TEXT: Robert J. Schwalb
  
  Writing and Design: Robert J. Schwalb
  Editing: Scott Fitzgerald Gray     Proofreading: Carlos Danger
  Art Direction and Graphic Design: Hal Mangold     Cover Illustrator: Jack Kaiser
  Cartography: Cecil Howe     Interior Illustrations:  Jack Kaiser 
  Playtesters: Robert Adducci, Adam Barton, Nicholas Bobbie, Alan Brown, Jethro Barger, Pedro Barrenechea, Adam Barton, Bill Benham, Jacob Battius Bates, 
  Nicholas Bobbie, Brian Borth, Eric Brinkley, Ben Buchanan, Tyler Carey, Tom Castelli, Don Cee, Dave Chalker, David Christ, Jennifer Clark Wilkes, Monte 
  Cook, Bruce R Cordell, Mark Craddock, Adam Doochin, Kristi Eubanks, Amanda Fuqua, Will Fuqua, E Foley, Andrew Follett, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Jim 
  Haltom, Kevin Hamilton, C Thomas Hand, Keenan Harmon, Benjamin Harrett, Ian Harris, Christopher Heim, Dan Heinrich, Jared von Hindman, Ben Hofer, 
  Miranda Horner, Cecil Howe, Fred Hurley, Tracy Hurley, Greg Jimison, Don Johnson, Steve Kenson, Martin Knoff, Shad Kunkle, Glen Kyle, Jon Leitheusser, 
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  Anthony Mardis, Greg Marks, Grant Martin, Forrest Melton, Molly “Stonewall” Mercier, Shawn Merwin, Kim Mohan, Scott Neese, Erik Nowak, Chris Pramas, 
  Joseph Quarles, Marc Quinn, Mindy Quinn, Stephen Radney-Macfarland, Thomas Reid, Jeffrey Reimer, Chad Roberts, Heather Rose, Terrill Rowland, Daniel 
  J. Ryan, Thomas Reid, Eric Samuels, Evan Sass, Steven Saunders, Marc Schmalz, Steve Schultz, Landon Schurtz, Chris Sims, Skyler Smith, Stacee Smith, Zach 
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  Travis Woodall, Leslie Russell Yost, Troy Yost
  Tales of the Demon Lord is ©2015 Schwalb Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved.
  Shadow of the Demon Lord, Tales of the Demon Lord, Schwalb Entertainment, and their associated logos are trademarks of Schwalb 
  Entertainment, LLC.
  Schwalb EntErtainmEnt, llc
  PO Box #12548     Murfreesboro, TN 37129
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  Credits .......................................................................1
  Introduction .......................................................2
  Chapter 1: City in Shadow ............................4
  Chapter 2: Harvester of Sorrow .......... 10
  Chapter 3: Born to Die ..................................12
  Chapter 4: The Curious  
  case of the Errant Swine ........................14
  Chapter 5: temple of Shadows .................18
  Chapter 6: The Moon Spire .........................20
  Chapter 7: Mines of madness.................... 24
  Chapter 8: IN the name of love ..............26
  Chapter 9: Shadows in the Mist .............30
  Chapter 10: Off the Rails ............................34
  Chapter 11: Prince of Darkness .............. 38
  Chapter 12: The End is Near ...................... 42
  Appendix: New MOnsters .............................47
  
  tales of the demon lord
  These are dark times for Urth. A shadow creeps across the 
  land to corrupt, warp, and destroy whatever it touches. As 
  the light dies and darkness reigns, the world speeds toward 
  annihilation. Is this really the end? Is it the apocalypse long 
  foretold by prophets and madmen? Or is the end not so 
  certain?
   Perhaps. Perhaps not.
   The adventures presented in Tales of the Demon Lord 
  present a single complex scenario by which the world 
  might die or might be spared. For now.
  Using this Book
  This book is intended for would-be Game Masters. If 
  you’re going to be the GM, you need a copy of Shadow of 
  the Demon Lord. Before you run one of these adventures, 
  be sure to take a few minutes to read through it and make 
  notes.
   Most of the creatures that appear in this book are 
  detailed in Chapter 10: Bestiary in Shadow of the Demon 
  Lord. Monsters new to these adventures appear in this 
  book’s appendix, while NPCs with mechanics have their 
  statistics boxes in the adventures. When a monster name 
  or an NPC’s character type appears in bold, refer to that 
  statistics box to play the creature.
  The Setting
  The adventures in this book all take place in the Northern 
  Reach, the northernmost province of the Empire described 
  in Chapter 8 of Shadow of the Demon Lord. With minor 
  adjustments, you can drop these adventures into any part of 
  the world you like, or into an entirely different world.
   Most of the adventures occur in or around Crossings, 
  the largest and arguably the most important city in the 
  province. Chapter 1 of this book describes Crossings in 
  detail and includes a map of the city for your reference. 
  Tales Campaign
  Tales of the Demon Lord includes eleven adventures to 
  provide you with a complete campaign. If you run each 
  adventure in order, you can take your characters from their 
  ordinary beginnings to their heights of power. You can also 
  take adventures from this book and connect them to other 
  adventures to create your own campaign. 
  Running 
  Adventures
  An adventure is a lot like a road map, showing a final 
  destination and a number of different routes the 
  characters can take to get there. It is left to you to fill in the 
  details, to find ways to connect the characters to the story, 
  and to present the world as a believable and coherent 
  place. This might sound like a lot, but you’re smart, 
  capable, and more than up to the task. After all, you’re the 
  Game Master!
  The Campaign Story
  Most of these adventures deal with the efforts of the ancient 
  society known as the Brotherhood of Shadows to bore a 
  hole into the Void—the home of the Demon Lord and 
  hordes of demons intent on destroying the world. For years, 
  a halfling named Elder Fobb has secretly led a Brotherhood 
  cult in Crossings, posing as a befuddled city councillor as 
  he advances the cult’s agenda.
   However, Fobb has a rival for control of the cult. A 
  human aristocrat named Pentachus Katandramus—one 
  of a long line of wealthy deviants who have dabbled in 
  dark magic—discovered that the dread artifact known as 
  the Eye of the Demon Lord lies hidden in Crossings. Stolen 
  from a legendary vampire known as Lucretia, the Lady 
  of Sighs and Sorrows, the eye was brought to the city 
  centuries ago by a demonologist named Moore. Gathering 
  a cadre of cultists to him, Katandramus has set out to find 
  it. The results of his efforts are described in Chapter 2.
   As the characters are drawn into the story, Katandramus 
  works to consolidate his power and start a coup against 
  Elder Fobb. He achieves this by the time the characters 
  choose their master paths, using the eye’s power to take 
  over the cult. Once the cult comes under his control, 
  Katandramus sets out to complete the dreaded incantation 
  revealed by the artifact, as described in Chapter 12.
  Eye of the Demon Lord
  A physical incarnation of demonic will, the Eye of the 
  Demon Lord exists to release its maker from the Void and 
  plunge the world into ruin. The eye cannot act alone, 
  however, requiring a mortal to carry out its dark purpose. 
  The artifact is a smooth sphere of obsidian, warm to the 
  touch and 4 inches in diameter when first found. The more 
  its wielder calls upon its power, the larger the orb grows.
  Game Effect
  Curse of the Demon Lord: Any creature that touches the 
  artifact must get a success on a Will challenge roll with 
  1 bane or gain 1d3 Insanity, 1d6 Corruption, and become 
  cursed.
   
   
  While cursed, the creature is impaired if it is ever more 
  than 8 yards from the eye. For each hour it spends away 
  from the eye, the creature gains 1 Insanity. If the creature 
  goes mad as a result of gaining this Insanity, the Demon 
  Lord destroys its soul, leaving its body comatose until it 
  dies.
  Power of the Demon Lord: As dangerous as the Eye of the 
  Demon Lord can be, it also offers great power. While 
  cursed by the eye, a creature gains all the following 
  benefits:
  2
  
  tales of the demon lord
  Introduction
  • Its Power is increased by 1.
  • It learns three spells from any tradition.
  • The artifact grants the creature 1 boon on attack rolls 
  made when casting an attack spell, and imposes 1 bane 
  on challenge rolls made to resist spells the creature 
  casts.
  Invoke the Demon Lord: A cursed creature wielding the 
  Eye of the Demon Lord can use an action to invoke the 
  Demon Lord’s power. A pulse of crackling red energy 
  spreads out in an 8-yard radius centered on a point the 
  creature can reach. Each creature in the area other than 
  the wielder must make a Will challenge roll. A creature 
  takes 9d6 damage and becomes dazed and impaired for 
  1 minute on a failure, or just takes half the damage on a 
  success.
   
   
  Each time this power is used, the eye’s diameter 
  grows by 1 inch. When the artifact reaches 24 inches in 
  diameter, the cursed creature is drawn inside and utterly 
  destroyed. The eye then shrinks down to its normal size 
  of 4 inches.
  Whispers from the Void: The Demon Lord sometimes 
  communicates through dreams or visions to creatures 
  cursed by the Eye of the Demon Lord. When the artifact 
  enslaves a truly capable mortal, the Demon Lord reveals 
  a special incantation designed to breach the boundaries 
  of the mortal world—and to let loose the darkness of the 
  Void to consume reality. 
  The Characters
  Some of the adventures in this book have concrete “hooks” 
  to draw the characters into the plot. However, most of these 
  scenarios are organized so that you’ll create the setup that 
  draws the group in by connecting the characters to the 
  adventures.
  Starting Characters
  Players should create characters using the normal rules of 
  the game. The following are just some of the ways you can 
  connect the characters to the city of Crossings, which is 
  described in Chapter 1.
  •  Academic Profession: This character could know 
  Caribdus, the wizard of Wizard’s Peak, or have a contact 
  on the city council.
  •  Common Profession: Characters might have city 
  residences in districts appropriate to their starting 
  wealth. Poor characters should live in Grievings. 
  Wealthier characters might live in Coins or Purse.
  •  Criminal Profession: Consider granting the character 
  membership in the Guild—the organization that controls 
  criminal activity in Crossings.
  •  Martial Profession: This character might be a member 
  of the Brown Cloaks or the militia.
  •   Religious Profession: The Cult of the New God has a 
  great deal of influence in the city, and characters of that 
  faith might know Father Paulus.
  •  Wilderness Profession: Consider having the character 
  come from one of the settlements outside Crossings that 
  are featured in later adventures—Hamlet (detailed in 
  Chapter 4), Carbuncle (Chapter 6), or Verge (Chapter 8).
  Novice Characters
  As the group gets more adventures behind it, the 
  characters’ reputation as problem solvers can earn them 
  an invitation to deal with new troubles in Crossings 
  or its nearby communities. Additionally, once the 
  characters complete the first adventure, a connection to 
  an organization such as the Guild or the Inquisition can 
  keep them in the thick of local events. You might also give 
  the group a patron—perhaps Inquisitor Randolfus, Master 
  Dreen, Commander Rena, or mayor Katrin Edgerton. 
  Replacement Characters
  Characters are likely to die in the course of the campaign, 
  as it leads them into increasingly dangerous scenarios 
  and to sites teetering on the brink of annihilation. Since 
  the adventures focus on civilized lands for the most part, 
  replacement characters can come from Crossings or any of 
  the smaller communities outside the city. 
  3
  I
  
  tales of the demon lord
  A backwater province of the troubled Empire, the 
  Northern Reach covers the lands east and north of 
  the Shield Mountains, stretching as far north as the 
  Desolation and east to the Auroral Ocean. Littered with 
  the ruins of vanished peoples, much of this land remains a 
  wilderness—trackless, unexplored, haunted by the faerie, 
  ravaged by beastmen, and shadowed by the undead that 
  besiege the citadels of the Crusader States. But even with 
  all the dangers afoot in these lands, civilization thrives. 
   This chapter presents the city of Crossings as a backdrop 
  for the adventures that follow. Although you’ll find 
  information here about notable people and places, the city 
  has plenty more features for you to define as you make it 
  your own. 
  Crossings
  At the center of the Northern Reach, Crossings spreads 
  across a ring of hills overlooking the lake known as the 
  Dark Waters. Six pale spires rise above the city, obscured 
  by the perpetual smoke spewing from the stacks of its 
  industrial district. Miles of farmland spread to the east, 
  while the rolling hills known as the Barrows form a natural 
  border to the south, curling around to the Black Hills where 
  the city pries iron ore from dwarf-dug mines deep within 
  the earth.
   The present city is the latest in a long line of 
  communities that have stood on the shores of the Dark 
  Waters. Evidence of previous settlements can be seen in the 
  city’s architecture, from looming faerie spires to the arches 
  left by the First People, to the castles raised by the Edene 
  when they ruled these lands. The city’s cobbled streets, 
  ancient cemeteries, and statues of people and events long 
  forgotten have all withstood the tide of years.
   The Crossings of today grew from exiles, bandits, and 
  refugees fleeing the Empire’s tyranny and squatting in the 
  ruins of a town emptied by the plague. Though the new 
  settlement was a lawless and dangerous place, the influx 
  of settlers and the march of the crusaders to establish their 
  citadels tempered the community’s excesses and helped its 
  people establish a rule of law that has made the last century 
  a stable one. Isolation and wealth have given Crossings a 
  great deal of autonomy, and the city acknowledges the rule 
  of the provincial capital of Sixton in name only.
  Government
  A city founded by free peoples, Crossings has no interest in 
  bowing and scraping before an aristocracy. Instead, the city 
  elects a mayor to take charge for a term of a few years, with 
  the position lasting until the people decide to put someone 
  else in office.
   A council advises the mayor, featuring members who 
  represent the city’s districts, industries, and other interests. 
  All council members are appointed by their predecessors, 
  but the council can expand or contract its numbers based 
  on a vote among its members. Council members check the 
  powers of the mayor, and take a quiet role in goading the 
  population to oust an uncooperative mayor for one more 
  favorable to their positions. 
  The Brown Cloaks
  Law enforcement in the city falls to the Brown Cloaks—
  members of the watch who take their name from the drab 
  brown cloaks they wear as part of their uniforms. With only 
  ninety members, the Brown Cloaks focus their efforts on 
  protecting the wealthier citizens of Crossings. They leave 
  the poor to sort out their own affairs, unless those affairs 
  threaten the rich and powerful. 
  The Militia
  The city maintains a small militia of two hundred to protect 
  against outside threats. Members of the militia occupy the 
  city’s watchtowers, guard the gates, and patrol the lands 
  around Crossings. Most militia members come from the 
  lower classes, since the meager pay is better than nothing 
  and the work is easy for the most part. They wear hard 
  leather armor and metal caps, and carry spears and small 
  shields. The brown tabards they wear over their armor 
  display the city’s device—two crossed spears.
  Notable Characters
  As the characters spend time in Crossings over the course 
  of this book’s adventures, they are likely to cross paths with 
  many of the city’s important and influential people. 
   Katrin Edgerton (as commoner or professional) has 
  been the mayor of Crossings for just over three years. 
  Although her stint has proven beneficial to the city as a 
  whole, Edgerton’s focus on the poor has made enemies 
  on the council and among the city’s more powerful and 
  influential members. Of late, she’s been following up 
  rumors about a hidden cult operating in the city. Katrin 
  is a portly, middle-aged woman who wears comfortable 
  clothing and keeps her graying brown hair tied up in a bun.
   Elder Fobb (see below for mechanics) represents the 
  city’s halfling population on the council, and has done so 
  for sixty years. Short, wrinkled, possessed of a prodigious 
  belly, and afflicted with gout, he often loses the train of 
  conversations and starts talking before others have finished. 
  No one suspects that his absentmindedness is an act.
   Elder Fobb is a secret member of the Brotherhood of 
  Shadows (see Shadow of the Demon Lord for details), and 
  he works to spread the cult’s influence in the city. He and 
  the other cultists keep their identities secret, with Fobb 
  using illusion magic to disguise himself. The halfling 
  pushes the powerful criminal Ambrose Quick (see below) 
  4
  
  tales of the demon lord
  ELDER FOBB 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 1/2 halfling
  Perception 13 (+3)
  Defense 8; Health 20
  Strength 8 (–2), Agility 8 (–2), Intellect 13 (+3), Will 9 (–1)
  Speed 10
  Uncanny Luck Whenever Elder Fobb rolls a 1 on a 
  challenge roll or an attack roll, he can reroll the d20. He 
  must use the second roll, even if it is another 1.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Cane (melee) –2 (1d3)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Good Fortune Whenever a creature within short range of 
  Elder Fobb rolls a 1 on any die, he can use a triggered 
  action to let the creature ignore the roll and roll again.
  Uncommon Courage When Elder Fobb becomes 
  frightened, he can use a triggered action to make a Will 
  challenge roll. On a success, he removes the frightened 
  affliction.
  MAGIC 
  Power 3
  Illusion clamor (4), figment (2), decoy (1)
  Magician sense magic (4)
  Shadow nightfall blade (2), darkness (2), shadow monster (1)
  to oust Katrin as mayor and put someone else in charge—
  preferably someone in the cult. 
   Father Paulus (as acolyte of the New God) champions 
  the Cult of the New God on the council. He gained his seat 
  after his predecessor, Father Shankus, choked on a chicken 
  bone. Paulus is gaunt, with a mess of gray hair crowning his 
  head and cracked spectacles always sliding down his long, 
  pointed nose. He wears the black habit of his faith and a 
  simple wooden holy symbol. A staunch intellectual, he 
  peppers his speech with fancy-sounding words, though it is 
  unclear if he knows what many of those words mean.
   Paulus is addicted to sex. Though he tries to remain 
  chaste, he can stand only a few days of deprivation before 
  slipping in through the secret entrance of the Gilded Purse 
  brothel and indulging all manner of sordid diversions. He 
  skims from the offering plates of the Temple of the New 
  God to pay for his habits, leaving him a tortured man strong 
  in his beliefs and despising his own weakness. 
   Commander Rena (as veteran) hails from Neverfall, 
  one of the citadels of the Crusader States bordering the 
  Desolation. She has a post on the city council to ensure that 
  Crossings keeps the crusaders supplied in foodstuffs, arms, 
  and clothing. In addition to her council seat, Rena also 
  commands the militia.
  5
  1
  
  tales of the demon lord
  city in shadow
   Young and fit, with short black hair and blue stars 
  tattooed on her left cheek, Rena wears comfortable 
  clothing and boots, and has a sword belted to her waist. 
  She is secretly involved in a romantic relationship with 
  Ezekia (see below). If word got back to her superiors about 
  her tryst, she would be stripped of her rank and cast out 
  for consorting with a known witch. Ambrose Quick has 
  discovered the relationship, and is blackmailing Rena. She 
  has not shared her troubles with her lover.
   Ezekia (as apprentice witch) is the youngest member of 
  the council, and is dedicated to watching out for the interest 
  of the poorer citizens of crossings. She wears a homespun 
  black dress, a pointed cap, and heavy boots. She’s pretty, 
  with pale skin, red hair, and bright green eyes.
   Though she chafes at wasting time in meetings rather 
  than spending her time helping people directly, Ezekia stays 
  on the council for the opportunity it gives her to spend time 
  with Rena. She keeps their relationship a secret, knowing 
  Rena’s situation. Recently, though, that relationship has 
  become strained, and Ezekia suspects that Rena might 
  have found someone else. Her worries have eroded her 
  confidence, making her even less pleasant than normal.
   Master Dreen (as pickpocket with a rapier in place of 
  a small sword) is a striking man with dark skin, darker 
  eyes, a smooth-shaved scalp, and a deep, sonorous voice. 
  Representing the merchants of Crossings on the council, 
  he wears a fine suit in the imperial fashion, with a slender 
  rapier hanging from a jeweled belt. He’s one of the mayor’s 
  closest advisors, for he offers good counsel and rises above 
  the petty bickering that often afflicts his colleagues. Behind 
  his back, people whisper that Dreen made his fortune in 
  the Nine Cities.
   Ambrose Quick (as hired killer) claims to be a 
  businessman, but is in truth one of the most powerful 
  criminals in Crossings. Quick covers his criminal ventures 
  with a brothel he runs. The Temple of the Gilded Purse is 
  located in the city’s destitute Grievings district—but along 
  the edge of the temple district of Redemption and directly 
  across the street from the Temple of the New God. He and 
  Father Paulus spend most council meetings trading insults. 
   Despite their public hostility, Ambrose and Paulus are 
  allies in their enmity for mayor Katrin Edgerton. Paulus is, 
  after all, one of Ambrose’s best customers. Katrin has a low 
  opinion of the brothel, and as a devotee of the Old Faith, 
  she sees the Cult of the New God as a destructive force. 
  Ambrose and Paulus plot to oust the mayor and replace her 
  with someone more sympathetic to their operations.
   Jon Crawley (as veteran) commands the Brown Cloaks. 
  He’s been walking the streets of Crossings since he was old 
  enough to scrap in Old Town. He knows the city inside and 
  out, and loves it down to its last filthy cobblestone. Though 
  Crawley is well past forty, he remains in good enough shape 
  to kick the teeth out of anyone half his age. He has close-
  cropped gray hair and a crooked nose, and always has the 
  stub of a cigar clenched between his teeth.
   Gundren the Ironmonger (as dwarf) made his fortune 
  in the mining business and represents that industry on 
  the council. Serious and no-nonsense to the point of being 
  gruff, Gundren becomes melancholy and quiet when he’s 
  drinking. It has been thirty years since he last saw his home 
  in the ancient dwarfen city of High Stone, and he knows his 
  chance of returning is small given the shame under which 
  he left his people—and of which he has never spoken. 
  Gundren stands 4 feet tall and weighs some 300 pounds. He 
  is bald with a thick red beard, and is perpetually dirty. 
   Inquisitor Randolfus (see below for mechanics) came 
  to Crossings five years ago, dispatched by the Cult of the 
  New God to ferret out subversive elements in the north. 
  Randolfus suspects that the Brotherhood of Shadows 
  operates in the city, but his inquiries have turned up little 
  useful information so far. The inquisitor is in his forties, 
  and his formerly thick black hair is now receding and 
  graying. He remains physically fit and wears a heavy beard. 
  When working, he dons the black robes of his faith and 
  wears the customary skull mask worn by members of the 
  Inquisition.
  People of Crossings
  Humans make up most of the people living in the city. Half 
  that population can trace its ancestry to the indigenous 
  peoples of the Northern Reach, and are distinguished by 
  their auburn hair and dusky features. Many also have tribal 
  tattoos that often depict divine symbols of the Old Faith 
  gods. The rest of the city’s humans hail from across the 
  Empire’s lands.
   Halflings are the second most significant population 
  in the city. However, their numbers are even larger in the 
  countryside, where they maintain their farms and tend 
  to their herds. Halflings mingle freely with humans, and 
  marriages between humans and halflings happen from 
  time to time.
  INQUISITOR RANDOLFUS 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 1 human
  Perception 13 (+3)
  Defense 9; Health 22
  Strength 11 (+1), Agility 9 (–1), Intellect 13 (+3), Will 12 (+2)
  Speed 10
  Conviction Randolfus makes Will challenge rolls with 1 
  boon when he rolls to resist the effects of the frightening 
  and horrifying traits.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Staff (melee) +1 with 1 boon (2d6 + 1)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Shared Recovery Randolfus can use an action to heal 5 
  damage. He then chooses one creature other than him 
  that is within short range of him. The target heals damage 
  equal to its healing rate. Once Randolfus uses this talent, 
  he cannot use it again until after he completes a rest.
  MAGIC 
  Power 3
  Celestial burning beam (4), persistent light (2), sunrays (1)
  Life minor healing (4), cure (2), moderate healing (1)
  6
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  tales of the demon lord
  city in shadow
   Alongside those two races, Crossings features all the other 
  peoples living in and around the Empire. Brutish orcs can 
  be found haunting the taverns in Old Town or brawling with 
  jotun exiles that ventured north to find their fortunes. Goblins 
  tend to the city’s sewers and keep its streets clean. Changelings 
  infiltrate the city in human and halfling guise. And 
  clockworks, either fashioned locally or having arrived from 
  far-flung places, struggle to find their place on the frontier.
  City Description
  Crossings is a small city of some nineteen thousand 
  people, with half again as many living on the farms and 
  small villages that surround it. The city spreads across a 
  ring of hills whose lower reaches are the southern shore 
  of the Dark Waters, a misty lake speckled with forested 
  islands. A wall of stone surrounds the city, and older, 
  lower walls rise within it, marking the boundaries of its 
  districts or serving as mementos of the other settlements 
  that once stood here.
   The Emperor’s Road, built by crusaders bound for the 
  north, ends at the city’s center where it meets the Grain 
  Way headed east and the Iron Road to the west. Numerous 
  smaller roads and trails lead in and out of the city by gates 
  that pierce its outer wall. The river known as the Stream of 
  Tears flows into the city from the Barrows, draining into the 
  Dark Waters.
   Thick clouds hover over the city most days, fed by 
  the smokestacks rising from the Academy of Engineers 
  crowning High Hill. Easterly winds move much of the 
  smoke and pollution west over the Black Hills, but soot 
  clings to everything and everyone in the city. 
  Faerie Spires
  Six slender towers of white stone climb above the city, each 
  one standing exactly 33 yards tall. The folk of Crossings 
  believe that the towers were built by the fey, and named 
  them as such long ago. However, the true history and 
  purpose of the faerie spires are long lost. No doors or 
  windows pierce their walls, and efforts to dismantle them 
  have all failed, as the spires are impervious to damage. 
  Most locals consider the faerie spires to simply be part of 
  the scenery, though a few believe they hold great secrets 
  and magical power.
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  tales of the demon lord
  city in shadow
  Coins
  The trade district, aptly named Coins, starts at the Old Arch 
  under which passes the Emperor’s Road, and extends into 
  the city until it ends at the edge of Tankards. Warehouses, 
  workshops, factories, and marketplaces are the most 
  common structures here, and the district is busy at all 
  hours. 
  Brown Cloak Headquarters
  The Brown Cloaks base their operations here in a square, 
  blocky structure of soot-stained gray stone. In addition to 
  housing the members of the watch, the headquarters also 
  holds the city’s dungeon.
  The Emporium
  The Emporium is the greatest marketplace in the city. A 
  four-story brick building at the center of Coins, it offers 
  a wide range of mundane and exotic goods. From swords 
  to spices, dresses to livestock, anything can be had here 
  for a price. Rumor holds that the Emporium has a private 
  area where strange and terrible merchandise is sold to 
  individuals of rare wealth and discerning taste.
  Gavel
  Southwest of Coins, the city’s political district consists 
  of just a few buildings cordoned off by an old wall. In 
  Gavel, one can find the courthouse, the city hall, the 
  mayor’s residence, and other buildings set aside to serve 
  the bureaucracy. By day, Gavel is crowded with couriers, 
  lawyers, petitioners, and criminals. By night, the district 
  empties of all but the watchmen who patrol its streets.
  Gallows
  The city’s courthouse, Gallows takes its name from the 
  early days when the crusaders occupied the city and 
  cleaned it up by hanging all those they named as criminals. 
  This imposing building was once a castle, and judges hear 
  cases in what used to be the throne room.
  Liquid Smoke
  A popular tavern on the border between Coins and Gavel, 
  Liquid Smoke caters to patrons from both districts, creating 
  an interesting blend of bureaucrats and merchants, lawyers 
  and ne’er-do-wells. Its gloomy interior makes the place 
  ideal for clandestine meetings.
  Grievings
  Grievings is the poorest and also the most densely 
  populated district in Crossings. Positioned above the 
  Tankards and below Smokestacks on the eastern slopes 
  of the city, it is a tangled, crowded place of tall row houses 
  and narrow streets, made narrower by the tents and shacks 
  lining them. 
   Grievings is a desperate, dangerous district, whose 
  people work as servants in Coins, toil in Smokestacks, 
  and labor anywhere else they can find work in the city. 
  Although the district is infested with vermin and riddled 
  with disease, Grievings’ people are proud and independent. 
  They look after each other, and mete out their own brand 
  of justice to those who cross them. 
  Mercy Hill
  A crumbling mansion perched atop the hill from which it 
  takes its name, this site was once home to the city’s mayor. 
  When the neighborhood became a slum, the city turned 
  the mansion into an asylum for the insane. The place is 
  filled with raving and drooling lunatics, and the barbaric 
  methods of the staff help to ensure that most people given 
  over to Mercy Hill’s care rarely leave it. People whisper that 
  the asylum sells cadavers to necromancers and others for 
  experimentation, though no one has been able to prove the 
  rumors true. 
  The Guild
  Some fifty years ago, three gangs and one crime family came 
  together to organize the criminal elements in Crossings, 
  hoping to keep the city from spiraling into chaos and—more 
  importantly—to keep the Empire out. The Guild established 
  rules of conduct for criminals in the city, placing strict limits 
  on targets, areas, and amounts of wealth that could be taken. 
  As long as Guild agents stay within their boundaries, the 
  Brown Cloaks look the other way. The Guild also runs the 
  city’s orphanages, using them as a source for characters who 
  show promise for a career in the underworld.
  Old Town
  Old Town marks the beginning of Crossings, as it was 
  from this small district that the city first grew. A largely 
  residential area, the district contains old shops, taverns, and 
  restaurants tucked between small brick houses that crowd 
  the narrow streets. A number of inns cater to travelers 
  coming in along the Iron Road.
  Boneyard
  With graves dating back to the First People, the Boneyard 
  is one of the oldest and most intact graveyards in the 
  Northern Reach. Locals claim that this eerie, sprawling 
  maze of tombs and vaults is infested with rats, giant beetles, 
  and ghouls, and point at a recent rash of disturbed graves 
  as proof.
  Exploring Crossings
  As a general rule, it takes an hour for characters to move 
  from one edge of a district to the other edge. The tangled 
  streets of the city make for few direct routes between 
  specific locations.
  8
  1
  
  tales of the demon lord
  city in shadow
  Purse
  Purse overlooks the Dark Waters from the top of the cliffs 
  that rise above the lake’s western shore, and is home to 
  Crossings’ wealthiest citizens. Gardens and walls surround 
  palatial homes where suspicious and dour guards watch 
  passersby. The streets are wide, bordered by spreading oak 
  trees and lit by new gas lamps. The shops operating here 
  cater to the well-off and trade in luxury items.
  Wizard's Peak
  Constructed by an eccentric wizard named Caribdus 
  almost a century ago, the tower known as Wizard’s Peak 
  displays its maker’s unhinged personality. As crooked as a 
  hag’s finger and capped with a red-shingled roof, the tower 
  features poles jutting out at various points, each of which 
  blooms by night with green flames. The weed-choked lawn 
  is littered with broken statuary, strange machines, and 
  other rubbish, but few people have the courage to confront 
  the often-erratic wizard about the disheveled state of his 
  tower and its grounds.
   Caribdus lives here still, though he rarely leaves the 
  tower these days. When he does, he goes about wearing 
  heavy red robes and a wide-brimmed red hat. The wizard 
  takes on apprentices from time to time, but he accepts only 
  worthy pupils who have the courage to knock on his door 
  and the character to withstand his scrutiny.
  Redemption
  Redemption is a district confined to a narrow sliver of 
  territory carved out from the edge of Grievings, where the 
  people of Crossings come to worship. Temples of every 
  major religion and denomination in all lands can be found 
  here, with the Cathedral of the Ascended next to the Shrine 
  of Astrid, and both across the street from the Palace of 
  Revel and the Mausoleum of Father Death. Countless other 
  places of worship offer meaning and purpose for those 
  seeking supernatural answers.
  Offices of the Inquisition
  The Inquisition operates from this somber gray building 
  bearing the symbol of the New God on its face. Inquisitor 
  Randolfus and his team of four henchmen conduct 
  investigations into rumors about cults and obscene relics 
  unearthed in and around the city. 
  Smokestacks
  To the east of Grievings rises the dirtiest and most polluted 
  district in the city. Originally the site of the Academy of 
  Engineers, the Smokestacks district has evolved whole 
  industries devoted to supporting the academy, from 
  wire-spinners to foundries. Smokestacks is also home to 
  Crossings’ undesirable trades, including dyers, tanners, 
  and slaughterhouses. The place is unsettling to newcomers, 
  for its atmosphere is thick with chemical odors mingled 
  with smoke and rot. The streets are befouled with blood, 
  chemicals, and filth, while forge fires paint everything in a 
  garish light.
  Academy of Engineers
  The great Academy of Engineers is a massive, sprawling 
  complex built by the Empire to compete with the chaotic, 
  uncontrolled development of magic in the Nine Cities. 
  The academy first established itself in Sixton to the south, 
  but moved on after the public outcry following a string of 
  disastrous experiments that burned down a full third of 
  that city. Here, some of the Empire’s greatest minds push 
  the boundaries of technology to produce marvels of both 
  science and magic, including the city’s great gasworks, 
  ballistic weapons, bombs, steam engines, air ships, and 
  clockworks. The lead engineer is Reena Frent, a studious 
  and awkward woman of unsurpassed intellect. Her current 
  project is the creation of a set of clockwork giants called 
  iron titans (see Chapter 10).
  Tankards
  The Tankards district includes the docks jutting out over 
  the Dark Waters and the businesses and homes huddled 
  along the lakeshore. The area is redolent with the smell 
  of dead fish, burning oil, and sweat. Its steep streets climb 
  up toward the rest of the city, and are each set with a deep 
  channel that carries water and waste to the lake below. The 
  buildings nearest to the lake serve the fishing industry, and 
  include fisheries, taverns, and brothels. Farther up, one 
  finds the homes of those working in the fish trade, along 
  with a few shops and restaurants.
  The Old Fishery
  The most famous brothel in Crossings is the Old Fishery, a 
  three-story building where courtesans—neither attractive 
  nor altogether clean—serve the fisherfolk. Old Madge, 
  a young woman of great beauty, runs the establishment, 
  though she does not work in the trade. Madge supplements 
  her income from the brothel by trading in secrets, 
  smuggling black-market goods in and out of the city, and 
  pushing drugs in the streets. 
  Dark Waters
  The lake known as the Dark Waters feeds the people of 
  Crossings with fish and waterfowl. But despite this bounty, 
  the lake is also a source of fear. Many believe that spirits 
  and fey haunt the islands that dot the lake, and that such 
  wicked entities yearn to lure fisherfolk to their dooms. 
  Some intrepid explorers claim that many of the lake’s 
  islands sport ruins featuring fabulous treasures and deadly 
  guardians.
  9
  1
  
  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for starting characters
  After a long search, cultists from the Brotherhood of 
  Shadows recently unearthed the Eye of the Demon Lord 
  from a vault beneath a rotting house—the residence of a 
  notorious demonologist centuries before. While hunting 
  for the artifact, the cultists accidentally let loose an organ 
  filch held in the vault. In the aftermath, the monster has 
  been hunting the people of Grievings, and a beloved priest 
  has disappeared while searching for missing victims.
   The player characters complete this adventure when they 
  infiltrate the organ filch’s lair, end its threat, and rescue the 
  missing priest.
  Father Gregory
  A true champion of the downtrodden, Father Gregory 
  works in Crossings’ poorest district, Grievings, where he 
  maintains a small shrine connected to the larger Temple 
  of the New God in Redemption. When locals started 
  disappearing at the hands of the organ filch a week ago, the 
  Brown Cloaks’ halfhearted investigation turned up nothing. 
  Unwilling to let the disappearances continue, Gregory set 
  out to find the person responsible. No one has seen the 
  priest since.
  The Shrine of the Ascended
  Father Gregory’s small shrine features a modest worship 
  area with pews, an altar, and an icon of Astrid pierced by 
  swords. A door in the worship area leads to a short hall with 
  doors to either side. One leads to a small room with a pair 
  of bunk beds for any of Gregory’s flock who need shelter. 
  The other is the priest’s apartment.
   The apartment contains a cot and a writing desk, on 
  which rest a holy book, papers, a quill, a pot of ink, and a 
  bag of fine sand. A chest holds Gregory’s clothing, and a 
  holy symbol of the New God hangs from a nail on the wall. 
  Searching the desk turns up a scrap of paper bearing a 
  sketch of a horned skull, a healing potion, and an incantation 
  of the denounce spell from the Theurgy tradition.
  The Investigation
  Sergeant Alyse (as patroller) investigated the 
  disappearances and had made some progress, but was 
  ordered by the council to abandon the case. Despite these 
  orders, Alyse continues to patrol the district during her off 
  hours, hoping to bring the culprit to justice. She is easy to 
  track down.
   Alyse is a young woman in her twenties. She has thin 
  brown hair cut short, plain features, and a well-muscled 
  body. She shares what she’s learned with anyone looking 
  into Father Gregory’s disappearance, but can meet with the 
  characters only at night (since she works during the day). 
  She knows that the missing people are drunkards, petty 
  criminals, and others whose absence won’t be missed. All 
  were regulars at the Fallen Soldier, a rundown tavern on 
  the border between Grievings and Tankards. The victims, 
  in order of their disappearance, are:
  • Asa Myn. An aging, down-on-her-luck prostitute with a 
  reputation for being a drunk.
  • Old Pete, a paraplegic who lived in the alley behind the 
  Fallen Soldier.
  • Trout, a young orphan who survives by picking pockets.
  • Enid, a fortune-teller.
  • Tyrus, an ex-soldier, touched by the mercurial god Revel.
  • Vern, a blind beggar with a filthy mouth.
  The Fallen Soldier
  The Fallen Soldier is a rundown taproom situated between 
  a burned-down tenement and a brothel. Querian Verge, a 
  portly man with shaggy black hair and a sweep of blisters 
  on the back of his neck, owns the place and is here at all 
  hours. The taproom reeks of vomit and piss, and boasts a 
  single bar with a few stools, a couple of tables, and a hearth 
  that’s never lit. 
   Talking to Verge or anyone else in the tavern reveals 
  some or all of the following information:
  • A strange man wearing a hooded cloak has been seen 
  skulking through the alleys of Grievings. He always runs 
  off when approached.
  • Before Tyrus went missing, the half-mad soldier claimed 
  he saw the boy Trout snatched by an odd man wearing a 
  hooded cloak.
  • About a week ago, two men dressed far too finely for 
  Grievings and obscuring their faces with pomanders 
  were in the tavern, talking to some local toughs about 
  the old Moore House. Everyone in the district knows the 
  house, which belonged to an infamous demonologist 
  and has been abandoned for decades.
  • Everyone liked Father Gregory, even if he did try to get 
  people to moderate their booze.
  The Organ Filch
  Each night, an organ filch emerges from Moore House 
  to hunt. It prowls the alleys and side streets of Grievings, 
  preying on people who will not be missed. The monster 
  captures one creature each night for six more nights, or 
  until the player characters stop it. Each night the characters 
  patrol the streets, roll a d6. On a roll of 6, they stumble 
  across the killer. The organ filch flees if attacked by three 
  or more characters, who can then easily follow it back to 
  Moore House.
  10
  
  tales of the demon lord
  harvester of sorrows
  The Rude Boys
  Not knowing how best to deal with the monster they 
  unleashed, the cultists recruited a local gang to keep 
  watch on Moore House and ensure no one investigated or 
  disturbed the building. By day or night, 2 gang members 
  (as hired killers) watch the house from hidden positions. If 
  the characters approach the house, the Rude Boys step out 
  with weapons drawn and tell them to be on their way. If the 
  characters refuse, the killers attack.
   If the characters manage to capture one or both gang 
  members, they learn that the rude boys were hired by 
  “some posh nobs” to keep people away from the ruined 
  house. They don’t know the names of their patrons, but 
  remark that they wore fine suits beneath hooded cloaks. 
  The rude boys have observed the organ filch leaving and 
  entering Moore House, but they have kept their distance 
  from the creature and have no idea what it is.
  Moore House
  In the most rundown part of Grievings, Moore House 
  stands as a two-story building of stone with a partly 
  collapsed peaked roof. Dead grass chokes the small yard 
  out front, and boards cover the house’s windows and front 
  door. The boards that once covered the back door lie on the 
  ground.
   The house’s interior is strewn with rubbish and rat 
  droppings. Water spots stain the ceiling on the main floor, 
  caused by rain coming in through gaping holes in the roof. 
  Graffiti and intermittent blood spatters cover the walls. All 
  locations are dark at night, but the second floor is lit by day 
  thanks to the collapsed roof.
   A pack of 8 large rats (as tiny animals with the diseased 
  affliction and the Pack Fighting talent) infests the house. 
  Characters exploring encounter the rats at your discretion 
  in groups of 1d3 + 1. As well, the organ filch is in the house 
  from just before dawn until midnight, when it creeps out to 
  hunt.
  1. Main Floor
  If the characters are on the main floor between midnight 
  and dawn, an apparition of a beautiful woman manifests 
  in the kitchen, walks down the hall, and enters the sitting 
  room. There, she draws a spectral knife and slices her 
  own throat, then slumps to the floor and disappears. Any 
  character who sees the apparition must get a success on a 
  Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity.
   The study has been ransacked, and the rats and the 
  dripping water have ruined the books that lie in heaps 
  on the floor. A tremendous stench is noticeable as the 
  characters move north (see below).
  2. Second Floor
  The bedrooms making up the second floor are all in 
  terrible condition, with furniture crumbling and floors 
  rotted through. The first character to explore this area must 
  make an Agility challenge roll. On a failure, the character 
  steps on a rotted floorboard and falls through to the floor 
  below, taking 2d6 damage on landing. 
  3. Secret Chamber
  Characters examining the north wall find the secret 
  door with a success on a Perception challenge roll. The 
  mutilated corpse of a cultist killed by the organ filch lies 
  just inside the door. Any character seeing the corpse must 
  get a success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity. 
  Inspecting the corpse reveals a horned skull in black 
  tattooed on the inside of one of its arms.
  4. Demonologist's Vault
  The horrific smell comes from down the stairs beyond the 
  secret door, where a large chamber holds six dismembered 
  corpses. An iron vault stands in the center of the room, its 
  door open. A ghoul (originally a pet of the cultists) feeds on 
  the corpses and attacks intruders.
   Father Gregory lies unconscious in the corner. The priest 
  is missing an arm, a leg, and one eye, with all the injuries 
  crudely stitched up. He’s alive, but his mind is broken. 
   A magical ward makes the contents of the vault immune 
  to Divination spells. Inside is the sarcophagus that once 
  held the organ filch, the inside of its lid covered in scratch 
  marks. A dusty podium in the vault features a single 
  clean section suggesting it once held a book. Inside the 
  sarcophagus are a mundane sword made of green metal, 
  black robes covered in diabolic symbols, a sacrificial knife, 
  a graven skull, and numerous stained bottles.
  11
  2
  
  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for novice characters
  Members of the Brotherhood of Shadows recently hired a 
  gang of toughs called the Rude Boys to keep people away 
  from Moore House (see “Harvester of Sorrows”). But when 
  the cultists never paid up, the gang members became eager 
  for revenge. Knowing only that the person who hired them 
  was a figure of power and wealth, the Rude Boys kidnapped 
  Candace, daughter of Master Dreen—a member of the 
  city council and representative of the merchant factions 
  operating in Crossings. What the gang members didn’t 
  realize was that Candace has a deadly secret.
   The player characters complete this adventure when 
  they deal with the kidnappers and discover the truth about 
  Dreen’s daughter.
  The Victim
  Candace Dreen is Master Dreen’s only daughter. She’s 
  sixteen and attractive, with dark skin, long black hair, and 
  green eyes. She is also a member of the Brotherhood of 
  Shadows, having been inducted into its local cult by way 
  of her paramour, a young man named Phineas Phrent 
  (as cultist). Son of a minor merchant family, Phineas is a 
  devout slave to the Demon Lord. Candace and Phineas 
  were part of a group that performed a rite using the Eye of 
  the Demon Lord, calling forth a demon from the Void that 
  promptly possessed Candace—and which plans to use 
  her to bring an even more powerful demon into the world. 
  The demonic presence reveals itself in her eyes when she 
  becomes angry, causing her pupils to glow red.
   Candace and Phineas were attacked as they made 
  their way back to Master Dreen’s house from a secret cult 
  meeting. Phineas escaped, but Candace was taken by the 
  Rude Boys and carried off to one of the islands of the Dark 
  Waters. She has been held there since, while the Rude Boys 
  wait for her father to pay her ransom.
   While the demon remains dormant in Candace, use the 
  cultist mechanics for her. When the demon takes control, 
  use the following mechanics instead. While under the 
  demon’s control, Candace grows larger and heavier, and 
  a single black horn emerges from the back of her head. 
  She is ferocious and violent, lashing out at anything that 
  displeases her.
  The Demands
  The kidnappers sent a note to Candace’s father listing their 
  demands, along with a lock of her hair. To get his daughter 
  back, Master Dreen must leave 100 silver shillings in the 
  alley behind the Old Fishery brothel (see Chapter 1) at 
  midnight. The Rude Boys have marked a crate in the alley 
  where the ransom is to be left. If Dreen does this, Candace 
  will be home the next morning.
   Dreen has not informed the Brown Cloaks of the 
  kidnapping, for the Rude Boys claim they will kill Candace 
  if the authorities become involved. Furthermore, he isn’t 
  interested in having the kidnappers arrested—he wants them 
  all dead. If Dreen does not already know the characters, he 
  hears of their exploits in Chapter 2 of the adventure and seeks 
  them out. He wants the characters to kill all the kidnappers 
  and bring his daughter home, and he is happy to let them keep 
  the ransom money if they are successful. 
  Phineas
  If the characters want to interview Phineas, he is with 
  Master Dreen, hoping to learn where Candace is so he can 
  report this information to the cultists. He can tell the group 
  that five hooded men attacked him and Candace as they 
  were leaving Liquid Smoke on the border between Coins 
  and Gavel. They gave him a savage beating as they grabbed 
  Candace, and he didn’t get a good look at them. Phineas 
  asks to accompany the characters on their mission. If he is 
  allowed to do so and he survives to find Candace, he attacks 
  her to free the demon as his masters have commanded. 
   Phineas never reveals his affiliation with the cult. He has 
  the horned skull tattooed on his arm, but is careful to keep 
  it covered.
  The Drop
  The alley where Dreen is to make the ransom drop can 
  be seen from a number of nearby locations, including 
  the windows in the Old Fishery overlooking the rubbish-
  strewn street, and the rooftops of nearby buildings. The 
  crate described in the note is marked with an “X” in 
  charcoal.
  POSSESSED CANDACE 
  Difficulty 10
  Size 1 horrifying human
  Perception 11 (+1); darksight
  Defense 11; Health 12
  Strength 12 (+2), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 9 (–1), Will 8 (–2)
  Speed 12
  Spawn Demon When incapacitated, Candace dies and 
  gives birth to a blood-slick small demon that leaps out 
  from her space and attacks.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Claws (melee) +2 with 1 boon (2d6)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Frenzied Attack Possessed Candace attacks two different 
  creatures with her claws, making each attack roll with 1 
  bane.
  MAGIC 
  Power 1
  Enchantment bewitch (2), charm (1)
  Forbidden harm (2), obedience (1), tongue rip (1)
  12
  
  tales of the demon lord
  born to die
   Dreen delivers the coins as instructed at midnight. A 
  few minutes after he leaves, a battered, human-shaped 
  clockwork named Gears enters the alley and retrieves 
  the bag. Unless it is stopped, Gears makes for the docks, 
  where it delivers the sack to 2 Rude Boys (as hired killers), 
  who then row a boat to the nearest island in the Dark 
  Waters.
   Gears is hopelessly addicted to a weird substance called 
  dream grease, which causes intense physical pleasure when 
  applied to a clockwork’s inner mechanisms. The clockwork 
  is only a courier, having agreed to retrieve the bag for the 
  Rude Boys in exchange for a canister of dream grease. It 
  knows nothing of the kidnapping.
   If the characters get the drop on the Rude Boy at the 
  docks, the red-haired youth surrenders at the first threat. 
  He tells the characters where his gang is holding Candace. 
  Several boats are tied off at the docks, any of which can be 
  used by the characters to reach the island. 
  The Cultists
  Any rescue mission for Candace is complicated by the fact 
  that the Brotherhood of Shadows wants her back as much 
  as her father does. The cultists suspect that their rite caused 
  a demon to possess her, and they want to draw it forth to 
  coerce it into serving them. Alerted by Phineas, a group of 5 
  cultists follows the characters from a distance. When they 
  see the clockwork deliver the ransom to the docks, they 
  head off toward the island to retrieve the girl.
   Depending on the characters’ actions, they might 
  encounter the cultists before, during, or after the drop. 
  The cultists aren’t interested in fighting the group, though 
  they defend themselves if necessary. 
  The cultists do not reveal their 
  affiliation or their purpose, 
  even under pain of death. All 
  the cultists have black horned 
  skulls tattooed on the inside 
  of their forearms. 
   If Phineas is with the 
  characters and a fight breaks 
  out, he joins whichever 
  side has the obvious 
  advantage (most likely the 
  characters). If the cultists 
  call him out, he later denies 
  any involvement with them, 
  and feigns ignorance about 
  how they knew his name. 
   If the characters don’t go 
  to the island, the cultists do. 
  There, they kill all the Rude Boys 
  and murder Candace. Freed from 
  its host, the small demon then 
  attacks and kills the cultists 
  before swimming to shore to 
  wreak havoc in the city.
  The Island
  Two rowboats have been dragged up and hidden along a 
  rocky beach on a densely wooded island. The Rude Boys 
  have made a camp farther inland, on a site littered with 
  ruins bearing ancient Elvish writing. Their six tents are 
  arranged around a campfire near a tall stone monolith, 
  whose inscriptions offer invocations to the Faerie Queen 
  to curse all mankind. The campsite is stocked with enough 
  food and water for nine people to live for a week. The gang 
  members also have 20 yards of rope, and a total of 12 silver 
  shillings, 26 copper pennies, and 31 bits between them. 
   In all, the gang consists of 9 hired killers, one of which 
  has the leader role. Two stand watch on the beach, smoking 
  cigars and peering out over the dark water. The rest are 
  with Candace. 
   The demon has charmed one of the gang members, 
  allowing Candace to convince him to turn against the other 
  Rude Boys. The demon has no intention of seeing Candace go 
  back to Master Dreen, however, instead hoping to wreak havoc 
  in the city. If given the chance, the demon forces Candace to 
  slip away from the camp under the protection of her guardian, 
  then has her make for the city in one of the Rude Boys’ boats.
  Gremlins
  All the islands of the Dark Waters are infested with faeries. 
  The iron, smoke, and pollution of Crossings is a blight to 
  them, and they regard anyone coming from the city as an 
  enemy. The 2 gremlins on the island have been stealing 
  and sabotaging the Rude Boys’ possessions, though if a 
  fight breaks out, they torment both sides equally. 
  13
  3
  
  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for novice characters
  A small forest known as Sentinel Wood covers the ruins of 
  an ancient elf city abandoned when mankind began settling 
  the Northern Reach. Not far from Farmer Ham’s famous pig 
  farm lies a forgotten shrine holding fragments of a magical 
  stone. These fragments, called chaos shards, offer great power 
  and pose great danger to people who use magic. It is the 
  promise of this power that recently lured a team of explorers 
  to locate the shrine and throw open its doors for the first time 
  in nearly a thousand years. In doing so, they released the 
  shrine’s tormented guardians—bloody bones that have gone 
  mad during their captivity and now scour the countryside for 
  victims whose flesh can ease their suffering.
   The player characters complete this adventure when they 
  destroy the bloody bones and enter the shrine, removing 
  the other threats posed by the treasure hunters’ discovery.
  The Farmer's Dilemma
  Farmer Ham has a problem. Two nights ago, something 
  stole one of his fine hogs. Last night, another went missing, 
  and Ham has had enough. He wants the thieves caught and 
  his hogs returned, if possible. He offers 1 gold crown as a 
  reward to anyone who can put a stop to the thefts.
  Farmer Ham
  Ham (as commoner or professional) is an older man in his 
  midsixties. Stricken with a severe case of the gout, he uses a 
  cane to hobble around his property and constantly smears 
  grease on his feet, claiming it keeps the condition under 
  control. Ham is rather heavy, with a large belly hanging 
  over his belt and not a hair on his egg-like head.
   The missing hogs aren’t Ham’s only problem. For 
  some time now, the farmer has been taking in halfling 
  travelers, who remind him of his dead sons. Ham’s most 
  recent guest is named Theodore, who he keeps locked up 
  in the spare room. The halfling has tried to escape a few 
  times, which has forced Ham to beat him senseless with 
  his cane. The halfling is in poor condition. If rescued, he 
  might help out the characters at some point in the future, 
  as you decide.
  The Farm
  Ham’s farm stands in the center of a field overgrown with 
  high grass. The edge of the Sentinel Wood stands 100 yards 
  west of the farm. The farmhouse features a kitchen, a 
  bedroom, a spare bedroom where Theodore is held, and a 
  sitting room for guests. 
   A pen holding twelve hogs is close enough to the house 
  to make the air rich with their stench. A shed makes up the 
  pen’s back wall, and a wooden overhang features several 
  hay-covered stalls for shelter against inclement weather. 
  The shed holds a large tub full of blood, in which floats a 
  dead halfling kidnapped by Ham before Theodore’s arrival.
   A small graveyard behind the house holds markers for Ham’s 
  wife, Hilda, and his two boys, Ham the Lesser and Hugh. Dates 
  on the markers indicate they all died twenty years ago.
  Clues
  The characters might find some or all of the following clues 
  by investigating the pig farm:
  • A path cuts through the tall grass from the hog pen to the 
  edge of Sentinel Wood.
  • Farmer Ham was sitting inside last night when he saw 
  a goat-headed person through the window, wandering 
  around his property.
  • Farmer Ham remembers hearing thunder coming from 
  the woods three days ago.
  • Ham’s nearest neighbor can tell the characters that a 
  ranger who came to trade a few pelts reported seeing 
  beastmen in the woods.
  • A bloody print of a skeletal hand stains the outer wall of 
  the shed. 
  Hog Thieves
  The treasure hunters released 3 bloody bones from the shrine, 
  which quickly flensed the skin from one of their liberators 
  before pursuing the others into the woods. The creatures have 
  since scoured Sentinel Wood for more skin with which they 
  might cover themselves. Though Ham would make a worthy 
  target, the farmer’s gout keeps him housebound most of the 
  day and night, and the creatures have so far not noticed him. 
  Driven by desperation and pain, they have taken to stealing 
  the skins of Farmer Ham’s hogs instead.
   The bloody bones are cautious. They creep through the 
  tall grass, watchful for anyone who might see them. If they 
  spot one or two characters that have skin, the bloody bones 
  attack. If they see three or more characters, they hide in the 
  grass to wait for a chance to target a smaller group. 
   If the fight turns against them, the bloody bones flee for 
  the trees. Upon entering the forest, they hole up in Fetor 
  Cave or lead pursuing characters to the beastmen camp 
  (see below for information on both locations).
  Hamlet
  Ten miles from Ham’s farm stands a tiny community aptly 
  named Hamlet. It consists of a poorly stocked general 
  store, a pub, a flophouse with a few rooms for let, an 
  abandoned house, and a temple of the New God. The 
  temple is maintained by a shifty-eyed vicar named Brayan. 
  He secretly worships an entity he calls the Red Light of the 
  Woods and frequently leaves Hamlet to make offerings of 
  his own blood to his god at Fetor Cave.
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  tales of the demon lord
  the curious case of the errant swine
  Sentinel Wood
  Sentinel Wood forms a small crescent to the west of the 
  farms and fields of Hamlet. Boulders and chunks of old 
  statuary from the elf city that once stood here make the 
  forest floor uneven and difficult to traverse. Check for 
  random encounters every 4 hours the group spends in the 
  forest by rolling a d20 and consulting the following table. 
  Sentinel Wood Encounters
  d20
  Result
  20
  A level 1 priest of the Old Faith warns the 
  characters about beastmen in the wood.
  18–19
  A shelter of trees magically woven together offers 
  the characters a safe place to rest for one night.
  14–17
  It rains or snows for 1d6 hours.
  8–13
  Nothing happens.
  4–7
  1d6 + 2 wolves (as small animals with the 
  Pack Fighting talent) attempt to ambush the 
  characters.
  2–3
  1d6 + 1 wargs attack the group.
  1
  1 ogre with a medium animal pet spots the 
  characters and lumbers in to attack.
  A. Fetor Cave
  The bloody bones make their lair in a shallow cave 
  dimpling the side of a low, flat hill. A wedge of stone juts up 
  from the hilltop, and gore darkens the birch trees around 
  the entrance. Inside, bones and scraps of skin litter the 
  floor while bloody handprints stain the walls. A skinless 
  human corpse lies near the back of the cave, surrounded by 
  shredded clothing, a pouch containing 4 copper pennies, 
  and a map of the woods with a red “X” helpfully marking 
  the shrine’s location.
  B. Survivor
  The characters hear screaming not long after they enter 
  the woods. Delia (as patroller, with Defense 11 and no 
  weapons) is one of the treasure hunters who foolishly 
  opened the shrine. She escaped the bloody bones 
  released by her and her companions, but 
  became lost in the woods until found by 
  5 fomors who plan to kill and eat her. 
  If the characters attack the fomors, 
  Delia snatches up a spear from the first 
  beastman to fall, then helps to fight 
  them off.
   Delia is a muscular woman in her 
  midthirties. She has dusky skin, short 
  hair, and a few wounds from her 
  escape from the bloody bones. She can 
  tell the characters the following:
  • She was part of a team of four 
  searching for an ancient shrine said to 
  contain a jewel of power.
  • Delia and her companions found the shrine, but released 
  “two skinless demons” when they opened it. 
  • One demon killed the expedition’s leader, Lara. Delia 
  has no idea what happened to Gerald (the body in Fetor 
  Cave) and Franz (currently a prisoner in the beastmen 
  camp).
   Delia might choose to accompany the characters, 
  depending on how she’s treated and if she has assurances 
  that the monsters from the shrine will be dealt with. If 
  Delia is with the characters when they near the shrine, she 
  recognizes the location and can lead them the rest of the 
  way.
  C. Beastmen Camp
  The beastmen camped here intend to take Hamlet by 
  force and sacrifice its people to their dark god. They found 
  and captured Franz not long after he escaped the bloody 
  bones, and have kept him a prisoner here. They’ve been 
  cutting on him for a day, eating the tender morsels from 
  his body while he watches. Franz has been driven quite 
  insane by the experience and can offer no assistance to 
  the characters.
   In addition to the fomors hunting Delia (see above), the 
  beastmen band consists of 5 fomors and 2 wargs. They are 
  lax about security, and can be easily surprised. None of 
  them know about the shrine, nor do they have any interest 
  in it. 
   The beastmen have a few weeks worth of rations, a barrel 
  of sour wine, an old sword, a longbow, a quiver of 30 arrows, 
  and a sack filled with 15 silver shillings, 76 copper pennies, 
  and silverware and other valuables worth 3 silver shillings, 
  all looted from nearby farms.
  D. Abandoned Campsite
  What’s left of the treasure hunters’ campsite stands within 
  sight of the shrine. Bedrolls lay strewn around a ring of 
  firestones, along with a shovel and a pick, 20 yards of rope, 
  a lantern, and two flasks of oil.
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  tales of the demon lord
  the curious case of the errant swine
  The Shrine
  The shrine stands in a clearing a few miles from Ham’s farm. It 
  resembles a turret with a domed roof, and is covered in ivy that 
  conceals the flowing runes etched across its surface. Anyone 
  who reads Elvish discerns that the writing is a warning to 
  not disturb the site. A stone plug once barred entry, but the 
  treasure hunters used a bomb to shatter it. Its blackened 
  fragments are now spread around the open doorway, whose 
  edges are marred by scratch marks and bloody handprints.
  1. Pit
  Inside the shattered entrance, a ledge wraps around the walls 
  and looks down into a pit 10 yards deep. The bottom of the 
  pit is a pool of dark water. A staircase 2 yards wide descends 
  from the ledge, following the wall until it disappears under the 
  water’s surface.
   The pool is 4 yards deep and conceals a chainbound and 
  2 animated corpses. The undead creatures lurch to the 
  surface to attack anything that disturbs the water. 
   Beneath the water, the wall of the pit is set with a 
  corroded grate that leads to area 2.
  2. Water-Filled Passage
  A grate partly blocks access to a 2-yard-diameter tunnel 
  filled with water that ends at area 3. An animal swarm 
  (carnivorous fish) lurks inside the tunnel and attacks 
  any living creature swimming into it. Characters fighting 
  underwater make attack rolls and challenge rolls with 1 bane.
  3. Antechamber
  Water covers most of the floor in this room, to a depth of 
  3 yards. To the south, a shelf of rock rises just above the 
  water, and is covered with bones and rubble. The ceiling is 
  a dome 6 yards overhead, painted with images displaying 
  humans suffering horrific torture at the hands of faerie folk.
   A round stone door in the center of the south wall opens 
  into the room by pulling on a bronze ring set at its center. 
  An invisible magical glyph secures the door, causing a 
  ring of fire to erupt outward when the door is opened. 
  Everything within 2 yards of the door takes 1d6 + 3 damage 
  from the flames. A character in the area must make an 
  Agility challenge roll, taking half the damage on a success.
   An opening on the east wall, hidden just under the water, 
  leads to area 4. 
  4. Bloody Lair
  The passage from area 3 climbs up to this circular chamber, 
  where the bloody bones guarding the shrine made their 
  lair. An enormous cube of bloody meat occupies the 
  room’s center. Each day, the cube is magically replenished, 
  allowing the bloody bones to survive here for long years.
   Of the shrine’s original inhabitants, 2 bloody bones 
  remain. One wears the skin stolen from Lara, the treasure 
  hunters’ leader. Unless the characters come here first, 
  the bloody bones hear the trap triggered in area 3 and 
  investigate. They bide their time if they can, attacking when 
  the characters are engaged with other enemies. 
  5. Chamber of Light
  A short passage ends at a circular chamber with a domed 
  ceiling showing wild animals tearing humans apart. A bubble 
  of red glass rises from the center of the floor and emits a 
  soft red light. Doors to the east, west, and south each feature 
  carvings of stern elf warriors holding swords, the points 
  between their feet.
   About a minute after the characters enter this area, the 
  image of an elf woman dressed in a flowing gown manifests 
  in the light above the bubble. She appears anguished, 
  clawing at her face to tear away her skin and rip out her 
  eyes, then showing them to the characters before fading 
  away. Anyone who sees this must get a success on a Will 
  challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity. On a success or a failure, a 
  character cannot be affected by the image for 24 hours. The 
  image returns once each hour.
   The red glass dome has Defense 5 and Health 10. Breaking 
  it causes the light to fade. The glass covers a 1-yard-diameter 
  pit in the floor that leads 30 feet straight down to area 7.
  6. Eternal Sentinels
  The eastern door of area 5 opens onto a long columned 
  hallway that ends at an open doorway. A ramp beyond 
  winds downward and back under area 6, ending up in area 
  7 (directly beneath area 5). Two boneguards stand against 
  the walls and move to attack anyone entering the room. 
  7. False Blood of the Elders
  The ramp from area 6 ends at a circular chamber below area 
  5. A shaft opens up in the center of the ceiling here, climbing 
  to the glass dome in area 5. Bright red light fills this room, 
  whose every surface is mirrored. In the center of the chamber 
  floats a shallow golden bowl. The light radiates from three 
  pieces of red glass lying on the floor. A character with the 
  academic (magic) profession can make an Intellect challenge 
  roll with 1 bane. On a success, the character recognizes each 
  piece of glass as a chaos shard—a dangerous substance prized 
  Friendship Token
  A shiny gold coin bearing the profile of a beautiful elf 
  maiden on one side and a staring eye on the other, a 
  friendship token holds great magical power. A creature 
  bearing the coin can use an action to activate it. Each living 
  creature within short range of the wielder and that can 
  see the coin must make a Will challenge roll. On a failure, 
  the creature becomes compelled for 1 minute. Each time 
  the friendship token is used, the wielder must roll a d6. On 
  an odd number, the magic leaves the token forever and it 
  becomes an ordinary coin worth 1 gold crown.
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  tales of the demon lord
  the curious case of the errant swine
  for its magical properties and feared for its 
  unpredictable effects. A character who 
  can see magical auras can also make an 
  Intellect challenge roll. On a success, the 
  character knows the shards are illusions.
   The illusions conceal a magical trap. If 
  any creature attempts to pick up a shard, 
  bright light explodes from the bowl. Each 
  sighted creature in the room must make 
  a Strength challenge roll. A creature 
  takes 1d6 + 3 damage and becomes 
  blinded for 1 minute on a failure, or just 
  takes half the damage on a success.
  8. Dwellers in Darkness
  The door opens onto a shelf that stretches 6 yards 
  into a large cavern. The cavern floor is 10 yards 
  beneath the shelf. Two huge statues of grim-faced 
  elf warriors flank the door. 
   Characters descending to the cave floor find it strewn 
  with rubble, bones, excrement, and broken weapons, as 
  well as numerous troglodyte tunnels branching off in all 
  directions. Scouring the area takes 10 minutes and turns up 
  a stone axe, an idol of a fat toad-like monster (worth 1 silver 
  shilling to a collector), and a purple gemstone worth 2 silver 
  shillings. Searching the area also draws the attention of 1d6 + 2 
  troglodytes intent on making the characters their next meal.
  9. Alluring Statue
  The south door in area 5 opens onto a long passageway 
  whose south end is blocked by a statue of a striking elf 
  woman—the same that appeared as a vision in area 5. One 
  of the statue’s eyes has been replaced by a golden coin.
   The first creature to move to within short range of the statue 
  causes it to become a large construct. Each creature in the 
  corridor must then make a Perception challenge roll. On a 
  failure, a character is surprised. In addition, any character who 
  can see the construct must make a Will challenge roll. On a 
  failure, the character becomes compelled and is ordered to 
  attack its companions until the construct is destroyed.
   If the characters destroy the construct and search its 
  remains, they find the gold coin—an enchanted object 
  called a friendship token.
  10. Infestation
  The walls, floor, and ceiling of this area are set with 
  countless eyes that move as they watch intruders approach. 
  A staircase leads down to area 11. The first creature to step 
  onto the stairs causes 2d6 lash crawlers to detach from the 
  walls and attack.
  11. Sanctuary of the Chaos Shards
  The stairs end in a chamber lined with statues carved to 
  resemble warped and mutated humans. All sport strange 
  and terrifying forms, bizarre anatomies, and anguished 
  expressions. The chamber widens at the end, where sixteen 
  more equally horrid statues stand around a golden bowl that 
  emanates a pale light. Three chaos shards rest in the bowl.
   Behind the statues, 5 tiny demons linger in hiding. They 
  wait until the characters take the chaos shards before they 
  attack. The unstable energy radiating from the shards 
  grants each demon 1 boon for attack rolls it makes against 
  characters holding a shard.
  Chaos Shards
  The faerie folk created six jewels of power during the Troll 
  Wars—a terrible conflict that raged across the continent 
  long before the coming of mankind. The chaos shards 
  found in the shrine resemble tiny flecks of luminescent red 
  crystal, and are all that remains of a jewel shattered by the 
  Sword of Sorrows. That fabled weapon was forged in the 
  burning bones of dead trolls and quenched in the blood of 
  six hundred and sixty-six elves. 
   A creature can use a shard by consuming it. When a 
  shard is consumed, roll a d6. On a roll of 1 to 5, the creature 
  gains a number of castings equal to the number rolled. 
  Whenever the creature would cast a spell it has learned, it 
  can expend a number of these castings equal to the spell’s 
  rank in place of expending the casting from the spell. As 
  well, if the spell deals damage, it deals 2d6 extra damage.
   Rolling a 6 on the die indicates that the shard has a 
  deleterious effect on the creature. Its body bubbles and 
  warps, causing the creature to become defenseless for 
  1 minute. At the end of this time, the creature’s body 
  reverts to its normal form but with an odd cosmetic 
  mutation. The creature’s skin might change color, its hair 
  could fall out, it might grow 1d6 inches taller or shorter, 
  gain a useless appendage, and so on.
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  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for expert characters
  A vile plague sweeps through Purse, the wealthiest district 
  in Crossings, driving its victims mad even as it destroys 
  their bodies. Those who succumb to this scourge rise from 
  the dead as demon-possessed animated corpses, attacking 
  the living to spread the contagion. The Brown Cloaks and 
  the militia have attempted to seal off Purse to contain the 
  plague, though people are slipping through (often with the 
  help of well-placed bribes) and new cases are breaking out 
  all over the city.
   The authorities in Crossings remain unaware that 
  cultists from the Brotherhood of Shadows are inadvertently 
  responsible for the outbreak of plague. In addition to having 
  located the Eye of the Demon Lord, the cultists recently stole 
  a powerful relic of great demonic power called the Enigma 
  Stone—not knowing that it is the source of the outbreak.
   The player characters complete this adventure when they 
  find the Enigma Stone and contain the spread of its deadly 
  contagion.
  Gibbering Fever
  When he lived centuries ago, the demonologist Moore stole 
  the Eye of the Demon Lord from a vampire named Lucretia. 
  When rumors reached her that cultists in Crossings had 
  uncovered the eye, Lucretia dispatched a group of hoods 
  to recover the artifact. A pitched battle ensued in a fine 
  house in Purse (one of the cult’s many clandestine meeting 
  places), culminating in the Enigma Stone being broken, the 
  demonic plague spreading throughout the district, and a 
  stalemate between the hoods and the cultists. To contain 
  the threat, Inquisitor Randolfus (see Chapter 1) located the 
  house and entered it to eradicate the evil.
   The disease crippling Purse has come to be known as 
  gibbering fever. Stricken individuals go mad even as the 
  disease erodes their vitality, causing them to rant and rave 
  until they exhaust themselves, die, and rise up as animated 
  corpses.
   The fever spreads through physical contact. Any creature 
  that comes into contact with a carrier must make a Strength 
  challenge roll with 2 banes. On a failure, the creature 
  becomes diseased. In addition to the normal effects of 
  being diseased, each time the creature takes a penalty to its 
  Health from a failed challenge roll, the creature also gains 
  1d3 Insanity. If this Insanity would cause the creature to go 
  mad, the madness effect is violence and it persists until the 
  creature rolls a 6 instead of a 5.
   If the diseased creature’s Health drops to 0 or it becomes 
  incapacitated, it dies and rises 1d6 rounds later as a zombie 
  possessed by a tiny demon. The demon breaks free once 
  the zombie host becomes incapacitated, appearing in an 
  open space of its choice within short range of the destroyed 
  undead.
  Rumors
  Characters asking questions about the outbreak can learn 
  the following information:
  • An explosion destroyed much of the house of Pentachus 
  Katandramus, a wealthy aristocrat. Now dead people 
  wander around outside.
  • Before the explosion, weird hooded dwarfs were seen 
  slipping into the Katandramus house.
  • Inquisitor Randolfus and his henchmen entered the 
  house earlier today, but have not yet emerged.
  Roving Dead
  Packs of 1d6 + 2 zombies wander the streets of Purse. Each 
  hour that the characters explore the district, roll a d6. On 
  a roll of 1 to 3, they encounter a zombie pack. Each zombie 
  carries the disease and is possessed by a tiny demon.
  Katandramus House
  The ruins of the Katandramus house stand atop the highest 
  hill in the Purse district. Once one of the most striking 
  homes in the district, it has been largely destroyed in the 
  battle between the hoods and the cult members, with the 
  top floor collapsing to fill the main floor with rubble. 
   Randolfus and his henchmen managed to clear a path 
  to the cellar and a dark temple beyond, but 2 shadows 
  block access to the depths and have managed to kill most 
  of the inquisitor’s henchmen. If the player characters enter 
  the ruins by day, they find Randolfus and 3 henchmen (as 
  mercenaries) standing back-to-back and using the magic of 
  the box Randolfus carries to hold the shadows at bay. If the 
  characters enter at night, all the henchmen are dead and 
  Randolfus stands alone.
   Randolfus carries a specially prepared vessel to contain 
  the Enigma Stone—a lead box carved with prayers and 
  symbols of the New God. The box fills an area within short 
  range of it with sunlight, and has so far kept Randolfus 
  safe from the shadows. (Any dead henchman panicked 
  and tried to fight their way past the spirits.) When the lid 
  of the box is closed, any magic inside the box cannot reach 
  beyond it, and is effectively removed from the mortal world.
  The Temple
  The cult has been working from this temple under 
  Katandramus house for a decade or more. Unless otherwise 
  specified, all areas of the temple are dark, and feature stone 
  walls, floors, and ceilings covered with profane symbols and 
  despicable invocations to the Demon Lord.
   Two groups presently fight for control of the temple. 
  When the characters enter an area for the first time, roll 
  a d6. On a roll of 1, 1d3 + 1 hoods working for the vampire 
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  tales of the demon lord
  Temple of Shadows
  Lucretia are in the room. On a 6, 1d6 + 1 cultists are in the 
  room. The characters can encounter a maximum of 8 hoods 
  and 12 cultists in this way.
  1. Entrance
  Stairs descend from the ruined house to a landing, from 
  which two more staircases offer access to a large room. A 
  mosaic on the floor depicts the horned demon skull that 
  the cult uses as its symbol.
  2. Pillared Hall
  Wide pillars carved from pink marble support the ceiling. 
  Hiding in the corners of the hall are 3 small demons that 
  attack anyone entering this area.
  3. Library
  Shelves line the walls of this room, loaded with books, 
  scrolls, odd statues, sacrificial knives, goblets, and bones. 
  Most of it is worthless, but characters scouring the room 
  find one enchanted object and a scroll containing two 
  incantations of rank 1 spells.
  4. Orgy Room
  Filthy pillows cover the floor of this huge chamber, used by the 
  cult for its debased orgies. Two archways lead to cells where 
  the cultists hold prisoners for use in profane ceremonies.
  5. Blood-Smeared Passage
  An ettin in service to the cult roams this long passage. 
  Blood streaks the tiled stone floor, with bits of broken bone 
  sticking up from between the cracks. 
  6. Antechamber
  Tapestries cover the walls here, depicting humans and demons 
  engaged in bizarre sexual acts. At the center of the floor lie 
  the shattered remains of the Enigma Stone. Any living creature 
  entering the room must get a success on a Strength challenge 
  roll with 1 bane or become infected with gibbering fever.
  7. Baths
  Seven large basins hold scummy water the cultists use to 
  bathe themselves and their victims. The eighth is empty, 
  thanks to a large hole in the bottom that leads to area 8.
  8. Lair
  An oculus makes its lair in this bone-strewn cave. It 
  investigates any noise in area 7 by creeping up the tunnel 
  and filling the basin that connects to this area. Size 1 
  creatures must squeeze through the tunnel from area 7.
  9. Well of Darkness
  A 10-yard-deep pit fills much of this chamber, and is home 
  to a living tar that feeds on victims thrown down to it. The 
  creature clings to the walls and oozes up to attack anyone 
  that lingers here for more than a minute.
  10. Gallery of Horror
  Grotesque statues depicting monstrous demonic forms are 
  scattered across this room. 
  11. Hall of Shadows
  Square black pillars support the ceiling of this long hall, 
  whose floor is rent by huge cracks. Anyone passing along 
  the hall is attacked by 2 shadows lurking in the darkness. 
  12. Ritual Chamber
  A stepped pit drops 3 yards into the floor of this chamber, 
  and features a blood-red pentagram at its center. Standing 
  on that pentagram, the cult leader Katandramus is in the 
  process of completing an incantation when the characters 
  arrive. They get a glimpse of a bald human wearing black 
  robes trimmed in red, and the dark orb he clutches in his 
  hands—the Eye of the Demon Lord. Then he and the eye 
  teleport away to safety, leaving 6 cultists and a medium 
  demon behind to face off against the characters.
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  tales of the demon lord
  Of all the small towns and villages scattered across the 
  Northern Reach, Carbuncle has earned its reputation for 
  being the strangest and most off-putting. Unknown to 
  local folk, their oddness originates in an old and failing 
  magic used by the faerie to secure a dangerous relic known 
  as the Oracular. The spectral tower that holds the relic 
  appears on nights of the full moon, during which the folk 
  of Carbuncle celebrate the strange happenings that plague 
  their community—even as one of their residents engages in 
  a more destructive rite.
   The player characters complete this adventure when they 
  enter the moon spire, find the Oracular, and destroy the 
  demonic relic.
  Carbuncle
  A tiny, unremarkable hamlet, Carbuncle gathers around an 
  old caravan track east of Crossings. The community boasts 
  a single public house called the Stump, which does double 
  duty as the town hall. Several shabby homes cluster around 
  the tavern, and farms surround the community for a mile in 
  all directions. 
   Carbuncle’s people are odd. Everyone living here displays 
  some oddity of form—a misplaced eye, an extra digit, a 
  hump on the back, or a spare limb. The locals accept their 
  physical abnormalities, believing themselves to be touched 
  by the gods. As such, they are genuinely puzzled when 
  others comment on their appearance.
  The Bitter Heath
  The folk of Carbuncle avoid this field just north of their 
  community—a stretch of weeds and brambles speckled 
  with fleshy white flowers sprouting from thorny vines. 
  More than one person has witnessed apparitions roaming 
  the Bitter Heath at night. Characters who explore this place 
  feel a chill in the air and find that sounds are dulled and 
  distant while they remain in the area.
  The Beast
  Although strange and given to odd behavior, most people 
  in Carbuncle are harmless. Crushal Verd is the exception. 
  Verd became a skinchanger ten years ago, after being 
  bitten by a vicious brute passing through the area. In all 
  that time, he has managed to hide his true nature from his 
  family, and to keep a tenuous grip on his bestial fury.
  The Tower
  Thousands of years ago, the elves discovered a demonic 
  stain on an ancient relic known as the Oracular. Knowing 
  that the demons within the item would be freed if they 
  destroyed it, they sealed the Oracular in a tower resembling 
  the faerie spires in Crossings, then shunted the tower into a 
  pocket dimension where it would stay hidden for all time. 
  Over centuries, however, the tower’s magic has weakened. 
  Now, when the moon rises full, the tower briefly returns to 
  the world and grants access to the wonders it holds.
  Events in Carbuncle
  This adventure unfolds while the characters are in 
  Carbuncle just before the full moon. 
  First Night
  The night before the full moon, the tower appears in the 
  center of the Bitter Heath as a translucent and insubstantial 
  presence. While the tower breaches the mortal world, 
  weird but harmless happenings occur within 6 miles of 
  it. Ordinary objects disappear and reappear in unusual 
  locations, furniture stacks itself up in piles, water turns to 
  blood, milk spoils, and so on.
   Late that first night, Verd spots the tower and loses 
  control. He decides that the tower will cure his malady, 
  provided he can make a suitable sacrifice to it. By the light 
  of the near-full moon, he takes his beast form, drags a 
  citizen out of the village, and tears his throat out. (If the 
  characters know someone in the village, use that NPC as 
  the victim.)
  Second Night
  When the moon rises full, the tower manifests fully in the 
  center of the Bitter Heath. On the tower’s shadowed side, a 
  black portal opens near the base. Anything passing through 
  the portal enters and appears in area 1 of the tower (see 
  below). 
   At midnight, 1d3 shadows emerge from the portal to 
  drift toward the village and attack any locals they can find. 
  Additionally, if Verd is still at large on the second night, he 
  kills again.
  Third Night
  The night after the full moon, the tower appears once more 
  on the Bitter Heath in its translucent and insubstantial 
  state. One last night of strange happenings plagues 
  Carbuncle before the tower vanishes for another month. 
  Exploring  
  the Tower
  The tower is a thin spire of opalescent stone, 12 yards in 
  diameter and terminating in a sharp tip 40 yards high. 
  Creatures can freely enter and exit the tower while the 
  moon is full. Any creature still inside the tower when 
  the moon sets becomes trapped inside until the next full 
  moon. 
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  tales of the demon lord
  The Moon Spire
   When any mortal creature dies inside the tower, its 
  soul wriggles free as a shadow 1d6 minutes later. Shadows 
  created in this way are under your control and retain none 
  of the original creature’s mechanics.
   The same magic that sustains the tower also alleviates 
  the need for living creatures to eat or drink while exploring 
  it. 
  Random Destinations
  Many of the rooms inside the spire lead to random 
  destinations. Whenever the adventure directs you, roll 
  a d6 and consult the following table to find out where a 
  character goes. If any character would leave a location and 
  reappear in the same location, you can instead have that 
  character appear outside the tower.
  Random Destinations
  d6
  Destination
  1
  Area 4
  2
  Area 6
  3
  Area 8
  4
  Area 9
  5
  Area 10
  6
  Area 12
  The Moon Spire
  Each area of the tower is an extradimensional space 
  resembling an open level with a diameter of 10 yards and 
  a ceiling 3 yards high (except where otherwise indicated). 
  Rather than showing individual levels, the map for this 
  adventure shows how the different areas of the moon spire 
  connect to each other.
   The walls, floors, and ceilings of the tower are the same 
  white stone as the exterior. Magic infusing the stone makes 
  the tower impervious to damage and prevents spirits and 
  other bodiless creatures from moving through its walls and 
  floors. Unless described otherwise, faintly glowing motes 
  drift through the tower to leave each level obscured by 
  shadows.
  1. Entrance
  Blue light shines from a hole in the ceiling to light the 
  room. A fragile staircase takes an indirect path around this 
  chamber, ending at an open portal in the ceiling leading to 
  area 2.
  2. Pillar of Azure Flame
  A pillar of blue, heatless fire rises from the center of the 
  room, licking the ceiling overhead. A staircase ascends 
  around the wall of the room to a portal that leads to the 
  extradimensional space of area 4. Anything that touches 
  the flames is teleported to area 3.
  3. Door to the Stars
  A ball of blazing-hot blue plasma hangs in the air, filling 
  the room with light. A glowing green portal covers a 
  section of the wall 1 yard in diameter. Lying flat on the 
  floor between the plasma and the portal are six irregularly 
  shaped glass panels set within bronze frames. 
   Anything that touches the plasma takes 2d6 damage from 
  the heat.
   Each frame has feet allowing it to be stood up 
  perpendicular to the floor. One panel is a circle. The others 
  have two, three, five, eleven, and thirteen sides, respectively. 
  Placing one or more panels between the plasma and the 
  portal causes the light shining from the fiery ball to change 
  the portal’s color. The circular panel changes the portal 
  to blue. The other panels—or combinations of panels—
  change the color as you choose. 
   Anything touching the portal while it is green is 
  teleported to area 6. While the portal is blue, anything 
  that touches it is teleported to area 5. While the portal is 
  any color other than blue or green, anything touching it is 
  teleported to a random destination (see the table above).
  4. Fungi Garden
  Fungi of all kinds grow in soft earth covering the walls, 
  floor, and ceiling of this level. At the center of the room 
  stands an enormous mushroom with a red cap.
   A fungal hulk hunches down behind the giant 
  mushroom, worshipping the fungus as if it were a god. A 
  few yards away, 6 fungal mites grow on a mound of dirt. 
  The fungal hulk attacks anyone that moves to within 2 
  yards of the giant mushroom. The mites join the fight at the 
  start of the third round.
   The dirt on the walls and ceiling is bound there by magic, 
  though this magic does not allow characters to walk on the 
  walls or ceiling.
   The mound of dirt in which the mites grow covers the 
  remains of a long-dead elf, along with a rotten leather 
  pouch containing 3 silver shillings, 2 healing potions, and an 
  enchanted object.
   The giant mushroom is magical. Any creature that breaks 
  a piece from its cap and eats it is teleported to a random 
  destination. As well, any creature that spends 1 hour or 
  longer in this room is automatically teleported to a random 
  destination.
  5. Gallery of Doors
  This unusually high chamber has a ceiling that looms 10 
  yards overhead. Three spiral staircases wind up from the 
  floor, ending at closed doors standing in midair at three 
  different heights. Opening any door accesses a portal to 
  another of the tower’s extradimensional spaces. 
   Door one features a great eye in its center. It opens 
  into area 8. Door two sports a bas-relief carving of an 
  androgynous elf with eyes closed. It opens into area 9. Door 
  three is smooth and cold to the touch. It opens into area 10.
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  tales of the demon lord
  the moon spire
   On the floor between the three staircases stands a podium 
  on which rests a stone tablet bearing a magical inscription 
  that changes to match a language known by the creature 
  reading it. If a character with Power 2 or less reads the words, 
  the character must make an Intellect challenge roll with 1 
  bane. On a failure, the character gains 1 Insanity and can 
  no longer see the writing on the tablet. On a success, or if 
  the character has Power 3 or greater, a portal springs into 
  existence a few yards away and remains for 1 minute. 
   The portal has two sides—one white and one black. 
  Anything that touches the portal’s white side is teleported 
  to area 7. Anything that touches its black side is teleported 
  outside the tower, 1d6 yards away from it and 2d6 yards 
  above the ground.
  6. Obelisk
  A black stone obelisk stands at the center of this level, 2 
  yards wide, 2 yards long, and 3 yards tall. The floor around 
  it is strewn with round black stones, each one the size of a 
  human fist. When any creature moves to within 4 yards of 
  the obelisk, bright green lines twist and writhe across its 
  surface. When any creature moves to within 2 yards of the 
  obelisk, the stones littering the floor awaken and become 3 
  tomb scarab swarms that attack at once.
   Scattered among the scarabs are twenty-four 
  semiprecious stones of various hues and sizes, each one 
  worth 1 silver shilling. 
   Any creature that touches the obelisk is teleported to a 
  random destination. The obelisk then releases a pulse of 
  chilling darkness in a 5-yard radius around it. Each creature 
  in the area must get a success on a Strength challenge roll 
  or take 2d6 damage.
  7. Cluttered Chamber
  Decaying furniture fills this level. Narrow paths twist 
  through the mess, leading to a bronze ladder that climbs 
  from floor to ceiling. Any creature that climbs up the ladder 
  and reaches the top is teleported to area 12.
   A character who succeeds on a Perception challenge 
  roll with 2 banes while searching the room discovers a 
  wardrobe whose handle holds a silver medallion and chain, 
  and which is filled with moldering fur coats. A character 
  who climbs inside and pulls the wardrobe door closed 
  activates a portal that leads to the extradimensional space 
  of area 11. If the door is opened, the portal disappears.
   The medallion is an enchanted object whose face has 
  been scribed to resemble a grinning faerie. A creature 
  wearing the medallion makes Perception challenge rolls 
  with 3 boons and makes Will challenge rolls with 1 bane.
  8. Room of Whispers
  A ring of white gossamer curtains hangs from the ceiling to 
  heavily obscure the center of this level. Behind the curtains 
  stands a statue of a nude male elf, with 2 amphisbaenas 
  coiled around its torso that attack any creature coming 
  through the curtains.
   The statue holds a hand out, palm up. Any creature 
  that takes the statue’s hand is teleported to a random 
  destination.
  9. Dreaming Chamber
  Plush cushions and rich fabric cover the floor and walls of 
  this level. The air smells of incense, and any creature that 
  breathes in this area must make a Strength challenge roll 
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  tales of the demon lord
  the moon spire
  with 1 bane. On a failure, the creature becomes fatigued 
  and does not willingly leave the area. Leaving the area 
  removes the fatigued affliction. 
   At the end of each minute a fatigued creature remains in 
  this area, it must get a success on a Strength challenge roll 
  or fall prone and fall asleep. The creature remains asleep 
  until it takes damage or another creature uses an action to 
  wake it up. A creature sleeping for 1 minute in this room is 
  teleported to a random destination, then wakes up.
   A search of the room turns up an alertness potion and 2 
  healing potions.
  10. Gloom Chamber
  Shadows partially obscure this empty, frigid chamber, 
  thwarting all natural light and reducing the area of magical 
  light by half. The wall opposite the entrance is a rippling 
  pool of darkness 2 yards in diameter. The pool teleports 
  anything that touches it to a random destination.
   Invisible in the gloomy conditions, 3 shadows whisper 
  and whine, taunting any creature that enters the area 
  before they attack. 
   Ice covers the floor of this level. Any creature that moves 
  across the floor must make an Agility challenge roll if it 
  moves half its Speed or more during its turn. On a failure, 
  the creature falls prone and its turn ends.
  11. Blazing Orb
  A glowing glass orb sitting in a bronze tripod at the center of 
  this level fills the area with light. Images of stars and planets 
  seem to move where they cover the walls and ceiling. The orb 
  contains a fiery substance that emits light, though it’s cool to 
  the touch. Lifting the orb from the tripod extinguishes the 
  light, while returning it causes the light to glow once more.
   Whenever the wardrobe door in area 7 is closed, a portal 
  appears on the wall of this area, leading back to area 7. 
  Additionally, when the orb is extinguished, another portal 
  appears opposite the portal to area 7, revealing a staircase 
  that climbs up to the extradimensional space of area 13.
  12. Guardian of the Tower
  At the center of this room, a 12-foot-tall clay statue depicts 
  a man with his arms stretched out to the sides. Three 
  waterfalls are spaced around the statue. Two are streams of 
  pink liquid that spill from cracks in the ceiling and drain 
  through cracks in the floor. The third is a thick orange 
  sludge that bubbles up from a crack in the floor, sending 
  shuddering droplets upward to disappear through a crack 
  in the ceiling. 
   Touching the statue or moving to within 1 yard of any 
  waterfall causes the statue to become a promethean that 
  attacks any creatures in the area.
   Any creature that touches or drinks the pink liquid 
  becomes wispy and insubstantial for 1d6 minutes. While in 
  this form, the creature takes half damage from all sources, 
  but its attacks deal only half their normal damage. As well, 
  the creature makes Strength challenge rolls and Strength 
  attack rolls with 1 bane.
   Any creature touching or drinking the orange sludge is 
  teleported to a random destination.
  13. Chamber of the Oracular
  This level of the moon spire houses the artifact known 
  as the Oracular. This glowing sphere of crystal is 1 yard in 
  diameter, with wisps of blue smoke swirling inside it. The 
  sphere sits in a bronze cradle with five legs. 
   Five statues of well-armored elf warriors stand against 
  the walls in the room. When any creature touches the 
  Oracular, 5 phantoms step out from the statues and attack.
   If the characters destroy the Oracular (see the sidebar) or 
  take the artifact from the moon spire, the magic holding 
  the tower in its hidden realm ends and the tower enters 
  the mortal world. Any teleportation effect inside the tower 
  that would teleport creatures to outside the tower ends, 
  though the magic connecting the extradimensional areas of 
  the tower continue to function. The portal granting access 
  to the tower’s interior closes 1d6 minutes later, forever 
  trapping any creatures still inside it.
  The Cradle
  The bronze cradle that holds the Oracular is fused to the 
  floor and cannot be moved. An inscription on the cradle 
  is an incantation of the travel spell from the Teleportation 
  tradition. If the characters are trapped inside the tower, 
  you might grant an automatic success to the character 
  attempting to cast the incantation. 
  The Oracular
  The great crystal orb can be lifted from its cradle but weighs 50 pounds. (If you’re using carrying capacity rules, the 
  Oracular counts as three items). A creature holding the artifact can attempt to shrink the sphere by making an Intellect 
  challenge roll with 1 bane. On a success, the artifact shrinks down to 1 inch in diameter, though its weight remains 
  unchanged. 
   Any creature holding the artifact can use an action to peer into its misty interior. The artifact offers the creature 1 
  Corruption. If the creature accepts, it gains the Corruption and gains one casting of the clairvoyance Divination spell. 
  The creature must expend the casting within 1 minute or it is lost.
   The Oracular has Health 18. Destroying it releases 5 small demons that appear in open spaces within short range of 
  the broken artifact and attack any creatures they see.
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  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for expert characters
  When ore shipments from Gundren the Ironmonger’s 
  North Mine stopped coming to Crossings, the dwarf began 
  to worry. When agents dispatched to discover what was 
  amiss never returned, his worry turned to fear. 
   Unknown to the dwarf, miners searching for a new 
  lode of ore stumbled into a treasure-filled burial vault 
  deep in North Mine. When they entered the chamber, 
  they discovered an ancient evil there—barrow wights that 
  broke out of their sarcophagi and tore the miners apart. 
  A few miners managed to escape the wights’ life-draining 
  claws, using explosives to collapse the tunnel behind them. 
  However, the explosion stirred up a dormant nest of cartuls 
  (see the appendix) who emerged from the depths to deal 
  with the “intruders.”
   Gundren needs experienced and capable agents to 
  uncover what happened and put things right, if possible. 
  He’s offering a princely sum of 50 gold crowns for this 
  service.
   The player characters complete this adventure when they 
  destroy the cartul queen to end the infestation, defeat the 
  barrow wights and other undead roaming the mines, and 
  rescue the surviving miners.
  North Mine Camp
  North Mine is the northernmost of Gundren’s excavations 
  in the Black Hills west of Crossings. The camp that 
  supports the mine stands at the base of a high hill. It 
  consists of a dozen tents, each large enough to comfortably 
  sleep eight miners; a wooden mess hall with outdoor 
  kitchen; and the mine manager’s office and one-room 
  quarters. 
   The camp is deserted, its cook fires cold and everything 
  left in place as if the people here simply vanished. If the 
  characters scour the camp, they turn up personal effects, 
  coins, and other bits and pieces worth a total of 5 gold 
  crowns, as well as the following clues:
  • Unusual tracks spread throughout the camp, but they 
  don’t look like footprints. A character who succeeds 
  on an Intellect challenge roll deduces that the tracks 
  resemble the spiked foot of some insect of considerable 
  size.
  • A faint buzzing whine fills the air. Though it’s not 
  noticeable at first, after 1 hour in the camp, all the 
  characters can hear it.
  • The mine manager’s cot is covered in blood. Looking 
  under the cot reveals a severed hand wearing a silver ring 
  worth 5 silver shillings. The hand looks as if it was torn 
  from the wrist.
  • 
  Trees
  Two small groves of trees stand close by to the camp, one 
  of which conceals three dead miners. The mangled corpses 
  show signs that some creature has been eating them. One 
  of the corpses carries an enchanted object.
  Polluted Lakes
  Just south of the camp, a small lake has been befouled by 
  the mine’s activities. Lurking in its murky red depths is a 
  mutated frog (as huge monster with the hero role) with 
  four glowing eyes. The creature comes out at night to 
  snatch any camp worker it can catch unawares, though it’s 
  clever enough to avoid attention by not feeding too often. 
  If the characters linger near the lake at night, the creature 
  emerges to cause trouble. 
  Nightfall
  An hour after dusk, the cartul emerge from the mines to 
  forage. If the characters are still in the mine camp, 10 cartul 
  drones and a cartul soldier descend the hillside. They 
  attack any living creatures they encounter, fighting to the 
  death.
  The Mines
  Mine shafts burrow into the hill above the camp all the way 
  to its summit. Scrub grass and tree stumps cover the hill, 
  and several dirt paths wind up to the top. Four buildings 
  stand in a line up the slope from the opening to the first 
  shaft. That shaft can be descended or ascended freely but is 
  difficult terrain.
  Elevators
  Three wooden shacks cover vertical elevator shafts with 
  heights as indicated on the map. Each elevator car has a 
  Size 3 capacity (able to hold creatures whose total Size does 
  not exceed 3). Elevator cars can be raised and lowered using 
  winch controls at the top or bottom of each shaft, or by a 
  clockwork motor in each car that can be started by getting a 
  success on an Intellect challenge roll. The motor moves the 
  car at a rate of 10 yards per minute in either direction. 
   Additionally, iron rungs anchored in the wall of each 
  shaft allow characters to climb up or down.
  Vent
  A slanted roof held up by wooden posts acts as a ventilation 
  shaft for the mine. Iron rungs are hammered into the shaft 
  wall for climbing.
  Tunnels
  The mine’s tunnels are 3 yards wide and 2 yards tall. 
  Wooden posts support the ceilings and shore up the walls 
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  tales of the demon lord
  mines of madness
  every 4 yards. Bundles of torches and barrels of pitch stand 
  at each tunnel entrance. 
   Each tunnel features two sets of iron rails on which stand 
  1d6 ore carts. An ore cart has a Size 2 capacity (the total 
  Size of creatures inside the cart cannot exceed 2). Creatures 
  inside a cart are half covered from creatures outside it.
  Cartul Tunnels
  Cartul drones excavated these narrow, twisting tunnels 
  in an attempt to help the colony escape the barrow 
  wights. These passages are large enough to accommodate 
  Size 1 creatures, though following them often involves 
  unexpected turns and climbing.
  Perils
  The mines are dangerous. Whenever the characters reach a 
  spot marked “P” on the map, roll a d20 to see what occurs.
  Encounter Results
  d20
  Result
  20
  The characters hear a rumbling, a distant shriek, or 
  mad laughter.
  19
  1d6 dead cartul drones are strewn across the tunnel.
  17–18
  Nothing happens.
  14–16
  2d6 cartul drones are spotted ahead, digging new 
  tunnels.
  10–13
  1 or 2 muttering maws wander into the group.
  8–9
  1d6 destroyed animated corpses are piled up 
  along the tunnel walls.
  1–7
  A mob of animated corpses* (dead miners) led by 
  2 barrow wights spots the group and races in to 
  attack.
  * See the appendix.
  Cave-ins
  The well-constructed 
  mineshafts are at no 
  risk of collapse unless 
  the characters detonate 
  a bomb, destroy the 
  supports, or do something 
  similarly foolish. In such 
  an event, debris falls in a 
  2d6-yard radius around 
  the damage. Any creature 
  in the area takes damage 
  equal to its Health and 
  dies.
  1. Trapped Miners
  The cartul keep a dozen 
  miners in this chamber for 
  later eating, cemented to 
  the walls with a mixture 
  of spittle and dung. Half the 
  captives are still alive, and are guarded by a cartul incanter 
  and 3 cartul soldiers.
  2. Cartul Nest
  The cartul queen resides in the upper section of this 
  enormous cave, protected by 2 cartul soldiers. The 
  adjoining caves hold 24 cartul larvae (noncombatants), four 
  dozen fleshy eggs, and 3d6 + 6 cartul drones that tend to 
  the larvae.
  3. Tomb of the Death Lords
  This great domed chamber houses ten stone sarcophagi 
  whose lids bear the likenesses of powerful human 
  warriors. The painted walls and ceiling show elaborate 
  scenes of battles against the faerie. At present, 5 barrow 
  wights occupy this chamber. Their funerary goods 
  consist of a mix of coins, gems, art objects, armor, and 
  weapons worth a total of 25 gold crowns. In addition, 
  characters searching the chamber find two enchanted 
  objects. 
  4. Antechamber
  One hundred stone statues of armed and armored human 
  warriors are arrayed here in ten rows of ten. Haunting this 
  chamber are 5 phantoms that emerge from the statues to 
  attack intruders.
  5. Blocked Passage
  The miners collapsed this passage to seal off the undead. 
  Burn marks on the walls suggest they used explosives. 
  25
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  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for expert characters
  Silas Branson did a bad thing. Three days ago, the 
  woodcutter killed Salla Reed, his betrothed, within sight 
  of the Black Thorn—an accursed tree marking a place 
  where the boundary between reality and the Void has 
  grown thin. 
   Silas never intended to kill Salla. In truth, he wanted to 
  save their relationship, and to make her understand that 
  rumors she had heard about him were lies. But the more 
  he explained, the angrier he became. She tried to flee and 
  tripped, falling to strike her head on a rock. The blood 
  sluicing from the mortal wound caused the Black Thorn’s 
  trunk to split, revealing a demonic figure trapped within.
   Because only a trace of Salla’s blood touched the ground 
  near the Black Thorn, the demon was forced back inside. 
  However, the creature’s near-appearance combined with 
  Salla’s death to break Silas’s mind. As he dug a shallow 
  grave, the woodcutter came to the conclusion that the figure 
  in the tree must be an old god trapped by dark magic—and 
  waiting to be freed by a blood sacrifice. 
   If Silas succeeds in his plan, he will loose a demon from 
  the Black Thorn and most likely destroy his community 
  and everyone in it. 
   The player characters complete this adventure when 
  they stop the mad Silas from releasing the demon from the 
  Black Thorn, or when they destroy the demon if it slips 
  free.
  Verge
  Founded several hundred years ago, the small settlement 
  of Verge once kept much of the Northern Reach supplied 
  in timber from the Old Wood. For years, the town grew and 
  its people were prosperous—until a string of disasters some 
  two decades past plunged Verge into a rapid decline. 
   Increased logging in the Old Wood angered the faerie. 
  Children began to go missing, unexplainable accidents 
  claimed lives, and people began to fear the forest. A wave 
  of beastmen laid siege to the town, and the bodies of the 
  dead became a host for plague that nearly wiped out the 
  rest.
   Once home to thousands, Verge presently holds only 
  one hundred souls in its largely empty ruins. Nearly 
  all those people live in the old center of town, behind 
  ramshackle walls built from materials reclaimed from 
  abandoned buildings. Beyond the inner community, a 
  large stretch of burned-out and crumbling structures 
  is home to wild animals, squatters, and the occasional 
  horrifying monster.
   Most intact buildings in Verge are built of wood on stone 
  foundations, and have steep, peaked roofs. Half the people 
  here follow the Old Faith, decorating their homes with the 
  symbols of their gods.
  Exploring Verge
  A number of sites within the central settlement are of 
  potential interest to the characters.
  A. The Exchange
  Verge’s general store is owned by Gladys Fremp, who sells 
  common goods for standard prices. Comfortable in her 
  middle age, Gladys has a doughy body with odd bulges on 
  her neck, arms, and lower legs. She has a warm and inviting 
  nature, and goes to great lengths to make visitors comfortable.
   Gladys has a nasty secret. She worships a demon known 
  as the Glistening Prince in a shrine she keeps hidden 
  in the back of the building. This small room contains a 
  wooden altar almost lost in a mound of wax from melted 
  candles. A small soapstone idol on the altar is carved to 
  resemble an old man fondling himself. The idol emanates 
  an unwholesome aura, and causes people near it to hear a 
  high-pitched, buzzing whine.
   A small demon with the hero role dwells in the shrine, 
  goading Gladys to cut herself, embed rocks under her skin, 
  and pleasure herself with the idol. The demon manifests 
  if anyone except Gladys touches the shrine, fighting 
  interlopers to the death.
   In addition to the demonic statuette, Gladys possesses an 
  old manuscript from the idol’s previous owner. Though it 
  appears to contain only feverish writings and mad ravings, 
  hidden inside its pages are three incantations
  charm from the Enchantment tradition, and desire’s end and 
  obedience from the Forbidden tradition.
  B. Green Man Public House
  This tavern attracts locals for meals and drinks every day of 
  the week. One of the oldest businesses in Verge, it has been 
  handed down from generation to generation to its current 
  owner. Anise is an attractive young woman with straight 
  black hair and a quick smile, who tends the bar and chats 
  up patrons. Her employees are Trent, who cooks in the 
  back; servants Marissa and Thom; and Pete the stable boy. 
  The Green Man rents two rooms above the bar for a copper 
  penny a night, each of which can sleep three comfortably.
  C. The Old Well
  This ancient well is believed to have been the first dug in 
  Verge, and the mortar between the stones forming its upper 
  edge has all but crumbled away. Locals customarily write 
  wishes on scraps of paper, then insert the folded scraps into 
  the cracks between the stones. Characters inspecting the 
  notes find a new bit of paper wedged between the stones. It 
  reads, “I wish Silas Branson loved me.”
   No one in Verge is aware that the old well opens up to a 
  small, cramped cave at the halfway point of its depth. The 
  previous night, 3 tear thieves slipped into the settlement, 
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  tales of the demon lord
  in the name of love
  slithered down the well, and took up residence in the cave. 
  They wait for the right time to emerge from hiding so they 
  can begin harvesting tears from the locals.
  D. Standing Stones
  A cluster of huge stone slabs arranged in a circle stands 
  about a mile south of Verge. This site was once the main 
  gathering place for worshippers of the Old Faith, and magic 
  still lingers here. Any Nature or Primal spell cast inside the 
  circle doubles its duration.
  E. Temple of Light
  The Cult of the New God came to Verge twenty years 
  ago to help contain the plague ravaging the community. 
  Their efforts made converts of many of the locals, who 
  built a modest stone-and-timber temple. Sister Matilda 
  (see below) maintains the site and performs a religious 
  ceremony at dusk every three days. 
  Rumors
  Characters who spend time in Verge and interact with its 
  people can learn the following information: 
  • Salla Reed, a healer who some believe to be a witch, 
  has been missing for three days. Silas Branson, her 
  betrothed, is beside himself with worry, and has led a few 
  fruitless searches into the forest for her.
  • A stranger has been seen in the woods recently. People 
  describe him as a wild old man in brown robes. 
  • Elder Zeke intends to propose to young Merry Peen, 
  daughter of the midwife. His doing so will be scandalous, 
  though, as she is far too young for him.
  • The Criswell farm burned to the ground three days ago. 
  No one survived. The constable, Delores, believes that 
  wargs were responsible. 
  • Lesser Zeke, the village idiot, says he saw people 
  climbing into the well a couple of nights ago. 
  • Merry Peen walked to the standing stones last night. She 
  has been crying a lot lately.
  • As a youth, Silas Branson had a reputation for violence 
  and spoke more than once of hearing voices.
  Major Characters
  The player characters might encounter any of the following 
  people in and around Verge. Use the relationship map as a 
  guide for how the various characters connect to each other. 
  Each entry presents information that a character knows 
  and might reveal.
  Delores the Constable
  Delores (as veteran) has kept order in Verge for nearly five 
  years, leading a group of four deputies (as patrollers). Stern 
  and middle-aged, with a muscular physique and silver-
  black hair, Delores has few friends and leads a private life. 
  She keeps a tattoo on her left arm hidden that marks her as 
  a member of the crusaders. She deserted her post years ago 
  and keeps her past a secret, since she faces death if she is 
  ever returned to the citadels in the north.
  • The constable suspects that Branson had something to 
  do with Salla Reed’s disappearance. However, she lacks 
  proof and can do nothing until she finds it.
  Blister the Spy
  Verge’s only goblin, Blister is a filthy, pocked, and wretched 
  creature in the employ of Elder Zeke. He has shifty eyes, 
  lies continuously, and steals anything not nailed down. 
  When not running errands for his master, Blister keeps the 
  rat population of Verge down.
  • Blister knows that Merry Peen has been carrying on with 
  Craven, though he keeps this fact to himself. He knows 
  that his master intends to wed Merry, and plans to turn a 
  profit with this information.
  Craven
  A child of the forest, Craven (as changeling) grew up in the 
  care of the reclusive priest Xavian and learned the secrets 
  of the Old Faith from him. Curiosity drew Craven to Verge, 
  where he fell madly and hopelessly in love with Merry 
  Peen. He has plans to run away with Merry if he can.
  • Craven was knocked out and taken prisoner by Ezard 
  (working for Branson), and is to be sacrificed to the Black 
  Thorn. He currently wears Ezard’s appearance, having 
  lost his original appearance when he was incapacitated. 
  Ezard gives Craven just enough food and water to keep 
  him alive, and beats the changeling to keep him afraid.
  Elder Zeke, Mayor
  Verge’s mayor also happens to be its wealthiest citizen. Locals 
  believe that Elder Zeke was once a skilled merchant, though in 
  truth, he was nothing more than a lucky burglar. He is short and 
  pudgy, with a weeping eye and a perpetual sneer on his face. 
  Shame keeps him distanced from his brutish son, Lesser Zeke.
  • Elder Zeke lusts after Merry Peen, and intends to 
  wed and bed her whether she wants him or not. He’s 
  gathering funds to bribe her mother, Kyra Peen, to force 
  Merry to accept his offer. He has no idea that Merry and 
  Craven have been engaged in a tryst.
  Ezard the Scoundrel
  An ex-crusader, ex-cultist, and sometime brigand, Ezard (as 
  brigand with the champion role) drifted into Verge a few 
  months ago to escape justice. He is in his twenties, with red 
  hair, a thick beard, and a zigzag scar down the left side of 
  his face. Cruel and vindictive, he masks his disposition with 
  good-natured friendliness.
  • Ezard knows Delores was a crusader, and hopes to use 
  this information to his advantage. He’s not yet sure how 
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  tales of the demon lord
  in the name of love
  to do so, though, since he’s no friend to the 
  crusaders either.
  • When Branson was burying Salla Reed’s 
  body, Ezard happened upon the scene. After 
  the devastated Branson confessed, Ezard’s 
  love of violence saw him offer to help. On 
  Branson’s orders, Ezard kidnapped Craven 
  and has him tied up in the shed (area 3). Ezard 
  is not loyal to Branson, however, and he 
  betrays the woodcutter if doing so offers 
  him any advantage—after sneaking 
  off to murder Craven and conceal 
  his own part in the conspiracy. 
  Kyra Peen
  A midwife in her middle years, 
  Kyra Peen (as cultist) has thinning 
  brown hair, a paunch, and thick 
  eyebrows. Despite Silas having 
  rebuffed her for Salla Reed, Kyra is 
  in love with the woodcutter and does 
  anything he asks.
  • Kyra Peen will stop at nothing to make 
  Silas Branson love her. She was the one who 
  spread rumors about Silas, hoping to break up his 
  relationship with Sala Reed. Now that Reed is out of the 
  way, Kyra is helping the woodcutter carry out the mad rite 
  at the Black Thorn, believing that when it fails, he will 
  turn to her for comfort.
  • Kyra beats her daughter Merry Peen for the slightest 
  infraction, out of resentment for her great beauty. She 
  has no idea her daughter is involved with the changeling 
  Craven, who she knows only as the would-be sacrifice 
  held prisoner in the shed.
  Lesser Zeke
  The simpleton Lesser Zeke (as cultist) is the son of Elder 
  Zeke and a friend to Silas Branson, who has always watched 
  out for him. Lesser Zeke is big, bald, fat, and has drooping 
  eyes. He speaks slowly and frequently soils himself. 
  • Lesser Zeke has no idea what Branson intends to do, or why, 
  but he’ll do whatever makes his friend happy. Though he 
  would never intentionally sabotage Branson’s plans, Lesser 
  Zeke is not particularly cautious. Where he goes and what 
  he says might reveal things Branson wants kept quiet.
  • Ezard terrifies Lesser Zeke—the result of too many quiet 
  threats and beatings. If the characters befriend him, 
  Lesser Zeke confides that Ezard is a bad man.
  Merry Peen
  A human woman (as commoner or professional) with curly 
  red hair and bright blue eyes, Merry Peen is one of the few 
  young people left in Verge. A few months ago, she met the 
  changeling Craven and fell in love. Since that time, they have 
  met frequently at the standing stones where no 
  one would see them. Merry fears that the people 
  of Verge would not understand their love, and that 
  they might hurt Craven if the tryst was discovered. 
  • 
  Craven missed a rendezvous with Merry 
  two nights ago, and the young woman now fears 
  the worst. She confided in Sister Matilda in the 
  hope of gaining her help, and instead received a 
  lecture about how she should break off the 
  relationship lest she imperil her soul. Merry 
  plans to look for Craven at the standing 
  stones. If he doesn’t appear, she will 
  seek him out in the Old Wood—
  which might land her in trouble.
  Silas Branson
  A woodcutter for twenty years, 
  Silas Branson (as cultist) has been 
  a lifelong devotee of the Old Faith, 
  and resents the intrusion of the New 
  God’s cult into his community. Six 
  months ago, he fell in love with Salla 
  Reed, a talented healer and herbalist. But 
  what Branson did not know was that Kyra 
  Peen had kept her own feelings for him a secret, 
  and was not about to let some strumpet take Silas from 
  her. Kyra began spreading lies about Silas that reached Sala, 
  making her question the nature of the man she loved. 
   Branson is middle-aged, with brown hair going to gray, 
  weathered features, and a missing finger on his left hand. 
  • Since returning from the Old Wood, Silas has been 
  obsessive about washing his hands. He’s voiced his concerns 
  about Reed’s absence and mounted a few searches for her, 
  though never anywhere close to where she is buried. 
  Sister Matilda
  A bent, gray-haired woman in her late sixties, Matilda 
  watches over the Temple of Light. Dour and conservative, 
  she has no patience with unconventional behavior.
  • Matilda knows about Merry Peen’s tryst with the 
  changeling Craven, and counseled the young woman to 
  break it off. Her advice angered Merry, who has not been 
  back to the temple since.
  Xavian
  The priest Xavian (as initiate of the Old Faith) raised the 
  changeling Craven and has spent a lifetime fighting the 
  corruption blighting the Old Wood. Though he has been 
  unable to destroy the Black Thorn for fear of releasing its 
  evil, Xavian has at least slowed its influence on the woods. 
   The priest is an old man with wild gray hair, sad eyes, 
  and a portly frame. He wears mud-stained brown robes.
  • Xavian suspects that Craven has fallen for a local girl. 
  He hasn’t seen the changeling for several days, and is 
  journeying to Verge to find him. 
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  tales of the demon lord
  in the name of love
  Events near Verge
  The relationships between the characters of Verge become 
  even more tangled as the adventure unfolds over three days.
  Day 1
  • Brigands (see area 4) attack a farm, murdering a family 
  and leaving behind signs that resemble Dark Speech. 
  (Meant to implicate beastmen in the attack, the signs are 
  in fact meaningless scribbles.)
  • Merry Peen confides in Sister Matilda.
  • Silas Branson mounts another search for Salla Reed that 
  turns up nothing.
  Day 2
  • Ezard checks on Craven and beats him savagely. 
  • Thom, of the Green Man Public House, spots a warg in 
  the woods. 
  • Either the bandits attack another farm or the tear thieves 
  emerge from the well and kill Thom. They leave his 
  corpse in plain view outside the Green Man.
  Day 3
  • At night, Silas, Kyra, Ezard, and Lesser Zeke fetch Craven 
  and drag him to the Black Thorn. They cut his throat, 
  spraying the evil tree with his blood. The demon Catanka 
  emerges (see area 1 for details), butchers its liberators, and 
  attacks Verge.
  Random Events
  While the player characters are in Verge, roll a d20 twice 
  each day to find out what happens. 
  Random Events
  d20
  Event
  20
  Xavian arrives at Verge, or approaches the characters 
  for help if you have rolled this result already.
  18–19
  A merchant caravan comes to town, stocked with 
  uncommon goods. 
  14–17
  Torrential rain falls for 1d6 hours.
  8–13
  Nothing happens.
  4–7
  A band of 2d6 brigands attacks another farm.
  2–3
  A hunting party of 3d6 wargs stalks the countryside.
  1
  From out of the forest, 2 drakes appear and attack.
  Places of Interest
  As adventure events unfold, the characters might be drawn 
  to the following locations.
  1. Black Thorn
  The Black Thorn corrupts and warps the Old Wood, 
  turning an ordinary stretch of forest into a macabre 
  landscape infested by spirits and demons. The accursed 
  tree rises from a patch of powdery soil in the center of a 
  clearing. Black bark and finger-length thorns cover it, from 
  its knotty roots to spindly branches clawing at the sky.
   Each time blood is spilled in the vicinity of the Black 
  Thorn, roll a d6. On a roll of 1, the tree’s roots twist up above 
  the ground where the blood was spilled, disgorging 2 small 
  demons that attack any creatures they see. If blood is spilled 
  onto the tree, it cracks open and 1d3 medium demons claw 
  their way out to appear in open spaces within 1 yard of its 
  trunk. One of those demons is named Catanka and has the 
  hero role, and was bound to the Black Thorn eons ago. 
  2. Troll's Teeth
  The Troll’s Teeth stand about a mile from the Black Thorn. A 
  cluster of large, moss-covered boulders arranged in a horseshoe 
  pattern, the teeth are believed by locals to have once belonged to 
  a mighty troll slain by the faerie folk at the dawn of the world. A 
  band of 15 wargs and 10 large wolves (as medium animals with 
  the Pack Fighting talent) makes its camp here. 
  3. Shed
  This simple structure of wood and stone has a crumbling 
  chimney and a roof that has largely surrendered to the 
  elements. The interior of the shed is home to numerous 
  rats, and its floor is a stinking mass of droppings. Craven is 
  chained up in a corner until Branson and the rest cart him 
  off to sacrifice him to the Black Thorn.
  4. Brigand Cave
  A shallow cave two miles from Verge serves as a camp for 
  20 brigands and their leader (as brigand with the leader 
  role). They prey on travelers and steal livestock. Recently, 
  the bandits have begun attacking farms and leaving clues 
  meant to put the blame on the beastmen. 
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  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for master characters
  A vile hag named Toothsome Maera has learned of a 
  prophecy predicting the end of world—of all things 
  drowning in blood, consumed by fire, and utterly 
  annihilated by the Shadow in the Void. Dragging a 
  tormented soul up from Hell for questioning, the hag 
  learned that the source of this dread foretelling was the city 
  of Crossings. The solution thus seemed clear: wipe out the 
  city and save the world.
   The hag bargained with the devils of Hell for knowledge 
  of an incantation powerful enough to eradicate everyone 
  in Crossings, offering newborn babes plucked from their 
  cradles in nearby farm settlements to feed the tormentors 
  of the black pit. Armed with this incantation, Toothsome 
  Maera will call up a thick fog, populate it with monsters, 
  and summon a wind to drive death across the Dark Waters 
  and smother the city. 
   The player characters complete this adventure when 
  they defeat the hag and disperse the fog that threatens 
  Crossings.
  Current Events
  Before the adventure begins, a number of things happen 
  in Crossings. You can introduce these events in prior 
  adventure sessions, or simply reveal that they occurred 
  prior to the beginning of this adventure.
  • Locals outside Crossings report several missing newborn 
  babies.
  • Fisherfolk report that a new island has appeared in the 
  dark waters overnight. Thin, silvery mist surrounds the 
  island, and boats that have entered the mist to investigate 
  it have not returned.
  • The Brown Cloaks are investigating the disappearance of 
  several children from across the city.
  • Enormous shrieking eels have been spotted in the Dark 
  Waters, attacking two fishing boats and killing four 
  people so far.
  An Eerie Fog
  The fog rolls in off the lake at night, blanketing Tankards 
  and creeping up the city’s hills until only the tops of 
  houses can be seen. The fog heavily obscures all outdoor 
  locations in the city. Additionally, creatures in the fog make 
  Perception challenge rolls with 1 bane when attempting to 
  listen.
   The fog is filled with monsters conjured from nightmares 
  to hunt the living. Each hour that the player characters 
  spend in the fog, roll a d20 to determine what happens.
  Random Events
  d20
  Event
  19–20
  Screams and wails echo in the swirling mist.
  17–18
  Nothing happens.
  13–16
  5 mobs of animated corpses (see the appendix) 
  emerge from nearby buildings to attack.
  7–12
  A killing mist lurks within the fog, hungry for 
  blood.
  3–6
  1d3 + 1 boggarts appear, looking for trouble.
  1–2
  1d3 + 1 huge monsters wreak havoc.
  Key Events
  In addition to random events, create a number of key events 
  to keep the player characters busy while they move through 
  the fog-shrouded streets. You can select key events from the 
  following or create your own challenges.
  • Citizens come under attack by boggarts, killing mist, 
  and mobs of animated corpses (see the appendix). 
  Helping these citizens could create important allies for 
  the characters.
  • A jack-o’-lantern appearing as a torch could lead the 
  characters to 1d3 mobs of animated corpses.
  • A group of terrified citizens needs help reaching safety.
  • A group of 1d6 + 1 chainbound attacks a building filled 
  with people.
  The Fog's Origins
  If the characters reach higher ground granting a view over 
  the city, they can see that the fog originates from a large 
  island in the Dark Waters—an island that wasn’t there 
  before the fog appeared. The island resembles a giant skull 
  sitting atop a rocky hill flanked by thick forest, with the fog 
  swirling above it.
  The Island  
  in the Mist
  The hag Toothsome Maera lives on an island that normally 
  lies outside the bounds of the world, much like the other 
  hidden kingdoms of the faerie folk. As a precursor to 
  unleashing her magic, Toothsome Maera has drawn the 
  island into the mortal realm, where its appearance has 
  attracted an assortment of reclusive faeries and dark 
  creatures to the hag’s cause. 
   It takes 2 hours to reach the island by rowboat from 
  Tankards, and the route is fraught with peril. If the 
  characters cross the lake by boat, 8 shrieking eels attack 
  them at the halfway point.
   A number of interesting and challenging locations are 
  revealed to the characters as they explore the island.
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  tales of the demon lord
  shadows in the mist
  A. Raven's Rock
  A jumble of rocks stab up from the 
  swirling, foaming waters on the island’s 
  broken and jagged south shore. Several 
  fishing boats have shattered on these 
  rocks, which are strewn with the bodies 
  of dead sailors and home to 3 harpies on 
  the lookout for approaching enemies. The 
  harpies sing when anyone comes within 
  long range of them, hoping to lure their 
  victims into the water. If attacked, the 
  harpies fight until two of them fall. The 
  third then flies off to warn the hag at 
  area H.
  B. Fey Fields
  A field of tall grass and wild flowers covers 
  the south side of the island, concealing 3 
  boggarts and 2 gremlins. The boggarts 
  are sleeping while the gremlins play 
  games. If the gremlins notice the characters 
  approaching, one rouses the boggarts while 
  the other uses its wicked magic to torment the 
  intruders. 
   If the characters prevail against the boggarts, any 
  surviving gremlins surrender and offer to help the 
  characters in exchange for their lives. Either gremlin can 
  tell the characters that the elves at area D possess a key for 
  the portal to the hag’s audience chamber, thus bypassing 
  her lair’s manticore guardian (see area H). If pressed, the 
  gremlins can also tell the characters about the enchanted 
  pool at area F. They then flee at the first opportunity.
  C. Foreboding Forest
  A thick and tangled forest covers the west side of the island, 
  curving around the great hill on which the hag makes her 
  lair. This enchanted wood is difficult terrain, and dense 
  overgrowth limits visibility to just a few yards. 
   Any mortal, living creature entering the forest must get 
  a success on a Will challenge roll or become dazed. With 
  a success, a creature is immune to the forest’s influence 
  for 24 hours. While dazed by the forest’s magic, a creature 
  can repeat the roll each time it takes damage, removing 
  the affliction on a success. Each hour that a dazed creature 
  remains in the forest, it must make a Will challenge roll 
  with 1 bane. On a failure, the creature becomes cursed and 
  falls asleep. The creature cannot be awakened for 1d6 years 
  or until the curse is removed.
   Many sylvan creatures inhabit these woods, including 
  1 jack-o’-lantern that appears in an open space within 
  medium range of the characters 1 minute after they enter 
  the forest. Any character who becomes compelled by the 
  jack-o’-lantern is led deeper into the woods to the dryad 
  grove (area E), after which the jack-o’-lantern drifts off in 
  search of other mortals to hunt.
  D. Sylvan Clearing
  In this large clearing at the center of the Foreboding 
  Forest, 4 elves loyal to the hag make their camp. The 
  elves investigate any sounds of battle, explosions, or other 
  obvious signs of intruders. 
   Two of the elves have enchanted objects, and a third 
  possesses a special key. A creature holding the key can use 
  an action to cause a portal to open in an unoccupied space 
  within short range. Upon doing so, a second connected 
  portal opens inside the hag’s audience chamber (see area 
  1, below). The portals remain open while the key’s wielder 
  concentrates and holds the item. Anything moving through 
  one portal exits from the other.
  E. Dryad Grove
  A group of 4 dryads dwells in the thickest part of the 
  forest. Bloodthirsty and cruel, they mark the borders of 
  their territory with bleached skulls mounted on poles. The 
  dryads toy with any mortals that wander near their grove, 
  using magic to manipulate and torment them. 
  F. Enchanted Pool
  A spring of clean, pure water pools at the base of the hill 
  before flowing away west to the lake. A Size 4 water genie 
  with Health 120 lurks here, dedicated to protecting the pool 
  and its magic from intruders. The pool has potent healing 
  powers, and any creature drinking from it immediately 
  heals all damage and removes all afflictions. A creature can 
  benefit from the pool’s magic once per day. The water loses 
  its magic if taken from the pool.
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  shadows in the mist
  G. Cave of the Seer
  An opening burrows 10 yards into the hillside before 
  ending in a watery grotto 6 yards in diameter. Crooked 
  stone columns rise from floor to ceiling, surrounded by 
  pools of burning oil that fill the room with blue shadows. 
   A ghastly chorus lurks in the water here, its body made 
  from the faces of mortals slain by the hag. This monster 
  experiences visions, and sometimes cries out prophecies of 
  the future. (It was from the chorus that the hag first learned 
  of the coming doom originating in Crossings.) The chorus 
  doesn’t want a fight, though it defends itself if attacked. 
  If the characters attempt to communicate with it, the 
  creature might reveal a clue regarding future events, at your 
  discretion. 
  H. Horned Hill
  A great, rocky hill rises to the northeast of the forest, its 
  peak looming above the rest of the island. Characters who 
  reach the hill can see eight evenly spaced vents along 
  its top, from which thick plumes of fog erupt and drift 
  toward Crossings, carried on an eldritch wind. The slopes 
  of the hill are littered with bones, and its south face has 
  the appearance of an enormous horned skull. The jaw of 
  the skull opens onto a cavern leading down into the heart 
  of the hill, where Toothsome Maera works her foul magic.
   The hag has set a manticore with the champion role to 
  guard the entrance to her lair. This vile and aggressive beast 
  attacks any creature except faerie or those obviously in the 
  hag’s service. A staircase descends into the hill at the back 
  of the cave.
  The Hag's  
  Black Heart
  Toothsome Maera used magic to carve out her lair inside 
  the hill dominating the island, creating a network of 
  rough caves connected by narrow, twisting corridors. The 
  thick, moist air reeks of decay, and the walls are slick with 
  noisome ooze. Pools of slippery slime collect along the 
  floor, dripping from puckered growths sprouting on walls 
  and ceilings. Intermittent shrieks echo from the depths of 
  the lair, followed by low chortles and soft weeping. Candles 
  made from human fat burn in all areas to leave them 
  obscured by shadows.
  1. Audience Chamber
  Pools of oily liquid cover the floor of this large cave, leaving 
  only narrow walkways between them. Three thick stone 
  columns hold up the ceiling. A narrow passage heads off to 
  the west and a winding staircase burrows through the floor 
  to area 4 below.
   If the characters enter this cave from area H of the island, 
  a shadowy, humanoid shape materializes before them 1 
  minute after they arrive. The shape has Defense 10 and 
  Health 1, and ignores any attack made against an attribute. 
  This figure is a manifestation of the hag, through which she 
  can perceive intruders to her lair.
   If her shadow manifestation is not attacked at once, 
  Toothsome Maera warns the characters to turn back and 
  keep what’s left of their pathetic lives. If the characters 
  engage with her, she might reveal why she sent the fog, 
  speaking of the darkness that will come if she’s stopped. 
  If the manifestation is incapacitated, its shadowy form 
  dissipates and a promethean rises up from one of the cave’s 
  pools to destroy the intruders.
  2. Chamber of Mists
  Thick mist heavily obscures this room, venting from the 
  mouths of eight children chained to wooden chairs in the 
  smaller round chambers adjoining the main chamber. 
  The fog rises up through vents in the ceiling that open 
  up across the top of the hill. Anyone breathing the 
  concentrated mist in this area must get a success on a 
  Strength challenge roll or take 2d6 damage and become 
  poisoned for 1 minute. A creature already poisoned takes 
  2d6 extra damage instead.
   The imprisoned children continue to spew fog for three 
  more days. At the end of that time, they die and the fog 
  stops leaking from their mouths. Any magic that removes 
  a curse frees a child from this grisly fate, stopping the mist 
  flowing from that child and wiping the horrid memory of 
  its incarceration. The mist continues to flow even from a 
  child that is dead, but destroying the hag negates the magic 
  here and frees the children.
   In the center of the main chamber, a magical gateway 
  offers one-way passage to area 3. Characters searching the 
  smaller side chambers can find the secret door indicated on 
  the map by getting a success on a Perception challenge roll 
  with 1 bane, revealing a passage sloping downward.
  3. Bone Vault
  Skulls line the walls of this circular chamber, whose stone 
  floor is covered with countless teeth. The bones of the 
  hag’s victims are heaped in great piles throughout the area. 
  When any living creature appears in the room, 1 bone 
  machine rises up from the nearest pile and attacks.
   The exit from this room cannot be seen or detected 
  by normal means. A character able to see magical auras 
  automatically discerns an invisible one-way portal on the 
  east wall. Touching this portal activates it for 1 minute, 
  Mobile Hag
  Toothsome Maera doesn’t wait for the player characters 
  to come and kill her. Instead, she moves through 
  the lair, harrying them at every opportunity, then 
  withdrawing before the characters can make an effective 
  counterattack. She won’t fight to the death unless 
  cornered in area 8.
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  tales of the demon lord
  shadows in the mist
  allowing characters to step through and into the shaft 
  connecting area 5 and area 7.
   Any character examining the skulls spots an intact human 
  eyeball with a red iris in one skull’s eye socket. The eye has 
  an aura of magic. A character can gouge out one of his or her 
  own eyes and replace it with the new eyeball, which heals 
  the wound instantly. Doing so grants the character 1 casting 
  of the arcane sight spell from the Arcana tradition. If the 
  character already has castings of this spell, the eye increases 
  the number of castings by 1. Expended castings from the eye 
  are regained when the character completes a rest.
  4. Laboratory
  The hag conducts magical experiments in this chamber, 
  which features tables and shelves laden with gruesome 
  objects, tools, and heavy glass canisters. A selection of tools 
  and substances are worth a total of 100 gold crowns. In 
  addition, if the characters spend 1 minute searching the room, 
  they find 1d3 enchanted objects. A character who searches the 
  south wall and gets a success on a Perception challenge roll 
  with 1 bane reveals a secret door that opens with a touch.
  5. Chamber of Sorrow
  This small round room holds everything the hag lost when 
  bitterness corrupted and transformed her. Fancy dresses, 
  masquerade masks, books of poetry, pressed flowers, 
  ribbons, and other worthless trinkets are piled high here. 
   A full-length mirror stands at the center of the area, with 
  the image of a beautiful nymph reflected on its surface. Any 
  living creature that looks upon the image must get a success 
  on a Will challenge roll or gain 1d6 + 1 Insanity and become 
  dazed for a number of rounds equal to its Insanity total. If 
  this Insanity would cause the creature to go mad, the dazed 
  affliction becomes permanent. 
   The mirror has no substance. Anyone or anything that 
  touches it is teleported to area 8. A trapdoor in the floor 
  hidden by a rug reveals a shaft that slopes downward to area 7.
  6. Captured Souls
  The souls of some of the mortals the hag has tortured and 
  murdered over the centuries are stored here as twelve mirror 
  fragments, displayed on shelves constructed from her victims’ 
  bones. Any character who picks up a mirror fragment notices 
  a faint smudge on its surface. A second later, the smudge 
  balloons into a screaming face. The character must get a 
  success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity.
   Breaking a mirror fragment releases its trapped soul, 
  causing it to manifest and then sink through the ground 
  to descend into the underworld. Each time the characters 
  destroy a fragment, roll a d6. On a roll of 1, the hag is drawn 
  to this area and attacks 1 round later.
  7. Chamber of Visions
  This room features a wide pool of toxic silvery liquid. Any 
  creature that touches the liquid takes damage equal to half 
  its Health and must make a Strength challenge roll with 
  1 boon. On a failure, the creature takes damage equal to 
  half its Health and becomes poisoned for 1 minute. While 
  poisoned, the creature takes damage equal to its healing 
  rate at the end of each round. The silver liquid loses its 
  potency if removed from the room.
   A creature that has Power 1 or more can harness the 
  magic of the pool by getting a success on a Will challenge 
  roll. Doing so allows the creature to manifest a shadowy 
  copy of itself at any location within six miles of the pool 
  that the creature has been to before. The shadowy figure 
  has Defense 10 and Health 1, and ignores any attack made 
  against an attribute. The creature using the pool can 
  communicate and perceive through the manifested figure. 
  The effect lasts while the creature concentrates, or until the 
  manifestation is incapacitated.
  8. A Rotten Womb
  Crammed into the back of this large cavern is the 
  corpse of a mutilated giant—a monstrosity Toothsome 
  Maera defeated centuries ago and has preserved with 
  incantations. The hag has excavated her sleeping 
  chambers inside the giant’s belly, crawling inside to rest 
  and dream of past victories. She makes a last stand here 
  beside 2 boneguards that protect her, fighting to the death 
  if she is cornered.
  33
  9
  
  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for master characters
  Three years ago, the emperor commissioned the 
  Academy of Engineers in Crossings to produce prototype 
  soldiers that could replace the Empire’s increasingly 
  unreliable orc forces. Engineers drew up designs for 
  a new kind of construct called the iron titan (see the 
  appendix) and arranged for the construction of eight 
  prototype units. 
   Under the guidance of the academy, the final armoring 
  of the massive iron titans was completed in the industrial 
  town of Foundry. From there, the academy would move the 
  clockwork giants using the Emperor’s Fury—a steam engine 
  built by the dwarf engineers of Foundry to pull a dozen 
  fully loaded cars at speed. The Emperor’s Fury would carry 
  the iron titans to Sixton, provincial capital of the Northern 
  Reach. From there, they would be flown by airship to the 
  beleaguered Imperial forces fighting to regain control of the 
  capital. 
   But in a brazen act of sabotage, the Emperor’s Fury was 
  attacked and destroyed en route, and its cargo was lost. 
  Now, the provincial governor recruits the player characters 
  to recover the iron titans and bring the saboteurs to justice. 
   The player characters complete this adventure when they 
  destroy or capture the two stolen iron titans and end the 
  threat of the rebel orcs that arranged the destruction of the 
  Emperor’s Fury.
  Drudge Loyalists
  When word of the uprising in the imperial capital made it 
  to the Northern Reach, many orcs abandoned their posts 
  to find their own way in the world. A growing number have 
  joined a band of rebels who call themselves the Drudge 
  Loyalists. Organized to prepare the way for the coming of 
  the Orc King Drudge, they have been raiding and pillaging 
  across the southeast, gaining admiration and support from 
  orcs across the province.
   This support has reached as far north as Foundry, and 
  many orc laborers and workers there secretly support their 
  brethren fighting in the south. It was from those laborers 
  that the Drudge Loyalists learned about the iron titans 
  hauled by the Emperor’s Fury. The orc rebels laid a trap 
  for the train, intent on taking the cargo for themselves. 
  Planting stolen explosives where the train tracks follow 
  the cliffs overlooking Mirror Lake, the orcs derailed the 
  Emperor’s Fury, sending the train and its cargo tumbling 
  hundreds of feet into the water.
   A salvage effort by the orcs managed to drag two working 
  iron titans from the wreckage. Those constructs are now 
  being used to defend the orcs’ camp and to mount attacks 
  against settlements around the lake.
  Foundry
  Far to the east and north of Crossings stands Foundry, 
  a large industrial town that grew from the camps of the 
  workers who laid the first train rails across the Northern 
  Reach. Merchants now use those rails to transport goods 
  across the rest of the Empire, making Foundry a major 
  trade hub. The town is now a sprawl of warehouses, 
  workshops for building new locomotives and cars, inns and 
  taverns for travelers, and identical redbrick houses.
  Orc Laborers
  The rail lines of the Northern Reach were laid down by 
  orc labor on loan from the Empire. After work had been 
  completed, many of the orcs moved on, with those that 
  remained finding work hauling cargo, building rail cars, 
  and maintaining engines. When the orcs heard about the 
  troubles in the capital, many continued to work even as 
  they wanted to contribute to the cause. When they learned 
  of the constructs being shipped out on the Emperor’s Fury, 
  orc workers tipped off the Drudge Loyalists operating to the 
  south.
   A group of 15 orcs in Foundry work directly with the 
  loyalists, passing on news and rumors. Led by Stinkfist (see 
  below), the orcs confront and attempt to kill any characters 
  they see snooping around and making noise about tracking 
  the missing train.
  STINKFIST 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 1 orc
  Perception 9 (–1); shadowsight
  Defense 13 (brigandine); Health 25
  Strength 15 (+5), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 8 (–2), Will 9 (–1)
  Speed 12
  Rising Fury When Stinkfist takes damage, he makes his 
  next attack roll before the end of the next round with 1 
  boon.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Melee maul +5 with 1 boon (3d6)
   Orcs captured by the player characters might reveal their 
  part in the attack on the locomotive, though they remain 
  loudly loyal to the orc freedom fighters and their cause.
  Igor Ironson, Engineer
  Igor Ironson (as dwarf) was a junior engineer on the 
  Emperor’s Fury who managed to survive the attack on 
  the train by jumping clear. Somehow, he made it back to 
  Foundry and has been laying low, avoiding the orcs for fear 
  that they will finish the job their comrades started. He has 
  a few friends in town, through which the characters can 
  arrange a meeting with the engineer.
  34
  
  tales of the demon lord
  off the rails
   Ironson is young, with dark brown skin, 
  black hair, and brown eyes. He has a broken 
  arm in a sling and bruises all over his 
  body. He lost a lot of good friends in the 
  attack, and willingly shares the following 
  information:
  • Workers loaded up eight huge crates onto 
  flatbed cars about a week ago, attaching 
  those cars to the Emperor’s Fury. 
  • Each crate contained a man made from 
  metal, easily 25 to 30 feet tall.
  • As the train was passing above Mirror Lake, 
  a tremendous explosion took out the rails. 
  The Emperor’s Fury spilled over the edge, 
  dragging its cars and cargo into the water 
  below. 
  • Workers have been dispatched to the crash 
  site to repair the rails.
  • There were no other survivors.
  Headed South
  The destruction of the Emperor’s Fury is a great 
  loss to the Northern Reach, but the engineers of Foundry 
  have not been idle. Two similar engines are already 
  operational, and work progresses on three even more 
  powerful models.
   Until the rails can be repaired, no engines can leave 
  Foundry on regular cargo runs. However, if the characters 
  befriend Igor Ironson, he volunteers to run the Pride of the 
  Dwarfs to the site of the ambush, though doing so will land 
  the dwarf in trouble with his superiors.
   Traveling by train, the characters reach the crash site in 
  three days. They can also reach the site in a week by foot 
  or four days on horseback. Twice each day the characters 
  spend traveling, roll a d20 to see what events transpire.
  Travel Events
  d20
  Event
  20
  A friendly cattle drover offers to share news and a 
  meal with the characters.
  18–19
  The characters see an animal herd in the distance 
  or a murmuration of starlings in the sky.
  14–17
  A sudden fall of rain or snow lasts 1d6 hours.
  8–13
  Nothing happens.
  4–7
  1d3 huge monsters approach the characters, 
  looking for food.
  2–3
  A minotaur hunting for slaves with 5 wargs spots 
  the characters. 
  1
  A dragon swoops out of the sky to attack.
  Ambush Site
  The destruction along the rail line above Mirror Lake is 
  devastating. The rails have been twisted and warped by 
  the explosion, with sections melted into slag. The cliff 
  face has broken away and collapsed into the lake 300 feet 
  below, where the train’s wreckage can be seen in the water. 
  Recently, 3 drakes arrived to settle on the debris, and are 
  currently picking through the mess to feed on the corpses 
  of the crew.
   Handholds along the cliff make it possible to climb 
  down. When the drakes notice the characters, they take to 
  the air and attack, interested in fresher meat.
  Wreckage
  The Emperor’s Fury rests at the bottom of the lake, its cars 
  piled on top of it to form an island of twisted metal and 
  broken timber. Corpses torn apart by the drakes, bits of 
  clothing, and other rubbish float on the water.
   Any investigation of the site shows where something 
  large was pulled from the wreckage. Two flatbed cars 
  have been dragged to the shore, the canvas and ropes 
  that once covered them shredded and scattered to the 
  ground. The tracks of some massive, heavy creature 
  lead off to the east, accompanied by the footprints of a 
  dozen humanoids. The tracks lead toward Crow’s Foot, 
  a farming village two miles from the lake. Another set 
  of identical tracks heads off south toward the Drudge 
  Loyalist camp, twelve miles away.
   Sometime after the characters reach Mirror Lake, but 
  before the first nightfall, they hear an explosion to the east, 
  followed by a plume of smoke. The orcs and their iron titan 
  are attacking Crow’s Foot.
  35
  10
  
  tales of the demon lord
  off the rails
  Troglodyte Caves
  The drakes aren’t the only creatures feeding on the dead. 
  Several dark caves worm into the cliff below the waterline, 
  leading to warrens housing nearly a hundred troglodytes. 
  At night, the troglodytes emerge from the caves to loot the 
  wreckage. If any of the characters camp on the shore near the 
  wreck site, 3d6 troglodytes (including one with the leader role 
  and one with the veteran role) come out of the water to attack.
  Crow's Foot
  One of dozens of tiny farming communities scattered across 
  the eastern lowlands of the Northern Reach, Crow’s Foot 
  appears to be an unremarkable place. However, this entire 
  settlement has fallen under the sway of evil, and its people 
  carry out obscene rites and practices in the Demon Lord’s 
  dark name. 
   Some hundred people live in and around the village, 
  which boasts eighteen buildings. Half of those are mud-
  brick houses with sod roofs, standing alongside a trader’s 
  depot, an abandoned temple of the New God, a public 
  house, a smithy, a leatherworks, and a few other businesses. 
  Wheat and millet fields stretch around the settlement for 2 
  miles in all directions. 
  The Orcs
  Crow’s Foot is the community nearest to Mirror Lake, and 
  the Drudge Loyalists have chosen it to test out one of their 
  iron titans. If the characters investigate the source of the 
  smoke they saw, they come upon an iron titan and 8 orcs 
  attacking the settlement. The iron titan has already blown 
  up several houses, while the orcs drag people from the 
  wreckage and chop them up with axes. 
  The Cultists
  In response to the attack, a group of 13 cultists is 
  performing an incantation in a cellar to call forth a large 
  demon to protect Crow’s Foot. It takes them 10 minutes 
  to complete the incantation. When the demon appears, 
  it focuses on the cultists first, tearing them apart before 
  erupting from the cellar to continue the killing.
  Development
  What the characters find in Crow’s Foot depends on when 
  they arrive. If they make it to the settlement within 10 
  minutes of hearing the explosion, they find the orcs and the 
  iron titan as described above. After 10 minutes, the demon 
  breaks free, then emerges from a house 1 minute later to 
  attack the orcs and the iron titan. It then turns its attention 
  toward the player characters.
   If the characters don’t investigate right away, they arrive to 
  find Crow’s Foot utterly ruined, seeing the destruction where 
  the demon has torn apart the iron titan, the orcs, and the 
  villagers alike. At your discretion, the demon might be hidden 
  in the smoking ruins or at large in the countryside, perhaps 
  happening upon the characters later in the adventure.
  Loyalist Camp
  The Drudge Loyalists make their camp south of Mirror 
  Lake in a cliff-side settlement overlooking a river. 
   River: A fast-flowing river runs from the northeast to the 
  southwest. Shallow within a yard of the shore, it drops to 3 
  yards deep beyond.
   Woods: A thin stand of young cedar trees rises to the 
  south of the path. The orcs have left their second iron titan 
  in these woods, with the instruction to attack any creatures 
  approaching the caves except orcs or those under orc 
  escort. 
   Rope Bridge: A bridge of rope and timber stretches from 
  two wooden posts driven deep into the east riverbank to the 
  caves on the other side. A half-dozen severed human heads 
  hang by their hair from the posts.
  The Caves
  The ceilings in the caves are all as high as a cave is long or 
  wide, whichever is greater. Unless otherwise mentioned, 
  smoky torches leave all areas obscured by shadows. The 
  caves are filthy, featuring floors covered in bones, bits of 
  rotting meat, and discarded equipment. If the characters 
  search any cave, roll a d6. On a roll of 6, they turn up 6d6 
  silver shillings and double that number of copper pennies. 
  In addition, roll a d20, with a 20 indicating that the cave 
  holds an enchanted object.
   See below for statistics on the orcs and ogres in the caves.
  1. Common Area
  This central cavern is home to ogres serving the Drudge 
  Loyalists and a mustering point for the orcs. The ogres 
  share a nest built of rubbish and poorly cured furs. Crude, 
  pornographic pictures drawn in filth cover the walls.
  2. Grimfang's Lair
  The orc leader Grimfang lives in this chamber, usually with 
  two or more orcs taken as his lovers. Thick furs cover the 
  floor and hide a strongbox filled with 100 silver shillings. 
  A bronze brazier filled with incense stands against a wall 
  bearing a crude portrait of King Drudge.
  3. Common Area
  The other orcs of the loyalist pack all live in this foul 
  cave. Numerous fire pits dimple the floor, and the ceiling 
  overhead has been blackened by smoke. Piles of furs, 
  tattered blankets, and other makeshift bedding covers the 
  floor, all of it infested with lice and crawling with flies. The 
  orcs use a narrow cleft in one wall of the cave as a toilet, its 
  sides streaked with filth.
  4. Larder
  Seven metal-and-wood cages stand around this cave, with 
  two holding 1d3 goats, one with 2d6 chickens, and another 
  36
  10
  
  tales of the demon lord
  off the rails
  holding a forlorn cow. The remaining cages can be empty 
  or occupied by prisoners as you decide. Grimfang posts 
  2 orc guards here to keep the other orcs from pinching a 
  snack for themselves.
  5. Tunnel
  This tunnel descends deep into the earth, running several 
  miles before it reaches anything of interest. You might 
  connect it to the troglodyte warrens on Mirror Lake, or 
  develop this area for an adventure of your own.
  6. Cistern
  Water dripping from cracks in the ceiling forms a pool 
  that fills much of this deep cave. The orcs use the pool as 
  a source of drinking water, but they know to be wary of 
  the 4 oozes lurking at the bottom. They offer prisoners as 
  sacrifices to the oozes to keep them well fed. At the bottom 
  of the cistern, 8 yards down, characters can find numerous 
  bones, bits of metal, a few dozen copper pennies, a rusted 
  sword, and an enchanted object.
  The Rebels
  The Drudge Loyalists are a force made up of 40 orcs 
  and 3 ogres, plus bosses Pig and Snout, and their leader 
  Grimfang. At any time, one of the orc bosses, an ogre, and 
  2d6 + 3 orcs are away from the camp, raiding and pillaging. 
  Half the time (4 to 6 on a roll of d6), Grimfang is gone as well, 
  in the company of 2d6 + 3 orcs and looking for new recruits. 
  Orcs that leave the camp return every 1d3 hours, and a new 
  force departs 1 hour after a previous force returns.
   Place the remaining orcs wherever you wish. The Drudge 
  Loyalists are a freakish mob of castoffs and misfits from the 
  Empire. All sport horrific scars and disfigurements, largely 
  from their time spent serving as slaves. The orcs festoon 
  their armor with bizarre trophies, including children’s toys, 
  bits of skin, teeth, and colorful rocks. 
  PIG AND SNOUT 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 1 orc
  Perception 11 (+1); shadowsight
  Defense 15 (hard leather); Health 25
  Strength 15 (+5), Agility 13 (+3), Intellect 10 (+0), Will 11 (+1)
  Speed 12
  Rising Fury When the orc takes damage, it makes its next 
  attack roll before the end of the next round with 1 boon.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Battleaxe (melee) +3 with 2 boons (2d6 + 2)
  Spear (short range) +3 with 1 boon (1d6)
  Pig and Snout both fought for the Empire but drifted north 
  after the uprising, hoping to rouse orcs in the provinces to 
  turn against the humans. Big and brutish, Pig has small, 
  beady eyes beneath a pronounced brow. Snout had his nose 
  chopped off a few years ago, and now uses leather straps to 
  hold a beak-like prosthetic on his face.
  GRIMFANG 
  Difficulty 50
  Size 1 orc
  Perception 9 (–1); shadowsight
  Defense 13 (brigandine); Health 48
  Strength 14 (+4), Agility 12 (+2), Intellect 8 (–2), Will 9 (–1)
  Speed 12
  Rising Fury When Grimfang takes damage, he makes his 
  next attack roll before the end of the next round with 1 
  boon.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Greataxe (melee) +3 with 1 boon (4d6, or 6d6 on attack 
  roll 20+)
  Rifle (long range) +2 with 2 boons (4d6, or 6d6 on attack 
  roll 20+)
  Combat Expertise When Grimfang uses an action to attack 
  with a weapon, he either deals 1d6 extra damage with 
  that attack or makes another attack against a different 
  target at any point before the end of his turn. 
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Catch your Breath Grimfang can use an action or a 
  triggered action on his turn to heal 12 damage. Once 
  he uses this action, he cannot use it again until after he 
  completes a rest.
  Grimfang stands nearly 9 feet tall and weighs 600 pounds. 
  Two tusks jut from his huge lantern jaw, and crude stitching 
  holds together the left side of his face. He hates humans, 
  blaming them for the plight of his people, and attacks 
  human characters without provocation.
  37
  10
  
  tales of the demon lord
  An adventure for master characters
  The world stands on the brink of annihilation when 
  a demon takes possession of a demonologist’s ancient 
  stronghold. The demonologist Sunionius Roo is long dead, 
  his soul languishing in Hell and tormented by the devils 
  feeding on his corruption. But somehow, that soul escapes 
  its captors, allowing the demonologist to return to the 
  mortal world in a clockwork body, seeking to make right all 
  that he had done wrong in life.
   As the characters are caught up with Roo, they 
  discover that the demonologist’s fallen stronghold is 
  being consumed by the spreading darkness of the Void. 
  A powerful demon named Agony of the Rotten Molar 
  is the new master of the demonologist’s citadel, having 
  broken free from a group of misguided cultists who 
  sought to bind it. By seizing the dark magic still present 
  in the ruins—a relic known as the Sword of Unmaking—
  the demon has been able to use the people of a nearby 
  town as fuel for a powerful ritual, ripping open a rift to 
  the Void that slowly devours the fortress and everything 
  around it.
   The player characters complete this adventure when they 
  destroy the demon or cast the Sword of Unmaking into the 
  Void.
  Sunionius Roo
  A thousand years ago, Sunionius Roo was one of the most 
  infamous men to ever walk the world. A devoted servant 
  of the Demon Lord in the aspect of the Destroyer of 
  Worlds, Roo stained his hands with the blood of sacrifices, 
  sullied his soul with dark magic, and plunged the lands 
  that would become the Northern Reach into darkness. 
  But then at some point, the demonologist realized the true 
  nature of his master, seeking to undo his own dark deeds. 
  For his change of heart, his confederates killed him and 
  his soul tumbled into Hell.
   Sunionius Roo is a plain construct made from brass 
  clockwork and plating, with a porcelain face resembling 
  that of a kindly old man. Though the clockwork seeks to 
  avert the world’s destruction, its soul remains corrupt and 
  prone to evil actions. Roo gladly betrays the characters if 
  doing so brings it closer to its goals. 
   Roo knows a great deal about the past, including the lore 
  of its former master. It is sparing in the details it shares, 
  though you can use it to reveal elements you want to 
  introduce about the world.
  Furious Introductions
  The characters can encounter Roo anywhere you like. 
  When they find the clockwork, it is fleeing from 2 furies 
  that have flown out from Hell to drag Roo’s soul back. If the 
  characters help the clockwork, it talks of its mission to stop 
  the demon lord from destroying the world and begs them 
  to fight for it. 
   If Roo has no chance to interact with the characters 
  because the furies kill him, you can let a character attempt 
  to read the clockwork’s programming with an Intellect 
  challenge roll, or allow Roo’s tracks to mark a course for the 
  ruins that the characters can follow.
  The Barghest
  As the characters travel with Roo, they might spot a 
  large black dog following at a distance. This creature 
  is a barghest, sent from Hell to drag the demonologist 
  back when the furies were destroyed. The barghest 
  avoids direct confrontation, running off if attacked 
  and returning to assault the characters when they are 
  vulnerable.
  SUNIONIUS ROO 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 1 clockwork
  Perception 10 (+0)
  Defense 14 (natural, small shield); Health 36
  Strength 12 (+2), Agility 8 (–2), Intellect 11 (+1), Will 11 (+1)
  Speed 8
  Immune damage from disease or poison; asleep, diseased, 
  fatigued, poisoned
  Key Roo has a key somewhere on its body that it cannot 
  reach. When the key is cranked and turning, the 
  clockwork counts as a creature, becoming an object 
  when the key stops. Its key stops turning when the 
  clockwork becomes incapacitated. It also stops turning 
  at the end of any round in which Roo got a total of 0 or 
  lower on an attack roll or challenge roll.
   
   While it is an object, Roo cannot use actions, move, 
  talk, or perceive its surroundings. Any creature that 
  can reach the clockwork can use an action to wind up 
  the key; if not incapacitated, the clockwork becomes a 
  creature once more.
  Grind the Gears Roo can increase the number of actions 
  it can use on its turn by one. When it finishes its turn, 
  roll a d6. On an odd number, the clockwork becomes an 
  object at the end of the round.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Sword (melee) +2 with 1 boon (2d6 + 2)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Spell Recovery Roo can use an action to heal 9 damage 
  and regain one casting of one of its spells. Once it uses 
  this talent, the clockwork cannot use it again until after it 
  completes a rest.
  MAGIC 
  Power 1
  Arcana arcane armor (2), arcane sight (1), unerring darts (1)
  Forbidden harm (2), tongue rip (1)
  Necromancy spectral grasp (2), grave grasp (1), harvest 
  soul (1)
  38
  
  tales of the demon lord
  prince of darkness
  Oblivion
  At the base of the mountain that is the site of Roo’s ruined 
  stronghold stands a deserted large town named Oblivion. 
  Agony of the Rotten Molar came here after destroying the 
  cultists who sought to bind it, slaughtered the townsfolk, 
  then returned to the stronghold with their bodies and 
  souls. The town’s dozens of buildings show signs of blood 
  and carnage, but only a few corpses can be found. The 
  many farmsteads outside the town are likewise empty, 
  except for occasional farm animals that now wander the 
  countryside in a state of terror.
  On the Edge  
  of Darkness
  On the slopes of the Iron Peaks stands the ruin of an 
  ancient stronghold—a once-mighty fortress ruled by the 
  demonologist Sunionius Roo long before the Empire’s 
  founding. After Roo’s death, the stronghold passed through 
  a number of owners, each more corrupt than the previous. 
  The site was abandoned a century ago, and is now little 
  more than an ill-omened curiosity avoided by all.
   North of Foundry, the ruins stand halfway up the south 
  side of the Spear—a sheer mountain stabbing up from 
  the western arm of the Iron Peaks. A switchback path of 
  cobbles, weeds, and dirt climbs the lower slopes before 
  straightening to reach the citadel’s front wall, and a gate 
  flanked by massive turrets pierced with arrow slits. 
  Into the Void
  When the characters come to the fallen stronghold, they 
  see the results of the demon’s ritual as a shadowy, rippling 
  corona surrounding the ruins. The power of the Void has 
  already eroded much of the ruins and the surrounding 
  mountainside, but the rift remains closed until the ritual 
  that spawned it is complete. Unless Agony of the Rotten 
  Molar is slain, the rift will continue to expand, allowing 
  more of the world to slide into the Void before finally being 
  devoured by the End of All Things.
   The Void: The edges of the Void appear within the ruins 
  as areas of darkness, torn through by a storm of debris 
  that shrouds wispy beings assuming a fast-changing array 
  of horrible shapes. Every now and then, the characters 
  might catch a glimpse of monstrous forms, giant red 
  eyes swiveling to look upon them, or limbs and tails of 
  incalculable size whipping through the darkness. 
   Any character who looks upon the Void must get a 
  success on a Will challenge roll with 3 banes or gain 1d6 
  Insanity. A character who goes mad as a result of gaining 
  this Insanity must use his or her next action to rush toward 
  the edge and leap into the darkness. On a success, the 
  character is immune to this effect for 24 hours. 
   Any character who enters the Void is immediately pulled 
  5d20 yards away from the mortal world, and is then torn 
  apart by demonic entities and dies instantly.
  The Stronghold
  Each hour that passes from the time the characters reach 
  the stronghold, the Void creeps 2d6 yards closer to the 
  ravine (area 2). When it completely devours the stronghold, 
  the ritual is complete and the Void opens fully. Unless other 
  forces rally to avert this fate (as you decide), the end of the 
  world begins when the stronghold falls.
   Unless otherwise mentioned, all locations within the 
  stronghold are dark, and have stone floors, walls, and 
  ceilings covered with magical symbols, glyphs, and profane 
  imagery.
  1. Approach
  The last stretch of path before the ravine is in poor 
  repair, badly pitted and littered with bones and chunks of 
  masonry. The bridge that once crossed the ravine collapsed 
  long ago.
  2. Ravine
  The ravine stretches 50 yards across the ground in front 
  of the ruins. It is 10 yards wide at its widest point and 
  drops 20 yards to a rubble-strewn floor. Characters can 
  avoid descending the ravine by moving around it, making 
  Strength challenge rolls to climb the slope before the ruins.
   Numerous holes excavated by stone worms dot the 
  walls of the ravine and connect to an extensive network of 
  tunnels and chambers. Each time a character climbs down 
  to the bottom, 1d3 stone worms come out from the walls to 
  feed, until a total of 20 stone worms have appeared.
   A great heap of skulls stands just north of the ravine. If 
  the characters come within short range of the mound, 2d6 
  animated corpses tear their way out from the mound and 
  attack.
  3. Iron Doors
  Two iron doors stand closed in the stronghold’s outer wall. 
  Demonic activity has stirred up a number of genies local 
  to the area, causing them to become violent. Any character 
  with a Perception score of 12 or higher notices writing in 
  High Archaic carved into the wall and traced through the 
  rubble on the ground. The words include “Flee,” “Death,” 
  and “Hate,” among others.
   If any attempt is made to open the doors, 2 earth genies 
  rise up from the ground and 1 wind genie gathers in the air. 
  All the genies attack to destroy or drive off the characters.
  4. Hall of Dark Summons
  The iron doors open onto an enormous room, 20 yards long 
  and 10 yards wide. Staircases climb to collapsed chambers 
  above, while archways lead to adjoining chambers on 
  either side. In the center of the room is a giant pentagram 
  that glows red and leaves the area obscured by shadows. 
  Behind it is a ledge reached by stairs and flanked by two 
  iron braziers filled with smoldering dung. The ledge holds 
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  prince of darkness
  a pair of iron doors. On the wall flanking the landing is 
  an ornate bas-relief depicting hideous demonic matrons 
  pulling demons from their wombs.
   A hulking horned ogre guards this chamber to prevent 
  intruders from climbing the stairs to area 7. Any combat 
  here draws the attention of 1d6 + 3 tiny demons that attack 
  anyone beyond the ogre’s reach.
  5. Tower of the Dead
  Stairs climb up to the northeast turret, whose upper floors 
  and roof collapsed long ago. A huge mound of corpses—
  six hundred and sixty-six men, women, and children, 
  almost all of them human—stands in the center of the 
  rubble-strewn floor. Each of the bodies of the townsfolk of 
  Oblivion has been mutilated, with eyes gouged from skulls 
  and tongues pulled from mouths. Any character seeing this 
  must get a success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity.
   Restoring even one of the bodies here to life interrupts 
  the demon’s dark ritual (see area 7). However, doing 
  so brings Agony of the Rotten Molar (see below for 
  mechanics) shrieking in from area 7 to add the characters to 
  the corpse pile.
  6. Pit
  The southwest turret is an empty shell, its upper floors 
  and roof long gone. Cracks and fissures spread out from a 
  yawning chasm that drops away into darkness. The floor of 
  this room collapses under the 
  weight of the second creature 
  to enter here. Any creature 
  in the room at the time must 
  get a success on an Agility 
  challenge roll or fall 2d20 
  yards into the rocks littering 
  the floor of a deep cave below. 
  From out of the gloom of the 
  cave, 10 ghouls spring forth to 
  feed on fresh meat.
  7. Hall of Unmaking
  Arched window frames 
  edged with broken bits of 
  stained glass look out upon an 
  expanse of endless darkness. 
  Floating before the windows 
  is an orb of crimson light, 
  in which screaming faces 
  can be seen. Descending 
  staircases drop down through 
  the floor to either side of the 
  orb. Columns constructed 
  of humanoid skeletons in 
  lascivious poses line the 
  walls, and the cracked ceiling 
  shows a monstrous demonic 
  figure whose body is made of 
  innumerable twisted faces. 
   Agony of the Rotten Molar (see below for mechanics) 
  clings to the ceiling in this chamber, awaiting the Demon 
  Lord’s arrival. When the characters enter the room, the 
  demon releases its grip and swoops down to attack. The 
  demon fights until it takes 90 or more damage, after 
  which it attempts to flee and seek refuge elsewhere in the 
  stronghold. Destroying the demon causes the ritual to fail, 
  the orb to disappear, and the sword held within the sphere 
  to fall to the ground.
  The Sword of Unmaking
  The crimson sphere is the result of the demon’s wicked 
  work, and might be the engine of the world’s destruction 
  if the characters cannot undo its magic. Any character 
  inspecting the sphere can see the relic called the Sword 
  of Unmaking (see Chapter 9 of Shadow of the Demon Lord) 
  suspended at its center, feeding on the souls torn from 
  the bodies in area 5. The energy released by the sword 
  manifests as the roiling sphere of light, whose faces belong 
  to those souls it destroys. Each destroyed soul draws the 
  Void closer, and when the weapon eats the final soul, the 
  Demon Lord will come forth.
   In addition to restoring life to one or more of the dead 
  bodies fueling the ritual (see area 5), a character can also 
  disrupt the ritual by reaching into the red light to grasp the 
  blade and drag it out. If the sword is cast into the Void, the 
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  remaining souls fly free and the ritual and its effects end. If 
  Sunionius Roo is with the group, the clockwork attempts 
  this if given the chance. 
   The blade doesn’t want to be taken, however. Any creature 
  that tries to wield the sword must get a success on an Agility 
  challenge roll with 3 banes as the sword attempts to strike it. 
  On a failure, the creature takes 5d6 damage and must make 
  a Strength challenge roll with 3 banes. On a second failure, 
  the creature dies and its soul is devoured, which releases one 
  of the ritual’s bound souls. That soul comes forth to confront 
  the characters, explaining that if they rescue any other souls, 
  the ritual will be temporarily interrupted. 
  AGONY OF THE ROTTEN MOLAR 
  Difficulty 250
  Size 3 horrifying demon
  Perception 15 (+5); truesight
  Defense 19 (natural); Health 120
  Strength 18 (+8), Agility 14 (+4), Intellect 13 (+3), Will 17 
  (+7)
  Speed 18; flier
  Immune damage from disease or poison; gaining Insanity; 
  dazed, fatigued, frightened, immobilized, impaired, 
  poisoned, slowed, stunned
  Spell Defense A demon takes half damage from spells and 
  makes any challenge roll to resist a spell with 1 boon. 
  A creature attacking the demon with a spell makes the 
  attack roll with 1 bane.
  Demonic Shadows Lit areas out to 4 yards around the 
  demon become shadows.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Natural Weapons (melee) +9 with 3 boons (4d6)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Frenzied Attack The demon attacks two different targets 
  with its natural weapon, making each attack roll with 1 
  bane.
  MAGIC 
  Power 3
  Destruction ruin (4), rend (1), sunder (1), entropic power 
  (2), erode (2), detonate (3)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Void Step The demon uses an action or a triggered action 
  on its turn to teleport to a space it can see within 
  medium range. Roll a d6. On a roll of 1, the demon cannot 
  use Void Step again for 1 minute.
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Shed Void Larvae The demon sheds white worms that 
  transform into 1d6 – 2 void larvae (minimum 0) and 
  appear in open spaces within its reach. The void larvae 
  remain until destroyed.
  Agony of the Rotten Molar stands 18 feet tall and weighs 
  2,000 pounds. Rotting teeth spout from the twisted faces 
  that cover every inch of the demon’s body, with each face 
  sporting foul-smelling holes crawling with white worms. 
  Any worm that falls from its body becomes a void larva. 
  8. Haunted Passage
  Characters moving down this passage hear faint whispers 
  coming from the walls. Where the Void intrudes on the 
  passage, characters seeking to continue on must leap 
  from the floor to the floating rocks. Each leap requires 
  a successful Agility challenge roll. Failure causes the 
  character to tumble into the Void.
  9. Damned Apostles
  The restless spirits of the fortress linger here as 8 phantoms 
  whose voices can be heard through the walls. The 
  phantoms manifest and attack when any character comes 
  into this area. 
   Characters searching these chambers turn up 3d6 gold 
  crowns, 5d20 silver shillings, and two enchanted objects.
  10. Shadows of the Void
  Shattered fragments of the walls that once bounded this 
  room can be seen floating in the Void. Each time the 
  characters enter this area, roll a d6. On a roll of 1 or 2, 1d6 
  shadows enter the area from the Void. 
  11. Vault
  A locked iron door with no keyhole bars the way to this 
  room. The door opens only if it is splashed with blood 
  drawn from an unwilling victim, and in enough quantity 
  that the victim takes damage equal to its Health. (Death 
  need not be the result, but the creature must come close to 
  death.)
   Opening the door reveals a vault filled with an 
  assortment of paintings, statuettes, rugs, jewels, and 
  unidentifiable relics worth a total of 100 gold crowns. 
  Searching the room also turns up 3 enchanted objects. 
  12. False Vault
  This door is identical to the door to area 11 and opens in 
  the same way, but the room is empty. The first character to 
  enter the room is teleported 5d20 miles away in a randomly 
  determined direction, after which the door closes.
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  An adventure for master characters
  Years of planning and countless sacrifices bring the 
  Brotherhood of Shadows to the brink of success, ready to 
  bring the Eternal Darkness screaming into this world and 
  ushering in a new and final age. One last incantation and 
  the end of days begins. However, the world will not go quiet 
  into the endless night, as the characters undertake a final 
  heroic effort to uncover and destroy the cult.
   The player characters complete this adventure when 
  they kill the cult master Katandramus, recover the Eye of the 
  Demon Lord, and save the world.
  Dark Plots
  The Brotherhood of Shadows has been an insidious 
  presence in Crossings for years. In recent months, Elder 
  Fobb (who sits on the city council) vied for control of 
  the cult with the newcomer Katandramus. But with the 
  acquisition of the Eye of the Demon Lord, Katandramus 
  emerged the victor.
  KATANDRAMUS 
  Difficulty 100
  Size 1 frightening human
  Perception 14 (+4); darksight
  Defense 11; Health 66; Corruption 10; Insanity 6
  Strength 10 (+0), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 14 (+4), Will 12 (+2)
  Speed 10
  Wielder of the Eye (with the Eye of the Demon Lord) 
  Katandramus gains 1 boon on attack rolls made when 
  casting an attack spell, and imposes 1 bane on challenge 
  rolls made to resist spells he casts.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Sacrificial Knife (melee) +1 (1d6)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Counterspell When a creature Katandramus can see 
  attacks him with a spell, Katandramus can use a 
  triggered action to counter it. The triggering creature 
  makes the attack roll with 1 bane and Katandramus 
  makes the challenge roll to resist it with 1 boon.
  Invoke the Demon Lord (with the Eye of the Demon Lord) 
  Katandramus causes a pulse of crackling red energy to 
  spread out in an 8-yard radius centered on a point he can 
  reach. Each creature in the area other than Katandramus 
  must make a Will challenge roll. A creature takes 9d6 
  damage and becomes dazed and impaired for 1 minute on 
  a failure, or just takes half the damage on a success.
  Improved Spell Recovery Katandramus can use an action 
  to heal 16 damage and regain two castings of spells he 
  has expended. Once he uses this action, Katandramus 
  cannot do so again until after he completes a rest.
  MAGIC 
  Power 5 (6 with the Eye of the Demon Lord)
  Conjuration conjure useful item (6), conjure small monster 
  (3), conjure steeds (2), conjure large monster (2), conjure 
  huge monster (1)
  Fire (with the Eye of the Demon Lord) fire blast (3), fireball 
  (2), bind flame genie (1)
  Forbidden harm (6), obedience (3), ravenous maggots (2), 
  part bone from flesh (2)
  Protection secure site (6), force field (3), evade (3), 
  protection from spells (2)
  Teleportation fetch (6), division (3), remove (2), portals 
  (2), travel (1)
  Corruption has twisted Katandramus into a monster. Sores 
  cover his hairless body, whose mottled skin weeps at any 
  touch. His eyes are rings of fire that burn inside sunken 
  sockets, and his teeth have become blackened nubs. 
  Thoroughly mad, he believes that the Demon Lord will 
  transform him into an immortal demon for his service.
   Katandramus leads a force of 18 dark brothers, each 
  bearing scars, tattoos, and piercings as signs of their 
  devotion.
  DARK BROTHER 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 1 human
  Perception 12 (+2)
  Defense 17 (mail, large shield); Health 25
  Strength 13 (+3), Agility 12 (+2), Intellect 11 (+1), Will 10 (+0)
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  Speed 10
  Mad Certainty When a cultist makes a challenge roll or an 
  attack roll, it can make the roll with 1 boon. On a failure, 
  the cultist takes 1d6 damage.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Sword (melee) +3 with 1 boon (2d6 + 2)
  Since gaining the Eye of the Demon Lord, Katandramus 
  has directed his cultists to gather the ingredients and 
  knowledge required to complete an incantation revealed 
  by the artifact. In two days, he will be ready to perform 
  the incantation atop the tower known as Wizard’s Peak, 
  harnessing the magical energy within Crossings’ faerie 
  spires to bore a hole to the Void in the sky above the city.
  The Lady of  
  Sighs and Sorrows
  Centuries ago, a demonologist named Moore slipped 
  into the tower of the vampire Lucretia and stole from her 
  a prized treasure—the Eye of the Demon Lord. Fearing 
  her wrath, the demonologist sealed the artifact inside a 
  warded vault under his home in Crossings, leaving the 
  vampire to scour the world for the eye in vain. When it 
  was freed from the vault (see Chapter 2), Lucretia’s magic 
  finally located the artifact, and she dispatched agents to 
  recover it. When they failed, she came to Crossings to 
  recover the eye herself.
  LUCRETIA 
  Difficulty 250
  Size 1 horrifying undead (vampire)
  Perception 16 (+6); darksight
  Defense 20; Health 100
  Strength 14 (+4), Agility 15 (+5), Intellect 14 (+4), Will 16 (+6)
  Speed 14
  Immune damage from cold, disease, poison; gaining 
  Insanity; asleep, diseased, fatigued, immobilized, 
  poisoned, slowed
  Resilience Lucretia takes half damage from weapons.
  Celestial Vulnerability Lucretia takes double damage 
  from Celestial spells and makes challenge rolls to resist 
  Celestial spells with 1 bane.
  Fear of the Gods Lucretia makes attack rolls with 1 bane 
  against a creature wearing or wielding a holy symbol.
  Pass for Human Lucretia appears human until she takes 
  damage or makes an attack roll, at which point her 
  features contort to assume a monstrous appearance. 
  She retains this appearance until she uses an action 
  to resume her human appearance. While she appears 
  human, Lucretia loses her horrifying trait.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Claws (melee) +5 with 3 boons (2d6 plus the target is 
  grabbed on attack roll 20+)
  Fangs (melee) +5 with 1 boon (3d6)
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Double Attack Lucretia attacks twice with her claws.
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Blood Drain Lucretia makes a Strength attack roll against 
  the Strength of one target living creature of flesh and 
  blood that she is grabbing. On a success, the target takes 
  3d6 damage and becomes fatigued until it completes a 
  rest. Lucretia heals the same amount of damage. If the 
  target is already fatigued this way, it must make a Will 
  challenge roll. On a failure, it instead becomes charmed 
  until it completes a rest.
  Flowing Mist When Lucretia takes damage, she can use 
  a triggered action to turn her body into mist, fly up to 
  her Speed, and then resume her normal form. While in 
  mist form, she is immune to all damage, her movement 
  does not trigger free attacks, and she can move through 
  openings wide enough to permit the passage of air and 
  through spaces occupied by other creatures.
  MAGIC 
  Power 4
  Divination eavesdrop (5), augur (2), locate (1) 
  Shadow nightfall blade (5), darkness (2), shadow stride (2), 
  black bolts of the Underworld (3), dark portals (4)
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Burned by Sunlight Lucretia takes 2d6 damage if she is in 
  an area lit by sunlight.
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  Lucretia appears to be a human woman with long red hair, 
  pale skin, and red eyes. She wears a black gown of lace and 
  satin and keeps her hair piled on her head with long pins 
  bearing skull handles. 
   A group of 12 hoods came to the city before Lucretia to 
  prepare the abandoned temple described in Chapter 5 for 
  her arrival. She also has 24 ghouls in her employ. When 
  Lucretia’s efforts to locate the Eye of the Demon Lord using 
  her magic are frustrated by the city’s size, she turns her 
  attention to the leaders of Crossings—killing the mayor, 
  Katrin Edgerton, and leaving a demand for the return of the 
  eye. Her plan is to kill one member of the council each day 
  until the eye is in her hands. 
  The Dead mayor
  The adventure begins when the characters are called to 
  investigate the mayor’s murder, whether through one of 
  the group’s contacts or based solely on the characters’ 
  reputation. The crime occurred inside the mayor’s 
  residence in Gavel (see Chapter 1)—a fine two-story house 
  whose main floor is used for conducting business, with 
  the upper floor used for living quarters. Investigating the 
  residence might turn up some or all of the following clues.
  • Four guards in the residence were found dead, all of 
  them torn apart and one drained of blood. 
  • A fifth guard assigned to the house remains missing—a 
  young man named Lawrence who joined the mayor’s 
  guard detail a month ago.
  •  Father Paulus discovered the crime, having been 
  summoned to the mayor’s office for a late-night meeting. 
  The priest is uncertain what was to be discussed, though 
  he secretly fears the mayor had discovered his dirty 
  secret (see Chapter 2).
  •  Katrin’s remains are still in her office, but all that remains 
  of her is her spine, a few fingers, and her head. The first 
  character to see the remains must get a success on a Will 
  challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity.
  •  The office window is shattered, and bits of broken glass 
  litter the floor. Painted in blood on the wall is a message - 
  “Return the Eye!”
  • On Katrin’s desk, a blood-soaked notebook is open to a 
  page holding two names, Katandramus and Fobb. The 
  mayor has been pursuing rumors of the Brotherhood 
  of Shadows for months, and noted the names of the 
  suspected cult leaders.
  The Investigation
  The characters can pursue leads found in the mayor’s 
  residence as they choose, with possible avenues for 
  investigation described below. The characters have two 
  days before Katandramus completes the incantation. At 
  midnight on the second day, jump ahead to “Hole in the 
  Sky.”
  The Missing Guard
  If the characters ask the mayor’s staff about the missing 
  guard, they learn that Lawrence lived above the Liquid 
  Smoke tavern (see Chapter 1), not far from the mayor’s 
  residence. If the characters make inquiries there, they find 
  the guard in the taproom, drinking to forget the horrors he’s 
  witnessed.
   Lawrence is young and dark skinned, with black 
  hair and kind eyes. He tells the characters, “I heard a 
  commotion from the mayor’s office. I went to investigate 
  and saw darkness shaped like a woman grip the mayor 
  by the neck, demanding something called ‘the eye.’ I’m 
  ashamed to say I ran back downstairs, but I saw horrid, 
  naked men ripping apart the other guards and eating 
  them. I ran out the front door and have been here ever 
  since.”
  Rumors
  The characters can gather rumors about current events to 
  gain potential insight into what’s going on. A number of 
  different rumors can be uncovered in the various districts 
  of the city.
  Coins
  A train of windowless black carriages came through the 
  Old Arch a couple of days ago, then headed toward Purse. 
  Gavel
  Strange dwarfs wearing hooded cloaks have been seen 
  skulking the streets the last few nights. Characters 
  following up on this rumor might encounter 1d6 + 1 hoods 
  in search of the eye.
  Grievings
  Bats of unusual size and aggression have been attacking 
  by night, and people are afraid to go out after dark. The 
  vampire’s presence has attracted 2d6 vampire bats. 
  Characters in Grievings at night might encounter 1d6 of 
  them at a time.
  Old Town
  Someone has been plundering the graves in the Boneyard 
  again. Characters following up on this lead encounter 2d6 
  ghouls working for the vampire that come to the graveyard 
  to feed. If any of the ghouls are captured, they might reveal 
  what the vampire is after or where she’s lurking.
  Purse
  A half-dozen children have gone missing in recent days, all 
  of them living within blocks of the ruined Katandramus 
  House. Locals whisper about the evil said to dwell there, 
  but the Brown Cloaks ignore them. If the characters follow 
  up on this lead, go to “The Vampire’s Lair.”
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  the end is near
   If the characters are in Purse on the second day, locals 
  report hearing explosions coming from Wizard’s Peak. 
  If the characters follow up on this rumor, proceed with 
  “Wizard’s Peak.”
  More Murders
  Each night after the mayor’s death, a member of the council 
  dies, as determined on the following table. (Reroll if the 
  indicated councillor is already dead.) If the characters are 
  with the indicated councillor that night, they encounter 
  Lucretia and a pack of 1d6 ghouls. Characters who talk to 
  the vampire learn what she seeks. If they convince her that 
  they can find the Eye of the Demon Lord for her, she agrees to 
  stop the killing for one day.
  Dead Councillors
  d6
  Councillor
  1
  Elder Fobb
  2
  Father Paulus
  3
  Commander Rena
  4
  Ezekia
  5
  Master Dreen
  6
  Ambrose Quick
   Each new crime scene is similar to that seen in the 
  mayor’s office, complete with bloody message. Introduce 
  additional clues and witnesses to direct the characters to 
  the vampire as you choose.
  Elder Fobb
  When the upstart Katandramus replaced him, Elder 
  Fobb vowed to see his rival destroyed. However, when a 
  member of the council is killed (and assuming Fobb is not 
  that victim), the halfling decides it’s time to cut his losses. 
  It takes a day for Fobb to get his affairs in order, and he 
  disappears from Crossings the evening of the second day. 
   If the characters get to him before he leaves, Fobb drops 
  his pretense of absentmindedness and reveals his true 
  power. He casts an idol to the ground to release 1d6 small 
  demons, then fights to the death if the characters prevent 
  his escape.
  The Vampire's Lair
  Lucretia uses the now-abandoned temple underneath 
  Katandramus house (see Chapter 5) as her lair. In addition 
  to the vampire, 6 hoods and 6 ghouls are here at all times, 
  placed as you choose. Alongside the vampire’s forces, area 9 
  still contains a living tar in the well. Additionally, when the 
  characters enter any area of the temple, roll a d6. On a roll 
  of 1, that area is haunted by 1d6 phantoms.
   During the day, Lucretia sleeps in a coffin the hoods 
  have placed in area 12. By night, she scours the city for the 
  missing artifact. If the characters storm the lair while the 
  vampire is there, she fights to destroy them. If she takes 70 
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  tales of the demon lord
  must get a success on a Strength challenge roll or become 
  deafened. This affliction is permanent until removed by magic.
   A crimson light then appears around Wizard’s Peak until 
  the incantation is ended or completed.
  12:06 AM
  The six faerie spires across the city emit a white-hot light 
  that turns night to day. Any object or creature within 
  50 yards of a spire takes damage equal to its Health and 
  turns to ash. Any creature that can see one or more of the 
  towers when the light first appears must get a success on a 
  Strength challenge roll or become blinded. This affliction is 
  permanent until removed by magic.
  12:12 AM
  Each blazing spire looses a ribbon of light that drifts toward 
  a point in the sky 600 yards above the city. When the ribbons 
  meet, they form an undulating mass of vibrant color. 
  12:18 AM
  A blot of darkness appears in the center of the colorful 
  mass, heralding the arrival of the Void. Anyone looking at 
  the darkness can see a massive, baleful red eye peering out 
  from within, and must make a Will challenge roll with 3 
  banes. On a failure, the creature gains 2d6 Insanity. 
  12:24 AM
  From out of the widening darkness, 1d6 tiny demons with 
  the flier trait descend on Crossings and attack any creatures 
  they encounter.
  12:30 AM
  Following the first demons, 2d6 small demons with the flier 
  trait join the assault. 
  12:36 AM
  A group of 3d6 medium demons with the flier trait emerge 
  from the Void.
  12:42 AM
  A group of 3d6 large demons with the flier trait come forth. 
  12:48 and 12:54 AM
  Another 3d6 tiny demons, small demons, medium demons, 
  or large demons (all with the flyer trait) join the others.
  1:00 AM
  The Demon Lord emerges from the Void and begins to 
  devour the world. The End. 
  or more damage, Lucretia uses Flowing Mist and flees the 
  temple. She then takes revenge against the characters by 
  killing their loved ones and allies in the city, doing her best 
  to make the characters’ lives unbearable.
   If the characters peacefully engage the vampire in her 
  lair, Lucretia deals with them if they show her proper 
  respect. She warns the characters of the destructive power 
  the Eye of the Demon Lord might have in mortal hands, and 
  vows to leave Crossings once the artifact is returned to her 
  for safekeeping. 
  Wizard's Peak
  The tower known as Wizard’s Peak was constructed by 
  its master Caribdus to bolster his own magical abilities. 
  A place of power, the site is the key to performing the 
  incantation revealed by the Eye of the Demon Lord. It takes 
  two days for the cultists to overcome the magical traps of 
  Wizard’s Peak, dispatch its guardians, and slay Caribdus, 
  after which Katandramus gives the order for his cultists to 
  gather and prepare for the Demon Lord’s arrival.
   Wizard’s Peak is larger on the inside than it appears, 
  with numerous portals connecting different areas 
  protected by magic. With Caribdus dead, that magic 
  shuts down access to the tower’s pocket dimensions, 
  so that it resembles a single empty room with a 
  staircase leading up the wall. At the top of the stairs, an 
  observatory features a large telescope surrounded by 
  well-stocked bookshelves.
   If the characters come to the tower before Katandramus 
  finishes the incantation, the cult leader is in the 
  observatory, having stationed 6 dark brothers and 4 
  medium demons in the chamber below. Katandramus 
  abandons the incantation and joins the fight if the demons 
  are destroyed, bringing the Eye of the Demon Lord with him.
   If the characters assault the tower after the events 
  described under “Hole in the Sky” begin, the vampire 
  Lucretia, 1d6 hoods, and 1d6 ghouls join the fight, 
  attacking the characters and the cultists. 
  Hole in the Sky
  This final scene occurs only if the characters fail to 
  recover the Eye of the Demon Lord from the Brotherhood of 
  Shadows. 
   At midnight on the third day, the following events occur, 
  proceeding until the characters kill Katandramus or until 
  you reach the final event.
  12:00 AM
  A deafening noise sounds out from above Crossings, 
  shattering all glass within the city. Any character in the city 
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  tales of the demon lord
  Most of the creatures that appear in this book are detailed 
  in Shadow of the Demon Lord. Creatures new to these 
  adventures are described here. For guidelines on how to 
  use the mechanics for creatures, see Chapter 10: Bestiary in 
  Shadow of the Demon Lord.
  CARTUL DRONE 
  Difficulty 1
  Size 1/2 monster
  Perception 10 (+0); darksight
  Defense 17 (natural); Health 5
  Strength 11 (+1), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 5 (–5), Will 10 (+0)
  Speed 14; climber, Tunnel
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Mandibles (melee) +1 (1d6 + 1)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Tunnel The cartul moves up to its Speed through earth, 
  sand, or other material of similar consistency. It leaves a 
  1-foot-diameter tunnel behind it.
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Fall Back If the cartul drone is able to move, it moves 
  1d6 yards (up to its Speed) in a randomly determined 
  direction.
  The insectoid cartuls dwell deep underground, excavating 
  miles of tunnels, gathering food for their colony, and 
  fortifying their nests to protect their young. Much of a 
  colony’s work falls to the cartul drones—short, humanoid-
  shaped cockroaches that creep and crawl through the 
  gloom. They communicate simple ideas such as food, 
  danger, and safety through excretions from their sphincters.
  CARTUL INCANTER 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 1 frightening monster
  Perception 19 (+9); darksight
  Defense 19 (natural); Health 30
  Strength 11 (+1), Agility 12 (+2), Intellect 14 (+4), Will 11 (+1)
  Speed 14; climber, flier
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Mandible (melee) +2 with 1 boon (1d6 + 1)
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Pheromones The incanter uses an action or a triggered 
  action on its turn to squirt juices from its sphincter at 
  a point within short range of it. The air within 3 yards 
  of the point is filled with pheromones that last until the 
  end of the next round. While the pheromones are active, 
  each cartul creature in the area makes attack rolls and 
  challenge rolls with 1 boon. Once the incanter uses its 
  pheromones, it must wait 1 minute before it can use this 
  action again.
  MAGIC 
  Power 2
  Destruction ruin (3), dissolve (2), erode (1)
  Protection secure site (3), force field (1)
  One in a thousand cartul eggs hatches to become an incanter, 
  one of the colony’s highly intelligent, magic-using protectors. 
  Incanters resemble other cartuls except for their metallic 
  green carapaces and the wings that speed them through a 
  colony. Incanters lead the colony on the queen’s behalf.
  CARTUL SOLDIER 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 1 monster
  Perception 15 (+5); darksight
  Defense 18 (natural); Health 25
  Strength 13 (+3), Agility 11 (+1), Intellect 10 (+0), Will 12 (+2)
  Speed 14; climber
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Mandibles (melee) +3 with 1 boon (2d6 plus Sting on 
  attack roll 20+)
  Sting The target must make an Agility challenge roll with 1 
  bane. On a failure, the target takes 1d6 extra damage and 
  becomes poisoned for 1 minute. If already poisoned, the 
  target takes 1d6 extra damage.
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Guard the Colony When a cartul creature within short 
  range of the soldier takes damage, the soldier can use a 
  triggered action to move up to half its Speed toward the 
  triggering creature.
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  new creatures
  tales of the demon lord
  Cartul soldiers watch over the working drones and guard the 
  entrances to a colony against predators. One in every twenty 
  cartuls is a soldier. They resemble other cartuls but are larger 
  and have stingers extending from their abdomens.
  CARTUL QUEEN 
  Difficulty 100
  Size 8 horrifying monster
  Perception 20 (+10); sightless
  Defense 8 (natural); Health 150
  Strength 15 (+5), Agility 1 (–9), Intellect 15 (+5), Will 14 (+4)
  Speed 1
  Immune gaining Insanity; blinded
  Death Cry If the cartul queen dies, each cartul creature 
  within 1 mile of it becomes stunned until the end of the 
  next round, and is dazed for 1d6 days thereafter.
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Corrosive Pheromones The cartul queen sprays corrosive 
  pheromones in a 6-yard-long cone originating from a 
  point it can reach. Everything in the area takes 3d6 + 10 
  damage. Each creature in the area must make an Agility 
  challenge roll, taking half the damage on a success. Until 
  the end of the next round, whenever a cartul creature 
  attacks any creature that took damage from this attack, 
  the cartul creature makes the attack roll with 1 boon.
  MAGIC 
  Power 3
  Destruction ruin (4), dissolve (2), rend (2), erode (1), 
  evaporate (1)
  Song song of courage (2), song of valor (2), song of dread (1)
  All cartul are ruled by a queen—a massive, bloated 
  monstrosity that reclines in a heap of her own excretions 
  at the center of the colony. The queen has a beautiful 
  humanoid face set atop a 10-yard-long, 6-yard-wide body 
  resembling a maggot, and which weighs 2,000 pounds. The 
  queen communicates her wishes by squirting pheromones 
  from her sphincter to drench her attendant drones, which 
  then carry her scent throughout the rest of the lair. Like 
  her incanters, a cartul queen wields magical power used to 
  protect the colony.
  IRON TITAN 
  Difficulty 100
  Size 5 construct
  Perception 10 (+0); darksight
  Defense 15 (natural); Health 120
  Strength 17 (+7), Agility 10 (+0), Intellect 8 (–2), Will 14 (+4)
  Speed 8
  Immune damage from disease or poison; gaining Insanity; 
  asleep, charmed, diseased, fatigued, frightened, 
  poisoned
  Explosive Death When an iron titan becomes 
  incapacitated, it dies instantly and explodes. The blast 
  extends into a 20-yard-radius sphere centered on a point 
  within its former space. Everything in the area takes 6d6 
  damage. Each creature in the area must make an Agility 
  challenge roll, taking half the damage on a success.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Fist (melee) +7 (3d6)
  Arm Cannon (long range) +0 with 2 boons (3d6). If the 
  total of the attack roll is 0 or less, the arm cannon 
  becomes jammed until the iron titan uses an action to 
  clear it. 
  SPECIAL ATTACKS 
  Double Attack The iron titan attacks with its fist and its 
  arm cannon.
  Flamethrower A nozzle in the iron titan’s chest sprays 
  flames in a 10-yard-long cone from a point it can reach. 
  Everything in the area takes 6d6 damage. Each creature 
  in the area must make an Agility challenge roll, taking 
  half the damage on a success. Once the iron titan uses its 
  flamethrower, it cannot use it again until after the end of 
  the next round.
  SPECIAL ACTIONS 
  Self-Repair The iron titan uses an action or a triggered 
  action on its turn to heal 30 damage. Once the iron titan 
  uses this action, it must wait 1 hour before it can use it 
  again.
  An iron titan is a 25-foot-tall giant made from metal. Its 
  chest features a nozzle from which a tongue of flame 
  constantly burns, while its left arm ends in a massive 
  gun fed by a belt of ammunition stored in a shoulder 
  compartment. The titan possesses dim intelligence from 
  the soul bound to its metallic body.
  MOB OF ANIMATED CORPSES 
  Difficulty 25
  Size 3 frightening undead
  Perception 5 (–5); shadowsight
  Defense 8; Health 40
  Strength 10 (+0), Agility 8 (–2), Intellect —, Will 15 (+5)
  Speed 6
  Immune damage from cold, disease, or poison; gaining 
  Insanity; asleep, blinded, charmed, dazed, deafened, 
  diseased, fatigued, frightened, poisoned, stunned
  Mob A mob takes half damage from attacks that target 
  individual creatures and double damage from attacks 
  that affect an area. The mob acts as a single creature, 
  but it counts as ten creatures for the purpose of 
  choosing targets. A mob makes Strength, Intellect, and 
  Will challenge rolls with 1 boon.
   
  Creatures can move through a mob’s space, but they 
  treat the area as difficult terrain. The mob can squeeze 
  through openings large enough to permit the passage 
  of an individual member and can move through spaces 
  occupied by other creatures.
  Spawn When the mob becomes incapacitated, it dissipates 
  and 1d6 animated corpses appear in open spaces within 
  the space it formerly occupied. They can take the next 
  available turn.
  ATTACK OPTIONS 
  Fist (melee) +0 with 2 boons (1d6 + 1, plus 2d6 extra 
  damage if the mob is not injured)
  END OF THE ROUND 
  Overwhelm If the mob is not injured, each creature that 
  isn’t a swarm or a mob that is in the mob’s space or 
  within 1 yard of it must make an Agility challenge roll. On 
  a failure, the creature takes 2d6 damage.
  Great shuffling bands of animated corpses, these mobs 
  lurch toward the living to smash and tear with their rotting 
  claws.
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadow of the Demon Lord/Adventures/Campaigns/SotDL - Tales of the Demon Lord (campaign).pdf