TEXT: REQUIRES THE USE OF THE DUNGEONS & DRAGONS PLAYER’S HANDBOOK, PUBLISHED BY  
  WIZARDS OF THE COAST, INC. THIS PRODUCT UTILIZES UPDATED MATERIAL FROM THE V.3.5 REVISION
   A THIEVES’ WORLD 
  ADVENTURE FOR THE 
  D20 SYSTEM
  BY OWEN K.C. 
  STEPHENS
  
  - 1 -
  A D20 ADVENTURE FOR THE THIEVES’ WORLD CAMPAIGN SETTING
  COPYRIGHTS
  Thieves’ World and all related characters are © 2002-
  2005 Lynn Abbey.
  Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn is © 2005 Green Ronin 
  Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Reference to 
  other copyrighted material in no way constitutes a 
  challenge to the respective copyright holders of that 
  material. Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn is published 
  under license by Green Ronin Publishing, LLC.
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  ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of 
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  OPEN CONTENT
  The following text is Open Gaming Content: 
  All statistics and all of Appendix II, excluding 
  in ALL cases all proper names of characters and 
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  clear, the entirety of the Thieves’ World property is 
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  Design: Owen K.C. Stephens
  Additional Material: Robert J. Schwalb   •   Editing: Joanna Hurley   •   Proofreading: Scott Neese 
  Development: Robert J. Schwalb   •   Art Direction and Graphic Design: Hal Mangold
  Interior Art: Ilya Astrakhan, Toren “Macbin” Atkinson, Kent Burles, Talon Dunning,  
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  MURDER AT THE 
  VULGAR UNICORN
  
  - 2 -
  LICENSE
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  System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; 
  Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy 
  Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, based on original 
  material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
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  Jamie Chambers, Timothy Kidwell, based on original material by Larry Elmore, 
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  LLC; Authors Lynn Abbey, Gary Astleford, Patrick O’Duﬀy, and Robert J. 
  Schwalb.
  Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; 
  Author Owen K.C. Stephens.
  
  - 3 -
  INTRODUCTION
  Welcome to Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn, an adventure set in 
  the dynamic and dangerous city of Sanctuary, centerpiece of the 
  Thieves’ World anthologies. Within these pages, you’ll ﬁnd the 
  skeleton of a complex story of murder, mystery and mayhem. 
  This book is intended only for the Gamemaster (GM) of a 
  Thieves’ World campaign, so if you’re a player stop reading now 
  and pass this over to the GM. If your group hasn’t settled on 
  a GM yet, you’re elected. Tell the other players you’ll run this 
  adventure for them, and start reading through it. Don’t worry 
  too much if you’re not sure what you’re doing, the other players 
  aren’t either.
  The Thieves’ World books are anthologies, with diﬀerent authors 
  coming together under an editor to tell pieces of a larger 
  story—the story of the city of Sanctuary. With the Thieves’ World 
  Player’s Manual, a group of role-players can now become authors 
  of their own stories, with a GM serving as their editor. Murder 
  at the Vulgar Unicorn is supposed to serve as an introduction to 
  those stories, bringing PCs into the plots and passions of the 
  city, and introducing them to many of the important people and 
  places from the books. Once players have ﬁnished this adventure, 
  a GM should have no diﬃculty thinking of new adventures 
  for them. The PCs should have a reputation and friends and 
  enemies within the city, perfect for spinning new tales. Most 
  likely the players will have a few ideas on what they want to 
  do next, which will make it even easier for a GM to think of 
  situations to throw at them.
  The adventure tries to give guidelines on how to handle most 
  common actions and plans PCs may take, but in any adventure 
  this long, it’s impossible to predict everything the players may 
  decide to try. Advice for new GMs is scattered throughout the 
  text to give some guidance on how to get players back on track 
  if they’ve lost the plot. More experienced GMs should feel free 
  to ignore this advice in favor of their own game style.
  Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn is fairly straightforward, but 
  need not be linear. If the players decide to deal with some side 
  issue, get interested in a clue not detailed until later, guess the 
  direction of the adventure and skip a few steps, or even decide 
  they’d rather set up shop and start some business deals of their 
  own rather than deal with the murder mystery, you can let 
  them. As GM, you can introduce as many side-trips from the 
  main adventure as you want (and some are provided for you in 
  the Interlude section). Once the initial part of the adventure 
  is over, the players can even ignore the whole plot. However, 
  just because the players are ignoring it doesn’t mean it stops 
  happening. If the players decide the adventure is over before 
  you’re tired of it, a random encounter or two with characters 
  from the later encounters (who may need help, try to kill the 
  PCs, or just be infected by the plague) can easily draw the 
  players back in.
  WHAT YOU NEED
  To play this adventure as it’s intended, you’ll need the Thieves’ 
  World Player’s Manual. You’ll find information from the 
  Shadowspawn’s Guide to Sanctuary useful as well (and to a lesser 
  extent the Thieves’ World Gazetteer), but not mandatory. You 
  INTRODUCTION
  
  - 4 -
  INTRODUCTION
  also need a set of core d20 fantasy rulebooks, as mentioned 
  in the Thieves’ World Player’s Manual. It’s possible to adapt the 
  adventure to any fantasy d20 RPG (in which case it can be used 
  on its own), but a GM going that route has to do most of the 
  conversion work on his own. The plot line is basic enough it 
  could be moved to Green Ronin’s Freeport setting or any of a 
  dozen other rough-and-tumble fantasy cities.
  PREPARATION
  In order to run this adventure smoothly, the GM must be 
  familiar with the basic rules of the game, the overall plot of the 
  adventure, and the plans and motivations of the NPCs in each 
  encounter. It’s important for the GM to know what’s going on 
  and why. The best way to do this is to read through this entire 
  adventure before running it. To help you make sense of the 
  detailed encounter descriptions, we’ve included a summary of 
  both what’s going on in general, and how the PCs are supposed 
  to ﬁgure that out. Most likely the game you run isn’t going to 
  match either of these exactly. That’s great—part of the point of 
  knowing what we intended with the adventure is to be able to 
  make changes to match the attitudes and actions of the PCs in 
  your game.
  The adventure also presents a number of side-trips. These are 
  minor encounters that don’t have much to do with the overall 
  plot of the adventure, but can be used to keep the action level 
  high and give the PCs time to decide what they need to do next. 
  Part of the point of playing an adventure set in Sanctuary is to 
  do a little sightseeing, and the side-trips are a good way to do 
  that. While you don’t need to have all the side-trips prepared 
  and ready to run, it’s a good idea to have at least one prepared 
  for each game session. That way, if the PCs get oﬀ track, you can 
  entertain the players with a “random” side-trip for the evening. 
  Then, you can ﬁgure out how to get the PCs back on track during 
  the time before your next game session.
  ADVENTURE SUMMARY
  Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn is structured to allow PCs to get 
  through it in more than one way. A given group of players 
  may not hit every encounter contained in these pages . That’s 
  ﬁne, so long as they have some idea of what to do next and are 
  having fun. While an eﬀort has been made to cover the most 
  likely actions the PCs may take, it’s impossible to predict every 
  conceivable plan and contingency. It’s the GM’s job to adjudicate 
  what happens when the PCs veer oﬀ the beaten path, and having 
  a good understanding of what’s going on is an important part 
  of doing that.
  THE SITUATION  
  AS THINGS START
  Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn is designed to take place after the 
  events of Enemies of Fortune, but could be placed at any time 
  during the Irrune rulership of the city. Moving the adventure to 
  another era would take more work (possibly changing the Hand 
  to another cult, and deﬁnitely altering any reference to Irrune 
  characters, including Arizak, to whatever group is in charge of 
  Sanctuary at that time). For example, the events of this adventure 
  could easily be placed during the same time as the Wizardwall 
  War. For more information on the history of the Thieves’ World 
  setting, you should go over the timeline provided in the Thieves’ 
  World Gazetteer.
  There are two major factions involved in the plot that is the 
  focus of Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn. The ﬁrst group is a 
  faction of Rankans working for Torril Fel. Torril is a noble in 
  the Rankan Empire who (like many of his ilk) would like to see 
  himself made Emperor of Ranke. He believes his best chance 
  of becoming emperor is to accomplish a major political gain so 
  his popularity will rise. Toward that end, he has approved of a 
  plan to bring Sanctuary under Rankan rule once more. Torril 
  doesn’t appear in person in this adventure, but it’s his plans and 
  agents that set the events of the book in motion. (Torril can also 
  serve as a source of ongoing adventures after the players have 
  ﬁnished this one, setting in motion any plot the GM wants to 
  pit the PCs against.)
  The second faction is a Dyareelan ircastra (a secret cell of 
  worshippers), led by ircastra’n Sorbeth (a priest who rules over 
  the ircastra). Sorbeth has heard rumors that the Mother Temple 
  of the Dyareelan has been taken over by a band of priestesses 
  who are very unhappy with the cult’s loss of Sanctuary. Sorbeth 
  hopes if he can return the cult to control of the city, he will 
  survive the wrath of the new ruling priestesses, and may even be 
  able to maintain his position. His concern over his own power 
  base has made him reckless, and pushed him to take steps few 
  of the other surviving Dyareelan cultists in Sanctuary would 
  be willing to risk.
  Because the Dyareelan originally came to power in the aftermath 
  of a terrible plague, Sorbeth has convinced himself they can 
  return to power if another plague strikes the city. For best eﬀect, 
  the cultists must be able to prove they have the power to cure 
  the plague. This should prove that the gods are angry with the 
  Irrune for forbidding worship within the city walls, and place 
  the Dyareelans ﬁrmly back in power. Through agents far to the 
  north, the Dyareelan have hired Nisibisi witches to create an 
  arcane plague. The plague is transmitted through ﬂeabites, and 
  resists all mundane eﬀorts to cure it. It can be neutralized with a 
  tonic made from a bizarre mixture of ingredients, which Sorbeth 
  intends to keep secret.
  The Dyareelan plan is to bring numerous pigs (infested with 
  ﬂeas carrying the plague) into the city for sale just as summer 
  starts. The plague will spread as the ﬂeas spread, resulting in a 
  
  - 5 -
  INTRODUCTION
  sudden and incurable pandemic. The faithful of the cult will 
  be immune, and as the plague brings panic, they will oﬀer the 
  cure to others in return for loyalty to the cult. If the plan goes 
  well, by the end of summer, the cult of Mother Chaos will once 
  more rule Sanctuary.
  Of course, there aren’t many Nisibisi witches left, but those 
  remaining certainly have an interest in Sanctuary as many believe 
  fragments of the power globes still remain in the city. But, their 
  service doesn’t come cheap, so Sorbeth needed to procure funds 
  for the witches’ research. He gained it from wealthy Rankan 
  patrons who claimed to be faithful Dyareelans who see the 
  Sanctuary extremists as more true than orthodox cultists found 
  elsewhere. In reality, the Rankans were agents of Torril, who 
  has kept his involvement secret from Sorbeth or any of the 
  Dyareelan faction.
  Torril’s plan is to wait until the plague starts, then give out the 
  cure freely. At the same time, his agents in Sanctuary will cast 
  blame on the Ilsigi and Irrune for the whole thing. Torril’s main 
  contact with the Dyareelans, Erilissi Feyr, is a double agent of 
  Ilsigi descent. He is dying of consumption, and has been paid 
  enough to go to Sanctuary and intentionally die of plague when 
  the outbreak hits (the money will save his family from crushing 
  poverty). He carries papers on him that describe the whole 
  scheme, but place the blame ﬁrmly on the Ilsigi and Verrezza’s 
  faction of Irrune. (According to his documents, Verrezza’s Irrune 
  go along with an Ilsigi plan because the Ilsigi have promised 
  the Irrune aid in raiding the Rankans, allowing them to go back 
  to a raiding lifestyle and get the hell out of Sanctuary). The 
  Dyareelan are barely mentioned in this version of events, which 
  is ﬁne with Torril—the cultists can be mopped up later, once a 
  grateful population turns to the Rankan nobility for protection 
  and rulership.
  These two complex and interconnected plots have not gone 
  wholly unnoticed by others. A few S’danzo outside Sanctuary 
  are aware something is up, even if they are not at all sure what, 
  but they can’t get into Sanctuary to operate safely. An actual 
  Ilsigi agent, Rossa Lintle, has grown suspicious. She’s identiﬁed 
  Erilissi as a Rankan agent, but can’t ﬁgure out what he’s up to 
  as he sits in the Vulgar Unicorn waiting (for the plague). Since 
  she can’t ﬁgure out what plan he’s hatching, she’s decided he 
  needs to die.
  And, as one might expect, not everything has gone smoothly for 
  the plot itself. Though it’s only late winter, the ﬁrst shipment of 
  infected pigs has already shown up from the far north. There are 
  too many to hide conveniently, but too few to create the kind of 
  crippling plague the Dyareelan cult needs to shake the rulership 
  of the city. For now, the pigs are being guarded by Dyareelans 
  just outside the city at an inn and tavern along the General’s 
  Road, but that situation won’t remain stable for long. A second 
  shipment was due to arrive a few days ago, but was lost in a 
  storm and dashed to bits on the oﬀshore shoals, perhaps due 
  to the sickness spread by the plague itself. A larger shipment is 
  due soon, and the cult is likely to distribute the infected pigs as 
  soon as that shipload arrives.
  
  - 6 -
  INTRODUCTION
  ACT I: MURDER AT  
  THE VULGAR UNICORN
  The PCs are all at the Vulgar Unicorn. Patronage is light tonight, 
  with cold rain discouraging many regulars from making an 
  appearance. In addition to the PCs, the spies Erilissi and Rossa 
  are present, along with a couple of unimportant scum and Pace, 
  a known hired killer new to Sanctuary.
  A gust of wind blows out the few lanterns lighting the tavern, 
  and a smoke bomb goes oﬀ, ﬁlling the room with dense, black 
  haze. The smoke doesn’t last long, and when it clears, Erilissi 
  lays dead with an oddly stylized knife sticking out of his back. 
  No one else is nearby. Erilissi has a scrap of paper clutched in 
  one hand. It states, “It is by the act of no blade or malice of man 
  that I die…” This is the beginning of his death note, which is 
  supposed to state he died of plague. His killer grabbed it after 
  killing him, but Erilissi kept the corner. Pace is missing.
  Before the PCs can do much of anything, the city guard bursts 
  in (a lot of them). They demand the PCs come with them and 
  answer for the murder. The PCs are taken (after a scuﬄe, if need 
  be) to see Magistrate Elisar’s Sharda to stand for the accused 
  crime of murder. They may speak for themselves, if they wish. 
  None of the witnesses come forward, so the only evidence against 
  them is what the guards saw and heard from those who were 
  present (no hearsay rule in Sanctuary justice).
  Presumably, the PCs proclaim their innocence. A Sharda 
  truthspeaker conﬁrms that what the PCs claim regarding their 
  innocence is true (though that does not convince Elisar they may 
  not know more than they’re letting on). He’s not willing to condemn 
  them on such thin evidence, but he isn’t willing to let them loose 
  entirely, either. He charges them with the task of ﬁnding out who 
  the dead man was, who killed him, and why. They are not to leave the 
  near environs of Sanctuary without doing so. Elisar wants to know 
  what’s going on, and this is as good a way as any to ﬁnd out.
  Any even reasonably intelligent search reveals that the knife that 
  killed Erilissi is of the kind used by the Silent Brothers, a small gang 
  of thugs who have begun operating in the Maze. The Brothers have 
  very little to recommend them—they’re of average intelligence at 
  best, and there aren’t more than about six of them, but they managed 
  to get a batch of knives that all match, which gives them more style 
  than most of the gangs that have begun to develop. If the PCs don’t 
  manage to ﬁgure that out, the Brothers ambush them a few days 
  later. The Brothers would prefer the only suspects in the murder 
  be dead, so they can’t point the ﬁnger at the Brothers (who, as it 
  happens, are innocent of this particular crime). Either way, a ﬁght 
  is likely to occur and the PCs likely to win. When it’s clear they’re 
  losing, the Brothers surrender and oﬀer to sell the PCs info. The 
  Brothers have sold only knives of the kind used from their collection 
  to one man—an Irrune named Karizal, who is an associate of 
  Naimun (son of the Irrune Tyrant ruling Sanctuary).
  As an aside, this should raise immediate alarms for anyone 
  familiar with the Irrune, be that an Irrune PC or someone able 
  to make the appropriate Knowledge skill. Irrune don’t use money. 
  They for froggin’ sure don’t buy things. In addition, the Irrune 
  class faces a kind of succession crisis. Arizak’s health fails due to 
  his rotting foot, and his sons, the Dragon, Naimun, and Raithe 
  jockey for the position of the tribe’s new leader. 
  There are any number of ways the PCs could hunt down 
  “Karizal,” ranging from Gather Information to speaking to an 
  Irrune with authority. It becomes clear there is no Irrune by that 
  name, but someone who could pass for an Irrune is wandering 
  around with it. The person often claims to be close with Naimun, 
  but does not seem to have any actual connection to that worthy. 
  No one can say where he stays… but he moves in and out of the 
  Swamp of Night Secrets every few days.
  The other obvious lead is to track down Pace who was, after all, 
  missing just after the murder. (If the PCs happen to decide to ﬁnd 
  Rossa for some reason, that trail leads them to the same place). 
  Pace has captured Rossa as a for-hire job from an anonymous 
  patron. Once tracked down, Pace can be defeated (or bribed, 
  or threatened), causing him to confess he originally worked for 
  Erilissi, but someone else hired him to grab Rossa using the 
  same information drop. Pace doesn’t know who the new patron 
  is, but was ordered to keep Rossa in an abandoned temple until 
  he was contacted again. It’s been a couple of days now, and Pace 
  is beginning to fear he’s not going to get paid.
  While the PCs are talking to Pace, a horrid, orangutan-like 
  creature (a fenniath) with blood-red fur bursts into the warehouse. 
  It tries to kill both Pace and Rossa, ﬁghting to the death. If the 
  PCs can save Rossa, she becomes a font of useful information—as 
  
  - 7 -
  INTRODUCTION
  long as they’re willing to allow her to ﬂee Sanctuary. She admits to 
  being an agent for the Ilsigi, and she had determined that despite 
  his talk and appearance, Erilissi was a Rankan agent. She didn’t 
  know what he was up to, but saw him talking to Arion Swan on 
  several occasions, and receiving what looked like money purses 
  from Swan. She also saw Erilissi meet with a short, overweight 
  man in a cloak (Paithas Meed, though Rossa doesn’t know his 
  name) on more than one occasion, often passing him purses 
  gained from Swan. The small fat man had a hunched back, was left 
  handed, and obviously didn’t want to be spotted with Erilissi.
  The PCs now have a good deal of evidence Erilissi was killed for 
  being a spy (or at least being involved in intrigue of some kind), 
  and that his killer has some connection to the man claiming to 
  be the Irrune Karizal. Providing that evidence to the Sharda buys 
  the PCs a bit more leeway, enough to try to track down Karizal 
  in the Swamp of Night Secrets, in any case.
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  Having provided extensive evidence they truly aren’t involved 
  in Erilissi’s death, the PCs are granted permission by Judge 
  Nevermind to travel to areas within a few days of Sanctuary, if 
  doing so will help solve the details of the murder. (Even if the 
  PCs don’t go to the magistrate immediately, they may be able 
  to take care of some of these encounters. No one guards the 
  way into the Swamp—who would want to go there?—so the 
  PCs can make their way in without diﬃculty) They may face 
  the dangers of the swamp in random encounters, but their main 
  danger is “Karizal,” who in fact is a master of disguise called 
  “Master Whoever” and has a trained jungle cat. If the PCs ﬁnd 
  him, they can ambush him in the small ruin he calls home. If 
  not, he ambushes them with his cat.
  Either way, after the ﬁght the PCs end up with his possessions, 
  including a note written in Yenized promising him a sum of money 
  to kill the “Rankan Spy Erilissi.” It further lists a number of places 
  Erilissi frequents, including the Vulgar Unicorn. It promises a sum 
  of money will be paid by “the fat, lame merchant who contacted 
  you” (Paithas Meed, who also wrote the letter) upon completion 
  of this task. The PCs will most likely need a translator for the 
  note. On their way out of the swamp, the PCs come across a 
  wrecked ship ﬁlled with the bodies of dead pigs. After ﬁghting 
  oﬀ monstrous crabs, the PCs can get a little loot, and learn the 
  pig carcasses are uncommonly lean and mangy and were being 
  transported by a Rankan crew to a rendezvous point south of 
  Sanctuary itself (an odd thing to do with a cargo of pigs, to be 
  sure). The invoice found ﬂoating in the wreckage states Paithas 
  Meed was due to receive the shipment. Although the PCs don’t 
  know it yet, this is one of the lost shipments of infected pigs that 
  the cultists are trying to gather to start a new plague.
  By all accounts, the best translator in town is Heliz Yunz, 
  the Linguist of Lirt. (The magistrate isn’t going to accept the 
  translation of a lesser ﬁgure, so the PCs should end up here 
  regardless). For a small fee, he agrees to translate the document, 
  and after doing so informs the PCs that it is written in a rare 
  dialect not often used by anyone. Further, he tells them the author 
  is using diction that suggests he was male, a religious man, likely 
  an Ilsigi, and was left handed with a hunched back. (Yunz gathers 
  this with his special powers, but only reveals his “expert opinion” 
  to the PCs. In fact, Paithas Meed wrote the note when he decided 
  Erilissi needed to die. He also intended to kill the person he sent 
  the note to, which Yunz is aware of. He’s trying to give the PCs 
  some warning, without exposing himself.)
  There aren’t that many hunched, overweight merchants in 
  Sanctuary, so the PCs should get the scent for Paithas Meed 
  without too much diﬃculty. Asking after him quickly reveals 
  Paithas ﬂed Sanctuary a few nights after Erilissi was killed (he 
  should only be about a day ahead of the PCs), selling his shop 
  cheaply and having the money for it sent after him. Clearly, 
  Paithas was in a hurry.
  Paithas Meed ﬂed to the Brown Bear, an inn and tavern along 
  the General’s Road, about a day north of Sanctuary. Nearby, the 
  cultists keep the infected pigs that have already been delivered. To 
  keep the farm secure, and keep anyone from discovering what’s 
  actually going on with the livestock there, Paithas created a false 
  religious order called the Apostles of Nature. The twenty or so 
  members of this group claim to be religious pilgrims, but are, in 
  fact, Dyareelan cultists. They both guard the inn and do their best 
  to make the inn and surrounding environs inhospitable. They’ve set 
  ﬁres, ruined crops, killed a few citizens they found alone, claimed 
  to have seen signs of plague among local animals, and carved 
  strange (meaningless) runes in trees and buildings.
  Most locals on farmsteads avoid the inn now, but a few still come 
  due to the encouragement of Duncaen, the owner of the Brown 
  Bear inn. Paithas is trying to convince Duncaen to support the 
  idea that the local farms are threatened by plague, but so far the 
  innkeeper has resisted, and he calms the local farmers, telling 
  them there is nothing to fear and that there is no curse. Paithas is 
  prepared to kidnap Duncaen’s daughter to force the innkeeper’s 
  aid, but hasn’t had a chance to do so yet.
  When the PCs ﬁrst approach the inn, they encounter a group of 
  Apostles being accosted by one of Arion Swan’s fenniath. (The 
  ﬁendish simian is trying to deliver a message to Paithas, who 
  it smells on the Apostles, but it lacks the skills or patience to 
  explain this to them.) Assuming the PCs save them, the cultists 
  take them to the Brown Bear, where they meet Paithas. Of 
  course, he has no reason to recognize them, and is surrounded by 
  his armed guards, so the PCs may not threaten or question him 
  just yet. That night, the fenniath ﬁnds Paithas and delivers the 
  message from Arion—if Paithas can’t give Arion guarantees that 
  the plague is going to go ahead on schedule, Arion is pulling out 
  all funding for the ﬁnal phase. Arion’s letter insists Paithas meet 
  him at a secret barrow beneath one of the abandoned temples in 
  Sanctuary in three days to provide proof the pigs will be ready.
  If the PCs don’t interfere beforehand, Paithas has Duncaen’s 
  daughter Engela kidnapped and sends a demand that the 
  innkeeper begin promoting the Brothers’ version of the area’s 
  dangers. Duncaen agrees publicly, but privately asks the PCs 
  
  - 8 -
  INTRODUCTION
  for help (as outsiders who don’t seem under Paithas’ thumb). 
  Duncaen knows where Paithas stays (at the Pig Farm), and 
  can give the PCs directions there. (Alternatively the PCs may 
  track Paithas to his farm, or even kill him before he gets to it 
  and be led to it by his followers.) At the farm, the PCs must 
  deal with whatever cultists are present (likely including Yurlund, 
  the senior-most of the Apostles of Nature), rescue Engela, and 
  overcome a pig when it breaks out if its stall. The payoﬀ for all 
  this is a document linking Paithas and the plague plot to Arion 
  Swan, one of Paithas’ acquaintances in Sanctuary. It also outlines 
  the time of a meeting between Arion and Paithas, to take place 
  in a barrow under a temple back in Sanctuary.
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  The barrow is a complex of basements and tombs that once 
  served a now abandoned temple. A sect of the Dyareelan cult use 
  it for secret meetings now, and it is the meeting place Arion chose 
  for a rendezvous between himself and Paithas. If the PCs go to 
  investigate themselves, there are only a few cultists present along 
  with Arion. If the PCs go for help, there are enough additional 
  cultists to counteract most of the assistance they get. During 
  the ﬁghting, the PCs see Arion make a break for it through a 
  back tunnel. Either way, the PCs must chase and catch Arion, 
  overcoming his ﬁendish pets and any cultists nearby.
  Once it’s clear he can’t escape, Arion surrenders and oﬀers to 
  trade information for his life. He doesn’t know why Erilissi 
  was killed or who gave the order, but he’s aware of most other 
  details of the plot. He knows where a dozen or so Dyareelan 
  sleeper agents are, and where they have marks on their bodies 
  condemning them. He also knows when a ship with the last 
  infected pigs is due to arrive in Sanctuary proper.
  The ship is the Blackguard, a vessel of Ilsigi origin, though it is 
  now crewed by Rankan agents (including a nobleman sent to 
  establish contact with important people in Sanctuary once the 
  plague strikes) and Demara, a Nisibisi witch overseeing the last 
  shipment of infected pigs. The PCs can turn this information 
  over to the Irrune and do nothing more about it (missing out 
  on the climax of the adventure), or they can go to the Irrune 
  for help but stay part of the party that raids the ship, or they 
  can try to take care of it themselves. In any case, this is the ﬁnal 
  ﬁght, and if Demara can be taken alive, she reveals all the sordid 
  details of the plot Arion might have been missing.
  Arizak rewards the PCs by distributing gifts, taken from the 
  spoils found on the Blackguard, for a job well done. Furthermore, 
  the characters now have access to Arizak if they come across 
  future plots. The characters gain reputation and a free contact 
  to represent their increased inﬂuence in Sanctuary.
  They also face one ﬁnal threat, as a Rankan assassin tries to 
  kill them. He bears the same signet ring as Arion, clearly a 
  spy working for Torril. The PCs may have saved sanctuary, but 
  they’ve also made a powerful enemy who won’t forget what 
  they’ve cost him.
  
  - 9 -
  INTRODUCTION
  Before you can run the ﬁrst scene of this adventure, you need to 
  ﬁgure out what the various PCs are doing in Sanctuary, and why 
  they’re all at the Vulgar Unicorn. This background information 
  can be as basic or as involved as a player wishes. A PC doesn’t 
  need any more than “He got stuck in Sanctuary when his funds 
  ran low, and the Vulgar Unicorn is where he buys cheap drinks.” 
  If a player wants to outline a more detailed past that’s ﬁne too 
  (it can even give you suggestions for side-trips during this 
  adventure, or plots for future adventures).
  As the GM, it’s your job to discuss each PC with its player, and 
  come up with a reason for the character to be at the Vulgar Unicorn. 
  Your job is a bit easier if the PCs start all knowing and liking each 
  other—that way you only need to get one to the Vulgar Unicorn 
  and the rest can come along for company. A number of possible 
  reasons are listed below, to serve as a guide for you. Obviously not 
  all these ideas will work for a given PC, but at least one should be 
  good enough to get the adventure started.
  • The PC is new to Sanctuary, and simply decided to go 
  sightseeing in the Maze. Given the name of that section of 
  town, the PC got lost and ended up at the Vulgar Unicorn. 
  Overhearing someone (Kensel or Fensel) mention leaving the 
  Maze when done here, the PC opted to wait, hoping to follow 
  someone out and back to the “civilized” parts of the city.
  • The PC has been contacted by “Arion Swan” to discuss a job 
  protecting an associate. (In fact, Arion is looking to hire someone 
  to protect Erilissi. Unfortunately, he does so too late.) The PC 
  is supposed to meet Arion at the Vulgar Unicorn, but the rain 
  prevents Arion from arriving before the murder occurs. Obviously, 
  this means that the PC will recognize Swan’s name when it comes 
  up in the investigation, but that’s not a bad thing.
  • The PC was supposed to meet a companion for a quiet 
  assignation to begin at the Vulgar Unicorn. The companion 
  not only doesn’t make it in time, but later sends the PC word 
  that the matter of the murder makes the PC “too dangerous” 
  to spend time with right now.
  • The PC is a regular at the Vulgar Unicorn. He goes there 
  often, and they know his name (though no one there is really 
  a friend).
  • A fortune-teller read the PC’s fate in the cards, and said a great 
  destiny began at the tavern. (The fortuneteller isn’t actually an 
  oracle, just someone who knows people love to hear they have 
  a great destiny, and that things often happen at the Vulgar 
  Unicorn.)
  • The PC was paid to deliver a message to the Vulgar Unicorn 
  (an oﬀer to sell cheaper wine from a semi-legitimate wine 
  monger) and bring back a reply. Pegrin the Ugly hasn’t put 
  together a response yet. (Give the PC an extra pd as payment 
  for this job.)
  Of course, if the players know the name of this adventure, 
  they may resist going to the Vulgar Unicorn, just to avoid the 
  title event—a murder. While not a reasonable choice from the 
  point of view of their characters (who don’t know the name of 
  the adventure they’re starring in), it’s a common reaction. The 
  two simplest ways to deal with this are to forbid them to act 
  with out-of-character knowledge and use reason to convince 
  them to show up at the Vulgar Unicorn anyway, or to accept it 
  and move the ﬁrst scene to a diﬀerent tavern. You can have the 
  PCs gather at any place inside the Maze, give it any name you 
  like (the Randy Griﬀon, for example), change the name of the 
  bartender, and then have events proceed as described.
  It’s important to remember that a GM is often called a “referee” 
  as well. It’s the GM’s job to interpret the rules, keep the plot 
  moving forward, describe the actions of NPCs, and respond 
  to the actions of the players. For the most part, it’s unfair to 
  use this power to force the players to have PCs take actions 
  inconsistent with their desires and personalities. However, it’s 
  also important to let players know when an adventure requires 
  some reasonable concession from them in order to move forward 
  (or in this case, even begin). Don’t force players or ram a speciﬁc 
  course of action down their throats, but don’t waste too much 
  time with set-up either. The opening scene for this adventure 
  is the Vulgar Unicorn (or some other Maze tavern). Help the 
  players ﬁgure out why their characters are there, but don’t bend 
  over backwards to overcome minor complaints and objections. 
  Just set the characters down here if you need to—once the action 
  starts, the players will have an increasing number of options they 
  can pick from without interference.
  RUNNING AN ENCOUNTER
  If at all possible, read through an encounter before running it. 
  Even if you’ve read through the whole adventure already, it’s a 
  good idea to skim through an encounter just before the players 
  deal with it.
  Each encounter has a number of elements. Each includes a box 
  of shaded text, usually at the beginning. This is a description 
  to set the scene for the players. Read the text in the shaded 
  box aloud to the players when they ﬁrst get to an encounter, 
  or paraphrase the information contained in it. Some have 
  more shaded boxes of text describing major developments 
  that may occur as the encounter progresses. Read these to the 
  players when they encounter the appropriate development. It’s 
  important to make sure the players know these descriptions 
  are supposed to give them relevant information, not penalize 
  them in any way. The actions of PCs should never be dictated 
  in a descriptive narrative, and nothing important happens while 
  the players listen to it. Similarly players shouldn’t take actions 
  during the description— tell them to wait until you’re done 
  before they tell you what they do.
  GETTING STARTED
  
  - 10 -
  INTRODUCTION
  Encounters then give details about what’s present and what’s 
  going on for only the GM to read. This information isn’t for 
  the players automatically, though they may discover some or 
  all of it if they investigate or move around. It’s up to the GM 
  to determine exactly what happens during an encounter, but 
  as much information as possible is given in the body of the 
  encounter text to guide the GM. There’s nothing wrong with 
  making changes to how an encounter runs or what exactly is 
  found within it (in fact, personalizing adventures for the players 
  running through it can greatly augment their enjoyment), but 
  it’s a good idea to consider how any change is going to aﬀect 
  the outcome of the adventure as a whole (see the development 
  entry, described below).
  If there are foes the PCs are likely to ﬁght, they are listed after 
  the body of the encounter text. If the foes are creatures found 
  elsewhere, such as in the MM or the creature appendix at the end 
  of this book, or in a previous encounter, that location is listed. If 
  there are multiple foes who are the same except for hit points, (such 
  as six thugs), the hp are listed. If the foes are characters being met 
  for the ﬁrst time, they receive a stat block here. It’s often useful to 
  copy out the relevant combat information onto another sheet of 
  paper for easy reference, rather than having to ﬂip back and forth 
  in the adventure book while running a ﬁght.
  The tactics entry only appears if a ﬁght is likely in a given 
  encounter. This is a short suggestion for how NPCs act during a 
  battle, given as an aid for the GM. Especially for new GMs, this 
  section is a handy cheat-sheet that prevents the GM from having 
  to ﬁgure out what 4 or 5 NPCs try to do during a ﬁght. Even 
  more than other sections, a GM should feel free to deviate from 
  the information given here if a better idea comes along.
  A developments entry describes possible complications and 
  responses that may occur as a result of the encounter. Wherever 
  possible, common actions PCs are likely to try are given some 
  attention here, but it’s impossible to go over every possible action 
  or idea. These are guidelines for the GM, not hard and fast rules. 
  Especially in encounters that hold clues to the basic mystery at 
  the heart of Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn, these entries will also 
  include a reminder of what the PCs should know after ﬁnishing 
  the encounter.
  The treasure entry is present in encounters that have things of value 
  the PCs are likely to get hold of. Often this is nothing more than 
  money and items carried by foes the PCs ﬁght, though a few caches 
  of other items are scattered throughout the adventure as well. It’s 
  worth noting that taking things oﬀ the bodies of fallen foes is an 
  acceptable practice in and around Sanctuary. Indeed, the Irrune lose 
  respect for anyone unwilling to claim such “spoils of war.”
  
  - 11 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  In Act One of the adventure, the PCs ﬁrst get into trouble 
  when they are framed for the death of a patron at the Vulgar 
  Unicorn. After being hauled before the Sharda of Magistrate 
  Elisar (also known as Judge Nevermind) the PCs must follow 
  some simple clues to prove their innocence. This leads them to 
  back alleys and the Swamp of Night Secrets. They ﬁnd suﬃcient 
  evidence to get them oﬀ the hook, but they also ﬁnd signs of 
  something else going on. Act One ends once the PCs switch 
  from trying to prove they didn’t kill anyone to trying to ﬁgure 
  out what’s actually going on, likely during a second trip to Judge 
  Nevermind’s chambers.
  SCENE ONE:  
  DEATH OF A PATRON
  It’s another typical night at the Vulgar Unicorn, though 
  typical covers a wide range of conditions here in the Maze. 
  Unusually cold rain drizzles down outside, the remnants of 
  a storm that blew in oﬀ the sea this morning. The wooden 
  building is no better constructed than any other in the 
  Maze, and the creaks and groans it gives up every time 
  the wind blows aren’t encouraging. A slow drip proves the 
  roof is in no better shape than the walls, and keeps time 
  as it plops loudly into a pot set on one end of the tavern’s 
  counter. A few ﬂickering lamps shed poor light in the lower 
  level of the tavern, and a single lamp illuminates the only 
  table occupied on the balcony level above. There’s no ﬁre in 
  the ﬁreplace, and it’s not really cold enough for anyone to 
  complain about that. The tavern isn’t pleasant tonight, but 
  it’s more gloomy than uncomfortable.
  It’s not a bad storm, but it’s gone on all day and by now 
  most Sanctans have decided it’s not worth struggling against. 
  Likely, the only patrons here tonight are those with business 
  that can’t wait and those with homes even less comfortable 
  on a rainy night than the tavern. As a result, it’s a slow 
  night, with just six people in the common room other than 
  yourselves. Pegrin the Ugly sits behind the tavern’s chipped 
  wooden counter tiredly, serving what few drinks are ordered. 
  The lone barmaid here tonight, a fair young woman you’ve 
  heard Pegrin call Minx, has given up on bright conversation 
  and simply waits near the kitchen door for someone to signal a 
  desire for a drink or food. No minstrel or entertainer is trying 
  his luck here tonight, so the only sounds are the murmurs of 
  low conversations, the splashing of feet going through puddles 
  outside and the wind whistling through shutters that are only 
  a little more secure shut than they would be if open.
  Three of the tavern’s patrons sit together near the front 
  door, burly men sullenly nursing cheap drinks and quietly 
  talking among themselves. They wear the simple leathers 
  and long knives of hired thugs, and every few minutes one 
  of them shoots an irritated glance at the door. If they have 
  business here tonight, it’s with someone who hasn’t arrived 
  yet. Not far from the table of ruﬃans is the fourth patron, an 
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE 
  VULGAR UNICORN
  
  - 12 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  older man in worn clothes and heavy cloak that are clearly 
  Ilsigi in design, but have seen better days. The man keeps his 
  head down and hasn’t spoken since any of you have entered. 
  In fact, he’s barely moved at all, with only the occasional sigh 
  or adjustment of his cloak as proof he’s alive at all.
  Furthest from any other occupied table sits a woman in a 
  heavy, hooded robe, the hood pulled up to conceal her face. The 
  shape hinted at under the cloth and the delicate features that 
  can be glimpsed from time to time suggest she’s an attractive 
  woman, but she’s making no eﬀort to take advantage of 
  that. She’s obviously alert, glancing at any sudden noise or 
  voice, but seems more cautious than nervous. She’s actually 
  eating a meal, the only one of the six patrons to do so, and has 
  ordered the best fare the Vulgar Unicorn has to oﬀer (which 
  isn’t saying all that much). Above her, the lone patron to sit 
  on the balcony level sits casually, seeming to enjoy the dreary 
  night. He is a trim and ﬁt younger man, obviously full of 
  the conﬁdence often found in braggarts and bullies. He has 
  a longsword dangling from one hip, and wears well-used 
  leather armor and heavy boots. Like the woman, he seems 
  alert, especially when the wind comes howling through the 
  cracks in the walls and sets the tavern’s lanterns ﬂickering.
  The quiet feels a bit like an audience waiting for a play 
  to begin, as if the main act of the tavern’s night is about 
  to begin. There’s a little tension in the air, but that’s not 
  unusual in the Maze. It’s another typical night in the Vulgar 
  Unicorn, and that means anything can happen.
  This ﬁrst encounter sets the stage for the whole adventure, so 
  it’s a bit more restrictive and information-heavy than future 
  encounters. If the PCs don’t know each other yet, give the players 
  a chance to describe themselves and possibly interact. Don’t 
  wait too long before moving on to the crux of the evening (the 
  murder described below), but don’t cut players oﬀ if everyone is 
  having a good time. New players may be especially interested 
  in getting used to the idea of describing their characters actions 
  and getting to know one another. Also, information and opinions 
  gathered here can impact how the players view the whole 
  adventure. If the players take a particular liking (or suspicion) 
  to a character they meet here, feel free to play with that as the 
  adventure moves on.
  The three men by the door are Kensel, Fensel and Brod—three 
  hired thugs who are supposed to meet a client here tonight. 
  Because of the rain, their client isn’t coming, something the 
  three are beginning to suspect. They’re not in a good mood, but 
  they also aren’t looking for trouble unless someone is going to 
  hire them for it. They avoid talking to anyone who approaches 
  them, but aren’t rude unless they have to be (it’s bad for business 
  to insult potential clients). If forced to talk to someone they 
  stick to innocent topics—how bad the weather is, how terrible 
  the condition of the city is, how watered down the wine is 
  here (all common opinions among common men everywhere, 
  rather than speciﬁc observations about this city or this tavern). 
  Once the lights go out the three stay put and try not to get in 
  anyone’s way. When the guard shows up, they all put down 
  their weapons immediately. Unless the PCs drag them into it 
  later, these three have nothing more to do with this adventure. 
  They’re window-dressing.
  The man sitting near the three thugs is Erilissi Feyr, the guy who 
  is about to be murdered. He’s a Rankan agent of Ilsigi blood, 
  pretending to be a bad Ilsigi agent. Erilissi plans to die soon 
  (just not tonight), and as a result he’s depressed and not feeling 
  friendly. On the other hand, part of his job is to be spotted 
  prior to his death, so if PCs approach him he’ll force himself 
  to talk to them. He sticks to the facts of his cover story—he’s 
  an Ilsigi merchant down on his luck in Sanctuary, and he feels 
  the whole city would be better oﬀ if the Ilsigi were invited to 
  rule it instead of the Irrune. In particular, he mentions that by 
  throwing all temples out of the city, the Irrune are likely angering 
  the Ilsigi gods, and Erilissi warns a day of divine retribution may 
  soon be at hand. Erilissi wants to be remembered as an Ilsigi so 
  when the plague is traced back to him, the Ilsigi get blamed for 
  it. He doesn’t vary much from these themes – he’s setting up 
  a complex plot and knows better than to make up new details 
  he’ll have to remember later. He has a confession letter on him 
  right now (he keeps it with him in case the plague breaks out 
  suddenly), but does everything in his power to prevent it from 
  being seen or taken by others. In a few minutes, he’s going to 
  get killed and set the whole adventure in motion, as well as lose 
  most of his confession letter.
  The woman sitting closer to the counter is a Wrigglie named 
  Rossa Lintle, an actual Ilsigi agent sent by King Sepheris IV 
  (the current king of the Ilsigi). She’s twigged to the fact Erilissi 
  is one of Jamasharem’s (the much improved current emperor of 
  Ranke) agents and that he’s up to something, but isn’t sure what 
  yet. Her own investigations suggest he’s involved with a Rankan 
  noble (which is true), the Dyareelan cult (which is mostly 
  true), and a local merchant, Paithas Meed (true, but she doesn’t 
  realize Paithas is a Dyareelan). She’s been tailing Erilissi for a 
  few days, and is seriously considering killing him before he can 
  put whatever plot he’s working on into motion (but someone’s 
  about to beat her to it). Erilissi’s noticed her attention, and taken 
  steps to deal with her and ﬁgure out who she’s working for (read 
  Pace’s entry, below).
  If approached, Rossa plays the part of shy courtesan waiting for 
  her lover (it’s a role she’s good at) without ever saying anything 
  speciﬁc (even if she misses a Bluﬀ check, she hasn’t claimed 
  anything speciﬁc so she just seems generically “suspicious,” which 
  is ﬁne). If drawn into a conversation, she perks up at any mention 
  of Erilissi (she’s looking for information about him, after all), 
  but otherwise stays quiet. When the guard shows up, she also 
  surrenders, as she’s not guilty of anything tonight. Most likely 
  you won’t need a full statistics block for Rossa, but if you do it 
  can be found in Act One, Scene Five page 23.
  The man sitting alone on the balcony level is Pace, an assassin 
  and general criminal-for-hire. (He’s a much more dangerous 
  
  - 13 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  breed than the three thugs by the door.) Erilissi has hired Pace 
  to kidnap or kill Rossa. Pace doesn’t know why (as it happens, 
  Rossa’s queries regarding Erilissi have made Erilissi nervous), but 
  since he gets paid more for bringing her in alive, that’s what he’s 
  planning to do. He’s been “hiding in plain sight” by pretending 
  to be smitten with Rossa and convinced she’ll weaken to his 
  “obvious charms” eventually. So far Rossa hasn’t realized he’s 
  not just another overbold thug with delusions of being the gods’ 
  gift to all women. Pace has noticed Rossa is often at the Vulgar 
  Unicorn (since she’s following Erilissi, and he comes here to be 
  noticed by residents of the Maze, though Pace hasn’t worked any 
  of that out), and comes here every other night to watch her. Pace 
  is looking for a good opportunity to grab her in an alley, but Rossa 
  has managed either to stay near crowds or to lose him.
  Pace is a bit frustrated, and already working on a case. As a 
  result, he has no interest in talking to anyone. If a PC approaches 
  him, he tells them to get lost. If they persist, he tells them to get 
  froggin’ lost. As soon as the lights go out (see below) he makes 
  a break for it out a window on the second ﬂoor. By the time the 
  guards barge in, Pace is gone oﬀ to report to Paithas. When the 
  lights come back up, a DC 15 Spot check reveals Pace is gone.
  Once the players have had a chance to get a feel for the situation 
  in the Vulgar Unicorn, it’s time to start the plot moving forward. 
  First, an argument breaks out between Kensel and Fensel and 
  Brod. Kensel wants to go now, while Fensel and Brod think they 
  should stay another hour or so. The argument quickly gets loud 
  and rude, with all three standing and putting hands on their 
  swords. Since it looks like a ﬁght may break out, the players 
  shouldn’t be too suspicious when you have them tell you exactly 
  where their characters are. This is important, because you need 
  to know who is closest to Erilissi before he gets killed.
  Before the three thugs can come to blows, the front door of the 
  Vulgar Unicorn blows open as a particularly strong wind gusts 
  in. This snuﬀs the few lamps in the tavern, throwing it into total 
  darkness. A PC that makes a DC 18 Listen check can move in 
  the surprise round that occurs ﬁrst, while everyone else doesn’t 
  roll initiative until the surprise round is over. 
  SURPRISE ROUND
  During the surprise round, Master Whoever (an assassin), who 
  just drank a potion of darkvision, dashes in through the front door 
  toward Erilissi and sets oﬀ a smoke bomb to conceal his actions 
  even if light returns. (Hopefully Master Whoever manages to 
  avoid interacting with any PC, so you won’t need his statistic 
  block. He can see in the dark, so he’s not at a disadvantage here, 
  and has disguised himself as a member of the city guard in case 
  he’s spotted. If you do need his statistics for some reason, they 
  can be found in Act Two, Scene Three on page 42.) At the same 
  time, Pace dashes over to a window.
  ROUND 1
  During the ﬁrst full round of combat, have the PCs and NPCs 
  act in initiative order. Master Whoever stabs and kills Erilissi. 
  
  - 14 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  (Feel free to roll some dice behind a screen, but ignore the result. 
  The plot needs Erilissi dead, so Master Whoever manages to kill 
  him). Pace jumps out a window. Rossa screams (it’s in keeping 
  with her disguise) and ducks under her table. Pegrin and Minx 
  duck behind the counter and don’t risk themselves at all. Most 
  likely, you won’t need full statistics for them. 
  Kensel, Fensel and Brod assume they’re under attack, and move 
  towards the nearest people they remember seeing before the 
  lights went out (hopefully including at least one PC). The three 
  thugs attack with ﬁsts rather than swords (it’s a bar ﬁght to the 
  best of their knowledge). If they manage to knock out a PC, 
  they riﬂe through that unfortunate’s pockets in the dark, taking 
  any one bag or small item.
  ROUND 2
  On the second round, Master Whoever riﬂes through Erilissi’s 
  possessions and takes the dead man’s letter of confession (well, 
  most of it— Erilissi manages to hold onto a corner of it, as 
  described in the next encounter) and leaves a bloody knife with a 
  boar’s head pommel stuck in the body. Pace is gone, and everyone 
  else continues doing what they did last round. 
  ROUND 3
  On the third round, Master Whoever picks one of the PCs to 
  act as a patsy, and tosses another bloody boar’s-head dagger at 
  the PC’s feet, then moves to the front door.
  A DC 10 Listen check allows the PC in question to know that 
  something just skittered across the ﬂoor to stop at his feet. Unless 
  there’s now light from somewhere (and there isn’t unless a PC 
  has managed to produce it), there’s no way for the PC to know 
  what it is unless he states he touches it or picks it up. In this 
  case, a DC 10 Search check reveals it’s a large, bloody knife. (Of 
  course, any touching of the knife gets blood all over the hands 
  of the PC too.)
  By the end of the third round, the city guard has the building 
  surrounded. That signals the end of this encounter and the 
  beginning of encounter two, though the PCs may not even 
  notice the transition.
  ENCOUNTERS
  These are the statistics for all the patrons in the Vulgar Unicorn 
  at the time of the murder.
  KENSEL, FENSEL, AND BROD
  Male Wrigglie criminal, warrior 1; CR 1/2; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d8+3; hp 9; Mdt 13; Init +1; Spd 
  30 ft.; AC 13, touch 11, ﬂat-footed 12; Base Atk +1; Grap 
  +2; Atk +2 melee (1d6+1/19–20, short sword) or +2 ranged 
  (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); Full Atk +2 melee (1d6+1/19–
  20, short sword) or +2 ranged (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); 
  SQ criminal trait, jaded; Rep +0; SV Fort +2, Ref +1, Will 
  +1; Str 12, Dex 13, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8.
  Background Skills: Bluﬀ, Gather Information.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +3, Gather Information +3, Listen +2, 
  Spot +2 (+4 notice thievery); Alertness B, Toughness.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Leather armor, short sword, light crossbow with 
  10 bolts, bullseye lantern, ﬂint and steel, oil ﬂask, traveler’s 
  outﬁt, 1 sh, 12 pd.
  ERILISSI
  The victim doesn’t need a statistics block—he’s dying 
  no matter what. Give him a +0 initiative check and a 
  +4 bonus to any skill that seems appropriate if he has to 
  interact before dying. His possessions are listed in treasure, 
  below.
  MINX
  Use the typical Sanctan beggar found in Appendix II.
  MASTER WHOEVER
  See Act I, Scene Three, page 42.
  PACE
  See Act I, Scene Five, page 22.
  ROSSA
  See Act I, Scene Five, page 23.
  PEGRIN THE UGLY
  Male Wrigglie criminal, thief 4; CR 4; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 4d6+4; hp 20; Mdt 13; Init +6; Spd 30ft.; AC 
  14, touch 13, ﬂat-footed 12; Base Atk +3; Grap +3; Atk +2 
  melee (1d8, morningstar) or +3  ranged (1d8/19–20, light 
  crossbow); Full Atk +2 melee (1d8, morningstar) or +3 
  ranged (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); SA sneak attack +2d6; 
  SQ criminal trait, evasion, jaded, trap sense +1, trapﬁnding, 
  uncanny dodge; Rep +1; SV Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +4; Str 
  10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 6.
  Background Skills: Gather Information, Sleight of Hand.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +5, Diplomacy +9 (+11 with scum), 
  Disable Device +6, Disguise –2 (+0 acting), Gather 
  Information +10, Hide +7, Intimidate +0, Knowledge (local) 
  +9 (+11 navigating the Maze), Listen +7, Move Silently 
  +7, Search +5, Sense Motive +7, Sleight of Hand +14, Spot 
  +6 (+8 notice thievery); Improved Initiative, Maze-Savvy*, 
  Streetwise B*.
  *New feat, see Thieves’ World Player’s Manual for details.
  
  - 15 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  Languages: Trade Tongue (S), Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (2).
  Possessions: Padded armor, morningstar, light crossbow, 10 
  bolts, potion of levitate, ring of protection +1, masterwork 
  thieves’ tools, vial of acid, 46 sh.
  Notes: Pegrin has suﬀered permanent injuries which have 
  reduced his Charisma by 4 points; he is also blind in one 
  eye and is permanently considered dazzled. Only magic can 
  restore his faculties.
  TACTICS
  Master Whoever has four goals—to kill Erilissi, to get a letter 
  oﬀ his body, to frame someone by getting the dagger near them, 
  and to blend in with the guard once they arrive. Most likely, he’ll 
  stick to the round-by-round actions listed above, but if you have 
  to deviate from those, keep his primary goals in mind.
  Pace just needs to escape. With luck he can just jump through a 
  window, but failing that he climbs into the rafters and kicks his 
  way through the leaky spot in the roof over the counter. It’s not 
  critical Pace escape—it’s just a clue for the PCs to go look for 
  him. He certainly doesn’t risk his life in order to escape. Similarly, 
  Rossa isn’t planning on doing anything, but takes whatever steps 
  seem called for to escape serious harm.
  Kensel, Fensel and Brod think this is all about them until the 
  guards show up in the next encounter. They bumble about the 
  tavern, blindly ﬁghting anyone they stumble into or can ﬁnd 
  with a Listen check. They don’t play any part in the rest of 
  the adventure unless the PCs drag them into it, so any change 
  you want to make to them is ﬁne. They’re mostly here to sow 
  confusion and give the PCs something to ﬁght while Master 
  Whoever oﬀs Erilissi.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  The worst possible outcome for this encounter is for Erilissi 
  to somehow survive. Therefore, he doesn’t, not even if the PCs 
  manage to surround him so Master Whoever can’t possibly kill 
  him. If things get that out of control, you’ll have to change 
  reality a bit. In that case, assume Erilissi was poisoned by 
  Master Whoever hours ago, and this entire attack was just an 
  eﬀort to get the letter Whoever knows Erilissi has on him. 
  If Whoever can’t even manage that, Erilissi manages to pour 
  wine over the letter before dying of the poison on Round 2, and 
  the ink runs so nothing is legible except the corner described 
  in Encounter 2, below. (Yes, this is very heavy handed. If the 
  whole adventure didn’t depend on a murder occurring, it’d be 
  a bad idea.)
  TREASURE
  The three thugs have a few items and coins a PC could take if 
  the thug is knocked out or killed. Erilissi has 20 sh, 42 pd, and 
  a masterwork dagger on him.
  SCENE TWO: WHERE’S A  
  GUARD WHEN YOU NEED ONE?
  Less than a minute has passed since the lights went out, 
  and the confusion hasn’t settled yet. Everyone’s attention is 
  suddenly drawn to the front door when several men with 
  torches appear in the doorway. They wear the patches of the 
  town guard, and already have their weapons drawn. The 
  thin, waxed paper windows on the bottom ﬂoor begin to 
  glow with ﬂickering light from the outside, suggesting the 
  guard have the other exits covered as well.
  The largest of the men in the doorway calls out with a 
  booming voice “Everyone stop where they are! I’m Captain 
  Macklin. This is a guard matter now!”
  On the fourth round after the lights go out, the guards show up. 
  There are a total of 14 town guards (two at each window, three 
  in the doorway, and another three just outside the front door). 
  They’ve been waiting outside for several minutes, led here by a 
  tip that a serious crime is going to happen at the tavern on this 
  night, around this time, right after the tavern goes dark. This 
  information was leaked to one of the senior guards, through a 
  contact, by Master Whoever. He had thought the smokebomb 
  would have to do for “going dark,” but took the opportunity when 
  the wind blew out the lanterns. Whoever has been concealed 
  right by the door for quite some time. He knows the guards 
  are nearby, and thus he has disguised himself as a guard (with 
  a cloak over that to allow him to move unnoticed through the 
  streets of the Maze). Master Whoever is, in fact, one of the 
  three guards standing at the front door. This is all part of his 
  plan—by involving the guard he can set up someone else to be 
  blamed for the murder, and make good his escape using his skill 
  for deception.
  Now that the guards’ torches are shedding light (both at the 
  front door and through the windows) the situation within the 
  tavern becomes obvious again. Erilissi is dead, with a knife 
  stuck in his back and a shred of paper still grasped in his hand. 
  A second knife sits where Master Whoever threw it, unless a 
  PC picked it up. A wet cloak lies between Erilissi’s body and 
  the front door (this is Master Whoever’s, but there’s nothing 
  distinctive about it).
  Because it’s dark and rainy, the guard hasn’t noticed Master 
  Whoever enter, or seen Pace leave. They also don’t notice 
  Whoever’s snuck in among their number. The thirteen other 
  guards don’t all work together normally, instead coming from 
  three diﬀerent patrols. Everyone simply assumes he’s from a 
  diﬀerent patrol, if they even get a close enough look to realize 
  they don’t recognize him. As far as the guards are concerned, 
  the murderer must be one of the people still in the tavern. If 
  one of the PCs has a bloody knife in his hand, it’s easy to justify 
  arresting that character. If the PCs don’t look particularly guilty, 
  
  - 16 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  Macklin, the captain of this squad of guards, simply arrests 
  everyone except Minx and Pegrin (who wouldn’t be stupid 
  enough to kill someone in their own tavern). If everyone comes 
  along quietly, the guards don’t make any trouble. If not, they take 
  everyone by force.
  Obviously, the entire set-up of Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn 
  assumes the PCs are captured by the town guard at the end of this 
  encounter. Unfortunately, this is also the plot point that players 
  are most likely to resist. Being captured often feels like “losing,” 
  and players hate to lose. Especially since the adventure is designed 
  to make the PCs look guilty, it’s not unreasonable for players to 
  seek to avoid capture. Since the game goes more smoothly if the 
  PCs don’t deviate from the planned script this early, you need to 
  carefully handle player eﬀorts to avoid capture.
  Before allowing the PCs to act, make it clear all the other NPCs 
  present immediately surrender. There are simply too many guards 
  for anyone to realistically hope to escape now, and ﬁghting the 
  guard is just likely to get someone hurt. By having everyone 
  else surrender, you can show the players that this situation is 
  beyond their ability to ﬁght through. Also, if other patrons seem 
  unsurprised and unafraid, it reinforces the idea that being captured 
  by the guard isn’t a death-sentence. You may even want to have 
  Macklin reinforce that idea. (“Easy now. If you’ve done nothing 
  wrong, you’ve got nothing to fear. The Sharda will know if you’re 
  guilty or not.”) The PCs should know who the Sharda are as their 
  presence in the city is becoming common knowledge. Reinforce 
  the fact that the Sharda are a new law enforcement agency known 
  for being incorruptible. They were created by Judge Nevermind 
  in response to the rampant corruption found in the watch and 
  the guard. 
  If possible, don’t have a guard start a ﬁght. The guards know 
  combat is lethal and dangerous, and talk as long as they can 
  without coming to blows. They won’t allow PCs to escape, but 
  they will talk for a good long time if there’s any chance they can 
  bring in the PCs without risking their lives. If things do come to 
  a ﬁght, the guards should try to deal nonlethal damage for one 
  or two blows before doing lethal damage. (A character that takes 
  nonlethal damage even once during a ﬁght is unlikely to be killed 
  accidentally by a later lethal blow, just knocked unconscious.)
  It’s also perfectly acceptable to simply tell players that their 
  characters are taken by the guards to see Judge Nevermind. If 
  they complain, blame it on the writing of the adventure (we don’t 
  mind), and assure them they won’t be penalized for allowing a 
  “narrative” moment to dictate the outcome of the encounter. 
  Obviously you should never tell players what their characters are 
  thinking or trying, but it’s within a GM’s purview to let them 
  know a sequence of events turns out in a predetermined way (as 
  long as that’s never used to penalize them or short-circuit clever 
  thinking or good luck on the player’s part). If you’re going to 
  use this option, use it before players actually start making rolls 
  to try to escape.
  Players may want to memorize details of who is here, who 
  has escaped, and where everything is. Since part of Murder 
  at the Vulgar Unicorn is a mystery, it’s perfectly reasonable to 
  allow a player to write down any details he thinks to ask about 
  now. Trying to come up with a detail later requires a DC 15 
  Intelligence check for each speciﬁc question. A DC 15 Spot 
  check allows a character to notice Pace is missing, even if the 
  players don’t think to ask.
  TYPICAL WATCHMAN (14)
  Male Wrigglie constable, warrior 1; CR 1/2; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d8; hp 4 each; Mdt 14; Init +0; 
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 13; Base Atk +1; Grap 
  +1; Atk +1  melee (1d6/19–20, short sword) or +2 ranged 
  (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); Full Atk +1 melee (1d6/19–20, 
  short sword) or +2 ranged (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); SQ 
  constable trait, jaded; Rep +0; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +1; Str 
  11, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Knowledge (local), Spot.
  Skills and Feats: Intimidate +9, Knowledge (local) +4, Listen 
  +4, Sense Motive +2 (+4 lies), Spot +6; Alertness B, Weapon 
  Focus (light crossbow).
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Studded leather armor, short sword, light 
  crossbow with 10 bolts, rawhide strap (for binding hands), 
  bullseye lantern, ﬂint and steel, oil ﬂask, traveler’s outﬁt, 6 
  sh, 12 pd.
  
  - 17 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  MACKLIN (TOWN GUARD CAPTAIN)
  Wrigglie constable, ﬁghter 4; CR 4; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 4d10+11; hp 35; Mdt 23; Init +6; Spd 30 ft.; 
  AC 16, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 14; Base Atk +4; Grap +6; Atk +7 
  melee (1d8+4/19–20, longsword) or +6 ranged (1d8/19–20, 
  light crossbow); Full Atk +7 melee (1d8+4/19–20, longsword) 
  or +6 ranged (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); SQ constable trait, 
  jaded; Rep +1; SV Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +3; Str 14, Dex 14, 
  Con 15, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
  Background Skills: Knowledge (local), Spot.
  Skills and Feats: Gather Information +1, Knowledge (local) 
  +7, Intimidate +3, Listen +3, Sense Motive +1 (+3 lies), Spot 
  +8; Alertness B, Improved Damage Threshold*, Improved 
  Initiative B, Toughness, Weapon Focus (longsword) B, 
  Weapon Specialization (longsword) B.
  *New feat, see Thieves’ World Player’s Manual for details.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Inﬂuence (1), information (1).
  Possessions: Chain shirt, longsword, light crossbow with 10 
  bolts, bullseye lantern, ﬂint and steel, oil ﬂask, traveler’s 
  outﬁt, 12 sh, 16 pd.
  TACTICS
  Although Macklin tries to arrest everyone without violence if he 
  can, he has no intention of allowing anyone to escape. Each pair 
  of guards has one with a sword drawn and one with a crossbow 
  loaded, ensuring they can defend themselves in close quarters 
  or shoot a ﬂeeing fugitive as the situation dictates. Macklin 
  moves the guards not watching the windows into the tavern, 
  to secure the stairs and balcony level. No guard goes anywhere 
  alone, and everyone is considered a threat until they’re disarmed 
  and have their hands bound. None of the NPCs present resist 
  this treatment.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If the PCs do manage to escape, you have to let them. Anyone 
  who can actually get out of the no-win situation the adventure 
  proposes needs to be rewarded, not punished. Don’t panic; the 
  adventure can still be put back on track. Escaping from the 
  Vulgar Unicorn is a far cry from escaping Sanctuary. Soon, 
  guards and the militia are searching the streets and watching all 
  exits, armed with descriptions of the PCs and looking to arrest 
  them. Word gets out that Judge Nevermind wants to question 
  the PCs, and use his truthspeakers to determine their guilt.
  Further, word’s out that he’s oﬀering a 300 sh reward to anyone 
  who turns in the PCs, and promises the safety of whoever does so. 
  One obvious way out for the PCs, therefore, is to turn themselves 
  in. This gets them some money (Elisar gives them the reward for 
  turning themselves in—fair’s fair), and lets them be in an even 
  stronger position to protest their innocence. Alternatively, you 
  can have the PCs run into bands of guards looking for them, or 
  even mercenaries or Irrune adventurers seeking to bring them in 
  for the fame and fortune. Either way, unless the PCs somehow 
  manage to ﬂee Sanctuary quickly and quietly (without running 
  into a guard or a criminal looking to turn bounty hunter), they 
  eventually end up in front of the Magistrate. From there, the 
  adventure proceeds as written.
  SCENE THREE:  
  FACING THE MUSIC
  Read or paraphrase this information as the PCs are taken under 
  arrest from the Maze to the hall of Justice.
  The drizzle isn’t heavy enough to restrict your vision, 
  but it is enough to ensure you’re soaked to the bone after 
  a twenty minute walk. Your escort takes you from the 
  twisted alleys and ramshackle walls of the Maze toward 
  the palace precinct. The streets are nearly empty, with just 
  a few beggars huddling for warmth under archways and 
  the occasional cloaked ﬁgure rushing to an appointment 
  that can’t wait until morning. As you pass into the palace 
  grounds, even those few individuals cease to be present, 
  replaced by a few sleepy-looking guards and the occasional 
  drunk Irrune sleeping against a wall under a fur cloak.
  You are taken along the inner wall of the palace 
  grounds, but not to the main building of the palace itself. 
  Instead, the guards guide you to a large, imposing structure 
  that shows signs of wear and age: the Hall of Justice. 
  Though the ﬁres in the Palace caused extensive damage to 
  this compound, the structure has since been restored to the 
  standards before the ﬁres. Four town guards stand watch 
  over the entrance, which sits at the top of a wide set of 
  stairs and is surrounded by large marble columns.
  One of the guards chuckles as you approach the stairs.
  “Welcome to the Hall of Justice. Lord Nevermind 
  is going to be in a particularly good mood this time of 
  night.”
  This is indeed the Hall of Justice, home of most of Sanctuary’s 
  legal records, a number of minor administrators, and Magistrate 
  Elisar (also known as Lord Nevermind) and his personal 
  security force, the Sharda. A DC 13 Knowledge (local) check 
  can provide a PC with all this information, as well as the fact 
  that the magistrate is known to be a strong-arming bully, but 
  not an idiot or a cruel man. He also rarely sees cases himself, 
  instead depending on the judgment of his Sharda, investigators 
  that answer to him directly. It’s known that the Sharda include 
  truthspeakers, who know a lie as soon as they hear it. The PCs 
  may not get a fair deal from the Hall of Justice, but they won’t 
  end up hanging from a gallows without an opportunity to argue 
  their innocence either.
  
  - 18 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  The PCs are taken to a holding cell. Anyone else taken from 
  the Vulgar Unicorn is placed in diﬀerent cells, too far away to 
  be heard. The cell is a simple 20-ft.-by-20-ft. stone room with 
  four pallets of hay on the ﬂoor and an empty bucket that smells 
  like a latrine. The iron barred gate has a Good lock (DC 35 to 
  pick), hardness 20 and 60 hit points. A single guard patrols the 
  hall beyond the cell, but never gets within arms reach or enters 
  the cell without three other guards supporting him. It’s very, very 
  unlikely the PCs can get out of this, and even if they do they’re 
  in the middle of the hall of Justice. It would take no fewer than 
  ten Hide and Move Silently checks (opposed by the Listen and 
  Spot checks of typical guards) to get out of the palace grounds, 
  with any failed check bringing down at least a dozen guards.
  Give the PCs all the time they seem to need to talk among 
  themselves. They may want to ask more questions about exactly 
  what happened at the Vulgar Unicorn, which is ﬁne (see Scene 
  One for details about remembering details). Don’t rush the 
  players if they need to talk amongst themselves, but also don’t 
  wait so long that they get bored. The characters are stuck in this 
  cell for several hours, but there’s no reason the PCs can’t skip to 
  the next point of action if they’re ready.
  After four or ﬁve hours, two men approach the cell. Both are 
  dressed in the tunics of the Sharda, marking them as Lord 
  Nevermind’s personal investigators. These are Astar, a young 
  man with simple features and a nondescript appearance, and 
  Vernic, a tall, thin Wrigglie with narrow eyes and thinning hair. 
  Vernic is a Truthspeaker, and says nothing through the entire 
  interview. Astar explains he’s here to listen to the PCs side of 
  events. Rossa and the three thugs have already been questioned 
  and determined to not have had anything to do with the death of 
  Erilissi, though Astar admits Rossa knew the victim’s name.
  Astar asks the following questions at a minimum, plus anything 
  that seems reasonable based on the PCs responses.
  • What were the PCs doing at the Vulgar Unicorn on such 
  a rotten night? (Be sure you’ve discussed this with each PC 
  before putting them on the spot with this question.)
  • Did any of the PCs know Erilissi?
  • Did any of them speak to Erilissi?
  • Did they see anyone else speak to Erilissi?
  • During the total blackout, did any PC struggle with anyone? 
  If so, are they sure it wasn’t Erilissi?
  • Did anyone see who killed Erilissi?
  • Was anyone missing after the murder who had been there 
  before? (This is another opportunity for a PC to realize Pace 
  disappeared, if they haven’t already mentioned and asked about 
  the question.)
  • Was there any sign of bad blood between Erilissi and anyone 
  present at the bar?
  • If the PCs claim they didn’t kill Erilissi, can they provide any 
  better explanation to why he died?
  • (Only if a PC was found with the knife)—How did a bloody 
  knife end up in the PCs’ hands?
  To determine how well the PCs do during questioning, have 
  them all make Diplomacy checks. If they do a good job answering 
  the questions, give them a bonus of up to +5. If any of them are 
  deceptive, have them make Bluﬀ checks to see if Vernic picks 
  up on it. A deception noticed by Vernic is a –5 penalty to that 
  character’s Diplomacy check. A deception that passes Vernic’s 
  notice allows that PC to use the better of a Bluﬀ or Diplomacy 
  check on this roll. Take the best PC Diplomacy check, and add 
  +2 for each other Diplomacy check that managed to beat DC 
  10. Compare the total to the chart below.
  Regardless of how convincing the PCs have been, Elisar intends 
  to get answers from them one way or another. Life in Sanctuary 
  often isn’t fair, and this is one of those cases. When Astar and 
  Vernic return to give the PCs the mixed news, read or paraphrase 
  the information below. The more innocent the PCs seem to be, 
  the more gentle and polite Astar’s attitude is, but in no case is 
  not solving this murder a realistic option for the PCs.
  Astar reappears after a little more than an hour. You can 
  tell by the light ﬁltering into the hallway from a barred 
  window that it’s nearly dawn. Vernic is nowhere to be 
  seen, though three town guards accompany Astar. His voice 
  sounds tired, but ﬁrm.
  
  - 19 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  “The Magistrate feels there isn’t enough evidence to 
  convict you of tonight’s killing. However, he also doesn’t 
  feel you’re totally uninvolved in the act or whatever plot 
  precipitated it. It’s well within his authority to keep you 
  imprisoned until the matter is cleared up, but that does 
  little to actually ﬁnd the truth. Instead, Judge Nevermind 
  has decided to charge you with the task of unraveling this 
  mystery. Even if you’re in no way responsible for the deadly 
  deed, someone has now tried to frame you for it. One way 
  or another, you’re involved now.
  Therefore, you are ordered and authorized by the 
  magistrate to investigate the murder at the Vulgar Unicorn. 
  The militia and guard will both be made aware of this, 
  and as long as you don’t seek to leave the immediate area, 
  they won’t harass you in this matter. We will provide you 
  with what little information we have, and it’s up to you 
  to ﬁll in the gaps.
  What we need are three things. To know who actually 
  stuck the knife in Erilissi. To know who ordered the 
  assassination., And, to know why they decided this 
  particular man had to die. Once you can look a Sharda 
  truthspeaker in the eye and explain the truth of the act, the 
  order, and the reason for this killing, the Magistrate will 
  be satisﬁed. Until then, you’re ordered to remain within 
  Sanctuary’s walls as suspects in the death of Erilissi the 
  Tradesman. If you ﬁnd something that helps prove your 
  innocence bring it to me, and we’ll see if these restrictions 
  can be eased a bit.
  Should you succeed, the magistrate has even suggested 
  there may be a reward in your future. I suspect the faster 
  you come up with answers, and the more satisfying they 
  are, the more likely it is you’ll actually make a proﬁt from 
  this unfortunate turn of events.”
  The Sharda know very little at this time. They know Erilissi was 
  killed with a single stab wound to the back with a boar’s head 
  dagger, identical to the one tossed at one of the PC’s feet. They 
  know he was a poor merchant from Ilsig who never seemed 
  rich, but also never ran out of coin despite having been jobless 
  for several months now. Rumor associates Erilissi with at least 
  one other man in Sanctuary, but no one can agree who that was. 
  Additionally, a member of the town guard claims the boar head 
  dagger is very similar to those used by the Silent Brothers, a gang 
  of thugs operating out of the Maze.
  With that slim scrap of information, the PCs are let out of 
  the Hall of Justice and sent out into the early morning hours 
  of Sanctuary’s new day. As long as they seem to be making 
  an eﬀort to investigate, and stay out of too much trouble, the 
  militia, guard and Sharda leave them alone. If they slack oﬀ, 
  or try to leave the city, the guards of the city begin to suggest 
  their leniency is wearing thin after a few days. (If the PCs try to 
  leave the city, follow the suggestions listed in the developments 
  section of Scene Two).
  THE INVESTIGATION
  There’s no telling what order the PCs will investigate their leads in, 
  or even if they will investigate all of them. That’s ﬁne. This section 
  of the adventure is designed to be very open for the players (in 
  part to make up for how restrictive the ﬁrst few encounters were). 
  The PCs have a few leads, and may want to investigate others 
  that the players think up themselves. Although the scenes are 
  numbered, the PCs can hit them in any order that makes sense. 
  There’s no rush, but it’s important to keep the players from getting 
  frustrated if they don’t make progress quickly. If the investigation 
  stalls, have a day or two pass. Then you can have the PCs run into 
  a random encounter (see Interludes starting on page 25). Rather 
  than receive the normal reward of money or a potential contact, 
  instead have a successful outcome by the PCs result in one of 
  GETTING INFORMATION
  Total Diplomacy Check
  Result
  10 or less
  The Sharda suspect the PCs are guilty.Though the magistrate still orders their release, word gets out they’re 
  going to prison soon. The PCs suﬀer a –2 penalty to all Cha-based checks (except Intimidate) until they 
  clear they name to some degree.
  11–20
  The Sharda don’t think the PCs were directly involved in Erilissi’s murder, but aren’t convinced they don’t 
  know more about it than they’re admitting. This is the baseline assumption of the adventure, and it requires 
  little modiﬁcation of attitudes in future encounters.
  21–30
  The Sharda strongly suspect the PCs have nothing to do with Erilissi’s murder and are being honest, but 
  can’t fully convince Elisar of this. Astar oﬀers each 1 sh to help cover expenses of their investigation, and 
  suggests success will be met with further rewards.
  31+
  The Sharda are sure the PCs are wholly uninvolved, and so is Elisar. However, sending them out to investigate 
  is still a good way to ﬁnd out what’s going on  without expending any more of Lord Nevermind’s resources. 
  Astar actually apologizes to the PCs for putting them in this spot, but shrugs. The magistrate wants answers, 
  and for being in the wrong place at the wrong time the PCs are charged with getting them. Astar oﬀers 
  each PC 4 pd as payment for working for the magistrate, and promises a safe place to stay if they get into 
  trouble, and further rewards if they uncover anything.
  
  - 20 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  the people involved giving the PCs a clue. Word has gotten out 
  that the PCs are investigating the death of Erilissi, so it stands to 
  reason that the few people who know anything important might 
  tell the PCs if given a reason to be grateful (or if in need of a way 
  to placate the PCs).
  If the players think of a creative line of inquiry not covered here, 
  allow them to follow it and try to give them useful information as 
  they go. One of the reasons it’s important for you as GM to know 
  what’s actually going on in the adventure is so you can handle 
  unusual or unexpected actions the PCs take. As the investigation 
  progresses, try to take note of what kinds of things the players 
  seem to be enjoying. If they only appreciate the ﬁght sequences, 
  there’s nothing wrong with having contacts, saved NPCs, or even 
  the Sharda bring them new leads so the players don’t have to slog 
  through clues they ﬁnd boring. On the other hand, if the players 
  are having a good time sightseeing in sanctuary, talking to NPCs, 
  and speculating about what might be going on but don’t seem 
  to like ﬁghting, feel free to let them talk to anyone they think of 
  and minimize the combat aspects.
  Regardless of how the investigation pans out, there are a few 
  points the PCs need to discover and preferably have evidence 
  of that they can bring to the Sharda, though stating they know 
  these things to be true in front of Vernic will do in a pinch. Until 
  they have at least the ﬁrst of this minimum level of information, 
  the PCs can’t really progress onto Act Two. If the PCs decide to 
  move on with just the Karizal lead before you’re ready for them to 
  leave Sanctuary proper, simply have the Sharda decide one hint of 
  something relevant isn’t enough to allow the PCs out of the city 
  gates. The PCs will be forced to look for more evidence, allowing 
  you to keep them in the city until you’re ready for Act Two.
  • Karizal has been seen going back and forth to the Swamp of 
  Night Secrets.
  • Pace was hired by Erilissi to kill or kidnap Rossa, though 
  he doesn’t know why. After Erilissi was killed, Pace received 
  another payment through the same contact oﬀering to renew 
  Erilissi’s contract on Rossa.
  • Erilissi had only one known friend or associate, a dilettante 
  named Arion Swan.
  • Erilissi made a point of being seen and overheard in diﬀerent 
  places around Sanctuary.
  The two bits about Erilissi can be gotten out of Rossa if the PCs 
  rescue her, or picked up on the streets of Sanctuary if a player 
  opts to use an information contact or Gather Information check 
  to ﬁnd out more about the murder victim.
  SCENE FOUR:  
  THE SILENT BROTHERS 
  Read or paraphrase the following when and if the PCs actually 
  ﬁnd themselves confronting the Silent Brothers.
  There are six of them, desperate looking men with 
  desperate expressions. They have armor, but it’s worn and 
  stained. Their clothes and other equipment is similarly old 
  and in poor shape. Their hard eyes dart nervously back and 
  forth, as they try to track every possible foe and movement. 
  Only two things stand out about these men. First, each has 
  in hand a wicked, well-oiled dagger with a boar’s head 
  pommel, and second, the fact that they move with surprising 
  stealth, their every movement muﬄed and quiet.
  The Silent Brothers are, in fact, a gang of six thugs (Betra, Fen, 
  Honhon, Needer, Schwit and Urza. If anyone bothers to ask 
  for their names) who have recently begun operating out of 
  the Maze. In an eﬀort to make a name for themselves quickly, 
  they bought a set of nine matching boar’s head daggers several 
  months ago from a traveling merchant. They wear the daggers 
  openly, making it a trademark of their group in an eﬀort to seem 
  tougher and more stylish than they truly are. So far the tactic has 
  worked poorly at best—the only people who have really noticed 
  are members of the militia and town guard. The Silent Brothers 
  lack the numbers, skill or contacts to run a successful protection 
  racket or get enough work as hired thugs to live comfortably.
  As a result, they were forced last month to sell three of their 
  precious boar’s head daggers. In fact, they were pretty well 
  literally forced to sell them, by an Irrune named Karizal. When 
  the Silent Brothers were hassling a street vendor for food they 
  didn’t want to pay for, Karizal appeared and mused aloud that he 
  needed to report such cowardly actions to Naimun (son of the 
  Irrune tyrant ruling the city). Karizal had learned of the daggers’ 
  existence from a merchant who mentioned oﬀhand that the 
  style must be popular for he had sold nine the last time he was 
  in town. Karizal quickly moved to intercept the Silent Brothers 
  and snatch the knives for himself. As the Silent Brothers tried 
  to decide how to handle an Irrune who knew the tyrant’s son, 
  Karizal demanded they sell him three daggers, so they would 
  have enough money to buy food instead of trying to extort it. 
  Too cowardly to risk the wrath of the Irrune if they hurt a friend 
  of Naimun, the Silent Brothers agreed.
  It’s a decision they’ve regretted ever since. If anything, they’re 
  now taken less seriously in the Maze and have even had an Irrune 
  or two seek them out and beat on them. The Silent Brothers are 
  on the verge of looking like easy prey, a status that few gangs 
  ever recover from (or even survive).
  Since the Sharda mentioned the Silent Brother’s connection 
  to the boar head daggers, the PCs may well decide to hunt 
  them down. That’s not particularly diﬃcult. If the PCs do a 
  good job hunting down the Silent Brothers, they can ambush 
  them. If they don’t, the Silent Brothers get the drop on the PCs. 
  If the PCs don’t even go looking for the Silent Brothers, the 
  Brothers ambush the PCs two days later (after hearing about 
  the connection between their knives and the murder at the 
  Vulgar Unicorn).
  
  - 21 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  • A DC 15 Knowledge (local) check tells a PC who the 
  Silent Brothers are and that they hang out in the Maze. 
  If the PCs go to the Maze hunting for them, have 
  every PC make both Spot and Hide checks, and make 
  the same checks for all the Silent Brothers. Compare 
  the best Spot check on each side with the worst Hide 
  check on the opposing side. Whichever group’s best 
  Spot check beats the opponent’s worst Hide check by 
  the most notices the opposing force ﬁrst.
  • A DC 13 Gather Information check outlines where 
  the Silent Brothers can be found at the time the 
  check is made, and where they’re likely to go soon 
  (both locations in the Maze). With this information, 
  the PCs can set up an ambush without needing to 
  worry about Hide checks, since they know where 
  the silent Brothers are going.
  • A DC 10 Intimidate check made against any 
  reasonably well informed beggar or similar street-
  folk lets the PCs know where the Silent Brothers are 
  going to be soon. However, unless the Intimidated 
  NPC is paid oﬀ or somehow restrained, he gets 
  word to the Silent Brothers in retribution for 
  being threatened. As a result, it’s the PCs who are 
  ambushed at the stated locale.
  If the Silent Brothers manage to Spot the PCs ﬁrst or set up an 
  ambush for them, they keep it very simple. When the PCs pass 
  by an alley, the Silent Brothers rush out from it in an eﬀort to 
  kill the PCs. This begins with a surprise round, with the PCs all 
  needing to make Listen checks against the lowest Move Silently 
  check the Silent Brothers manage. Anyone who succeeds can 
  move on the surprise round, but those who fail are unable to act 
  until the ﬁrst full round.
  SILENT BROTHERS
  Wrigglie bandit, warrior 1; CR 1/2; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 1d8; hp 6; Mdt 13; Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; 
  AC 13, touch 11, ﬂat-footed 12; Base Atk +1; Grap +2; 
  Atk +3 melee (1d4+1/19–20, masterwork dagger) or +2 
  ranged (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); Full Atk +3 
  melee (1d4+1/19–20, masterwork dagger) or +3 ranged 
  (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); SQ bandit trait, jaded; 
  Rep +0; SV Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +1; Str 12, Dex 13, Con 
  11, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8.
  Background Skills: Hide, Move Silently.
  Skills and Feats: Hide +6, Intimidate –1 (+1 recognized), 
  Knowledge (local) +2, Listen +0, Move Silently +9, Spot 
  +0; Skill Focus (Move Silently) B, Stealthy.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Inﬂuence (1).
  Possessions: Leather armor, masterwork dagger, dagger, 
  traveler’s outﬁt, 6 pd.
  TACTICS
  If the Silent Brothers manage to set up an ambush for the PCs, 
  they depend on their whisper-silent movements to allow them 
  to charge and stab as many PCs as possible in the ﬁrst round of 
  combat. If they are themselves ambushed, they try to stay close 
  together to prevent themselves from being ﬂanked or cut oﬀ 
  from one another.
  In either case, in the Silent Brothers’ experience, a wounded 
  merchant is more likely to surrender than ﬁght, so each Brother 
  targets an uninjured foe if given a choice between that and an 
  enemy who is already bleeding. Although there are six of them, 
  the fact they are just warriors (rather than ﬁghters) and they 
  are armed with only two daggers each make them, at best, a 
  challenge for a well-prepared group of 4 PCs. If it’s clear they are 
  losing, the Brothers ﬂee, though if ordered to halt by someone 
  with a ranged attack they obey (with only 6 hp, it’s easy to believe 
  a single attack can bring you down).
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If captured, the Silent Brothers outline where they got their 
  daggers, and how they came to lose 3 of them. This last story is 
  important, because anyone with even passing familiarity with 
  the Irrune know they don’t pay for anything. Karizal may have 
  looked like an Irrune, but he must have been something else. 
  (An Irrune PC knows this without having to roll. Anyone else 
  can ﬁgure it out with a DC 10 Knowledge (local) or other 
  appropriate skill.) Obviously, this leads directly to looking for 
  Karizal (see Scene Six).
  
  - 22 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  The Silent Brothers have no other part in this adventure—unless 
  the PCs give them one. They could become a contact of some 
  kind, or even be browbeaten into working for the PCs.  In fact, 
  the Silent Brothers are very broke and getting hungry. If the PCs 
  manage to improve the Brother’s starting attitude from Unfriendly 
  to Friendly with a Diplomacy check, the Silent Brothers will work 
  (albeit not loyally) for the PCs for a modest fee.
  TREASURE
  Each Silent Brother still has one masterwork boar-head dagger. 
  Other than that, even their change is grubby and unpleasant, 
  though it’ll spend.
  SCENE FIVE: KEEPING PACE
  Another likely lead is the man called Pace, who was present when 
  Erilissi was killed, but gone by the time the guard burst into the 
  tavern forty seconds later. He’s not mentioned to the PCs by the 
  Sharda, but they may remember him on their own. Even if they 
  don’t, it would be possible to discover he was missing any number 
  of ways—go back to the Vulgar Unicorn and ask Minx about that 
  night (she remembers Pace being present beforehand and gone 
  afterward), ask the Sharda who was taken into custody and realize 
  Pace isn’t mentioned, or even a really good (DC 20 or so) Gather 
  Information check about the whole murder. Even if the PCs don’t 
  investigate Pace, if they decide to look up Rossa for some reason, 
  they may end up at this encounter.
  Pace was contacted the day after Erilissi was killed and oﬀered 
  more money if he kidnapped Rossa and brought her to an 
  abandoned warehouse in the southern section of the city. Not 
  wanting to waste the investigation he’d done in preparation for 
  grabbing her, Pace agreed and nabbed her the next night. He’s 
  been waiting in this warehouse ever since, going out daily to get 
  food for them both. He has Rossa gagged and tied to a stool, so 
  she’s not going anywhere just now.
  Finding Pace isn’t the interesting part of this scene, so any 
  reasonable eﬀort on the PCs part (including checking with an 
  information contact) should be successful. A DC 10 Gather 
  Information check (made by a PC or contact) tracks down 
  someone who saw them walking together a few nights ago. Pace 
  has since been seen going back and forth to an old warehouse, 
  and Rossa hasn’t been seen at all. Similar information can be 
  attained with a Diplomacy or Intimidate check of someone in 
  the know or even with a Listen check made over the course of 
  an evening at the Vulgar Unicorn (where the murder is a favorite 
  topic of conversation these days). However, only a DC 15 Gather 
  Information check made by a PC or friendly contact can gather 
  that Rossa didn’t seem all that pleased to be with Pace, and that 
  he’s been spending more money than usual the past few days.
  Once the PCs know where to ﬁnd Pace, it’s up to them to decide 
  how to handle talking to him. He’s given up going out until his 
  contact shows up; he fears missing a meeting. He has enough food 
  and water in the warehouse for several days. If the PCs manage 
  to position themselves so they can watch him, Pace seems bored 
  and slightly agitated, but not worried or frightened. He keeps 
  Rossa tied and gagged, and doesn’t talk to her.
  If the PCs decide to confront Pace, he’s unapologetic about 
  kidnapping Rossa—he’s a professional and she’s just a job. He doesn’t 
  reveal any details about who is paying him or what for, however. Nor 
  will he allow the PCs to take or talk to Rossa without a ﬁght.
  However, if the PCs decide to ﬁght, they are interrupted after just 
  one round by the arrival of a fenniath—a demonic simian used 
  as an agent by Arion Swan. Swan is nervous about proceeding 
  with the plague plot now that Erilissi is dead, and wants Pace 
  and Rossa eliminated as possible complications. The fenniath 
  is under orders to kill both of them, and won’t leave until it’s 
  succeeded. (If the PCs never get around to confronting Pace, 
  the fenniath shows up and rushes into the warehouse on its own. 
  The PCs can sit this encounter out entirely if they’re so inclined, 
  but they won’t get much out of it if they do.)
  Read or paraphrase the following text when the PCs see the 
  fenniath for the ﬁrst time.
  An inhuman scream pierces the air, and a powerful, 
  shaggy form swings down from the rooftop. It appears roughly 
  to be a pot-bellied monkey or misshapen ape, but clearly isn’t 
  natural in origin. The creature stands as tall as a man, but 
  has arms longer than it is tall. Its body is covered in blood-red 
  hair and its teeth are jet black. Its arms end in long clear talons 
  that look like glass. The creature moves with surprising speed 
  for its size, and rushes toward Pace with a ﬁerce growl.
  FENNIATH (1)
  30 hp; see Appendix II, page 73 for statistics.
  PACE
  Male Wrigglie criminal, thief 4; CR 4; Medium humanoid; 
  HD 4d6+4; hp 20; Mdt 13; Init +6; Spd 30 ft.; AC 14, touch 
  13, ﬂat-footed 12; Base Atk +3; Grap +3; Atk +3 melee 
  (1d6/19–20, shortsword) or +5 ranged (1d8/19–20, light 
  crossbow); Full Atk +3 melee (1d6/19–20, shortsword) or +5 
  ranged (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); SA sneak attack +2d6; 
  SQ criminal trait, evasion, jaded, trap sense +1, trapﬁnding, 
  uncanny dodge; Rep +1; SV Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +4; Str 10, 
  Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Gather Information, Sleight of Hand.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +5, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +0 (+2 
  acting), Gather Information +10, Hide +7, Intimidate +2, 
  Knowledge (local) +9, Listen +7, Move Silently +7, Search 
  +6, Sense Motive +7, Sleight of Hand +10, Spot +7 (+9 
  notice thievery), Survival +2 (+4 follow tracks); Improved 
  Initiative, Maze-Savvy* B, Streetwise*. 
  *New feat, see Thieves’ World Player’s Manual for details.
  
  - 23 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  Languages: Trade Tongue (S), Wriggle (S).
  Contacts: Information (1), Skill (1).
  Possessions: Padded armor, shortsword, light crossbow with 
  10 bolts, ring of protection +1, potion of convert light wounds, 
  masterwork thieves’ tools, 72 sh.
  ROSSA
  Female Wrigglie courtier, thief 3; CR 3; Medium humanoid; HD 
  3d6+3; hp 16; Mdt 12; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 12, touch 12, ﬂat-
  footed 10; Base Atk +2; Grap +2; Atk +2 melee (1d3 nonlethal, 
  unarmed strike); Full Atk +2 melee (1d3 nonlethal, unarmed 
  strike); SA sneak attack +2d6; SQ courtier trait, evasion, jaded, 
  trap sense +1, trapﬁnding; Rep +0; SV Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +2; 
  Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 14.
  Background Skills: Bluﬀ, Gather Information.
  Skills and Feats: Appraise +7, Bluﬀ +11, Diplomacy +10 (+12 
  among peers), Disguise +2 (+4 acting), Gather Information 
  +11, Hide +8, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (local) +8, Listen 
  +8, Move Silently +8, Sleight of Hand +8, Spot +8; Alertness, 
  Skill Focus (Bluﬀ), Streetwise *B.
  *New feat, see Thieves’ World Player’s Manual for details.
  Languages: Ilsigi (S/W), Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: None
  TACTICS
  It’s important to remember the fenniath is here to kill Pace ﬁrst 
  and foremost, and Rossa second. That doesn’t mean it ignores the 
  PCs if they attack it—the thing is smart enough to know it can’t 
  accomplish its mission when dead. But it doesn’t go out of its way to 
  hurt the PCs either. If a PC is not acting as a threat, is backing away 
  from the ﬁght, or has been knocked unconscious, the monster moves 
  on to another target. It’s been given speciﬁc instructions, so it won’t 
  leave as long as either Pace or Rossa is alive, ﬁghting to the death if 
  necessary. Once both its targets are dead, the fenniath ﬂees.
  Pace also ﬁghts to the death if he has to (and likely he will die; 
  he’s no match for the fenniath), but in his case it’s all about anger. 
  Pace knows it’s no coincidence this monster has showed up in the 
  warehouse Pace was sitting in waiting to get paid. Whoever hired 
  him clearly wants him dead, rather than alive and demanding his 
  money. Even if Pace survives this attack, he assumes his employer 
  will send more things after him, so he’s dead sooner or later.
  Rossa’s tied up, so her tactical options are limited. If freed, she 
  gets behind the biggest looking PC and stays there. If given a 
  weapon she’ll defend herself if forced to, but she’d much rather 
  let someone else do the ﬁghting. If it looks like the PCs and 
  
  - 24 -
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  Pace aren’t going to be able to hold back the fenniath, she ﬂees. 
  If the fenniath goes after her and no PC chases after it, it’s safe 
  to assume it kills her an alley or two away. The PCs can ﬁnd 
  her body with “Swan” scrawled in her own blood, as described 
  under Developments.
  The fenniath is a bit much for the PCs to face right now unless 
  they’ve already gained a level or two. This encounter is only 
  fair to them if the monster and Pace stick pretty close to the 
  script. Once the fenniath is weakened after taking out Pace and 
  distracted by trying to get to Rossa, the PCs have a decent chance 
  against it. This encounter is one of tiered success levels. If the 
  PCs beat the fenniath before it kills Pace, they gain the most. 
  If they defeat it after Pace is dead but before Rossa dies, they 
  get a standard amount of information. If they don’t manage to 
  kill it until after Rossa is dead, or they fail entirely, they get just 
  enough to help them piece together the clues later.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If the PCs beat the fenniath before Pace is killed, he becomes much 
  more helpful. He’s not suddenly the PCs’ best friend, but he does 
  believe in helping people who save his life. It’s only fair, and it 
  encourages them to do so again if the situation arises. Besides, he’s 
  now convinced his employer tried to get rid of him. That means 
  both that he has no ethical obligation to his employer (changing 
  sides without cause is bad for business), and he has no reason to 
  keep Rossa tied up. He’s happy to confess he was originally hired 
  to kidnap or kill Rossa by Erilissi, who contacted him through a 
  man named Arion Swan. He doesn’t know who hired him now 
  that Erilissi is dead, but they also got word to him through Swan. 
  (In fact, it was Swan himself who hired Pace the second time, 
  believing both Pace and Rossa to be loose ends that should be 
  wrapped up before the plague breaks out).
  If the PCs can save Rossa, she becomes a font of useful 
  information—as long as they’re willing to allow her to ﬂee 
  Sanctuary. She’s not going to willingly talk to a Sharda or anyone 
  else in authority—she is technically a spy, after all. However, she’s 
  decided Sanctuary is simply too dangerous for her now, and plans 
  on changing identities and getting out of town before anyone else 
  comes looking for her. She goes so far as to write out what she 
  knows if the PCs ask—they can always take that to the Hall of 
  Justice as evidence, if not proof, of what she claims. If the PCs 
  manage a Diplomacy or Intimidate check that swings her attitude 
  all the way to helpful, she’ll even go to the hall of Justice if they 
  insist, but she’s still planning on leaving as soon as possible.
  She admits to being an agent for the Kingdom of Ilsig, and she 
  had determined, despite his talk and appearance, that Erilissi was 
  a Rankan agent. He was too earnest about his pro-Ilsigi rants, so 
  Rossa began following him. She didn’t know what he was up to, but 
  saw him talking to Arion Swan on several occasions, and receiving 
  what looked like money purses from Swan. She also saw Erilissi 
  meet with a short, overweight man in a cloak (Paithas Meed, though 
  Rossa doesn’t know his name) on more than one occasion, often 
  passing him the purses gained from Swan. The small fat man had 
  a hunched back, was left handed, and obviously didn’t want to be 
  spotted with Erilissi. Rossa had decided Erilissi was up to no good, 
  and had decided to kill him, but she never got the chance. She heard 
  Pace talk about being contacted through Swan, which leads her to 
  believe Swan and Erilissi were more than casual acquaintances.
  If Rossa dies, the PCs get a lot less information. She scrawls the 
  word “Swan” on the ﬂoor, in her own blood, if necessary, but the 
  PCs are left with no context to identify the name (though it ties 
  in with clues they get in Act Two).
  If the fenniath doesn’t make it back to Arion Swan, he panics 
  and goes underground (hiding in the barrows, as mentioned in 
  Act Three). That means no eﬀort to ﬁnd him is going to succeed 
  right at the moment. If the PCs ask around, they ﬁnd people 
  who know his normal haunts, but no one has seen him recently, 
  Arion Swan is a matter for later in the adventure.
  ACT ONE WRAP-UP
  Although you may well want to throw in a few side trips (see 
  Interludes), these scenes make up the bulk of Act One of the 
  adventure. It’s a good idea not to let the PCs out of Sanctuary 
  until they’re at least 2nd level, since the adventure just gets 
  harder from here. If they haven’t earned enough experience to 
  gain 2nd level, throw in a few more side trips, either now or in 
  the Swamp of Night Secrets before they reach “Karizal.” In fact, 
  the investigation to ﬁgure out exactly who and what Karizal is 
  may be the best place to add a few extra random encounters to 
  boost the PCs’ level.
  
  ACT I: MURDER AT THE VULGAR UNICORN
  - 25 -
  INTERLUDES
  Sanctuary is a bustling, complex city and it’s beyond the scope 
  of this adventure to describe even a fraction of the possible 
  encounters the PCs could get into while searching for the 
  details of Erilissi’s death. However, in a free-ﬂowing adventure 
  like this one, it’s also impossible to predict what the PCs 
  might decide to do that isn’t covered in the normal course of 
  the adventure. Whenever the PCs decide to look into a lead 
  you hadn’t even realized you’d given them, or go haring oﬀ in 
  a direction no one would have guessed, it’s up to you as the 
  GM to handle the unexpected turn and eventually lead them 
  back on track. To help with this, as well as to provide some 
  additional material to ﬂesh out adventuring within the city, 
  a set of interludes is presented below. These are completely 
  optional side trips that the PCs can encounter or not as the 
  pacing and ﬂow of the adventure dictate. Use one or more 
  anytime you need time to think about the PCs new plans, or 
  when they head somewhere not covered in the adventure and 
  you need to present them with something worthwhile at their 
  end destination. You can even use side trips to give the PCs a 
  piece of information they’ve missed.
  These interludes need not be restricted to Act One. They can 
  be used anytime the PCs are in the city or a nearby inhabited 
  area. Most of these encounters are balanced for 1st or 2nd 
  level characters, so if you use them when the PCs have reached 
  3rd or 4th, you’ll need to boost the number of opponents 
  encountered, or be prepared for the PCs to have little diﬃculty 
  winning through by force of arms. (That last isn’t necessarily a 
  bad thing—players like to feel above average now and then, and 
  thugs discovering heroes are tougher than they look is a common 
  enough occurrence in the Thieves’ World stories.)
  SCENE A: BARROOM BRAWL
  As you look around the public room of a wood-hewn 
  tavern, four strong-smelling, rough-and-tumble characters 
  enter, obviously looking to make merry. Two sidle up to 
  the bar and pound upon it, demanding grog and hot food. 
  Another, loudly singing a bad, oﬀ-key sea chanty, scoops up 
  one of the bar maids and dances around the ﬂoor with her. 
  She smiles but shies away from his obvious bad breath and 
  seems relieved when he puts her down, swats her backside 
  and sends her oﬀ for a pitcher of drink. The others look 
  around the place and see you, but choose to settle in other 
  spots around the room. 
  These men are local Irrune, just starting a hard day of rowdiness 
  and looking to have a good time. At ﬁrst, they are not interested 
  in hurting anyone unless they are attacked ﬁrst. The biggest man, 
  Ruck, is the ego of the group. He and his buddies shout and laugh 
  loudly, generally behaving like bad house guests until someone 
  interferes. They spend the next hour or so engaging in loud and 
  gregarious boasting, drinking, eating and wench pinching. If the 
  party does nothing during this time, the Irrune become drunk 
  and rowdy and begin to start a ruckus. It starts with a spilled 
  drink, then a shove, and then becomes an all-out ﬁst-ﬁght.
  INTERLUDES
  
  - 26 -
  INTERLUDES
  If the party interrupts Ruck’s good time before a ﬁght breaks out, 
  he insults and cajoles the oﬀender, pours his drink deliberately 
  on the character’s head, and starts a ﬁght as soon as he can. If 
  the PCs have been asking about Karizal buying a boar’s head 
  dagger, Ruck recognizes them and challenges them to take back 
  the claim that any Irrune would buy anything.
  RUCK AND FRIENDS (4)
  hp 10 each; see Typical Irrune Warrior in Appendix I for 
  statistics.
  TACTICS
  Once a ﬁght starts, Ruck and his friends are unlikely to harm 
  any innocent bystanders. They only engage other combatants, 
  especially other men, although they engage women who are 
  obviously interested in a ﬁght. They bullrush and grapple just as 
  often as they use their ﬁsts, feet, or a handy wooden bench, but 
  they do not draw weapons on the PCs as they are just looking for 
  a good brawl. However, if someone does pull a weapon during the 
  ﬁght, they respond in kind, but only use those weapons against 
  combatants who are armed.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Win or lose, if the PCs engage in a fair ﬁght (i.e. use only ﬁsts, 
  chairs, unbroken bottles, other blunt objects, etc.), they gain Ruck’s 
  respect and friendship. When the ﬁght is over, no matter who wins, 
  he and his friends laugh loudly and invite the PCs to sit and drink 
  with them, challenge them to arm-wrestling matches, or whatever 
  the party is interested in doing to pass the rest of the evening. They 
  are potential contacts (of any type) should a PC wish to pick them 
  up when gaining a new contact. They are also a good source of 
  information about Irrune for tonight (as long as the drinks keep 
  ﬂowing), conﬁrming that Karizal can’t be an Irrune, and Naimun 
  doesn’t keep anyone by that name in his cabal of friends.
  If the PCs resort to weaponry during the ﬁght, whether win or 
  lose, Ruck and his friends (assuming they are still alive), do not 
  become friends or contacts. 
  SCENE B:  
  SOMEBODY ELSE’S PROBLEM
  As you turn down the dimly lit alley, you see ﬁve ﬁgures 
  several feet away, partially hidden by shadow. Two of them 
  are obviously town guards, fully armed. They are accepting a 
  large, full pouch from another ﬁgure dressed in dark, mottled 
  clothes with a cowl and a long, billowy cloak. Behind the 
  dark ﬁgure looms two other ﬁgures in similar, shadowy garb. 
  No weapons are openly visible on the three ﬁgures dressed 
  in black, and the darkness conceals their features.
  
  - 27 -
  INTERLUDES
  A creepy, quiet whisper slithers forth from the ﬁrst dark 
  ﬁgure, “I assume this will take care of our agreement.” 
  He hands over the leathery pouch, full of something that 
  lightly clinks.
  A guard takes the heavy pouch and replies, “Until next 
  month anyway, old man.”
  The dark ﬁgure is Gastov, a local opah dealer, and employee of 
  Lord Night, who operates his nefarious business in this area. 
  The two ﬁgures behind him are his henchmen. Unbeknownst to 
  either the PCs or the two town guards standing here, there are 
  two more of these henchmen up on the rooftops nearby.
  The guards, Gorin and Krench, are two of a squad of town 
  guards who are responsible for the law in this neighborhood. On 
  behalf of the entire squad, they receive regular payments from 
  Gastov to look the other way, and in some cases, protect Gastov’s 
  operatives. If the party makes no eﬀort to conceal their presence, 
  the NPCs will see them and attack immediately. If the party tries 
  to sneak up on them by using Move Silently or Hide, allow the 
  guards and dealers a Spot check to notice them. In either case, 
  the NPCs will attack as soon as they see the PCs.
  Should the PCs decide to Hide in order to watch and/or listen, 
  they witness no further conversation or interaction between the 
  dark ﬁgures and the guards. Unless the party interferes, the guards 
  take their money and depart together in one direction, looking 
  around to make sure they aren’t followed. The shadowy ﬁgures 
  scatter, and then fade into the darkness. Only the two henchmen 
  on the rooftops remain to watch the alleyway for a few minutes. If 
  the party enters the side street within ﬁve minutes after the NPCs 
  leave, the henchmen on the rooftops automatically see them and 
  attack in an eﬀort to secure Gastov’s escape.
  TYPICAL TOWN GUARD (2)
  hp 11 each; see Typical Town Guard in Appendix I for 
  statistics.
  HENCHMEN (2 ON THE GROUND, 2 ON THE ROOF)
  hp 9 each; see Typical Town Militia in Appendix I for 
  statistics.
  GASTOV
  Male Wrigglie con artist, thief 3, savant 1; CR 4; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 3d6 plus 1d6; hp 14; Mdt 12; Init 
  +1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 11, ﬂat-footed 12; Base Atk +2; 
  Grap +1; Atk +2 melee (1d4/19–20, +1 dagger); Full Atk +2 
  melee (1d4/19–20, +1 dagger); SA sneak attack +2d6; SQ 
  con artist trait, evasion, jaded, trap sense +1, trapﬁnding; 
  Rep +0; SV Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +7; Str 8, Dex 13, Con 
  10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16.
  Background Skills: Intimidate Diplomacy.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +9, Decipher Script +3, Diplomacy 
  +11, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Forgery +11, Gather 
  Information +6, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (local) +8, 
  Listen +7, Profession (drug dealer) +10, Sense Motive +5, 
  Sleight of Hand +9, Spot +8, Use Rope +1; Deceitful B, Iron 
  Will, Run, Skill Focus (Profession: drug dealer) B.
  Languages:  Caronnese (S), Rankene (S), Trade Tongue (S), 
  Wriggle (S).
  Contacts: Information (1), Inﬂuence (1).
  Possessions: Leather armor, +1 dagger.
  TACTICS
  The two guards are concerned about being identiﬁed later, so 
  they ﬁght hard to eliminate the party as a threat. If losing, they 
  try to escape with their lives, preferring to take their chances 
  with the law rather than die if they cannot overcome the PCs. 
  Gastov ﬁghts initially with his henchmen, but ﬂees if he gets 
  too close to death, or if the ﬁght seems to be going badly for 
  his side. The henchmen gladly ﬁght to the death to make good 
  Gastov’s escape.
  The rooftop henchmen do not attack unless Gastov escapes and 
  it looks like the party is going to follow him.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  The PCs make enemies of Gastov and the town guards if any 
  of them are left alive at the end of this encounter. There is no 
  chance of information, friendship or contact from any of the 
  NPCs. If the guards escape, the PCs can report them to the 
  Sharda, and earn a 20 sh reward. If Gastov survives, he tries to 
  make trouble for the PCs later. If he doesn’t, the PCs may come 
  NEW BACKGROUND: CON ARTIST
  Sanctuary is home to many frauds and fakirs, charlatans and 
  grifters. While not much diﬀerent from an ordinary thief, 
  you rely on your wit and charm to get others to give you their 
  money and equipment freely.
  Age Modiﬁer: +0.
  BONUS SKILLS
  Select two from the following: Bluﬀ, Diplomacy, Disguise, 
  Gather Information, Intimidate, or Sense Motive.
  CON ARTIST TRAIT
  Con artists are slick negotiators. When trying to sell 
  something, you may make a Bluﬀ check opposed by the 
  target’s Sense Motive check. If you succeed, you can resell 
  the item for 75% of its normal price instead of 50% or, if 
  new, 125% of its listed price.
  
  - 28 -
  INTERLUDES
  to the attention of other drug dealers and local criminals, possibly 
  being oﬀered jobs as enforcers, knee-breakers and assassins, or 
  possibly even gaining Lord Night’s enmity.
  TREASURE
  Armor and weapons on the guards and the 40 sh that is in the 
  pouch Gastov hands over.
  SCENE C: BEBE’S DISTRESS
  As you wander the seedier streets of Sanctuary, you see up 
  ahead, behind a half-demolished building, a pretty, young 
  woman, crying and cowering up against a cold, stone wall. 
  Although her clothes are of poor quality, they are attractive 
  and revealing. A thin, crooked man cruelly twists her arm, 
  spitting epithets and insults, demanding money from her, 
  “…unless you’d like another good beating!!” As the girl cries 
  out, the thin man crowds her and backhands her already 
  bruised face, ordering her again to hand over his money.
  Bebe is a local working girl who has never known any other 
  life. Rooster, the thin man, is her pimp; he has owned her for 
  as long as she has been working. This week, Bebe has not paid 
  Rooster enough money, but then, she never does. He demands 
  more than she is able to make most of the time, and as usual, 
  he is taking it out of her hide. This is just another beating as 
  far as she is concerned. It’s nothing new and there’s nothing to 
  be done for it.
  Rooster is an evil man who cares nothing for the girls he pimps, 
  only for the money they bring to him. He is eager to make an 
  example of Bebe for the other girls; it keeps them in line and on 
  task. He isn’t interested in excuses from her or anyone else.
  Clearly, if the party decides to intervene, Rooster isn’t happy 
  about it. But he’s not stupid, he sees that he is outnumbered 
  and retreats if it becomes obvious that he cannot talk his way 
  out of the situation.
  ROOSTER
  Male Wrigglie thug, thief 1, warrior 1; CR 1; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d6+1 plus 1d8+1; hp 10; Mdt 15; 
  Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 13; Base Atk 
  +1; Grap +2; Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork club) or +2  
  melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap) or +1 ranged (1d4+1/19–20, 
  throwing dagger); Full Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork 
  club) or +2 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap) or +1 ranged 
  (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); SA sneak attack +1d6, 
  thug trait; SQ jaded, trapﬁnding; Rep +0; SV Fort +3, Ref 
  +2, Will +0; Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (local).
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +4, Climb +4, Gather Information +2, 
  Hide +3, Intimidate +10, Jump +4, Knowledge (local) +6, 
  Listen +1, Move Silently +3, Spot +1; Power Attack, Skill 
  Focus (Intimidate) B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Studded leather, masterwork club, sap, 3 throwing 
  daggers, 1d10 pd.
  BEBE
  Female Wrigglie prostitute, commoner 1; CR 1/2; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d4; hp 2; Mdt 11; Init +0; Spd 
  30 ft.; AC 10, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 10; Base Atk +0; Grap 
  +0; Atk +0 melee (1d4/19–20, dagger); Full Atk +0  melee 
  (1d4/19–20, dagger); SQ jaded, prostitute trait; SV Fort +1, 
  Ref +0, Will +1; Str 11, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, 
  Cha 14.
  Background Skills: Diplomacy, Perform (courtesan).
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +2 (+4 attracted), Diplomacy +7 (+9 
  attracted), Handle Animal +1, Jump +1, Listen +3, Perform 
  (courtesan) +7, Ride +1, Spot +3, Swim +1; Alertness B, 
  Endurance.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Skill (1).
  Possessions: Dagger.
  TACTICS
  Rooster, at ﬁrst, is snippy and dismissive of the party and 
  does nothing they demand. Once it becomes clear he has no 
  ﬁghting chance, he tries to talk and threaten his way clear of 
  the encounter, and attempts to take Bebe with him. When that 
  does not appear to be an option, Rooster takes oﬀ without his 
  girl, but vows to return with some of his men and “take care” of 
  NEW BACKGROUND: THUG
  You are a tough, a minor hood, or a bravo. Other thieves 
  and  criminals use you for your muscle. not your smarts. 
  Thanks to your size and strength, others fear you, giving you 
  a wide berth.
  Age Modiﬁer: –1.
  BONUS SKILLS
  Select two from the following: Climb, Intimidate, Jump, or 
  Knowledge (local).
  THUG TRAIT
  You may use Intimidate to demoralize foes as a move action 
  instead of a standard action.
  
  - 29 -
  INTERLUDES
  the situation properly. If the PCs attack Rooster, he runs away, 
  but throws threats and promises behind him as he runs.
  Bebe stays clear of the violence until it is over.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Assuming the PCs intervene on Bebe’s behalf, Rooster becomes 
  a chronic annoyance to the party. He appears at the most 
  inconvenient times with an ever-growing number of his toadies 
  (typical thugs) in tow in an eﬀort to get his revenge, save his 
  reputation and to put the word out that nobody messes with 
  Rooster or his business!
  Bebe is extremely grateful for the party’s help, although she 
  doesn’t seem to think it will do any good. Rooster will just come 
  around tomorrow and harass her then. Despite her depression 
  and her apparently hopeless situation, Bebe can be of great 
  help to the party in the future. She can give them valuable 
  information, or get them out of a jam. She might even point them 
  in the direction of an honest merchant who will give them a fair 
  deal, perhaps even a discount. Unless the PCs do something to 
  improve her situation, however, Bebe remains on the streets.
  SCENE D: SHANGHAI SURPRISE
  While taking in the pungent sea air around the docks, 
  you notice a couple of scruﬀy-looking guys hanging around 
  outside one of the many grog houses that dot the coastal 
  streets of Sanctuary. They are dressed in dirty, poor-quality 
  clothes, smelling of brine. As you watch them, you realize 
  that they are, in fact, watching you. They look away 
  furtively as soon as you meet their gaze. 
  Jak and Enrok are Ilsigi brokers looking for 
  warm bodies to put on the galleys that make the 
  Inception Isle run. They, and their cohorts, collude 
  with local ships’ captains to capture and expropriate 
  unsuspecting citizens, selling them into virtual 
  slavery aboard ships headed out to sea. They watch 
  around the docks for those who seem naïve or 
  vulnerable (easy marks), or skilled individuals who 
  would be of use on a ship (including spellcasters 
  and experienced scrappers). Then, stalking the 
  victim, they wait for a good opportunity to 
  ambush him, knock him out and take him to one 
  of the waiting ships for a quick sale. If they mark 
  several victims, they simply use more men in the 
  acquisition of them.  
  Unfortunately, Jak and Enrok have targeted 
  members of the party for expropriation, and care 
  little how much ﬁght they put up, as they will 
  simply bring more muscle to the combat.  This 
  encounter can happen a few diﬀerent ways. If 
  the PCs decide to take a direct approach to the situation and 
  confront them, Jak and Enrok slink away as soon as the party 
  heads in their direction, moving into the shadows and using 
  their knowledge of the back streets to lose their followers. If the 
  characters do not follow, Jak and Enrok simply wait for a good 
  time to jump them in a back alley or dark street nearby. They 
  bring as many men with them as is needed to equal the number 
  in the party. Should there be only one or two party members in 
  this encounter, Jak and Enrok attack alone.
  JAK AND ENROK
  Male Wrigglie thug, thief 1, warrior 1; CR 1; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d6+1 plus 1d8+1; hp 10; Mdt 15; 
  Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 13; Base Atk 
  +1; Grap +2; Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork club) or +1  
  melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap) or +1 ranged (1d4+1/19–20, 
  throwing dagger); Full Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork 
  club) or +1 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap) or +1 ranged 
  (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); SA sneak attack +1d6, 
  thug trait; SQ jaded, trapﬁnding; Rep +0; SV Fort +3, Ref 
  +2, Will +0; Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (local).
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +4, Climb +4, Gather Information +2, 
  Hide +3, Intimidate +10, Jump +4, Knowledge (local) +6, 
  Listen +1, Move Silently +3, Spot +1; Power Attack, Skill 
  Focus (Intimidate) B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Studded leather, masterwork club, sap, 3 throwing 
  daggers, 1d10 pd.
  
  - 30 -
  INTERLUDES
  TACTICS
  The hijackers are here to capture some able-bodied people to sell 
  for a tidy sum. They do not get as much money if the victims are 
  bloody and close to death. All care is taken to see that they are 
  simply knocked unconscious and are otherwise left unharmed. In 
  fact, they use their saps, though they resort to clubs if they fear 
  for their lives. If they cannot take people alive, the two men ﬂee, 
  but if the PCs continue to hang out near the docks, the hijackers 
  may come back and try again later. If Jak and Enrok succeed in 
  taking any of the PCs captive, they drag the characters oﬀ, strip 
  them of all valuables and sell them to a galley.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Should the PCs be captured, they wake up on a ship already 
  one day out to sea.
  SCENE E: URCHIN THIEVES
  While you are walking along a sunny side street, a large 
  group of happy and laughing children come skipping and 
  gamboling down the way in your direction. They are clean, 
  bright and cheery, and you can smell the freshly washed scent 
  of their clothes as they pass you. One pretty little girl, with 
  a big, pink bow in her hair, looks up with large, innocent 
  eyes, waves at the party and smiles broadly, exposing a gap 
  where one upper tooth has recently fallen out. Apparently 
  unafraid of you, they continue to play their silly, little 
  children’s games, occasionally bumping into your legs and 
  arms, while their gleeful group ﬁlters through yours as your 
  paths cross on the sidewalk.
  The PCs have just been grifted by a band of eight street-urchins. 
  The children who just passed the party are typical young thieves 
  who work for a street fence named Rollo the Hand, and they 
  have just attempted to pickpocket the entire team (using Sleight 
  of Hand). Their swift little ﬁngers sought out pockets, pouches 
  and boot sheaths looking for anything of value or interest to lift 
  and take back to their boss. Use the Sleight of Hand rules to 
  see what the children successfully boosted and give the party a 
  chance to notice the theft.
  If the party notices what happened in time to react, a couple 
  of diﬀerent things can happen. If they decide not to chase 
  the children, nothing further takes place. If they do chase the 
  children, they, of course, attempt to outrun the party, or to lose 
  them in the crowd. 
  Rollo, if encountered, defends his children ﬁercely. He ﬁrst 
  attempts to sweet talk the party into leniency, explaining he takes 
  care of all these children and they have nowhere else to go. He 
  might even oﬀer to return the stolen items. He avoids violence 
  at all costs—he can’t risk either himself or the children in a ﬁght 
  against anyone swift enough to realize they’ve been grifted. Use 
  the typical Sanctan merchant for Rollo (he’s a manager, not a 
  pickpocket himself).
  
  - 31 -
  INTERLUDES
  URCHINS (8)
  Male or female Wrigglie beggar, expert 1; CR 1/2; Small 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d6–2; hp 1; Mdt 3; Init +0; Spd 30 
  ft.; AC 10, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 10; Base Atk +0; Grap –6; Atk 
  –2  melee (1d3–2/19–20, dagger); Full Atk –2 melee (1d3–2/19-
  20, dagger); SQ beggar trait, jaded; Rep +0; SV Fort –2, Ref +0, 
  Will +3; Str 7, Dex 10, Con 7, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Hide, Knowledge (local).
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +2, Diplomacy +0 (+2 against scum), 
  Gather Information +2, Hide +7, Knowledge (local) +3 (+5 
  navigating the Maze), Listen +1, Move Silently +2, Sleight 
  of Hand +2, Spot +2; Maze-Savvy B, Streetwise.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Rags, Small dagger.
  TACTICS
  Whether discovered or not, the children all run straight back 
  to Rollo. If any of the children are caught before they can make 
  it back to him, they kick, scream, cry, and beg to be let go. They 
  are all capable of laying down a sob story about being orphans 
  and not knowing any better and having no other way to make 
  money so they can eat every day. Of course, each child is healthy 
  and this is all a lie, but they try everything, including oﬀering 
  to return the stolen goods, in order to be let go.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Rollo is willing to oﬀer to help the PCs if they’ll release any 
  children they’ve captured. Similarly, if the PCs aren’t cruel to the 
  children, this section of town adopts them. In either case, when 
  dealing with this neighborhood, good fortune ﬁnds the party 
  as well. Inn rooms and decent prices in this neighborhood seem 
  more abundant for them. Fencing items they do not wish to keep 
  is simple. If, however, they are harsh in their treatment of the kid 
  cartel, the street urchins become a constant minor annoyance for 
  the PCs, who suddenly ﬁnd there are things missing from their 
  inn rooms, and items misplaced upon their persons after moving 
  through a crowd. Prices seem to jump up just for them in this 
  particular district. And forget trying to fence anything through 
  less than legitimate means. That bridge is burned.
  SCENE F: GANG WAR
  A single beat on a drum sounds in the quiet distance, 
  getting your attention. Another beat, followed by another, 
  then silence. Then the trio of beats returns, this time it is 
  closer and louder. As the lonely melody continues, a procession 
  appears from around a street corner. A dozen young men, 
  all wearing black headbands, march two by two in time 
  with the single beating drum. Beat, step, beat, step, beat, 
  step, step, step. Solemnly, they follow the curve of the road. 
  In the midst of them is a long, wooden box painted black, 
  hoisted on the shoulders of the six in the middle. Except for 
  the drum, the street is silent and respectful.
  As the procession passes, furtive ﬁgures begin to ﬁll the 
  spaces between the buildings and line the nearby rooftops. 
  They pull weapons and move closer to the marching line. 
  The funeral members clearly see their would-be attackers, 
  but they are not readying for a ﬁght; they are obviously 
  outnumbered.
  This is the funeral procession for a member of the Sikkintairs, 
  one of Sanctuary’s growing number of street gangs. This group 
  happens to be from The ‘Tween and they are carrying one of 
  their much-loved leaders to his burial. Unfortunately, they are 
  crossing the territory of the Dead Men, a gang from The Hill, on 
  their way to the cemetery and the local gang isn’t happy about it. 
  They were never asked for their permission to cross the turf lines 
  and they must now make an example of this rival gang from The 
  Maze in order to maintain a grip on the local area.
  Unless the PCs do something to prevent it, the Dead Men are 
  going to attack. (Both groups are unfriendly toward the PCs, 
  and hostile to each other. A nonviolent solution seems unlikely, 
  but isn’t impossible). The Sikkintairs do not initially react, but 
  when the attack begins, all bets are oﬀ. Weapons come out on 
  both sides and blood ﬂows. Whether the party decides to ﬁght 
  or not, it becomes clear neither side is particularly careful about 
  where the violence goes and collateral damage ensues. Innocents 
  may be injured, but local law enforcement will not arrive in time 
  to do anything about the ﬁght.
  Rather than run this entire ﬁght, it’s perfectly reasonable to 
  describe how events start and then only run a small fraction of 
  the ﬁght (where it intersects with the PCs), not dealing with 
  more than two or three members of each gang. Assume that 
  however this microcosm of the gang ﬁght turns out is how the 
  larger conﬂict is resolved. 
  SIKKINTAIRS AND DEAD MEN THUGS (20+)
  Male or female Wrigglie thug, thief 1, warrior 1; CR 1; 
  Medium humanoid (human); HD 1d6+1 plus 1d8+1; hp 
  10; Mdt 15; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, ﬂat-
  footed 13; Base Atk +1; Grap +2; Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, 
  masterwork club) or +2 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap) or +1 
  ranged (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); Full Atk +3 melee 
  (1d6+1, masterwork club) or +2 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, 
  sap) or +1 ranged (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); SA 
  sneak attack +1d6, thug trait; SQ jaded, trapﬁnding; Rep 
  +0; SV Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, 
  Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (local).
  
  - 32 -
  INTERLUDES
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +4, Climb +4, Gather Information +2, 
  Hide +3, Intimidate +10, Jump +4, Knowledge (local) +6, 
  Listen +1, Move Silently +3, Spot +1; Power Attack, Skill 
  Focus (Intimidate) B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Studded leather, masterwork club, sap, 3 throwing 
  daggers, 1d10 pd.
  TACTICS
  The Dead Men attack the Sikkintairs with abandon, doing as 
  much damage as they can, and trying to get to the coﬃn in 
  the middle of them so that they can deﬁle it. They also attack 
  anything or anyone who gets in their way of this task. They ﬁght 
  to  protect their territory. The Stonefaced mainly protect the 
  coﬃn, though they see anyone getting too close to it as a threat. 
  A few gang members may ﬁght to the death, but once the tide 
  has turned against one side, the other ﬂees. If the PCs choose a 
  side to ﬁght on, that side takes them as allies and ﬁght alongside 
  as if they had been a part of the gang all along.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If the PCs ﬁght with one side or the other, they become friends 
  with the side they fought for and enemies of the side they fought 
  against. If they simply fought for themselves, or stayed out of it, 
  neither side is a friend or an enemy.
  TREASURE
  Weapons and personal eﬀects of the dead gang members.
  SCENE G: CRYPTIC NOTE
  While looking over the wares in a mercantile and dry 
  goods store, you hear the bell ring as the door opens. A gentle 
  and feminine voice ﬁlters through the opening as a lovely 
  young woman of clean and neat appearance enters the 
  store and begins to speak to the customers nearest her. She 
  carries with her a large hand woven basket full of roses of 
  all colors, each tied with a ribbon and a small slip of paper. 
  Smiling to a stuttering young man, she hands him a paper 
  rose and takes a small coin in exchange. The beautiful maid 
  sees you, smiles, and gracefully moves your way, pulling a 
  single white rose from her basket and bringing it to her nose 
  to sample the perfume scent. 
  “Care to buy a rose for your love?” she asks, holding the 
  white rose out.
  This is Lisle, a local Sanctan girl with a ﬂair for the dramatic, 
  who deals in information. She’s also a message courier for 
  several of the shadier groups in Sanctuary. She has a reputation 
  for integrity and is therefore able to work for many diﬀerent 
  factions. She carries her messages without reading them and 
  does so under the guise of a street merchant selling diﬀerent 
  little things at diﬀerent times. This time perfumed paper roses 
  provide her front.
  She oﬀers the rose to whichever PC wishes to take it. If they do 
  not wish to pay for it, she gives it to them as a gift instead, saying 
  the color is so rare and should not go to waste. If the PCs simply 
  will not take the rose, she secrets the note by itself on one of the 
  party members before she leaves. Lisle does not stick around 
  once she has given the rose and/or the note to the party.
  The note says simply: “All is not as it seems. Beware the 
  ratcatcher.” It’s actually a note from Arion Swan. It is an eﬀort 
  to get the PCs to waste their time in an investigation of Hariv, a 
  not quite sane beggar who wanders the streets looking for stray 
  animals. Swan knows Hariv is obsessed with diseased animals 
  and his ravings of such might throw suspicion onto him and 
  keep the investigation from settling on the Dyareelans or Arion 
  himself.
  LISLE
  Female Wrigglie criminal, thief 3; CR 3; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 3d6; hp 10; Mdt 10; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 
  14, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 12; Base Atk +2; Grap +3; Atk +4 
  melee (1d4+1/×3, masterwork punching dagger); Full +4 
  melee (1d4+1/×3, masterwork punching dagger); SA sneak 
  attack +2d6; SQ criminal trait, evasion, jaded, trap sense +1, 
  trapﬁnding; Rep +0; SV Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4; Str 12, 
  Dex 15, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 14.
  Background Skills: Bluﬀ, Sleight of Hand.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +10, Diplomacy +4, Disguise 2 (+4 
  acting), Gather Information +10, Hide +8, Intimidate +4, 
  Knowledge (local) +7, Listen +8, Move Silently +8, Open 
  Lock +8, Search +7, Sleight of Hand +15, Spot +8 (+10 
  notice thievery), Survival +2 (+4 follow tracks); Dodge, Run, 
  Skill Focus (Sleight of Hand) B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S), Trade Tongue (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Leather armor, masterwork punching dagger, 
  thieves’ tools, 3d6 pd.
  TACTICS
  Lisle was paid to deliver the message to the PCs directly; she 
  does not know by whom or what the note says or means. She is 
  a non-combatant. Once she delivers the message, she leaves the 
  store and disappears. If Lisle is attacked, she runs if she can; if 
  not, she surrenders immediately and tries to bargain with her 
  attackers. She can get messages back to those who arrange to 
  give them to her, but it takes several days. If the PCs send a 
  message to Arion, he doesn’t respond.
  
  - 33 -
  INTERLUDES
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If the PCs decide to investigate Hariv, they may spend hours 
  of valuable time chasing him around to no avail. Hariv is 
  not involved in the murder or any of the other plot points 
  surrounding it. (See Scene J: Ratcatcher, on page 34).
  SCENE H: PLEASE, SIR!
  A somewhat unkempt little girl approaches you eagerly, 
  looking up with a pleading and somewhat desperate 
  countenance. Asking only for the smallest pittance, she 
  oﬀers up to you a worn basket full of fresh smelling baked 
  goods—muﬃns, breads, and little dessert pastries. 
  A little boy, perhaps a year older than she, runs up next 
  to her with his own basket. His contains matches, combs, 
  ﬂint and steel and other similar small items. He too asks 
  only for the smallest amount for his wares, and for his 
  services, “Carry your bags, Sir? Lead your horse? I can 
  show you to the best inn in Sanctuary! Or perhaps you’d 
  like to see the Maze?”
  Gabe and Jilly are brother and sister. They are members of the 
  very poor Thatcher family with many children ranging in age 
  from infant to young adult, each carving out a small living as 
  best they can. The children’s mother bakes Jilly’s goods very 
  early every morning before she settles down to the sewing and 
  washing she takes in from other, more aﬄuent families in town. 
  Their father works at one of the local chandleries and sweeps up 
  after hours in several of the nearby stores. The other siblings in 
  this family work whatever small jobs they can ﬁnd and always 
  bring the money home to their parents in an attempt to keep 
  everyone together, warm and fed. This season is particularly tight 
  because one of their older sisters is going to be married. It is a 
  joyous occasion, but they must raise enough money to pay for 
  her wedding garland.
  Jilly oﬀers her mother’s baked goods for a pd, and urges the PCs 
  to buy more for another meal later in the day, or perhaps for 
  an upcoming journey. Gabe goes around in the evenings and 
  gathers his goods from castoﬀs and oversupplied merchants. 
  During the day, he sells his small wares for cheap, and he also 
  oﬀers a myriad of services to the party, insisting that he is old 
  enough, big enough, and strong enough to accomplish any small 
  task, perhaps even big ones. If the PCs are willing to pay him, 
  Gabe is willing to do nearly anything: deliver messages, ﬁnd 
  people, direct them to various locations, anything for a few coins, 
  especially if he thinks it will bring more work in the future.
  In the few short years they have been selling on the streets, Jilly 
  and Gabe have become quite the little sales entrepreneurs. They 
  are quite persuasive and know an easy touch when they ﬁnd one. 
  They also recognize when they are likely to get nowhere with 
  someone, and have learned to move on if they get too much 
  resistance. Jilly is a sweetheart and uses her innocent looks to 
  her best advantage. She tells the PCs how kind and thoughtful 
  they are, and what good taste they have when they choose a 
  particular item. She urges them to take several, they’re small, 
  and to store up for later.
  Gabe is sharp as a tack and sees opportunity in everything. 
  He compliments the party when they make a choice from his 
  basket and thanks them heartily when they oﬀer him work of 
  any kind.
  The Thatcher children are not manipulative or crafty, simply 
  persuasive and aware of their strengths and weaknesses. If the 
  PCs actually buy everything the children oﬀer them, Jilly runs 
  home immediately to give the money to her mother and to 
  reload for more sales. Gabe hangs around the party as much as 
  they allow him to and ﬁnds ways to make himself useful and 
  needed.
  JILLY AND GABE
  hp 2 each; use Urchin statistics on page 31. 
  TACTICS
  If attacked, the children scream and run, looking for a guard 
  or militiaman.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Purchasing goods from Gabe and Jilly causes no further 
  consequences. However, if the party goes out of their way to 
  
  - 34 -
  INTERLUDES
  bring business to Gabe, Jilly or any other member of their family, 
  the Thatchers become very favorably disposed to the team. The 
  PCs may ﬁnd that decent goods and honest services come more 
  easily from this family. The Thatchers may be able to become 
  information or skill contacts should an individual desire it.
  SCENE I: PROTECTION MONEY
  Entering the tavern early in the afternoon, you notice 
  only four other people in the room. The innkeeper stands 
  somewhat shaken and scared behind his bar. Two men 
  dressed in black, well-tailored clothes lean over the bar, 
  threateningly. One grasps the innkeeper’s tunic in his ﬁst; 
  their faces are very close as the man whispers something 
  menacing in his ear. The second leers lustily at a young girl 
  who peers out at the scene from the kitchen door, terriﬁed 
  of what she hears.
  The two men see you and quickly turn to leave. The one 
  holding the innkeeper releases his grip, smooths out the man’s 
  tunic, and says “You just take care ‘a this quick, Goodman. 
  We’ll be back ta visit wit’ ya tomarra.”
  These thugs are Krauss and Slyp, agents of Gastov, a local 
  drug pusher, here to demand protection money of Goodman, 
  the innkeeper. Goodman is just a simple businessman, caught 
  up in a diﬃcult situation, trying to make an honest living for 
  himself and for his daughter. Each week Gastov’s goons visit 
  him and demand a large payment in exchange for what they call 
  protection. They claim that they keep his tavern free of violence 
  and vandalism. They don’t, of course, but it doesn’t stop them 
  from demanding this tribute. Gastov has recently expressed an 
  interest in Goodman’s daughter, Franzella, and has been upping 
  his weekly price in an eﬀort to force Goodman’s hand. If he 
  cannot pay the price Gastov asks, Franzella will be taken as 
  payment instead, as she would bring a nice price on the street.
  Goodman, an older man, is stuck in a bad situation gone worse. 
  He fears for his daughter, Franzella, but is ﬁnding it harder 
  and harder to come up with the ever-increasing payments to 
  Gastov. Even so, Goodman is reluctant to tell the PCs anything 
  or to ask for help. He is more concerned with the consequences 
  should Gastov discover what he’s done. He would much rather 
  just keep trying to pay the money each week and keep his head 
  down and out of trouble. He is convinced he will ﬁnd a way to 
  protect his daughter.
  If the PCs try to stop or harass the thugs before they leave, 
  Goodman immediately attempts to calm the situation. He oﬀers 
  to buy the PCs a drink and tries to hurry Krauss and Slyp out 
  the door. He does not stop the party if they simply try to leave, 
  even if they are headed after Krauss and Slyp. 
  FRANZELLA AND GOODMAN
  hp 3 each, noncombatants.
  KRAUSS AND SLYP
  hp 10; use Sikkintair and Dead Man Thug statistics on 
  page 31.
  TACTICS
  Krauss and Slyp try to leave right away. If pressed by the PCs, 
  they resort to violence very quickly, going for the kill as soon as a 
  combat breaks out. Goodman and Franzella do not get involved 
  in any kind of combat.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Goodman is angry at the PCs if they interfere. He does not 
  want them to stay around or cause any trouble. Fran, on the 
  other hand, becomes a friend and ally to the PCs for their help 
  and can be taken as an information contact. If the PCs do cause 
  trouble now, things won’t go well for Goodman as long as Gastov 
  is breathing (see Scene B).
  SCENE J: RATCATCHER
  A lone ﬁgure wanders the streets, poking empty crates 
  and looking under barrels, seemingly oblivious to the rest 
  of the world. He carries in one hand a long, straight pole 
  with a looped rope attached to one end. In the other hand, 
  he carries an old, much-repaired twine net. He wears 
  ragged, thick clothes that cover him from head to toe, large 
  gloves, heavy boots, and a makeshift helmet of wooden slats. 
  Several lengths of rope wind around his torso, each with a 
  loose lariat at one end. Rummaging through the refuse in 
  the road, he mutters to himself, arguing with no one and 
  punctuating his points with the pole.
  Hariv is Sanctuary’s self-appointed ratcatcher, though he 
  catches far more than just rats. He is obsessed with the notion 
  that all animals are ﬁlthy, disease-ridden pests that bring 
  plague in all forms to the people who share their space. He 
  rises each day, dons his special “protective armor” and armed 
  with a personal quota, sets out to rid the city of the “strays 
  menace.” Assuming they are not diseased, Hariv brings each 
  of the animals he captures to the constabulary for removal 
  from the city (the guards humor him, since ratcatching is a 
  useful service). If they are sick, he burns them himself. Hariv 
  sees himself as a champion of the public welfare and besides, a 
  number of merchants pay him a coin or two a month to check 
  their cellars and back rooms for vermin, and he has to make 
  a living somehow.
  The problem, as Hariv sees it, is no one takes the growth of 
  the stray animal population seriously. He’s irritated that people 
  simply turn their animals loose and let them run around, 
  catching diseases and spreading them throughout the city. He 
  can frequently be heard muttering under his breath about these 
  
  - 35 -
  INTERLUDES
  “froggin’ fools and their froggin’ fool ways,” and how “diseased 
  animals is what brings on plague!” while gesticulating wildly.
  All in all, Hariv is harmless, but he’s very serious about his task. 
  He cannot be dissuaded from gathering up all the street animals 
  he sees. He might even mistakenly attempt to capture a pet that 
  belongs to a member of the party. He can, however, be persuaded 
  to return an animal if someone convinces him it’s not a stray, 
  but a cared-for, healthy animal.
  HARIV THE RATCATCHER
  Male Wrigglie constable, warrior 1; CR 1/2; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d8; hp 4; Mdt 13; Init +0; Spd 
  30 ft.; AC 12, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 12; Base Atk +1; Grap 
  +1; Atk +1 melee (1d6, club); Full Atk +1 melee (1d6, club); 
  SQ constable trait, jaded; Rep +0; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will 
  +1; Str 11, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Knowledge (local), Spot.
  Skills and Feats: Intimidate +6, Knowledge (local) +6, Listen 
  +2, Sense Motive +2 (+4 lies), Spot +6; Alertness B, Weapon 
  Focus (club).
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Leather, club, a total of 50 feet of rope.
  TACTICS
  Hariv doesn’t ﬁght; if attacked, he runs away. If cornered, he 
  ﬁghts with surprising skill. Some strays are dangerous after all, 
  and Hariv has been doing this for a long time.
  SCENE K: SUDDEN RAT ATTACK
  This encounter can occur anywhere where the environment is 
  dark and dank, such as a rainy back alley or street, a ﬁlthy sewer 
  tunnel system, or an old, leaky, abandoned warehouse. Any 
  place that could conceivably house a large nest of rats would be 
  appropriate for this skirmish.
  There, in the distance, you hear a scraping, scratching 
  sound. A smell like pungent musk, dusty hides, and week-
  old cabbage reaches your nostrils. There’s a ﬂeeting scurrying 
  motion in the darkness. Chittering echoes all around you 
  and tiny claws clatter against the ground. Stale water drips 
  and splashes on your face, the wetness mixing with your 
  sweat. Movement again, quick and furtive. There it is, in 
  the rattling darkness, a form moving, undulating toward 
  you. It breaks out of the darkness and into the light. There 
  are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of them. Rats, their bodies 
  thumping and smashing into each other as the horde pulses, 
  swarms and rushes you.
  Running rampant through Sanctuary are hundreds, if not 
  thousands, of ﬁlthy rats. Big ones, little ones, dark ones, and 
  light ones, they are not normally seen in this type of pack by 
  many, because usually, you only see them once and then they 
  pick you clean.
  These particular rats are hungry and have caught both the sight 
  and the scent of the PCs. In huge numbers like this, they grow 
  in boldness, attacking even the largest and most able-looking 
  parties, seeking to satisfy their hunger.
  RAT SWARM (1)
  13 hp, see the MM for statistics.
  TACTICS
  As quickly as the rats appear, they swarm over the entire 
  party and attempt to bite and chew them to pieces. They 
  have no concern for personal safety and their only 
  purpose is to satisfy the gnawing hunger in their 
  bellies as they squeak and squeal with eagerness 
  and the thrill of the kill. As soon as the swarm is 
  reduced to half its hit points, the rest of the rats 
  will scatter and run away, just as mysteriously and 
  as quickly as they appeared.
  
  - 36 -
  INTERLUDES
  SCENE L: FLIES, FLIES, FLIES
  This encounter can occur anywhere in the city, though the Maze 
  is best.
  “You froggin’ kids, get the hell out of here,” sounds from a 
  nearby alley as you walk down the street. A loud splashing 
  noise echoes from the same area followed by “Pork you, fatty!” 
  and “Ick, I got it all over me, that froggin cadite’s gonna get 
  it!” As you pass the alley, you see a group of children dressed 
  in rags, their ﬁngers stained red, blue, yellow—a veritable 
  rainbow of colors - and in their center is a crestfallen youth 
  covered in nightsoil. Looking down from a second story 
  open window is an incredibly corpulent horror dressed 
  in a stained homespun dress and smiling a wicked smile 
  bereft of teeth.
  Years ago, Lalo, an artist gifted with magical skills, doodled and 
  illustrated multicolored ﬂies and insects, breathing life into his 
  creations for the amusement of his son. Though Lalo is long 
  dead, the products of his idle moments survive and bring color 
  to the town. Flies of red, blue, green, and yellow hues are all 
  valuable for dyes, and it seems there is no limit to the number 
  of these strange creatures. And so, the poor harvest these bright 
  bugs from midden heaps to take back and sell to the dyers in 
  the Shambles. 
  In this case, the gang of urchins thought to use the colors culled 
  from the squashed insects to paint a mocking picture of Fat 
  Alice, a grotesque abomination of a woman, believed by the local 
  urchins to have a taste for the marrow of little boys and girls. Fat 
  Alice, however, had other plans. She warned the children to be 
  oﬀ and, when they wouldn’t go, she opted to ﬂing her nightsoil 
  at them to drive them away.
  This is a common sight in Sanctuary, urchins having a bit of 
  sport, and the PCs are likely to move on past without a second 
  thought. But for those characters who stick their noses where 
  they don’t belong, this encounter should prove to be an excellent 
  lesson in Sanctan manners.
  Assuming the characters approach the group, they might very 
  well reprimand the woman on the act of tossing excrement 
  at common children. At this, the woman shrieks at the PCs, 
  calling them all sorts of ﬁlthy names and making a terrible 
  racket. Meanwhile, as the PCs try to deal with the woman, the 
  children move oﬀ, but not before they try to lift a purse, dagger, 
  or some other item from the PCs.
  Alternatively, the PCs might try to shoo the urchins away, telling 
  them to move along. At this, the woman, who actually hoped to 
  make a meal of one of the children when she oﬀered to let the 
  soiled lad come upstairs to clean himself oﬀ, starts shrieking at 
  the PCs, calling them all sorts of ﬁlthy names… and well, you 
  get the idea. 
  In any event, the PCs are in for a terriﬁc tongue-lashing if they 
  stick around, and Fat Alice is guaranteed to attract attention, 
  perhaps of the kind the characters don’t want. As a result of this 
  debacle, the PCs take a –1 penalty to their Reputation scores in 
  this neighborhood for 1d6 days.
  URCHINS (6)
  hp 2 each, use Urchin statistics on page 31.
  FAT ALICE
  Female Wrigglie prostitute, warrior 2; CR 1; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 2d8+4; hp 13; Mdt 17; Init –1; 
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 9, touch 9, ﬂat-footed 9; Base Atk +2; Grap 
  +3; Atk +3 melee (1d6+1/×3, meat cleaver); Full Atk +3 
  melee (1d6+1/×3, meat cleaver); SQ jaded, prostitute trait; 
  Rep +0; SV Fort +5, Ref –1, Will +2; Str 12, Dex 9, Con 
  14, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 13.
  Background Skills: Bluﬀ, Sense Motive.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +8 (+10 attracted), Diplomacy +5 (+7 
  attracted), Disguise +1 (+3 acting), Intimidate +8, Listen +3, 
  Sense Motive +8, Spot +3; Alertness B, Improved Damage 
  Threshold.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Disgusting stained clothing, meat cleaver, 
  chamberpot, 4 sh.
  TACTICS
  If the PCs attack either Fat Alice or the urchins, the big woman 
  retreats from her window and stomps down the stairs inside 
  the tenement to deal with the characters directly. It takes her 3 
  rounds for her to get down the stairs and emerge onto the main 
  street. If the PCs are still around, Fat Alice charges, meat cleaver 
  (treat as hand axe) raised. She ﬁghts to the death.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If the PCs kill Fat Alice, their Reputation penalty worsens to 
  –3 and they gain the enmity of Lord Night, who uses Alice 
  as a source of information. His enmity entails a +5 increase 
  to Gather Information DCs, and 150% increase on all black 
  market purchases for a period of 1 week before the crime lord 
  loses interest. 
  If the PCs explore Fat Alice’s apartment, they are in for a shock. 
  The place reeks of ﬁlth, and bleached bones (from urchins and 
  customers she’s killed and eaten) ﬁll the room. A search of the 
  room turns up 1d20 shaboozh, but characters must succeed 
  on a DC 15 Fortitude save or become nauseated for as long as 
  they remain in the room and for 1d20 minutes thereafter. Fat 
  Alice’s apartment could be a suitable place to plant false leads 
  or to establish future adventures.
  
  - 37 -
  INTERLUDES
  SCENE M: WIZARDLY MUTTERS
  This scene is best suited for the Old Jeweler’s Quarter, but any 
  area will work.
  A loud explosion sounds from ahead. A moment later, 
  there’s a thin plume of violet smoke that rises above the 
  cluster of buildings. After another moment, you hear high-
  pitched screams.
  Assuming the PCs go to investigate, read or paraphrase the 
  following text.
  You round the corner and see the smoking remains of a 
  building, a few sputtering ﬁres moving to the neighboring 
  homes and shops. People ﬂee from the center of the confusion, 
  where a woman with spiky red hair, dressed in violet robes 
  wobbles on her feet. On either side of her is a fat humanoid 
  with empty sockets and gaping maws. Their spindly arms 
  and legs end in long sharp claw tipped hands and feet and 
  they seem to be ready to tear the woman apart. 
  The woman is Shaelar, an unfortunate mage who botched a spell 
  and accidentally called two demons into the Material Plane. The 
  demons are quite grateful about being called and hope to reward 
  the mage by devouring her. 
  SHAELAR
  Female Ilsigi apprentice, mage 4; CR 4; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 4d4; hp 10; Mdt 11; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 
  13, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 11; Base Atk +2; Grap +1; Atk +1 
  melee (1d6–1, quarterstaﬀ) or +5 ranged (1d4–1/19–20, 
  masterwork dagger); Full Atk +1 melee (1d6–1, quarterstaﬀ) 
  or +5 ranged (1d4–1/19–20, masterwork dagger); SQ 
  apprentice trait, arcane defenses, skilled; Rep +1; SV Fort 
  +1, Ref +3, Will +7; Str 8, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 13, 
  Cha 12.
  Background Skills: Knowledge (arcana), Spellcraft.
  Skills and Feats: Appraise +3 (+5 alchemical items), 
  Concentration +7, Craft (alchemy) +10, Decipher Script 
  +10, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (local) +4, 
  Spellcraft +14; Combat Casting, Iron Will B, Touch the 
  Otherworld.
  Languages: Ilsigi (S/W), Wrigglie (S), Rankene (S).
  Contacts: Inﬂuence (1), Skill (1).
  Spells: safe level 2nd; spellcasting +8; ritualcasting +6; save 
  DC 13 + spell level.
  Known Spells (7): disguise self (1st, MT 20, price 1), expeditious 
  retreat (1st, MT 20, price 1), hypnotism (1st, MT 20, price 
  1), mage armor (1st, MT 20, price 1), magic missile (1st, MT 
  20, price 1), prestidigitation (0, MT 10, price 0/1), scorching 
  ray (2nd, MT 30, price 2).
  Familiar Spells (8): arcane mark (0, MT 10, price 0/1), blur 
  (2nd, MT 30, price 2), circle of protection (1st, MT 20, price 
  1), detect magic (0, MT 10, price 0/1), identify (1st, MT 20, 
  price 1), read magic (0, MT, price 0/1), summon monster III 
  (3rdt, MT 40, price 3 lethal)
  Possessions: Quarterstaﬀ, masterwork dagger, +1 ritual focus, 
  bracers of armor +1.
  DRETCHES (2)
  hp 13 each; Mdt 15; see the MM for statistics.
  TACTICS
  There are two major threats in this scenario. First, there is the ﬁre. 
  If not stopped, it spreads to the neighboring buildings that may 
  or may not be occupied at your discretion. The ﬁre then spreads 
  to 1d4 buildings before the watch shows up in 1d10 rounds to 
  put the ﬁres out. While the buildings are burning the street is 
  ﬁlled with smoke, granting concealment to all combatants.
  The demons are the other threat. They attack Shaelar who 
  ﬁghts as best as she can. You can run this combat as normal or 
  assume the demons kill her in 2 rounds and spend the next 4 
  rounds eating her. If still not stopped, they run oﬀ in diﬀerent 
  directions causing problems later in other parts of the city 
  (becoming excellent reoccurring foes). If the PCs interfere, one 
  demon presses the attack against the mage, while the other 
  takes on the characters. Six members of the watch show up to 
  help the characters in 1d10 rounds (use Typical Town Guard 
  in Appendix I). The demons ﬁght to the death.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  By risking their lives, the PCs gain several beneﬁts. First, if they 
  put out the ﬁre, word spreads through the entire neighborhood 
  and the people’s starting attitude is Friendly for 1d2 months. In 
  addition, the PCs get a favor from the watch. Should the PCs 
  ﬁnd themselves in legal trouble, the watch lets them go with 
  a warning. Finally, if the PCs save Shaelar’s life, she becomes 
  a bonus skill contact for the characters, and will help them 
  identify magic items and may help them out of a scrape (even 
  accompanying them on a future adventure if needed).
  
  - 38 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  Act Two takes the PCs out of Sanctuary and into the 
  surrounding territory. Most likely they’ll ﬁrst travel into the 
  Swamp of Night Secrets to track down “Karizal,” and then trek 
  up to the Brown Bear Inn to ﬁnd the merchant Paithas. The 
  PCs need to get permission to leave Sanctuary ﬁrst, but a simple 
  conversation with Astar and Vernic (to present what they’ve 
  learned to the truthspeaker, if nothing else) is enough to grant 
  them a bit more leeway. As far as the Sharda are concerned, 
  the PCs are still suspects (at least oﬃcially), but their travel 
  restrictions are eased to allow them to follow leads to nearby 
  locales, including surrounding towns and the Swamp of Night 
  Secrets. If the PCs haven’t caused much trouble, and the Sharda 
  are leaning toward believing their innocence, they also receive 
  a 100 sh reward for uncovering Erilissi and Rossa as spies. The 
  Sharda don’t do anything about Rossa—she hasn’t admitted 
  to actually breaking any laws, and if there are spies around it’s 
  most convenient if you know who they are.
  The most likely course for the PCs, at this point, is to track 
  down “Karizal,” who they know got boar’s head daggers from 
  the Silent Brothers. It should be clear that he’s not really an 
  Irrune (since he paid for the daggers), and any investigation 
  regarding his claim to be an associate of Naimun shows that to 
  be untrue as well, and may lead to a barroom brawl with other 
  Irrune, as detailed in the Interludes section. Like ﬁnding Pace, 
  the most important part of this sequence isn’t how the PCs ﬁnd 
  out where Karizal is hiding, but what they do once they know. 
  Any reasonable plan for investigation that the PCs come up 
  INVESTIGATION 
  Check
  Information learned
  10
  Karizal travels in and out of the Swamp of Night Secrets every few days. He’s mentioned sleeping in an abandoned 
  a tower out in the swamp, which is cheaper and less stuﬀy than living in the city. Such a tower exists a few hours 
  into the swamp, though no one is known to go there regularly. 
  13
  Karizal is never seen with another Irrune, despite regularly talking about hanging out with them.
  15
  When he comes out of the swamp, Karizal often has a large, black cat with him. 
  20
  Karizal headed out into the swamp earlier today. (The exact location he left the city from can be determined, and 
  a PC with Track can pick up a set of Whoever’s tracks next to panther-tracks with a DC 15 Survival check).
  25
  Karizal is actually a spy, assassin and skilled disguise artist called Master Whoever. He only takes a few jobs a year, 
  and always demands both payment up-front and a way to contact his employer if things get complicated.
  ACT II:  
  THE PLOT THICKENS
  
  - 39 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  It hides within 10 feet of the trail, and when the PCs walk by, 
  it leaps out to charge them. If a PC manages to either beat 
  the cat’s Hide check with a Spot check or its Move Silently 
  check with a Listen check, that PC gets to move in the surprise 
  round. Otherwise, the panther is the only one acting until the 
  ﬁrst full round of combat.
  PANTHER (1)
  19 hp; use the leopard in the MM for statistics.
  TACTICS
  This ﬁght is about territory for the panther; it sees the PCs 
  as intruders and competition. Its goal is to drive oﬀ the PCs, 
  killing any it can and wounding the rest. The panther tries to 
  bring down the smallest, frailest looking target ﬁrst, then moves 
  on to whoever has hurt it the most. Once the panther is down 
  to 6 hp or less, it ﬂees back to Fort Wherever if it can. If the 
  PCs ﬂee, it only chases them if it has 10 or more hp.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If the panther drives oﬀ the PCs, it continues to patrol. If it 
  is driven oﬀ, it returns to Fort Wherever to be with Master 
  Whoever. Keep track of how long it takes the PCs to encounter 
  the panther again. It only recovers its hit points at a natural 
  rate—Master Whoever has no way of healing it more quickly. If 
  it doesn’t have at least 10 hp when the PCs next encounter it, the 
  panther backs away and only ﬁghts if attacked or cornered.
  with can work, with a Bluﬀ, Diplomacy, Gather Information, 
  or Intimidate check (as appropriate) made by a PC or contact 
  acting as an “investigation check” to determine how much 
  information is turned up. A check reveals the information listed 
  below for its DC, and all information for lesser DCs.
  If multiple PCs are investigating, consider having each one 
  pick up a diﬀerent piece of information. If they confer with 
  each other during the investigation, allow each successful 
  investigation check to add a +2 bonus to future investigation 
  checks. Managing the basic DC 10 is enough to let the PCs go 
  stumbling out into the swamp, but clearly the more they know 
  the better oﬀ they are. If a group is enjoying the investigation, 
  allow them to spend as much time on it as they wish.
  SCENE ONE: AMBUSH
  You can’t sneak up on a master of disguise and his pet panther 
  in their home territory without risking an ambush. If the PCs 
  are actually tracking Whoever, they come to an area where the 
  panther’s tracks break oﬀ and cross over the trail many times. (This 
  is where the panther hunts, which a character with the Track feat 
  can easily determine). The PCs get a +2 bonus to Spot and Listen 
  checks to avoid the coming ambush if they mention watching out 
  for the panther, or take any other reasonable precautions. This 
  being the panther’s home turf, it gets a +2 circumstance bonus to 
  its Hide and Move Silently checks here.
  In any case, whether they know to expect it or not, the panther 
  eventually catches scent of the PCs and sets up to jump them. 
  
  - 40 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  SCENE TWO:  
  FORT WHOEVER GROUND FLOOR
  If the PCs manage to track Master Whoever through the 
  swamp, they end up at his lair in one day. If they just wander 
  blindly into the Swamp of Night Secrets, it takes them 1d6 
  days to ﬁnd the tower—an old, crumbling stone watchtower 
  built here decades ago by a merchant hoping to set up his own 
  small outpost. It’s a simple two-story structure with a single 
  door and windows only on the second ﬂoor. Master Whoever 
  is here if the PCs haven’t somehow already dealt with him.
  Read the following when the PCs reach the door on the 
  ground ﬂoor.
  A solid, dark door sits in a worn stone archway. Its hinges 
  are cunningly concealed from view, and though made of wood, 
  it has been covered in thick metal-riveted straps. The wood and 
  metal are covered in scratches, some quite deep, but they have 
  done no real damage to it. There is no window or view-port in 
  the door, and it’s likely too thick to allow much sound through.
  The door is extremely well built and iron-reinforced (Hardness 
  6, 25 hp, break DC 24) with a good lock (DC 30 to pick). 
  If the PCs smash it open, they alert everyone in the tower. 
  (Master Whoever and/or his swamp panther.) Though none of 
  the rooms on the lower level are now in use as anything but a 
  panther lair, they were once the ground ﬂoor of the watchtower. 
  Area A was used for storage, B as an oﬃcer’s ready room, C-
  H bedrooms, I a great hall and dining chamber, J a kitchen, 
  and K a pantry. Though little remains of these rooms’ original 
  furnishings, they could be used for those purposes again if the 
  tower was restored and restocked.
  Read or paraphrase the following when the PCs ﬁrst enter 
  the ground ﬂoor.
  The smell of old salt air and stale, wet musk is 
  everywhere. Small piles of rotting clothes sit in corners of 
  the cold stone halls, and the ﬂoor has strange drag-marks 
  tracked through ages of dried sand. Broken bits of furniture 
  are scattered across the ﬂoor and piled in corners, while a 
  few old torches and rusty lanterns hang from wall sconces. 
  There are the ragged remains of tapestries hanging ruined 
  from the walls and ﬂaking plaster on the ceiling. No one 
  has cared for this place in decades.
  A PC with the Track feat can make a DC 12 Survival check to 
  identify the drag-marks as a sign that sacks and small crates have 
  been hauled into the tower many times over the past few days 
  (as Whoever raided the cargos of the wrecked ship). A DC 15 
  or better Survival check also reveals the tracks of a Medium cat-
  like creature (Master Whoever’s panther). If the PCs Track the 
  panther tracks (and the creature isn’t already dead) and they didn’t 
  smash in the front door, they ﬁnd it in one of the level’s rooms 
  (determine randomly) and may surprise it. If the PCs did smash 
  down the door or don’t track the cat, it stalks them and attacks 
  at its convenience. Make a Move Silently check for the panther, 
  opposed by Listen checks for the PCs. If it wins, it is the only 
  creature moving in the surprise round when it attacks. Anyone 
  who beats its check is also allowed to act in the surprise round.
  Master Whoever keeps the panther here for security, to prevent 
  ‘Nighters from sneaking in whenever he’s not here. It’s tame 
  enough not to attack him, and to go to him if wounded, but 
  knows no tricks and doesn’t really obey his orders. He keeps 
  it fed (mostly on old crab meat), which is enough to keep it 
  happy. This is the panther’s lair, and if attacked here it acts as 
  it would when cornered in a cave. Of course, if the panther is 
  already dead, there is no threat here to slow the PCs.
  TACTICS
  Whoever (see statistics on page 42) attacks and ﬁghts until 
  dead. If he is badly wounded and the PCs withdraw, he tries 
  to fortify his tower and set up an ambush within its walls. If 
  left alone for a day, he abandons the building and the entire 
  region around Sanctuary (removing him as both a threat and 
  a source of information).
  DEVELOPMENTS
  The main thing to keep track of here is how much noise the 
  PCs make. If they get into a ﬁght of any kind, smash open the 
  front door or any of the chests, or talk loudly, Master Whoever 
  automatically hears them (allowing him time to make preparations 
  for when they reach the second story). If the PCs are quiet, they 
  have a good chance of sneaking up on the assassin—the thick walls 
  and heavy doors of the tower impose a –4 penalty on any Listen 
  check made to hear something going on at a diﬀerent level.
  TREASURE
  After a cursory glance, the rooms seem empty of anything aside 
  from a few cobwebs and a thick layer of dust. However, with a 
  little work, characters can ﬁnd some things of utility. A DC 10 
  Search check uncovers ﬁve torches, a battered hooded lantern, 
  and three ceramic vials holding a pint of dark oil each. 
  There are also two chests, one in room D and the other in room 
  E. Both chests are fashioned from hard wood reinforced with 
  iron bands (Hardness 8, hp 35, break DC 25). They are both 
  locked and Master Whoever has the keys. Otherwise, they can 
  be opened by succeeding on a DC 25 Open Lock check. 
  The chest in room D contains ten packets of ﬂash powder and 
  ﬁve small pouches of kleetel. For information on these, see the 
  Thieves’ World Player’s Manual page 133 and 134 respectively.
  The second chest, in room E, holds a healer’s kit and a leather 
  wallet holding a set of masterwork thieves’ tools.
  
  - 41 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  
  - 42 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  SCENE THREE: WHOEVER’S LAIR
  The air is stale and dark, heavy with the scent of rot. 
  The ocean’s roar can be heard in the distance, but no other 
  noise reaches your ears. The stone walls, ceiling and ﬂoor 
  show signs of once being covered in bright plasters and 
  wax ﬁnishes, but all is long since faded and peeling. The 
  rooms are choked with broken furniture, trash, smashed 
  crab shells, rags, and the debris of years of unclean 
  living. In some places, the rubbish is piled ﬁve feet high. 
  Even the stairs are littered with junk, though they are 
  remarkably silent—failing to creak, even slightly, under 
  your weight.
  Master Whoever is a despicable ﬁend, a sadistic monster 
  without scruples. Reclusive, he deals with outsiders only when 
  forced to, through greed or blackmail. Once he can do without 
  any business associate, Whoever robs and kills them or at 
  least hides from them (depending on the associate’s combat 
  abilities). Whoever is driven by silver-lust—he wants money 
  itself, not the things money can buy. Whoever trusts no one, 
  and doesn’t expect to be trusted. He’s cunning and deceptive, 
  but too impatient to think much beyond getting an immediate 
  beneﬁt. He is also very, very good at what he does (which is 
  take advantage of his knack for disguise to steal, kill and cheat 
  others).
  The other ‘Nighters avoid him, seeing him as “broken,” an 
  anomaly among their kind. No ‘Nighter comes to his tower 
  willingly; too many of their kind have wound up dead. And, 
  all would be quite happy to be rid of this cruel man.
  The combination of his greed, paranoia and skill ensure Master 
  Whoever gets just enough work to get by on. He insists on being 
  paid in advance and having a way to contact any employer. This 
  second requirement makes him unpopular, but without it, Whoever 
  simply refuses to take a job. Since Whoever uses the contact 
  information to get details about a job and report any irregularity, 
  it’s diﬃcult to cheat by giving him false information.
  Unless he’s short on food, suspects a ‘Nighter of sneaking into 
  his tower, or hears anyone moving around in the nearby swamp, 
  Whoever spends his time in his room (area L), counting his 
  money and plotting the downfall of anyone who’s ever done 
  him wrong. He has his door locked (Hardness 5, 20 hp, break 
  DC 23) with a fair lock (DC 25 to pick). It’s the only locked 
  door in the building. He has a single chair, a rope cot, and a 
  chest, along with the sundry live crabs and old roots he uses for 
  food. All other areas on the upper level are clear of anything but 
  piles of rubbish, though once they were once used for storage 
  and meetings when the tower was ﬁrst built.
  Master Whoever was hired by Paithas Meed to kill Erilissi, and 
  it was at Whoever’s hands that Erilissi met his ﬁnal fate. Master 
  Whoever was well paid for the job, and has only been back to 
  Sanctuary once since then, to buy additional supplies. Currently 
  Whoever’s hatred of everyone is greater than his greed, so he’s 
  unlikely to go back to Sanctuary for weeks, at least. He’s now 
  trying to decide if he should hunt down Paithas Meed to rob 
  and kill him, or avoid the fat merchant from now on. He still 
  has the scrap of paper detailing how to get a message to Paithas 
  Meed at the Brown Bear, but isn’t sure what to do with it (see 
  Appendix III for the details of the scrap). 
  MASTER WHOEVER (“KARIZAL”)
  Male ‘Nighter bandit, assassin 3; CR 3; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 3d8+3; hp 21; Mdt 17; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 
  16, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 14; Base Atk +2; Grap +1; Atk +5 
  melee (1d6–1/19–20 plus poison, masterwork short sword) 
  or +5 ranged (1d8/19–20 plus poison, light crossbow); 
  Full Atk +5 melee (1d6–1/19–20 plus poison, masterwork 
  short sword) or +5 ranged (1d8/19–20 plus poison, light 
  crossbow); SA sneak attack +1d6; SQ bandit trait, poison 
  use; Rep +0; SV Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1; Str 8, Dex 15, 
  Con 13, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12.
  Background Skills: Handle Animal, Survival.
  Skills and Feats: Craft (Poison) +4, Disguise +10 (+12 with 
  disguise kit), Handle Animal +8, Hide +9 (+11 swamp), 
  Intimidate +1 (+3 when known), Knowledge (local) +5, 
  Move Silently +9 (+11 swamp), Listen  +6, Spot +6, Survival 
  +7 (+9 swamp); Skill Focus (Disguise), Stealthy B, Weapon 
  Finesse, Weapon Focus (light crossbow).
  
  - 43 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  Languages: Yenized (S/W), Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Mithral chain shirt, masterwork short sword, 
  light crossbow with 10 bolts, masterwork dagger (boar’s 
  head), 6 doses black adder venom, 2 sets of caltrops, bullseye 
  lantern, ﬂint and steel, oil ﬂash (1), traveler’s outﬁt, personal 
  papers, disguise kit, 1,200 sh, 32 pd.
  TACTICS
  If Whoever hears a commotion on the lower level, he readies 
  an action to ambush anyone coming up the stairs. If possible, 
  he hides within sight of the upper end of the stairs to sneak 
  attack the ﬁrst person that pops up, with a poisoned crossbow 
  bolt. If he can, Whoever keeps control of the upper end of the 
  stairs to prevent himself from being ﬂanked. If driven back 
  from the stairs, he tries to play a cat-and-mouse game on the 
  upper ﬂoor, hiding in the junk and refuse until he can strike 
  with poisoned bolt or blade. If possible, he makes a dash for 
  the front door, if the PCs leave the stairs unguarded.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Master Whoever ﬁghts to the death; if captured he is rude 
  and extremely unhelpful, and tries to goad the PCs into killing 
  him. He doesn’t know much anyway, other than the fact that 
  Paithas Meed hired him to kill Erilissi. Whoever does have a 
  great fear of the Irrune, however, and is willing to talk to avoid 
  being turned over to them or taken to Sanctuary. (If the PCs 
  hand him over to the Irrune, he eventually swallows his own 
  tongue, choking to death). On Whoever’s person is the last of 
  the three boar’s head daggers taken from the Silent Brothers, 
  along with a disguise kit that includes the items needed to play 
  the part of an Irrune.
  If Whoever escapes, he’s a constant pain in the PCs’ sides, 
  attacking and poisoning them whenever he can manage it. 
  He’s a petty, vengeful man who won’t rest as long as even one 
  of the people who drove him from his home lives.
  The scrap of paper in Whoever’s pocket also mentions a ship 
  (The Weeping Maiden, see Scene Four). It’s a wreck he found 
  in the swamp a few days from here. The ship can just barely be 
  seen from the top of the tower (DC 15 Spot check) if anyone 
  thinks to look around. Whoever’s visited it several times, so 
  it’s possible to use Track to follow his prints back to it (DC 
  12 Survival check). A character might even hear the sound 
  of the wreck hitting rocks (DC 12 Listen). If the PCs detect 
  the ship with any of these means, they also notice the hint of 
  something large and moving—a ﬂash of movement seen, or 
  tracks of something the size of a wagon dragged across the 
  path. This is the only warning they’ll get to be ready for the 
  giant crab in Scene Four.
  Whoever also has the original note Paithas used to hire him. 
  It’s written in Yenized, and thus illegible to most people. It 
  promises Whoever 200 sh to “kill the Rankan Spy Erilissi.” It 
  further lists a number of places Erilissi frequents, including 
  the Vulgar Unicorn. It promises a sum of money will be paid 
  by “the fat, lame merchant who contacted you” (Paithas Meed, 
  who also wrote the letter). Unless one of the PCs happens to 
  speak Yenized, they are unlikely to know all this until they 
  ﬁnd a translator.
  SCENE FOUR: THE WRECK  
  OF THE WEEPING MAIDEN
  The twisted and shattered remains of a ship are piled on 
  a collection of jagged rocks just barely visible beneath the 
  waves. At high tide the rocks would be invisible, but still 
  able to rip the bottom out of any ship passing overhead. 
  No part of the ship is still intact, with its broken hull 
  and torn beams scattered across the beach. Crabs and 
  other sea borne scavengers pick through the wreckage, and 
  waterlogged refuse covers the sands. The bodies of pigs are 
  scattered everywhere, their carcasses bloated and rotting, 
  as well as torn apart. The smell of rot and salt are powerful, 
  overwhelming the fresh scent of the ocean. Seagulls circle 
  overhead, but none land near the destroyed vessels.
  Within the largest section of the remaining hull, the 
  sound of water lapping on wood is mixed with scraping 
  noises. Wood and metal thump and thunk with the lapping 
  waves, but in the black hollow under the broken deck 
  something is scratching and ripping, as though wet cloth 
  were being torn apart.
  After dealing with Master Whoever, the PCs eventually must 
  head back to Sanctuary. If they noticed the wreck back in Scene 
  Three, they can approach it cautiously. Otherwise, chance 
  brings them to it as they seek an easy path back to the city.
  The ship is the Weeping Maiden, which was due the night of 
  the rain (the night Erilissi was killed), but ended up on the 
  shoals. Its crew is long dead or ﬂed, leaving its cargo of infected 
  pigs to rot on the rocks and be picked apart by scavengers. 
  ‘Nighters descended on the wreck after those aboard had died 
  or gone, and raided the shattered hull for both treasure and 
  food. The ‘Nighters have long since been driven oﬀ, however, 
  by a monstrous crab that’s taken up residence. The crab takes 
  shelter in the largest piece of wreckage, scuttling out to feed 
  on bits of carcasses or, if hungry enough, on other crabs. The 
  hull is large and black, keeping the crab from sight. However, 
  the crab knows the PCs are coming thanks to its tremorsense 
  ability, and recognizes them as yet more prey.
  In addition to the crab and the bloated bodies of dead pigs, 
  there are the remains of the ship’s manifest and logbook. These 
  are fairly obvious (not even requiring a Search check to located), 
  but largely ruined. It’s possible to determine the ship is of Ilsigi 
  registry, despite being most recently from Rankan ports far to 
  
  - 44 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  the north. It carried no cargo but the pigs, which were to be 
  delivered to “Paithas Meed” at “cove location out of sight of 
  Sanctuary.” A character that actually makes a DC 10 Search 
  check also ﬁnds a personal letter to Meed in a waterproof 
  satchel, jammed beneath a bit of wreckage. The letter is from 
  one of the cultists actually arranging for the infected pigs up 
  in the far north, and details some of the problems the plot is 
  suﬀering (the note is detailed in Appendix III).
  GREATER BENGIL CRAB (1)
  hp 59; see Appendix I for statistics. 
  TACTICS
  The crab stays hidden behind chests and beams when in the 
  hull, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to Hide checks. The crab 
  waits for a target to come within 20 feet before scuttling out 
  to savagely attack. It always attacks the nearest foe, paying no 
  attention to such things as ranged attacks or spells—it just isn’t 
  smart enough to do anything but attack the nearest opponent. 
  Once it drops a foe, the crab moves on to another character. 
  If there are no obvious targets, it goes back to gnawing on 
  corpses—pig or player character, whichever is the closest. 
  If the adventures reduce the crab’s hit points to 5 or less, it 
  retreats to safety. 
  TREASURE
  A few valuables have escaped the swamp dwellers’ raids on the 
  wreckage, but not much. A DC 20 Search check reveals a small 
  chest with 200 sh of coins and silver jewelry.
  SIDE TRIPS
  The Swamp of Night Secrets is not a safe place. If you need a 
  random encounter, you can throw in more ordinary crabs, one 
  or more ‘Nighter scum (see Appendix II), or any ﬂora and 
  fauna that is appropriate for a swamp. There’s nothing else 
  directly connected to the murder plot in the swamp, but you 
  can add as much as you need for pacing or to help PCs gain 
  levels. Alternatively, you can add more side trips in Sanctuary, 
  especially if you haven’t used all the Interlude encounters yet. 
  Ideally, the PCs will be close to 3rd level before they move on 
  to the investigation of Paithas Meed and Brown Bear Inn.
  BACK TO SANCTUARY
  By all accounts, the best translator in town is Heliz Yunz, the 
  Linguist of Lirt. If the PCs ask about getting a document 
  translated, he is the man everyone recommends. Besides, the 
  PCs need to have the note professionally translated for the 
  
  - 45 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  Sharda, who are also likely to insist Heliz be the one to do it. 
  As he has a well known shop, ﬁnding Heliz isn’t diﬃcult.
  For a fee of 2 sh, Heliz agrees to translate the document 
  and requires a day to do so. (This is an excellent opportunity 
  to put the PCs through a side trip if they had trouble with 
  Whoever. Things just get tougher from here, so the PCs may 
  need experience to gain a level.)
  Heliz is more than a mere translator, however. Though he has 
  managed to keep it secret, he can learn things about people 
  by reading things written in their own hand. He recognizes 
  the handwriting of Paithas Meed and knows the man intends 
  great violence. However, Yunz is not going to expose himself 
  to the PCs, so he couches everything in terms of things he 
  can tell based on the handwriting used in the note. He tells 
  the PCs the note’s author is using diction that suggests he was 
  male, a religious man, likely an Ilsigi, and was left handed with 
  a hunched back. (In fact, Paithas Meed wrote the note when 
  he decided Erilissi needed to die. He also intended to kill the 
  person he sent the note to, which Yunz is aware of. He’s trying 
  to give the PCs some warning, without exposing himself.)
  There aren’t that many hunched, overweight merchants in 
  Sanctuary, so the PCs should get the scent for Paithas Meed 
  without too much diﬃculty. Asking after him quickly reveals 
  Paithas ﬂed Sanctuary a few nights after Erilissi was killed (he 
  should only be about a day ahead of the PCs), selling the last of 
  his spices cheap, and having the money for it sent after him to 
  the Brown Bear on the General’s Road. Clearly, Paithas was in 
  a hurry.
  TACTICS
  There’s absolutely no reason to attack Yunz. While an ass, he 
  is not threatening in anyway. If the PCs do, he ﬂees into the 
  street, calling for the guard. Since he doesn’t work on the Hill or 
  in the Maze, help comes in the form of three mid-level typical 
  town guards and Lumm the Staver. Heliz Yunz is fully detailed 
  in Green Ronin’s Shadowspawn’s Guide to Sanctuary. 
  OFF TO THE BROWN BEAR
  The rest of Act Two takes place in and around the Brown Bear 
  Inn, a roadside hostel and tavern about a day’s travel north 
  along the General’s Road. The Brown Bear is a popular last 
  stop for travelers heading into Sanctuary, though business has 
  never been all that great. It also caters to the local farmers who 
  come here to swap lies and drinks in the evenings. 
  Any eﬀort to ﬁnd Paithas Meed should eventually point to 
  the Brown Bear. Since the PCs should already have the letter 
  Master Whoever kept on him, as well as the notes from the log 
  of the Weeping Maiden, they should be looking for Paithas. 
  If not, you can goad them on with more information from 
  Rossa or the Sharda, either of whom may have heard that the 
  merchant was asking questions about Erilissi. Paithas maintains 
  a low proﬁle, conducting his trade business here instead of in 
  the city, having lost his shop in the city. Paithas also deals from 
  time to time with Makker (a drug dealer in the Shambles) and 
  brings opah to the city from a few outlying towns. 
  A couple hours away by walking, the Dyareelans have co-opted 
  a farm to store the infected pigs that have already arrived. The 
  cultists send agents into the Brown Bear posing as Apostles 
  of Nature, wandering wise-men attempting to gather enough 
  money to raise a temple to their order near (but not in) 
  Sanctuary. Since a number of odd religious groups are drifting 
  around the villages outside Sanctuary since the Irrune forbade 
  the worship of any non-Irrune gods within the city’s walls, the 
  locals haven’t yet penetrated this cover story.
  The Apostles claim to be a group focused on the bounties of 
  earth (locals ironically suspect they might be an oﬀshoot of 
  Heqt worshippers). They prowl the area around the Brown Bear 
  to witness the local beauty, something no farmer can really 
  comprehend given the largely deforested hills. In truth, they’re a 
  cell of armed Dyareelan cultists under the command of Paithas 
  Meed, who is their contact with Sorbeth, the ircastra’n running 
  the entire plague plot. The Apostles have been doing their best 
  to drive away anyone who might stumble onto their infected 
  pigs early, including local farmers, travelers, and merchants 
  who trade with the local farmers. They’ve been setting ﬁres, 
  killing anyone they catch alone, and marking trees and rocks 
  with strange (though meaningless) symbols. They want people 
  to get the idea that the area is cursed, and it’s begun to work.
  However, the most respected man in town doesn’t believe the 
  locals have any more serious problems than some hooligans 
  making trouble. The owner of the Brown Bear, Duncaen, 
  generally acts as principle “citizen” on the rare occasion the 
  independent farmers need to come together to make a decision. 
  As a result, not everyone has abandoned their homes, and in 
  fact, a few citizens have begun to patrol the local territory 
  looking for troublemakers. This is causing problems for the 
  Apostles, who have begun pressuring Duncaen to publicly 
  agree with the idea that the land is cursed. So far Duncaen has 
  refused, but he’s slowly beginning to think the Apostles may 
  be more than a superstitious ﬂock of religious nuts.
  Paithas just arrived a day or so ago, and is unhappy with the state 
  of aﬀairs. He depended on the inn to be a safe haven for him as 
  he struggles to ﬁgure out how to save the entire plague plot. The 
  fact that a shipment of pigs (on the Weeping Maiden) was lost, 
  and shipments from the north have been delayed, is placing him 
  in a precarious position. He’s running low on money to keep the 
  pigs out of sight, and all eﬀorts to get more out of Erilissi have 
  failed. Paithas became so desperate he had Erilissi killed, hoping 
  the act would convince the old man’s contacts of the seriousness 
  of the situation. Since Erilissi’s death, Paithas has been sending 
  word to Arion Swan, a known confederate of Erilissi, about the 
  need for Arion’s contacts to send more money for “the cause.” 
  Arion has yet to return any of Paithas’ messages.
  If more money doesn’t arrive soon, Paithas is going to have to 
  invade nearby farms for feed and space to keep his pigs alive. 
  
  - 46 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  Such actions won’t go unnoticed, unless the local population is 
  convinced to ﬂee or, at least, move into Sanctuary, abandoning 
  their farms for a season until whatever evil has befallen the 
  area passes. As a member of the Apostles of Nature, Paithas 
  has been trying to spread that message. Since subtle eﬀorts 
  to bring Duncaen around have failed, Paithas is planning to 
  take more drastic measures. In preparation for that, he’s sent 
  his followers onto the roads with orders to keep people away 
  from the inn with a story of possible plague.
  Paithas’ followers are extremely devoted to him. They are 
  all experienced members of the Dyareelan cult who have 
  been in hiding since the Irrune arrived. They were once the 
  most important people in Sanctuary, with their every excess 
  encouraged. The Apostles, in particular, were leg-breakers (about 
  as close to constables as the cultists got). Now they’re poor, 
  hungry, and hunted. They’re all willing to risk death for the 
  slightest chance that the cult can claim Sanctuary once more, 
  and know they are guardians of the plot that could do that.
  As an additional complication, Arion Swan is trying to get 
  back in touch with Paithas, to ensure the plague goes forward 
  as planned. Since Arion was only supposed to aid Erilissi in a 
  serious emergency, he has few resources at his disposal. He’s 
  sent one of these, another fenniath, to deliver a message to 
  Paithas, and the creature has tracked the merchant’s scent to 
  the Inn. It hasn’t found Paithas himself, but has smelled his 
  odor on the members of the Apostles patrolling around it. The 
  adventure starts up again once the PCs are en route to the inn 
  to ﬁnd and possibly question Paithas Meed.
  SCENE FIVE:  
  THE APOSTLES OF NATURE
  The road is quiet, with only the stirring of tall 
  windblown grass to accompany your footsteps. This is 
  a minor path oﬀ the General’s Road, but the deep ruts 
  running its length show it normally has heavy cart traﬃc. 
  You’ve passed and seen no one since leaving the main road, 
  however. Even animals seem unwilling to make noise, 
  as though some terrible predator lurked among the rocks 
  along the path’s route. 
  Without warning, the solitude is broken by the cries of 
  men ﬂeeing for their lives. From around a bend come six 
  men in simple robes, each carrying a farmer’s handaxe. 
  Behind them rages a red creature similar in appearance 
  to a man-sized monkey, with arms twice the length of a 
  human’s. The robed ﬁgures try to defend themselves with 
  their axes between sprints away from the terror, but clearly 
  they are not a match for the monstrous simian. It makes 
  little eﬀort to harm them, simply batting them about or 
  grabbing them and screaming in their faces. The men are 
  clearly terriﬁed, and show signs of more serious injuries.
  The Apostles are cultists patrolling the routes to the Brown 
  Bear Inn for Paithas. The hellish simian is one of Arion Swan’s 
  fenniath. It tracked the men and recognized Paithas’ scent, but 
  was unable to explain itself to them or get them to take its 
  message. It’s gotten very frustrated, and had hoped that scaring 
  the Brothers badly enough would cause them to ﬂee back to 
  their home (where hopefully Paithas could be found). It had 
  just decided it might have to kill one of the brothers to drive 
  them to ﬂee, when it spots the PCs. Since they don’t look like 
  the same group, the simian isn’t going to risk ﬁghting to the 
  death if it can help it.
  Remarkably, though the Apostles have worked with Swan for a 
  while, they have not encountered one of these beasts before as 
  Swan tended to use couriers. However, with the failure to get 
  a message to Paithas, he opted for a more guaranteed method. 
  Unfortunately for Swan, things just didn’t work as planned.
  If saved, the Apostles thank the PCs, and warn them against 
  continuing on to the Brown Bear, warning it is cursed and there 
  may be plague in the hills. They are vague on details, but push 
  hard for the PCs to go back the way they came. They don’t 
  resort to force, however. It’s obvious to the Apostles that if the 
  PCs could defeat the simian ﬁend, the Apostles can’t hope to 
  overcome them with force of arms. Instead, they relent and ask 
  the PCs to allow the Apostles to pay for a room at the Brown 
  Bear, as way of thanks. 
  FENNIATH (1)
  30 hp. See Appendix II for statistics.
  APOSTLES OF NATURE (DYAREELAN CULTISTS) (6)
  Male Wrigglie constable, fighter 1; CR 1; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d10+5; hp 11 each; Mdt 15; Init 
  +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 12, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 10; Base Atk 
  +1; Grap +2; Atk +3 melee (1d6+1/×3, handaxe); Full Atk 
  +3 melee (1d6+1/×3, handaxe); SQ constable trait, jaded; 
  Rep +0; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1; Str 13, Dex 14, Con 
  15, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
  Background Skills: Knowledge (local), Spot.
  Skills and Feats: Knowledge (local) +6, Listen +5, Sense 
  Motive +1 (+3 lies), Spot +9; Alertness B, Toughness, 
  Weapon Focus (handaxe).
  Languages: Wrigglie (S/W).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Handaxe, 2 torches, ﬂint and steel, ﬂask of oil, 
  traveler’s outﬁt, 1 sh, 42 pd.
  TACTICS
  Since the fenniath is clearly too much for them, the cultists 
  are simply trying to defend themselves and escape. Each one 
  ﬁghts defensively, attacking when necessary, but keeping out of 
  
  - 47 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  the combat as much as possible. Obviously, they won’t make it 
  very far, but they’re willing to die rather than lead such a terror 
  back to the farm and their precious infected pigs. The fenniath 
  just wants to ﬁnd Paithas. If the PCs attack, it defends itself 
  and tries to knock them out. Once it’s clearly outmatched, it 
  ﬂees into the hills and the Serripines grain-ﬁelds, where its 
  high speed makes it very likely it will escape.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Since the fenniath is clearly of the same species as the one the 
  PCs encountered when they tracked down Pace (assuming they 
  did so), it’s evident the Apostles are not of the same faction 
  as whoever had Pace killed. If they manage to kill it, they get 
  the message it’s trying to deliver to Paithas, which is a major 
  clue as to what’s going on. If it escapes, they’re more likely to 
  get the message after killing Paithas. The note is detailed in 
  Appendix III.
  SCENE SIX: THE BROWN BEAR
  The roadside tavern is fairly small and very old, though 
  it looks well maintained. A wooden sign hangs over its 
  main entrance, showing an oversized bear. The smell of 
  fresh baked bread wafts from the building, and the sounds 
  of baleful muttering come from within its stone walls.
  But another noise also reaches you, this one coming 
  from down the road. It’s the sound of many men marching 
  toward the inn. A group of 18 men, all dressed in the same 
  robes and carrying the same axes as the Apostles of Nature 
  that you met on the road, crest the hill and head toward 
  the Brown Bear. At their head is a small, portly man that 
  lacks the ﬁrm condition and conﬁdence the other Apostles 
  show, though he seems to lead them. Upon seeing you, the 
  small man raises his voice in greeting, and waves you all 
  to join him inside the inn.
  This is Paithas Meed and his cult of 17 fake Apostles (for a total 
  of 23, if the PCs saved all six on the road). (Six more Brothers 
  remain at the pig farm, to watch over their infected livestock.) 
  Paithas introduces himself and asks how the Apostles came to 
  be traveling with strangers. If the PCs saved some of his men, 
  Paithas is told of this and comes to thank them for their kind 
  intentions. However, he asks that the PCs seriously consider 
  leaving immediately. He and his Apostles would rather die than 
  see someone get diseased or cursed while trying to aid them. If 
  the PCs truly want to help the world, says Paithas, they should 
  go back to the road and warn others not to risk themselves.
  It’s important to note that Paithas has no idea who the PCs are. 
  He knows someone killed Pace, but doesn’t know the names 
  or faces of the PCs. If they explain they’re investigating the 
  death of Erilissi, Paithas claims to have no knowledge of it and 
  avoids further questions until he can talk to the Apostles with 
  them and ﬁnd out why the PCs weren’t killed. (Upon learning 
  they drove oﬀ a monster that six Apostles couldn’t deal with, he 
  
  - 48 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  takes one of the extreme measures outlined below if the PCs 
  give him enough time). 
  If the PCs confront Paithas here and now, they do so at 
  considerable risk. Paithas has at least 17 Apostles to support 
  him. Because he doesn’t want the locals to realize how violent 
  his men can get, he avoids a ﬁght here if he can without letting 
  the PCs blow his cover or get any advantage over him. If the 
  PCs press in trying to accuse him, he warns them to leave before 
  they suﬀer a serious defeat. If he can convince them to talk to 
  him in private later, he’ll do so. However, no matter what he 
  promises, he isn’t going to allow them to speak with him at 
  any time without at least a dozen Apostles present.
  If the PCs don’t tip their hand, Paithas considers them an 
  inconvenience rather than a serious threat. He plays the part of 
  friendly but concerned wise man for now, and continues on with 
  his plans to force Duncaen to help keep the farmers away.
  Not long after Paithas arrives at the Brown Bear, its owner 
  comes out to see what the commotion is about. The tavern is 
  owned by Duncaen, an experienced merchant and wily old coot, 
  along with his oldest daughter Engela. Duncaen tries to keep 
  trouble away from his place, and acts to calm anyone getting 
  heated about Paithas. Duncaen is suspicious of the Apostles, 
  but has no reason to think Paithas is a serious danger. Paithas 
  asks permission to speak about dangers facing the village to 
  everyone within the tavern and, though uncomfortable about 
  it, Duncaen agrees.
  The gist of Paithas’s pitch is simple—the constant and 
  mysterious troubles plaguing the local farms are proof that 
  the area is cursed. He speciﬁcally claims to have seen signs of 
  plague among local animals and plants, though he burned all 
  infected creatures so he has none left to show the citizens. He 
  urges everyone to leave the area if they possibly can or to stay 
  in their homes until the problems end if they can’t.
  There are 12 farmers present. (The locals aren’t likely to get 
  into a ﬁght with anyone, so no statistics are provided. If you 
  end up needing details for them, use the numbers for the 
  low-level city militia found in Appendix II.) The villagers 
  begin with an initial attitude of Unfriendly to Paithas, but 
  his Diplomacy check may be able to make them consider his 
  words anyway. His Diplomacy check takes 10 minutes, and 
  his followers all attempt to aid another by making unskilled 
  Diplomacy checks. If Paithas manages to bring anyone to 
  Helpful, they agree to leave the area the next day. Those who 
  are only Friendly oﬀer to consider his words, but plan to wait 
  to see if things get worse.
  Of course, the PCs may speak out against Paithas. If so, allow 
  them to make their own Diplomacy checks, and subtract their 
  totals from Paithas’s. This guarantees no one is going to shift 
  to Helpful, and makes even Friendly results unlikely. Duncaen 
  and his family won’t shift to more than Indiﬀerent, regardless 
  of Paithas’s check (they’re too suspicious of him to trust him, 
  no matter how slick he sounds). After he’s done talking, Paithas 
  asks Duncaen to close the Brown Bear to prevent the spread 
  of the plague, and to ask the PCs (and anyone else from out 
  of town) to leave. Duncaen promises to consider the request 
  (though he obviously has no intention of doing so), and oﬀers 
  Paithas a free room for the night (to get him out of the common 
  room). Paithas agrees once he has free rooms for his cultists 
  as well, and retires for the night.
  DUNCAN AND ENGELA
  hp 4 each; noncombatants.
  PAITHAS MEED
  hp 19; see statistics on page 51.
  CULTISTS (17)
  hp 11 each; see statistics on page 56.
  TACTICS
  If forced to ﬁght, Paithas immediately seeks cover behind 
  his Apostles. Then, he orders his men to target the toughest-
  looking combatant among his foes. If anyone is revealed to be 
  a spellcaster, Paithas makes them the target of choice for his 
  troops. Once safely behind his allies, Paithas uses color spray 
  and/or sleep to try to thin the ranks of his enemies. He’s willing 
  to catch one of his men in either spell if doing so is likely to 
  take out a foe.
  Paithas’s followers are extremely devoted to him. All are willing 
  to die for him and ﬁght viciously to protect him. They throw 
  their bodies in front of him, and attempt to swamp anyone 
  attacking him from range. They obey his every order, including 
  not attacking a speciﬁc foe even if that foe hits them; they suﬀer 
  such blows without complaint). If Paithas dies, the followers 
  present ﬁght to the death.
  These tactics apply any time Paithas or the Brothers get into a 
  ﬁght, which is actually more likely to happen later.
  Unless directly attacked, Duncaen and Engela stay out of any 
  ﬁghting.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Duncaen has just about had it with Paithas, and is looking for 
  any edge he can get over the cult leader. Since the PCs seem 
  to have earned the respect of at least a few of the Apostles, 
  Duncaen feels it might be wise to keep them around. Claiming 
  his inn has plenty of empty rooms at the moment, Duncaen 
  oﬀers to let the PCs stay for a few nights free of charge as a 
  reward for driving oﬀ what was obviously a serious threat to 
  him and his own. If pressed, Duncaen admits he’s hoping the 
  PCs may be able to discover what’s been causing such trouble 
  lately and eliminate it; giving a free room and meals is a small 
  price to pay for that chance.
  
  - 49 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  TREASURE
  The only treasure of note is that on Paithas.
  SCENE SEVEN: DAMSEL
  Early in the morning, Paithas Meed leaves his room to speak 
  to a few of the Apostles. Then Paithas leaves with 6 of the 
  Apostles to head back to the pig farm. Six more Apostles get 
  together to kidnap Engela. The rest head back down the road 
  to resume warning people oﬀ.
  If the PCs are watching Paithas or the Apostles, they’ll see the 
  group split into 3 groups, with 2 heading out and the remaining 
  heading to the common room of the Brown Bear (where Engela 
  has begun her morning chores). They can follow any of the 
  groups easily. If they head to the pig farm, go to Scene Eight. 
  If they follow the group headed down the road, nothing of 
  note happens unless the PCs make it happen. If they follow 
  the group walking into the Brown Bear, they see them grab 
  Engela and haul her oﬀ kicking and screaming.
  If the PCs aren’t watching Paithas or his men, their ﬁrst clue 
  that something is wrong in the early dawn hours is the sound of 
  Engela screaming her heart out. It takes several rounds for the 
  Apostles to successfully gag her, and even then, they can only 
  drag her ﬁve feet each round as long as she struggles. Duncaen 
  is likely to reach her ﬁrst, but can’t take on six Apostles, all 
  of whom warn the innkeeper that she dies if he interferes. If 
  the PCs show up, Duncaen asks them to save his daughter, 
  pointing out that if the Apostles wanted her dead they’d have 
  killed her already. If that doesn’t work, he oﬀers to give them 
  free room and board in the Brown Bear anytime they like if 
  they’ll save Engela.
  CULTISTS (9)
  hp 11 each; see statistics on page 56.
  TACTICS
  The cultists need Engela alive, to use as a leverage against 
  Duncaen, and do nothing to harm her. They ﬁght to the death 
  to get her away and back to the pig farm. None leaves unless 
  they can take Engela with them.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  Duncaen knows where the pig farm is, though he’s never been 
  there and doesn’t know why it’s important. Regardless of what 
  happens with Engela, he’s happy to tell the PCs what trail to 
  take to get to the farm, which is where Paithas is likely headed. 
  If Engela is captured, Duncaen tells the PCs what’s going on, 
  and stalls anyone else who asks by saying she’s missing and 
  he’s not sure what happened.
  If the PCs follow Paithas before Engela is grabbed, her fate 
  depends on what happens to Paithas. If the PCs kill or capture 
  him, or destroy the pig farm, her captors release her as she’s 
  now useless. If Paithas and the pig farm remain operational, 
  they keep Engela hostage to ensure her father’s cooperation.
  SCENE EIGHT: THE PIG FARM
  Read or paraphrase the following when the PCs ﬁrst reach 
  the pig farm.
  The woods thin, and then clear to reveal a small, 
  aging farm. The buildings are poorly maintained, with 
  holes visible in the roofs and weeds growing thickly. A 
  few men in robes with handaxes stand guard at both 
  the farmhouse and the barn doors. A large fence, the 
  only solidly constructed thing visible, surrounds an open 
  paddock where more than a dozen large, angry pigs can 
  be seen snarling at one another. A group of six robed men 
  emerge from the farmhouse and jog into the woods, headed 
  toward the far-oﬀ road to the inn. A tall, powerfully 
  built man stands in the doorway of the farmhouse brieﬂy, 
  before turning to speak to Paithas Meed. The two then 
  head back inside.
  This small farmhouse is the crux of the Dyareelan’s plot to bring 
  a plague back to Sanctuary. It is here that the pigs, infested with 
  plague-carrying ﬂeas, are held and kept healthy until there are 
  enough of them to spread the plague through the city. There 
  are only 24 pigs here right now, and the Dyareelan’s believe 
  they need at least 40 to be able to create an instant epidemic. 
  The farm is running out of funds, the last shipment ended up 
  wrecked on the coast of the Swamp of Night Secrets, and the 
  next shipment is days away yet. Paithas is preparing to have 
  one pig brought to Sanctuary as proof for Arion Swan that 
  the plot can proceed, but even that must wait a day or two for 
  a wagon to be brought. In the meantime, Paithas can do little 
  but wait and, if he has Engela, ensure Duncaen helps keep 
  people away.
  Although Paithas is the senior Dyareelan present, he’s not the 
  only one with some ability. When Paithas isn’t here, the grim 
  and tall Yurlund is in charge. Yurlund is unusually dedicated, 
  even for a Dyareelan, and has lived in this farm since he took 
  it from a few petty bandits who used it as a hideaway. Yurlund 
  thinks of Paithas as a weakling, and only obeys him because 
  Sorbeth commanded him to. Yurlund would be perfectly 
  happy to see Paithas dead. He believes just a few pigs would be 
  enough, because he believes his goddess wants the Dyareelans 
  to be back in control of the city. Anyone who feels otherwise 
  (like Paithas) is insuﬃciently faithful.
  Normally, there are eight people here—Yurlund, Paithas, and 
  six cultists in the guise of Apostles of Nature. Another six 
  cultists also live here, but normally are on patrol. At least three 
  cultists are awake and on guard at all times. PCs who observe 
  the farm from the woods can quickly determine that Yurlund 
  
  - 50 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  
  - 51 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  never leaves, the cultists cycle through their numbers regularly, 
  and Paithas investigates any serious disturbance. If the PCs 
  wish, they can attack when everyone is asleep except three 
  cultists, (with Paithas in the barn, sleeping), which gives them 
  a round or two before an outcry rouses everyone. However, as 
  Yurlund does not need sleep, he is always awake, armored, and 
  ready for trouble. Alternatively, the PCs could lure Paithas and 
  a few cultists into the woods and ambush them, or even go deal 
  with Yurlund and the remaining cultists while Paithas stomps 
  around the woods.
  If the PCs manage to examine a pig, a DC 10 Handle Animal 
  check reveals them to be infested with fat brown ﬂeas that 
  seem sluggish, as though intoxicated. This can be attributed 
  to the cold winter weather, which means the ﬂeas will become 
  much more active in a few weeks when Spring arrives. The pigs 
  themselves require constant care to prevent them from falling 
  ill. There’s a 10% chance that anyone interacting with the pigs 
  gets a ﬂeabite, exposing them to the Dyareelan plague (chaos 
  plague, contact, DC 13, incubation 1d3 days, 1d3 Wis and 1d3 
  Con). Because it is a magic disease, it’s impossible to be cured 
  by any normal means once a target is infected. If treatment or 
  successful Fortitude saves after getting sick would normally 
  indicate a cure, the disease is instead dormant for one week. 
  After that week, the victim must make a new save to see if 
  he gets sick again. Even when not showing symptoms, an 
  infected target can infect others. However, if the PCs obtain 
  the documents that Paithas Meed has, they discover a recipe 
  to cure the plague. Details for obtaining the special ingredients 
  necessary can be found in Act 3, Scene One: Making Change, 
  on page 53. 
  Anyone who makes a Handle Animal check of 5 or less 
  while dealing with a pig enrages it, causing an attack. Use the 
  statistics for boars from the MM.
  CULTISTS (9)
  hp 11 each; see statistics on page 56.
  PAITHAS MEED
  Male Ilsigi apprentice, mage 4; CR 4; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 4d4+8; hp 19; Mdt 15; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; 
  AC 10, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 10; Base Atk +2; Grap +3; Atk 
  +4 melee (1d4+1/19–20, masterwork dagger); Full Atk +4 
  melee (1d4+1/19–20, masterwork dagger); SQ apprentice 
  trait, skilled, technique (metamagic expert); Rep +1; SV 
  Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +3; Str 12, Dex 11, Con 15, Int 14, 
  Wis 8, Cha 13.
  Background Skills: Concentration, Spellcraft
  Skills and Feats: Concentration +10, Diplomacy +11, Gather 
  Information +4, Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge 
  (history) +8, Knowledge (local) +8, Listen +1, Spellcraft +11, 
  Spot +1; Alertness, Endurance, Skill Focus (Diplomacy) B, 
  Still Spell B.
  Languages: Ilsig (S/W), Rankene (S/W), Wrigglie (S), 
  Yenized (W).
  Spells: safe level 2nd; spellcasting +9; ritualcasting +6; save 
  DC 12 + spell level.
  Known Spells (7): color spray (1st, MT 20, price 1), grease 
  (1st, MT 20, price 1), gust of wind (2nd, MT 30, price 2), 
  levitate (2nd, MT 30, price 2), message (0-level, MT 10, 
  price 0/1), prestidigitation (0-level, MT 10, price 0/1), sleep 
  (1st, MT 20, price 1).
  Familiar Spells (7): blink (3rd, MT 40, price 6 lethal), hold 
  portal (1st, MT 20, price 1), pyrotechnics (2nd, MT 30, price 
  2), read magic (0-level, MT 10, price 0/1), shatter (2nd, MT 
  30, price 2), shield (1st, MT 20, price 1), ventriloquism (1st, 
  MT 20, price 1).
  Possessions: Masterwork dagger, lesser rod of silent spell.
  YURLUND
  Male Mrsevadan acolyte, godsworn 4; CR 4; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 4d10+15; hp 37; Mdt 21; Init +2; 
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 17, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 15; Base Atk +4; 
  Grap +6; Atk +7 melee (2d4+3/×3, masterwork Enlibar steel 
  ranseur) or +7 ranged (1d4+2/19–20, masterwork dagger); 
  Full Atk +7 melee (2d4+3/×3, masterwork Enlibar steel 
  ranseur) or +7 ranged (1d4+2/19–20, masterwork dagger); 
  SQ acolyte trait, brash, divine health ×2 (need not sleep, +1 
  hp/hr); Rep +1; SV Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +3; Str 15, Dex 
  14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 11.
  Background Skills: Heal, Knowledge (religion).
  Skills and Feats: Diplomacy +2, Handle Animal +6, Heal +3, 
  Knowledge (religion) +8, Ride +6, Sense Motive +8; Combat 
  Reﬂexes B, Power Attack, Toughness B.
  Languages: Mrsevadan (S), Wrigglie (S).
  Spells: safe level 2nd; ritualcasting +3; save DC 11 + spell 
  level.
  Known Spells (3+2d): convert light wounds (1st, MT 20, price 
  1), convert minor wounds (0-level, MT 10, price 0/1), doom 
  (1st, MT 20, price 1), shatter (2nd, MT 30, price 2), zone of 
  truth (2nd, MT 30, price 2).
  D: Domain spell. Domain: Catastrophe (limited evasion).
  Familiar Spells (2): detect curse (1st, MT 20, price 1), detect 
  magic (0-level, MT 10, price 0/1).
  Possessions: Mithral breastplate, masterwork Enlibar steel 
  ranseur, masterwork dagger, 5 sh.
  TACTICS
  Paithas and any cultists with him use the same tactics described 
  in Scene Six. Paithas considers himself to be important, but 
  isn’t willing to go back to Sanctuary if the pig farm has been 
  
  - 52 -
  ACT II: THE PLOT THICKENS
  destroyed. He ﬂees against foes that seem to be attacking him, 
  but ﬁghts to the death against foes trying to damage the farm 
  or free the pigs.
  Yurlund is a diﬀerent matter. Though infused with the power 
  of his deity, Yurlund tries rituals only outside of combat (often 
  to heal himself or allies). During a ﬁght, he depends on his 
  Enlibar steel “boar spear” (ranseur) and armor. Yurlund doesn’t 
  believe in negotiations—anyone who seems hostile is attacked 
  and killed. Someone who might not be hostile is warned oﬀ, 
  and then attacked if they refuse to leave. Yurlund never sleeps, 
  and is always armed and armored. As long as he’s up, no cultist 
  who sees him surrenders or ﬂees except Paithas.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If the PCs get the documents Paithas has on him, they don’t 
  have to deal with the rest of this situation if they don’t want to. 
  Yurlund makes only a token eﬀort to chase them, considering 
  the pigs far more important. If the PCs tell the Sharda about 
  the pig farm, Yurlund and the Brothers are taken out by a 
  group of guards, Sharda, militia, and Irrune who think a ﬁght 
  sounds like fun. If the PCs don’t mention them, Yurlund brings 
  24 pigs into Sanctuary in a few weeks, and begins spreading 
  disease. However, there aren’t enough pigs, and normal 
  measures of quarantine prevent the sickness from becoming 
  a major outbreak.
  If captured, Paithas refuses to cooperate unless forced. Of 
  course, the papers he has from Erilissi’s body and the message 
  from Arion Swan are pretty damning evidence that he’s behind 
  some plot, if not speciﬁcally what. He also has tattoos across 
  his back marking him as a Dyareelan, as do most of the cultists 
  present.
  Further, the cultists other than Paithas and Yurlund are less 
  dedicated, and willing to talk to spare their own lives. They 
  know only that the cult hoped to use a plague to bring itself 
  back to power, and Paithas made arrangements for that with 
  Erilissi. Recently Paithas was angry with Erilissi and has called 
  him a traitor in the past few days. They also know another 
  shipment of pigs is due soon, but not where or on what ship.
  By the end of this encounter, the PCs should know the 
  following. Erilissi was a contact of both Paithas and Arion 
  Swan. Paithas had Erilissi killed by Master Whoever, likely 
  because Erilissi refused to provide more money. Paithas is 
  part of the Dyareelan cult, who wishes to bring infected pigs 
  into Sanctuary. The cult has a cure, but it appears Erilissi was 
  working for another master as well, and planned to die in the 
  plague while making the cure public. Arion has a meeting 
  planned with Paithas “beneath the Black Temple” to discuss 
  the matter. Even if the PCs aren’t clear on all these details, 
  they’ll soon be explaining them to the Sharda, which gives you 
  an opportunity to bring things together for them.
  Now, it’s time to head back to Sanctuary.
  
  - 53 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  By now, the PCs should have the basic elements of the plot clear 
  in their head, even if a detail or two is missing, and know that 
  the missing linchpin is Arion Swan. If they aren’t sure of that last 
  point, they likely will be soon (see Scene One). In fact, presenting 
  the information they have gathered so far to the Sharda is enough 
  to win them a reward of 100 sh each (assuming they’ve dealt with 
  the pig farm—it’s only 25 sh each if they just report on the farm) 
  and most of their freedom. While the Sharda warn the PCs that 
  Judge Nevermind isn’t completely satisﬁed and would like the PCs 
  to investigate further, the oﬃcial restrictions on their travel are lifted. 
  If they wish, the PCs can just walk away.
  However, walking away means leaving some powerful enemies 
  behind them. If the players don’t seem to realize just how 
  dangerous people like Arion Swan and the Dyareelans can be, a 
  side trip can drive the point home (see Interludes). During any 
  of their interactions over the next few days, the PCs overhear 
  people muttering whenever they pass. Any investigation reveals 
  word is out that there may be a contract out for the death of 
  the PCs. Most people assume whoever had Erilissi killed wants 
  the PCs eliminated before they can expose every detail of the 
  plot.
  As it happens this isn’t true yet, but it easily could be. If Arion 
  Swan and Sorbeth aren’t dealt with by the PCs, they escape 
  any trap the Irrune set under the Black Temple. The spy and 
  the cultist become a thorn in the PCs’ sides, sending killers and 
  rumors after the PCs wherever they go. The PCs can ignore 
  this—or they can ﬁnally decide to hunt their enemies down and 
  ﬁnish what they started.
  The ﬁnal combats in this adventure are signiﬁcantly more 
  diﬃcult than anything the PCs have tried so far. They need to 
  be at least 3rd level to handle these challenges, and it would be 
  better if they were 4th before the ﬁnal ﬁght on the Blackguard. 
  If the PCs are a bit from reaching that goal, this is a good time 
  to go through any remaining side trips outlined in the Interludes 
  section (above).
  SCENE ONE: MAKING CHANGE
  If the PCs want to brew a dose or three of the plague’s cure 
  (using instructions found in the note of Erilissi’s, which they 
  found on Paithas Meed), they soon discover the ingredients 
  listed are very rare. While they are medicinal, they are all from 
  distant lands and not particularly eﬀective. No apothecary or 
  poisoner in town carries them and, if asked, they all suggest the 
  PCs check with Bezul the Changer in the Shambles, who often 
  has such rare odds and ends.
  Read or paraphrase the following information when the PCs 
  ﬁrst enter Bezul’s shop.
  As you pass through the shop’s doorway, you instantly 
  feel crowded. The inside is tightly packed with shelves set 
  into rows, all crammed from ﬂoor to ceiling with stuﬀ. 
  Though every object is placed neatly on its shelf, there seems 
  to be no rhyme or reason to its organization. Buckets, belts, 
  boots, bottles, and badger claws sit next to clumps of wax, 
  ACT III: 
  FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  
  - 54 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  ﬁshhooks, glass beads, rope, paper envelopes and pruning 
  shears. The shop (which is really the front end of a block-
  square warehouse) looks like someone mixed a trash heap 
  with a rummage sale, and organized the whole aﬀair 
  alphabetically by last name.
  As your eyes adjust to the darkness and take in the fact 
  that yet more shelves are packed together in the back of the 
  shop, a goose wanders up. It considers you solemnly, before 
  tilting its head and letting loose an indignant honk.
  This is the shop of Bezul the Changer, the only man in 
  Sanctuary likely to have the odd laundry list of ingredients 
  required for the plague’s cure. Normally, Bezul runs the shop 
  with the help of his wife and a friend or two, but today most 
  everyone is busy, leaving Bezul to hold the place down by 
  himself (with the help of his two hired guards Ammen and 
  Jopze). There are regular customers present, but no one Bezul 
  would trust alone in the shop.
  When asked for the ingredients to the plague’s cure, Bezul 
  doesn’t bat an eyelash. He gathers things from various shelves 
  quickly, but warns that he doesn’t have much of these particular 
  items. Normally, Bezul would be able to provide enough of these 
  materials for 9–12 doses of the cure, but not at the moment. 
  Oddly, someone just came through a few days ago and asked for 
  all the same items. As a result, Bezul only has enough for 2 doses 
  (and only that much because he made an eﬀort to replenish his 
  supply). A DC 20 Bluﬀ, Diplomacy, Gather Information, or 
  Intimidate check allows a PC to wheedle, bully or trick Bezul 
  into telling who the previous client was (Bezul normally doesn’t 
  pass out such information—it’s bad for business).
  If the PCs can’t get the info out of Bezul, another of his 
  customers, Mashat Tane, oﬀers to sell, for 20 sh, the identity 
  of the previous customer (having seen the transaction go 
  down 2 days ago). Mashat carefully makes this oﬀer out of 
  casual hearing range of Bezul, but close enough to be heard if 
  screaming. If the PCs pressure Mashat rather than pay him, he 
  yells for Bezul, who comes and calls for the guard. (If you need 
  statistics for Mashat, use the typical thug).
  The man who bought out Bezul’s supplies a few days ago is 
  none other than Arion Swan, a name the PCs have heard 
  before. Arion was agitated and paid well in coin for the items 
  he requested. He left instructions that if any more could be 
  found, it should be brought immediately to the Vulgar Unicorn, 
  where Arion expected to be staying. Bezul sent a runner to take 
  the new shipment of items to Arion yesterday, but the man 
  wasn’t staying at the tavern and hadn’t been seen in a day.
  A character armed with the ingredients for the plague’s cure 
  can treat an infected character with a DC 10 Heal check. 
  Brewing a dose of the cure in advance takes a DC 15 Craft 
  (herbalism) check, but once done the curative is potent for 3 
  weeks. Anyone infected is cured within an hour of drinking 
  the cure, though ability points lost to the ravages of the disease 
  must be healed normally.
  
  - 55 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  BEZUL THE CHANGER
  Male Wrigglie merchant, savant 6; CR 6; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 6d6+3; hp 26; Mdt 11; Init +0; 
  Spd 30ft.; AC 11, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 11; Base Atk +4; 
  Grap +5; Atk +6 melee (1d4+1/19–20, masterwork dagger); 
  Full Atk +6 melee (1d4+1/19–20, masterwork dagger); SA 
  master merchant, merchant trait, supportive; SQ jaded, 
  merchant trait; Rep +1; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +8; Str 
  12, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 13.
  Background Skills: Appraise, Knowledge (local).
  Skills and Feats: Appraise +14, Bluﬀ +7, Diplomacy +16, 
  Disguise +1 (+3 acting), Gather Information +14, Handle 
  Animal +7, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (local) +13, Listen 
  +9, Profession (merchant) +14, Ride +2, Search +10, Sense 
  Motive +9, Spot +8, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks); 
  Combat Expertise, Investigator B, Manhunter*, Negotiator 
  B, Skill Focus (Profession: merchant) B, Toughness.
  *New feat, see Thieves’ World Player’s Manual for details.
  Languages: Ilsig (S/W), Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (2).
  Possessions: Padded, masterwork dagger, potion of convert 
  moderate wounds. At any time there are approximately 5000 
  shaboozh worth of items and equipment in the Changing 
  House, possibly including weapons and magical items; the 
  inventory changes constantly, but Bezul can usually lay his 
  hands on something useful.
  AMMEN AND JOPZE
  Male Wrigglie mercenary, fighter 2; CR 2; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 2d10+2; hp 17; Mdt 16; Init +0; 
  Spd 20 ft.; AC 14, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 14; Base Atk +2; 
  Grap +3; Atk +4 melee (1d8+1/19–20, longsword); Full Atk 
  +4 melee (1d8+1/19–20, longsword); SQ jaded, mercenary 
  trait; Rep +0; SV Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +1; Str 13, Dex 10, 
  Con 12, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 9.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (geography).
  Skills and Feats: Climb +0, Disguise +0, Intimidate +5, 
  Knowledge (geography) +2; Alertness B, Improved Bull Rush 
  B, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (longsword) B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Skill (1).
  Possessions: Scale mail, longsword.
  MASHAT TANE
  hp 3; noncombatant.
  SCENE TWO:  
  FINDING THE BLACK TEMPLE
  The next step in the adventure is for the player characters to 
  track down Arion Swan. Their best chance is to intercept him 
  at the mysterious “Black Temple”, a ruin located on the Avenue 
  of Temples. Getting the characters to reach this conclusion, 
  however, can be a bit tricky. If the PCs haven’t come across or 
  have an idea how to locate the Black Temple, you can use the 
  Sharda to move the events forward. These investigators will 
  eventually locate this profane place and mount a raid to clear out 
  the tunnels. Assuming the player characters have been working 
  closely with the Sharda, they are likely to be asked along for 
  added support. 
  Alternatively, the characters can do some probing of their 
  own. Allow the players to guide the investigation, letting them 
  determine the proper NPCs to query, the right locations to 
  stake-out, and so on. This is also a good time to make use 
  of any information contacts or revisit any of the characters 
  already met in the adventure thus far. In short, any reasonable 
  plan for investigation that the PCs come up with can work, 
  with a Bluﬀ, Diplomacy, Gather Information, or Intimidate 
  check (as appropriate) made by a PC or contact acting as an 
  “investigation check” to determine how much information is 
  turned up.
  INVESTIGATION 
  Check
  Information learned
  10
  The Black Temple is an old building abandoned since the banishment of worship within the walls of 
  Sanctuary. It has a single entrance, and is sometimes used as a meeting place for criminals. (The location 
  of one of the two entrances is given, so the PCs can lead a raid there with this information.)
  15
  The space beneath the Black Temple is an old catacomb, where the bodies of the wealthy were once buried. 
  It  has long since been raided for valuables, but criminals no longer go there after several disappeared.
  20
  There are two entrances to the barrows under the Black Temple, set on opposite sides of the building. 
  (With this information the PCs can come in from both ends if they wish, or send allies to the far 
  entrance to ensure no one escapes).
  25
  A cult of Dyareelans has moved into the Black Temple.
  
  - 56 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  SCENE THREE:  
  BELOW THE BLACK TEMPLE
  The set up for this encounter is looser than most, because there 
  are so many ways the PCs could decide to handle this. If they 
  decide to go it alone, this proves to be their most diﬃcult ﬁght 
  yet. If they go for help or are part of a raid planned by the Irrune 
  or Sharda, the stakes are much lower. If the PCs ﬂatly refuse to 
  get involved, you can even have NPCs from this ﬁght come ﬁnd 
  them after the catacomb is raided, looking for revenge.
  The Black Temple itself is little more than a few wooden walls, 
  the stone all having been raided months ago. At each end of the 
  temple’s old grounds are simple trap doors (DC 15 Search check, 
  or obvious if the temple is watched until a cultist sneaks in or out 
  of the barrows). There are two guards at each end of the barrow at 
  all times. The number of cultists varies depending on who is busy 
  with their other lives—all these cultists maintain a secret identity 
  within the community of Sanctuary. As few as six cultists may be 
  present, or as many as thirty. If the PCs intend to raid the barrow 
  themselves, they should be able to time it for a minimal number 
  of cultists. If they have help from the guard or Irrune, the number 
  should be higher. Sorbeth is always inside, as is Arion Swan. Swan 
  and Sorbeth don’t trust each other, but both are waiting to hear 
  from Paithas before taking any drastic action.
  Swan has his last fenniath with him and is depending on it to 
  keep him safe from the cultists. He raised the creatures from 
  pups and is actually quite attached to them. However, he does 
  his best to seem to be in, at best, rough control of the creature. 
  This allows him to surrender if things go poorly, but claim he 
  can’t force the fenniath to give up. If the creature manages to 
  win, or even create a likely escape route, Arion takes it even if 
  he’s already surrendered.
  If the PCs try this by themselves, allow them to plan their tactics, 
  timing, and approach. Randomly determine which NPC is in what 
  part of the barrow, and who is awake or asleep. If the PCs have 
  signiﬁcant help, describe the early parts of the raid as a confused 
  maze of twisting corridors and running ﬁghts, with the PCs getting 
  separated from most of the other attackers. You may describe them 
  seeing a man dressed better than any of the cultists running down 
  a side corridor with a fennaith alongside him to goad the PCs into 
  separating themselves from the main raiding group. Then, use the 
  catacomb map as only part of the underground complex, with 
  just Arion, Sorbeth, a single cultist, and the fenniath present. This 
  allows the PCs to be in the thick of the most important ﬁghting, 
  without penalizing them for getting help. Feel free to add setting 
  details such as altars to unknown deities, prisoners, sleeping quarters, 
  and miscellaneous loot for window dressing. The barrows are 
  intentionally loose to allow you the ability to customize this critical 
  section of the adventure for your group.
  TYPICAL CULTIST (6–30)
  Male or female Wrigglie Dyareelan cultist, survivor 2; CR 2; 
  Medium humanoid (human); HD 2d10+2; hp 13; Mdt 18; 
  Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 13; Base Atk 
  +1; Grap +2; Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork club) or +2 
  melee (1d6+1, unarmed strike) or +2 ranged (1d4+1/19–20, 
  masterwork dagger); Full Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork 
  club) or +2 melee (1d6+1, unarmed strike) or +2 ranged 
  (1d4+1/19–20, masterwork dagger); SA bruiser trait, ﬁght 
  or ﬂight (aggressive); SQ Dyareelan cultist trait, jaded; Rep 
  +0; SV Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +5; Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, 
  Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 9.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (religion).
  Skills and Feats: Climb +6, Intimidate +9, Jump +6, Knowledge 
  (religion) +1, Listen +5, Spot +5, Survival +5; Endurance B, 
  Improved Damage Threshold B, Improved Unarmed Strike 
  B, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Intimidate) B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Masterwork studded leather, masterwork club, 
  masterwork dagger, cloak of resistance +1.
  ARION SWAN
  Male Rankan courtier, Noble 6; CR 6; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 6d8–6; hp 24; Mdt 9; Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 
  12, touch 11, ﬂat-footed 11; Base Atk +4; Grap +4; Atk 
  +5 melee (1d4/19–20, masterwork dagger); Full Atk +5 
  melee (1d4/19–20, masterwork dagger); SQ courtier trait, 
  diplomat, inspire 8/day (competence, complacency, courage), 
  literate, organize +4; Rep +2; SV Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +7; 
  Str 10, Dex 13, Con 8, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 16.
  NEW BACKGROUND: MERCENARY
  You’re a sellsword. It never mattered who you served; good 
  or bad don’t mean a diﬀerence so long as the soldats ﬂow. 
  You go where there’s a need for muscle, and Sanctuary is 
  just as good as any place else.
  Age Modiﬁer: +1.
  BONUS SKILLS
  Select two from the following: Intimidate, Knowledge 
  (geography), Ride, or Sense Motive.
  MERCENARY TRAIT
  You’ve grown accustomed to the rigors of a mercenary life. 
  You gain a +2 bonus to the following checks and saves: 
  Constitution checks made to continue running, Constitution 
  checks to avoid nonlethal damage from a forced march, 
  Constitution checks made to avoid nonlethal damage from 
  starvation or thirst, and Fortitude saves made to avoid 
  nonlethal damage from hot or cold environments. 
  
  - 57 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  to front entrance
  to rear 
  entrance
  cult 
  temple
  
  - 58 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  Background Skills: Bluﬀ, Sense Motive.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +16, Diplomacy +22, Disguise +5 (+7 
  acting), Forgery +6, Gather Information +8, Handle Animal 
  +8, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge 
  (nobility & royalty) +7, Ride +7, Sense Motive +16, Sleight of 
  Hand +5; Combat Expertise, Deceitful B, Dodge, Leadership 
  B, Lightning Reﬂexes B, Mobility, Negotiator B.
  Languages: Ilsigi (S), Irrune (S), Rankene (S/W), Wrigglie 
  (S), Yenized (S/W).
  Contacts: Information (1), Skill (1).
  Possessions: Masterwork dagger, bracers of armor +1, gloves of 
  arrow snaring, 200 sh.
  FENNIATH (1)
  30 hp. See Appendix II for statistics.
  SORBETH
  Male Wriggle merchant, Initiate 4; CR 4; Medium 
  humanoid; HD 4d6; hp 16; Mdt 15; Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; 
  AC 16, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 15; Base Atk +3; Grap +3; 
  Atk +3  melee (1d8, heavy mace) or +4 ranged (1d4/19–20, 
  dagger); Full Atk +3 melee (1d8, heavy mace) or +4 ranged 
  (1d4/19–20, dagger); SQ eclectic sorcery (Int), jaded, 
  merchant trait; Rep +1; SV Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +6; Str 
  10, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 14.
  Background Skills: Diplomacy, Knowledge (local).
  Skills and Feats: Appraise +3 (+5 alchemical items or 
  herbalism items), Bluff  +2 (+3 buying and selling), 
  Concentration +5, Craft (alchemy) +7, Craft (herbalism) +9, 
  Diplomacy +12 (+13 buying and selling), Gather Information 
  +9, Heal +4, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (local) +9, 
  Knowledge (nature) +7, Listen +3, Profession (innkeeper) 
  +8, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +9, Spot +3, Survival +1 (+3 
  aboveground natural environments); Alertness B, Combat 
  Expertise B, Silent Spell, Still Spell.
  Languages: Rankene (S/W), Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Inﬂuence (1), Information (1).
  Spells: safe level 2nd; spellcasting +6; save DC 12 + spell level.
  Known Spells (4): cat’s grace (2nd, MT 30, price 2), convert 
  light wounds (1st, MT 20, price 1), detect thoughts (2nd, MT 
  30, price 2), mending (0-level, MT 10, price 0/1).
  Familiar Spells (2): detect magic (0-level, MT 10, price 0/1), 
  locate object (2nd, MT 30, price 2).
  Possessions: Heavy mace, dagger, chain shirt, four potions of 
  convert light wounds, +1 ring of protection, 20 sh.
  TACTICS
  Arion is not much of a ﬁghter by himself. He directs his fenniath 
  as best he can, and stays behind it if at all possible. Arion’s main 
  concern is melee combatants, especially those with big weapons 
  or wearing heavy armor. However, anyone who seriously damages 
  Arion becomes his target of choice. Arion ﬂees if he can, but 
  doesn’t risk running past foes who might cut him down as he 
  runs by.
  Sorbeth ﬁghts to the death. He doesn’t depend on his magic 
  during a ﬁght (it’s mostly useful for managing and controlling his 
  cultists during the long, slow months of hiding). If he notices an 
  opposing spellcaster, that character becomes his primary target, 
  especially if he’s a priest or witch. Sorbeth is willing to take big 
  risks to kill or wound even one of his foes. He has great faith in 
  his deity, and expects a miracle to save him at the last second as 
  long as he ﬁghts to the best of his ability.
  Cultists work to protect Sorbeth ﬁrst and foremost, and Arion 
  secondarily. None surrender, even if Sorbeth is captured. The 
  fenniath ﬁghts to the death, ignoring Arion even if he is somehow 
  convinced to tell it to surrender.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  If he can’t escape, and it’s clear his remaining fenniath can’t save 
  him, Arion surrenders. He’s a pragmatic, and would much rather 
  survive than die for any cause. Besides, he knows when the last 
  shipment of infected pigs (the Blackguard) is due, and that it’s 
  going to dock directly in the city. Even if the PCs have the cure 
  to the plague, if the pigs are released into the city, a few people 
  
  - 59 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  are bound to be infected and die before they can be found. Even 
  better, the ship has an actual Rankan noble on board, with papers 
  authorizing him to oﬀer the people of Sanctuary protection from 
  the Irrune and Ilsigi. Not quite proof that the Rankan are behind 
  the whole plague plot, but certainly evidence enough to interest 
  the Irrune. Arion doesn’t trust the PCs to keep him safe, so he 
  insists he be taken to someone with authority (Judge Nevermind 
  of Ariak himself) in order to trade his information for his life.
  Sorbeth and the cultists, on the other hand, don’t have much 
  of anything left to live for. Even if they survive or escape for 
  some reason, they simply plan suicide attacks against the PCs 
  for the next few days. This plot was their last hope to be lords 
  of Sanctuary again. Even if other Dyareelans continue to work 
  toward regaining power, this group gives up after this raid.
  SCENE FOUR:  
  BATTLE OF THE BLACKGUARD
  The ship is a single sail vessel with sparse cargo space for 
  a merchant ship, but lacking the deck weapons or ram plates 
  common to military ships. Its sails and ﬂags are dull white, 
  but trimmed in black on all sides. The prow is high, allowing 
  one or more deckhands to remain hidden when the ship is 
  viewed from the front. A black wooden ﬁgurehead shows a 
  bare-chested man snarling at the sea, making the whole ship 
  seem angry at the world.
  The ﬁnal showdown with the Blackguard can go several ways. 
  The PCs can go out on their own to ﬁnd the ship at sea and try 
  to board it, requiring them to get a captain and crew willing to 
  try such a thing. They can set up an ambush for the ship when it 
  comes into port. Or, they can take either of those options with the 
  help of the Irrune and/or the city militia and guard. If the PCs 
  already worked with the Sharda for the raid on the barrows, having 
  the Irrune involved is very likely. Even if the PCs handled Arion 
  Swan by themselves, they’re likely to need help this time.
  The upshot is that the more help the PCs get, the easier the ﬁght 
  should be, but also the less their ﬁnal take of the treasure should 
  be (less challenge means less reward, see Scene Five). It’s also 
  important to consider how complicated a ﬁght you, as GM, are 
  ready and willing to run. There are three dozen sailors on the 
  Blackguard in addition to a dozen infected pigs, a Rankan envoy, 
  and a Nisibisi witch. Running a ﬁght against 38 foes could get 
  so bogged down as to not be fun.
  If the PCs don’t know the Blackguard is coming, they can simply 
  be on the docks when it comes in and begins to unload the pigs. 
  A few guards realize what’s going on and attack, and the PCs are 
  free to ﬁght or ﬂee as they prefer. The main diﬀerence with this 
  scenario is that Fersun is almost sure to escape into the crowd, 
  and Demara has plenty of time for rituals before she allows any 
  pigs oﬀ the ship, making her a much more formidable foe.
  Again, like the ﬁght under the Black Temple, set the stage for the 
  ﬁght carefully, and let the players know that however their section 
  of the ﬁght turns out is how the whole conﬂict goes. Allow the PCs 
  to set their plans, then make sure wherever they intend to attack 
  is where Demara and Fersun happen to be. If the PCs attack the 
  ship on their own, don’t have more than nine sailors on board at 
  any one time (assume others are dealing with rigging and cargo and 
  such), but have a new sailor arrive on the scene the round after one 
  of the 9 is killed. (If the PCs really want to take on a whole ship by 
  themselves, they’ll have to deal with 36 sailors.) If the PCs have 
  help, have a single mid-level typical Irrune ﬁghting with them, and 
  assume all other assistance is taking care of the other 36 sailors.
  Demara’s only real concern is her own well-being. She’s gone to 
  considerable trouble to get herself on a ship headed to Sanctuary, 
  and doesn’t intend to be killed or captured now (though captured 
  is preferable to killed). She’s convinced there are Nisibisi artifacts 
  hidden in Sanctuary that could give her people the edge they 
  need to rebuild their culture and topple (or at least wound) the 
  Rankan empire. She only agreed to be part of Torril’s ridiculous 
  plan because it got her money, a possible edge over a potential 
  Rankan emperor, and a free trip to Sanctuary. She cares nothing 
  for the safety or success of her employer or the well-being of 
  anyone else on the ship.
  Fersun does care about the crew, but assumes they’re better oﬀ 
  dead than captured. If it looks like he might be able to cut a 
  deal with a PC in combat, he’ll do that, but a PC would have 
  to bring up the possibility ﬁrst. Otherwise, Fersun assumes an 
  attack on the Blackguard is proof the whole plot has already 
  failed, and that his life is already over.
  SAILORS (36)
  Male or female Wrigglie pirate, thief 1, warrior 1; CR 1; 
  Medium humanoid (human); HD 1d6 plus 1d8; hp 8 each; 
  Mdt 14; Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 14, touch 11, ﬂat-footed 
  13; Base Atk +1; Grap +2; Atk +3 melee (1d6+1/18–20, 
  masterwork cold iron scimitar) or +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork 
  sap) or +3 ranged (1d8/19–20, masterwork light crossbow); Full 
  Atk +3 melee (1d6+1/18–20, masterwork cold iron scimitar) or 
  +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork sap) or +3 ranged (1d8/19–20, 
  masterwork light crossbow); SA sneak attack +1d6; SQ jaded, 
  pirate trait, trapﬁnding; Rep +0; SV Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +0; 
  Str 12, Dex 13, Con 11, Int 9, Wis 8, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Swim.
  Skills and Feats: Balance +7, Bluﬀ +4, Climb +6 (+8 rigging), 
  Intimidate +6, Jump +5, Listen +1, Spot +1, Swim +8, 
  Tumble +5, Use Rope +5; Alertness B, Dodge.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Masterwork studded leather, masterwork 
  scimitar, masterwork sap, masterwork light crossbow with 
  10 bolts, large sack.
  
  - 60 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  DEMARA
  Female Nisibisi apprentice, witch 6; CR 6; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 6d4+15; hp 30; Mdt 14; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 
  14, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 12; Base Atk +3; Grap +2; Atk +3 melee 
  (1d8–1/×3, masterwork longspear) or +6 ranged (1d4–1/19–20, 
  masterwork dagger); Full Atk +3 melee (1d8–1/×3, masterwork 
  longspear) or +6 ranged (1d4–1/19–20, masterwork dagger); 
  SA witchcraft (force of personality, unnatural vitality); SQ 
  apprentice trait, cruel; Rep +1; SV Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +5; 
  Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16.
  Background Skills: Speak Language, Spellcraft.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +6, Concentration +10, Diplomacy 
  +18, Disguise +6, Gather Information +6, Intimidate +9 
  (+12 when recognized), Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge 
  (local) +4, Spellcraft +12; Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Still 
  Spell, Toughness, Witchblooded *B.
  *New feat, see Thieves’ World Player’s Manual for details.
  Languages: Rankne (S/W), Nisibi (S/W), Wrigglie (S), 
  Yenized (S).
  Contacts: Information (Arion, Fersun)
  Spells: safe level 3rd; spellcasting +12; ritualcasting +10; save 
  DC 13 + spell level
  Known Spells (10): call lightning (3rd, MT 40, price 3), cause 
  fear (2nd, MT 30, price 2), charm animal (1st, MT 20, price 
  1), convert minor wounds (0-level, MT 10, price 0/1), faerie 
  ﬁre (1st, MT 20, price 1), produce ﬂame (1st, MT 20, price 
  1), remove fear (2nd, MT 30, price 2) , sleep (2nd, MT 30, 
  price 2), summon nature’s ally I (1st, MT 20, price 1) , water 
  breathing (3rd, MT 40, price 3).
  Familiar Spells (10): cat’s grace (2nd, MT 30, price 2), darkness 
  (3rd, MT 40, price 3), detect secret doors (2nd, MT 30, price 2), 
  disguise self (2nd, MT 30, price 2), endure elements (1st, MT 20, 
  price 1), hideous laughter (2nd, MT 30, price 2), identify (2nd, 
  MT 30, price 2), mage hand (1st, MT 20, price 1), resistance 
  (0-level, MT 10, price 0/1), sound burst (3rd, MT 40, price 3).
  Possessions: Masterwork longspear, masterwork dagger, potion 
  of convert moderate wounds, bracers of armor +2, spell focus +2 
  (iron dagger), ritual focus +1 (jade incense holder), 125 sh.
  ENVOY FERSUN
  Male Rankan merchant, expert 4; CR 3; Medium humanoid 
  (human); HD 4d6; hp 17; Mdt 10, Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 11, 
  touch 11, ﬂat-footed 10; Base Atk +3; Grap +3; Atk +3 melee 
  (1d4/19–20, dagger) or +4 ranged (1d4/19–20, dagger); Full 
  Atk +3 melee (1d4/19–20, dagger) or +4 ranged (1d4/19–20, 
  dagger); SQ merchant trait; Rep +1; SV Fort +1, Ref +2, Will 
  +5; Str 10, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 12.
  Background Skills: Diplomacy, Sense Motive.
  Skills and Feats: Appraise +9, Diplomacy +12, Gather 
  Information +3, Heal +6, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge 
  (local) +6, Listen +8, Profession (merchant) +6, Search +6, 
  Sense Motive +10, Spot +6, Survival +1 (+3 follow tracks); 
  Endurance, Point Blank Shot, Skill Focus (Sense Motive) B.
  Languages: Rankene (S/W), Wrigglie (S).
  Possessions: 2 daggers, 300 sh.
  FERSUN’S BODYGUARDS (2)
  Male Wrigglie thug, thief 1, warrior 1; CR 1; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d6+1 plus 1d8+1; hp 10; Mdt 15; 
  Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 13; Base Atk 
  +1; Grap +2; Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, masterwork club) 
  or +1 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap) or +1 ranged 
  (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); Full Atk +3 melee 
  (1d6+1, masterwork club) or +1 melee (1d6+1 
  nonlethal, sap) or +1 ranged (1d4+1/19–20, 
  throwing dagger); SA sneak attack +1d6, 
  thug trait; SQ jaded, trapﬁnding; Rep +0; 
  SV Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 13, Dex 
  11, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (local).
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +4, Climb +4, Gather Information 
  +2, Hide +3, Intimidate +10, Jump +4, Knowledge 
  (local) +6, Listen +1, Move Silently +3, Spot +1; 
  Power Attack, Skill Focus (Intimidate) B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S)
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Studded leather, masterwork 
  club, sap, 3 throwing daggers, 1d10 pd.
  
  - 61 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  TACTICS
  Diﬀerent forces on the ship have diﬀering tactics. The sailors 
  just want to survive. They’ll ﬁght to the death as long as it seems 
  possible they might win—there’s little worse than surrendering 
  and then having your side be victorious. If the Blackguard is in 
  dock, the sailors’ main eﬀorts will be to return to it and begin 
  sailing away. However, once it’s clear they can’t possibly win, 
  any sailor down to 50% or less of his hit points surrenders. The 
  exception to this are four sailors around Demara—she’s used 
  Diplomacy (and not a little physical pleasure) to make them 
  loyal allies, and they keep ﬁghting as long as she does.
  Demara’s tactics depend somewhat on the situation. Demara 
  will have 3 spells prepared in advance (the most she’s allowed). 
  Exactly what spells she prepares is up to you, but likely options 
  include call lightning, cat’s grace, and produce ﬂame. If she knows 
  a ﬁght is coming (for example, if the PCs take a ship out to 
  intercept the Blackguard) she’s very likely to cast cat’s grace, and 
  seek to quickly perform a ritual or two before battle begins (she 
  obviously won’t have time for rituals once ﬁghting is going on 
  around her). She likely begins with disguise self, following it with 
  summon nature’s ally if she has time. Even if she has extra time, 
  she’s unlikely to try much more than that; Demara doesn’t want 
  to exhaust herself before she gets into battle. She also doesn’t 
  want to use her Witchblooded feat early in a ﬁght, but will do 
  so whenever pressed (likely boosting her Dexterity to make her 
  harder to hit, though she’ll boost Strength if forced into melee 
  or needing to swim). If one of the pigs gets free, Demara may 
  well use charm animal to gain its assistance (her ability to control 
  the beasts is the main reason she’s here).
  Nor is she dependent on magic to survive a ﬁght. Demara carries 
  a heavy longspear, which means she has reach. Any character 
  NEW BACKGROUND: PIRATE
  You make a living preying on passing ships and stealing 
  their cargo. You may hail from Scavenger Isle or from some 
  other pirate cove. You’re not much diﬀerent than a bandit 
  or a thief, but you have a pretty high self-esteem, embracing 
  the life of a reckless swashbuckler.
  Age Modiﬁer: +0.
  BONUS SKILLS
  Select two from the following: Balance, Climb, Intimidate, 
  Jump, Spot, Swim, or Use Rope.
  PIRATE TRAIT
  Pirates are accustomed to a life at sea. You gain a +2 
  competence bonus to all Balance checks and a +2 competence 
  bonus to Climb checks made to climb rigging.
  
  - 62 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  This leaves Fersun able to plan further plots, possibly including 
  revenge on the PCs. And of course the Blackguard is suddenly 
  available if the PCs want to go for a boat ride…
  There are dozens of directions the PCs can go from here, and 
  likely the players are already considering their next move. If 
  possible, have an NPC ask what they plan next so you can ﬁnd 
  out their plans. Then write your own adventure based around 
  that to continue your adventures in Thieves’ World.
  SCENE FIVE: REWARDS
  Whenever the PCs have done all they’re going to with this adventure, 
  they receive a summons to see Arizak, lord of the city. Though the 
  summons is polite, it’s not optional, and a group of guards and 
  mid-level Irrune arrive to escort the PCs to the palace.
  You are shown into a large hall, with dramatic stone 
  architecture but little ornamentation. A single throne of stone 
  sits in the middle of the room, on which sits an older Irrune 
  with one leg wrapped in thick leather straps and propped up 
  on a stool. Though you’ve not seen him before, you recognize the 
  description as that of Arizak, lord of the Irrune and Tyrant of 
  Sanctuary. Behind him stand several other people. A few are 
  Irrune, but most wear the ﬁne robes and worried expressions 
  of wealthy citizens and administrators.
  Standing beside Arizak is a young man in ﬁne robes. 
  The man holds a platter of silver, on which sit a number of 
  small pouches, each bulging with hidden contents.
  trying to rush her must either stop for a round when ﬁrst 
  entering her threatened area, or suﬀer an attack of opportunity 
  as they rush past the point of her spear. Further, two of the four 
  sailors she keeps as guards are next to her at all times; even if an 
  attacker manages to get within striking range of Demara, the 
  guards present a credible threat to cover her retreat.
  Even in failure, Demara has plans. If within sight of land and 
  clearly losing, she tries to cast water breathing, then dives into 
  the sea to swim to freedom. If captured, she immediately begins 
  working on convincing one or more of her captors to assist her. 
  (Given her Diplomacy check, Demara has a decent chance to 
  turn an unfriendly captor into a helpful ally given time. Give 
  PCs a DC 15 Listen check to notice her eﬀorts.)
  Envoy Fersun ﬁghts to the death, as do his two bodyguards. 
  Fersun knows if he is captured with documents suggesting he’s 
  prepared to make an oﬀer of a friendly coup to the rich and 
  powerful families of Sanctuary, the Irrune are unlikely to treat 
  him kindly. Much better a noble death in battle than execution 
  at Irrune hands. Any sailors near him keep ﬁghting as long as 
  he does, but surrender as soon as he falls or is captured.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  This is essentially the end of the adventure, though there are 
  places it could go from here. If Demara survives, she makes 
  every eﬀort to maintain her freedom and search Sanctuary for 
  the Nisibisi artifacts she’s convinced remain. If Fersun survives, 
  Arizak actually keeps him as a guest in the palace. Fersun is 
  a known enemy, and Arizak feels better keeping him nearby. 
  
  - 63 -
  ACT III: FINAL CONFRONTATIONS
  Arizak isn’t an emotional man, but he believes anyone who 
  unravels a major plot against his city is worth the time for an 
  audience. He commends the PCs for their service to the city, 
  and makes it clear they have been found innocent of any guilt 
  regarding the death of Erilissi the spy. If the players seem to be 
  interested in talking to Arizak, give them the opportunity. He 
  spends most of his days dealing with problems and dull issues 
  of city administration. The old raider appreciates an opportunity 
  to hear tales of bravery and battle once more.
  The pouches contain silver for the PCs. Arizak explains that 
  these are not rewards—they’re the PCs’ shares of monies taken 
  in battle with forces the PCs exposed. If the PCs dealt with 
  the pig farm, barrows and the Blackguard, the pouches contain 
  1000 sh each. If the PCs dealt with only two of those threats the 
  pouches have 600 sh each, and if the PCs dealt with only one of 
  them the pouches have only 300 sh each. There is one pouch for 
  each PC still alive at the end of the adventure.
  TACTICS
  If the PCs attack Arizak, they’re killed. Doing so would be 
  mind-numbingly stupid at this level, so make sure the players 
  know that if they begin to sound trigger-happy. There’s no need 
  to run through such a ﬁght—the PCs just lose.
  DEVELOPMENTS
  In addition to the gratitude of Arizak and a sum of silver to 
  spend, the PCs have earned another reward. Each character that 
  played through at least half the encounters of this adventure has 
  earned a free contact of whatever type the player prefers. Such 
  contacts are most likely to be NPCs the PCs dealt with during 
  the course of the adventure. Additionally, each PC’s reputation 
  bonus increases by 1, representing the increased exposure the 
  PCs have earned.
  CONTINUING THE ADVENTURE
  Once the dust settles and the PCs have the good graces of 
  Arizak, the adventure is eﬀectively over, but it need not be. 
  Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn can serve as a springboard for 
  a larger campaign. Perhaps Master Whoever was also hired 
  by another shadowy ﬁgure, and by the PCs involvement in 
  eliminating the ’Nighter assassin, the PCs have inadvertently 
  gained a new enemy. Or, maybe hidden in the Blackguard’s hold 
  was a cursed artifact. What would happen if a thief who crept 
  on board when no one was looking found it? Use the following 
  special encounter as a transition to move the plot forward to an 
  adventure of your own design.
  Shortly after the PCs receive their rewards and have a chance 
  to spend their newfound wealth, they should eventually head 
  back to the Vulgar Unicorn. Along the way, an assassin picks 
  up their trail. Torril Fel, a Rankan lord with a vested interest 
  in the pig plot, caught wind of the PCs role in foiling his plot 
  to restore Ranke’s sovereignty over Sanctuary. So, the noble 
  hired a skilled Caronnese killer to track them down and snuﬀ 
  out their lives.
  As the party heads back to the Vulgar Unicorn for a night of 
  drinking and backslapping, have everyone make DC 22 (the 
  assassin’s Move Silently check) Listen checks. If they succeed, 
  they hear a boot scrape against stone. They can make Spot 
  checks against a DC 22 (the assassin’s Hide check), but if they 
  look around as if they think they’re being followed, the assassin 
  attacks using his poisoned bolts from his crossbow. Otherwise, 
  the assassin bides his time until the most opportune moment 
  when the PCs are least prepared. 
  When the assassin attacks, he pulls no punches, using poisoned 
  bolts and oil of magic weapon. If possible, he uses elixir of hiding 
  before attacking to make the most of his sniping attacks. If 
  forced into melee, the assassin ﬁghts until reduced to 8 or fewer 
  hit points at which point he ﬂees.
  TRAINED ASSASSIN
  Male Caronnese hunter, assassin 3; CR 3; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 3d8+3; hp 16; Mdt 16; Init +2; 
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 15, touch 12, ﬂat-footed 13; Base Atk 
  +2; Grap +4; Atk +5 melee (1d8+2/19–20, masterwork 
  longsword) or +5 ranged (1d8/19–20, masterwork light 
  crossbow); Full Atk +5 melee (1d8+2/19–20, masterwork 
  longsword) or +5 ranged (1d8/19–20, masterwork light 
  crossbow); SA poison use, sneak attack +1d6; SQ hunter 
  trait; Rep +0; SV Fort +4 (+6 against poison), Ref +5, Will 
  +1; Str 14, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8.
  Background Skills: Hide, Move Silently.
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +2 (+4 buying or selling), Craft 
  (poison) +6, Diplomacy –1 (+1 buying and selling), Disguise 
  +3, Escape Artist +5, Gather Information +3, Hide +10 (+12 
  urban), Intimidate +1, Listen +4, Move Silently +10 (+12 
  urban), Spot +4, Use Rope +3; Dodge, Mobility, Persuasive 
  B, Stealthy B.
  Languages: Caronnese (S), Trade Tongue (S), Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Masterwork studded leather, masterwork 
  longsword, masterwork light crossbow with 20 bolts, oil of 
  magic weapon, 2 potion of convert light wounds, potion of hide 
  from animals, elixir of hiding, 2 doses of black adder venom, 1 
  dose of kastor recinus, 1 dose of sassone leaf residue, 10 sh.
  On the assassin’s body is a single, neatly folded, sheet of 
  parchment. Give the PCs Handout Six.  The PCs have come to 
  the attention of Torril Fel. He may be far away and lack the full 
  power of the Empire, but he knows who the PCs are now and 
  for him, things are just beginning.
  
  - 64 -
  APPENDIX I: THE VULGAR UNICORN
  In some ways, the Vulgar Unicorn is the heart of Sanctuary, 
  twisted and black as it is. This tavern is the center of nearly 
  every insidious plot, every angle, and every plan to do mischief. 
  It attracts the toughest and deadliest folks in the city. It is no 
  wonder that this place is said to be the center of the Maze, 
  Sanctuary’s most dangerous part of town. Still, despite its 
  sinister character and the legends that swirl about it, it is really 
  nothing more than a bar in a seedy backwater city, far from 
  the pomp and majesty of the cultural centers of civilization. 
  Or is it?
  No one knows when exactly the ﬁrst Vulgar Unicorn opened 
  its doors for business. It seems Sanctuary, for as long there has 
  been people here, has always had one. Like the character of the 
  Maze, buildings tend 
  to be slipshod and 
  often collapse, only 
  to be rebuilt a block 
  or two down another 
  street. Even the most 
  famous tavern in the city is 
  subject to the capricious whims 
  of the Maze. It’s unlikely the 
  Vulgar Unicorn preceded the 
  Black Tower of Heqt that once 
  stood in the heart of the Maze, 
  but may have opened in response 
  to the imposing spire, oﬀering drinks 
  to thirsty and nervous god-fearing 
  Wrigglies. But then, again, no one 
  knows for sure.
  The most famous Vulgar 
  Unicorn was described in the 
  Thieves’ World anthologies. 
  Owned and operated 
  by Lastel, a wrigglie 
  noble who liked to 
  s u p p l e m e n t  h i s 
  modest fortune by 
  slumming in the Maze, 
  surrounded by krrf and whores. As an importer of drugs, Lastel 
  was the go-to guy for illicit substances. He also had many 
  enemies, but thanks to a wizard’s curse that condemned any 
  who harmed him to an eternity of immolation, Lastel was safe 
  from attacks. 
  Sneaking through the sewers from his estate just beyond the 
  Avenue of Temples, Lastel transformed into the unsavory 
  character named One-Thumb that ran the infamous bar. 
  Eventually, Lastel found himself embroiled in a wicked plot 
  and was condemned to a hell of sorts as he and his simulacra 
  battled in the tunnels under the Maze, both wreathed in the 
  ﬂames of the mage’s curse. Lastel did return, but he was never 
  the same. He drifted in the circles of the most powerful and 
  corrupt people in the city until eventually, he found himself in 
  the wrong place at the wrong time. 
  Ownership of the bar then went to Strick, the spellmaster from 
  Firaqa, who left it to Abohorr, the new One-Thumb, to run and 
  manage. Abohorr was nothing like the old One-Thumb and 
  was a decent and kind man. What was a haven for cutthroats, 
  thieves and prostitutes gradually transformed into an almost 
  respectable joint. But 
  with all things in the 
  Maze, nothing lasts 
  for long.
  The Convulsions 
  and the rampant ﬁres 
  destroyed the original Vulgar 
  Unicorn, and it was quickly 
  rebuilt a few blocks over, 
  being more or less closer 
  to the eastern edge of the 
  Maze. This tavern is newer, 
  bigger, and a little improved. It 
  still attracts the worst of humanity, 
  being the preferred watering hole 
  of Sanctuary’s scum. It’s not 
  clear who runs the place now, 
  though Stick, a brutal pimp, 
  claims to be the owner. At 
  night, Pegrin the Ugly tends 
  the bar and he’s friendly 
  enough and knows 
  not to ask too many 
  questions. Prostitutes 
  are always available 
  to those with a few padpols and the 
  sounds of merriment echo over the quiet hum of conversation 
  at the bar. The Vulgar Unicorn is just as dangerous as it ever 
  was and those who would drink its wine or sample its delights 
  had better watch their step lest they ﬁnd themselves clutching 
  a stab wound and dying painfully in a dark and lonely corner. 
  When trouble breaks out, Pegrin and the harlots take cover 
  until the storm passes.
  APPENDIX I: 
  THE VULGAR UNICORN
  
  - 65 -
  APPENDIX I: THE VULGAR UNICORN
  
  - 66 -
  APPENDIX I: THE VULGAR UNICORN
  
  - 67 -
  APPENDIX I: THE VULGAR UNICORN
  LOCATION DESCRIPTIONS
  You can use this Vulgar Unicorn for either era. If you run a campaign 
  during the Rankan Era, the Unicorn is only two-stories tall. Remove 
  the current second story and replace it with the current third story. 
  Lastel’s apartments include locations 9 and 10. 
  The outside of the tavern looks like it ever did. A plain, gray stone 
  building with a thatched or shingled roof, its walls are stained 
  dark from old blood and piss. Shuttered windows allow a little 
  light to leak out from the inside. The front door is a single sturdy 
  door, ﬁtted with one of Sanctuary’s rare actual locks.
  GENERAL FEATURES
  The common room, bar, kitchen, and occupied rooms are light 
  with candles or lamps. All unoccupied locations are dark. Doors 
  in this place, unless otherwise mentioned, are ﬁtted with poor 
  locks (DC 15 Open Lock to pick), and made of wood (1-in.-
  thick; hardness 5; hp 10; break DC 15). The interior walls are 
  wood (6-in.-thick; hardness 5; hp 60; break DC 20), while 
  the exterior walls are masonry (1-ft.-thick; hardness 8; hp 90; 
  break DC 35; Climb DC 15). The windows are all covered 
  with wooden shutters (2-in.-thick; hardness 2; hp 5; break DC 
  12). Speciﬁc interior locations are as follows. The details are 
  intentionally light, allowing you the room to add clues, adventure 
  hooks, and other items to serve your campaigns.
  1. COMMON ROOM
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  Stepping through the front door, you are struck by the 
  stench of people, wood smoke, and desperation. Crowded 
  here are a number of tables packed with people of all shapes 
  and sizes, mostly of sinister mien. Four heavy wooden 
  columns support a balcony that looks down on the common 
  ﬂoor from the second story. Seven booths line the wall to 
  the left, while a set of stairs climbs to the second ﬂoor on the 
  right. Ahead, a long wooden bar bisects the place, where an 
  ugly man tends the few men and none-too few prostitutes 
  lean on the old scored wood.
  This is the common area of the Vulgar Unicorn. Here is where 
  the deals are made, information passed, and mercenaries are 
  hired. Thieves rub shoulders with sellswords at the bars, while 
  prostitutes wend their ways through the gathered crowd to 
  advertise their wares to those with a mind toward carnal pleasure. 
  The few barmaids working here also double as whores, so the 
  eager patron can get a special level of personalized service. 
  A hearth stands against far wall and above it is the idol of 
  Rander Rehabilitus, the god of drinking and debauchery. The 
  rest of the décor features banners depicting unicorns in vary 
  states of self-violation. Tables and booths can accommodate 
  four to eight patrons, but they are ﬁrst come ﬁrst serve, so 
  during peak times, the tavern has standing room only. If playing 
  in the Rankan Era, PCs who succeed on a DC 15 Spot check 
  notice a strange discoloration on the wall of one of the booths. 
  It has roughly the shape of a twisted unicorn. Lalo once used 
  his magical talent to create a horriﬁc beast by channeling all 
  the fear, violence, and death of the bar into the painting. This 
  creature came to life and rampaged through the city until it 
  was ﬁnally destroyed.
  2. BAR
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  The bar has a wooden surface, heavy scored by cuts 
  and stained by food, drink, and worse. There are no stools; 
  patrons are expected to stand. Wooden tankards and 
  drinking bowls as well as a few trenchers are all scattered 
  about. A few bunged casks sit on frames across from the bar, 
  each bearing the stamp of their maker.
  The bar itself was the only thing rescued from the original 
  Vulgar Unicorn. The salvaged piece is aﬃxed ﬁrmly to the top 
  of a sturdy wooden framework—one deliberately built to take 
  considerable punishment. Most patrons do their drinking here, 
  leaning against the rail and drowning their sorrows. Behind the 
  bar, two doors lead to the kitchens where the cook prepares the 
  TABLE A1–1: UNICORN PRICES
  Food or Service
  Cost
  Ale, Pitcher (4 mugs)
  4 pd
  Ale, Mug
  1 pd
  Beer, Pitcher
  3 sh
  Beer, Mug
  1 pd
  Bread
  1 pd
  Cheese
  1 pd
  Meal, Good
  5 pd
  Meal, Common
  3 pd
  Meal, Poor
  2 pd
  Meat (varies)
  3 pd
  Wine, Good/Bottle
  10 sh
  Wine, Common
  2 pd
  Wine, Poor
  1 pd
  Room (two beds/night)
  8 pd
  Room (four beds/night)
  8 pd
  Prostitute, Good
  10 sh
  Prostitute, Common
  1 sh
  Prostitute, Poor (per night)
  2 pd
  
  - 68 -
  APPENDIX I: THE VULGAR UNICORN
  tavern’s meager fare. A successful DC 15 Search check allows 
  a character to locate a trap door set in the ﬂoor (see Location 
  11). This door leads to the basement, where they once kept 
  extra supplies. Normally, a crate sits over top the door to keep 
  it hidden and closed.
  3. KITCHEN
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  Two doors lead into these kitchens from the common 
  room. The place is an appalling mess with food rotting on 
  the ﬂoor, blood splattering the ceiling, and a couple of cages 
  holding nervous looking food animals. A few bags of ﬂour, 
  infested with weevils and rats sit on the ﬂoor, their contents 
  spilled onto the ﬁlthy stone tiles. A large wood burning 
  hearth stands in the corner and a table stands in the center. 
  A washbasin with a skin of scum over disgusting water sits 
  unused by the door.
  This is where the so-called “meals” that the Vulgar Unicorn oﬀers 
  are prepared. Not famous for its cuisine, patrons know to avoid 
  eating here for the most part, as the bread has unsettling crunchy 
  parts in the partly cooked dough, and the meat is always greasy 
  and more than a little suspect in origin. A locked back door 
  (Open Lock DC 25) leads to an alley, where the cook disposes 
  of scraps. There, the most desperate men and beasts ﬁght over 
  tripe and ﬁlth to ﬁll their empty gullets. 
  If you play in the Rankan Era, One-Thumb kept his dogs back 
  here as well. He’d chop up his victims into pieces and feed their 
  body parts to his vicious animals.
  4. BALCONY
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  The second story of the Vulgar Unicorn consists of a 
  wide balcony that rings an open area looking down on the 
  common room below. The stairs continue up to the top ﬂoor. 
  Three doors occupy the far wall, leading to the pleasure rooms 
  of the tavern’s working girls. A few tables are arranged 
  about the place, oﬀering patrons a place to conduct their 
  business in relative privacy and to wait their turn with 
  the ladies.
  This area is much as it seems, with a ﬁlthy wooden ﬂoor and the 
  stench of sweat and ﬁlth hanging in the air like a fetid shroud. 
  The tables are neglected here and so rats are common sights. A 
  few old tapestries on the walls are faded and stained to an extent 
  that their original depiction is no longer legible.
  5. ROOMS OF THE WORKING GIRLS
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  These rooms are well maintained compared to the rest 
  of the place. They hold a large feather mattress bed on a 
  wooden frame, a night stand with washbasin, a rug on 
  the ﬂoor and a rickety chair. A window overlooks the 
  back alley.
  The Unicorn’s prostitutes use these locations to service their 
  patrons. After hours, the women sleep here as well. Aside from 
  the scant personal belongings, the women keep a few coins under 
  loose ﬂoorboards (no more than 1d6 × 10 pd).
  6. THIRD-STORY HALL
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  The stairs end at a gloomy hall. The sounds of revelry 
  are somewhat muted, but the smell is worse, stinking as if 
  someone recently died here. Several doors line either side of 
  the hall, in either direction.
  The hall is just as it seems. The reason for the smell is that Stick 
  killed a prostitute and hid her body in the ﬂoor. Though he makes 
  an eﬀort to sprinkle lye in the cracks when no one’s looking, the 
  stink is powerful.
  7. ROOMS FOR RENT
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  This room is small, dingy, and dark. A fat tallow candle 
  sits on a rickety table next to a ﬁlthy ceramic bowl for 
  washing. The beds are nothing more than stained mattresses 
  on the ﬂoor. The room reeks of vomit and urine.
  These rooms are vile and unsavory. However, they are secure, 
  with locks (Open Lock DC 20) on the doors. There is nothing 
  of interest here.
  8. ROOM FOR RENT
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  This room is of a moderate size, but is ﬁlthy covered in 
  cobwebs and trash. A fat tallow candle sits on a rickety 
  table next to a ﬁlthy ceramic bowl for washing. The four 
  beds are little more than stained mattresses on the ﬂoor. The 
  room reeks of vomit and urine. An overﬂowing chamber 
  pot completes the scene of squalor.
  This room is especially foul. For some reason, people who sleep 
  here tend to die soon after, though no one mentions this fact. 
  If you have Green Ronin’s Shadowspawn’s Guide to Sanctuary, 
  
  - 69 -
  APPENDIX I: THE VULGAR UNICORN
  feel free to infest the beds with a random contact disease. Also, 
  the lock on this door is broken.
  9. ROOM FOR RENT
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  This room is surprisingly clean with four beds, a dresser, 
  wardrobe and a sturdy table. A lamp hangs on a hook near 
  the door. Though it has an acrid smell, the room seems clean, 
  and there’s even a working lock on the door.
  This is the best room in the house. The sheets are relatively clean, 
  and the beds comfortable. Stick and Pegrin reserve this room for 
  their most important guests. The lock is a good one requiring a 
  DC 25 Open Lock test to pick.
  10. STICK’S ROOM
  This door is always locked (Open Lock DC 25 to open). Read 
  or paraphrase the following text if the PCs get inside.
  This large room is clean with a large bed, chest, wardrobe, 
  and table. A lamp sits on the table along with a few scattered 
  papers and a ledger. 
  This is Stick’s room. Though terrible and depraved things often 
  take place behind his door, he’s careful to hide any evidence of 
  his misbehavior, keeping the room spotless. A search of the room, 
  DC 15 Search check, reveals 1d6 blank pages of parchment, a 
  ledger with small block-like notations (inventory), and a pouch 
  with 1d10 sh.
  11. CELLAR
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  The trap door leads down to a large cellar. Aside from a 
  few large rats, the only other items in this place is the ladder 
  leading back up to the bar and a few rotting crates and 
  burlap bags. The moist stink of mildew is especially strong, 
  just masking the smell of something worse.
  The Unicorn’s staﬀ uses the cellar for storage, but they rarely do. 
  Instead, the boxes and sacks were left down here a few years ago 
  and nobody has bothered to retrieve them. The reason is that 
  strange sounds sometime occur down here, like a scratching on 
  the walls. Last year, a tavern boy descended down the ladder 
  and was never seen or heard from since. As far as the Unicorn 
  is concerned, there is no cellar.
  The truth is that the cellar is connected to the subterranean 
  passages beneath Sanctuary, now controlled, almost absolutely, 
  by the Dyareelans. When the tavern boy went down the stairs, 
  he accidentally found the secret door (DC 20 Search check) and 
  started to explore. He met a bad end when his heart was torn 
  from his chest in a terrible sacriﬁce to the Mother of Chaos.
  There is nothing else of interest down here.
  12. TUNNEL
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  This tunnel curves slightly to the south. From ahead, you 
  hear sounds of water. The stink is profound and the walls 
  are slime-covered old bricks. Dark water oozes from the 
  ceiling to splatter on the slippery bricks below.
  This tunnel leads to an old sewer line that was eventually closed 
  oﬀ during the Ilsig occupation.
  13. SUBTERRANEAN TUNNEL
  Read or paraphrase the following text.
  The tunnel ends in a wider passage that runs roughly 
  northeast to southwest. The construction is very old and 
  is now decaying. Tendrils of slime drip from the ceiling 
  and roots have broken through the masonry. Water covers 
  the ﬂoor, running down a channel cut in the center of the 
  passage. The air is very bad.
  This tunnel connects to a Dyareelan lair somewhere in the city. 
  It may link with the secret routes used during Kadakithis’ reign 
  or they may be previously undiscovered tunnels. Undoubtedly, 
  there are dangerous things here, things craving fresh meat.
  
  - 70 -
  APPENDIX II: TYPICAL SANCTANS
  There are a number of typical types of characters very likely 
  to be found in the shops, alleys, taverns, prisons, and lands 
  around Sanctuary. It’s not practical to list every NPC that 
  might get involved in the adventure at some point, and there 
  is no way to predict who the PCs might decide to interact 
  with more extensively than this adventure intends. To help the 
  GM deal with all kinds of unexpected encounters, a number of 
  archetypical NPC types are presented here. Anytime you need 
  stats for a character that lacks any details of its own, just select 
  the closest stat block from the below list, add a personality, and 
  wing it. For more potential encounters, be sure to check out 
  Shadowspawn’s Guide to Sanctuary.
  COMMON BEGGAR
  Male or female Wrigglie beggar, commoner 1; CR 1/2; Size 
  type (subtype); HD 1d4; hp 2; Mdt 10; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; 
  AC 10, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 10; Base Atk +0; Grap +0; 
  Atk +0 melee (1d3 nonlethal, unarmed strike); Full Atk +0 
  melee (1d3, unarmed strike); SQ beggar trait, jaded; Rep 
  +0; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +1; Str 10, Dex 11, Con 10, 
  Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Bluﬀ, Knowledge (local).
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +4, Knowledge (local) +4, Listen +4, 
  Profession (beggar) +4, Spot +4; Alertness B, Endurance.
  Authentic Beggar:  Common beggars typically have some 
  kind of ailment or aﬄiction that prevents them from earning 
  an income like everyone else, though luck is often as not a 
  cause. To determine the cause of their beggary, roll 1d100 
  and consult the following results:
  Languages: Wrigglie (S)
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Rags, wooden cup.
  TYPICAL WATCHMAN
  Male or female Wrigglie constable, warrior 1; CR 1/2; 
  Medium humanoid (human); HD 1d8; hp 4; Mdt 14; Init 
  +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 14, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 14; Base Atk 
  +1; Grap +1; Atk +1 melee (1d6/19–20, short sword) or +2 
  ranged (1d6, shortspear); Full Atk +1 melee (1d6/19–20, 
  short sword) or +2 ranged (1d6, shortspear); SQ constable 
  trait, jaded; Rep +0; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +1; Str 11, 
  Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Knowledge (local), Spot.
  Skills and Feats: Intimidate +6, Knowledge (local) +4, Listen 
  +2, Sense Motive +2 (+4 lies), Spot +6; Alertness B, Weapon 
  Focus (shortspear).
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Studded leather, light wooden shield, short 
  sword, shortspear.
  TYPICAL WATCHMAN SERGEANT
  Male or female Wrigglie constable, warrior 4; CR 3; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 4d8; hp 18; Mdt 15; Init +4; Spd 30 
  ft.; AC 15, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 15; Base Atk +4; Grap +5; 
  Atk +6 melee (1d8+1/19–20, masterwork longsword) or +6 
  ranged (1d6+1, shortspear); Full Atk +6 melee (1d8+1/19–20, 
  masterwork longsword) or +6  ranged (1d6+1, shortspear); 
  SQ constable trait, jaded; Rep +1; SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will 
  +2; Str 12, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Knowledge (local), Spot.
  Skills and Feats: Intimidate +12, Gather Information +2, 
  Knowledge (local) +7, Listen +4, Sense Motive +2 (+4 lies), 
  Spot +7; Alertness B, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus 
  (shortspear).
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  APPENDIX II: 
  TYPICAL SANCTANS
  BEGGARY CAUSE
  Roll
  Result
  01–20
  Maimed. The beggar is missing a hand, foot, leg, 
  is blind, mute, deaf, or suﬀers from some other 
  physical limitation.
  21–40
  Diseased. The beggar carries some kind of disease. 
  41–60
  Mad. The beggar is raving mad. Unless you use 
  special sanity rules (such as those presented in 
  Green Ronin’s Black Company Campaign Setting), 
  treat mad characters as being under the eﬀects of 
  the insanity spell.
  61–80
  Roll twice more ignoring all results of 61 or 
  higher.
  81–100
  Bad luck or fate. The beggar is fully capable of 
  working or pursuing some other livelihood.
  
  - 71 -
  APPENDIX II: TYPICAL SANCTANS
  Contacts: Information (1), Inﬂuence (1).
  Possessions: Masterwork chain shirt, light steel shield, 
  masterwork longsword, masterwork shortspear.
  TYPICAL GUARD
  Male or female Rankan soldier, ﬁghter 1; CR 1; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 1d10+1; hp 6; Mdt 18; Init +0; Spd 
  20 ft.; AC 18, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 18; Base Atk +1; Grap 
  +2; Atk +4 melee (1d8+1/19–20, masterwork longsword) 
  or +2 ranged (1d8/19–20, masterwork light crossbow); Full 
  Atk +4 melee (1d8+1/19–20, masterwork longsword) or +2 
  ranged (1d8/19–20, masterwork light crossbow); SQ literate, 
  soldier trait; Rep +0; SV Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 13, 
  Dex 10, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 11, Cha 8.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (nobility and 
  royalty).
  Skills and Feats: Diplomacy +1, Intimidate +3, Knowledge 
  (nobility and royalty) +3, Listen +1, Sense Motive +2, Spot +1; 
  Power Attack, Negotiator B, Weapon Focus (longsword) B.
  Languages: Rankan (S/W).
  Contacts: Skill (1).
  Possessions: Splint mail, heavy steel shield, masterwork 
  longsword, masterwork light crossbow with 10 bolts, potion 
  of convert light wounds.
  TYPICAL GUARD OFFICER
  Male or female Rankan soldier, ﬁghter 6; CR 6; Medium 
  humanoid (human); HD 6d10+12; hp 45; Mdt 23; Init +3; 
  Spd 20 ft.; AC 21, touch 9, ﬂat-footed 21; Base Atk +6; Grap 
  +9; Atk +11 melee (1d8+5/19–20, masterwork longsword) 
  or +6 ranged (1d8/19–20, masterwork light crossbow); Full 
  Atk +11/+6 melee (1d8+5/19–20, masterwork longsword) 
  or +6 ranged (1d8/19–20, masterwork light crossbow); SQ 
  literate, soldier trait; Rep +1; SV Fort +8, Ref +2, Will +4; 
  Str 16, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (nobility and 
  royalty).
  Skills and Feats: Diplomacy +4, Intimidate +11, Knowledge 
  (nobility and royalty) +12, Listen +6, Sense Motive +6, Spot 
  +6; Alertness, Cleave B, Great Cleave B, Improved Initiative, 
  Power Attack, Negotiator B, Weapon Focus (longsword) B, 
  Weapon Specialization (longsword) B.
  Languages: Rankan (S/W).
  Contacts: Inﬂuence (1), Skill (1).
  Possessions: +1 full plate, +1 heavy steel shield, masterwork 
  longsword, masterwork light crossbow with 10 bolts, potion 
  of convert moderate wounds, cloak of resistance +1.
  TYPICAL IRRUNE WARRIOR (LOW LEVEL)
  Male or female Irrune adventurer, barbarian 1; CR 1; 
  Medium humanoid; HD 1d12+4; hp 10; Mdt 15; Init 
  +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 13; Base Atk 
  +1; Grap +2; Atk +2 melee (1d12+1/×3, greataxe) or +1 
  ranged (1d6+1/×3, composite [+1] shortbow); Full Atk 
  +2 melee (1d12+1/×3, greataxe) or +1 ranged (1d6+1/×3, 
  composite [+1] shortbow); SA rage 1/day; SQ adventurer 
  trait, fast movement, illiteracy, saddleborn; Rep +0; SV 
  Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 13, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 8, 
  Wis 11, Cha 9.
  Background Skills: Jump, Survival.
  Skills and Feats: Handle Animal +3, Jump +4, Ride +6, 
  Survival +6; Power Attack, Toughness B.
  Languages: Irrune (S).
  Contacts: Inﬂuence (1).
  Rage (Ex): When an Irrune warrior rages, it uses the 
  following statistics.
  HD 1d12+6; hp 12; Mdt 19; AC 11, touch 8, ﬂat-footed 
  11; Grap +4; Atk +4 melee (1d12+4/×3, greataxe); Full Atk 
  +4 melee (1d12+4/×3, greataxe); SV Fort +5, Will +2; Str 
  17, Con 16.
  Skills: Jump +6.
  Possessions: Masterwork hide, greataxe, composite (+1) 
  shortbow with 10 arrows.
  TYPICAL NIGHTER SCUM (LOW LEVEL)
  Male or female ‘Nighter beggar, ranger 1, survivor 1; CR 2; 
  Medium humanoid (human); HD 1d8 plus 1d10; hp 10; 
  Mdt 14; Init +4; Spd 30 ft.; AC 11, touch 10, ﬂat-footed 
  11; Base Atk +1; Grap +2; Atk +2 melee (1d6+1, club); 
  Full Atk +2 melee (1d6+1, club); SQ beggar trait, favored 
  environment (marsh +2), swamp-wise; Rep +0; SV Fort 
  +4, Ref +2, Will +2; Str 13, Dex 11, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 
  10, Cha 8.
  Background Skills: Hide, Move Silently.
  Skills and Feats: Handle Animal +0, Heal +6, Hide +7 
  (+9 swamps), Knowledge (nature) +8, Listen +6, Move 
  Silently +7 (+9 swamps), Ride +2, Spot +9, Survival +7 
  (+9 aboveground natural environments) (+11 swamps), 
  Use Rope +4; Alertness, Improved Damage Threshold B, 
  Improved Unarmed Strike B, Self-Suﬃcient B, Track B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S), Trade Tongue (S).
  Contacts: Skill (1).
  Possessions: Padded armor, club, 12 pd.
  
  - 72 -
  APPENDIX II: TYPICAL SANCTANS
  TYPICAL MERCHANT
  Male or female Caronnese merchant, thief 3, savant 1; CR 
  4; Medium humanoid (human); HD 3d6 plus 1d6; hp 14; 
  Mdt 12; Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 11, ﬂat-footed 
  12; Base Atk +2; Grap +1; Atk +2 melee (1d4/19–20, +1 
  dagger); Full Atk +2 melee (1d4/19–20, +1 dagger)); SA 
  sneak attack +2d6; SQ evasion, merchant trait, trap sense 
  +1, trapﬁnding; Rep +0; SV Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +4; Str 8, 
  Dex 13, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16.
  Background Skills: Appraise, Diplomacy.
  Skills and Feats: Appraise +12, Bluﬀ +12 (+15 buying or 
  selling), Decipher Script +6, Diplomacy +14 (+17 buying 
  or selling), Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Forgery +11, Gamble 
  +9, Gather Information +10, Intimidate +7, Listen +7, 
  Profession (merchant) +11 (+13 buying or selling), Sense 
  Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +9, Spot +8; Deceitful B, 
  Persuasive B, Run, Skill Focus (Profession: merchant).
  Languages: Caronnese (S), Rankene (S), Trade Tongue (S), 
  Wriggle (S)
  Contacts: Information (1), Inﬂuence (1).
  Possessions: +1 padded armor, +1 dagger, case full of assorted 
  goods.
  TYPICAL THUG
  Male or female Wrigglie thug, thief 1, warrior 1; CR 1; 
  Medium humanoid (human); HD 1d6+1 plus 1d8+1; hp 
  10; Mdt 15; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13, touch 10, ﬂat-
  footed 13; Base Atk +1; Grap +2; Atk +2 melee (1d6+1, 
  masterwork club) or +1 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, sap) or +1 
  ranged (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); Full Atk +2 melee 
  (1d6+1, masterwork club) or +1 melee (1d6+1 nonlethal, 
  sap) or +1 ranged (1d4+1/19–20, throwing dagger); SA 
  sneak attack +1d6, thug trait; SQ jaded, trapﬁnding; Rep 
  +0; SV Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, 
  Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 10.
  Background Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (local).
  Skills and Feats: Bluﬀ +4, Climb +4, Gather Information +2, 
  Hide +3, Intimidate +10, Jump +4, Knowledge (local) +6, 
  Listen +1, Move Silently +3, Spot +1; Power Attack, Skill 
  Focus (Intimidate) B.
  Languages: Wrigglie (S).
  Contacts: Information (1).
  Possessions: Studded leather, masterwork club, sap, 3 throwing 
  daggers, 1d10 pd.
  MONSTERS
  BENGIL CRAB
  Small Magical Beast (Aquatic)
  Hit Dice: 3d10+9 (25 hp) 
  Massive Damage Threshold: 24 
  Initiative: +1
  Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 20 ft.
  Armor Class: 21 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +9 natural), touch 12, ﬂat-footed 20
  Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+0 
  Attack: Claw +5 melee (1d4+1)
  Full Attack: 2 claws +5 melee (1d4+1)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Constrict 1d4+1, improved grab
  Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, tremorsense
  Saves: Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +1
  Abilities: Str 13, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 1
  Skills: Hide +7, Listen +3, Move Silently +3, Spot +3, Swim +9
  Feats: Stealthy, Toughness
  Environment: Aquatic and warm marshes
  Organization: Solitary, group (2–6) or school (15–30)
  Challenge Rating: 2
  Treasure: None
  Advancement: 4–6 HD (Small), 7–9 HD (Medium)
  Level Adjustment: —
  Obviously, monsters are a great deal less common than human denizens, but a few inhuman threats can be found in and around 
  Sanctuary. You can ﬁnd most monsters in the MM if you need them, but the two new monsters used in this adventure, the Bengil 
  Crab and the fenniath, are detailed here.
  GREATER BENGIL CRAB
  Medium Magical Beast (Aquatic)
  Hit Dice: 7d10+24 (62 hp)
  Massive Damage Threshold: 26
  Initiative: +0
  Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), swim 20 ft.
  Armor Class: 20 (+9 natural), touch 10, ﬂat-footed 19
  Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+10
  Attack: Claw +11 melee (1d6+3)
  Full Attack: 2 claws +11 melee (1d6+3)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Constrict 1d6+3, improved grab
  Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, tremorsense 60 ft.
  Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +2
  Abilities: Str 17, Dex 11, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 1
  Skills: Hide +6, Listen +3, Move Silently +2, Spot +3, Swim +12
  Feats: Stealthy, Toughness, Weapon Focus (claw)
  Environment: Aquatic and warm marshes
  Organization: Solitary, group (2–6) or school (15–30)
  Challenge Rating: 4
  Treasure: None
  Advancement: 8–9 HD (Medium)
  Level Adjustment: —
  
  - 73 -
  APPENDIX II: TYPICAL SANCTANS
  This crab is the size of a dog, its shell a dark reddish-brown. It 
  scuttles angrily across the rocks, pincers snapping, moving towards 
  sounds and vibrations.
  Common around the islands near Sherranpip, these large crabs are the 
  result of long-ago magical meddling. Strong and aggressive, they can 
  survive in both salt and fresh water. The Purple Mage populated the Isle 
  of Shugthee with bengil crabs, which then spread into the White Foal 
  River and the Swamp of Night’s Secrets; schools of crabs can be found 
  in many other places in the Known World.
  COMBAT
  Bengil crabs are territorial, aggressive, and hungry predators that attack much 
  larger creatures without fear. Entire schools may swarm onto a single intruder or 
  swimmer, bringing him down and ripping him to pieces.
  Constrict (Ex): A bengil crab deals automatic claw damage on a 
  successful grapple check.
  Improved Grab (Ex): If a bengil crab hits with a claw attack it can 
  attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack 
  of opportunity.
  FENNIATH
  Medium Outsider (Demon, Evil, Native)
  Hit Dice: 4d8+12 (30 hp)
  Massive Damage Threshold: 23 
  Initiative: +3
  Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares), climb 30 ft.
  Armor Class: 19 (+3 Dex, +6 natural), touch 13, ﬂat-
  footed 16
  Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+8
  Attack: Claw +8 melee (1d4+4)
  Full Attack: 2 claws +8 melee (1d4+4) and bite +3 melee 
  (1d6+2)
  Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with claws)
  Special Attacks: —
  Special Qualities: Damage reduction 3/piercing, darkvision 
  60 ft., immune to electricity and poison, resistance to acid 
  10, cold 10, and ﬁre 10, scent 
  Saves: Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +6
  Abilities: Str 18, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 9, Wis 14, Cha 15
  Skills: Balance +13, Climb +19, Hide +10, Jump +6, Listen +11, 
  Move Silently +10, Spot +11, Survival +9, Tumble +10
  Feats: Alertness, Track
  Environment: Any
  Organization: Solitary or group (2–8)
  Challenge Rating: 4
  Advancement: 6–10 HD (Large)
  Level Adjustment: —
  You see a terrifying man-shaped creature, with long arms 
  and a mouth full of brown fangs. It shrieks wildly and springs 
  forward to attack.
  The fenniath are bright red, human-sized, orangutan-like 
  demons with extremely long arms. They are normally 
  relentless, animalistic killing machines, but are intelligent enough to 
  be bargained with. If raised from young pups, they can even be made 
  into loyal servants, though they only obey a master that allows them to 
  indulge their bloodlust and violent natures regularly. They are normally 
  only found in distant lands in the east, across the ocean from Sanctuary, 
  though trader captains occasionally bring a few to western ports.
  Stealthy and sly, fenniath make excellent trackers, messengers and 
  assassins. They are not particularly bright, however, and can be easily 
  confused by sudden changes. Additionally, while they can learn to 
  understand normal languages, and can communicate among their own 
  kind with a simple glance, they cannot learn to speak or write any other 
  language. As a result, they are poor spies, often misunderstanding what 
  they see and unable to report ﬁndings back to a master.
  COMBAT
  Fenniath rarely ﬁght with weapons, though they are capable of doing so. 
  Instead, they depend on their long arms, allowing them to claw foes that 
  can’t attack them in return, and their sharp teeth. A fenniath normally 
  moves around a great deal in combat, ﬁnding a place where it can get 
  above foes or at least prevent them from surrounding it. Fenniath fear 
  and hate spellcasters of all types, and attack them ﬁrst whenever possible. 
  Their extremely thick, wire-like hair is hard to cut and cushions heavy 
  blows, leaving them vulnerable only to piercing attacks.
  Skills: Fenniath have a +8 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks. 
  They can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or 
  threatened.
  
  - 74 -
  APPENDIX III: ADVENTURE HANDOUTS
  This is what’s left of the confession Erilissi carried with him. Only the corner remains, the rest having been torn free by Master 
  Whoever.
  The following are designed to be photocopied and handed out to the players at the appropriate times. Permission is granted to 
  photocopy anything in Appendix III for personal use only.
  APPENDIX III: 
  ADVENTURE HANDOUTS
  HANDOUT ONE: ACT ONE, SCENE TWO
  HANDOUT TWO: ACT TWO, SCENE THREE
  HANDOUT THREE: ACT TWO, SCENE FOUR
  This is a letter found in a waterproof satchel at the wreckage of the Weeping Maiden.
  This is the scrap of paper Master Whoever has on him, with contact information he got for Paithas Meed.
  
  - 75 -
  APPENDIX III: ADVENTURE HANDOUTS
  HANDOUT FOUR: ACT TWO, SCENE SIX, SEVEN OR EIGHT
  Paithas keeps this with him always on his person. He sees it as proof Erilissi was 
  a traitor to the Dyareelan cult, and plans to provide it to Arion Swan as evidence 
  Erilissi needed to die.
  
  - 76 -
  APPENDIX III: ADVENTURE HANDOUTS
  HANDOUT FIVE: ACT TWO, SCENE FIVE, SIX, SEVEN OR EIGHT
  HANDOUT SIX: CONTINUING THE ADVENTURE
  This is the message the fenniath brings Paithas Meed from Arion Swan. The PCs can potentially get it oﬀ the fenniath when they 
  encounter it in the woods, but it’s much more likely to be found on Paithas if they kill or capture him.
  This is the forboding message from Torril Fel found on the body of the assassin from the denoument of the adventure. 
  
  - 77 -
  APPENDIX IV: PREGENERATED CHARACTERS
  AERIK
  A young man when the Irrune 
  liberated Sanctuary from the cruel 
  Dyareelan cultists, Aerik has since 
  come into his own. Though part of 
  him misses the freedom of following 
  the herds, the tales of his people 
  raiding settlements and the glory 
  of the conquest, he doesn’t miss the 
  exploitation, the sickness, and the 
  fear that had slowly crept into the 
  hearts of his people. And so, Aerik has 
  come to see Sanctuary as his home. 
  He’s been drinking with the rest of 
  these scoundrels for a few months 
  and has come to trust them with his 
  life. Aerik’s not a planner or a leader, and so often defers to others when 
  it comes to the question of what to do.
  DESCRIPTION
  Tall, muscled, and ﬁerce, Aerik is the picture of the Irrune warrior. His 
  armor is patched and stained, a hand-me-down from his elder brother, 
  but his prized possession is his sword, which was his father’s. He has long 
  brown hair which he wears loose and a thin patchy beard.
  AERIK
  Gender: Male 
  Height: 6 ft. 
  Weight: 210 lb. 
  Age: 17
  Culture: Irrune 
   
  Background: Adventurer
  Class: Barbarian 
   
  Level: 1
  Strength: 15 (+2)  
  Dexterity: 13 (+1)
  Constitution: 14 (+2)  
  Intelligence: 8 (–1)
  Wisdom: 12 (+1)  
  Charisma: 10 (+0)
  Hit Dice: 1d12+2 Hit Points: 17     Massive Damage Threshold: 17
  Armor Class: 14 (+1 Dex, +3 studded leather), touch 11, ﬂatfooted 13
  Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
  Initiative: +1
  Reputation: +0
  Saving Throws: Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
  Attack Bonus: Base +1, Melee +3, Ranged +2, Grapple +3
  Attack: Greatsword +3 melee (2d6+3/19–20) or dagger +3 melee 
  (1d4+2/19–20) or shortbow +2 ranged (1d6/×3)
  Full Attack: Greatsword +3 melee (2d6+3/19–20) or dagger +3 melee 
  (1d4+2/19–20) or shortbow +2 ranged (1d6/×3)
  Skills: Jump +7, Ride +7, Search +5, Speak Language (Sanctan),  
  Survival +3
  Feats: Power Attack, Toughness B
  Languages: Irrune (S), Sanctan (S)
  Equipment: Studded leather, greatsword, shortbow, dagger, backpack 
  with waterskin, one day’s trail rations, bedroll, sack, ﬂint and steel, 
  and a quiver with 20 arrows.
  Money: 5 sh.
  Contacts: Inﬂuence (1)
  Special Attacks and Qualities:
  • Adventurer Trait: 1/day, Aerik can reroll any one Climb, Jump, Swim 
  or Survival check.
  • Rage (Ex): 1/day, Aerik may enter a rage. He uses the following statistics.
  HD 1d12+4; hp 19; AC 12, touch 9, ﬂatfooted 11; Grap +5; Atk 
  +5 melee (2d6+6/19–20, greatsword) or +5 melee (1d4+4/19–20, 
  dagger); Full Atk +5 melee (2d6+6/19–20, greatsword) or +5 melee 
  (1d4+4/19–20, dagger); SV Fort +6, Will +3; Str 19, Con 18
  NEESHA VARRA
  Neesha claims she’s the daughter 
  of the famous Cappen Varra, and 
  she’s quick to ﬂeece anyone gullible 
  enough to believe her. A child of 
  the streets, Fat Molly, a local down-
  on-her-luck prostitute recognized 
  the girl’s talent for singing. And 
  so, Fat Molly took little Neesha to 
  the various bars to let her sing for 
  the locals, while Fat Molly worked 
  the crowds pinching a few purses, 
  and spreading the rumor that she is 
  in fact Cappen Varra’s illegitimate 
  daughter. Neesha learned enough 
  about thievery from her mentor, and soon struck out on her own. She 
  ran into her companions at the Vulgar Unicorn a few weeks ago, ﬁnding 
  that they shared her outlook on larceny.
  DESCRIPTION
  A thin pretty girl, Neesha wears her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. 
  The smudges of dirt enhance her already well-formed features, and when 
  she sings, she positively glows. She wears a hodgepodge combination of 
  leather stolen from corpses in allies, something she’s not really proud of, 
  but saw as a necessity. 
  NEESHA VARRA
  Gender: Female 
  Height: 5 ft. 4 in. Weight: 115 lb. 
  Age: 17
  Culture: Wrigglie  
  Background: Entertainer
  Class: Thief 
   
  Level: 1
  Strength: 10 (+0)  
  Dexterity: 15 (+2)
  Constitution: 13 (+1) 
  Intelligence: 12 (+1)
  Wisdom: 8 (–1) 
   
  Charisma: 14 (+2)
  APPENDIX IV:  
  PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS
  The following pregenerated characters are appropriate for Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn. Permission is granted to photocopy 
  these characters for personal use.
  
  - 78 -
  APPENDIX IV: PREGENERATED CHARACTERS
  Hit Dice: 1d6+1 
  Hit Points: 7      Massive Damage Threshold: 15
  Armor Class: 14 (+2 Dex, +2 leather), touch 12, ﬂatfooted 12
  Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
  Initiative: +2
  Reputation: +0
  Saving Throws: Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +0
  Attack Bonus: Base +0, Melee +0, Ranged +2, Grapple +0
  Attack: Short sword +0 melee (1d6/19–20) or light crossbow +2 ranged 
  (1d8/19–20) or dagger +2 ranged (1d4/19–20)
  Full Attack: Short sword +0 melee (1d6/19–20) or light crossbow +2 
  ranged (1d8/19–20) or dagger +2 ranged (1d4/19–20)
  Skills: Bluﬀ +10, Disable Device +5, Gamble +1, Hide +6, Listen +3, 
  Move Silently +6, Open Lock +6, Perform (sing) +4, Search +5, Sleight 
  of Hand +6, Spot +3, Tumble +6 
  Feats: Dodge, Skill Focus (Bluﬀ) B 
  Languages: Sanctan (S), Trade Tongue (S)
  Equipment: Leather armor, short sword, light crossbow, dagger, backpack 
  with waterskin, one day’s trail rations, bedroll, sack, ﬂint and steel, 
  thieves’ tools, hooded lantern, three pints of oil, case with 10 bolts, 
  50 feet of silk rope.
  Money: 5 sh.
  Contacts: Information (1)
  Special Attacks and Qualities:
  • While performing in front of an audience, Neesha gains a +2 bonus 
  to Gather Information and Listen checks.
  • Sneak Attack: Neesha deals +1d6 points of damage on a successful 
  attack against an opponent she ﬂanks or catches ﬂat-footed.
  • Trapﬁnding: Neesha can use Search to locate mundane and magical 
  with DCs higher than 20.
  ETALEA
  Fresh in from Ilsig City, Etalea 
  found herself in a crumbling violent 
  and generally inhospitable city. She 
  came here to seek her fortunes, 
  escaping an arranged marriage to 
  a man with terrible, warty feet. She 
  has no intention of returning to her 
  homeland, but suspects there may 
  be people looking for her. The only 
  thing that’s kept Etalea alive is the 
  fact that she secretly learned magic 
  from her lover back home. She 
  misses him terribly, but knows that 
  if her father discovered her aﬀair, 
  her lover would be killed. Thus, she’s 
  content as she can be, but grows nervous as her funds start to run dry.
  DESCRIPTION
  Etalea can best be described as small and mousy. She has a mop of black 
  hair that she keeps short to help keep away dangerous men, disguising 
  herself as a boy. She wears a baggy shirt, loose pants, and carries a number 
  of small sharp knives to dissuade anyone from looking to closely. 
  ETALEA
  Gender: Female 
  Height: 5 ft. 2 in. Weight: 110 lb. 
  Age: 24
  Culture: Ilsigi 
   
  Background: Apprentice
  Class: Mage 
   
  Level: 1
  Strength: 8 (–1) 
   
  Dexterity: 14 (+2)
  Constitution: 12 (+1) 
  Intelligence: 15 (+2)
  Wisdom: 13 (+1)  
  Charisma: 10 (+0)
  Hit Dice: 1d4+1 
  Hit Points: 5    Massive Damage Threshold: 12
  Armor Class: 12 (+2 Dex), touch 12, ﬂatfooted 10
  Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
  Initiative: +2
  Reputation: +0
  Saving Throws: Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +5
  Attack Bonus: Base +0, Melee –1, Ranged +2, Grapple –1
  Attack: Dagger –1 melee (1d4–1/19–20) or dagger +2 ranged (1d4–
  1/19–20)
  Full Attack: Dagger –1 melee (1d4–1/19–20) or dagger +2 ranged 
  (1d4–1/19–20)
  Skills: Concentration +5, Craft (alchemy) +5, Disguise +1, Knowledge (arcana) 
  +7, Knowledge (history) +7, Spellcraft +8, Use Magic Device +6
  Feats: Iron Will B, Spell Focus (evocation)
  Languages: Ilsigi (S/W), Sanctan (S)
  Equipment: Three daggers, backpack with waterskin, one day’s trail 
  rations, bedroll, sack, ﬂint and steel, four candles, map case, four pages 
  of parchment, ink, inkpen, spellbook, spell component pouch.
  Money: 12 sh.
  Contacts: Skill (1)
  Spellcasting: +4 (+6 evocation; CL 2nd)
  Ritualcasting: +2 (+4 evocation; CL 2nd)
  Safe Level: 1st 
  Familiar Level: 3rd
  Save DC: 12 + spell level; evocation spells (noted by an E) 13 + spell 
  level 
  Free Cantrips: 2/day
  Known Spells (4): charm person (1st, MT 20, price 1), daze (0, MT 10, 
  price 0/1), disguise self (1st, MT 20, price 1), magic missile (1st, MT 
  20, price 1) E
  Familiar Spells (3): detect magic (0, MT 10, price 0/1), ﬁreball (3rd, MT 
  40, price 3 lethal) E, read magic (0, MT 10, price 0/1)
  LUCRETIUS
  Poor Lucretius, the fourth son of a 
  successful merchant family formerly of 
  Lirt, his father sent him to the temple 
  of Savankala to learn to become a 
  priest, a vocation Lucretius had up 
  until then had no interest in. Always 
  more concerned with composing 
  bad poetry and trying his hand at 
  painting, he was never particularly 
  pious. However, once installed in 
  the priesthood, he discovered he 
  had a knack for the politics. While a 
  passable priest in the cult, Lucretius 
  has his eyes trained elsewhere, and he 
  sees Sanctuary as a ripe fruit, ready to 
  be plucked by the man with the right amount of ambition. Until that 
  happens, he’s content slumming in the Vulgar Unicorn, swapping lies 
  with lesser men, while lusting after the women.
  DESCRIPTION
  Portly bordering on fat, Lucretius makes up for his soft body with a 
  winning smile and an infectious laugh. He quickly befriends any he 
  meets, making him popular in even the seediest dives. He wears ﬁne 
  robes, though stained a bit from food and drink. Though still a priest, 
  he hides his holy symbol to prevent others from getting the wrong idea. 
  One day, maybe, he’ll grow up.
  
  - 79 -
  APPENDIX IV: PREGENERATED CHARACTERS
  LUCRETIUS
  Gender: Male 
  Height: 5 ft. 9 in. Weight: 175 lb. 
  Age: 22
  Culture: Rankan  
  Background: Aristocrat
  Class: Priest of Savankala 
  Level: 1
  Strength: 10 (+0)  
  Dexterity: 8 (–1)
  Constitution: 12 (+1) 
  Intelligence: 13 (+1)
  Wisdom: 15 (+2)  
  Charisma: 14 (+2)
  Hit Dice: 1d6+1 
  Hit Points: 7      Massive Damage Threshold: 12
  Armor Class: 9 (–1 Dex), touch 9, ﬂatfooted 9
  Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
  Initiative: –1
  Reputation: +0
  Saving Throws: Fort +1, Ref –1, Will +4
  Attack Bonus: Base +0, Melee +0, Ranged –1, Grapple +0
  Attack: Quarterstaﬀ +0 melee (1d6) or dagger +0 melee (1d4/19–20)
  Full Attack: Quarterstaﬀ +0 melee (1d6) or dagger +0 melee (1d4/19–20)
  Skills: Concentration +5, Diplomacy +10, Knowledge (nobility and 
  royalty) +7, Knowledge (religion) +5, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +5 
  Feats: Negotiator B, Ritual Focus
  Languages: Rankene (S/W), Sanctan (S)
  Equipment: Quarterstaﬀ, dagger, ﬁne robes, backpack with waterskin, one 
  day’s trail rations, silver holy symbol of Savankala, vial of antitoxin.
  Money: 50 sh.
  Contacts: Inﬂuence (1)
  Spellcasting: +2 
  Ritualcasting: +4
  Safe Level: 1st 
  Familiar Level: 3rd
  Save DC: 12 + spell level 
  Free Cantrips: 2/day
  Domains: Justice, Sun
  Known Spells (3+1): bless (1st, MT 20, price 1), command (1st, MT 20, 
  price 1) D, convert minor wounds (0, MT 10, price 0/1), sanctuary (1st, 
  MT 20, price 1)
  Familiar Spells (4): detect poison (0, MT 10, price 0/1), convert light 
  wounds (1st, MT 20, price 1), read magic (0, MT 10, price 0/1), sound 
  burst (2nd, MT 30, price 2)
  Special Attacks and Qualities
  • Holy Vitality: 3/day, Lucretius gains fast healing 1, +2 natural armor 
  bonus to AC for 1 round.
  • Justice Domain: If Lucretius successfully detects a lie, he gains a +2 
  bonus to his next attack roll against the liar.
  • Sun Domain: 1/day, Lucretius can expend a use of holy vitality to create 
  a burst of bright light, illuminating an area as per the daylight spell 
  and dealing 1 point of damage to all undead in the area. This eﬀect 
  lasts for one round.
  ELYNA
  To most, Elyna is just another 
  prostitute in a city full of whores. 
  And while she does indeed practice 
  this trade, she has another purpose. 
  She wants revenge. See, Elyna is 
  S’danzo. While the rest of the people 
  in the city pulled up stakes and 
  left, Elyna’s mother stayed behind. 
  Having escaped the ﬁrst round of 
  purgings Elyna and her mother 
  tried to survive, but one day, she 
  was captured and brutally killed by 
  the cultists. Since then, Elyna has 
  done whatever it takes to survive. 
  She wants one thing only: to kill her 
  mother’s murderers and put her demons to rest. For now, she watches, 
  pries information from her clients, cutting their throats when it suits her. 
  She works occasionally at the Vulgar Unicorn, but less and less does she 
  take on new customers, tiring of the wandering hands and the disgusting 
  ﬁlth that frequent the place. As of late, she’s had strange visions, ﬂashing 
  portents, and she suspects she might have the Sight.
  DESCRIPTION
  Elyna would be beautiful if it weren’t for the naked derision on her face. 
  Still most men don’t care and pay her fee anyway. She has long curly 
  black hair and swarthy features. When not working, she wears tight 
  ﬁtting leather armor and her hand always stays near her knife, ready to 
  ﬂing it in the face of the next person who oﬀends her.
  ELYNA
  Gender: Female 
  Height: 5 ft. 6 in. Weight: 125 lb. 
  Age: 17
  Culture: S’danzo 
   
  Background: Prostitute
  Class: Assassin 
   
  Level: 1
  Strength: 8 (–1) 
   
  Dexterity: 14 (+2)
  Constitution: 12 (+1) 
  Intelligence: 10 (+0)
  Wisdom: 15 (+2)  
  Charisma: 13 (+1)
  Hit Dice: 1d8+1 
  Hit Points: 9      Massive Damage Threshold: 15
  Armor Class: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 studded leather), touch 12, ﬂatfooted 13
  Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
  Initiative: +2
  Reputation: +0
  Saving Throws: Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +2
  Attack Bonus: Base +0, Melee –1, Ranged +2, Grapple –1
  Attack: Short sword +2 melee (1d6–1/19–20) or light crossbow +2 
  ranged (1d8/19–20)
  Full Attack: Short sword +2 melee (1d6–1/19–20) or light crossbow +2 
  ranged (1d8/19–20)
  Skills: Bluﬀ +6, Gather Information +5, Hide +6, Listen +3, Move 
  Silently +6, Sleight of Hand +4, Spot +3 
  Feats: Quick Draw B, Sighted B, Weapon Finesse
  Languages: S’danzo (S), Sanctan (S)
  Equipment: Studded leather, short sword, light crossbow, backpack with 
  waterskin, one day’s trail rations, bedroll, sack, ﬂint and steel, three 
  torches, case with 10 bolts.
  Money: 5 sh.
  Contacts: Information (1)
  Special Qualities
  • Mistrusted: Elyna takes a –2 penalty to Diplomacy checks when 
  recognized as a S’danzo
  • Prostitute Trait: When interacting with a target ordinarily attracted to 
  Elyna’s gender, she gains a +2 bonus to Bluﬀ and Diplomacy checks 
  against attracted target, and +2 bonus to glean information from that 
  target.
  
  SHADOWSPAWN’S
  GUIDE TO SANCTUARY
  Sanctuary: fantasy’s grimiest, nastiest, ugliest city. Shadowspawn: fantasy’s most notorious thief. Shadowspawn’s Guide to Sanctuary: the 
  indispensable Thieves’ World handbook. In this weighty tome, you’ll ﬁnd an overview of the city’s neighborhoods and surrounding areas, 
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  of both eras, including such favorites as Lythande, Tempus, Ischade, and of course Shadowspawn himself. The book also expands the rules 
  options of the Thieves’ World Player’s Manual with new backgrounds, cultures, prestige classes, and the mysterious and powerful Ur-words. 
  Shadowspawn’s Guide to Sanctuary gives you everything you need to run roleplaying games in this classic fantasy city. 
  256 pages, hardback
  MSRP: $39.95
  GRR1803
  ISBN: 1-932442-49-9
  COMING  
  AUTUMN 
  2005!
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Thieves World (multi)/Thieves' World d20/Thieves' World Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn (d20).pdf