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The Almorian Lands
Pop: 150,000 + 18,000 humanoids + ? fiends
Capital: Bloodcrystal?
Ruler: Duke Szeffrin
Rulership: Special
Cost Multiplier: Not relevant
Quite deliberately, many points about some Almorian locations are not specified in this chapter. Duke Szeffrin's evil empire is designed as a grim adventure setting for mid to high level PCs, and the DM has been allowed maximum freedom to develop Almor as he wishes. The history of the land and nature and goals of its ruler and his Abyssal ally, have been presented fully, so the DM knows exactly what is going on here. Similarly, the nature of creatures at certain locations, such as types of undead, fiends, and others are specified, though their exact numbers are not. This leaves freedom for the DM to develop details as suits the nature of his individual campaign and the strength of his player characters.
The previous sourcebook, The Marklands, detailed a small number of locations included here -- Bloodcrystal, Millennium, and Onyxgate. The descriptions of these locations has been expanded here, but the added information does not negate anything from that earlier product. For readers who do not have the earlier sourcebook, there are brief notes on the Nyrondese locations immediately across the western border of the Almorian lands which may be helpful to DMs wishing to set up adventures which commence in Nyrond and involve infiltrating Almor.
The Day of Dust
The nation of Almor has had a perilous past. Long under the dominion of overkings, it never established the security in independence which such nations as Tenh and Nyrond could claim. Small, underpopulated, with borders subject to dispute by Aerdy and even by Nyrond at times, Almor existed as a buffer state only. An example of the precariousness of Almor is its claim to Innspa. The rulers of this land were unable to prevent Innspa from proclaiming itself an independent city, and that sent signs of the weak willed nature of Almorian leaders to the rest of the Flanaess. With powerful neighbors, that was simply not the right message to convey.
While the heroism of Osson of Chathold is celebrated in song and verse, there is little doubt that his exploits cost Almor the lives of tens of thousands of people and plunged it into a nightmare which endures still. Osson's raids so enraged Ivid that he struck against Almor as brutally and forcefully as he did against Medegia. Ahlissan armies, the Army of the North, and Bone March humanoids converged on Almor and simply overwhelmed its armies. On the 17th day of Goodmonth, 584 CY, mages and priests in Ivid's armies razed Chathold by fire, lightning, acid, earthquake, poisonous gas, and more. The Day of Dust, as it is now known, saw the nation of Almor disappear from the maps of the Flanaess, probably forever.
The armies marched on to the very frontier of Nyrond, taking some land which belonged to that nation, until they were ground to a halt at the Battle of Blazebane three weeks later. The forces of Aerdy suffered more than 4,000 casualties besieging that Nyrondese citadel. And while the Ahlissan army departed relatively unscathed, the imperial and humanoid armies suffered grievous losses and found themselves almost bereft of senior commanders.
The one exception was General Szeffrin. Shortly before his leaving Rauxes for the Almorian campaign, Ivid had him transformed into an animus, following his usual practice with senior military leaders about to enforce his imperial will far away from Rauxes. And, on the very night before the march began, Szeffrin was woken by a shadowy and unknown figure who pressed into his hand a simple gold medallion, saying simply, "When the time comes to pay back the overking, call the name upon this gold." The figure had the stench of undeath about it; Xaene the lich cannot disguise that. For some reason he could not rationalize, Szeffrin kept the medallion.
During the coming weeks, the hatreds which gnawed at animuses began to take firm root in Szeffrin's soul -- or, to be more precise, what remained of his soul. Loathing his condition, he came to hate Ivid for what had been done to him. Szeffrin worked out his hatreds in the furious, brutal razes of Almor, but when Chathold was incinerated and the severed head of its prelate impaled on the collapsed ruins of the city gates, the black rages in his heart found no obvious expression. The animus wondered how to destroy himself. In a desperate gesture, he gripped the medallion tightly and whispered the name -- Pazrael.
Even to a creature as powerful as the animus-general, the sudden appearance of an Abyssal lord was terrifying. Fortunately, the tanar'ri was predisposed to listen and negotiate, to use his wiles and low cunning. Feigning sympathy for Szeffrin's plight, Pazrael offered assistance in making Almor Szeffrin's fief, and to aid him to march on Rauxes and destroy Ivid personally. As to what Pazrael wanted in return, well, that is a subtler and more complex matter the significance of which stretches far across the Flanaess.
Pazrael has an alliance with Iuz, but he also has a long term goal of replacing Iuz as a ruler over the enormous empire the demipower now rules. Though he is not powerful on the Abyss, lacking allies, Pazrael's domains are populous and he can strengthen Szeffrin considerably. Pazrael's aim in aiding Szeffrin is to establish a first power bloc taking in much of Aerdy with its resources, which will provide human and humanoid armies with which to supplement the fiends the lord could throw into the fray.
Pazrael's fiends can also gain experience of the Prime Material by marauding into Nyrond. And his favored nabassu can grow mature and powerful by slaying in the Prime Material -- all the better to fight the Blood Wars and internecine struggles in the Abyss. Pazrael is also experimenting with magic in the Prime Material; the Abyssal lord has gained possession of an abyssal magical relic, enhancing his gating and that of his minions, which also has important creating abilities (hence the raising of Bloodcrystal so rapidly). Pazrael has much to learn, and he needs to test his strength. Szeffrin's realm is an ideal place to do this.
The Lay of the Land
Szeffrin may have pronounced himself Duke from his base in Bloodcrystal and laid claim to all the old lands of Almor, but that does not mean he controls those lands, nor all those lands west of the Harp and around Chathold where there are none in occupation to refuse him rulership.
Many of the Almorian Lands are wholly disorganized, with marauding remnants of armies comprised of imperials, fighters from North Province and Ahlissan deserters. Added to this are the Bone March and Adri humanoids far from their homes. There are even some fortified farmsteads where Almorian families, despite all the threats which surround them, still manage to survive. The large majority of Almor's population, however, are forced into slavery by Szeffrin or used as forced levies by armies seeking to raid Nyrond, the Adri, into the western lands, or even as far as the Flinty Hills and north into the Theocracy of the Pale.
Already, more than 50,000 Almorians have perished, and many more die by the day.
A fair number of the fiends in Almor are not commanded by Szeffrin. They may be sent by Pazrael, but being chaotic they certainly roam and maraud as they wish much of the time. This is acceptable to Szeffrin. He does not care much what the fiends do, so long as they are available to him when he is ready to march on Rauxes. Then, Pazrael will have to marshal his fractious servants on behalf of the animus-duke.
Despite all this, the dominant ethos in Almor has been the common good for a long time, and there are still some surviving pockets or even strongholds of the good and strong, surviving beleaguered in these dreadful days. The courage of such men and women was badly shaken by the destruction of the mighty paladin Shreckend in the citadel of Appolled in the month of Flocktime. But these folk will sell their lives dearly to Szeffrin's merciless evil.
Almor presents the greatest tragedy in all the Flanaess in some ways. This was a beautiful country, with gently rolling fields and meadows, the patchwork of small landholdings separated by flowering hedgerows a delight in spring. The weary traveler could always find somewhere to rest his weary feet along the roads, whether that be a tavern or the barn of a friendly farming family. Almorians were, for the most, kindly and trusting people. The virtues of Good were expressed gently and quietly here, not in great deeds of derring do which bards would sing of, but in the simple kindnesses of consideration and fellowship.
Now, the fields are unsewn, and half the farms of the land have been put to the torch. For warriors to die in battle is one thing; for a simple farming family to be left, ripped to pieces, in a ditch by some gloating fiend is an evil which is all the more dreadful for its senselessness. The famed mage Nystul, of the Circle of Five, was caught up in the exodus from Almor when Szeffrin was cementing his hold on the land. This normally humorous and flippant man was almost speechless when he fled to Mordenkainen and Bigby, and he shook with rage recounting what he had seen here. He has vowed to destroy Szeffrin, and, while the Circle's current ethos is strongly against direct action and for careful watching and learning, it may be hard even for Mordenkainen and the ever cautious Bigby to prevent him from trying.
To the east of Szeffrin's domain the armies of Nyrond are amassed along the Sword Road (they are documented in The Marklands). Nyrond is too weak to attack Almor, and Szeffrin knows it. His concerns lie east, toward Rauxes, and the overking is the only target he seeks. Szeffrin has become a truly ghastly animus, his self hatred expressing itself in an unmitigated rage at every sign of life and weal around him. Just as he longs for an end to his own hellish existence, the animus-duke seeks to bring death and destruction to all the lands he can subjugate and conquer with his burgeoning fiendish allies. Szeffrin is supremely dangerous not because he has strong armies (though he has), but for psychological reasons. He doesn't fear death, he embraces it and longs for it, and in doing so he has become its very embodiment. When his armies march forth, as they surely will, untold thousands will perish.
Locations and Settlements
Appolled
This shattered ruin was once the castle of the paladin Shreckend and his followers and retainers. It only fell in Flocktime of the current year, after months of siege by an orcish army -- the remnants of which still roam the area. Fiends and mages finally destroyed the place, slaying everyone they could find and looting the treasures of the fine chapels of Pelor and Heironeous within the place.
Below the rubble, however, the dungeons of Appolled were not fully explored by the teeming orcs. Here a group of 30 low level fighters and men at arms still survives, aided by a magical cornucopia which can create food and water three times a day. They have but one spellcaster with them, a 6th level mage, and they are too afraid to try their luck even emerging to the surface to check what is happening. Many of them could give excellent first hand accounts of the flying chariots used by fiendish assailants (see details for Bloodcrystal below), and the group also managed to hide the spellbooks of the castle's premier mage, Arastenn. Thus, any group rescuing them would gain both magic and information, and the area is not routinely patrolled by fiends, mages or priests.
The Badlands
Certain areas on the color map are shown as badlands. These are burned and razed villages or small towns, or the sites of battles or massacres. At the latter sites, many Almorians perished at the hands of genocidal evil forces, usually fiends, mages, and priests of Hextor. Each of these locations is 10 to 100 square miles in size (10d10), with the area being centered upon any old settlement therein.
The badlands are ghastly and appallingly dangerous. Diseased corpses infest the areas, and tormented undead of mindless savagery (Morale 20 in all cases, turn as two categories higher than usual) plague them. Floating clouds of stinking cloud/ cloudkill effect may be found here, as well as ghasts and ghouls, seeking new victims to feast upon. The DM is at liberty to expand these areas and add perils and menaces. Examples might include: energy draining clouds of mist, choking black corrosive acid clouds which paralyze humans (but not demihumans), disease carrying warped vegetation, fiends disguised as undead, zombies which explode in 20' radius acid storms when destroyed with any edged weapon, ground which spontaneously decays under the footfalls of a living creature, fissures and areas of utterly treacherous acid soaked bogs, and more. Naturally, these areas are best used as ones into which PCs must travel to retrieve some needed item or piece of information.
Bloodcrystal
Bloodcrystal is a four towered castle of great size with red crystalline fragmented cupolas atop each tower. The total of the teeming armies here is unknown, but they are awesomely powerful.
First, Szeffrin has not only humanoids of the usual type -- orcs and goblins -- but more than 100 ogres and phalanxes of both hill giants and trolls. How he keeps control over these usually quarrelsome races is unknown, but discipline appears to be maintained. There are even ettins, used as guardhouse watchouts.
Second, Szeffrin has renegade priests of Hextor in his citadel. Some are rare humanoid shamans of this power, others are turncoat humans from North Province and even the central Aerdy lands. Why they have chosen to serve Szeffrin is uncertain, though as priests of war they must know that the opportunity for glory cannot be far away.
Third, Szeffrin has fiends of Pazrael here. There are perhaps 30 nabassu at any given time, and perhaps ten times this number of least and lesser tanar'ri. More worrying still, a few gehreleth and yugoloths have been sighted at the castle by brave Nyrondese spies, and even a marilith or two has been spotted. And, while there are enough fiends here, Nyrondese mages have warned their king that Szeffrin may be able to call upon thousands of them should he so need this.
Finally, Szeffrin has well more than 2,000 undead creatures here. Zombies and skeletons have been created from the bodies of Almorians slain by fiends, but there are also several hundred much more dangerous undead, notably juju zombies and ghasts.
To complicate matters, Bloodcrystal is a potently magical place. The entire structure is said to have sprung up, on the site of a great Nyrond-Aerdy battle, within a week. The great iron gates of the castle have been seen to spit smoking, corrosive acid upon command from one of the red robed mages serving Szeffrin. And a red streaked black "rainbow" has also been seen above the place, depositing bloody hailstones the size of goose eggs.
What other intrinsic magic the castle has is unknown, though it radiates magic (alteration, abjuration, conjuration/summoning and evocation) very strongly. It is also magically protected against assault by fire, lightning, and transmute rock to mud and the like. Ghiselinn, premier mage of Nyrond, has grimly assured his king that even an earthquake would leave the place still standing. The Nyrondese are also said to be keenly troubled by sightings of a pair of gray robed albino Suloise mages, apparently identical twins. Admittedly, in these days almost any very fair skinned Suel person is suspected of being an agent of the Scarlet Brotherhood, but these mages are powerful. One cast a meteor swarm at fleeing Nyrondese.
And all this may yet be the tip of the iceberg. Flying above the Sword Road recently, seemingly impervious to missile fire, came two great fiery stone chariots, flying loft with teams of fiends spraying acid and cloudkills onto the terrified Nyrondese below. Archbold's mages have identified these as a transformed version of the chariot of Sustarre spell, and the gloating aviators were traced back to Bloodcrystal. Again, whatever magical artifact Pazrael is using in conjunction with Szeffrin, it must be greatly powerful to create such effects. Magical scrying has not revealed what this artifact may be, nor what powers Szeffrin and his ally may yet unleash from it.
The Ruins of Chathold
The horrors of this place are as dire as any found in all of Medegia, with its deranged and maddened souls. Chathold suffered such a rain of fire, acid, and lightning as has not been seen since the Invoked Devastation itself. Mists, fogs, poisonous gases, and palls of smoke still loom in and over the burned out ruins of the city, and soul rending howls can be heard by day or night.
All manner of evils have been drawn to this nightmare place. Fiends and orcs prowl and roam, but they have almost passed beyond Szeffrin's reach or even that of Pazrael (in the case of fiends). Acolytes of Nerull have been drawn here, breathing in the redolent stench of death and massacre like a delicate perfume. Bony, black robed priests of Incabulos pick over the ruins, their grim master smiling on the putrescine undead they have animated from the thousands of corpses to be found here. These creatures prowl the city ruins, and they maraud as far south as the line held by the citadel at Goldbolt. The orcs, other humanoids, and wretched bandits of Aerdy who live in those southeastern lands seem afflicted by the evil emanating from Chathold itself. They appear almost deranged, driven on by some inner madness, reckless and careless of death.
Indeed, Chathold has taken on a magical aura all of its own. The sheer magnitude of the destruction and slaughter in this city has generated powerful magical effects. All malign (reversed) necromantic spells are saved against with a -4 penalty here. Undead are turned as if the priest was six levels lower than his normal experience level. Reversed healing spells always inflict maximum damage. For example, a cause light wounds spell thus causes 8 points of damage. There are also a number of special magical effects which apply to particular spells; e.g., speak with dead has a 50% chance (less 1% per point of Wisdom of the spellcaster) of sending the querying cleric immediately insane. The DM should modify other spell effects to reflect these general themes as appropriate.
Chathold's ruins most certainly contain many lost treasures. The aim of those who destroyed this city was simply to lay waste to everything they could find, not to loot anything. The overking's troops and mages had no thought of retrieving relics from the cathedrals of good aligned powers.
However, the horrors of this place have turned the hair of the few to have entered here white overnight. If an adventure is to be played here, this place must be presented as ghastly. For example, the ruins of this city assail the senses of any entering with a frightful intensity of impactful horror. More than 5,000 people perished in the Day of Dust, and their physical and spiritual remains haunt these ruins. Adventurers entering Chathold's ruins embark on the aftermath of an apocalypse.
Harskern
This village appears typical of the handful which have not been decimated by raiding armies or fiends. There are 300 or more villagers who go about their business of daily life almost as if nothing had changed. Harskern is not raided, it appears, and the traveler might wonder why this is so. Querying one of the locals will not bring any reply; they are silent and avoid questions and strangers.
The reason for this is that the "village militia" is not what it seems. This group of 20 men at arms are actually disguised priests of Iuz and veteran fighters (levels 5 to 10). They are aided by a pair of mages and two thief-scouts. Harskern is the base from which Iuz's agents spy on events in Almor. Iuz is well aware of Pazrael's scheming and so ensures he has first hand observations of what happens here. From time to time Iuz may even send one of his Boneheart wizards here for a full report, though this is rare. The villagers know that these folk are evil. They don't know for sure that they serve Iuz, because they prefer not to know.
At least these occupiers keep raiders at bay. Wandering orc militias and bandits have been swiftly slain by Iuz's men, who have made sure that none escape to raise any warnings. Moreover, Iuz's servants do not mistreat the villagers, much as they would like to, since they do not want to give the game away to casual visitors.
Harskern offers a change of scene for a campaign, since there is a dilemma for good aligned PCs: if they root out the evil of Iuz, they may leave this village defenseless against the bandits and deserters who have burned down and pillaged so many others just like it.
Millennium
This black stone castle has stood for just under half the duration of the thousand year rule the first overking proclaimed as his empire's fate. Millennium withstood a siege by Szeffrin's forces for three months during the final phase of the wars, and the Pact of Greyhawk allowed the Nyrondese survivors -- only 300 of the 1,500 who were originally garrisoned here -- to depart in safety, Nyrond being forced to give up the lands around the castle.
Millennium stands above a warren of sea caves and caverns, further excavated over the centuries. The fiends which have taken up residence in the castle (and the Nyrondese have seen greater tanar'ri here) have begun the task of filling those catacombs with an undead army from the bodies of those who fell defending the castle. Disease ridden corpses are floated down the shoreline into Mithat Bay in the hope of infecting Nyrondese folk, though most bodies are kept for animation.
Millennium is primarily garrisoned by orcish troops with fiend commanders; there are few humans here. Because the departing Nyrondese were searched by Szeffrin's gloating servitors, some treasures and precious items had to be left behind when the castle was evacuated. The orc warlords here also use this castle to stash their war booty, so there is fair treasure to be had for anyone prepared to face the defenders of this redoubtable castle.
Narsel Mendred
These ruins were once the second city of Almor, not as populous Chathold, but wealthy, well built, and a pleasing sight to the eye. Orc armies decimated the city with siege weaponry, so that the semi-deserted city ruins are filled with debris and rubble. Perhaps only a tenth of the city's buildings are still standing in anything like their pre-war condition, and fully half have been razed.
The city ruins are the haunt of desperate Almorian refugees, men turned to banditry, renegade orc militias, and occasionally a solitary fiend prowling for prey (nabassu favor Narsel Mendred as a hunting ground). While there are not the horrors of Chathold here, the inhabitants are desperate and dangerous, and strangers will be attacked more or less on sight. A tiny enclave of priests of Pholtus struggles to survive here, guarding the rescued treasures of their power's shattered cathedral with their lives. A trio of young priests of Ehlonna, caught up in the razing of the city, hides in an undercity crypt complex, protecting a ragged bunch of 40 young children they ushered out of a school just after the orcs breached the city gates. They must perforce go above ground to find what food they can, from the wild plants growing in the old city gardens, but their lot is desperate.
The ruins of this city contain several such tiny pockets of pitiable folk, hoping against hope for someone to come and lead them to safety. Any who do so would, in their way, further the cause of Good as much as if they retrieved some icon or relic from a sacred site in such a place.
Onyxgate
This site is marked by a simple square keep which appears innocuous. The truth is different. There are dungeon and cavern complexes at least a mile deep below it, disguised by illusions and protected by magical barriers and wards. Spies report that fiends regularly leave Onyxgate for other locations, especially Bloodcrystal. Since the site radiates the presence of conjuration/summoning magic strongly, it is clear that some form of gate to the Abyss must lie beneath the surface. It is also known that several priests of Hextor stay cloistered within the keep, and Nyrondese rumors filter back to western lands whispering that at least one knows the secrets of revivification.
Worse still, there are persistent rumors that a dark magical artifact is responsible for the gate, and that Xaene's inscrutable hand is at work in having placed it here. This may or may not be true, as is usually the case with such fearful whisperings.
Some Nyrondese military men favor a strike on Onyxgate to lessen the threat to Nyrond and weaken Szeffrin, but King Archbold will not countenance this. He believes he cannot order an army or squad to risk a fate worse than death by ordering them to assault this desperately dangerous place. This is not to say that he wouldn't favor a strike by a small, elite group of high level PCs.
In addition to priests and fiends, the dungeons of Onyxgate contain both "mundane" undead, such as zombies and skeletons, and more spectral undead, such as wraiths, spectres, and worse. Nabassu here include the least mature type (arriving) and fully matured ones (about to depart for the Abyss).
There are also several spellcasting cambions, including a pair who can use charm monster spells to force monsters of the dungeons -- ropers, xorn, and some grey stony skinned basilisks of AC 0 -- into servitude. Slaves are used to expand the dungeon complex, which is also used as a prison for a handful of Szeffrin's most hated captives, including at least two rival Aerdy generals.
Shroudgate
This location is not shown on the map because it moves around, appearing from time to time in different places. Shroudgate is a fortified mansion of especially strange design. The windows of the building show distorted reflections of anyone peering into them from the outside, as if they were one way mirrors. Leering stone gargoyles flank the gray coated iron gates, staring down from the guttering of the nested angular roof complex.
The house has a large east wing and a smaller west one abutting on to the central hall and living chambers. The place never can be seen in open terrain in normal visibility; the handful of people who have entered Shroudgate and lived to tell the tale blundered into it in driving rain, winter fog, mist, or some similar condition.
Shroudgate has internal architecture and decoration of ancient Oeridian design. From the outside it looks odd; from the inside, it is like entering a time warp going back a millennium. The only apparent occupant is a small, limping, withered elf male who does not reveal his name. He appears to be normal flesh and blood, but he can pass through walls and objects as if they did not exist, and likewise objects can pass right through him -- as one or two who have raised weapons against him could testify if they were still alive. In the flickering candlelight which always illuminates the gloomy interior of Shroudgate, from certain angles it seems as if the elf is immaterial or semi-material, and the name The Spectre has been given to him.
Those who call him by this name find him slightly amused by it, but seemingly not offended.
The Spectre receives visitors in different ways. Primarily, he is interested in conversing with mages and sages, or travelers who have up to date knowledge of events in Aerdy and the Flanaess generally. To such folk he is politely welcoming, offering greetings and hospitality. This is probably the only chance anyone will have of quaffing drinkable 1,000 year old wine.
Somehow, The Spectre seems to say very little while wringing out of his guests everything he might want to learn, even if they breach discretions and give away secrets by so doing. On rare occasions, The Spectre may say something of historical events, very often in the form of first hand eye witness accounts. His age is unknown, but it must pass beyond the thousand year mark. While his voice is normally even, with a slight hint of sardonic irony here and there, if he chooses to describe the Invoked Devastation his words sound as if his own eyes saw the full horror of it.
Shroudgate is intensely magical and contains an endless number of minor unique magical items. The Spectre never has to pour wine for his guests; the decanter pours and refills itself. Words spoken by guests are recorded in huge leather bound vellum tomes by a levitating, scribbling quill which never runs out of ink. The Spectre does not permit visitors to consult his records.
Chairs draw back from tables to allow visitors to sit on them, while the napkins at meal tables place themselves on diner's laps and automatically absorb any crumbs of food spilled on them. Certainly, The Spectre owns more impressive items, and even artifacts, but he does not reveal these to his guests.
One of his inner sanctums is a room filled with untold thousands of hourglasses, in which the sands of time run out for people, nations, and powers across the Flanaess. There is an icon of Istus therein, but whether The Spectre reveres her, or serves her purposes, is unknown.
Visitors to Shroudgate be warned: while The Spectre will accommodate those who call on him and are agreeable to him, he never sleeps and cannot be surprised, controlled, dispelled, or harmed by weapon or magic. And to sleep even one night in Shroudgate is perilous. One may wake and leave to find that 50 years of time have passed in the world outside the gates.
A visit to Shroudgate in a campaign should be special, eerie, and disorientating. The unblinking, white haired tiny elf is a creature out of time, timeless and strange, who appreciates wit and humor, but expels oafs or aggressive individuals instantly. Stupidity gets one dumped back in the storm outside; aggression is rewarded with a devastating magical riposte. The Spectre cares not for racial or alignment factors. For example, he prefers a smart dwarf to a tongue tied elf.
His challenge, if you like, is in his habitual expression "Tell me." If a visitor has interesting things to say, he will be welcomed. And if The Spectre is in a good mood, he might give some gift of information or minor unique magic item.
The Spectre does not show any emotive response to anything he is told, with one exception -- he grows animated if any visitor can tell him anything about Philidor, the Blue Wizard of Greyhawk City and the Vesve forest. "So he's come at last!" is his excited response to that. If his visitor has met or observed Philidor, The Spectre will interrogate him keenly, his quill scribbling frantically all the while, but the elf does not reveal anything about his knowledge of that peculiar mage.
If asked about himself, The Spectre deflects such queries with a statement along the lines of, "All in good time. We shall all see in the fullness of time."
The Spectre isn't a killable or controllable character. Charm, sleep, hold, etc. are a waste of time. Even a wish won't achieve anything inside Shroudgate. If he is attacked, he is effectively impervious to harm. He has the spellcasting abilities of a 19th level mage, and he generally uses power words to teach those attacking him a lesson.
Tirian
Tirian is a village of 420 folk, a small rural farming community. That it has not been overrun is due to a small group of Almorian men and women, remnants of the Irregulars, an elite force of mercenaries and specialists. Their leader, Bajastelle Renderan, is a priestess of Mayaheine, converted to the new faith because of a vision she experienced after the Irregulars were largely destroyed by the imperial forces on their fateful march to Chathold.
One of a very few survivors from her battalion, she believed herself an unworthy survivor and was sunk into despair when a vision of the demipower appeared to her and sternly told her to get up off her knees and do something about those a lot less able to defend themselves.
Bajastelle is a charismatic leader and she has some 25 veteran Irregulars, mostly heavy infantry. In addition to them are three ranger scouts and a priest of Pelor. Her goal is to get the folk of Tirian to some place of safety. Ideally, she hopes to strike out for Nyrond. The problem, of course, is that Tirian is distant from any even relatively safe place (the Flinty Hills are another possibility).
There are a few other such places in Almor where small groups are in dire need of rescue, but for PCs Tirian is the most interesting. Bajastelle and her surviving troops are well disciplined and hardy, and if helped to save the village people by a group of intelligent and caring PCs they would be prepared to pledge service to them in return. Especially for PCs who are of sufficient experience level to attract followers, rescuing this community would make for an excellent adventure, since the charismatic young warrior-priestess would make an excellent, and wholly trustworthy, second in command. Of course, this is provided that the PCs she serves are worthy of her assistance.
Personalities of Almor
Bajastelle Renderan: 8th level fighter/5th level priestess of Mayaheine (Str 17, Con 15, Wis 17, Cha 17). AC 1 (chain mail +2, shield +2), hp 64, AL LG. Bajastelle is 28, 5' 9", distractingly curvaceous, with straight dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. Her family has farmed and lived in Tirian for generations, and her parents and two sisters are among the folk still surviving there. Her band of warriors are likewise survivors, from the local area and lands around, who retreated after their army was shattered by Szeffrin's advancing forces. With their leaders and many of their fellows slain, they came home to protect and attempt to save their kin.
Bajastelle knows Almor well in terms of geography, roads, trails, and places to forage. Planning a mass evacuation of the village is difficult, though. Emotionally it is a great wrench. The logistics are difficult; simply getting enough food along the way is a major problem. Likewise, the very young and the old slow down movement rates, although Tirian has some 40 horses and a few wagons. The wagons could only be used along primary or secondary roads.
The major problem is that this group is short on magical firepower, having no mage among them to use illusion spells to disguise and protect, for example. A PC group with a good mage among them would make a huge difference to the Tirianers' survival chances.
This young woman is resilient and always optimistic. She has the zeal of a convert, and her energy seems inexhaustible. Her troops admire her, and indeed are proud of her. Even high level PCs should not regard her as some kind of adjutant. If they are smart, they will treat her as an equal. Her troops are almost followers of hers, and will bristle if she is not treated with respect.
Imagena: Alu-fiend with abilities of 9th level mage (Str 17, Int 18). AC 3 (ring of protection +2), hp 32, AL N. Imagena is not listed above, since she wanders Almor widely. Posing as a human mage, her robes hide her wings. She is 5' 5", slim, dark haired and brown eyed. She wears much facial make up, disguising her give away eyebrows, and she deliberately appears fastidious and vain.
Imagena was gated to serve Szeffrin, but she hates the animus. On a whim Szeffrin had her brutally punished for some minor misdemeanor, and she fled Bloodcrystal. Now she wanders Almor alone, giving what help she can to any who appear able to strike any kind of blow against the duke's forces or citadels. She knows much (but not all) of what is going on in Bloodcrystal and Onyxgate, and she could provide much information to PCs about those places and their defenders. She will not do so, however, unless she has first hand evidence that the PCs are capable and competent adventurers able to do something about events in Almor. That means observing them closely for a while, and certainly seeing how the PCs cope with combats with troops, fiends, and the like.
Imagena will not reveal her true nature voluntarily, and her magic resistance might neutralize know alignment spells and other enchantments. If she is detected for what she is, she will truthfully recount her story. If attacked, she will use her dimension door or teleport spells to escape.
Imagena has a dagger +3 and a wand of illusion with 12 charges remaining. She is loath to use the latter, saving its charges for emergencies.
Duke Szeffrin: Animus with abilities of 15th level fighter (Str 18/00, Con 18). AC -5 (plate mail +4, shield +3), hp 121, AL NE. Szeffrin is a freak: he stands exactly seven feet tall, and some have wondered if there is ogrish blood in his veins. Revivification has frozen his features into a virtual death mask. His skin is ashen, his brown eyes unblinking, and his expression unchanging. Oddly, the duke is fastidious about his personal appearance. He spends nearly 20 minutes shaving each day, and his thick black hair is always precisely cropped. Szeffrin has tattoos of dragons on his forearms, a mark of his having slain two such beasts with his longsword +2, dragon slayer. That weapon is intelligent (Int 17) and aligned, with the primary powers of detect good and evil, detect magic, and locate object. Its extraordinary power is X-ray vision. The weapon's special purpose is to slay creatures of NG alignment, and its special purpose power is disintegrate.
Szeffrin was one of Ivid's best generals, and he is a fine army commander and strategist (though a little overly traditional). He never cared how many of his men were slain in battle so long as the day was won; now that many of his forces are undead this is not a substantial weakness. The orcs of Almor are happy enough because they are allowed to loot and pillage freely, but they are terrified of their grim master. Likewise, Szeffrin's human troops are scared witless of the man, but they have poorer morale than the orcs because Szeffrin keeps many of them confined to barracks. And they loathe the proximity of undead creatures and fiends.
Szeffrin does not worry much about the fine details of his dealings with Pazrael. So long as he gets the forces he wants to march on Rauxes and destroy Ivid, that will do. Szeffrin doesn't worry about his own fate either. He has the self hatred of most animuses. Ideally, he would like to leave Pazrael and his fiends to slay more or less anyone they can get their hands on right across Aerdy and meet the release of death himself.
Szeffrin watches Nyrond with some amusement. He knows the westerners are afraid of him, and he organizes a few raids not to disappoint them. But he has no real interest in Nyrond, so long as the troops there remain entrenched in defensive positions and do not interfere with his plans.
Szeffrin has mastered himself these days. He is not prone to the angers and rages of the past. He disciplines himself with precise daily rituals to suppress his dark emotions, but that is not without cost. Szeffrin is effectively permanently depressed; his energy is sapped and he seems deadened. However, when the time comes for his advance on Rauxes, he will surely come to life -- as much as that is possible for an undead creature, of course. Along the way, disposing of Ferrenan is a prospect he looks forward to.
Szeffrin's steed is a nightmare, a gift from Pazrael, and a beast of truly fearsome kind (7+7 HD, 63 hp, and can breathe a stinking cloud three times a day).
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