In chapter 3, the characters succeeded in exposing some or all of the elemental cults surface outposts as nests of villainy. However, the Haunted Keeps represent only the tip of the iceberg. Each cults base of operations lies hidden deep beneath the Sumber Hills in the ancient dwarven redoubt of Tyar-Besil. Clearing the cultists out of the Haunted Keeps deals a sharp setback to the affected cults, but unless the characters follow up on their initial successes by infiltrating the temple complex, the cults recover quickly from their early defeats and return in greater force.
Character Advancement
The characters probably begin this chapter around 6th level. Encourage the players to take on the challenges in this chapter in whatever order they wish-let their interests drive the story. If you want to pace the adventure, the Temple of Howling Hatred suits a 6th-level party; the Temple of the Crushing Wave is appropriate for a 7th-level party; the Temple of Black Earth is designed for an 8th-level group; and the Temple of Eternal Flame works best for a party of 9th-level characters. Each quarter of the dungeon cleared out by the characters should advance the party one level.
Rooting Out Evil
The characters might want to assault the four elemental temples as quickly as possible, but they also need to deal with the cults continuing efforts to corrupt and terrorize the people of the Dessarin Valley. While the characters are busy smashing one temple, the other three cults can do great harm in the area. Between expeditions to Tyar-Besil, the characters would be well advised to continue the investigations they began in chapter 3.
Ultimately, the natural disasters, monster incursions, and upswing in raider activity represent symptoms of a common disease: the presence of the Temple of Elemental Evil. No matter which disasters and events the characters choose to respond to, the solution to the regions woes lies in the great dungeon below the Sumber Hills.
Urgent Summons
Early in this part of the adventure, one or more characters receive messages from their factions, asking for help with other dangers in the area. This opportunity allows you to introduce the players to one of the side treks described in chapter 6.
The summons could be a verbal message entrusted to an NPC waiting in the characters base town. A messenger might brave the wilds to find the characters at their campsite. Magic might be used, such as a sending spell. Whether the party chooses to respond or continue on their current course is up to the players.
The Spys Letter
The characters have a problem in Red Larch: Justran Daehl, the cellarer (ale buyer) of the Helm at Highsun, is a spy for the Cult of the Crushing Wave. He’s been reporting on the partys comings and goings since they arrived in the region. Justran doesn’t sign his letters, but if the characters find one of his reports in Rivergard or in the Temple of the Crushing Wave, they might be able to figure out who he is by looking for the author.
Most townsfolk don’t recognize the handwriting, but those who do regular business with Justran and the Helm at Highsun can identify his script. These include Kaylessa (proprietor of the Swinging Sword Inn), Marlandro Gaelkur (of Gaelkurs), and Aerego Bethendur (the warehouse owner). If the characters show the letter to any of these individuals, the NPC identifies the handwriting. If the players say “we show the letter to everyone in town,” Justran hears about it and flees town before the characters corner him.
If confronted, Justran Daehl denies the charge vehemently. He claims that any letter the characters present as evidence is “a clear forgery” until he sees a chance to escape. The cult spy is equivalent to a bandit captain. If the encounter takes place at the Helm and the characters don’t make a strong case against him, five commoners (tavern regulars) come to his defense. They aren’t cult servants, just bystanders mistaken about Justran and trying to help the cellarer who keeps them in drink.
Poisoned Ale
Justran might take it upon himself to eliminate the characters. When the characters gather for dinner one evening after they return to Red Larch, he arranges to serve them poisoned ale. This has the same effect as a potion of poison, but the characters have advantage on their saving throws because Justran has to dilute the poison among several flagons. (The dilution also makes the poison unlikely to be lethal; Justran is better at making ale than he is at making poison.)
A brief investigation reveals that the poisoned flagons came from the taproom of the Helm at Highsun, and Justran Daehl personally delivered and poured the ale.
Development
If the characters capture Justran, he reveals after brief interrogation that he is a member of the Cult of the Crushing Wave. He knows that an underground stream at Rivergard Keep leads to “the temple below,” although he has never been to the Temple of the Crushing Wave. He also knows that Jolliver Grimjaw and his followers (see chapter 3) are water cultists.
The Temple of Elemental Evil
The four elemental cults maintain their chief stronghold in the ancient dwarven citadel of Tyar-Besil beneath the Sumber Hills. Each cult controls a portion of the old dwarven redoubt and has its own sanctum dedicated specifically to the element worshiped. These four temples are described in this chapter.
Several subterranean routes lead from buried Tyar-Besil to the surface. Knifepoint Gully near Feathergale Spire leads to the Temple of Howling Hatred. The Dark Stream flows under Rivergard Keep, leading to the Temple of the Crushing Wave. The Ancient Stair descends from Sacred Stone Monastery to the Temple of Black Earth. Finally, the Path of Frozen Fire leads from the cellars below Scarlet Moon Hall to the Temple of Eternal Flame. Each elemental cult controls one of these routes and therefore controls the quarter of Tyar-Besil that connects to the surface outpost.
Infiltrating the Temples
Characters who dress in cultist gear might have some success infiltrating the temples. Each cults monstrous allies rarely challenge a group of cultists that proceeds with confidence. Human members of the cult have a good chance to spot impostors at close range, but fast-talking characters might be able to pass themselves off as new arrivals, bearers of important information, or potential allies against another cult. If the characters ask for a prophet or issue threats in the prophets name, they gain advantage on ability checks they make to bluff or intimidate their way into a temple. Fooled cultists insist on leading the party to one of the cults leaders. At least two cultists from any group the characters interact with serve as escorts.
Driving the Cults Into Retreat
The cultists learn and adapt as the characters attack their strongholds. The four temple dungeons described in this chapter each include a room where that cults elemental prophet might be encountered. The first time the characters find their way to one these locations, the prophet is present, and the characters can engage their foe. After one prophet falls, the remaining three prophets retreat to lower levels, leaving their minions to defend the temple dungeons.
The characters defeat each dungeon when they kill its prophet or eliminate the monsters in the elemental shrine in these locations:
- Temple of Howling Hatred: area A19
- Temple of the Crushing Wave: area C25
- Temple of Black Earth: area B23
- Temple of Eternal Flame: area E17
Counterattack
Its dangerous to linger in a stronghold without defeating that dungeons prophet. If the characters try to camp in any of the four temples while its elemental prophet is still alive, the prophet gathers reinforcements and sends them to attack the intruding party. The prophets can organize this strike even if they have retreated down to the Fane of the Eye or the elemental nodes-visions and whisperings from the Eye guide their actions. (However, there are a few specific areas called out within the temple levels where the characters might be able to rest without attracting attention.)
Groups sent up from lower levels of the dungeon include the following:
- Air cult: Howling Hatred priest and four kenku
- Water cult: Crushing Wave priest and four bugbears
- Earth cult: Black Earth priest and two ogres
- Fire cult: Eternal Flame priest and four hobgoblins
See chapter 7 for each priests statistics.
Likewise, it isn’t safe to camp in a cleared Haunted Keep. The elemental prophets divine the characters location and send forces to harass the party. Small bands of cult raiders and mercenaries roam the Sumber Hills, so its a simple matter to order one such group to attack the characters at one of the Haunted Keeps. (See the “Random Encounters” section in chapter 2.) To rest in safety, the characters must either hide their camp or return to a nearby settlement.
Cult Retaliation
The eradication of one or more of the surface outposts of the elemental cults marks the characters as dangerous enemies. As the party continues the assault on cult strongholds in Tyar-Besil, the elemental prophets look for ways to hit back hard, using their devastation orbs.
The timing of these retaliatory encounters coincides with the partys progress in overcoming the four temple complexes. A temple is overcome when its prophet is defeated or the monsters in its shrine are eliminated.
- After the characters defeat the first prophet, run “Dire Tidings” when they return to a settlement.
- After the characters force a second cult to abandon its shrine, run the “Reckless Hate” encounter when the party returns to a settlement.
- After the characters force the third cult to abandon its shrine, run the “Race to Destruction” encounter.
Parties that stay in the dungeon and choose not to return to town might be oblivious to the villains retaliations. If the characters never leave, assume the cultists effort to destroy a town in “Reckless Hate” causes great damage without the characters on hand to stop it. When “Race to Destruction” is triggered, the characters receive a sending or similar warning from a faction NPC that a town is in great danger, providing them with a chance to stop the event.
Dire Tidings
While the characters were busy in ruined Tyar-Besil, elemental cultists used a devastation orb to attack one of the towns in the area. The party learns the news when they arrive at any settlement in the Sumber Hills region. If the characters don’t venture anywhere near civilization, NPCs the party meets in the wilderness deliver the news.
A caravaner tells the characters of seeing silent pilgrims on their way to the settlement in question. She describes the pilgrims garb well enough for the characters to know the pilgrims were elemental cultists. They carried a box, which had elemental symbols worked into it. The caravaner and her servants then witnessed the devastation but were too far away to lend any aid.
If the characters visit the wrecked town, they can confirm the scope of the damage. They learn from survivors that the cultists marched to the center of town, opened the box, took out an orb, and then ran for the hills, leaving the orb behind. The disaster happened scant minutes later. Many townspeople were injured, and the survivors are tending to the wounded in makeshift shelters.
Reckless Hate
When the characters defeat a second elemental temple, the offended cult strikes back. Through divinations, spy reports, or visions bestowed by the Elder Elemental Eye, the cultists learn which settlement the player characters are using for a base and send a small force with a devastation orb to ravage that settlement-preferably with the characters in it. While the characters rest, trouble arrives on their doorstep.
If the characters make camp outside of town, this encounter occurs when the characters spot the cultist group traveling to a settlement they intend to attack. The cultists path brings them close to wherever the characters happen to be staying. For example, if the characters are camped out near one of the Haunted Keeps, they spot the group as it exits the passage connecting the keep to the dungeon levels.
Shortly after sunrise the day after you arrive in town, you hear a commotion outside. Someone shouts, “Hey, stop that!” A moment later voices break into a low, strange chanting.
When the characters investigate, add the following information.
Several strangely dressed people stand in the street. One who looks like a priest chants as the others open a large box engraved with a recurring elemental symbol. Inside, a magical orb resembling a crystal ball pulses and thrums with power. The priest holds the orb aloft and continues to chant while the others kneel before it.
The object is a devastation orb, and its ready to explode. The cultists remove the device from its case and wait for it to detonate. See chapter 7 for descriptions of the devastation orbs and statistics for the cultists. The groups composition depends on which cult is involved:
- One Howling Hatred priest, one hurricane, and eight Howling Hatred initiates armed with a
devastation orb of air - One Black Earth priest, two Black Earth guards, and four Sacred Stone monks armed with a
devastation orb of earth - One Eternal Flame priest, three Eternal Flame guardians, and one flamewrath armed with a
devastation orb of fire - One Crushing Wave priest and six Crushing Wave reavers armed with a
devastation orb of water
Race to Destruction
After the characters despoil the third shrine in the Temple of Elemental Evil, the remaining cult sends a powerful force with a devastation orb from the Fane of the Eye (see chapter 5) to destroy another town in the Dessarin Valley. The cultists taunt the party with their intentions, hoping to lure the characters into rushing to stop them, thus being caught in the destruction. Choose a target the characters have to travel to reach and allow enough time that the party can get there just in time.
The Warning
While the characters rest, the cultists use a dream spell to contact the most prominent or recognizable character in the party.
Your sleep is troubled this night. Half-remembered figments and warnings seem to hover in your mind. Then a shadowy figure strides into your minds eye and brushes aside your wandering thoughts. “Hear me well, fool,” it sneers. “You have offended the Elder Elemental Eye. For your sacrilege, others shall be punished. At sunset the day after tomorrow, we will destroy the town of Beliard. You can try to stop us, but you will fail; none shall survive. This is the price of your defiance.”
A new vista forms in your dream. You are standing on a hillside above a small town. A circle of shadowy cultists stands nearby, gazing at a glowing orb in the center of the circle. The orb pulses, and you awaken with a start.
The threat to Beliard is real. The cultists wait a couple of miles outside of town, staying out of sight until the specified time of the attack. If the characters search the outskirts of town, they can engage the cultists away from the target. Otherwise, the cultists march on the town with a devastation orb an hour before sunset. The group depends on which cult is involved.
- Two Feathergale knights mounted on hippogriffs, one skyweaver, one hurricane, and five bugbears
- One Dark Tide knight mounted on a giant crocodile, one fathomer, one Crushing Wave priest, and six bandits
- One burrowshark mounted on a bulette, and two Black Earth guards
- Three Eternal Flame guardians, two minotaurs, and four hell hounds
These cultists are willing to annihilate themselves in the process of carrying out their mission. The cultists are also under orders to make sure they catch the characters in the blast, so if they are intercepted away from town, they still try to set off the orb (see chapter 7).
Temple of Howling Hatred
When the characters follow the tunnel from Knifepoint Gully (see chapter 3), read the following text:
An enormous chasm splits the earth as far as the eye can see in the pervasive subterranean darkness. A crude, narrow stairway hugs the rock alongside the chasm, twisting madly in hairpin turns around sharp outcroppings. Jagged and uneven, the stair threatens to spill travelers into the chasms mouth. After several treacherous miles, the stairway terminates on a broad, flat landing that juts out over the immense black chasm. In the gloom, a lost dwarven city lays in ruins beneath the glittering cavern vault. Broken statues stand in the midst of empty plazas, staring sightlessly into the darkness. A huge step pyramid rises at the edge of the precipice, and from the moat that surrounds it a misty waterfall whispers over the chasms ledge.
The Cult of the Howling Hatred established its temple in the southwest quarter of ancient Tyar-Besil, where the dwarves built a palace in a vast cavern upon the edge of a great chasm. Where the caverns glittering, mineral-encrusted ceiling rose high, the dwarves constructed spacious plazas in which they carved towering statues, elaborate pillars, and enormous monuments. They worked the natural stone of the cavern and carved barracks and other living quarters into the rock, connecting them via lamplit passageways. Though it was a fortress, some commerce and art was present, with a rudimentary bazaar and dwarven skalds filling the air with chanted verse. With the aid of a friendly djinni, the dwarves constructed a pyramid-shaped palace at the center of the cavern, surrounded by a moat fed by an underground stream. Dwarven innovation provided the cavern with light, fresh water, and sewage disposal.
Temple Features
Beneath a high cavern ceiling, streets connect a number of spacious plazas where wealthy dwarven families built estates. With the aid of a captive djinni, the air cult works to restore the Tyar-Besil palace and transform it into Aerisi Kalinoths new Temple of Howling Hatred. The area has the following features. Any exceptions are noted in areas to which they apply.
Ceilings
Interior ceilings are 15 feet high except in the central plaza, where the ceiling is 75 feet high.
Chasm. The chasm plummets 200 feet.
Doors
Single doors are made from stone slabs balanced on central pivots. Opening a door creates two gaps, each about 3 feet wide. No locks remain operable, but some doors are stuck. It takes a successful DC 15 Strength check to force open a stuck door.
Double doors have iron hinges and swing open in one direction or the other, like normal doors.
Music. Music being played in area A4 can be heard faintly in areas A1, A6, and the southern section of A10. Its louder in areas A2, A3, and A16.
Treasure
Although air cultists rarely do, many denizens of the air temple carry small amounts of treasure. Kenku value shiny baubles, and they always have such treasure. Creatures that own individual treasure have
A1. Palace Quarter Entrance
The carved reliefs of two dwarves face one another in profile to complete an arch beyond the ledge. Through the arch, the blocky contours of a lost dwarven city sprawl in the subterranean night. From somewhere within comes an agonized wail, followed by a breathless ramble of whimpering pleas. Then the whole city seems to join the chorus with the screams of creatures mad from torment.
The tormented screams actually come from four Kenku lurking inside the gatehouse (area A2).
A2. Gatehouse
A squat stone gatehouse stands at the entrance to the dwarven city. Beyond the open gates, an arched corridor zigzags past sturdy stone walls where arrow slits squint from every angle. At the far end of this murderous hallway stands the entrance to this lost dwarven city.
Four kenku occupy the gatehouse structure, hidden behind the arrow slits. They don’t reveal themselves to the characters unless the characters discover and attack them through the arrow slits. They torment the characters by replicating the screams and pleas of the tormented victims of the kenku torturer (area A12).
Arrow Slit Corners
The gatehouse was designed in a zigzag pattern to provide cover for dwarf defenders while slowing their foes progress. Each corner on either side of the gatehouse holds two arrow slits, allowing creatures inside the gatehouse structure to fire in multiple directions on creatures within the gatehouse passageway. Each arrow slit is also fitted with an iron shutter, which can be closed and latched so that a creature within the gatehouse is only vulnerable from a single direction.
A3. Machine Chamber
Two massive stone pillars thread holes in the floor and ceiling of this vast chamber. Stone crossbeams pierce the pillars to form spokes, creating giant wheels.
Two robed figures whip five sorry-looking humans into pushing against the crossbeams of the westernmost wheel with all their might. As the wheel turns slowly counterclockwise, you hear the grinding of enormous gears hidden deep below the stone floor.
Two howling hatred priest (see chapter 7) supervise as five commoner slowly turn the westernmost wheel (see “Stone Wheels” below). After completing one revolution, they stop and await further instructions.
The commoners are cultists on the brink of becoming initiates. The priests lash these cultists to break their will before final initiation into the cult. If the characters attack, the priests order the commoners to fight to the death. A commoner can be frightened into surrendering with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Intimidation) check.
Stone Wheels
The stone wheels operate an elaborate mechanism beneath the floor in this dungeon complex. The mechanism controls how much water fills the moat (area A11). Turning either wheel one revolution clockwise lowers the moats water level by 10 feet. Turning a wheel one revolution counterclockwise raises the water level 10 feet. A wheel cant be turned more than one revolution in either direction.
A4. Plaza of the Muses
A stone fountain stands in the middle of a grand plaza, its sides sculpted into the shapes of dwarves bearing drums and horns. Near the fountain, several figures in feathered attire play a shrill, discordant tune on flutes made of bone.
The figures gathered by the fountain are the Windwyrds, a musical group consisting of Aerisi Kalinoths minstrel, Windharrow, and five howling hatred initiate (see chapter 7 for both). None of the initiates possesses an ounce of musical talent.
If the characters approach the Windwyrds peacefully, the cultists stop playing. Frustrated with the mediocre initiates, Windharrow asks if the characters are skilled musicians and if they would like to audition for the band.
If a bard character or a character proves his or her ability to Windharrow, he recruits the characters into the band and offers them the initiates robes and flutes. Windharrow doesn’t tell the characters what happens to minstrels who displease Aerisi Kalinoth.
If the characters adopt the garments and instruments of the Windwyrds, they stand a chance of passing through the air cults domain without difficulty.
Bone Flutes
The minstrels flutes are the hollowed and carved bones of former Windwyrds who failed to please Aerisi Kalinoth with their music. A character can tell the instruments are humanoid bones with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check.
Development
If caught in a fight he knows he’s going to lose, Windharrow flees to area A19.
A5. Tyar-Besil Shops
The proprietors of these shops are long gone, but carvings above the doors indicate the owners former professions: tailor, jeweler, smith, baker. All that remains of these places now are small, rubble-strewn rooms.
A cloaker that hunts in the old Tyar-Besil shops moved into the area as soon as a food source (the cult) arrived. Whenever the characters enter one of the shops, they have a twenty-five percent chance of encountering the cloaker. The creature is either disguised in plain sight as a cloak or hiding on the ceiling. The cloaker uses hit-and-run tactics against the characters, rather than risking itself in a drawn-out fight.
Treasure
The cloaker has collected all the valuables left in the area, as well as the wealth of its victims. It has amassed coins and valuables worth 150 gp.
A6. Plaza of Vergadain
The worn image of a smiling dwarf on the face of a coin is stamped into the flagstones that pave this plaza. An old sign bearing this same image hangs above the door of a large hall in the center of the plaza.
Seven kenku wander the lane behind the hall, searching through the rubble for treasure. As the characters near the lane, the kenku hide and attempt to frighten the party away with ghostly sounds from the gloom.
A7. Plaza of Moradin
Several streets converge on a plaza, in the center of which stands a thirty-foot-tall granite statue of Moradin grasping a great stone lantern in an outstretched fist. A bright light emanates from the lantern, revealing ruined shops around the plaza, their inner chambers extending into the rock.
Two howling hatred initiate, one hurricane, one skyweaver, and two kenku are stationed here to watch for incursions by Underdark predators. (See chapter 7 for the cultists statistics.)
North Tunnel
The bent tunnel to the north leads to area E27 of the Temple of Eternal Flame.
Statue
The statue of Moradin is made of solid granite except for its eyes and the panels of the lantern, which are fashioned from quartz. A continual flame spell cast within the lanterns hollow interior brightly lights this plaza.
A8. Ruined Villa
The freestanding buildings in this part of the city are little more than crumbling shells and heaps of rubble. Deep holes split the cobblestone streets and buildings gape wide open, walls turned to rubble. Motes of dust float in the air, and in the silent gloom something scratches at the stones.
An umber hulk lairs here among the broken buildings. The air cult drove its usual prey away, and now the umber hulk feasts on cultists that wander into its territory. The umber hulk strikes from behind rock walls to seize its prey before burrowing away again. The air cult suffers at least one loss each week to the umber hulk, which is devious enough to cover its tunnels.
Treasure
Searching through the ruined villa uncovers 92 gp, a miniature electrum anvil with etchings of funerary rites in honor of Moradin (150 gp), and an immovable rod.
A9. Tombs
Gigantic stone doors covered in twin reliefs of dwarven gods in profile loom fifteen feet high. The dwarven gods bear somber expressions and formal regalia. The doors are spiked shut from the outside.
The reliefs portray Dumathoin, the Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain, and Marthammor Duin, the Watcher and Finder of Trails. Besilmer dwarves revered these gods as watchers over their dead.
The air cultists started exploring the tombs, but they suspended their exploration after ghoul attacks. They and have closed off the tombs.
Opening the doors requires removing the wedged spikes, which takes a few minutes with the right tools. A successful DC 25 Strength check allows a character to force the doors without removing the spikes. If the characters open the doors, read the following text:
Beyond the doors, the floor declines toward a great chasm. The tombs and crypts of dwarves sprawl like a city in miniature before the chasms edge. Emaciated figures appear from behind these tombs and fix their hungry eyes upon you.
Ten ghoul prowl the grounds and attack as soon as they realize the doors have opened. If any cultists remain in area A7, the hear the fighting and retreat to the palace (area A18).
Treasure
If the characters loot the tombs of the Tyar-Besil, they find
A10. Palace Plaza
A deep moat surrounds a plaza consisting of a step pyramid encircled by a stone walkway. Stone colonnades to the north and east span the moat and connect the plaza to other parts of the ruined dwarven enclave. A short bridge spans the moat to the south. Holding up the bridge and colonnades are enormous statues of dwarves submerged up to their necks. Perched atop the pyramid and watching over the vault is a humanoid figure in a feathered cloak mounted on a large, draconic creature. The water in the moat flows west before plunging over a waterfall into a dark abyss. The sound of rushing water echoes like thunder within this vault, the ceiling of which glitters with mineral deposits like a perpetual starry night.
A skyweaver (see chapter 7) named Kaz Hanar and his wyvern mount perch atop the pyramid, guarding the plaza. They swoop down to attack anyone who isn’t dressed as an air cultist.
If the characters are disguised as air cultists, Kaz lands upon the nearest bridge or colonnade and asks them where they are going. Kaz doesn’t care much about their answers; he’s bored and looking for an excuse to exert his authority. If disguised, the characters must provide a halfway compelling story to convince Kaz to let them pass. If they fail to convince Kaz, he and his wyvern refuse to let them pass.
The ceiling of the vault is 75 feet above the walkway and roughly hewn. The step pyramid once served as the dwarven palace of Tyar-Besil. It has two levels (areas A18 and A19), and each level is 20 feet tall.
The pillared colonnade that spans the moat north of the plaza leads to area A7. A similar but longer colonnade to the east is described in area A17. The bridge to the south leads to area A16.
A11. Moat
Walls of smoothly chiseled stone enclose this 20-foot-deep moat. An underground stream pours into the moat, filling it with water.
A stone golem shaped like a 12-foot-tall, 9-foot-wide dwarf patrols the moat by walking along its floor, attacking any creatures that fall into it. When the moat is full, the golem is hidden under dark waters. As the moat drains, the golem is revealed. The golem never leaves the moat. The Besilmer dwarves knew the command words to control the golem; those words have been lost.
Waterfall
A large gap in the west wall leads to a 200-foot-deep chasm. Water from the moat drains into this chasm, forming a waterfall. At the start of its turn, a creature swimming in the westernmost stretch of the moat is pulled 20 feet toward the chasm by the current unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check.
Treasure
Over the ages, many unfortunate creatures have met their deaths in the moat, leaving some of their treasures scattered haphazardly across the bottom. Among the rusted weapons and dented armor are gold and silver items, including torcs and rings set with semi-precious stones, pendants, brooches, and the like, worth about 600 gp total. In addition, a platinum goblet set with rubies (worth 2,500 gp) lays on the moats floor.
A12. Moradins Shrine
Frescoes cover two walls of this chamber, one depicting the creation of the dwarves by Moradin, the other a massive battle between orcs and dwarves. The far wall is pocked and pitted with holes in the masonry where gemstones once surrounded an altar in the shape of an anvil. Now only the chipped remnants of garnets and agates remain. In the middle of the room, three bird-headed creatures torment a group of shackled prisoners.
This room contains three kenku and five bound and shackled human commoner. One kenku tortures the prisoners while the other two mimic the prisoners cries of agony.
Prisoners
Four of the prisoners are human travelers who were drugged and kidnapped by cultists in Yartar. They were shipped downriver to be indoctrinated into the cult or sacrificed. One of the prisoners is Bero Gladham. If freed, he tells the characters that his wife Nerise was “taken below” by the cultists.
Development
If the prisoners are returned to their homes, their families offer a reward of 50 gp per prisoner returned.
A13. Vergadains Hall
This building was once a dwarven hall for feasting. Old wooden tables lay scattered and broken throughout the long main room, and three gigantic casks line the wall behind what was once a beautiful oak bar. Behind the casks are doors for loading and unloading the casks.
The air cult uses the hall as a meditation area. At any time, five howling hatred initiate, one hurricane, and one skyweaver can be found here, levitating above the ground and chanting. See chapter 7 for the cultists statistics. The hurricane carries a storm boomerang (see chapter 7) and gains the following action option:
Storm Boomerang
Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit; range 60/120 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (
Casks
The gigantic casks once held fine dwarven ale, but they have been dry for centuries.
A14. Living Quarters
These buildings are more or less intact, although the furnishings and decorations have long since been removed. Shards of rubble, broken pottery, and bits of bone litter the floor.
Air cultist use these areas as sleeping quarters. If the characters are disguised as cultists, they can rest here for a time. If the characters don’t mimic the manner of the cult (levitating, meditating, or practicing breathing exercises), any cultists present begin to ask questions.
Random Encounters
Check for a random encounter when the characters enter one of the apartments and every 10 minutes that they remain. Roll a
A14. Living Quarters Random Encounters
| d20 | Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | 1 kenku (see area A12) |
| 7-20 | None |
East Tunnel
This tunnel leads east to area C20 of the Temple of the Crushing Wave.
A15. Plaza of Fallen Spires
Cracked flagstones of ultramarine marble pave this plaza. An avenue to the east ends at a wall of fallen masonry and stone. To the west, a pillared colannade stretches across a moat to a step pyramid.
Ahtayir, a djinni in a torn vest and ragged pantaloons, labors here. His noble countenance bears a stoic expression as he carves a boulder with stone carving tools.
Torhild Flametongue, king of the Besilmer dwarves, possessed a horn that could summon Ahtayir once every one hundred and one years. By the power of the horn, the summoned djinni was obligated to complete a single service or task. The palace quarter of the dwarven city was partly constructed by the djinni.
When Aerisi Kalinoth discovered the horn, she commanded the djinni to restore the dwarven city to its former glory. Torhild tasked the djinni with the daunting task of keeping the palace quarter in good repair - a task he has been performing now for centuries.
When Aerisi Kalinoth arrived, she took possession of the horn but refused to free the djinni from his previously assigned task.
Treasure
If the characters befriend Ahtayir and sunder the horn that summons him, the djinni brings each character a flask of bottled breath (see chapter 7) from his palace on the Plane of Air.
A16. Obelisk Row
Three tapered obelisks, their sides inscribed with ancient pictographs, stand in a row, their peaks scraping the fifteen-foot-high ceiling. Each obelisk has a gaunt human tied to its base. Around the obelisks, a colored cobblestone mosaic depicts Moradin, a huge warhammer slung over his shoulder.
The obelisks are made of granite. They stand 15 feet tall and are 4 feet wide at the base. Lashed to the obelisks with thick ropes are three howling hatred initiate (see chapter 7) suffering from extreme starvation. They suffer from level 4
The initiates wear cult garb and are being tested. If the characters try to free them, they protest, claiming that their cult masters are teaching them how to “survive on air alone.”
A17. The Palace Way
This stone colonnade spans the moat surrounding the step pyramid. Stone pillars line the way like enormous trees, engraved with the names and likenesses of notable dwarves of the past. Broken pieces of wood and stone litter the floor.
If the characters haven’t already dealt with Kaz Hanar (see area A10), add the following:
The colonnade ends at a walkway enclosing a step pyramid to the west. Perched atop the pyramid is a large draconic creature with a humanoid rider. The rider wears a feathered cloak.
The creatures atop the step pyramid are Kaz Hanar and his wyvern mount (see area A10 for details). They confront characters who approach the pyramid along this colonnade.
A18. Grand Hall
Two rows of pillars support the twenty-foot-high ceiling of this marble hall. The pillars are sculpted to resemble dwarves locked in solemn stares. Each one clutches a stone axe. East of the pillars are two ascending marble staircases without handrails. In the middle of the room, several cultists in gray feathered robes levitate a few feet above the floor while chanting a hymn. Howling air rises from a pit in the middle of the floor.
One hurricane, one skyweaver, and five howling hatred initiate (see chapter 7 for statistics) guard this room, levitating three feet above the floor as they chant a hymn to Yan-C-Bin. The levitation effect ends on a cultist if he or she moves or takes damage. Each initiate carries two seeker darts (see chapter 7) and gains the following attack option:
Seeker Dart
Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, and the hurricane gains advantage on the attack roll; range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (
If the characters are disguised as air cultists, the cultists stationed here ignore them unless attacked. Otherwise, the cultists cease their chanting and attack. Sounds of combat in this room alert the creatures in area A19, but no reinforcements from that area arrive.
Pit
The pit is actually a 10-foot-square vertical shaft of smooth stone that descends to the Howling Caves (see chapter 5). The updraft slows the descent of any creature that leaps or falls into the pit, as if a feather fall spell had been cast on it. Air cultists are trained to ascend the shaft by catching the wind with their cloaks and wingwear.
A19. Temple of Elemental Air
The stairs rise twenty feet to a spacious, twenty-foot-high chamber containing a map of an ancient dwarven realm meticulously etched into the flagstone floor. At the far end of the chamber, a high throne atop a marble dais overlooks all. Peaked arcades hung with gossamer sky-blue curtains run the length of the chamber on either side. From behind these a heady incense wafts, its sweet smoke moving like a creature of air.
Behind the high throne, a great spiraling horn rests in an alcove.
This chamber once served as a seat of power for the dwarf king of Besilmer and his war council. Engraved on the floor is a map of the ancient dwarven kingdom. The air cult has turned it into a den of vice and depravity. If this is the first of the elemental temples the characters explore, the air prophet Aerisi Kalinoth sits upon the high throne overseeing her court, her illusory wings gently fanning the air. She keeps her magic spear,
If Aerisi isn’t here, a vrock, whose service was a gift from a demonic envoy, guards the temple alone. It lurks behind the throne and attacks any non-cultists that enter the hall. The drug-addled initiates don’t aid the vrock and fight only in self-defense.
Roleplaying Aerisi Kalinoth
Aerisi rules the Cult of the Howling Hatred like an imperious, vain, and tempestuous queen. She is oblivious to compassion or kindness unless such gestures are directed her way. She sees ordinary mortals as expendable, weak-willed toys and has brought many individuals to the Cult of the Howling Hatred by seducing them with her powers of enchantment. She’s obsessed with the avariel (winged elves), so she has given herself illusory wings so she can pretend to be one.
She knows about the characters and their exploits, but her pride doesn’t permit her to view them as a threat. If they accuse her of malfeasance, she tells the characters that the Cult of the Black Earth is trying to frame her followers by posing as air cultists, hoping to trick the characters into going after her hated rival. If the characters seem eager to fight the earth cultists, Aerisi grants them safe passage from her territory.
If seriously opposed, Aerisi uses an action to blow the horn (see below). The djinni Ahtayir (area A15) arrives at the end of Aerisis next turn. She orders the djinni to cover her escape and flies down the shaft in area A18.
Horn
Etchings of cloudy landscapes encircle the horn, where a pyramid palace seems to float upon a cloud bank among groves of palm, fig, and date trees. Blowing the horn calls forth the djinni Ahtayir, who must then perform a single task for the one who summoned him. Once that task is complete, Ahtayir is free to return to his estate on the Elemental Plane of Air and cant be summoned again in this manner for one hundred and one years. The horn can be sundered by a single hit from a weapon that deals 10 damage or more. If the horn is sundered, Ahtayir can no longer be summoned by it.
Treasure
Aerisi wears a platinum torc (worth 1,600 gp), gold and sapphire rings (four, each worth 1,000 gp), and a diadem (6,400 gp) from Evereska. She carries Windvane (see chapter 7) and a spellbook containing all of the spells she has prepared (see her statistics in chapter 7).
Development
If the characters defeat the djinni and her cultists, Aerisi (and Windharrow, if he is present) flee to the Howling Caves via the shaft in area A18.
The first time Aerisi Kalinoth drops to 0 hit points, she vanishes in a screaming gust of wind, leaving Windvane behind.
A20. Worms Tunnel
This large, unlit room is empty save for one feature. Sticking up out of a large hole in the floor is the skeletal head of a great worm, its mouth agape.
The dead worm is all that remains of a purple worm killed by dwarves. The bones of several dead dwarves lie where the worms gullet used to be. Characters can climb through the skeleton to access the tunnel it left behind. The tunnel is 10 feet wide and leads down to area F1 in the Fane of the Eye (see chapter 5).
Conclusion
If Aerisi is defeated, the air cultists in the Temple of Howling Hatred scatter and flee. Some abandon the cult for good, and others retreat to the Fane of the Eye and the Howling Caves. Track these cultists as you wish.
Temple of the Crushing Wave
The Cult of the Crushing Wave maintains its headquarters in the southeast quarter of ancient Tyar-Besil. Long ago, this portion of Tyar-Besil contained storehouses. The Dark Stream provided a safe, navigable waterway linking the stronghold with the Dessarin River and the surface dominions of the realm.
Gar Shatterkeel, the Prophet of Water, instructed his followers to claim as much of the quarter as they could and to entice monsters friendly to the cults cause to establish lairs nearby.
The Dark Stream
An underground stream connects the Temple of the Crushing Wave to the surface. The stream originates from a large spring in this part of the ancient dwarven stronghold. It flows through tunnels and caverns for about 2 miles before passing under Rivergard Keep and emptying into the Dessarin River. The stream is sluggish, and it isn’t hard to row or pole a boat against the current.
Random Encounters. Each time the characters travel the Dark Stream to or from the Temple of the Crushing Wave, roll a
Darkmantles and piercers drop from the tunnel ceiling into the boat. Troglodytes hurl javelins from the shore where the Dark Stream passes through an open cavern. Water weirds and chuuls lurk in the stream and attack from the water.
Temple of the Crushing Wave Random Encounters
| d20 | Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | 1 water weird |
| 6 | 1 chuul |
| 7-20 | None |
Temple Features
This quarter has the following features. Any exceptions are noted in areas to which they apply.
Ceilings
Ceilings are 15 feet high.
Doors
Doors consist of stone slabs balanced on central pivots-opening a door creates two gaps about 3 feet wide. No locks remain operable, but the cultists secure some doors with a hasp-and-pin closure. Characters can force open such doors with a successful DC 15 Strength check.
Double doors have iron hinges and swing open in one direction or the other, like normal doors.
Canals
The lakes and canals in this area have a water level about 5 feet below the floor level of the surrounding dungeon. The canals are 15 feet deep. A sluggish current flows southward down both canals from the waterfalls at area C25.
A character who falls into a canal finds that the sides are smooth and slippery. It is very hard to cling to the wall or to climb out, unless a quay is nearby.
Light
Cultists illuminate areas they use frequently with continual flame spells cast on torches in bronze wall sconces. The rest of the level is dark.
Quays
Some areas adjacent to canals are quays, with several steps leading from the floor level down to just 1 foot above water level.
Treasure
Many denizens of the temple carry small amounts of treasure. Creatures that own individual treasure have
C1. Lake Landing
If the characters arrive by boat from the stream, read the following text:
Firelight shines from a large cavern ahead. The stream opens into a large underground lake. To the right, a crumbling stone quay leads to a tunnel heading northeast. A ten-foot skiff is moored to the quay, and a torch burns in a bronze sconce by the tunnel mouth. Beside the quay, a twenty-foot wide canal leads north from the large lake. The lake stretches westward into darkness.
If the characters find their way here from other parts of the dungeon, read the following text instead:
The passage opens into a large, dark cavern filled by a subterranean lake. At the east end of the lake, a torch illuminates a stone quay with a ten-foot skiff tied up alongside it. The west end of the lake disappears into darkness.
The quay leading to area C4 might or might not be visible, depending on which direction the party approaches from. It isn’t illuminated and hard to see in the darkness.
The landing at the east end of the cavern is guarded by four crushing wave reaver and one fathomer commanded by a Dark Tide knight named Eyon (see chapter 7 for the cultists statistics). Eyons mount, a hunter shark, swims in the lake nearby. The cultists challenge any strange boats that approach from the east and attack unless the characters convince them to parley.
Roleplaying Eyon
If the characters succeed in opening negotiations, Eyon questions them with a good deal of suspicion. She is a hard-bitten, callous mercenary who expects only the worst from people. The instant Eyon decides the characters are trying to string her along, she orders her reavers to attack.
The reavers know that most enemies are at a serious disadvantage in the water. If they attack an enemy standing on the edge of the quay or on a boat, reavers attempt to use the “Shoving a Creature” special attack to push a character into the water. (The water is 15 feet deep near the quay.) Eyon prefers to fight from the water while mounted on her shark, using her lance against enemies in a boat or at the waters edge. She fights on foot if the characters don’t cooperate by moving close to the water.
Treasure
Eyon has a waterproofed leather pouch on her belt that contains 15 gp, 6 pp, five delicately carved coral gemstones worth 80 gp each, and a potion of healing.
Development
If the characters defeat these cultists and then leave this part of the dungeon, the guards are replaced by the cultists in area C7 within an hour.
C2. Canals
A twenty-foot wide canal leads between ancient masonry walls into darkness. The water moves sluggishly, indicating a weak current. Torchlight flickers in the distance.
Torches positioned near the bridges at areas C6, C15, and C24 provide illumination; from just about any point the characters find the canal, they can see one of the bridge torches.
The dwarves of Besilmer built the canal to channel the spring in area C26 away from their delvings and link their citys mercantile district with the world above. The water is 15 feet deep. A character can pole a boat through a canal at a speed of 10 feet.
Random Encounters
Aquatic creatures wander the canals. Check for a random encounter once every per hour while the party is swimming or moving by boat anywhere on a canal. Roll a
The giant octopus attacks any small group it encounters. Other monsters attack parties they identify as intruders.
C2. Canals Random Encounters
| d20 | Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 2-3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | 1 giant octopus (see area C3) |
| 6 | 1 dragon turtle (see area C21) |
| 7-20 | None |
C3. Whisper Lake
This underground lake is dark, still, and cold. To the west, the lake ends at a gravel shore, and a faint glimmer of torchlight hints at a channel or canal to the north. To the south, a crumbling stone quay leads to a dark passageway. At the east end of the lake, another torch burns above a larger quay, with another passageway leading east. A second canal leads north from the eastern portion of the lake, and the glimmer of light comes from that direction, as well.
The ceiling of this cavern is a dome, at its highest point almost 50 feet above the water. The lake is 20 feet deep near the cavern walls, dropping to 60 feet in the middle. The lake earns its name from a trick of acoustics. A mere whisper spoken in area C1 can easily be heard in area C19, and vice versa.
The lake is home to small blind cave fish. A giant octopus lurks in a grotto to the south, behind a column of rock that supports the cavern ceiling. The creature attacks swimmers or boaters who approach within 30 feet of its lair.
C4. Drowning Chambers
A dank, rotten smell pervades this chamber. The floor is perforated by eight small pools, each about 3 feet wide and filled to the brim with black, stinking water. Several large stones lie on the floor near the pools, each wrapped several times around by lengths of old rope. A symbol is painted on the southern wall-a shape like an X with the bottom limbs linked by a horizontal line.
Long ago this chamber served as the harbormasters post, but the Crushing Wave cult rededicated it as a place to ceremonially drown captives. Each of the pools is 10 feet deep. The stones average about 50 pounds, and the ropes are used to bind a victims feet together before pushing him or her into the pool.
Twelve aquatic ghoul (which have a swimming speed of 30 feet) lurk in this chamber-previous victims of the cults obscene rite. Eight are submerged in the pools where they died, and four more skulk in the shadows of the ruined enclosure at the west end of the room. The monsters hide so they can surprise intruders.
If the ghouls succeed in paralyzing a character, the nearest one uses an action to tie one of the heavy stones to the paralyzed characters feet. On the following turn, the ghoul shoves the paralyzed character into one of the drowning pools. Swimming to the surface with a tethered stone requires a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check, and wriggling free of the tether in the confined space requires a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
C5. Gaol
An iron hasp-and-pin arrangement secures the door to this room. The lock cant be reached from inside but is easy to undo from the corridor.
This room evidently serves as a prison. A half-dozen straw pallets covered by threadbare blankets are spread out on the floor, and a cask of water leans against one wall. A dark, slit-like window looks out to the west.
The cultists currently hold no prisoners in this makeshift jail. If the characters are defeated in the temple, they are stripped of their gear and confined here while Gar Shatterkeel decides how best to dispose of them.
C6. Victory Bridge
The stairs on each side of the canal climb 10 feet from the quays, so the bridge is 15 feet above the water level.
A stone bridge spans the canal in a single elegant arch. Steps on each side climb up to the bridge. The bridge has a low stone balustrade, and its weathered sides are carved with images of dwarven battles. A single torch burns at the apex of the bridge.
The bridge was elevated well above the water so that the dwarves who built this level could move large boats and barges freely up and down the canal.
C7. Reaver Barracks
This old chamber has been furnished with six plain wooden bunks and sacks of provisions. Stone doors exit to the south and the west.
Crushing Wave cultists who guard the lake landing (area C1) bunk here. Six double bunks serve nine reavers, a priest, a fathomer, and a Dark Tide knight named Eyon. At any given time, five crushing wave reaver and one Crushing Wave priest are here (see chapter 7 for the cultists statistics).
Cultists in this room are usually off-duty and might be asleep; roll
C8. Ancient Silos
There are two of these rooms, both identical.
This large room is strewn with crumbling masonry. A dry pit lies in the middle of the floor, ringed by a five-foot-wide walkway.
These two rooms were once granaries for the dwarven citadel, but any food stored here rotted away long ago. The silo spaces are each 30 feet deep. Other than the possibility of a nasty fall, these rooms provide safe places for the party to rest.
C9. North Guard Post
The doors leading into this room are secured by hasps and pins from inside. Read the following text when the characters approach a door:
This stone door has an iron plate about one foot square set in its middle.
Each door has a small square hole covered with a sliding iron plate. The cultists in the room (see below) use the holes to make crossbow attacks at intruders in the hallways. Opening or closing a hole cover requires an action. Normally one cultist operates the hole cover while another shoots. Only one cultist can shoot out of a hole at a time.
Read the following if the characters enter or peer into the room:
This room is bunk room and guard post. Sturdy bronze hasps are fitted to the two stone doors, and each door features a loophole covered by a small iron plate at chest level on a human. A round table and four rickety wooden chairs stand in the middle of the room. There are ten bunks here, although half of them don’t appear to be in use.
This guard post is manned by a one-eyed shiver named Khalt, a Dark Tide knight named Gordol, and three crushing wave reaver (see chapter 7 for all). Khalt is in charge, and he runs a tight ship. These reavers are armed with light crossbows instead of javelins (+4 to hit,
Treasure
Khalt has a pouch containing 30 gp, 12 pp, four garnets worth 100 gp each, and two potions of greater healing.
Development
If the characters defeat these cultists and then leave this level of the dungeon, the cultists replace these guards with four Crushing Wave reavers from area C23.
C10. Gargoyle Fountain
This chamber has been badly damaged. Several collapsed columns and buckling walls speak to the passage of many long years, but one feature remains curiously intact: a stone fountain in the middle of the west wall. It consists of a ten-foot-wide semicircular stone basin of water, with a grinning gargoyle perched on a pedestal jutting out from the wall. Stone doors exit to the north and the south.
Two nothic occupy the room, hiding behind the broken columns and rubble choking the eastern part of the chamber. The nothics took up residence here in the hopes that unwary cult members might be easy prey for an ambush or unwittingly yield secrets of power to the monsters weird insight. They let large and well-armed parties pass through unmolested, but then attempt to pick off a character bringing up the rear.
Gargoyle Fountain
The fountain is fed through a well-engineered system that taps the hidden spring in area C26. An ancient blessing provides the fountain with modest healing powers; anyone who drinks from it gains the benefits of having finished a short rest, but an individual who benefits from the fountains magic cant do so again for 24 hours. The water loses its healing power if removed from the fountain.
North Tunnel
This tunnel leads north to area B11 of the Temple of Black Earth.
C11. Court of the Merfolk
An ancient fountain shaped like three dancing merfolk stands in the middle of this court. The fountain is dry, and the sculpture has been badly damaged-two of the merfolk are missing their arms, and the third is missing her head. Hallways lead north, south, and east from this chamber. A glimmer of torchlight comes from the north, and another glimmer to the east.
A door to the northwest is covered with painted glyphs and images with aquatic motifs, marred by long scratches that obscure their meaning.
The ceiling in this chamber is 30 feet high. Vandalism to the decorations on the northwestern door is the handiwork of Thuluna Maah, a sea hag in area C14.
C12. Troll Hole
This room is filthy. The walls are crumbling and crooked, and the heaps of uncured pelts and hides strewn across the floor form a crude, foul-smelling carpet. Gnawed bones and broken crockery are scattered about, along with a few odd pieces of armor, most bent, twisted, or badly scored by claw marks. Doors lead to the north and the west.
This room is the lair of three aquatic troll, which have a swimming speed of 40 feet and the ability to breathe underwater. Only two are here, since one troll guards area C15 at any given time.
The trolls-named Gorgebelly, Marrowsucker, and Ninetooth-ignore goings-on in the dungeon around them, and they grudgingly answer any summons for help. Characters disguised as water cultists, or characters who insist they are doing the cults business, can easily convince the trolls to stay here and do nothing, or bribe them to cause trouble somewhere else.
C13. Blackmaw Den
A musty odor pervades the hall outside this room. The doors are marked with crudely drawn pictures of monstrous eyes and fanged maws.
This room is filled with a rank reptilian smell and cluttered with tattered animal hides and dank straw. A battered iron brazier brimming with hot embers glows in the middle of the room. Half-gnawed carcasses heaped beside the brazier attest to an indifferent effort to cook them over the coals. There are two doors: one north and one south.
This is the den of a band of lizardfolk who call themselves the Blackmaws. These creatures have degenerated into savagery despite their use of human-style arms and armor. The carcasses by the brazier include the remains of a fire cultist spy caught skulking in the area a few days ago.
Eight lizardfolk are here now, including the leader of the tribe, a warrior with 36 hit points named Tornscale. They are armed with javelins, maces, and shields. Five more lizardfolk lurk around area C25, keeping guard. Tornscale and its followers are loyal to the sea hag Thuluna Maah (area C14). They hate and resent the human members of the cult. If the characters are disguised as water cultists when they venture into this area, the Blackmaws are outraged by the invasion of their privacy and attack just as ferociously as they would attack the cults enemies.
If the lizardfolk lose at least two of their number in a fight here, Tornscale sends one of the remaining warriors to warn Thuluna and summon help.
C14. Hag Lair
Fine wooden furniture, tapestries of green and gold, and a bearskin carpet decorate this richly appointed room-but the furniture has been scratched up, the tapestries badly torn, and the carpet rent with foot-long holes. To the northwest, a tattered green curtain screens off a large alcove. Two large heaps of dank pelts lie in the southern part of the chamber. A wet reek like rotten seaweed hangs in the air, and small crabs scuttle around the room.
A sea hag named Thuluna Maah and two ogre that serve as her bodyguards live in this room. The two ogres stand watch in the outer portion of the room, while Thuluna lurks behind the curtain in the northwest alcove, her personal bedchamber. If the hour is late, Thuluna and her guards are asleep.
Roleplaying Thuluna
Thuluna Maah is the second-in-command of the temple, answering only to Gar Shatterkeel. She is a sly, calculating creature, quick to offer bargains and make deals that she can later turn to her advantage. The hag wields great influence over the cults nonhuman members, mostly because the ogres and trolls do anything she tells them to. Thuluna would like to unseat Shatterkeel and purge the cult of its human fathomers and one-eyed shivers, but she is patient. For now, she tries to convince Shatterkeel to strike against the rival cults, hoping that the air or fire cultists kill him for her and clear the way for her to take over the Crushing Wave cult.
If she knows a fight is coming, Thuluna grabs the potions out of her wooden chest. She hates beauty, so she targets the best-looking character. If the fight goes against her, she pleads for mercy and offers to show the characters a great treasure if they spare her. Thuluna then leads them to Bronzefumes lair in area C21.
Treasure
Four chairs are worth 80 gp each but weigh 30 pounds a piece. A wooden chest in the northwest alcove contains 190 gp, 8 pp, a potion of hill giant strength, and a potion of fire resistance. Near the hags bedding is a +1 longsword made of dragon bone and with a dragon-leather grip. It has rubies in its pommel and hilt. The sword grows warm and the rubies glow slightly when the sword is within 120 feet of a dragon. The sword is warm and its rubies are glowing while here because the weapon is within 120 feet of the dragon turtle in area C21.
C15. Dragon Bridge
Stairs on each side of the canal climb up to a stone bridge, which spans the canal fifteen feet above the water level. The sides of the bridge are carved in the image of dragons standing guard over treasure hoards. A single torch illuminates the bridge.
On the west side of the canal, passages lead to the west and to the north. On the east side of the canal, one passage leads east.
One aquatic troll from area C12 lurks in the canal underneath the bridge, keeping watch for intruders. The troll surfaces to challenge anyone moving through the area by boat or attempting to cross the bridge. It can be fooled by almost any claim that sounds remotely plausible, although it attacks any intruders who look like they expect a fight. If the characters are in a boat, the troll begins the battle by trying to capsize the vessel, which requires an action and a successful DC 20 Strength check.
C16. Thunderhammer Brewery
Sealed copper vats stand in two rows in the middle of this large room. The vats are old and completely covered in verdigris. Most of the paint on the walls peeled away long ago, but a few hints of murals remain, showing dwarves working in fields and tending hop vines. Three new, backpack-sized glass tanks with carrying harnesses are stacked neatly at the end of the row of vats. Doors exit to the west, east, and south.
Most of the vats are empty, but three currently hold water weird drained from the three empty weird tanks (see chapter 7) stacked on the floor. The vats holding water weirds are cold and clammy to the touch, and sound half-full if rapped on. A weird can attack only if someone opens the hatch at the top of the vat in which it is contained.
Any commotion in here (for example, characters banging on copper vats or fighting one or more water weirds) alerts the monsters in area C17.
C17. Morbeoth’s Workshop
The northernmost door leading into this area is secured from inside by a bronze hasp and pin.
Parts of this chamber are buried in piles of crumbling masonry, but enough remains intact to serve as an arcane workshop. A long wooden table in the middle of the room is littered with pieces of a complicated apparatus involving a large glass tank, copper fittings and piping, and a leather carrying harness, while shelves full of alchemical reagents stand against the south wall. The air is quite cold in here, and a chill mist clings to the floor. A large adjoining room to the north looks like someones bedchamber.
Doors lead out to the south and the east, and another door leads east from the bedchamber area.
A one-eyed shiver named Morbeoth makes his home in these rooms. He commands the western portion of the temple and defends it against incursions from the Howling Hatred cultists. Prepared for battle, he carries a potion of gaseous form and a potion of healing. Three crushing wave reaver serve as his personal guards.
Morbeoth has experimented with devices that rely on elemental power. The device on the table is a disassembled
Roleplaying Morbeoth
Morbeoth is proud and prickly. He feels his mastery of arcane power gives him the right to impose his will on anyone weaker or less willful than himself. He especially resents the fact that a mere druid was chosen to serve as the Prophet of Water, and that an ugly monster like a sea hag serves as the cults second-in-command. Given the opportunity, he would steer a group of meddling adventurers into Thuluna Maahs territory (area C14), let them fight and kill her, then sweep in from behind to eliminate the adventurers and claim a great victory for the Crushing Wave cult.
Morbeoth carries the key to the gate in area C20.
Treasure
A small iron chest in Morbeoths bedchamber contains 260 sp, 22 pp, and several unsigned letters reporting on events in Red Larch, including the arrival of the characters and their actions in town. The handwriting is an unusual mix of block letters and script. (See the “The Spys Letter” section at the beginning of this chapter.)
Development
Sounds of battle here alert the bugbears in area C18, who investigate soon after the fighting begins.
C18. West Guard Post
The monsters in this room post a sentry by the arrow slit looking out into the hallway. If intruders approach, the rooms denizens prepare an ambush and attempt to surprise the characters when they enter this room.
The ceiling in this chamber is twenty feet high, and a ten-foot-high loft covers the west half of the room. Piles of crumbling brick in the middle of the floor mark spots where ovens once stood. Filthy, flea-infested straw pallets are arranged on the floor, alongside a water barrel and casks of provisions. An arrow slit looks out over the hallway to the east, and doors exit to the east and the north.
This chamber once served as the hop silo for the nearby Thunderhammer brewery. It now is a guard post manned by five bugbear who protect the Temple of the Crushing Wave against any incursion from the west.
One bugbear always watches at the arrow slit in the northeast part of the room. The bugbear on watch notes groups passing through the corridor outside. If intruders try to slip past the guard post, the bugbears in this room storm out to attack them from the rear. Any fighting here alerts Morbeoth and his guard (area C17). They respond to the attack by joining the battle.
The bugbears in this room have been specifically warned to watch out for “air cultist tricks,” so they are especially wary of any efforts to bluff or deceive them.
Reinforcements
If the bugbears are defeated, they are replaced within a day by the troll from area C12.
C19. Cavern Lakeshore
This natural cavern widens and descends toward a pebble-covered lakeshore. Several rotted wooden skiffs are drawn up on the shore. To the east, a large subterranean lake stretches into the darkness. To the west, passages lead west and north.
Three old boats wait by the shore. They are far newer than the rest of the dungeon, having been left here less than a hundred years ago by a previous band of explorers. One is in good enough shape that it could be repaired with an hours work by stripping planks off the other boats. Any sustained activity in this area attracts the attention of the giant octopus that lives in area C3. The monster can haul itself up onto the shore in search of a tasty-looking meal.
C20. Gated Passage
A crudely built iron gate that looks like it is a new addition to this ancient dungeon blocks the passage. A heavy chain and a padlock secure the gate.
Water cultists installed this gate a couple of months ago to prevent raids from the Temple of Howling Hatred. Morbeoth (area C17) holds the key to the gate. The lock can be picked with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check and a set of thieves tools, or the gate can be wrenched open with a successful DC 25 Strength check.
West Tunnel
This passage continues west to area A14 in the Temple of Howling Hatred.
C21. Starry Lake
A pale glimmer plays over the waters of this subterranean lake. The cavern ceiling is naturally formed and speckled with hundreds of tiny points of blue light, mimicking a starry night. The canal that runs through this lake continues north and south. To the east, a wide quay at the end of the lake leads to a large hall with red pillars.
The ceiling is 50 feet above water level. Its “stars” are small patches of luminescent lichen. Each patch is an inch in diameter and one-tenth as bright as a candle. If removed, a lichens glow persists for
The lake averages 40 feet deep, shallowing to 10 feet near the east end. It houses the strongest monster in the Crushing Wave cult: a dragon turtle with 220 hit points named Bronzefume. Young and impressionable, she was lured to the Temple of the Crushing Wave by Gar Shatterkeels offer of riches. Bronzefume stays out of sight in the western end of the lake, waiting for the water prophet to decide the time is right to seize control of the river. Due to her reduced hit points, Bronzefume has a challenge rating of 13 (10,000 XP).
If a boat ventures into her half of the lake, Bronzefume surfaces to investigate. She also answers if the gong in area C22 is struck. The dragon turtle attacks only if she’s sure those she meets are intruders, such as if she sees water cultists fighting the characters.
Bronzefume prefers to attack boats rather than people. Given a choice between attacking a character and damaging a boat that character is on, she opts for the boat. Destroying a small skiff takes up her actions for
Treasure
A large wooden chest lies open on the bottom in the western end of the lake. It contains Bronzefumes hoard of 700 gp, 440 ep, six chrysoprase gemstones worth 40 gp each, and four large onyxes worth 70 gp each.
C22. Market Hall
Six tall columns of cracked and chipped red marble loom over this hall, which lies east of an underground lake. Provisions and trade goods are stacked against the walls: bundles of valuable furs and pelts, sacks of flour and meal, barrels of salted meat and ale, casks of oil, and more. Three long tables with benches are set up in the middle of the room, and a large bronze gong stands on the stone quay at the lake edge. A single torch burns in a sconce on one of the rooms middle pillars.
The Crushing Wave cult is hoarding supplies and trade goods here. Much of the riverboat cargo thats gone missing on the Dessarin River in the last few months can be found in this hall.
The first time the characters visit, one fathomer (see chapter 7) and three cultist are here, sorting through the newest pile of looted cargo. The sounds of fighting here alerts the lizardfolk in area C13 or the cultists in area C23, who investigate soon after fighting begins.
If faced with a dangerous band of attackers, the cultists attempt to reach the gong. Striking the gong summons Bronzefume from area C21. She surfaces by the quay on her turn 3 rounds after the gong sounds, then joins the fight.
Random Encounters
Each time the characters pass through this area, roll a
C22. Market Hall Random Encounters
| d20 | Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 2-3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | 1 Crushing Wave priest and |
| 6 | Thuluna Maah and 2 ogres (see area C14) |
| 7-20 | None |
Treasure
The loot amounts to three tons of trade goods, with a total value of about 500 gp. It takes at least three trips in a keelboat or ten trips with the small skiffs moored in area C1 to move all the cargo out of the hall. Characters can collect 500 pounds of the most valuable goods and haul away 250 gp worth in two small boats.
C23. Galley
Two iron stoves, barrels full of provisions, kettles and crockery stacked by a washbasin, and a pile of firewood against the wall of this room indicate that someone does a lot of cooking here. Five plain double bunks are tucked into the eastern end of the room. Two doors exit to the south, and two arrow slits look out over the black waters of a canal to the north and the east.
This area serves as the kitchen for the Crushing Wave temple. The cultists prepare their meals here and dine at the tables in area C22. When the characters arrive, two crushing wave reaver (see chapter 7) and four cultist are here. If the hour is late, most are asleep in their bunks, but one or two cultists attend to chores such as baking or cleaning regardless of the time. The extra bunks belong to the cultists working in area C22.
Any loud fighting in this room alerts the cultists in area C22, who investigate soon after.
C24. Bridge of Heroes
A stone bridge crosses over the canal fifteen feet above the water level here. Steps on the south side of the canal climb up to the bridge, which leads to a set a stone double doors. Painted on the doors is a large symbol.
The mark on the door is the water cults symbol. The doors leading to area C25 are unlocked but protected by a
Culverts
Its possible to enter area C25 through the culverts. Reaching a culvert requires a DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check to climb 15 feet up the wet, smooth masonry from the canal level. The culverts are about 4 feet high, and the stream is only 1 foot deep where it crosses over the lip. A character who climbs into the culvert mouth can easily crouch and wade forward into area C25, potentially surprising the villains there.
C25. Temple of Elemental Water
A glyph of warding (see area C24) protects the double doors at the south end of the room.
A twenty-foot-wide moat divides this shrine into northern and southern halves. In the north half, two large stone pillars flank an altar in the form of a plain stone block. A few coins lie on the altar. Above and behind the altar looms a huge symbol made from beams of driftwood, fixed in an X-like shape on the wall. A single stone door leads westward from this part of the room.
In the southern half of the room, two ten-foot-wide channels run along the east and west walls of the shrine, spilling out through low culverts to the south. Two more pillars stand here, and a low stone bridge leads across the dividing channel to the altar and the northern part of the room.
The moat is 10 feet deep, and the water level is almost even with the floor. However, the smaller spillways that carry water south to the culverts are only 2 feet deep. In the middle of the eastern wall, a submerged culvert leads to area C26.
This shrine was once dedicated to dwarven gods, but the Crushing Wave cultists rededicated it to Olhydra. Five lizardfolk warriors of the Blackmaw tribe stand guard in the southern part of the shrine.
If this is the first elemental temple the characters explore, they find Gar Shatterkeel (see chapter 7) here, standing next to the altar in the northern part of the room. Otherwise, he has retreated down to the Fane of the Eye (see chapter 5). In that case, a hezrou demon is on guard with the lizardfolk. The demon lurks in the deep moat in the middle of the shrine.
Roleplaying Gar Shatterkeel
If the characters have the chance to engage Shatterkeel in conversation, the prophet is sullen and suspicious. He despises most people and believes that even his most reliable followers are likely to fail him through weakness or treachery. Shatterkeel knows the characters aren’t members of the cult and aren’t here to join up, so he questions them tersely: “Who are you? What do you want? Why shouldnt I drown you?”
Shatterkeel hears out those who claim to bring news or gifts, and he might be persuaded to let them go if they seem intent on attacking one of the other cults. If drawn into an explanation of the cult, he reveals, “Only through destruction can the errors of this world be mended. The coming flood shall wash away all who are unworthy.”
Treasure
Gar carries Drown (see chapter 7). The water cultists bring treasure here and heap it on the altar. At the moment, only 25 sp, 12 gp, and six small agates worth 10 gp each are strewn across the altar. Shatterkeel regularly gathers the offerings and secures them in area C26.
C26. Vault
To reach this area, a character must swim through the submerged tunnel leading from area C25.
A clear, deep spring fills most of this natural cavern. A dry ledge makes up part of the south side of the chamber.
This pool is almost 80 feet deep and fed by an aquifer through porous rock at the bottom. It is the source of the Dark Stream, and it fills the canals and lakes on this level. Its inaccessibility makes it an ideal place for Gar Shatterkeel to hoard the better part of the water cults treasure. He is beyond such cares, but he realizes that wealth is a motivation for some who aren’t entirely committed to the tenets of the Crushing Wave cult.
Treasure
Several rusty iron coffers lie on the dry ledge at the south edge of the chamber. Two contain 730 gp, 900 sp, a silver ewer, a scroll of tidal wave, and a scroll of vitriolic sphere (see appendix B for both spells). Two more hold waterproofed leather satchels that contain nearly fifty heavy old tomes written in Dethek (the Dwarvish script). These are the missing books of Bruldenthar, the sage from Mirabar. The sage is held in the mines below the Sacred Stone Monastery.
C27. Priests Quarters
This well-appointed room contains eight neatly made bunks, a round table with several chairs, tapestries of green and blue, and a copper brazier full of glowing coals. An arrow slit looks out over a dark canal to the south.
This room serves as the personal quarters of the cult priests: two crushing wave priest (see chapter 7) and four cultist. The priests see themselves as the most important members of the cult, and they make sure to look after their creature comforts. They intermittently take care of the Temple of Elemental Water.
On the rare occasions when Gar Shatterkeel retires to rest for a few hours, he sleeps here. Otherwise, he is found in area C25, attempting to discern the will of Olhydra or instructing others in the lore and philosophy of the cult.
The priests and cultists know the answers to the mezzoloths riddles in area C28, but resist divulging them to strangers.
C28. Caravan Stairs
The walls of this chamber are carved with stone friezes. They depict dwarven merchants leading trains of mules or giant lizards burdened with heavy packs through immense caverns. In the center of the chamber, a wide stairway leads down into darkness. At the top of the stairs stands a hunched, insectoid creature with a two-tined pitchfork.
The stairway leads down to area F6 of the Fane of the Eye (see chapter 5).
The Crushing Wave cultists summoned a mezzoloth and ordered it to destroy any intruders seeking to use the stairs. To determine whether someone is an intruder, the mezzoloth asks three questions:
- What do you serve? The answer should be “Olhydra,” “the Princess of Evil Water,” or “water.”
- What are you? The proper answer is “I am nothing.”
- What lies below? The correct answer is “the Fane of the Eye” or “the Elder Elemental Eye.”
If the party can’t answer any of the questions, the mezzoloth attacks. It fights to the death.
Conclusion
If Shatterkeel is defeated or retreats to the deeper levels and the characters defeat Thuluna Maah and Morbeoth, the Crushing Wave cult falls apart. Surviving cultists abandon this level, although some monsters might remain. A few cultists retreat to the Fane of the Eye or the Plunging Torrents, while others flee the temple altogether. If Thuluna or Morbeoth remain after the characters leave Crushing Wave territory, the cultists reorganize their defenses to fight off any other incursion.
Temple of Black Earth
When the elemental prophets were drawn to Tyar-Besil, the servants of elemental earth took control of the northeast quarter of the dwarven ruins. Long ago, this area served as Tyar-Besils main entrance, a well-fortified gate complex with barracks, guardrooms, armories, and stables. Enemies that managed to fight their way down the Ancient Stair from the surface above were stopped in their tracks by the daunting defenses of the gate quarter. More than one reckless attack by orcs, trolls, or giants was driven back from the gate,. In time, those savage foes found other ways to attack the dwarves of the Sumber Hills, and the stronghold was finally abandoned. The gates of Tyar-Besil lie in ruin now, broken not by the siege engines of enemies but instead by the tremors produced by the nearby elemental node.
Unlike the members of the other three cults, the Black Earth cultists have easy access to the surface. This quarter of the temple complex lies almost directly underneath the Sacred Stone Monastery, linked by the Ancient Stair. Earth cult raiders can strike at the surrounding settlements and retreat to the safety of the Black Earth temple with ease. Marlos Urnrayle, the Prophet of Earth, chose the long-wrecked fortifications of Tyar-Besil as the headquarters of his cult for this very reason.
The Ancient Stair
The Temple of Black Earth lies at the bottom of the Ancient Stair, a series of descending passageways beneath the Sacred Stone Monastery. The stair ends at the passageway to the north of area B1. It leads up to area M24 in the mines beneath the Sacred Stone Monastery (see chapter 3).
The Ancient Stair descends about 250 feet in flights of 20 to 30 feet. As might be expected of dwarven construction, the structure has stood the test of time. Other than a noticeably smooth, worn patch in the middle of each step, the Ancient Stair remains in good condition.
Temple Features
This complex has the following features. Any exceptions are noted in areas to which they apply.
Ceilings
Ceilings are 15 feet high.
Doors
Doors consist of stone slabs balanced on central pivots-opening a door creates two gaps about 3 feet wide. No locks remain operable, but the cultists secure some doors with a hasp-and-pin closure. Characters can force open such doors with a successful DC 15 Strength check.
Double doors have iron hinges and swing open in one direction or the other, like normal doors.
Chasms
Large chasms or rifts zigzag through this part of ancient Tyar-Besil. Chasms average 100 to 200 feet deep, but the sides are rough, sloping rock, not sheer walls. Chasm floors tend to be steep, jumbled boulder-falls and are difficult terrain.
Light
Cultists illuminate areas they use frequently with continual flame spells cast on torches in bronze wall sconces. The rest of the level is dark.
Treasure
Many denizens of the temple carry small amounts of treasure. Creatures that own individual treasure have
B1. Gargoyle Chasm
The passage leads to a subterranean chasm spanned by a zigzagging, ten-foot-wide stone bridge without railings. The bridge links tunnels leading north and south. The chasm floor is fifty feet below the bridge and consists of a jumbled mass of boulders. To the west, the chasm narrows and continues for some distance.
Three gargoyle guard the area, lurking on ledges in the shadowy upper reaches of this cavern, the ceiling of which is 50 feet higher than the bridge and 100 feet above the cavern floor. Characters with torches or darkvision spot the gargoyles if they have a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or higher. The gargoyles ignore groups exiting the Temple of Black Earth. They attack any strangers approaching from the north unless the strangers pause at the bridge to either give the hand sign of the cult (a triangle formed with thumbs and forefingers of both hands) or call out, “I serve the Black Earth!”
In combat, the gargoyles look for opportunities to push characters off the bridge. If two gargoyles are defeated, the third retreats, flying to area B2 to hide.
Chasm Floor
Several skeletons lie broken or half-buried on the chasm floor. Most are dwarves and orcs in badly rusted armor.
B2. North Chasm
This cavernous area is 100 feet high from floor to ceiling. If the characters enter from the east (via area B1), read the following text:
The floor of this large cavern is a broken jumble of stone, with steep walls slanting up to a ceiling of hanging stalactites perhaps a hundred feet above. Fifty feet up the jagged walls are two openings: a wider opening to the southwest and a narrow tunnel leading southeast.
If the characters are standing on the ledge at area B6 or B21, use the following text instead:
Beyond the ledge lies a cavern with a ceiling of hanging stalactites fifty feet overhead and a rubble-strewn floor fifty feet below. Five feet below you, a narrow ledge hugs the wall, wrapping nearly halfway around the cavern.
Marlos Urnrayle used stone shape spells to create a narrow ledge that hugs the walls of the cavern. This ledge isn’t visible from the cavern floor, and it starts 5 feet below the ledge leading to area B6 and ends at an arrow slit, beyond which lies area B22. The arrow slit is 4 feet tall but only 6 inches wide.
B3. Ruined Gates
A massive pair of stone doors lies broken just south of this small plaza, flanking by iron torches that brightly illuminate the area. One door lists unevenly on its bottom hinge, and the other lies shattered on the ground. The standing door is carved with a pastoral scene of grain fields and rolling hills, worn and pitted by the centuries. A large, dimly lit hall waits beyond the broken gates. Arrow slits are carved into the west and east walls.
This was formerly the front gate of the stronghold of Tyar-Besil, but many years ago an earthquake finished the destruction begun by orcs and giants. The ceiling here is 30 feet high, and the gate stands 15 feet tall. Marlos Urnrayle intends to repair it, but he has not yet found anyone sufficiently skilled to do the work.
Arrow Slits
The arrow slits facing this area from the guard posts at areas B5 and B6 aren’t currently manned. However, any loud commotion around the gate might attract the attention of the cultists in those areas. If they notice intruders, they begin sniping with crossbows or spells at any enemies in view.
Development
If the characters attack the Temple of Black Earth and retreat, the cultists reinforce this area. They block the front gate with an iron portcullis (described in chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” of the Dungeon Masters Guide) and post vigilant guards in area B4 and at the arrow slits in areas B5 and B6.
B4. Hall of the Gate
This was once a magnificent hall with a soaring ceiling, marble floors, and intricate carvings of prosperous farmlands decorating the walls. It has since fallen to ruin. Deep cracks mar the walls, sections of the masonry have collapsed, and the huge stone doors at the north end of the hall are broken. Passages lead west and south, and there is a stone door to the east. A small cooking fire and several bedrolls are in the southeast corner of the room.
The same earth tremors that shattered the gate marred the walls and floors with cracks, and patches of the 30-foot-high ceiling have fallen as well.
Four hobgoblin, a burrowshark named Nartham (see chapter 7), and Narthams bulette mount guard the Hall of the Gate. Nartham is a violent, short-tempered fellow. If the characters attempt to talk their way into the temple, they need to talk fast, because Nartham craves an excuse to kill.
The cooking fire and bedrolls belong to the hobgoblins, who have not yet been allocated better quarters in the temple. They hang back and pelt the characters with arrows while Nartham and his bulette tear into the party. The hobgoblins are mercenaries, hoping to earn enough loot to return to their tribe and take it over.
Reinforcements
The duergar in area B5 and the cultists in area B7 hear any battle in this room. However, they are used to Narthams bulette making noise, so it takes a while before they become curious about any racket. The duergar use crossbows (see area B5) while the cultists in B7 come to aid the forces here.
Development
If the characters defeat the guards here and depart the temple, Marlos Urnrayle replaces the guards in a few hours with the cultists from area B14. In a few days, he augments this force with two ogres.
B5. East Guardroom
The crumbling masonry in this old guardroom illustrates the great age of this dungeon. To the north, a long gallery leads to an arrow slit in the western wall. To the south, piles of rubble choke a small inner chamber. Half a dozen plain bedrolls and an iron stove furnish the room. A pile of firewood nearby keeps the stove well stoked.
This guardroom serves as the barracks and post of four duergar in the service of the Black Earth cult. The gray dwarves don’t keep a close watch from the arrow slit to the north, since they know that the gargoyles in area B1 and Narthams guards in area B4 stand watch.
If alerted by serious fighting or unusual activity outside, two duergar take light crossbows (+2 to hit,
B6. Yarshas Burrow
A large pile of rubble from a partially collapsed wall fills the southeast corner of this guardroom, while a narrow fissure mars the wall to the north. Despite these failings, the room serves as a barracks and guardroom. Four plain wooden bunks are arrayed around the room, each with a small footlocker. At the back of an alcove in the northeast wall is an arrow slit.
This room served as a guardroom for the Hall of the Gate, but tremors collapsed the doorway that once linked the two rooms and formed the tunnel leading to area B2. A stonemelder named Yarsha and her two black earth guard (see chapter 7 for both) dwell here. In addition to normal gear, Yarsha carries a potion of greater healing, and the guards have light crossbows (+3 to hit,
Yarsha is murderous, and she has set her sights on assassinating Miraj Vizann and taking his place as the cults second-in-command. If she and her guards are on the verge of defeat, she turns on her own guards and finishes them off so she can try to strike a deal with the characters. Yarsha tells the party that Miraj is the earth prophet, and where they can find him (area B8). She asks nothing for herself other than a temporary truce.
The cultists don’t know about the ledge in area B2 that links the northern tunnel to area B22.
Treasure
An iron coffer under Yarshas bunk contains 210 sp, 140 ep, a pouch with six obsidian flakes worth 10 gp each, and a potion of water breathing.
B7. Gatewardens Quarters
This large suite consists of several small rooms linked by low archways. Brown curtains offer some amount of privacy for the different rooms, and martial displays cover the walls-shields and crossed swords, tattered banners, and a few mounted monster heads, including those of a peryton and a manticore.
The Black Earth cultists use these rooms as a barracks. A burrowshark named Dynath, a Black Earth guard, and four cultist occupy the room. (Statistics for the Black Earth guard and burrowshark appear in chapter 7.) Dynaths bulette is stabled in area B9. In addition, the cultists currently on duty in area B20 have bunks in this room.
The cultists keep odd hours, and at any given time
Treasure
Dynath wears a hidden purse underneath his armor containing 15 gp, 5 pp, and five fine citrines worth 40 gp each.
B8. Mud Sorcerers Lab
Carved into this door is a frowning dwarf warrior in plate armor with spiky maces where his fists should be.
The interior of the chamber can be described as follows:
Large stone statues carved to look like scowling dwarf warriors line the walls of this large chamber. Each statue has spiky maces in place of hands. However, several of the statues are melted or deformed. The flagstones in the middle of the room have been removed to reveal a surface of natural rock. Several worktables and shelves full of alchemical reagents are tucked up against the walls between the statues.
This is the lair and workroom of Miraj Vizann (see chapter 7), an earth genasi and second in command of the Cult of the Black Earth. The statues were once animated constructs, though the magic that powered them faded long ago. Miraj managed to reactivate two of the stone warriors. One now stands watch in area B24, and the other is here. The ancient construct is equivalent to a stone golem with 102 hit points and no Multiattack action (challenge rating 4 instead of 8).
Roleplaying Miraj Vizann
Miraj is rational, deliberate, and slow to anger. He supports the cult because it deepens his understanding of elemental magic. If challenged, he attempts to persuade his attackers to turn their efforts against the fire cult. Miraj isn’t above offering a bribe to entice enemies, then reneging on the deal if they come back to collect.
Miraj calls himself a “mud sorcerer” because he practices earth and water magic, and he reveres both Ogrémoch and Olhydra. He bears the water cultists no ill will and sometimes acts as an advocate or emissary on their behalf.
In battle, Miraj commands the golem to defend him. He then retreats to the back of the room to cast spells. Miraj turns invisible and flees if death seems imminent.
The worktables and shelves hold common alchemical ingredients and notebooks, including unusual mineral salts and solutions. The notes indicate that the melted statues are golems that Miraj experimented on without success.
Treasure
A wooden chest stowed under one of the worktables holds a small hoard of 220 gp, nine strange black crystals worth 50 gp each, and a potion of water breathing.
B9. Broken Hall
Some long-ago, a seismic event devastated this great hall. A deep chasm splits the chamber in two, leaving a wide gap between the rooms northern and southern halves. Freestanding pillars of rock to the east create natural “stepping stones” across the chasm. The chasm continues beyond the west wall, and a narrow ledge hugs the south wall of the expanse. Six huge stone pillars still stand in this chamber, and the ceiling here is almost fifty feet high. Each of the pillars anchors heavy iron chains with links as big as a warriors hand.
The warriors of Tyar-Besil assembled here to practice with arms. The Cult of the Black Earth now uses the room as a stable for their prized mounts: three bulettes. One belongs to Dynath in area B7. The other two were recently caught and haven’t yet been broken. The bulettes are being held here until the monsters can be bonded with cultists.
Each bulette is chained securely to one of the big pillars in the room (the northeast, center west, and southeast pillars, specifically). The chains keep the bulette within 15 feet of the pillars, but they can move freely otherwise. The bulettes spend most of their time dozing, but they are light sleepers. A bulette can break it chain with a successful DC 20 Strength check, but the chain to the northeast (holding the trained bulette) is weaker, requiring only a successful DC 15 Strength check to break.
Chasm
The chasm that bisects the room is 100 feet deep and ranges in width from 15 feet (at the far east end) to 30 feet. The pillars of rock at the east end of the chasm are flat on top, and the gaps between them are 5 feet wide.
B10. Long Chasm
If the smiths still work in area B15, hammering and clattering chains can be heard coming from there. Characters close to that end of the chasm also see a ruddy red glow playing on the walls nearby. Explorers that carry bright lights in this area might be noticed by the creatures in B15.
This long chasm stretches northwest to southeast. A five-foot-wide ledge clings to one wall, then forms a narrow stone bridge that spans the chasm and connects to a similar ledge that runs along the opposite wall.
The ledges and stone bridge are 100 feet above the chasm floor and 100 feet below the chasm roof. area B15 is visible from the bridge and at the same level.
Creatures that make a lot of noise in the vicinity of the natural bridge disturb a swarm of bats roosting on the bridges underside.
The bridge is narrow and uneven. Any creature that takes damage while standing on the bridge must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. If the save fails by 5 or more, the creature falls into the chasm. On any other failed result, the creature slips and falls prone on edge of the bridge.
B11. South Passage
This hallway leads south to area C10 of the Temple of the Crushing Wave.
B12. Broog-Norbs Lair
If the characters approach this room from the east, read the following text:
You come to a tunnel that runs north and south. Both ends of the tunnel have collapsed, but the west wall has a set of double doors with crude messages painted on them in Common. The message on the south door reads, “NORBS RUM. KEEP OWT BROOG.” The north door says, “BROOGS RUM. NORB IZ STOOPID.”
Use the following text to describe the rooms interior:
Crumbling masonry, huge uncured pelts, and heaps of picked-over bones and refuse fill this large room. It looks like it used to be a kitchen or bakery: huge ancient brick ovens stand in the middle of the chamber, although most are crumbling heaps of red rubble now.
This room was the main kitchen for the dwarven soldiers stationed in this part of Tyar-Besil. It is now the lair of Broog and Norb-the two heads of a particularly large and grumpy ettin. Broog-Norb has 130 hit points.
Broog-Norb isn’t a follower of the Cult of the Black Earth. He found a way down into the ruins of Tyar-Besil months ago. The ettin has a tenuous truce with the earth cultists, who are careful to stay out of his way. He attacks intruders who make it clear that they aren’t part of the earth cult, but only threatens intruders who present themselves as cult members. Broog-Norb has no idea who is a cultist and who isn’t.
Treasure
The ettins treasure lies in an untidy heap covered with a filthy pelt. The pile contains 2,900 cp, 130 ep, an ivory statuette of an elephant worth 80 gp, and a pair of gold bracelets worth 30 gp each.
B13. Hunting Hall
Water fills a rectangular marble basin in the middle of this hall, and the walls display an ancient frieze that circles the room. The frieze depicts woodland images of deer, bears, and game fowl, along with parties of dwarven hunters. The southeast corner of the room is badly damaged, and the walls there are little more than rubble.
The dwarves of Tyar-Besil were proud of their pastoral ways, and they celebrated their surface dominions with scenes of farms and woodlands. This room served as a mess hall long ago, and many fine feasts were held here. The Black Earth cultists intend to repair the hall and replace the imagery with their own cheerless symbols, but they havent gotten around to it yet.
Piping buried under the floor connects to the spring in the northern part of the Crushing Wave cults territory and feeds the pool. The basin walls stand about a foot above the floor, and the pool is 4 feet deep. The water is fresh and safe to drink.
B14. Torture Chamber
A wooden torture rack stands in the middle of this room. Manacles hang from the walls and fiendish hooks, blades, and clamps hang on the back wall. Four cramped iron cages stand in the rooms western alcove, occupied by gaunt, dirty humans with blank gazes. In the rooms eastern alcove stand two double bunks and an iron stove.
This chamber has been equipped with implements to torture defeated enemies, cult servants who fail their insane leaders, or the occasional innocent victim. This grim chamber is the domain of a stonemelder (see chapter 7) named Heldorm and the three cultist who assist him.
Roleplaying Heldorm
Unbalanced, Heldorm goes about his work while arguing with himself and tittering at a series of black jests he only partially shares aloud. If the characters pass themselves off as Black Earth cultists, he assumes they brought him a new victim, and asks, “Who is to be questioned?” He is very excited by the prospect of interrogating a new subject.
Prisoners
The captives locked in the cages include the following:
- Orna, a female human Black Earth guard (see chapter 7) who dared to strike a Black Earth priest a few days ago. Greedy and brutal, she is now enraged against the cult.
- Droth, a male human mercenary thug in the service of the Howling Hatred cult. He is virtually catatonic but shuffles from place to place if led.
- Wulgreda, a hapless female dwarf commoner who was captured while prospecting in the hills near the Sacred Stone Monastery. She warns the party that Orna is a Black Earth guard.
- Gervor, a male half-elf noble who is all that is left of an adventuring company ambushed by the cult a month ago in the Sumber Hills. He is badly injured and has 1 hit point remaining.
Wulgreda and Gervor are happy just to be released, although they ask the party to help them get to safety. Orna wants to go her own way, but she is willing to trade information for her freedom. She’s willing to guide the characters to Marlos Urnrayle (area B21).
Treasure
Hedorm keeps the best pickings from the prisoners in a locked wooden chest (the key is in his pocket). His trove includes 230 sp, a pouch of six azurites worth 10 gp each, Ornas plate armor, Gervors studded leather armor and longsword, and a wand of magic missiles (fully charged) left behind by a previous victim.
B15. Stone Forge
Characters approaching this area hear the ringing of hammers on anvils before they enter. This room looks out directly over area B10.
A forge stands in the middle of this room, surrounded by piles of firewood. Two big anvils stand close by, and hammers, tongs, and other smithing tools are scattered around several workbenches along the chambers walls. There are doorways to the west and the south, but the eastern end of the room opens up onto a dark chasm.
Black Earth cultists have turned this former barracks into a forge where they create elemental devices. The master of the forge is a dao named Xharva Deem. Two duergar assist her.
Roleplaying the Dao
Xharva Deem has no interest in fighting, because her bargain with Marlos Urnrayle requires her to make implements of elemental power for the cult. That is the extent of her promise. If the characters ask why she is standing aside, she answers, “Urnrayle has not paid me to fight puny mortals. He can look after his own slaves.”
She doesn’t defend her duergar assistants, although she fights back with indignant fury if any mortal dares to attack her. Xharva Deem also intervenes if characters attempt to vandalize her forge, take her tools, or remove objects she is working on, although she issues a sharply worded warning first.
Treasure
Xharva Deem is well paid indeed. Two iron coffers by her forge contain a total of 600 gp, two gold bracelets worth 100 gp each, a gold necklace with a ruby pendant worth 750 gp, and a bag with a dozen malachites worth 25 gp each. In addition, the dao has completed one set of claws of the umber hulk for the cult (see chapter 7). The claws sit on a singed square of leather on one of the workbenches.
B16. Armory
A single thick pillar supports the low, barrel-vaulted ceiling of this unlit chamber. Rusted scraps of metal-the remnants of breastplates, shields, axes, and swords-hang from the walls on old pegs, or lie on the floor where they fell long ago. More recent clutter in the form of filthy furs and splintered wooden furniture also lies scattered about the room. A pile of broken chairs and table legs lies next to a smoky fire pit on the north side of the room.
Doors lead to the east and the southwest.
This room serves as a guard post for the Black Earth cult. It also provides a good place from which the earth cultists can keep an eye on the Cult of the Eternal Flame. To guard this point of access, Marlos Urnrayle has assigned a garrison of five ogre with orders to let no one enter from the west without giving the pass sign of the earth cult (a triangle formed by thumbs and forefingers). The ogres have no orders to prevent people from leaving, although they challenge strangers who don’t look like members of the cult.
Southwest Tunnel
This corridor connects to area E30 in the Temple of Eternal Flame.
Development
If the ogres are defeated, Marlos Urnrayle replaces them with an earth elemental myrmidon (see chapter 7) after
B17. Chasm Staircase
If the characters approach this area from the east, read the following text:
A great chasm opens before you, its ceiling thirty feet overhead. In the middle of the chasm is a square pillar of black rock. A stone bridge leads to a staircase that wraps around this pillar. The chasm, the staircase, and the pillar descend into darkness.
An
When you reach the middle of the bridge, you feel a slight tremor underfoot. Then a loud, low-pitched tone like the groaning of a giant fills the air, reverberating within the chasm.
The alarm alerts cultists in area B18, who awaken, arm themselves, and move to watch for new arrivals.
The staircase descends to area F11 in the Fane of the Eye (see chapter 5).
B18. Barracks
This room appears to be a clean, neatly organized bunkroom. The sparse furnishings include six double-bunks arranged against the south and east walls, and a wooden table with several chairs in the north half of the room. An iron stove with a tidy pile of firewood stands near the middle of the room. In the southwest corner, an arrow-slit looks out at a dark passageway. Doors lead to the east and west.
A dozen Black Earth cultists are quartered here, but only four black earth guard and a Black Earth priest (see chapter 7 for both) are present at any given time. Two guards are sleeping and unarmored; they have AC 10 and wont have time to don their armor if an alarm is raised.
Two light crossbows are positioned near the arrow slit, so the guards can fire on intruders outside the room (+3 to hit,
B19. Statue of Ogrémoch
Three hallways meet at this room. An alcove in gthe middle of the west wall holds a ten-foot-tall statue depicting a crude humanoid form composed of earth, boulders, and sharp crystals. One massive, rocky fist is raised above its blunt head. Shattered rubble from an older statue lies heaped around the pedestal on which this figure stands.
The statue depicts Ogrémoch, the Prince of Evil Earth. Marlos Urnrayle sculpted it.
B20. Mess Hall
Three trestle tables are arranged in the middle of this room, and crates of provisions are stacked neatly against the walls. To the southeast, an open doorway leads to a small kitchen containing more provisions and a large cooking-hearth. A tattered gray cloak with feathers is nailed to the middle of the north wall. Doors lead to the east and west.
Earth cultists typically eat alone or in pairs, helping themselves to a stew kept simmering all day and whatever other provisions are available. Two black earth guard (see chapter 7) currently eat at the middle table, while three cultist work in the kitchen.
The feathered cloak is a trophy taken from a Howling Hatred cultist (Droth, imprisoned in area B14).
Random Encounters
The mess hall sees a good deal of traffic, and characters who linger here are likely to run into more members of the Black Earth cult. Each time after the first the characters pass through this area, roll a
B20. Mess Hall Random Encounters
| d20 | Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | 1 stonemelder and 2 Black Earth guards (see area B6) |
| 5 | 1 burrowshark and |
| 6 | 1 Black Earth priest and |
| 7 | Miraj Vizann (see area B8) |
| 8-20 | None |
B21. Screaming Statues
This cavern has formations of flowstone, stalagmites, and stalactites everywhere. A stone building is anchored in the north wall, and a stone door stands in a masonry wall to the south. A natural gap in the cavern wall to the east reveals a chasm beyond. Numerous lifelike statues have been arranged among the rock formations. The statues depict creatures in poses suggesting shock, fear, or agony.
If this is the first of the elemental temples the characters explore, Marlos Urnrayle (see chapter 7) is here. Visions have warned the medusa of the characters arrival, and he prefers to meet visitors in this area. A shadow demon that serves as Marlos’s messenger and major domo lurks nearby.
If he isn’t here, Marlos has retreated down to the Fane of the Eye or the Black Geode (see chapter 5).
Roleplaying Marlos Urnrayle
An unrelenting narcissist, Marlos loves talking about himself. If they forget they’re talking to a medusa and take a good look at him, he is happy to make a permanent record of their astonishment. Marlos enjoys fine things and showing off. He gloats about how he has discovered power to shake the foundations of the earth. Very soon, he intends to pay back everyone who ever defied or insulted him.
In combat, Marlos relies on his petrifying gaze to keep him safe from ranged attacks or spells, as he closes in to use
Statues
The statues are the petrified remains of earth cultists who displeased Urnrayle.
Treasure
Marlos carries Ironfang (see chapter 7).
B22. Earth Prophets Sanctum
This sumptuously appointed chamber features tapestries of gold and brown, a huge bed covered in pillows, fine mahogany furniture with crimson cushions, and lovely art objects including sculptures, busts, and urns. An arrow slit faces toward a chasm to the east.
Marlos has carefully prepared the alcove with the arrow slit to function as a means of escape. The arrow slit is 4 feet high, 6 inches wide, and 1 foot deep. One use of his Earth Passage feature is sufficient to pass through. Just outside is a narrow ledge (see area B2).
Treasure
In the urns, Marlos has stored 1,100 sp and 130 pp. Within the room are a beautiful tapestry of a flying dragon (worth 400 gp), a carved lyre worth 250 gp, and an embroidered silk robe worth 80 gp. A suit of elven chain is folded inside a wooden chest.
B23. Shrine of Bleeding Stone
An irregular pit fills the center of this large hall. In the middle of the pit stands an obelisk of glistening black stone. Bleached bones lie scattered near the foot of the obelisk. A smaller stone post in front of the obelisk holds a pair of manacles, which now confine a strange gnome with gray skin and a bald head.
A Black Earth priest (see chapter 7) named Erione is establishing a shrine here atop the wreckage of an ancient dwarven chapel. She is joined by four cultist.
Erione resents the fact that few priests hold high places in the cult, and she intends to demonstrate that worship can bring even greater power. She has coaxed a black pudding into the porous rock obelisk. It seeps forth on her command.
Erione has manacled a female deep gnome named Rukhelmoth “Rukh” Glitterstone to the stone post at the foot of the obelisk and intends to offer him as a sacrifice to the black pudding. When the pudding emerges, it seeps out of the obelisk like thick black blood and attacks the gnome first. Only after the gnome has been consumed does it pay attention to the characters.
Rukh is an explorer who was captured as she tried to sneak into the Fane of the Eye. She hasnt explored the Temple of Black Earth but has seen areas B17 and B21. If rescued, she gladly shares the following information:
- The leader of the earth cult is a medusa named Marlos Urnrayle. He lairs in a cavern to the northeast.
- A staircase to the south leads down to an ancient drow temple that has been overrun by elemental cultists.
- The cultists have created elemental nodes in the dungeons below. (Rukh speculates that these nodes are the source of the cultists weird elemental powers.)
B24. Sentinels Hall
Four massive, square columns support the ceiling of this ancient hall. Passages lead out to the northwest and southeast. In the middle of the hall stands the ten-foot statue of a stern dwarf warrior with spiked balls instead of hands.
The statue is a stone golem reactivated by Miraj Vizann (see area B8) and placed here. It has 102 hit points and no Multiattack action. (It has a challenge rating 4 instead of 8.)
The stone golem responds only to attacks and creatures entering the hall from the west. If intruders make a triangular handsign by touching thumbs and forefingers, or if they speak the pass phrase “I serve the Black Earth,” the golem allows them to continue. Otherwise, it attacks.
West Tunnel
The passage to the west leads to area E5 in the Temple of Eternal Flame.
Conclusion
If the characters defeat Marlos and Miraj, or both flee the dungeon, Yarsha (see area B6) does her best to hold the cult together. If she, too, is defeated, the Black Earth cult is broken. With their leaders lost, the remaining earth cultists retreat to the Fane of the Eye or leave the area altogether. Xharva Deem (see area B15) packs up her treasures and leaves with her duergar assistants in tow. Broog-Norb the ettin (see area B12) remains.
Temple of Eternal Flame
During the height of ancient Tyar-Besil, the northwest quarter of the ancient dwarven fortress served as its manufacturing center, where great forges and foundries butted up against all the natural resources necessary to craft weapons and armor both beautiful and deadly. Lava from the volcanic rock below provided heat and material, and where the lava had flowed and then sank away again, rich veins of ore and gems were left behind in the natural tubes for the dwarves to discover and mine. For many centuries, the dwarves beneath the Sumber Hills forged weapons, hardware, and magnificent treasures. The best of these they kept for themselves. The rest traveled to the surface world, where merchants carried the dwarves work far afield. In time, as the city was abandoned, the forges grew quiet, the foundries cooled, and the dwarven masters left their workbenches to darkness and departed to other realms.
When Vanifer was first drawn to the complex, she instructed her minions to stake claims in and around the abandoned foundries. The tiefling knows that controlling the ability to craft the tools of warfare gives her cult a leg up on the others, and she fervently believes that she can use this power to bring the other elemental temples to heel, allowing her to rule over all.
Lava Tubes
area E1 in the Temple of Eternal Flame connects to the surface through a series of twisting, turning lava tubes that meander beneath the surface for more than a mile. The tubes join the underground temple to Scarlet Moon Hall (see chapter 3). Numerous side tubes and old mining tunnels branch off into darkness from the main route, which is well lit by torches at periodic intervals.
Temple Features
This complex has the following features. Any exceptions are noted in areas to which they apply.
Ceilings
Ceilings are 15 feet high.
Doors
Doors consist of stone slabs balanced on central pivots-opening a door creates two gaps about 3 feet wide. No locks remain operable, but the cultists secure some doors with a hasp-and-pin closure. Characters can force open such doors with a successful DC 15 Strength check.
Double doors have iron hinges and swing open in one direction or the other, like normal doors.
Light
Cultists illuminate areas they use frequently with continual flame spells cast on torches in bronze wall sconces. The rest of the level is dark.
Treasure
Many denizens of the temple carry small amounts of treasure. Creatures that own individual treasure have
E1. Entrance
An arrow slit is carved into the south wall of the lava tube leading to this area. The arrow slit is 3 feet tall, 6 inches wide, and unguarded. Behind the arrow slit is a tunnel leading to area E6.
Read the following text when the characters reach the chamber at the top of the stairs:
The passage widens at this point, with two large alcoves flanking the hallway. Loose piles of stone form barricades at the front of each alcove, angled to defend against intrusion from the west. A path between the barricades leads to a wide, descending staircase to the east.
Four hobgoblin and one hobgoblin captain stand guard here, dressed in flame-red tabards with the symbol of elemental fire on the chest. They challenge anyone approaching from the west, but they pay little attention to anyone heading in that direction.
Visitors heading east must make the handsign of the fire cult (hands cupped together upright, with one pinky finger upward in the middle) or state the pass phrase, which is “Fire is Eternal!” Otherwise, visitors must convince the hobgoblins that they must talk to temple leaders. The hobgoblins attack if none of these things happens. If the characters talk their way past the hobgoblins, two hobgoblins escort the party to area E2.
Reinforcements
Sounds of combat here attract the guards in area E2.
Treasure
The hobgoblin captain has a belt pouch containing 20 gp and a pair of polished bloodstones worth 50 gp each.
Development
If the characters defeat these hobgoblins and then leave this part of the dungeon, the guards are replaced by the hobgoblins in area E10 within an hour or two.
E2. Columned Chamber
If the characters come here without raising an alarm, read the following text:
The hall widens to form a domed chamber supported by four obsidian columns with fiery cracks in them. The air is oppressively warm.
Two razerblast (see chapter 7) keep to the sides of the chamber. How these guards react depends on how the characters arrive. If characters come from within the fire temple and act like they belong there, the guards pay them little mind. Characters who arrive escorted by hobgoblins must convince the guards to let them pass. If they do, one of the razerblasts escorts the party.
If a fight breaks out, one of the razerblasts shouts, “Imix defend us!” When this happens, read the following text aloud:
The obsidian columns transform into pillars of magma that radiate intense heat and light, making the air shimmer.
A creature that moves within 10 feet of one or more magma pillars for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there takes
Development
If the characters defeat these guards and leave the area, a replacement watch consisting of the cultists from area E7 is stationed here two hours later. These cultists know the command phrase to activate the obsidian columns.
E3. Niche Hall
Niches line both sides of this dark hall. A shadowy form stands within each niche.
The shadowy forms are statues of dwarven warriors, carved long ago as an honor guard for those passing through this area.
Tripwire Trap
A tripwire stretches across the floor between the westernmost pair of niches. Characters with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 15 or higher notice it automatically. Otherwise, a character searching the floor for traps spots the tripwire with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check. If the wire is tripped, a spring-loaded greataxe disguised to look like part of the southern statue snaps across the hallway and makes an attack against the creature that triggered the trap (+10 to hit;
Secret Door
A secret door is hidden behind the southeastern most statue. It can be found with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.
E4. Hidden Vault
This vault contains two stone sarcophagi elaborately carved with Dwarvish runes and bas-relief images of sleeping dwarves. An unlit brazier sits in each corner, and a brass censer hangs from a chain connected to the ceiling in the chambers center.
No one in the fire cult knows of this secret area. The Dethek runes on one sarcophagus read, “Rest well, Findon Stonemender. Dream of hammer and chisel echoing in your halls.” On the other, they read, “Beloved Gitte. Heavy are the hearts of all who knew ye.”
Lifting a sarcophagus lid requires a successful DC 20 Strength check.
Treasure
The dry-rotted remains of a smaller coffin sits within each sarcophagus. The gold and silver trim and fittings of each coffin are worth 150 gp total. Desiccated skeletal remains rest under the coffin remains. Each wears a finely wrought funerary mask of gold inlaid with garnets and sapphires, worth 2,000 gp. Findons favorite stonecutters tools were also buried with him. Numerous finely wrought chisels, awls, and scrapers are scattered the length of the coffin, and he holds his hammer clasped across his chest.
Development
Dwarf NPCs who see the funerary masks might recognize them for what they are and question the characters about how they came to possess them. Word of the find eventually gets back to dwarven leaders throughout the North. Within a few weeks, a small delegation of dwarves tracks down the characters and asks for information on where the masks were found. The dwarves also insist that the masks be turned over to them. If the characters demand payment, the dwarves frown but agree to pay up to 200 pp for each mask.
Once the dwarves learn about an entrance to Tyar-Besil, they begin mounting expeditions. However, the Cult of the Eternal Flame will not relinquish its lair without a fight.
E5. Crumbling Barricades
This partially collapsed chamber is L-shaped. The floor is covered in shards of rock and bone. A rough five-foot wall separates the two halves of the room.
Two ogre and four half-ogre (ogrillon) challenge anyone coming from outside the temple. Those seeking entrance must make signs like those described in E1. If the characters instead ask to speak with the temples leaders, one ogre leaves and returns with a razerblast from area E2.
East Tunnel. This tunnel leads to area B24 in the Temple of Black Earth.
Treasure
The ogres and half-ogres have collected a small trove, which they keep in a silver-and-mother-of-pearl box that they’ve buried in the rubble in the northeast corner of the chamber. A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check allows a character to uncover it due to telltale signs the rubble has been disturbed recently. The box is worth 150 gp and contains 35 gp, 17 pp, four alexandrites worth 30 gp each, a potion of extra healing, and a potion of diminution.
Development
If the characters slay the ogres and then head into another area, some of the ogres from area E9 replace them in an hour.
E6. Bastians Quarters
The door to this chamber is locked from within unless Bastian is elsewhere.
The interior of this stifling chamber is filled with the odor of wood smoke, and a smoky haze fills the air. Four oversized braziers in the corners put off considerable light. A divan sits along one wall, while a writing table with a basalt top rests against another wall. Numerous rugs, many of them singed at the edges, lie scattered on the floor. Wall hangings woven in various shades of scarlet, blood, and rose red and bearing fire-stitched patterns decorate the chamber.
A red-skinned man paces in the middle of the room.
This is the lair and study of a fire genasi named Bastian Thermandar (see chapter 7), second in command of the fire cult. He is responsible for guarding the northern half of the complex.
Roleplaying Bastian
Bastian is suspicious of anyone he doesn’t already know and assumes any intruders are enemies. He’s calculating enough to engage in conversation, trying to learn what the characters are capable of and why they’re here. Bastian tries to convince the characters to go after Vanifer, and he promises an immense (and fictitious) reward if the characters bring him Tinderstrike. If the characters seem agreeable and competent, he provides them with directions to get them to area E26. He also describes of what they might encounter along the way. In so doing, he minimizes the dangers of the intervening rooms.
Reinforcements
The cultists in E7 and E8 come to Bastians aid if he’s attacked here.
Secret Door
A secret door in the north wall can be found with a successful a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. It opens into a tunnel that travels north for 40 feet before ending at an arrow slit that looks out into a lava tube (see area E1).
E7. Barracks
This chamber is a barracks. Rows of bunks line the walls, and several tables fill the central portion. Braziers and torches are spaced at regular intervals throughout the place. Barrels, crates, and trunks have been stacked against the wall at the southern end. A wide opening in the southeast wall leads to a stone bridge spanning a firelit chasm.
The southeast chasm is described in area E12.
A dozen fire temple cultists bunk here, but only four eternal flame guardian (see chapter 7) are present when the characters arrive. Two must awaken, then stand and move to join any battle; they have AC 12, since they have no time to don armor.
Reinforcements
If trouble takes the soldiers in this room unaware, sounds of battle attract attention from areas E6, E8, and E9. The ogres in area E9 are particularly slow to respond, however.
E8. Priests Room
Three beds, each with a footlocker, take up most of this room. Sets of shelves and a writing desk are to the south. A small table is set against the middle the northern wall. There, sheets of parchment and an inkwell sit haphazardly next to two flagons and a stack of platters.
This room has been claimed by three cult priests. At any given time, two eternal flame priest (see chapter 7) are present. If the characters catch them unaware, one is eating at the table while the other is sitting at a desk, consulting a tome and writing.
Treasure
One of the priests carries a potion of fire breath. The footlockers contain a total of 36 sp and 19 gp.
E9. Ogre Den
Two smelly piles of fur have been shoved into the two northern corners of this room. A small bag with knuckle bones spilling out lies between the two nests, and a half-eaten haunch of meat sits next to it.
This area houses two ogre that serve the fire temple.
Reinforcements
If a fight breaks out here, the ogres can expect help from areas E6, E7, E8, and E10. However, no one comes until it’s clear the ogres aren’t just being rowdy. The hobgoblins might wait until any noise has died down, then just peak in.
Treasure
One ogre has hidden a small pouch in a pocket of a fur-lined cloak piled amid its bedding. The pouch contains several shiny rocks as well as one blue quartz (5 gp), one hematite (5 gp), and one piece of obsidian (10 gp). One of the shiny rocks is actually a stone of luck.
E10. Hobgoblin Lair
The characters can smell the meat cooking here from the stairway to the east and the room to the west.
This unusually shaped chamber smells of cooking meat. A number of sleeping pallets lie along the walls, and an open fire ring sits in the center. Meat sizzles on a spit there.
Hobgoblins that serve the fire temple bunk here. Six hobgoblin and one hobgoblin captain are present. Unless they have reason not to be, four hobgoblins are sleeping, while the other two are sitting at the fire with their captain. Sleeping hobgoblins wake and spend their first turn standing and arming themselves, joining the fight on their next turns. Lacking time to don armor, each has AC 13 (shield).
If the hobgoblin captain is reduced to half its hit point maximum, it spends one turn drinking a potion of greater healing (see “Treasure”).
Reinforcements
These hobgoblins are often loud, engaging in training or contests. The forces in area E6, E7, and E8 might investigate a disturbance here, but it takes a while. The ogres in area E9 come only if ordered to do so by the cultists.
Stairs
The stairs to the south descend 30 feet to a wide, torchlit hallway west of area E11.
Treasure
The hobgoblin captain has a small, polished oak box containing three potions of fire resistance and a potion of greater healing.
E11. Cellblock
This long passage is broken at regular intervals by doors spaced fifteen feet apart along the north and south walls. Many of the doors are secured from this side with hasp-and-pin mechanisms.
The four westernmost cells (furnished on the map) serve as barracks for the slave handlers, while the rest are used to imprison slaves.
The first time the adventurers open a door leading to a furnished chamber, read the following:
A bed is set against one wall, with a desk pushed against the wall across from it. A red tapestry hangs above the desk. Stitched into the tapestry with black thread is a bowl-shaped symbol.
The symbol on the tapestry is the symbol of fire; show it to the players. Each furnished cell to the north houses an Razerblast, and each of the furnished cells to the south houses a flamewrath (see chapter 7 for both). Combat in one of the cells attracts the attention of the other cultists nearby.
Secret Door Cell
The cell in the southeast corner of the hall is empty. A secret door in the south wall can be found with a successful a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.
Prison Cells
The doors of the unfurnished cells-aside from the one with the secret door-are uncomfortably warm to the touch.
Each unfurnished cell north of the hall contains a salamander-four salamanders total. If offered freedom, the salamanders can be convinced to fight the fire cultists. If forced to fight alongside azers, however, the salamanders have a twenty-five percent chance each round of turning on the azers during a fight.
Each unfurnished cell south of the hall (not counting the easternmost cell, which is empty) contains two azer-six azers total. They are eager to fight the fire cultists and the efreeti slaver (see area E13), but they need weapons. If the salamanders attack the azers, the azers fight the salamanders until one side or the other is defeated. If the characters don’t help the azers fight the salamanders, the azers turn on the characters as well.
E12. Lava Chasm
A stone bridge stretches across a hot, hazy chasm lit by a river of lava forty feet below. The roof of the chasm hangs fifty feet above the bridge.
The stone bridge is safe to cross. A creature takes
Mechanism
Once the characters move to a point near the center of the chamber, read the following aloud:
A large mechanism hangs in the air to the east. It is a set of steel pulleys and thick iron chains connected to a hanging barricade of black stone. The wall appears to be some sort of a canal lock.
This mechanism controls the flow of lava into area E13. It is operated from area E17. Despite its age, this device still functions perfectly.
E13. Foundry
The temperature rises noticeably as one approaches this room, and characters can hear sounds of metal striking metal long before they see whats inside.
Noise, light, and heat issue from this massive chamber. Runnels of lava flow from holes in the west wall into bronze troughs. Heat shimmers, smoke, and steam rise toward the domed ceiling, escaping through vents. Staircases rise at opposite ends of the room, and a smaller passage exits to the east. An efreeti drives azers and salamanders to make armaments here while fire cultists strand guard.
This chamber is the heart of the fire cults domain, the great foundry where they forge weapons and armor. Noise here drowns out any fighting taking place outside the immediate vicinity. An efreeti aided by one razerblast and two eternal flame guardian (see chapter 7 for both) drives a salamander and three azer, forcing them to work the forges.
As soon as any disturbance happens here, the slaves turn on the efreeti. The efreeti then focuses his attention on corralling his charges, leaving the cultists to deal with the characters. If it becomes obvious that the fight is going badly for the cultists, the efreeti retreats to his lair in the fire node (see chapter 5) via area E14.
If the characters arrive with salamanders or azers from area E11, those creatures take up arms on their respective sides. The salamanders and azers attack the efreeti until he retreats, then turn on each other. Survivors might be influenced to continue to help the characters as described in area E11.
None of the armor and weapons currently being forged here is near enough to completion to be used effectively.
An iron talking tube runs between the southwest wall of this room and the eastern wall of area E17, so that instructions could be passed back and forth between the smiths and the engineers operating the canal and lock mechanism in area E12.
Development
Once the characters kill or drive off the slavers here, the rest of the fire temple goes on high alert. An hour afterward, guards from areas E7-E10 and areas E25-E29 take shifts watching this area. The guards aim to prevent anyone from entering area E14.
E14. Shaft to the Fire Node
At the end of this passage, a wooden platform similar to a drawbridge extends into a large, irregularly shaped vertical shaft perhaps fifty feet across. A large stone disk, twelve feet in diameter, hovers next to the wooden extension. The shaft rises into inky blackness overhead, but a flickering, ruddy light is visible far below.
The disk is made to rise or descend by uttering the proper command word into the shaft loudly enough for it to echo. The command words are “ash” to make the platform sink and “ember” to make it rise. It rises no higher than this position. It takes 1 minute for it to move from one place to another. The shaft descends to area F15 in the Fane of the Eye and further down to area W1 in the Weeping Colossus (see chapter 5 for both).
E15. Ancient Armory
When characters first discover either secret door into this unlit place, read the following text aloud:
Dust and cobwebs fill this corridor. About halfway along the passage, it widens into a small room where racks of rusted weapons and armor still stand. A gleaming shield hangs on the east wall.
All of the weapons and armor are ruined except for the shield hanging on the wall.
Treasure
The hanging shield is a +1 shield with a sprocket on its front that slowly turns clockwise, making one rotation per hour.
E16. Well
This chamber is unlit.
At the end of the hall is a circular room that is cooler than the rest of the complex. A pool of water fills the rooms center. The waters surface, as smooth as glass, comes to a foot below the surrounding floor.
The depth of the well is about 12 feet. The water seeps up from below through cracks in the wells floor.
E17. Mechanical Room
A complex assortment of gears, flywheels, drive shafts, and levers fills most of the northern half of this chamber. It is clear that someone has done repair work on it recently, for numerous parts look brand new and the entirety gleams from having been recently polished and lubricated.
This mechanism operates the canal and lock system that runs between areas E12 and E13. The levers activate counterweights and springs that raise and lower the great barrier door, which controls how much lava would flow into the troughs. An iron talking tube runs between the eastern wall of this room and the southwest corner of the foundry (area E13).
E18. Library
A faint odor emanates from this dark place, which holds the chill of the grave. Strange mounds run the length of the room and look like furrows for planting.
The mounds are the decayed remains of bookshelves and tomes that used to run in neat, orderly rows. When the cultists arrived here, they discovered the patch of brown mold that has taken up residence here. After unsuccessfully trying to burn it (which caused it to double in size), they decided to avoid the place. The brown mold (see chapter 5, “Adventure Environments,” in the Dungeon Masters Guide) fills the 20-foot-square section in the southeast corner.
E19. Kennel
The door is locked with a hasp-and-pin mechanism.
This hot chamber smells of sulfur and meat.
Three hell hound lair here. They attack if whoever opened the door isn’t Lyzzie (area E29), their mistress.
E20. Storage Rooms
The smell of old iron and dust fills this room. Great heaps of junk are stacked everywhere. In some places, the collection is neat and orderly, while in others, its a tumbled mess.
Lyzzie Calderos (see area E29) decided to convert a storage room for her hell hounds, so she ordered her minions to toss all the junk found in that room into these two, hence the disheveled nature of some piles.
A thorough search of each room requires 6 hours. Whether the characters find anything of value is up to you.
E21. Storage Rooms
The smell of old iron and dust fills this room. Great heaps of junk are stacked everywhere. In some places, the collection is neat and orderly, while in others, its a tumbled mess.
Lyzzie Calderos (see area E29) decided to convert a storage room for her hell hounds, so she ordered her minions to toss all the junk found in that room into these two, hence the disheveled nature of some piles.
A thorough search of each room requires 6 hours. Whether the characters find anything of value is up to you.
E22. Display Hall
Two Eternal Flame guardian (see chapter 7) stand guard here.
This oddly shaped room features two rounded corners that make the chamber flow in a pleasing way. A stairwell disappears downward from the south wall, and a door is set into the east wall. A large stone brazier, its base shaped like a pair of back-to-back sitting dwarves, rests in the center of the room, giving off heat and light.
The staircase leads down to area E30.
Reinforcements
Should a fight break out here, the occupants of area E23 notify Ignatia (area E24) and then join the combat. Ignatia joins soon after.
E23. Barracks
A short passage beyond the door opens into a rectangular chamber containing two sets of bunk beds and a trestle table with benches on either side. A large cask sits at one end of the table, and there are several pewter mugs near the cask.
The cask holds weak, sour wine.
Two eternal flame guardian (see chapter 7) are drinking and playing cards at the table. They attack anyone who isn’t wearing cult apparel and suspiciously question anyone disguised as a cult member.
Reinforcements
Any fighting here draws the attention of Ignatia in area E24.
E24. Ignatias Abode
Two bookshelves stand in opposite corner of this room. Between them stands a bed. A pair of chairs flank a brazier in another corner. Lying in the middle of the floor is an individual with a warriors physique, his wrists and ankles bound with rope. He has been beaten.
Ignatia, a flamewrath (see chapter 7), lives here. She leads the warriors outside and serves as the watch commander for the hobgoblins guarding the south barricades (area E27).
Prisoner
Unless the characters have somehow set the temple on high alert, Ignatia is questioning a Crushing Wave reaver who was caught sneaking close to Eternal Flame cult territory. The reaver, Orgaal, is unarmed and has 4 hit points remaining.
Treasure
The shelves contain many books, several of which are valuable and collectively worth 250 gp. An urn filled with ashes sits atop one bookshelf, and at its bottom Ignatia has buried 170 gp, 170 ep, and 10 sardonyxes worth 50 gp each.
E25. Supplicants Room
This large chamber is shaped like an elongated hexagon, with a door set into the points at east and west. The door to the east has been painted red with a black, stylized cauldron symbol upon it. Additional exits lead north and south. Several ancient forges and anvils stand in the room, and many sleeping pallets lie scattered in their midst.
Eight cultist and two cult fanatic are here.
Reinforcements
Lyzzie and her magmins (area E29) investigate any commotion here. If appropriate, Lyzzie uses sending to contact the chimera in area E30. The chimera moves to help Lyzzie as soon as it can.
E26. Fire Temple
This room has a wide alcove in the east wall. A raised dais with an altar fills the alcove. Flanking the dais are two smoking braziers and two flickering torches in sconces. Rich tapestries decorate the walls. The tapestry behind the dais is adorned with a stylized cauldron symbol.
If this is the first of the elemental temples the characters explore, Vanifer is kneeling before the altar, contemplating the higher meaning of her faith, attended by two eternal flame priest (see chapter 7 for the cultists' statistics). The braziers are receptacles holding two fire elemental under Vanifer’s command. They appear and attack as soon as their mistress orders them to.
Roleplaying Vanifer
Vanifer is willing to talk, but only to size up the characters. If the characters seem amenable to conversation, she vows to take her cult far away from the Sumber Hills if they do her the favor of killing Gar Shatterkeel and delivering his claw as proof of his demise. She honors no such deal.
In combat, Vanifer commands the elementals to engage the characters while she casts spells. If the fight seems to be going badly, Vanifer flees to the shaft (area E14) and down into the fire node.
Secret Door
A secret door is hidden behind one of the tapestries on the east end of the south wall. A character who searches the wall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check locates it. Beyond lies a flight of stairs leading down to area E31.
E27. Barricades
The passage emerges into an oddly shaped room. A loose pile of stone forms a barricade across the route, angled to defend intrusion from the south.
Four hobgoblin and one hobgoblin captain stand guard here, dressed in flame-red tabards with the symbol of elemental fire on the chest. They challenge anyone approaching from the south, but they pay little attention to anyone heading in that direction.
Gaining Passage
Visitors from the south must form the hand-sign for the fire cult (hands cupped together upright, with one pinky finger jutting upward in the middle), state the pass phrase (“Fire is eternal!"), or convince the hobgoblins to allow passage. Otherwise, the hobgoblins attack. It takes only a little persuasion to convince the hobgoblins that intruders have a legitimate reason to be here. These guards would much rather pass the buck to cult leaders.
South Tunnel
This tunnel connects to area A7 in the Temple of Howling Hatred.
Development
If the characters defeat these hobgoblins, the guards are replaced by the hobgoblins in area E28 within an hour or two.
E28. Barracks
This foul smelling, oddly shaped room contains a number of sleeping pallets.
The hobgoblins who serve Lyzzie (area E29) dwell here. Four hobgoblin and a hobgoblin captain are currently relaxing. Unless the characters look like cultists, the hobgoblins attack.
Treasure
The hobgoblin captain carries a potion of healing and a pouch containing 60 sp.
E29. Lyzzies Quarters
Scorch marks and charred furnishings litter this chamber, and a burned tapestry spans the east wall. Dancing about the room are four small humanoids made of magma.
The dancing creatures are four magmin. They are curious to know who the characters are and playfully try to set them on fire. If they are harmed, the magmins hiss loud enough to alert their mistress, Lyzandra “Lyzzie” Calderos. She is a human mage with
Reinforcements
The hobbgoblins in area E28 are drawn to sounds of combat here.
E30. Chimera Lair
This room has a vaulted ceiling thirty feet high. Wide alcoves dominate the east and west walls, and treasure glitters in the western one. An unpleasant musky scent mixes with the odor of sulfur here. The floor is marred with broken spots, scorch marks, bits of debris, and dark stains.
A chimera loyal to the fire cult lounges in the western alcove. It emerges from its alcove to taunt and threaten the characters, pacing and snarling. If the characters attack it or try to plunder its hoard, it retaliates. Otherwise, it lets them pass through its lair unmolested.
East Tunnel
This tunnel leads to area B16 in the Temple of Black Earth.
Treasure
Scattered in the western alcove-among broken bones and scraps of clothing-is the chimeras hoard of 517 cp, 1,048 sp, 432 gp, five polished moonstones (50 gp each), a potion of water breathing, and a tiny red silk pouch that contains fine sand (dust of disappearance).
E31. Vanifers Chamber
Throw rugs, privacy screens, a couch, and a quartet of comfortable chairs have created a cozy space here. Gossamer fabrics are draped across a four poster bed, and a desk sits in the southeastern corner.
Vanifer spends very little time here.
Treasure
A search of the desk reveals a scroll of Melfs minute meteors and a scroll of wall of sand (see appendix B for descriptions of both spells).
Conclusion
Three key leaders keep the Cult of the Eternal Flame organized: Vanifer, Bastian Thermandar, and Lyzzie Calderos. If any of these leaders survive after the characters leave the temple, the cultists reorganize their defenses and fight off further incursions. If Vanifer retreats to the deeper levels and the characters defeat Bastian and Lyzzie, the Eternal Flame cult loses its cohesion, and the surviving cultists abandon this level. Some retreat to the Fane of the Eye or the Weeping Colossus, while others flee the temple altogether. A few monsters might remain, such as the chimera, which rounds up as much loot as it can and takes to hunting stray cultists once their leaders are all gone.