISMAN OF ASCENSION
An exceedingly rare gift bestowed on those who would not let death
part them from their interstellar god.
53
SHRINE EVENTS
SHRINE EVENTS
d12 Event
Any doors in Part II: Her City of Gold that had their molten-gold seals
5
broken are re-sealed by shrine guardians.
A vampire thrall of Tlacaetica escapes her monolith and ascends to Part II:
6 Her City of Gold. She waits in mist form to ambush the characters, hiding
inside a hollow miniature golden step pyramid.
A torrential rainstorm floods the City of Gold for one week. This makes
7 fighting difficult for the characters in Part II—those that cannot fly have
disadvantage on attack rolls and –4 AC. Part I is totally submerged.
Black vines blooming with sickly ochre petals start to choke the shrine.
9 Clouds of noxious pollen fill the air—all living creatures within the shrine
have disadvantage on all checks. Lasts 24 hours.
A vampire thrall of Tlacaetica escapes her monolith and ascends to Part II:
Her City of Gold. She is weak and only has 1d6 HP. She is sorrowful and
10
begs the characters to help find a way to make her human again. If they
refuse, she attacks.
Yarecoehua, Warden of the Jaguar Princess awakens and stalks the City of
12
Gold. The player characters will encounter him in a random chamber.
54