very like the Lochs of the Scottish highlands,

bottomless, cold, and dark. No Name Swamp for its

part combines the worst that the north and swamps
have to offer: cold, mud, and a brutal ecosystem where
life is cheap and generally shortThere is volcanic
activity under the entire area while freezing temperatures
roar through the swamp (M. Burton). The Bonewood is
not a particularly safe place either - a separate adventure
might be made of the trip to and from the House.

House of the Axe

4th-10th level Arduin adventure by Calithena
Also known as the Slaughter House, all who have ventured within have died horribly. (Runes of Doom, pg. 94)
Fight On! wishes to thank Emperors Choice for permission
to publish this adventure, which took one of the top prizes in a
contest they ran many years ago. This is the first time it has seen
print. It is suitable for play with most traditional fantasy
roleplaying systems, though full explanation of some entries may
require consulting the Arduin Grimoires. Ignatius

History: A century or so ago, the mage Pthak sought

seclusion from the world. He built a house in the middle
of the No Name Swamp, and for a time lived peacefully
there, protected from the terrors about him by his
mighty magicks and worldly wealth. Yet inquisitiveness
proved his undoing. During his career Pthak had seen
the power of high technology in the hands of
adventurers and among the peoples of other dimensions.
He was not fooled by the protestations of the Technos
that their practice was simply another form of magic.
Pthak knew that as great as they were, these powers were
somehow natural, and he wished to uncover their secrets
for himself in order to create devices synthesizing
wizardry and technological lore.

Introduction: This adventure takes place at the House

of the Axe, an eerie, abandoned manse in the heart of a
forbidding swamp. As I have written the adventure, a
famous ranger has guided the party to the edge of the
lake where the House is situated. GMs are free to violate
this and other presumptions to make this adventure
work in their campaign. The GM is encouraged to set it
in the same sort of inaccessible region it occupies in
Arduin, where it sits on the edge of the Lost Lake, in the
middle of No Name Swamp, at the heart of the Bonewood Forest. The Lost Lake, about two miles across, is

12

The Technos League could not tolerate this infringement. The attempts of lesser mages to harness their
knowledge could be laughed off, but Pthak was renowned for intelligence and persistence. After gentler
attempts at persuasion were rebuffed, the Hierophantic
Council of the Technos League hired assassins.
Disguised as a visiting wizard and entourage, the killers
came to the House, promising valuable lore. Pthaks
right hand, the dwarf warrior Loden Grimlock,
suspected foul play, but his warnings could not
overcome Pthaks lust to know. They struck before
dinner was served, slaying Pthak and his household to
the man. The wizard might have defeated them, but the
assassins made sure to poison his cup, and save Loden
the rest were no match for trained killers. The dwarf
fought valiantly, taking all but two of the assassins with
him, but was slain in the end. These last two staggered
bleeding away from the house; only one made it as far as
Rosewater to report success. The Technos League paid
off hand-somely, and the whole matter was hushed up
and soon forgotten as the world went on its course.

Axe. Remember the deal. I have business of my own in

the Bonewood. Gurk and I will be back in forty-eight
hours, no more, no less. If you arent here, I wont wait
for you. I expect first pick of one item from the House,
or, if nothing strikes my fancy, five hundred gold
sovereigns. Now go, and may Skirin watch over you.
He turns away and then looks back. Whatever you do,
dont row out to the middle, and dont hug the shore.
Just take a straight line from here to there and you
shouldnt have much trouble. With that, he disappears
into the bog with the Haggorym shuffling behind,
leaving you to your fate.
The Edge of the Lost Lake: Take a minute here to
make sure character sheets, spells, items, etc. are set. If
heroes keep to a straight line there shouldnt be trouble.
If they veer towards the center of the lake, feel free to
assault them with a half-dozen elasmosaurs, a kraken, a
pair of megalodons, a water demon, or similar monstrousity they asked for it. Keeping the boat upright in
a savage battle may require die rolls (1-2 on a d6, +1 for
maritime experience, +1 for wilderness experience, +1
for high strength, -2 if character is trying to fight or cast
spells). On the other hand, if they hug the shore, the
Maggoth that normally dwells there is currently outside
the House, so they will not have problems. Furthermore,
the most plausible lookout (non-rower) should make a
roll to see if they spot a black dragons cave entrance in
the rushes. If they decide to explore that instead of the
house, well and good: go to area D-10 and assume the
dragon is awake, hungry, and heard them coming
because of the boat-noise. Unless they wake the
monsters at the center of the lake, or discover and elect
to penetrate the house through the dragons cave, they
will soon arrive at the Slaughter Houses rotten dock

But Lodens spirit, wrenched with anguish, could not go

quietly. The dwarf had guarded others his whole life, and
no-one under his charge had ever been slain before.
Insane with grief over his own death and that of his
master, Loden came back as a ghost, driven to keep
Pthaks manse inviolate. The creatures of the swamp
over time have proved too numerous to drive out, but
the rare human interlopers, so far, have not. Over the
subsequent century the manse has decayed, along with
Lodens spirit. Some few explorers who have come as
far as the front entry hall have seen Lodens great axe
now hanging over the three doors leading inward, and
axe has replaced Pthak as the houses eponym.
Slogging through the murk of No Name Swamp, the
lake breaks abruptly upon you, cool waters lapping the
toes of your mud-soaked boots. Torell Stagg, lean and
hawklike, takes it in. The Lost Lake, he says. No wonder: none of you saw it even from ten feet away. Gurk,
Torells dogsbody, looses a skiff from his back onto the
waters edge. Gurks crude, almost goblinoid features
and thick pelt mark him as a Haggorym, though it seems
impossible that this quiet sturdy creature could hail from
so savage a race. You take in the cold lake and the thick
mist clouds still dissipating from its surface as Torell
points out your destination.
There, to the left, on the north shore thats the
place. You turn to see a tall, dilapidated two-story
house, perhaps forty feet tall, rising out of an open space
in the bog. It is everywhere overgrown with vines and
flowering creepers, and whatever paint once tinted it has
rotted away, leaving only rich yellow stucco and dark
sienna rooftile. Torell smiles grimly. The House of the

13

house grounds. Unless they make a lot of noise they

should be safe doing this for up to half an hour; after
that, begin rolling regularly for random encounters
according to the following table.

Outside the House: Lethal Landing

Your skiff glides silently towards the shattered dock
below the House of the Axe. It is a large structure, about
forty feet tall, overgrown with vines and flowering
creepers. What seemed to be windows are in fact
decorative indentations, window-shaped but made from
the same substance as the walls. A broad double-door,
slightly ajar, is the only apparent means of ingress.

No Name Swamp Encounter Table

Moving parties have a 1 in 6 chance for an encounter
every 15 minutes; loud parties have a 1 in 3 chance every
ten minutes; camped and camouflaged parties check 1 in
10 each hour. Roll 1d20:

As the building comes into view you see that a horrible

battle has recently taken place. More than a score of
corpses are strewn about the swampgrass, weapons
buried in their heads, arms torn loose from their bodies,
rivulets of blood twisting their way down to the lake.
The bodies are freshly slain, all humanoid, though few if
any actually human. Half or more are swamp saurigs,
big, stupid, muscular lizard men with long tails, axes
clutched yet in their mortified claws; the rest are a
roughly even mix of gnolls, gnorcs, and half-orcs. One
gnoll abruptly frees itself from under a dead saurig and
lurches up on its elbows, only to vomit out its life in
blood and black bile. As your boat moves in towards the
dock, the far side of the House comes gradually into
view. Still more corpses lie there and something else, a
great wall of grey and yellow mottled flesh more than
fifty feet long, feeding on the dead. Its black eyestalks
flicker up to take you in, and its orange maw yawns wide
even as your skiff slams into solid ground and digs a
deep line in the boggy shore.

1-2 Natural Hazard

3-4. Dangerous Vegetation
5. Snakebit!
6. Black Dragon (Negarix - see D-10)
7. Deodanth Bandits (Azhrarn and Chuzel - see D-9)
8. 1d2 Elasmosaurs if within 20 of The Lost Lake;
otherwise 1d4 Allosaurus or Megaraptors
9. 2d4 Grey Horrors
10. Greyish Ooze
11. Frost Hydra, 6 headed
12. Maggoth
13. 2d4 Morghouls
14-15. Swamp Saurig Warband: 4HD Leader + 4d4 2
HD Warriors (treat as Lizard People or see AGI)
16. Vampusa and Five Moondogs (Durnzhen - see B-25)
17-18. 3d4 Vroats
19. Will-o-the-Wisp
20. 2d4 Yellow Perils
Named creatures are inhabitants of the House out and
about. Grey Horrors, Maggoth, Morghouls, Saurigs,
Vroats, and Yellow Perils are detailed in The Arduin
Grimoire and also occur elsewhere in this adventure. For
natural hazards roll 1d4: 1 is quickmud (treat like pit
trap, with risk of drowning if you fall in), 2 is boiling
quickmud (as previous but also does 1d6/round to those
immersed), 3 is a cloud of burning sulfur (1d6 and save
vs. breath or 2d6 more when inhaled), 4 is a sudden cold
snap (lasts 10-60 minutes and causes numbness,
inattention, and possibly 1d6 subdual damage each 10
minutes). For dangerous vegetation roll 1d3: 1 is 1d4
whipvines (see outside of House, next page), 2 is a patch
of chokeweed (ditto, or Runes of Doom), 3 is 1d20+10 rot
slugs hidden in the slime and lichen. If snakebit! is
rolled a small venomous snake must be avoided as per a
trap before it bites a characters ankle. If it strikes save
vs. poison with bonuses for hard boots and plate mail;
efficacy of poison is up to the GM.

While the players take in the Maggoth on the shore (HD

12+1, hp 55 or roll, AC 5, Speed 15, Spit Acid 90 for
6d6 or Swallowing Bite for 2d12 + swallows on hit roll 2
greater than needed, take 1d12/round in acidic stomach
until escape, horrible smell, damage from normal
weapons, double damage from fire & easily set aflame,
immune to acid and poison), the character in the rear of
the boat should roll to hear two elasmosaurs (HD 6, hp
26, 17 or roll, AC 6, Speed 6/18 swim) approaching
silently from the rear, attracted by the prospect of a
midmorning snack. If he fails, both will take surprise
attacks against that character. The Elasmosaurs will
follow the part onto the shore, but the Maggoth will
switch to attacking them as soon as they do so,
whereupon they will probably flee (and the Maggoth will
revert to attacking the PCs). Party members may decide
to flee for the open front doors. A very fast character
can do this in one round and all could do it in two. If
that happens, the Maggoth may rumble after them, but
provided they close the door behind them and take one
of the three portals in fairly short order they should not
have trouble. The Elasmosaurs will leave within fifteen
minutes of the partys disappearance, but the Maggoth
will stay for several hours, feasting on the leavings of the
battle. If the party fights and wins, they may explore the

The Corpses: Characters looting the bodies may obtain

normal weapons from them (axes, tridents, and nets
from the saurigs, shortbows, arrows, axes, and daggers
from the brigands), as well as d10 copper and silver
pennies per brigand corpse. There are ten brigands still
outside the Maggoths gullet. The gnolls, gnorcs, and
half-orcs wear badges on their cloaks, round red disks of

14

halflings take d4 per round for d20 rounds and are -4 on

everything in the meantime. If burning (even magical
burning) is used to clean it out, the cloud will be 20 and
have full effectiveness, though the plant will burn.
Searching the lakefront west of the house for secret
doors eventually reveals the cave of the dragon Negarix
(D-10). There is one other hidden entrance to the house,
the patch of loam from which Durnzhen and his
Moondogs (B-25) emerge to hunt at night. Characters
searching thoroughly behind the house might find this
on a very difficult check, or a regular one if they search
for and find the hunters track first. If characters start
exploring the swamp in earnest like this, however, the
GM should start rolling for random encounters. If
characters scale the manse, read this:
The horrid feminine gargoyles seem to leer down at you
hungrily as you approach the rooftop, though they do
not move. The roof itself is made of the same heavily
constructed and magically reinforced stone as the rest of
the building, with one exception: a 10 x 20 strip of
interlocking pieces of metal in the southwest quadrant.
This metal strip can only be opened manually from the
inside, but it is significantly easier to bash in than the
walls, breaking with about 30 points of appropriate
damage. However, it is trapped with a horrible Blackfire
Trap: anyone damaging or tampering with the metal
must save vs. magic or take 1d8 damage and lose a level.
This goes on every round for 15 rounds until a save is
made as a ghostly black flame envelops the target! In
addition, two of the statues will animate if the metal
screen or roof are tampered with (HD 7, hp 20, 17, AC
2+2, Speed 6/18 flying, mindless magical construct,
immune to petrification, 2 attacks with claws or breath a
cloud of petrifying gas in a 60 cone, save or get stoned).
If the trap, the furies, and the metal barrier are all dealt
with, the characters will find themselves in area A-3.

metal with golden eyes painted at their center. Any

character with a ranger or thief-type background will
know what they are, and they may roll to remember the
sigil: these are the men of Zalag Yargoe, an infamous
Gnoll bandit with a 15,000 gs reward on his head.
The House: The House of the Axe is a long, uniform
rectangle, 45 tall, 90 deep, and 135 across the facing.
Searching reveals no windows or doors other than the
great double door, 15 tall, hanging ajar at its entrance.
Its sienna-tiled roof has a modest slope, with cruellooking female gargoyles vaguely reminiscent of harpies,
at each of the four corners. Its walls are stuccoed stone
three feet thick and magically reinforced. The building is
easy to climb provided that the various patches of
whipvine and chokeweed dotting its perimeter are dealt
with. The whipvines will strike out at anyone within 20,
and may pull characters near the chokeweed, which will
then explode. Characters must inspect and have appropriate knowledge to recognize the plants as inimical
before finding out the hard way. Whipvines look more
or less like stout ivy, have 3 HD and AC 6, and roll to
lash out at and entangle characters within 20. They try
to pull them towards their center once they are entangled, and do damage every round. Chokeweed is a bluegreen leafy plant with yellow holly-like berries and plenty
of pollen, 1d8 hp and AC 6. If caught in the 10 cloud of
released spores characters must save or choke to death;
even a successful save causes 1 point damage per round
for d12 rounds. Orcs and half-orcs are immune, but

In the House: Most encounters in the House of the

Axe are pegged to particular locations. Random encounters may occur on the ground and basement levels.
Unless characters leave doors open to let things through,
random encounters should never occur on the
apartment or dungeon levels. They occur on a 1 in 6
chance checked no more frequently than once every ten
minutes. Roll 1d8 on the following table:
1. The Ghost!
2. 2d3 Grey Horrors
3. Greyish Ooze
4. 2d4 Morghouls
5. Vampusa and Five Moondogs (Durnzhen, B-25)
6. 3d3 Vroats
7. Will-o-the-Wisp
8. 2d3 Yellow Perils

15

The Ghost! The greatest recurring terror in the house is

the ghost of Loden Grimlock. Loden is a cunning and
vicious foe, bitterly resentful even after a century of the
deception that led to his and his masters deaths. Loden
has no set location within the House, patrolling it
ethereally instead. To represent this a ghost chance is
specified for each room, right next to its name. This is
the chance of encountering Loden along with whatever
else is present. Lodens visitations become increasingly
severe each time he is met with. In addition, if the party
has encountered Loden even once and tries to leave by
the front door, he becomes aware of it and blocks their
way as per the 4th manifestation below. However, if the
party leaves through the retractable roof in A-2 or the
secret tunnel in B-29 Loden only has a 40% chance of
realizing what is going on in time to stop them. If they
escape from any exit he cannot follow. Loden does not
know about the dungeon level, so if a party is finds and
enters it quickly from the basement level he will not
know where they have gone. Of course, the only other

way out from the dungeon level is through Negarix lair.

Lodens manifestations progress as follows:
1st manifestation: Loden notices the party and tells the
vampusa Durnzhen of their presence. Loden will stay
ethereal, so the party should not even notice him unless
they have some way to detect ethereal undead.
2nd: Loden appears before the party with eyes blazing,
silent and ominous. This will be surprise unless the party
has relevant detect abilities. He uses his dread gaze after
appearing and then vanishes as soon as he has another
chance to act. While he is doing this he will also use
telekinesis to tear holy symbols, wands and staffs, and
drawn weapons out of the hands of their users as a way
of protecting himself (1 item/round, automatic).
3rd: Loden uses his telekinetic ability to open and close
doors and guides five Yellow Perils (HD 5+1, AC 5,
Speed 15, attack w/ poison bite (1d6 + save or 5d6
addl), tail (1d12 plus constriction), or acid spit (30 with

16

10 cone front, 1d12), immune to acid, from poison)

to attack. He will manifest around the corner and use his
terrible moan while he sends the centipedelings charging
forward. He will disappear the round after moaning; if
any PCs come into view he will take a free telekinetic
attack against them as he returns to the ethereal.
4th: Loden arms himself and floats through walls to find
the party, fighting to the death. Gamemasters are free to
design additional encounters with Loden to torture and
terrify the party before the final showdown if desired.
Loden Grimlock: 8th level Ghost Dwarf Warrior.
Turns as 12 HD/special undead. Float 12, move from
ethereal to incorporeal material at will. Can use telekinesis every round regardless of what else he does to grab
objects and throw them. AC 2+4 and all non-magical
and 50% of magical attacks (most magic weapons and
spells) miss due to incorporeality. HD 8, 44 hp. Attacks
with telekinesis and +2 magic axe, dread gaze (save or age
d20 years), or terrible moan (save vs. fear or go into panic
for 2d4 rounds). +3 on all saving throws and immune to
fear, cold poison, sleep, all mind attacks, all death
attacks, etc. Loden has a +2 axe which does double
damage on 19-20, +2 full plate, a +1 shield, and a magic
cloak which gives +1 to AC and saves. These are
incorporeal with him when encountered but if he is
defeated they materialize and can be claimed as booty.

Loden telekinetically piles carcasses from the house in

this room. There are five morghouls (HD 4+1, hp 22,
19, 16, 15, AC 3, Speed 9, attacks cause reg. damage plus
rotting at 1 point per turn (cured by advanced healing or
magic only), turn as wraith, immune to fear and
paralysis, half damage from acid and poison, 1d10 from
holy water) who will claw forth from the bodies and try
to attack. The morghouls and indeed the entire room
stink horribly. Digging through bodies forces a save to
avoid contracting morghoul rot. Many dead Morghouls
are in the pile, along with adventurers of various races,
croc-odilians, vroats, yellow perils, grey horrors, and
more obscure creatures. Extensive digging reveals the
follow-ing: in the recessed west wall of the room, behind
a mountain of corpses, there is an unlocked door leading
to a cloakroom. In the center of the south wall, a
twisting stone statue of a young dragon is covered by
corpses one of Negarix nest-mates, turned to stone in
ancient times by the guardians on Pthaks roof. Finally,
those who declare that they are looking through the
bodies for special items may find a pouch with 10-100
gold sovereigns 75% of the time or a minor magic item
25% of the time. GMs should roll on the random
encounter table and/or start imposing additional saves
against rot after a while if ghoulish characters seem
determined to dig through the entire pile.

Ground Level: The Slaughter House

G-1. Entry Hall (Ghost Chance: 0%)
Coming through the loose double doors in front of the
house you find a 30 by 20 room with the far corners
cut diagonally. Beautiful parquetry is now ruined, though
the three interior doors, of stout wood bound with
brass, seem in good shape. Above the center door hangs
an exquisitely constructed greataxe, dripping blood.
The doors are not trapped, though all are locked. Players
will obviously be interested in the axe. The blood is fresh
(gnollish). It detects as +3, which it is, but it is also
doubly cursed: on a natural 1 attack roll, it twists on its
haft and strikes its wielder for triple damage. When it is
discarded or its wielder dies, it teleports back to this
spot. Only powerful magic will reveal the axes horrible
curse. This was Lodens, and he placed the curse on it.
G-2. The Meat Locker (5%)
This largish room exudes a horrific charnel stench. A
narrow path between mounds of rotting bone and meat
lead to a smashed doorway. Grinning skulls, curdled
eyes, maggot-infested mounds of flesh, scorpion tails,
centipede heads, flayed and desiccated crocodiles, and
other horrors protrude from the heaps of decaying flesh.

G-3. Coat Closet (0%)

This 10 by 20 closet contains several light and heavy
crossbows hanging from the wall, a sheaf of old hunting
spears piled up in the corner, and dozens of pegs
containing old, rotten cloaks. It appears to have been a
ready room for the manses hunters in times of old.

17

unbreached bottles of high value remain: one of mindbendingly potent (160 proof) Eye of the Beholder
Bourbon, and another of the even more potent (190
proof!) and silky-smooth White Warg Vodkha, which
would curl the toes on an iron golem. These are worth
50-80 gs each to connoisseurs. (More information on
each may be found in The Lost Grimoire.)
G-6. Stairway Down (5%)
Here a spiraling metal staircase leads down into
darkness. It is only broad enough to pass single file.
The ground floor of Pthaks manse has a regular
ambience of light caused by enchantments in the wood.
This does not extend to the underground level where the
servants lived, which was lit with oil and torches. Characters will have to provide their own light sources below.
The staircase reaches area U-1, after 20 feet of descent.

Yellow Peril

G-7. Secret Chamber I (0%)

This nondescript and unfurnished room has no markings nor exits save a pair of eyeholes on the south wall.

The spears are still useful, but the crossbow strings have
all rotted out. Inspecttion or magic detection reveals that
one of the cloaks on the pegs in back is an intact +1
Cloak of Defense. This cloak belonged to Loden in life,
and if the characters take it his ghostly form will lose its
ethereal double (reduce AC and save bonus by 1).
Taking the cloak forces an immediate 25% ghost chance
check, as Loden is likely to notice his cloak vanishing.

These eyeholes currently open upon the rotting head of

a Vroat, a horrid hybrid of giant toad and crocodile.
Behind it lie other corpses, blocking the view of G-2.

G-4. Back Hall (5%)

Three of the five doors in this hallway are smashed.
Dusty and bloody prints of every imaginable kind form
trails across the floors, concentrating especially around
the shattered northwesterly door.
If noise is made here or the open door to G-9 is passed,
the Grey Horrors in that room will attack the party.
G-5. Parlor (5%) The door to this room is locked.
This long, tastefully appointed chamber is full of landscape portraits, dusty and somewhat rotten stuffed
leather furniture, and a great billiards table, as well as a
burning fireplace without a chimney. An elegant case of
cut crystal glasses and a bar laden with crystal and silver
decanters underscores the elegance.
Some small teak-and-silver boxes around the room
contain ancient and decayed cigars. The cigars are no
longer valuable, but the boxes could command 20 gs
each. Two of the landscapes are minor masterworks by
the painter Daeff Argurieff, which could be sold for 800
gs or more each in a large city. It would be difficult to
loot the crystal without breaking it, and the pool table
weighs half a ton. The fireplace sheds no smoke, nor for
that matter heat: it is a minor magical decoration. Much
of the liquor at the bar has evaporated, but two

Morghoul

18

noises (Zalag Yargoe and his remaining crew trying to

pick the locks to the upper story in G-18). If this room is
entered before G-9, the Grey Horrors there will attack.

G-8. Secret Chamber II (10%)

This nondescript 10 by 10 room has no markings nor
exits save a pair of eyeholes on the north wall. Its only
furnishings are a small wooden chair and simple table.

G-11. East Hallway, South Wing (5%). This dusty

area remains relatively unmolested. A large open area
with a cloak rack on the NW wall (running diagonally)
and several doors are the only items of interest other
than the tasteful oak paneling.

The eyeholes command a clear view of G-9. If the players have not been there, read the description below
minus the last sentence. Otherwise there is nothing here.
G-9. Sitting Room (5%)
This room has recently been the scene of a horrible
battle. The walls are scarred with fire and acid, and a
monstrous twelve-headed hydra with crimson and ebony
scales lies dead upon the floor. Strewn about the room
are half a score torn, battered, and charred bodies of
gnolls, gnorcs, and half-orcs. Brutally mauled and
burned, their corpses and that of the hydra are already
being devoured by four large gunmetal grey spiderscorpions. Their wicked stingers rise in anticipation as
they look up at the fresher meat now arriving

G-12. Butlers Quarters (5%)

This 10 by 20 room may have once been appointed in
spartan elegance, but now its dcor is just spartan.
Termites, still present, are gradually eating the bed and
dresser, which have collapsed under their own weight.
Players searching among the clothes in the rotten dresser
may find a Gauntlet of Paralysis that Pthak made for his
butler, allowing its wearer to deliver a paralyzing touch
twice per day. Nothing else of note or value is in the
room, and there are no other exits.

Remaining here long enough to inspect anything requires

doing battle with four Grey Horrors (HD 5+1, AC 4,
Speed 15, attacks with claws, bite, and sting, the last of
which does 5d6 poison damage in addition to normal
damage if no save is made, immune to poison, half
damage from fire, acid, and cold). After these foes are
dispatched, the corpse-littered room may be inspected in
more detail. Once filled with very lovely furniture,
nothing remains of it now save charred and bloodied
bits of cloth and wood stuck in the rooms corners. The
bandits are from the same warband as the others, and
like the others carry d10 cp & sp each. If inspected, it is
clear that the hydra was overcome by main force, as
many lesser strokes and several dramatic axe-wounds in
its neck-stalks attest. Recent bloody boot-prints lead into
G-10 and up to the eastern door, which is closed.
G-10. Dining Room (5%)
A grand mahogany table thirty feet long, flattened
against the floor and so besmeared with dirt and blood
as to resemble an abstract painting, takes up most of the
center of this room. At the southern opening into the
sitting room, fresh and bloody footprints track about
everywhere in a ten feet cone from the door, but go no
farther; the rest of the tracks are older. Torn paintings,
shredded wallpaper, smashed chairs, and a thousand
crystal shards from a once-spectacular chandelier gather
dust in the corners. However, one intact door is set into
the wall at the western end of the 20 by 50 dining hall.

G-13. Hard to Find Good Help These Days (5%)

This frilly room is decorated with ornate furniture and
pink and lavender lace. A maids outfit lies over a mirror.
In the rear of the room, a fine if ancient bed appears to
have been tangled into a foul, twisted nest. The troll who
occupies it, who has inadvertently donned the maids old
bonnet in his sleep, is even now rising to greet you!
The former maids quarters has become the temporary
nest of a foul troll (6+4 HD, AC 4, regenerate 3hp/
round) traveling through the No Name Swamp. He
starts in the southern diagonal part of the room and
charges the party, hoping to kill them all. If the going
gets too tough and escape is convenient hell flee.

This is Pthaks ancient dining hall, where the wizard was

murdered. No traces remain of his body or the event
and nothing of value is to be found. If characters find
the secret door and listen at it they hear muffled
conversation and occasional quiet clicking and scraping

19

G-14. Chamber of Chaos (20%)

Opening the door into the 10 entry hall of a 20x20
chamber spreading out to the south, your eyes are
greeted with an amazing sight. The room is an
unbelievable tangle of destruction, with sheets, furniture,
stones, wood segments of the walls, skulls of fantastic
beasts, smashed pottery, tangled and shredded tapestries,
notched old weapons and shields, and here and there an
odd coin covering the room from end to end. The room
calls nothing to mind more than the depredations of a
berserk air elemental outfitted somehow with claws.

one belonging to Pthak, the other to his accountant. The

latter is lost, but the former may be found upstairs in A5.) Breaking down the door is next to impossible (storm
giant/titan strength might get a normal try). Magical
opening spells can work (one for the mundane lock and
one for the magical) but trigger a Blackfire trap on the
caster/lockpick (does 1d8 and drains one level each
round for up to 15 rounds until save is made). Each pick
attempt or magical spell sets off a new Blackfire.
(Smashing attempts do not.) Beyond the door lies
Pthaks worldly treasure, unmolested after all this time

Lodens former room was once the nicest chamber on

the first floor, but is now completely ruined. Vague emanations of magic and unease fill this place due to its long
occupancy by the mad and malign spirit of the house.
However, unless the 20% GC is hit, nothing actually
transpires. If the mess is searched small sums may be
found (2-12 sc/gs per minute searched). If characters
decide to organize and loot the whole mess their totals
will come to 300 gold, 200 silver, and a healing potion,
but this takes an hour and will bring on the ghost.

G-17. The Vault (5%)

This 10 by 20 room is lined with four large chests at the
ground level and shelves on the walls, as well as four
large bolts of expensive cloth leaning against the west
wall. On the shelves are several small coffers, many
loose gems, and piles upon piles of rare and valuable
swamp herbs, some rotted but others carefully sealed in
jars and other containers. A hoard appears in the offing!
This room contains much of Pthaks non-magical
treasure from a long and successful career. It includes:
- one chest containing about 50 gs worth of copper (a
few thousand each of pennies, hapennies, and minums);
- two chests containing about 400 gs worth of silver
coins each (mostly pennies, but with a liberal scattering
of larger bucklers (8/gs), heaters (3/gs), and rounds
(2/gs), as well as electrum ovals (2/gs), as well;
- one chest full of oddly shaped rocks, many with minor
crystal growths. Pthak picked these up on strolls around
the swamp; most are worthless, but careful searching
reveals 2-4 worth 10-40 (90% chance) or 100-600 (10 %
chance) gs each, either as gems or as fossils;
- two bolts of rubycloth (weighing around 15 lbs. each
and worth 1000 gs each, fit to tailor a king);
- two bolts of finest silk (same weight, 500 gs each);
- four coffers of gold, containing 200 gs each;
- two coffers of finest dwarfish platinum, each containing 60 platinum stars (worth 15 gold each!);
- two coffers full of inexpensive gems, totaling 200 gems
of an average of 5 gs value in all;
- several dozen silver and gold chains, totaling 400 gs;
- 40 gold bars, minted in Arduin, worth 25 gs each;
- one large and long coffer containing 89 adamantium
lunars, rare coins worth 125 gold sovereigns each. These
could be used to smith magic items, if somehow melted;
- a jeweled necklace worth 900 gs, next to a fine pair of
silk gloves (these radiate magic and detect as +4
Gauntlets of Dexterity, but are actually -4 Gauntlets of
Clumsiness. These never display their real magic until a
life-or-death situation); and,
- several rare swamp herbs and plants, dried and stored
in jars and bags. What has not rotted here would be very
useful for potion ingredients and/or spell components
(GM adjudication), and are worth perhaps 300 gs in all

G-15. East Hallway, North Wing (5%)

As you come into the northern part of this long hallway,
you see clear signs of recent humanoid activity. Bloody
footprints mar the floor along the entire north end of
the corridor (which ends in a cul-de-sac) and 10
downward from there, spattering blood before the
northernmost doors in the hall on its east and west walls.
There is a clear track going through the east door, but
none going through the west nor leading into any walls.
The prints fill the corridor and cover the ground before
the doors to G-9 and G-16. Anyone examining them
realizes that the humanoids who came through cleaned
their boots before moving on. Characters who listen at
the secret door hear muffled conversation and quiet
clicking and scraping noises as at G-10.
G-16. Accountants Antechamber (10%)
This L-shaped room contains a large desk facing the
door. To the north of the desk is the base of the L,
which contains several drawers and cabinets; to the
south is a large and thickly constructed iron vault door.
The cabinets and desk are full of papers detailing
purchases, inventories, and so on. Characters who
analyze these discover numerous spell components
among the listings. In addition, many rare minerals and
metals were bought at different times, as well as huge
shipments of iron and stone. No amount of searching
will reveal any sort of key or combination to the vault
door, which is cast of four-inch-thick iron, sealed with a
mundane lock of excellent quality, magelocked, and
magically trapped. (Only two keys to this room existed,

20

Six months ago, Yargoes band teamed up with that of

Gruesam Bloody Jaws to plunder a military supply
caravan moving between Rosewater and Khurahaen.
While counting loot and eating captives, Gruesam let the
location of the House slip (?) to Zalag, intimating that he
and his band would be the first to loot it next time he
was bored of the easy pickings on Arduins roads. When
Null joined Yargoes band, the gnoll decided to attempt
to upstage his more famous ogrish colleague, and the
result is this encounter. Because Null was attempting to
pick the lock on the secret door when the party entered,
it should be much easier to find than normal.

G-18. Secret Chamber (5%)

Having found the secret door, you pass into a simple Lshaped room. Ahead of you a half-orc kneels before a
wall, tinkering with something at its midpoint. Near him,
a short, mean-looking gnoll in red plate mail and red
shield with a yellow eye embossed upon it is flanked by
another gnoll and a savage gnorc, both in lighter armor.
Snarling with surprise, the humanoids leap to the attack!
Zalag Yargoe and his three surviving bandits (Jakkohl,
Bludzu, and Null) are brutal and dangerous killers.
Yargoes head, worth 15,000 gs, is perhaps the single
most valuable item in the House right now; those of his
henchmen are worth 200 gs each in addition. They
communicate with one another in Gnoll, their only
shared language, during battle. Zalag and Null also know
Common and Orcish. Bludzu and Jakkhol charge into
battle with Zalag activating his boots of speed and then
following. Null will hang back and fire his bow until the
crowd collapses, at which time he will try to sneak
around and stab people in the back. Zalag will attempt to
flee if the alternative is death and he thinks he can get
away, but he never surrenders; if Zalag runs the others
will soon follow. Bludzu also never surrenders, but if the
others are both dead Null and Jakkhol might do so to
spare their lives, serving treacherously at best.
Bludzu is a 4th level axe-wielding Gnorc warrior with 25
hit points and AC 6. He is totally immune to fear and
attacks in a berserk rage with +2 to hit and damage.
Jakkhol is a 4th level Gnoll Forester with 20 hit points,
AC 5, and a +1 flail. He also bears a heavy crossbow, 20
gs, and three fragments of chrysoprase worth 35 gs each.
He is an expert tracker and able to move unseen.
Null is a 5th level Half-Orc Thief with AC 6 and 23 hit
points. He is an expert shot with his small bow and has a
+1 Ring of Protecting. He also has 150 gs, a gold & ruby
earring worth 450 gs, a 50 silk rope and the groups last
two remaining magical healing poultices. If he sneaks up
behind someone with his dagger and lands a successful
blow (at +4) he does triple damage.
Zalag Yargoe is a Gnoll superhero (8th level Warrior)
with a +2 axe, +4 vs. goblinoids who usually gets double
attacks due to his magic boots (give 10 rounds of speed
per day, 8 left today). He has 42 hit points and AC 2+5.
He wears +2 plate mail and has a Potion of Heroic Exploits
which he will drink if pressed, but his most potent item
is the Shield of the Eye (+3, Chaotic, Intelligent, can
speak or communicate telepathically as well as perform
clairvoyance 3x/day, bearer cannot normally be
surprised, locate objects within 120). He has 100 gs and
2300 gs worth of gems on his person.

21

or aware of the PCs. That will change quickly! These

mindless constructs follow a program: wander randomly;
whenever you see someone who isnt Pthak, get rid of
them; investigate disturbances in the hallways; dont go
into the rooms for any reason. So, whenever a party
comes within sight of a Bubble Man or Metaljaws, that
construct moves to investigate and then attack; if truly
loud vibrations are created (chopping down doors,
battle), every creature on the level will move to
investigate the source of the disturbance. This could get
very ugly very fast, like an eighties video game, if the
players stand and fight, but if they make their way into
the rooms instead they should be okay: after 2 melee
rounds of waiting outside a door, the constructs return
to their wander randomly routine. Once there is a
disturbance they all start moving until they see
something. Stealthy parties coming around a corner will
only be spotted if constructs face them (roll randomly).
Bubble Men have HD 1+2, AC 7, and float about at
Speed 12. They self-destruct to unleash devastating area
attacks; if slain with missiles, etc. before they get close
they will explode where they are destroyed. Red bubble
men blow up with a 60 diameter cloud of sleep gas that
lasts 1d100 minutes; even if save is made victims will be
woozy for 1d4 rounds and at -2 on everything. Yellow
bubble men explode in poisonous gas (save or take 8d6)
in a 45 diameter, while Blue bubble men simply explode
in a 45 diameter 8d6 fireball (save for half). Metaljaws
have HD 8, AC 2+2, Speed 6/Jump 12, and do 2d8
damage on a successful attack (its a giant bear trap
closing on you!). They are immune to fire, acid, poison,
and non-magical weapons, as well as all mental effects
and life drains. Cold does not damage them but instead
paralyzes them 1 round for each full 5 points of damage
inflicted. If taking a leaping charge they can move 24 and
take a big chomp in the same round.

Upper Level: Pthaks Apartments

A-1. The Upper Halls. Ghost Chance: 5% each entry
The open spaces on the upper floor are paneled in lightstained oak with dark-stained moulding. Next to the stair
painted white walls, gone ivory with age, rise on your
left; this appears to be an interior room or apartment of
some sort, though no door is immediately visible.
All interior walls are magically reinforced. The doors and
frames on this level are stained the same color as the
moulding and magelocked. An opening charm will open
them smoothly (except when they are trapped) but the
only other way is through the difficult and noisy process
of chopping them down. This is problematic because
Pthaks guardians are still quite active. These constructs
include four Metaljaws, large, bear trap-like golems, and
six Bubble Men, two each of blue, yellow, and red.
When PCs first enter, none of these creatures are visible

22

A-2. Observatory (Ghost Chance: 10%)

Beyond this door is a wondrous astrological laboratory.
Within are a great telescope, a massive model of the
solar system some 15 across, and a small writing desk
and bookshelf. The telescope is mounted on a giant
metal frame and stretches up 20 from the ground even
in its current, retracted position. A seat allows one to
look through its eyepiece in comfort and record notes
on a built-in metal desk. Above its lens, a sheet of metal
10 wide by 20 long replaces the normal ceiling. The
model of the solar system is perhaps even more impresssive, showing Khaas in its orbit around Syraath and
surrounded by its silver, red, and blue moons, along with
a long and odd orbit stretching to the limits of the
system with a strange black ball upon it. The model is
incomplete, however, showing only sun, planet, and
moons: the rest of Arduins solar system is not shown.

Passing into Pthaks library, you are overwhelmed at the

number and quality of volumes here available. Thick,
brass-bound tomes, slender volumes in red dragonskin,
and piles upon piles of black-bound vellum librams stack
endlessly on the high shelves everywhere about this
room. Manuals of magic, of history, of genealogy, of the
rudiments of higher technology, of gemstones, of
demons, and many other subjects are all here available.
These volumes are valuable and heavy. The whole
collection (not including Pthaks spellbooks) is probably
worth in the neighborhood of 15,000 gold sovereigns.
The collection as a whole weighs well over 600 pounds,
however. A very careful search will reveal that astrology
and alchemy texts are underrepresented in the collection
and that the books dealing with techno magik are out
of sequence and incomplete. Pthaks spellbooks should
be quite a find, though their exact contents are left up to
the GM. Some of these spells should be distinctive and
unique (perhaps taken from the Arduin Grimoires), and
you should have a generous selection of normal spells
available as well: perhaps 2d4 of each appropriate level
up to 6th or 8th (depending on your rules). The 5th and 6th
level spellbooks are in D-6 far below, however.

The telescope and solar system model are both items of

wonder, but probably much too large for any party to
recover. Each would be worth a small fortune if rescued
(GM adjudication required, but tens or hundreds of
thousands of sovereigns would not be out of line.) Using
the scope requires an open roof and nighttime. One or
several rolls (perhaps on those old tables for figuring out
technological wonders) will be required to actually
understand this device. Failing that one may pull levers
at random. In this case roll 1d10: 1 rotate left, 2 rotate
right, 3 raise scope, 4 lower scope, 5 extend scope (20%
chance to break if ceiling closed), 6 contract scope, 7
adjust focus, 8 fire five magic missiles at ceiling (there
are 44 charges remaining on this device, which is integral
to the scope and cannot be removed), 9 activate shield
spell on person sitting in the chair, 10 retract metal roof.
Retracting the roof allows people to get out that way and
use the telescope at night; if left open, it may eventually
also let horrid flying beasts (will-o-wisps, flying bog
octopi, etc.) into the upper floor. The bookshelf and
writing desk contain Pthaks astrological and astronomical notes. These books are bulky, weighing about thirty
pounds, but are worth perhaps 500 gs and may have use
as references to some characters. The telescope radiates
magic at its base; the solar system model does not. The
only other magic in the room is on the metal sheet,
which is trapped with a Blackfire spell on the outside
(see The Roof for details.) This trap will not activate
from the inside even if violence is used against the roof.

A-4. Laboratory (5%)

This cavernous 70 by 30 chamber is filled from end to
end with shelves and tables filled with rare herbs and
metals, potions, strange half-constructed devices, alchemical concoctions, and perhaps a score of books. To
those who lack arcane lore it seems a wizards workroom, but magi recognize that it is something more: in
this place spellcraft has been mixed with some foreign
art, haphazardly, to what end you cannot gainsay.
However, your reverie of inspection is abruptly interrupted by a massive zombie, sewn together from the
flesh of dozens of different corpses, lurching out of its
century-long rest with seven skeletons at its sides.
Anyone who has seen a Flesh Golem or knows what one
is will realize what the zombie actually is. The
skeletons, however, require deliberate study and a roll
to notice strange chalk-marks and hints of wire at their
rear. None of the creatures detect as undead, however,
and only the Golem detects as magical. These are not
actually skeletons at all, but technological constructions
called shock bones which run as automata and try to
grapple their victims and explode in an electrical blast
with the side effect of regenerating the Flesh Golem!
Golem: 45 hp, AC 6, Speed 9, damage 2d6 and can
smash strong objects, can only be hit by magic weapons,
regenerated by lightning/electricity, immune to all other
spells except fire and cold magic which slow it to Speed
3 for 1d6 turns. Shock Bones: HD 1, AC 6, Speed 12, if
its attack hits roll damage and then roll a second attack
to see if it grapples and blows itself up for 3d6 in a 10

A-3. Library (10%). The doors to this room each have

traps which go off whenever opened from the outside by
anyone other than Pthak. (Acid Web Projector: fires 10
wide, 25 long acidic webs (entangle plus 1d6 acid damage/rd.) A dweomer on the doors can be detected. Acid
projectors are not triggered by leaving from the inside.

23

diameter area, if it is killed it automatically blows up in

the same way, only takes 1 point damage from piercing
weapons and damage from slashing weapons,
immune to all mind-effecting and life/death/undeadeffecting spells. The shock bones will delay or even
forfeit attacks so as to move with the Golem. Hopefully
a cleric or paladin will burn a valuable turning attempt
on this crew before the electrical explosions make it
obvious that they are not what they seem. The Flesh
Golem will move to attack the nearest combatant, and
the skeletons will stay around him in a U pattern
(occupying every square except his front) as they go.

- A Hand Laser with seven charges (does 20 hp/shot).

- Two wind-up toys that walk by somersaulting. These
would fetch perhaps 50 gs each as curiosities.
- Three doses of Forkhams Fabulous Fast-Acting Memory
Potion, which provides a perfect photographic memory
of the day before it is drunk for that day and the day
afterwards. Aids spell learning, and see the Lost Grimioire.
- A beaker of holy water (3 vials equivalent)
- 2 vials of Oil of Instant Immolation (3 minutes after spread
on a small area it bursts into super-hot flames, doing 660 damage and melting steel. See the Arduin Grimoire).
- Potions of Super-Healing and Breathe Water.
- One stone which explodes with a temporarily deafening thunderclap when thrown.
A-5. Pthaks Bedroom (15%) The secret door to this
room is magically locked and reinforced. It is also
trapped with a Prismatic Defense Alarm. Opening the
door without either disarming the trap or saying the
password (Skull Tower this is not recorded
anywhere in the House and can only be learned by
magical means) produces an audible alarm at an odd
vibratory frequency that will attract every remaining
Metaljaws and Bubble Man. This alarm also triggers
prismatic walls to cover the entire inside of the
bedrooms east wall; they will remain in existence for
two and a half hours after triggering. Pthaks room also
is proofed against teleport/dimension door.
Pthaks bedroom is both sumptuous and elegant, though
somewhat diminished now by a centurys worth of dust.
The room is dominated by a large bed, 15 square, which
occupies the center of the rooms western wall. Various
dressers and wardrobes take up the rest of the room. In
each of the eight corners of the chamber a small mirror
cutting off the corner and facing the rooms center dully
reflects the whole complex muted ambient light.

There are no traps here. Investigation makes it clear that

Pthak was experimenting beyond the bounds of normal
arcane lore. Characters familiar with high technology will
recognize that Pthak was trying to synthesize it with
magic. Little of this work was yet complete when Pthak
was slain. However, a few odd trinkets are still present:
- The missing texts on alchemy and high technology are
here. The former are easily worth 1000 gold sovereigns;
they weigh perhaps forty pounds in all. The latter are
even more valuable and include courses in mechanical
and electrical engineering with numerous notes and
applications and the lab manuals of two high-level
technologists. Taken together with Pthaks brilliant if
often misled musings on magical/technological synthesis, these books and papers are worth perhaps 2500 gs in
all, though their weight again is about fifty pounds. If the
Technos Guild discovered that such things were in PC
hands, however, they would offer a choice between a
reasonable buyback of all the materials (at 2000 gs,
possible haggling up to 2250) or a new batch of hired
assasssins. Remember, as far as the Technos are
concerned, these materials are theirs!

The rooms silks are old and rotten now, as are most of
the clothes in the various drawers. However, certain of
Pthaks magical adjuncts still remain in this chamber.
Characters searching the night-table on the south side of
the bed will discover a large cut-crystal decanter, filigreed
with gold, with a faint smell of evaporated whiskey
within (300 gs value). Those searching the top drawer of
the nightstand will discover a Potion of Wholeness
(restores ALL lost hit points) and a Potion of
Spellpower (allows drinker to recover 8 levels worth of
spells immediately) within, as well as the key to G-17.
Finally, in the bottom drawer of one of the dressers an
intricately carved teak box lined inside with blue silk (45
gs value) contains three expensive necklaces of gold and
ruby (1500 gs value each) and two of platinum and
emerald (2500 gs value each). Finally, the mirrors are
magical: despite their dull sheen they are made of mithril
and serve as Teleport Wards for the room.

24

A-6. Trophy Hall (10%). The door is trapped with an

Acid Web Projector like that at A-3.
Within this chamber is a spectacular collection of curiousities: mounted bodies, statues, pelts, a shield, and
three pedestals covered with glass, set in a triangle in the
rooms center, upon which rest arcane oddments.

suit and carries an odd tech weapon in its right hand.

(The Thaelastra are interstellar slavers. This creature was
the source of Pthaks laser pistol; the tangling-weapon it
bears is destroyed, and characters investigating it will
note the crude steel plates used to patch it together. The
jumpsuit is still useful, and functions as +2 non-magical
leather armor. The Thaelastras body will fall apart while
removing the jumpsuit.)
Iron Barrel: This large, sealed iron barrel looks
somewhat strange and unremarkable, but is in fact a
complex mechanical mini-submarine! Particularly intrepid players whose GMs dont mind doing some extra
work might use this to investigate the Lost Lake.
Pedestal 1 Twisting Cube: On this pedestal rests a
particolored cubic puzzle with nine sections per side,
manipulated by twisting the sides. This is a dangerous
cursed item. Should a party member pick it up, they will
feel compelled to try to solve it they may make a
saving throw to put it down in the first few minutes of
futzing with it only, after that no save. Roll every halfhour against intelligence to see if it is solved, or else
hand the player a Rubiks Cube and tell them to solve it
in real time while the adventure progresses. The curse on
the item is such that the character will only put it down
to defend herself, and even then will always effectively
forfeit the first round of combat putting away the
Twisting Cube and drawing her weapons and/or shield.
After combat she will resume trying to solve it. Once the
cube is solved, it will teleport away to bedevil someone
else. If the character tries to beat it by breaking off a
corner and reassembling its pieces, it will explode in a 10
die fireball (no save for person under its curse) before
teleporting away and reassembling elsewhere. Remove
Curse gives the person holding the cube a second saving
throw to rid themselves of it.
Pedestal 2 Heavenly Mead: A single golden cup sits on
this pedestal, full of a fresh and richly fragrant mead. It
radiates magic but not evil. Only 5th level and higher
divinations and wishes will reveal its true properties. If it
is drunk, the player should roll high/low to raise/lower
his characters Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma 1d6
each. If any characteristic is reduced to zero, the
character dies. The cup will disappear after the mead is
drunk, or if it is packed away for later use. Only one
character may drink, and a mortal who drinks heavenly
mead twice in their life dies instantly and irrevocably.
Pedestal 3 Claw of the Ghoul Queen: Under glass here
is a slender, feminine hand, seemingly intact despite its
advanced state of putrefaction. If a character is willing to
hack their own hand off and replace it with this one,
they will gain a claw attack which does normal damage as
well as causing paralysis and morghoul rot unless a
saving throw is made. The claw radiates both magic and
evil, and will continue to radiate both after it is attached
to even a good characters stump.

There are nine wall-mounted pieces and three pedestals

to examine here. Moving clockwise from the door entry,
these objects are as follows:
Mounted Phraint: A tall insectal warrior, with green
chitin and a sharp face, stands ready to leap into battle
here, javelin ready to release in one hand and twohanded sword half-drawn in the other.
Shield: Embossed with the arms of Talismonde, capital
city of Arduin, this is a +2 Shield that can automatically
block any single attack if its bearer forgoes his own.
Taking the shield off the wall triggers a spear trap in the
roof above unless it is disarmed.
Urn: This ancient piece of pottery is marked with dire
sigils of the Black Pantheon (aka Cthulhu Mythos).
Within is the staked heart of a vampire Pthak slew who
served these fell masters.
Mounted Dragon Head: This laminated dragons head
with scales still intact is from a rare breed, having violet
scales and golden-red eyes with slit pupils. The head is
truly massive, and the dragon which once wore it must
have been truly terrible to behold in life.
Crossed Swords: These swords do not radiate magic, but
they are made of the silvery-blue metal Stellaine, which
gives them +1 attack and allows them to hurt monsters
affected by silver or magical weapons.
Obelisk: Fifteen feet tall, this ominous splinter of ancient
black stone is covered with chalky glyphs. It radiates an
aura of malaise and insecurity when persons approach
within 5. If they insist on touching it anyway, they must
make a save vs. wands or go insane. Attempts to decipher the runes without touching the obelisk require a
save vs. spells. If it is missed the character is afflicted
with a confusion spell, but if it is successful the character
gains a permanent +1 to Intelligence and a deep and
harrowing understanding of the obelisks malevolent
nature. Only one character can do this and if the party
spends too long on research it starts trying to charm
them into touching it. This is another device Pthak
recovered in his adventures against the Black Pantheon.
Mummy: This free-standing, dried-out human corpse
was once the wizard Ashmor, one of Pthaks rivals.
Despite the inevitable panic that mummies cause among
PCs, this one is just a mummy a dried out human
corpse with no special features dressed in once-rich
but now thickly embalmed and dusty silks.
Mounted Thaelastra: Another bit of Pthaks taxidermy,
this creature is a bizarre alien. Standing 7 tall, it is
completely hairless, with milky-white skin, green, twopupilled eyes, and Buddha-like ears. It wears a red jump-

25

to surprise. If the adventurers reach the bottom of the

stairs without being noticed, they will see the Vroats
moving around in the hall, kitchen, and pantry from the
bottom of the stairs. The room itself is a simple 20 x 20
chamber, occupied mostly by the spiral iron staircase.

Basement Level: The Lurkers Beneath

Unlike the upper levels, which are dimly lit by Pthaks
ancient enchantments, the basement level is dark.
Because of Lodens tendency to let strange monsters
into the manse and let them forage upon one another,
this lower level is especially thick with bloodstains,
bones, and rot, the refuse of a century of random
violence. Be sure to describe it in full and gruesome
detail as the players march along: bones kicked aside in
the hallways, boots stuck in mounds of flesh, and so on.

B-2. West Corridor (5%)

This corridor runs N-S along the length of the basement
level, ending in the sulfurous boiler cave (B-8) at its
north end and in the muddy cave-in at its south.
Dripping, stinking pipes run from B-8 into B-3. When
the area is first encountered there will be six Vroats (HD
4+1, AC 5, Speed 9/Jump 15, bite for 2d6, immune to
fear, half damage from acid & poison (or +4 save))
hanging about the general vicinity of the kitchen/
pantry/staircase area: two in B-2, three in B-3, and one
in B-4. All will attack as a single unit.

B-1. Jumping Jaws (Ghost Chance: 5%)

A colony of Vroats currently wanders the cluster of
rooms at the bottom of the stairs, looking for something
to eat. If adventurers are moving silently or scouting
ahead, they will hear the toad-crocodiles moving about
in areas B-2, B-3, and B-4 and may plan accordingly. If
the Vroats become aware of approaching adventurers
(automatic if no precautions taken) they all gather in B-2,
hiding just out of sight of the doorway. In this case they
attack the first character(s) through the door with a +2

B-3. Kitchen (5%)

Two doors open into this three-walled 20 by 30
chamber. Piping snakes around the corner of the rooms

26

open western end, dripping horrible yellow water that

stinks like rotten eggs into two huge stone sinks. A large,
wood-burning stove occupies much of the middle of the
north wall, its clogged chimney filled with mud and dirt.
Counters and hanging copper and iron cookware cover
the rest of the room. The floor is strewn with the dried
blood, bones, and chitin of various creatures.

B-7. Head Cooks Quarters (0%)

This door is closed firmly but not stuck. Hearing checks
with a penalty will be necessary to hear the Morghouls
within, who ducked away from the Vroats outside.
These Morghouls are primed for a fight.
This room, draped in now-rotten middle-class finery, is
redolent with the stink of death. A single collapsed bed
and an old table greet your eyes, but the stink does not
come from them it rises rather from the three rottenfaced ghouls leaping towards you!

Except for the Vroats detailed above there is nothing

here of interest. The chimney came out right behind the
dining room on the north end of the house. It has long
since filled in and grown over with plants, however, and
attempts to use the stove will create great amounts of
smoke. Neither of the doors are locked or jammed.

Morghouls: HD 4+1, hp 16 each, AC 3, Speed 9, attacks

cause reg. damage plus rotting at 1 point per turn (cured
by advanced healing or magic only), turn as wraith,
immune to fear and paralysis, half damage from acid and
poison, 1d10 from holy water. They have no special
goods, and there is nothing of value in the room save an
above-average tapestry of a maiden and a unicorn. This
is somewhat frayed with age but still in decent shape,
and might command 200 gs if cleaned. It weighs 50 lb.

B-4. Pantry (0%)

This 10x20 room, open at the east, was the houses
pantry. Bones, blood, smashed shelving, and ancient,
long-rotten foodstuffs are strewn about the floor. The
northeast corner contains an especially thick pile of
shelving and crockery, along with some strange detritus.

B-8. Bubbling Mud Cave (5%)

Old, corroded piping leads north from the kitchen down
30 of rough-hewn corridor into a large, dark cave. As
the cave grows closer, the floor becomes spongy under
your feet. The stink of sulfur is nearly intolerable at the
caves entrance, and without some protection going any
farther will be a health hazard. The pipes reach back into
the cave and plunge into its muddy floor.

There is nothing here of interest except the pile. If a PC

goes to investigate it, have them roll to notice that the
pile covers a large patch of bright purple cauliflower
bunches, set tightly together. If the pile is disturbed
(with knowledge of the mold or otherwise), it will
collapse, and the disturbing character and any adjacent
to the pile (i.e. in the back 10 of the pantry) will get a
faceful of Purple Mold! Characters afflicted with such
must save vs, poison or find their bodies starting to rot
away at 1 hp/round for the next d100 melee rounds.
Only Remove Disease or the topical application of a
curative potion (no healing, but stops rot) can stop its
progress once it takes hold. Characters wearing leather
armor or other non-magical clothing made from animal
products should save for those as well.

This bubbling cave, roughly 50 by 60, has no exits,

though characters will not quite be able to see its
northeast corner from the landing. If the room is
entered, the sulfurous stink requires a save vs. poison at
+2 from each party member to avoid becoming nauseaated (-2 to everything for d6 turns). In addition, there are
two boiling quickmud pits in the room (PCs get rolls
both to notice and avoid falling in). Once in, the
character takes 1d6 damage per round and must roll to
swim out or drown in 3d4 rounds. Those aiding nonmagically run a risk of falling in themselves. To make
matters worse, there is a Sulfuric Mud Elemental (HD 8,
hp 39, AC 3, Speed 15, attack does 1d6 normal and 2d6
acid damage (armor must save or be destroyed), nonmagical weapons which hit it must save or be destroyed
nauseating stink as per room, immune to poison, sleep,
and paralysis) living in the cave, who will assault the first
party member to travel 25 or more within. It will
attempt to bull rush characters into the boiling quickmud pits when opportunity presents. No treasure.

B-5. Secret Staircase

Ghost Chance: 5% when the room is entered from B-1
only. Loden does not know of this room, and if the PCs
go from B-1 to here quickly and close the door, the
dwarfs ghost cannot follow. The spiral iron staircase
here is single file; if the characters came here from the
ground floor mention that it is identical to the one
descending to B-1. It leads to area D-1.
B-6. Kitchen Servants Quarters (0%)
This 10 by 20 cell contains two bunk beds, three large
dressers, and a writing table. All are now quite collapsed
and in varying stages of advanced decay.

B-9. Central Corridor (5%)

This long corridor runs about 170 from end to end.
Because it is open and exposed, and is the major
thoroughfare of the basement level, loiterers should be
exposed to wandering monsters more frequently than is

The door to the room is stuck. Searching the dressers

turns up stashes of coin, the servants savings: 48 silver
pennies in the first, 22 sp and 4 gold sovereigns in the
second, 36 sp and one 50 gs gem in the third.

27

otherwise the norm for the House. Roll every minute or

so. Its local details should be described as the party
encounters them rather than all at once.

Within the top left pool (marked with an S on the map)

reclines a Spirit Naga. An unwholesome being of chaos
and evil, she will prepare for the party when she hears
them coming down the steps. She will cast Mirror
Images (getting 5) and Shocking Bite (adding 1d8+6 of
electrical damage to her bite the first time it lands). Once
they arrive she will start moving around the room
peppering the party with Lightning Bolts and Mystic
Missiles, counting on her mirror images to keep her safe
until her foes are vanquished. As a last resort only she
will use Rosy Mist of Reason, or perhaps even Disguise
to assume the form of a Water Naga while using her
Charming Gaze to convince others of her harmlessness.
Spirit Naga: HD 9, hp 32, AC 5, Speed 15, Poison Bite
(1d6 + 3d8 poison, save for half), can Charm as spell
with her gaze, infravision, spells (as 6th level caster):
Mystic Missile, Shocking Bite, Detect Magic, Rosy Mist
of Reason, Mirror Images, Invisibility, Lightning Bolt,
Disguise. Disguise is a persistent illusion which totally
transforms ones appearance and requires magic to
detect (i.e. it cant just be disbelieved). The Rosy Mist
of Reason causes everyone, including the caster, to save
vs. magic at -4 or stop fighting and start discussing
things rationally. The Nagas treasure glitters on the
bottom of the pool: 1200 gs, 3 eye agates worth 7, 9, and
10 gs, one piece of smoky quartz worth 30 gs, three
beautiful Aquamarines worth 700 gs each or 2500 gs as a
matched set, a +1 Scimitar of Spell Storing (currently
contains Blindness), and a Potion of Invisibility.

B-10. Mens and Womens Privies (0%)

As mind-numbingly bad as the stink may be in other
parts of this swamp dungeon full of rotting corpses, it is
worse here. Characters opening the doors to either privy
(clearly marked with the usual silhouettes) force the
whole party to save vs. poison to avoid the -2 to
everything nausea for d6 turns. Both of these rooms
contain outhouse-style toilets, sinks with no running
water and empty buckets. There are three items of
graffiti written on the rear wall of the mens privy (10B):
Dragon in the Deeps, Dungie Was Here, and the
letter A enclosed within a circle. Nine giant bombardier
beetles (HD 2, hp 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5, AC 5, Speed
12, bite or spray acid in 10 cone for 1d6) live in the
mounds of ancient offal in the cavern below the toilets,
periodically scavenging the dungeon for food. They will
assault characters who spend more than one or two
rounds in a privy, but must come up through the toilets
one at a time, making them vulnerable to parties commanding positions over the jacks. One will exit through
each toilet (one in 10A and one in 10B) each round. The
beetles know how to open the doors and if the PCs only
have one privy open the beetles will emerge from the
other soon enough as well. They are mindless
combatants and will seek simply to eat PCs, dragging
corpses back down through the toilets to feed the larvae
below. They have no treasure in the cesspit below.

B-13. House Servants Quarters I (0%)

This filthy room is filled with destroyed furniture and
the flayed, rotting skin of a score of animal species.
Several slime-ridden assemblages of the trash suggest
that it is a nest for some sort of unholy creature.

B-11. Shower Cave (5%)

The long central corridor of the basement level ends in a
chalky-walled cave with a tiled floor, tapering out 20
from the entrance to a 30 wide rear wall. A large metal
trough hangs from the ceiling, dripping water through
several old pipes with spray-nozzle heads. Greenish
slime hangs over the side of the ancient water-container.

And so it is: this is a Morghoul lair, currently empty.

Searching the refuse will yield some bit of wealth (d6: 12 copper penny, 3-4 silver penny, 5- gold sovereign,
6 costume jewelry worth d100 silver pennies) each
turn; however, each check after the first produces a 10%
cumulative chance that 2d4 Morghouls will return to the
place, necessitating combat.

Despite appearances, there is no danger here. The green

slime is unexceptional cave sludge.
B-12. Naga Baths (5%)
The floor of this large natural cavern is covered with red
tiles, offset by the green-tiled borders of eight small
bathing pools. Several benches and urns are scattered
about the edges of the cavern, and the fixtures of the
cave are in surprisingly good repair, though the poolwater seems somewhat brackish. The water in the two
rearmost pools is boiling, creating a mild steamy haze.
From the pool on your rear left, about forty feet from
the entrance, a half-dozen identical nagas rise, crimsonbanded black bodies topped by hideous serpentine
heads! Waving their bodies in precise unison, they
appear to be casting some kind of spell

B-14. Cocks of the Rock (0%)

The rear wall of this former servants cell has melted
away into mud. The room itself is stripped of furniture,
but three horrid grey roosters, bat-winged and lizardtailed, peck at gristly bones scattered about the floor!
The Morghouls pen a flight of cockatrices (HD 5, AC 6,
Speed 9/Fly 18, peck 1d6 + petrification) here, finding
their petrifying peck occasionally useful against more
dangerous interlopers. The cockatrices cannot open the
door, so if the adventurers have the werewithal to slam it
in their faces they can bring this encounter to a quick

28

end. On the other hand, if a pitched battle against the

Morghouls develops, these may be brought in as
reinforcements. There are no other items of interest.

option she may set up a chess position for the players to

solve while they do battle. Morghouls: HD 4+1, hp 24,
19, 17, 15, 9, chessplayers 22, 7, AC 3, Speed 9, attacks
cause reg. damage plus rotting at 1 point per turn (cured
by advanced healing or magic only), turn as wraith,
immune to fear and paralysis, half damage from acid and
poison, 1d10 from holy water. The Morghoul tribe has
accumulated various bits of treasure over its decades in
the House of the Axe, much of it stored here. A party
may search in the filth for treasure up to sixteen turns;
each turn roll on the following table (d10):

B-15. Mudslide! (0%)

To all outward appearances this door is like others on
the level. About 5 east of this door the wall is replaced
with seeping mud and stone, filling a corridor which
once ran south, east, or both and blocking further
passage in that direction. Investigation can reveal
unusual pressure against the back of the door, but there
are no obvious traps and nothing to disable. If characters
force the door or do more than ten points to it with
slashing or bludgeoning weapons, it will explode outward as a few tons of new mud and rock seep into the
basement complex. This does 2d6 to the character opening the door and 1d6 to all other characters standing in
the 10 square between B-13, B-14, and B-15. After the
mudslide is complete B-13 and B-14 will effectively be
cut off from the rest of the dungeon; only a tiny sliver of
corridor B-2 will remain open to access B-17.

1- Sharp Sliver! Make save vs. wands (+2 if wearing plate

gauntlets or magic gloves) or contract Morghoul Rot.
2-3 - Small sack with 2d6x10 silver pennies.
3-4 - Small sack with 1d6x10 gold sovereigns.
5- Random gem
6- Random art object (roll as jewelry)
7- Random minor potion
8- Miniature Swan Boat (becomes full size once)
9- Wand of Lightning (27 charges)
10-+3 Chain Mail Shirt

B-16. Moldy Brown Mud (0%)

The 40 of wall south of B-17 is caved in, giving way to
mud from the lake. The middle 20 of this area has
bulged out to the point where the passage is only 5
wide. The area near this 20 is uniformly very cold, and
creatures coming within 5 of it (i.e. standing in the
narrow walkway, or within 5 of it on either side) take
3d6 of cold subdual damage! The cave-in disguises a
huge patch of Brownish Mold! Fires brought within 5 of
it will cause the patch to grow across an additional 5 of
mud each round (towards the fire), while cold spells will
wipe out the mold in whatever area they touch.

Items 8-10 may not be obtained more than once; if one

of these items is rolled a second time nothing is found
that turn. The piles of filth are truly huge and disgusting.
B-18. House Servants Quarters II (5%)
Another filthy Morghouls nest. The three undead
monsters in this room (hp 20, 11, 10) break off their
unholy cavorting to assault the party.

B-17. Recreation Room (5%)

Ancient, shredded furniture, bones, and offal fill this
ghoul-redolent chamber. At the center of the room, a
single table still stands, flanked by two creaking chairs.
These chairs are occupied by two repulsive yellow-green
forms with rotting appendages and rime-covered slits
where their noses and ears once rested. They are playing
at chess, and look up from their game for only a second
as you enter. At the GMs option she may set up a chess
position for the players to solve while they do battle.
As they enter this room, the central home of the Houses
Morghoul tribe, the party is assaulted by five of the
dread beasts. The two playing chess (the largest and
smallest of the tribe) will continue their game for the
first two rounds of combat, at which point the smallest
Morghoul wins the game. On the third round they will
join the fight. In the event that the other five are slain
before their action on the third round, the two will start
another game of chess instead, ignoring the party even in
the event that they start rifling the nests. At the GMs

Loden is watching

29

If present Durnzhen will leap to the attack; see B-25 for

statistics. The only items of interest here are the bed and
the chest. When the covers are removed from the bed, it
is revealed that fresh dirt fills the entire space within its
four walls where the mattresses should be. If characters
dig in the dirt, a grand mahogany coffin will be revealed.
The untrapped but locked chest contains three fine silk
robes (75gs each) and four sable-trimmed silk cloaks
(120gs each), as well as a small silk bag with five gems: a
1000gs fiery yellow corundum, an 800gs garnet, a 300gs
black pearl, a 130gs amethyst, and a 60gs bloodstone.

B-19. House Servants Quarters III (0%)

This room is identical to B-13 in every respect.
B-20. Sunken Cave (5%)
Behind the south and east doors a crumbling landing
falls away into a deep cave which bottoms out into a
large dark pool. Streams of brackish water trickle down
the south wall, slowly but gradually filling the cavern.
Strewn about the pool are a jumble of bones and metal
objects, including weapons and armor, roughly centered
about a single living creature: a strange reddish anemone
about ten feet tall, draped with long, lazy blue fronds.

B-25. Hunters Ready Room (10%)

The outer door to this room is locked.
The walls of this room are covered with mounted
crocodile and vroat heads. Several rough wooden tables
and benches have been pushed to the wall, clearing a
path to an open area at the rear of the room.

The anemone is a carnivorous and semi-sentient creature

called a Moutharm (HD 10, hp 48, AC 5, Speed 6,
attacks with 4-20 long tentacles doing 1d8 plus paralysis
(save) and entanglement (open doors to break free)). It
will wait for the adventurers to enter the cavern,
knowing that it cannot quite catch them at the chambers
entrance from its position by the life-giving pool. As
soon as they start down the slope, however, it will lurch
to the attack. If spells or missile weapons are fired at it
from a distance it will start up the slope towards the
party. Scattered around or in the pool on the floor of
the cavern are 73 gs, a 50 gs tourmaline, a normal
greataxe and dagger, a rotten heavy crossbow (useless); a
pouch with twenty silvered sling bullets, a finely worked
scimitar, longsword, and greatsword, a +2 Dart (lost by
Azhrarn and Chuzel from D-9 when they tried to fight
this thing); human-sized normal plate mail and leather
armor, and dwarf-sized +1 plate mail. Most of this was
left by an adventuring party which met its end here.

Assuming that Loden has informed Durnzhen of the

partys approach, he will be waiting here with his five
Moondogs at the ready. They will be waiting in total
silence and will attack with surprise if they hear the party
coming. Durnzhen will begin such a battle with the
Moondog pack in between himself and the PCs, using
the slavers lash from range, but he is not averse to
closing ranks where his magic sword and energy-draining
poison headsnakes can be brought to good effect. If
Durnzhen has not been alerted, perhaps because the
characters came in through the dragon cave, then the
Moondogs will be in B-26 and Durnzhen in B-24. The
hounds will immediately start their wailing howl in such
an event, alerting Durnzhen to the partys presence if he
has not yet been dispatched. Durnzhen: HD 7+1, hp 36,
AC 2, Speed 9/Fly 18, Gaze turns to stone as Medusa,
Slavers Lash out to 20 strikes for 3d6 plus 1 hp/round
bleeding and causes target struck to save v. fear or
surrender, at close range attacks with magic sword +2
and poisonous headsnakes which do normal damage
plus save or die vs. poison and 2 level drain as per
vampire regardless! Immune to non-magical weapons,
cold, poison, mind control/charm/sleep, death effects
and drains, turns as vampire, in general anything a
vampire or medusa can do it can do. In addition to its
lash and swordhe has a scarab of life drain resistance (3
levels nullified no use to it), a gold chain of office w/
keys to B-24 & B-25 (150 gs value), and a red sabletrimmed silk cloak (200 gs value). The five Moondogs
are HD 2+1, hp 13, 11, 11, 10, 7, AC 5, Speed 12, bite
causes normal damage plus save vs. poison or 5 x
Intelligence chance of going insane, howl causes all
creatures below level/HD 5 to save vs. fear.

B-21-23. Hunters Quarters (5%)

These three rooms are more or less identical: all have
been the site of battle and death and all have been
cleaned out to the point where only shards of bone and
long-broken furniture remain. This is contested territory:
the Morghouls periodically try to expand their nests
here, but Durnzhen and his Moondogs inevitably chase
them out. If the party takes their time exploring all three
rooms the GM should roll for wandering monsters.
B-24. Head Hunters Quarters (10%)
The door to this room is strong and locked. Durnzhen
will be here only if not alerted to the parys presence,
playing solitaire at his table. If he has been alerted he will
be in B-25 with his Moondogs, prepared for an assault.
This well-tuckpointed stone 20x20 chamber has a large
and very lumpy double bed against its western wall. A
round table, a small writing desk, a large iron-bound
wooden chest, and a giant boars head mounted on the
wall complete the rooms dcor. It is neatly kept up,
though the furniture is old; only a slight whiff of the
grave pollutes the moist underground air in this place.

B-26. Kennels (5%)

Five huge kennels filled with bones are found here, their
walls and chest-high stone gates well-scored with tooth-

30

and pawmarks. The kennels open on one end to a hunters ready area, and on the other to a narrow, upwardsloping passage thick with moss, loose stone, and roots.

Here Pthaks hunters prepared meat for the kitchen

staff. The drain winds and twists, through tunnels only a
few inches wide, into several subterranean pools and
into area D-3 in the level below. Shrunk or gaseous
characters may try to track the centipedes to their lair or
scout ahead in this manner.

As these kennels served Pthaks hunters for their dogs a

century ago, they now provide homes for Durnzhens
Moondogs. The narrow tunnel leads gradually upward
over 150 to the hidden secret entrance detailed in The
House section of Outside the House.

B-28. Cold Storage (5%)

This stone-walled room was once the refrigerator of the
House, but now it is quite warm due to its proximity to
B-8; the enchantment Pthak used to cool it has long
since worn off. There is nothing of interest in it save
three more hungry Vroats (HD 4+1, hp 19, 14, 14, AC
5, Speed 9/Jump 15, bite for 2d6, immune to fear, half
damage from acid & poison (or +4 save)), happy enough
to dine on PCs with nothing better in the offing.

B-27. Butchers Table (5%)

This L-shaped room, with an open section in its east wall
and a door in its north, contains two large stone tables
and a trough which drains into the floor. Several hooks,
two with ancient, desiccated chunks of gristle, hang from
the ceiling. As you enter the room, three rat-sized
centipedes scurry down the drain!

31

B-29. Wine Cellar (5%)

This room has a stone door with an excellent lock.
Coming through this rooms vault-like entrance, you see
that it contains a wine cellar! Row after row of excellent
bottles with a centurys aging are racked herein. Even the
merest tyro in oenology recognizes several vintages of
supremely distinguished provenance in Pthaks cellar.

D-2. Kitchen
This spacious 20 by 40 room is a separate kitchenette,
full of cabinets, a large firepit, shelves of long-sincerotten food, and a single table with two chairs upon
which rests a mug. Something scuttles southward out of
the room on the other side as you enter, disappearing.
The scuttling creature is a tiny centipede.

Over nine hundred bottles of wine of distinguished

origin and good to excellent vintage are in this room.
Roughly one-quarter have spoiled in the past century,
leaving perhaps seven hundred drinkable. Of these about
thirty are of the highest quality: The Sapphire Circles
Private Reserve, White Rose, Simple Sorrow, RomaneeConti, Falling Star, dYquem fine bottles made by
creatures of every race and clime and worth d10x1000 gs
each. The remaining bottles will fetch 2d10x100 gs each.
A careful search will spy a single green-black bottle, set
top and rear and away from the other bottles in one of
the rearmost racks. This wine detects for magic, and is in
fact a bottle of the legendary Whimsey Wine, with
enough inside for four glasses. In addition to the
properties noted there, this Whimsey Wine has a
secondary enchantment which forces any character
trying to use its magic for a second (third, etc.) time to
save vs. polymorph or turn permanently into a toad.

Whimsey Wine: roll d24 (d12 + hi/lo die):

1-permanently add/subtract 1-4 points to Strength
2- to Dexterity
3- to Constitution
4- to Intelligence
5- to Wisdom
6- to Charisma
7- as a natural bonus/penalty to a random saving throw
8-character physically ages/becomes younger 1d20 years,
with no change in mental state (but characters who
become younger past 0 can only be brought back with
wishes, and physical stats can be effected profoundly)
9-character gains/loses 1d3 experience levels
10-character changes sex
11-character gains random new alignment (d10): 1 LG,
2 NG, 3 CG, 4 LN 5 N, 6 CN, 7 LE, 8 NE, 9 CE, 10
reverse of current
12-characters head permanently changes to that of
random animal (d6): donkey, boar, wolf, rat, parrot, or
lion. As a freak, they take a 6 on reaction rolls, and
while they can still speak in humanoid tongues they
will sound like the animal in question while so doing
13-character becomes permanently hasted or slowed
14-character permanently surrounded by glowing
15-character becomes permanently deluded that one
characteristic is 8 points higher than it actually is: (d6)
1-2 Strength, 3-4 Intelligence, 5-6 Charisma
16-character becomes deluded that they are the long-lost
heir to a kingdom or barony; 10% chance its true!
17-character gains the use of a random spell once per
day as a special ability, caster level=character level; roll
a single spell as on a minor scroll
18-character grows fully functional giant eagles wings
19-characters legs become long, greenish, and webfooted: gains long-distance jump ability
20-character gains psionic ability, or if psionics rules are
not in play gains ESP usable at will
21-characters skin turns bright yellow, green, red, or
blue, white with pink polka-dots, or obsidian (roll)
22-character turns permanently invisible, as spell
23-character instantly transformed into different creature: roll on reincarnation table in Welcome to Skull
Tower or Fight On! #3
24-going down the windpipe the wine turns into a lethal
poison: save or die.
This table can be used to adjudicate other random
magical outcomes as well.

Dungeon Level
D-1. Entryway
Coming down the spiral staircase, you come into a wellbuilt area thick with dust and cobwebs. To your south, a
10 passageway has collapsed in on itself, and is now
stuffed with mud and rubble. To the east is a 10 passage
leading into a 20 x 20 antechamber, from which two
doors leave, one to the north and one to the east.
This bottom level of the dungeon contains Pthaks
secret apartments and summoning area, as well as his
prison cells and a tunnel to the lair of a black dragon.
There is nothing much of interest in this front room.
Both doors are locked and the eastern one is trapped as
well: any contact with it will cause 1d8+1 electrical
damage. Remember that Loden Grimlock does not
know of this level and will not discover it unless he sees
the PCs going down to it, or they leave the secret door
which leads here open, in which case a 10% ghost
chance can be assumed for each room on the level. It is
actually possible to wend ones way through the semicollapsed southward corridor. Dwarves can figure this
out if they think about it, as can others if they make a
roll. Alternatively, if someone just goes that way after
GM warnings, they will succeed, finding that the
corridor ends in an oaken door swollen shut with mud
and moisture. The deodanths in D-9 will almost surely
hear characters coming this way.

32

D-3. Lounge-Nest of the Centipedes

The room before you seems to twist and crawl, as if the
floors and walls were literally alive. Suddenly the mass of
beasts lurches forward, threatening to engulf your party!
The long-rusted couches and tables that once filled this
room now serve as a skeletal frame for a nest of 300
centipedes (1 hp each, AC 6, bite does 1 hp and each
character bitten must save or lose 1 point of dexterity for
1 day 1 save/rd max regardless of number biting). The
room is overflowing with the creatures, and they will
move to assault anyone disturbing their nest. If a quickthinking wizard uses a fireball, this encounter may be
short indeed; on the other hand sheer numbers and
poison may make this a difficult battle indeed if a more
methodical approach is taken. Both doors out of the
room are locked, but neither is trapped.
books include both planar lore and Pthaks missing 5th
and 6th level spellbooks, which certainly include such
spells as conjure elemental and other summoning
charms. The cloak, if investigated, is a Cloak of Never
wearers can wrap themselves in it and wink out of time
for d100 minutes (on an 00 reroll for d100 days instead).
The bookshelf on the wall is an Imitator, a magical beast
which takes on the shape of an ordinary object: HD 7,
hp 28, AC 7, attacks adhere to target allowing free shots
(no hit roll) every round thereafter, weapons which hit it
also stick to it, strong alcohol will dissolve the adhesive.

D-4. Spare Bedoom

This simple room contains a large bed, a nightstand with
reading glasses and a copy of The History of Khorsahr
by Mallendar dOrien. Some long-rotten linens are laid
out on an almost-as-rotten chair. Doors in the south and
east walls provide the only egress.
Another more-or-less empty room, this was a spare
bedroom used by Pthak when he wanted to get away
from his household for an important experiment.
D-5. Bath
This room, ornately floored in gold-flecked white
marble, has a large and cracked marble bathtub 8 x 8
filling up most of its northern end. Small nozzles and
spouts fill the tub, promising different kinds of
treatment. Towels and racks of oils and perfumes cover
the walls, which are dressed in rich light-brown tile.

D-7. Summoners Sanctum

Assuming an approach from D-6, read the following:
Leaving the wizards second study from the eastern
door, you come into a narrow passageway, ten feet long.
Before you stands a mighty vault door worked in black
silver, with a turnstile handle.

D-6. Wizardly Study

This long room contains a large table with several books
and scrolls laid out upon it. A medium-sized bookshelf
rests against the east wall. A pearlescent silver-grey misty
cloak hangs on a peg in the wall, swirling with dull inner
light. Various arcane sigils mark the walls, and a feeling
of eldritch power fills the air.

The door is of pure iron coated with black silver

(silbony) and is virtually impossible to break down (no
chance for normal strength). Magical means will almost
surely be required to pass. However, there is a magical
trap on the door: if a knock spell is cast against it, a
Blackfire trap (save every round for 15 rounds or take
1d8 damage and lose a level; engulfed in ghostly black
flame) will immediately be sprung against its caster or
the person using the item it came from. This trap also
automatically dispels the knock. However, it only resets
once per day, so a second knock spell will open the door
for ten minutes. Other magical methods of attaining the
room (dimension door e.g.) should work unless they go
through the door (like passwall), in which case the
relevant spell is not dispelled but the Blackfire trap will
still trigger. Once actually entered the room is as follows:

Mages who make a roll can tell that the focus of the
magic studied here was conjuration. The scrolls
disintegrate at ones fingertips when touched, but the

Before you lies a great, circular summoning chamber

eighty feet in diameter, with a magic pentagram taking
up the middle fifty feet of that. On the walls are fine

This lovely facility, alas, no longer works. The cologne

and perfumes are valuable, and could be resold for 250
gs. The small bottles which contain them way perhaps
three pounds in all but are somewhat fragile. No matter
what the party does, nothing but vague hissing sounds
will come from the bath-knobs: the water and steam-jets
are long since destroyed from lack of maintenance.

33

In the event that a paladin or the like in the party does

not wish to free him because he is a demon, Lox will
change his shape to that of a female Djinn before the
partys eyes. Dulcet the djinn will then report with sad
eyes that she assumed the party was evil when she
adopted her disguise; alas, she cannot grant wishes, as
some of her kin can, but she may be able to obtain
something for them in exchange for freedom She will
still detect for evil, however. Lox may take on his Efreet
form and offer wishes if a paladin or good cleric refuses
to free him on the sole grounds of his evilness, primarily
out of interest in seeing how the rest of the party reacts
to the goody-two-shoes unwillingness to take such a
reward. Ideally this is a role-playing encounter, resulting
in the party gaining 1001 days of service (the worst of all
from Loxs point of view), 3 wishes, some intermediate
reward, or nothing at all as the Efreet escapes. In the
event that rude or trigger-happy PCs manage to piss Lox
off enough to get him to attack he may be treated as a 12
HD efreet with the additional ability of being able to
polymorph himself into any form 3x/day.

tapestries of goldcloth and around the perimeter of the

room are long-extinguished braziers. A nude man
reclines in the middle of the pentagram, filing his nails.
His skin is a deep bronze, and his goatee makes him
quite handsome; were it not for the horns on his
forehead he would present quite a compelling picture.
The being in the chair is an Efreet who has disguised
himself as an incubus in hopes of getting a better deal on
his escape. Lox is his name, and he loathes granting wishes. He has polymorphed himself into his current form.
If players rush to the attack, breaking the pentagram,
Lox will either attack or teleport back to the City of
Brass, depending on his estimate of the partys strength.
He will do the same if attacked with missile weapons or
spells from outside the circle, which also breaks the enchantment keeping him imprisoned. If serious enough
damage is unrequited, he may seek revenge on party
members at some future date. If not attacked, Lox will
invite the characters to join him in the pentagram for a
glass of wine. (Acceptance breaks the pentagram and
sets him free.) If this fails Lox will ask to be set free. If
this likewise meets with no success, Lox hints that he
can reward the party well for their service. He will not
specify the exact limits of his ability to reward them, and
will grimace as the requests get larger, indicating that he
only carries a certain amount of clout in the demonic
hierarchy. Lox is a very hard bargainer and will let the
party walk out if they try to bully him by leaving him
there: he is proud, and one hundred years of solitude
have not broken him yet. If the party realizes that he is
an Efreet, it will be up to the GM to determine whether
he will actually offer his wishes to escape or not.

The five tapestries in the room weigh 50 pounds each

and are worth 1000 gs each for their exquisite construction. The braziers are normal, though as a parting gesture
Lox may use his produce flame ability to make them all
spring alight. There are two exits from the room, the
vault door in the north wall and a standard door in the
west, mageocked but not trapped. This latter door leads
to a short corridor with another door in it, which opens
to a strong push from this side but is a one-way door. It
cannot be opened from the other side save by magic.
D-8. The Forgotten Prison
This corridor is filled with the brackish stench of
stagnant lakewater. Its southern side is a cave, which
appears to rise to a high shelf at its back side. On the
north side of the corridor are three barred cells, each
containing piles of ancient human bones and cloth. The
only apparent exit from this place is a west-leading
corridor, half-collapsed and filled with mud and rock.
The shelf overlooks an underground pool which lets out
from the lake and which is the home of a Ghost Crab
(HD 8+1, hp 28, AC 2+2, Speed 10/Swim 15, attacks
with two claws for damage and level drain, turns as
vampire, immune to non-magical weapons, fear,
confusion, paralysis, etc. (its undead). There is a 50%
chance that the crab will be in its watery lair each time
the party enters the room. If they investigate the shelf,
the thing will attack them from the water. On the other
hand, if they investigate the cells first, it will first hide by
submerging itself at the edge of the shelf in an attempt
to gain surprise when they investigate or, if they do not
investigate, will eventually charge to the attack. Parties
approaching from D-10 will discover a hairline crack in

34

the wall in the 10 space at the east end of the corridor

by the last cell if they search for secret doors; otherwise
this is a dead end. Parties coming from D-7 will find that
their only real egress (besides swimming through the
ghost crabs lair out into the lake a bad idea) is through
the passage. If they fight the ghost crab or if the
deodanths in D-9 hear them coming, the Deodanths will
be completely ready for the party when it arrives in D-9.

(becoming visible) and Azhrarn to draw his rapier, drop

silently, and stab a party member in the back for triple
damage. Whenever the Deodanths finally appear, the
GM should describe them as obsidian-skinned creatures
with blood-red eyes and silver teeth and fangs, baldheaded, a mixture of elf and vampire and something
feline and menacing. One wears mithril chainmail and
brandishes a rapier, while the other wears bracers and
silken loincloth. Keep in mind also that light conditions
in the room are low unless magical light is created. If the
party can see invisible, they will immediately spot
Chuzel. A party will only spot Azhrarn in the event that
someone with a relevant ability says they are looking up.
If an item detects these things for them, it will warn
them of both bandits, but Azhrarn will still have some
chance at a surprise attack unless the item informs its
user of the precise location of invisible targets. If the
situation becomes extremely desperate, first Chuzel and
then Azhrarn will flee towards the dragons cave, hoping
to hide and play their foes off against Negarix. If they
are sorely pressed in their flight towards the dragons
cave they may throw a dart at the dragon to wake it up
and then Time Slip, hoping that by the time they
reappear the party and Negarix will be too busy fighting
each other to bother with them. Azhrarn: Male
Deodanth Warrior 5/Thief 6, hp 27, AC 2+1, Speed 18,
50% magic resistance, immune to life drain and fear, can
time slip for d3 melee rounds (just disappears and
reappears after the time lag), has +1 Mithril Chainmail
(allows thief abilities), +1 Rapier, Ring of Night (makes
character invisible in shadow or at night), Bag of
Containment, Hood of Thievery (gives all secret
door/trap/etc. detection abilities of a dwarf and elf, as
well as +5 to all saves vs. mind-effecting spells), Potion
of Super Healing, 3 darts, Medallion w/2000 gs ruby,
2000 gold sovereigns, 500 platinum stars. Chuzel: Male
Deodanth 7th level Mage, hp 21, AC 2, Speed 18, 50%
magic resistance, immune to life drain and fear, can time
slip for d3 melee rounds (just disappears and reappears
after the time lag), has Bracers of Protection AC 4, a
Wand of Confusion (8 charges), Potion of Super
Healing, 5 darts, a silver earring set with a black opal
worth 700 gs, and carries the following spells: Read
Magic, Lockjaw (save or mouth locked shut), Monkey
Climb, Charm, Detect Invisibility, ESP, Invisibility,
Haste, Lightning Bolt, Dimension Door.

D-9. Azhrarn and Chuzel

Behind the well-stuck door you discern a breathtaking
sight: an exquisitely appointed room, 20 by 30, with
exotic tapestries, lush carpetry, and silk pillows strewn
everywhere. Unlike most of the rooms on this level, this
one is very dimly illuminated by phosphorescent lamps
made from fire beetle tails. There is another door like
the one you came in through across the corner from
you, and at the far end of the room a small hole opens
into a cavelike passage leading outward. Two large chests
with brass appointments rest in one corner, and an onyx
coffer on a night-table promises more wealth still. The
room is redolent with the scent of sandalwood incense.
This sumptuously furnished room is the home of two
Deodanth bandits. The GM will need to add their description to the above if they are somehow caught in the
open, but they will probably be invisibly waiting to give
the party a nasty surprise. With a dragon at their front
door and the House of the Axe at their back, the pair
use stealth and magic to sneak in and out with new
treasure. Negarix knows of their existence and would
like to be rid of them, but is not sure what their powers
are nor where their cave is. For their part, they consider
the dragon part of an ideal situation, and prefer to keep
her around. If they hear the party coming (highly likely),
they will immediately take the actions outlined below.
The doors have rusty locks that do nothing, since the
doors are jammed. (If the first thing the Deodanths hear
is the door getting smashed down, roll initiative as
normal.) If the party is heard at a distance, Azhrarn will
put his ear to the door and listen carefully for whether
they are coming down the hall. If it is determined that
they are, then the pair prepares as follows: Round 1 Chuzel casts Haste on Azhrarn; Azhrarn climbs the
rough wall above the door the party is coming and hides
(effectively invisible unless a light is shined directly on
him because of his Ring of Night). Round 2 - Chuzel
casts Invisibility on himself while maneuvering to the
opposite wall from the open door.

There are many items of value within the room aside

from those the Deodanths carry. The carpets and silks
are worth several hundred gold sovereigns at a
minimum, though they are probably too heavy to carry.
The chests are filled with ten thousand or so silver
pieces each, the less valuable coins they have taken on
bandit raids. The onyx box has a Poison Needle Trap.
Within this coffer are four perfectly matched mithril and
emerald rings worth 2000 gold pieces each.

When the party enters the room (which the Deodanths

will try to time fairly closely, hoping to have several
rounds of haste left for the battle): if the party has no
ability to see invisibile they will see neither of the Deodanths, and so the pair will get surprise. Their surprise
actions will be for Chuzel to fire a lightning bolt

35

30 gs bloodstone); a Potion of Invisibility in a glass vial;

and a Stone of Recall which will allow re-use of one 3rd
level spell each day. If the party has come in from the
outside they may decide to camp here. If they try this
there is a 60% chance they will be unmolested and a
40% chance that the Deo-danths will come silently
during the night. Confronted with dragonslayers the
Deodanths will only attack if the party seems especially
weak: otherwise they have a 20% chance to attack
anyway, a 60% chance to prepare an ambush in their lair
for several hours later (in which case they will not be
audible as the party comes up the corridor), and a 20%
chance simply to quit the complex with their treasures
during the night and stay away for a few days.
Conclusion: GMs who have situated this adventure in
their own milieu can end things as seem fit. The presented scenario, where Torell Stagg (or a similar figure from
your own world) has guided them through the woods to
a nearby place and will guide them back, requires them
to get out in time and give Torell an item. Torell will
take the most historically interesting item (not necessarily the best) if the PCs are honest, or the gold if
nothing strikes his fancy. He is an 18th level Forester and
his Haggorym sidekick is an 8th level Warrior, so fighting
them would be unwise. He will almost certainly see
through any scams the PCs try, though you never know.
Enjoy your forays into the House of the Axe!

D-10. The Cave of Negarix

This vast, vaulted cave, filled with wisps of steam and
sulfur amidst hundreds of crushed giant skeletons and
pools of fetid water, is clearly the lair of a dragon. There
are several crocodile carcasses rotting in pools here and
there about the room. Dim glittering near the rear of the
chamber suggests the obligatory mountain of treasure
Negarix, a large very old black dragon, spends most of
her time in a recess which allows her to see both the
lakeshore entrances and the concealed tunnel from the
Deodanth cave, of which she is aware. Roll location:
01-15 Home, sleeping
16-50 Home, napping (describe as sleeping but awake)
51-65 Home, active
66-70 Just leaving: will come upon characters coming
in from lakefont but 10 to notice those coming from
Deodanth lair.
71-75 Just returning: will be seen in air approaching by
characters outside and will come upon characters
arriving from D-9 as normal.
75-90 Gone, but will return in 3d10 minutes.
91-00 Gone, and will not return for d4 hours.
Negarix is basically a mean-spirited caustodrake, but she
likes her treasure: if she has a party badly beaten she may
allow them to live in exchange either for all, or for
ridding her of Azhrarn and Chuzel. She is not
particularly likely to honor any long-term elements of
such a deal except out of laziness or self-preservation.
She has 8 HD and 48 hp, with a breath weapon doing
the same damage, and she is immune to acid and 1st level
magic spells. AC 2. She speaks and uses magic (1st level
spells only) and I usually give dragons multiple attacks.
She is very stealthy and will try to hide and ambush if
she knows people are coming. Negarix maintains a
rather small hoard. Behind a mountain of acid-fused
copper and silver lie 2900 gs; seven glittering stones laid
out neatly on a ledge (a large 110 gs chunk of raw amber,
three 90 gs red spinels, two matched 40 gs zircons, and a

36