TEXT: From the Pen of Ryan Nock 
  Stunning Cartographic Displays by James Hazelett
   
   Jonathan Roberts
  Masterful Interior Illustrations by Claudio Pozas
   
   & artists of history
  with Layout and Graphic Design by Eric Life-Putnam
  Ably Produced and Facilitated by Russell Morrissey
  EN5ider Presents:
  A Zeitgeist Campaign World Adventure
  Thoroughly Playtested for Maximum Enjoyment by
  Sam Coman, Mary Crowell, Matthew Freeman, Benton Harris, 
  James Herbert, Thurston Hillman, Stoyan Ivanov, 
  Russell Morrissey, Randal Slaven, and Judson Stowe
  Seamlessly Updated to Fifth Edition by 
  Ryan Nock
  Special Thanks to  Nobuo Uematsu for the soundtrack to Final Fantasy VIII, which taught me to love a good witch villain.
  F
  or
  ce
  d 
  F
  ai
  t
  h
  B
  on
  ds
   o
  f
  Wherein a King and his Retinue strike 
  against a Coven of Witches before they 
  can lay a dire Curse upon an entire City.
  An Enchanting Excursion for 10th-Level Characters
  
  2 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  to leave this space of the setting’s history a bit vague, so whatever 
  result occurs can become canon in your game.
  We start where the action begins, shortly before sunset on the 
  night of a lunar eclipse.
  The King’s Retinue.
  This adventure includes six pregenerated characters. If you have 
  five players, run Mayor Stanfield as an npc, and with four, also 
  make Principal Minister Harkover Lee an npc, since neither of 
  them can end up king.
  •	 King Lorcan Finn. Human monarch of Risur, a sword-
  wielding warrior empowered through ancient rites by the 
  devotion of his citizens. His ultimate goal is to declare a 
  worthy successor before the night’s end, and he plans for that 
  to be Dame Melissa … if he can teach her a few things about 
  what it means to be a responsible monarch first.
  •	 Dame Melissa Gahlot. Half-elf bodyguard to the king, 
  known as the Green Knight. By the favor of the fey, she can-
  not die while the sun is not up. She believes she is owed the 
  crown after Lorcan. Her goal is be named his successor.
  •	 Mayor Roland Stanfield. A deva — one who died in the 
  presence of a goddess centuries ago, and now reincarnates 
  after each life. He has served as city mayor of Flint for three 
  centuries. Mechanically he’s the most complicated, which 
  might appeal to players who like having lots of tricks up their 
  sleeves. His goal is to ensure Amielle Latimer, an agent from 
  Danor, survives and lays the groundwork for a future alliance 
  with Risur.
  •	 Principal Minister Harkover Lee. A fire-wielding mage who 
  acts as advisor and supernatural defender of the king. Though 
  foreign and mysterious, he is fully loyal to the realm. His 
  goal, however, is for anyone but Dame Melissa to be named 
  successor, because he thinks she would be a selfish queen.
  •	 Godhand Tomas Masaryk. Human holy warrior from a 
  foreign faith. His goal is to slay the Red Contessa and recover 
  or destroy a heretical text she stole. He also believes that 
  tieflings like Amielle are evil, a fact that might create some 
  discord in the retinue.
  •	 Amielle Latimer. Tiefling gunsmith from Danor, a nation 
  recently at war with Risur. She comes to aid the king of 
  Risur with her country’s newly-invented firearms. She hopes 
  this olive branch will open avenues of trade and industrial 
  investment, so her goal is to be seen as an ally to whoever 
  ends up monarch.
  Open Game Content | The game rule information in this article is designated Open Game Content. All other material in this 
  article, including maps, graphic elements, and illustrations (including graphic elements and illustrations in the public domain), narrative 
  and descriptive text, character and place names, trade dress, “EN Publishing,” “EN World,” “EN5ider,” “Zeitgeist,” all EN Publishing 
  product and article titles, and Zeitgeist, EN World, and EN Publishing logos, are designated Product Identity.
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  Introduction
  t
  he city of Flint in the year 400 a.o.v. is a 
  modest coastal hub of shipping, fishing, and 
  lumber, far from the industrial powerhouse it will be-
  come a century later during the main events of the 
  Zeitgeist adventure path.
  The second war with Danor over control of distant islands has 
  distracted King Lorcan of Risur, and his inattention has allowed 
  a coven of witches to rise to power in this unimportant corner of 
  his nation. The witches, led by a woman from the east known as 
  the Red Contessa, have terrorized the people of Flint for years, ab-
  ducting children, raising the walking dead, and performing dark 
  rituals atop a three-thousand-foot-tall mountain in the city’s center, 
  previously known as The Hunchback, but which will forever after 
  come to be called Cauldron Hill.
  Only now, the day before his fiftieth birthday, has the king been 
  motivated to face these witches, because he needs a successor. Ri-
  suri tradition disapproves of family inheritance of the crown; 
  rulership usually passes to someone worthy, who must be approved 
  both by the nobility and the common folk. Ending the suffering of 
  the townsfolk of Flint is a small matter, but it will give the king’s 
  preferred successor an opportunity for glory.
  Unexpected allies arrive from across the sea, and King Lorcan 
  does not realize how pivotal this night’s quest will be.
  Running the Adventure
  Bonds of Forced Faith is intended as a one-shot, a short and punchy 
  adventure which you can get through in the span of a four hour con-
  vention slot, or a single night’s gaming at home. This adventure can 
  function as a standalone, or even an introduction to the Zeitgeist 
  setting and adventure path. If it’s 2018 and you’re just now reading 
  this, you can even run it as a sort of supernatural flashback in the 
  middle of Adventure Eight, Diaspora.
  The pregenerated characters each have motivations in addition 
  to simply wanting to defeat the witches of Cauldron Hill, which 
  are detailed in the King’s Retinue section below. Since this is a one-
  shot, we expect some characters to die spectacularly in the finale, 
  but as long as they achieve their goals they can still feel victorious. 
  For those of you running the full campaign, we’ve made a point 
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 3
  Introduction
  Their character sheets are at the end of this adventure. Additionally, 
  in the Teaser five of the players will play city guardsmen, who will 
  die in less than five minutes in a variety of gruesome ways. The 
  remaining pc, the mayor, dies too, but he comes back.
  The Contessa’s Coven.
  Additionally, four main npcs oppose the party.
  •	 Sister Languor. A local Flinter named Rachel Lang, and 
  one of the folk prophets known as skyseers, she joined the 
  witches’ coven for power. She keeps a public face among the 
  skyseers, but has acted to sabotage those who would oppose 
  the coven. She’ll try to lure the king to a trap by feigning 
  peril, and even if “rescued” she’ll provide a false prophecy 
  and an “elixir of protection” that will actually curse anyone 
  who drinks it.
  •	 Sister Deliria. A sneaky, beautiful witch with troll minions, 
  she commands powers that dull men’s minds or blind them 
  with illusions. She is colluding with Sister Languor to try to 
  trick the king.
  •	 Sister Pernicity. Quiet, skinny, with a feigned childish 
  demeanor, this witch flies in a cauldron and loves burning 
  people alive. She torments most of the coven’s prisoners, and 
  the human sacrifices she performs halfway up Cauldron Hill 
  empower the Red Contessa’s primary ritual at the peak.
  •	 The Red Contessa. Beautiful and dark-haired, she wields 
  blood magic, a demonic ritual known as Bonds of Forced 
  Faith, which links her lifeforce to unwilling victims. Her 
  goal is to bond herself to the entire city of Flint, and then 
  force the king to name her his successor. If not granted her 
  wish, she intends to kill thousands.
  When roleplaying the witches, giving them each a unique voice can 
  help to distinguish them. Sister Languor has a deep, droning voice; 
  Deliria’s voice warbles like the classic Wicked Witch from The Wiz-
  ard of Oz; and Pernicity punctuates every sentence with giggles 
  that often shift into cackles. The Red Contessa has an accent like an 
  Italian or Eastern European starlet, and her attitude is supremely 
  cocky, her quips biting. She grandstands as a matter of course, and 
  she won’t take anything seriously, even if it looks like she might die.
  Upper Flint Bay
  Lower Flint Bay
  The Ayres
  1. Mayor’s Mansion
  2. Cauldron Hill
  North Shore
  Parity Lake
  Central District
  The Cloudwood
  Stray River
   1.
   2.
  
  4 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Pregenerated Characters for Teaser
   Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Teodore
  Human Witch Hunter
  Hit Points 6, Armor Class 14 (leather armor, shield)
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  13 (+1)
  11 (+0)
  12 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  8 (–1)
  9 (–1)
  Skills Perception +1
  Woodman’s Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 
  to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8+1 
  slashing damage.
  Dover
  Human Witch Hunter
  Hit Points 6, Armor Class 14 (leather armor, shield)
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  13 (+1)
  11 (+0)
  12 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  8 (–1)
  9 (–1)
  Skills Perception +1
  Woodman’s Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 
  to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8+1 
  slashing damage.
  Edeo
  Human Witch Hunter
  Hit Points 6, Armor Class 14 (leather armor, shield)
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  13 (+1)
  11 (+0)
  12 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  8 (–1)
  9 (–1)
  Skills Perception +1
  Woodman’s Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 
  to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8+1 
  slashing damage.
  Francis
  Human Witch Hunter
  Hit Points 6, Armor Class 14 (leather armor, shield)
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  13 (+1)
  11 (+0)
  12 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  8 (–1)
  9 (–1)
  Skills Perception +1
  Woodman’s Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 
  to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8+1 
  slashing damage.
  Benton
  Human Witch Hunter
  Hit Points 6, Armor Class 14 (leather armor, shield)
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  13 (+1)
  11 (+0)
  12 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  8 (–1)
  9 (–1)
  Skills Perception +1
  Woodman’s Axe. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 
  to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8+1 
  slashing damage.
  Mayor Roland Stanfield
  Deva Mayor
  Hit Points 53, Armor Class 13 (studded leather armor)
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  8 (–1)
  12 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  16 (+3)
  19 (+4)
  14 (+2)
  Saving Throws con +4, dex +5, int +7, wis +8
  Skills Deception +10, History +7, Medicine +7, Perception +12, Persua-
  sion +10, Religion +7, Stealth +9
  Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 
  5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6+1 piercing damage.
  Deathless Calm. You have resistance to necrotic 
  and radiant energy, and you cannot be blinded by 
  bright light.
  Memory of Past Lifetimes. Once per day you can 
  roll 1d4 and add it to one ability check, skill check, 
  or saving throw of your choice. If you do this for a skill you are not 
  proficient with, you gain proficiency for the next minute.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 5
  Introduction
  Adventure Scenes.
  First, in the Teaser, ask which player wants the most mechanically 
  complicated character. Hand that player a copy of the brief char-
  acter sheet of Roland Stanfield (page 4). Hand the other players 
  the “witch hunter” character sheets (page 4). Run the Teaser until 
  everyone’s dead, killing Stanfield last.
  Act One.
  Hand out the full character sheets (pages 21 et seq.). Let the other 
  players decide whom they’d like to play. Instruct them to read both 
  sides and to pay attention to the “Starting Interactions” and “Char-
  acter Goal” sections. Tell them that even if their character dies, if 
  they accomplish their goal, they can consider it a win.
  Then begin the Briefing, setting the scene at the mayor’s man-
  sion, shortly before 6:00 pm, when the characters are about to 
  begin discussing plans for the witches, but are interrupted by the 
  approach of Amielle’s small steamship, Hinc ad Aeternitatem. Let 
  the characters roleplay through sharing the information they have, 
  namely that tonight will be a lunar eclipse, and that atop Cauldron 
  Hill immense magical power will be available, reaching its zenith 
  at 10:47 pm. It should be obvious to all that time is short.
  Before they start making plans, the Red Contessa’s Invitation
  occurs. The chief of police reports that skyseer Rachel Lang fell un-
  der attack by an angry mob and fled onto the water at Parity Lake. 
  Then from a nearby crowd of people, a person compelled by magic 
  slits his own throat, causing a panic. From his blood an image of 
  the contessa rises. She bids the king to attend a birthday celebra-
  tion she’s throwing at the peak of Cauldron Hill. She’s already lit 
  candles for him; she directs them to look at the mountain, which is 
  ringed with pyres burning fifty prisoners at the stake.
  The group’s plans will likely take them to the Deception at
  Parity Lake. Skyseer Rachel Lang is actually the witch Sister 
  Languor, and together with her fellow witch Sister Deliria they 
  have enacted a clever ruse. By imperiling Rachel Lang, Deliria 
  hopes to make the king wholly trusting of the prophecy Lang 
  offers, which will actually lead the king to his death. If either De-
  liria or Languor are slain, they lay curses upon whomever strikes 
  the final blow, but if they survive they’ll reappear and aid the Red 
  Contessa at the peak.
  Act Two.
  If skyseer Lang is “rescued,” she delivers her Prophecy of the 
  Cracked Cauldron, claiming the only way to shatter the Red Con-
  tessa’s blood magic protection is for someone to willingly dive into 
  her boiling cauldron, which will shatter it and its magic. Actually, 
  doing so will just cause you to be horribly burned. Lang offers a 
  potion she has crafted which will protect them from the mountain’s 
  dark magic, but she could only prepare enough for the retinue, 
  which should deter the king from storming the mountain with an 
  entire army. In truth, the potion is a ruse to link the Red Contessa 
  to the king and his retinue by bond of forced faith.
  Townsfolk are here who look to the king for guidance. He might 
  introduce Dame Melissa to them, or rally them to come up the 
  mountain. They’re not consequential to the victory, but make sure 
  to mention them so the party feels the city is counting on them.
  Next, the king and his retinue must Ascend the Hunchback, 
  climbing a mountain warded with curses and minor monsters to 
  reach a location known as “the hunch,” which is where the only safe 
  route to the peak can be accessed. This scene plays as a montage of 
  small horrors. Skyseer Lang’s potion does indeed provide protec-
  tion against some of those dangers. If the king did bring along any 
  mundane soldiers this climb ought to kill off most of them.
  At the hunch, hostages are kept beside the Pyres of Pernicity. 
  The withered Sister Pernicity flies about with eerie, childish delight 
  while the fey and zombies that serve her lash her prisoners to more 
  pyres. Fighting the witch and her minions becomes complicated 
  as they start burning their prisoners alive, and like Languor and 
  Deliria she lays a dying curse on whoever kills her.
  Act Three.
  The Final Ascent up the last few hundred feet is a challenging climb 
  in the best conditions, but howling spirits and supernatural winds 
  assail the king and his retinue, wearing them down and possibly 
  leaving some mentally unhinged.
  They find the peak lit up by witchfire as the Red Contessa per-
  forms her Ritual of the Red Moon. She dances in the firelight, 
  stabbing herself and laughing. When she spots the group she be-
  gins monologuing, revealing that in her own twisted way she has 
  done all this to prove her worthiness to succeed King Lorcan as 
  monarch of Risur.
  Since he’ll likely decline to name her his successor, she attacks, 
  aided by an immense serpent-maned lion, minor witches in her coven, 
  and various lesser spooks and spirits. She starts combat by animating 
  the megalith standing stones and the cauldron itself as allies.
  Her cauldron is the focus of a ritual that connects her via bond 
  of forced faith with the whole city of Flint. If her ritual is not dis-
  rupted before the eclipse reaches its maximum, she will become 
  immortal. She’s impossible to kill while the ritual is in effect, and 
  even if it’s stopped, it is possible Rachel Lang’s ruse will mean she’s 
  also linked to the party. Defeating the witches will require clever-
  ness, or perhaps capitulation.
  Teaser
  This first section is meant to be run quickly, more as narration 
  than actual gameplay. The goal is to convey confusion, horror, and 
  helplessness.
  Ask which player wants the most complicated pc, then give them 
  the simple character sheet for Mayor Stanfield (page 4). Hand ev-
  eryone else one of the witch hunter characters (also page 4).
  Read the following text and pause to get die rolls, then announce 
  who survives each assault by the witches. Mostly direct the narra-
  tion toward Mayor Stanfield’s player.
  For each of the checks and saves we call for below, any witch 
  hunter pc who rolls under 10 dies in the next narrated section. If 
  no one rolls under 10, instead kill whoever rolled lowest. Don’t 
  kill Mayor Stanfield. If all the other pcs are dead, just narrate the 
  deaths of the rest of the townsfolk who came along, then give Stan-
  field’s player a chance to respond before the Red Contessa kills him 
  in the final bit of boxed text.
  
  6 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Introduction
  Yes, we’re killing pcs during boxed text. (If any non-Stanfield 
  characters survive to the final boxed text, they can be rescued later 
  as hostages by the real pcs.)
  You’ve ascended halfway to the peak, and you can see the evening lights 
  of Flint below. You’re nearly to “the hunch,” where the thickly forested 
  mountain grows suddenly rockier and steeper, but you can already hear 
  the drums and wailing chants from the summit. A great fire burns a 
  thousand feet above you, and for a moment your mouth waters at the 
  rich scent of boiled meat, before you remember it’s probably human flesh 
  that’s cooking up there.
  This mountain used to be called The Hunchback. Now the locals are 
  calling it Cauldron Hill.
  Mayor Stanfield and forty more armed men go to rescue the hostages, 
  because you at least are brave. For years, your King refused your calls for 
  help, first too busy with his war across the sea, and now too busy signing 
  an armistice after he lost.
  Each of you has seen a friend kidnapped, or a wife, or a son, or a parent. 
  For decades these kidnappings have been rare — rare enough that people 
  dismissed the stories and preferred to ignore the witches. But over the 
  last few years, while the soldiers have been away, the coven has grown 
  bold. A dozen were abducted just last night, and if there’s a chance you 
  can save them, you’ll not let fear stand in—
  Everyone please make Perception checks.
  When the boxed text mentions someone dying, point to the 
  character(s) who failed their roll, to indicate they’ve just died. These 
  attacks are loosely modeled on the spells phantasmal killer, circle of 
  death, and entangle, but simplified to fit the narrative.
  There is a rustling sound in the trees overhead, and a cackling woman’s 
  voice streaks through the air.
  When you look back down, one man is on the ground, blood pouring 
  from his belly. Another half-dozen are already running. The cackling 
  swoops over them, and one flies up off the ground screaming, pulled into 
  the tree canopy. All around you all you can see in the dark are trees, brush, 
  and steep slopes to falls of hundred feet or more.
  What do you do?
  Give the players a chance to respond for a round or two, but there’s 
  nothing to attack. Don’t let them get too into planning things. 
  If you really like a player’s idea, maybe just have that character 
  knocked out and abducted instead of being killed.
  Have everyone make Wisdom saves.
  A man running beside you stops suddenly, begins to weep, draws a knife, 
  and then jams it into his throat. Another man shrieks and shoves his 
  companion off the nearest ledge. A gust of cold wind brushes the back of 
  your neck, and a voice starts to whisper into your ear, telling you to fling 
  yourself off the mountain before the witches can steal your soul.
  Have the characters make Constitution saves.
  A cluster of soldiers standing in a ring, their swords brandished bravely, 
  begin to cough blood and fall to their knees. You still can’t see any attack-
  ers, just chaos and confusion and screaming.
  Have the characters make Strength saves. If Stanfield fails, go 
  ahead and entangle him, but don’t kill him yet. Any pcs who sur-
  vived this far can be taken prisoner, but the Red Contessa kills the 
  mayor.
  You hear a scream twenty feet away as shadows reach out from the back-
  side of a tree, grab a man, and pull him tight against the trunk, crushing 
  the life from him. Tree branches leap out and grasp others, those who mo-
  ments ago were brave witch hunters, but now scream for salvation. Wet, 
  mulchy fingers paw at their faces, thorns rip at their skin, blood dribbles 
  down their arms.
  Shadowy humanoids as high as your waist detach from the night and 
  surround the surviving warriors. They leap upon them, pull them down, 
  and drag them away screaming.
  The din of pandemonium dulls, grows quiet, goes silent. The mayor 
  stands alone. The horrors of Cauldron Hill seem to have spared him 
  intentionally.
  Torches light up the forest. No, not torches; burning bodies, some wail-
  ing. Silhouetted by flames, a trio of female figures walk slowly toward the 
  mayor. Two of them hang back in the shadows, softly chanting, but one 
  steps close.
  Her black hair cascades down to a dress the color of a scab, so tattered 
  it looks like it’s been through battle many times.
  Let Stanfield’s player decide what he wants to do. If he runs or talks, 
  the witches eventually hold or trap him. The text below assumes 
  he fights.
  You plunge your sword through the exposed pale skin above her heart, 
  striking what should be a killing blow.
  She rolls her eyes, shoves you back into the brambles, and drags the 
  blade out of her ribcage with a grunt. No wound is left behind. She drops 
  the sword with a muted clang and draws a rusted, jagged knife from her 
  dress. It’s still stained with blood from the last time you saw her.
  “Sisters,” she says, “you can have the others. I’ve grown fond of killing 
  this one.”
  The knife’s teeth saw the flesh of your neck open. Your blood pours 
  down her arm. She holds you up by your jaw with unnatural strength. Your 
  vision darkens. Your limbs slack. Your last sensation is hearing your men 
  still screaming as they burn.
  Pick up everyone’s brief character sheets, and welcome them to to-
  night’s adventure, Bonds of Forced Faith.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 7
  t
  o begin this act, hand out the proper 
  character sheets (starting on page 21) and let 
  the players decide who plays whom.
  Briefing
  Several weeks later, around 6:00 pm, gathered at the mayor’s mansion 
  island, in a turret overlooking protesting merchants and peasants, 
  are King Lorcan, his aide Harkover and bodyguard Melissa, Mayor 
  Stanfield, and Tomas, a foreign advisor from the nation of Crisillyir 
  to the east. Everyone assumes they’ll be waiting until tomorrow to 
  attack, because tonight’s lunar eclipse is a bad omen.
  Amielle is not present yet.
  Give the players ample time to read both sides of their character 
  sheets. Encourage the players to pay close attention to the Suggest-
  ed Starting Interactions and Character Goal sections. Tell them 
  that even if their character dies, if they accomplish their goal, they 
  can consider it a win.
  Once everyone is ready, they can read their character description, 
  but before formal introductions begin, shouting from all across the 
  island draws everyone’s attention out the window. A ship is sail-
  ing into harbor — no, not sailing, churning with some grumbling 
  mechanism that belches black smoke and white steam in its wake. 
  It flies both a white flag, and the flag of Danor.
  As the ship nears the island, they can make out its name: Hinc 
  ad Aeternitatem. A steam-powered runabout embarks and carries 
  Amielle to the island.
  Let the group meet and roleplay. When the time is right and 
  everyone has shared the information in their Suggested Starting In-
  teractions, a commotion heralds the arrival of Flint’s chief of police.
  Red Contessa’s Invitation.
  The chief of police bows to the king, nods to his mayor, and glowers at 
  the tiefling.
  “I have news, my king. The skyseer Rachel Lang was supposed to come 
  to present you a vision concerning the witches, and when she didn’t arrive 
  on time I sent out men to check the city. A runner just came back. He 
  says he saw Rachel Lang and her acolytes fleeing a mob along the shore 
  of Parity Lake. Lang yelled at him to get help, and then they shoved off on 
  a small boat. The water should protect them for a short while, but it won’t 
  be long before the mob finds boats of their own.”
  And before the police chief can explain anymore either, screams sound 
  from the crowd of protesters surrounding the governor’s mansion. A fig-
  ure in the crowd has brandished a dagger high, and he removes his hood, 
  tilts his head up, and plunges the blade into his throat. People scatter, and 
  the blood pours out onto the ground. The blood slowly rises up, waving its 
  hands to forestall any hysterical reactions like attacking it.
  The Red Contessa’s blood simulacrum speaks:
  “Greetings, people of Flint.
  “No one cares about you! You’re more chattel to your king than you 
  are to me, and I’ve been sticking your children in a black pot and cooking 
  them alive for thirty years.
  “Well, the time has come to change all that! I am your queen now, and 
  a queen treats her subjects well. The abductions shall stop! Anyway, we 
  don’t need more hostages; we have too many already.”
  She gestures up to the mountain top, and a line of fires are shining 
  there. People being burned alive.
  “Shush, king. I have no words for you that will speak louder than the 
  sound my boot will make crushing your skull against the stone of my 
  mountain. You’re an old man, and so I’ve lit candles for your birthday. 
  Come if you dare. I’ll let you bow to me in fealty.
  “Now, my subjects, ask yourselves. Who will better protect you? A king 
  who has already lost a war, who has let his enemies sail into your very har-
  bor? Or a queen who burns those who offend her? Let me demonstrate.”
  A few hundred feet away, with no other warning, the Danoran vessel 
  explodes, vanishing in a cloud of white. Uncontained steam from the 
  boiler launches timbers and metal shards through the air. The remnants 
  of the boat catch fire and crumple. But over the roar of its destruction 
  you can hear the witch laughing as her blood simulacrum fades away.
  It’s shortly after 6:00 pm, and the characters don’t have much time 
  to formulate a plan. While they talk, the fifty “birthday candles” 
  that ring the hunch of Cauldron Hill slowly smolder and die.
  Deception at Parity Lake.
  The obvious hook is to go rescue skyseer Rachel Lang and investi-
  gate the mob threatening her.
  If the party decides to head straight for the mountain, they’ll 
  actually spare themselves a fair bit of grief, though you might want 
  to have Sisters Languor and Deliria follow them up and harass the 
  group as they ascend to Pernicity’s Hut.
  National Flag of Danor.
  Act One
  
  8 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Act One
  The Goal.
  Sisters Deliria and Languor were tasked by the Red Contessa to 
  distract King Lorcan and keep him away from her ritual tonight. 
  If that can’t be achieved, they’re instead to try to trick him into 
  willingly undergoing the bond of forced faith ritual. This will 
  cause the Contessa’s wounds to be dealt instead to the king, as 
  well as anyone else she’s bonded to. While the ritual only is ef-
  fective if the subject is within 250 feet of the focus, it can remain 
  dormant for hours.
  Languor has long operated in the open with her alternate identi-
  ty as the skyseer Rachel Lang. A respected prophet, she uses visions 
  that she sees in the night sky to help people around the city.
  Deliria disguised herself as a local officiant — Husky Pete, beadle 
  of the North Shore district — then convinced people Rachel Lang 
  is a witch. He led an angry mob to drive her out onto the waters of 
  Parity Lake.
  Of course, Rachel Lang actually is a witch, but when Husky Pete 
  is revealed to be the witch Sister Deliria, this should make the king 
  completely trust Lang. No one suspects the double bluff.
  The Scene.
  Parity Lake today is a bit of a swamp, with few boat launches. A 
  mob of sixty people has gathered in a forest clearing near a shore-
  line thick with reeds. A pair of archers stand at the end of a short 
  dock, shooting flaming arrows at the skyseer, but they’re almost out 
  of ammo and are terrible shots at this range.
  By the time the king and his retinue arrive, Rachel Lang and a 
  half-dozen innocent skyseer acolytes have piled onto a boat and are 
  floating a couple hundred feet off-shore.
  The mob only has one modest 25-ft. boat that could carry ten 
  people, and they’re not confident enough to attack with so few. A 
  thick knot of townsfolk in the center of the mob are arguing about 
  whether it’d be faster to chop down trees and lash together a raft, 
  or go find and steal a boat from somewhere else along the shore. 
  The whole ordeal is being led by Sister Deliria, draped in an illu-
  sion that makes her appear as a balding, jowled man. Froth on his 
  lips, he distracts the crowd with chants of “Drown the witch,” and 
  “Skyseer? More like lie-seer!”
  Sister Deliria has bond of forced faith active on twenty people in 
  the crowd (whom she tricked with enthrall a few hours ago), and 
  two trolls that are loyal to her hide in the reeds under the dock 
  (Perception dc 16 to detect if someone checks under the dock).
  Watery Trap.
  Deliria-as-Pete will thank the king for arriving and offer the pcs a 
  boat so they can go slay the witch Rachel Lang. “Pete” claims that 
  he asked the skyseer for advice and that she then cast a spell on him 
  that filled him with agony. He fled and rounded up an angry mob, 
  and they chased Lang onto the river.
  If the retinue opts for the boat, it lies at the end of a 20-ft. dock 
  surrounded by neck-deep water filled with reeds. Deliria waits on 
  the shore; when the first player character gets into the boat, she 
  opens combat by casting hex as a bonus action to impose disadvan-
  tage on that character’s Strength. She cackles, “Weak-minded and
  weak-limbed. Drown them, my pretties!”
  Her next action is to wag a finger at Harkover Lee while rasp-
  ing, “No fire for you, old man”; this is a use of torturous curse to 
  inflict her preferred curse of amateur’s amnesia, aimed at making 
  the minister unable to use fire magic.
  The trolls erupt from the water beside the boat. One grabs and 
  drags the hexed character into the water, while the other clambers 
  onto the dock and keeps the rest of the retinue from saving the 
  drowning victim.
  Deliria isn’t left without options if her tactics fail, though; she is 
  ready to fight for a bit longer, then she will run. After seeing how 
  her opening moves turn out, she casts phantasmal killer on whoever 
  is attacking her, then on each turn after that she casts a different 
  curse at the gm’s discretion, aiming to maximize damage and chaos 
  over gaining any real tactical advantage. She only uses her dagger 
  for opportunity attacks. When her buffer of temporary hit points 
  is depleted, she’ll use raven’s flight to get away. She’ll then flee up 
  the mountain.
  Eclipse Chronology.
  7:26 pm
  Sunset
  8:13 pm
  Penumbra darkens moon
  9:12 pm
  Partial eclipse
  10:13 pm
  Full eclipse
  10:47 pm Maximum eclipse
  It takes about half an hour to reach Parity Lake on horseback. It 
  will take about half an hour to reach a path to ascend Cauldron Hill, so 
  the sun should just be starting to set, probably (a little after 7:00 pm). 
  It takes another hour to climb to the hunch where Pernicity’s Hut 
  holds hostages (so probably 8:00 pm). We assume the king and his 
  retinue will take a short rest here, spending an hour treating wounds 
  and preparing for the final ascent.
  Climbing from the hunch to the peak takes at least another hour 
  (so probably 10:00 pm). Cleverness might shave time off. There is 
  not much time to spare, because if the party doesn’t stop the ritual 
  by 10:47 pm, the Contessa will be permanently bonded to Flint, and 
  impossible to kill.
  If the pcs want five soldiers to accompany them, they’re ready 
  immediately. Twenty soldiers takes 15 minutes. One hundred soldiers 
  takes an hour. Soldiers have the same stats as Flint witch hunters, 
  and will almost all die ascending the mountain.
  Witch Hexes.
  The witches, as a coven, share a lot of the same powers. In fact, De-
  liria, Languor, and Pernicity vary only in their voice, their weapon of 
  choice, their preferred curse, and what magic item they carry. (Also, 
  Languor doesn’t have bond of forced faith on her.)
  The Red Contessa has many of the same powers, plus a few legend-
  ary actions.
  You’ll want to familiarize yourself with the mechanics of the 
  witches, and with each witch’s preferred curses. The witches’ tor-
  turous curse ability—in addition to having longer range and dealing 
  damage—functions like casting bestow curse with a 5th-level spell slot, 
  and so the curse lasts 8 hours without requiring the witch to maintain 
  concentration.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 9
  Act One
  Foes at Parity Lake.
  •	 2 Deliria’s trolls
  •	 Sister Deliria
  Deliria’s Trolls (2)
  Large giant, chaotic evil
  Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 84 (8d10+40)
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  18 (+4)
  13 (+1)
  20 (+5)
  7 (–2)
  4 (–3)
  4 (–3)
  Skills Perception +0
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
  Languages Giant
  Challenge 5 (1,800 xp)
  Hallucinatory Break. The first time a creature deals damage to the troll, 
  the attacker must make a Wisdom save (dc 10) or have his senses de-
  luded by an illusion. He perceives the troll to be an innocent bystander, 
  who appears to die horribly from the attack. The creature thereafter 
  thinks the “troll” is gone, and cannot perceive the troll. At the end of 
  each of its turns the creature can make a new save to overcome the 
  illusion. If the troll attacks it, the illusion ends automatically before the 
  attack roll is made.
  Keen Smell. The troll has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks 
  that rely on smell.
  Regeneration. The troll regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn. If 
  the troll takes acid or fire damage, this trait doesn’t function at the 
  start of the troll’s next turn. The troll dies only if it starts its turn with 
  0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The troll makes three attacks: one bite and two claws. In 
  place of a claw attack, it can attempt to grab a creature smaller than it.
  Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 
  (1d6+4) piercing damage.
  Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 
  (2d6+4) piercing damage.
  Mechanics of the Bond.
  The ritual bond of forced faith functions similar to the spell warding 
  bond, but takes longer and is much more powerful.
  Those whose life forces are linked to the target of the ritual must 
  shed a drop of their blood into a cup of milk, which the target must 
  drink. For several hours thereafter, the target gains a boost to her 
  physical stats, and damage dealt to her is first divided equally among 
  those whose blood was contained in the milk, as long as they are 
  within 250 ft. Round up the damage, but the distributed total is never 
  higher than the original amount.
  For example, if the Red Contessa is bonded with five of the pcs, 
  and an attack would deal 8 damage to her, three pcs would take 2 
  damage, and two would take 1 damage. She would take no damage as 
  long as any of the pcs bonded to her were alive.
  For simplicity’s sake, the witches other than the Red Contessa are 
  simply given a buffer of temporary hitpoints in their statblock. While 
  they have these temporary hp, hits that would wound instead kill 
  some of the people around them.
  Simply hacking at the witch will kill a lot of innocents. You need 
  to either move the witch away from the people, or subdue her. She’s 
  still vulnerable to conditions, and drowning works fine. For simplicity’s 
  sake, we have each witch bonded to twenty people, each of whom 
  provides 10 temporary hit points. Getting those people out of range 
  reduces the witch’s hp buffer. Particularly utilitarian pcs might sim-
  ply fireball the whole crowd and clear out the people in one go.
  If all of the creatures bonded to a witch die or move out of range, 
  she has disadvantage on all Strength checks and melee attack rolls, 
  and her melee weapon attacks do half damage.
  Viewed by detect magic, the ritual detects as an abjuration, but this 
  is part of an illusion woven into the magic. If someone examining its 
  magical aura uses an action to look for inconsistencies, he can make 
  an Intelligence (Investigation) check (dc 18) to realize it’s actually a 
  potent combined illusion, necromancy, and transmutation effect, ef-
  fectively a 9th level spell.
  Note that due to Amielle’s family immunity to curses, she cannot 
  be affected by bond of forced faith.
  
  10 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Act One
  Sister Deliria
  Medium humanoid (human), chaotic evil
  Hit Points 63 plus 200 temporary hit points
  Armor Class 12
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  20 (+5)
  14 (+2)
  12 (+1)
  13 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  16 (+3)
  Saving Throws wis +4, cha +7
  Skills Arcana +5, Deception +7, Perception +4, Stealth +5
  Condition Immunities charmed
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
  Languages Common, Giant
  Challenge 9 (5,000 xp)
  Bond of Forced Faith. Sister Deliria is bonded to twenty people, who 
  each grant her 10 temporary hit points. If they move beyond 250 ft., 
  she loses these temporary hit points. As long as she has any of these 
  temporary hit points, damage she takes does not disrupt her concen-
  tration on spells. If she has no more temporary hit points, she has 
  disadvantage on all Strength checks and melee attack rolls, and her 
  melee weapon attacks do half damage.
  Dying Curse. As long as the Red Contessa controls the peak of Cauldron 
  Hill, whenever Sister Deliria is reduced to 0 hit points her body 
  convulses and a ragged black ghost flies free from her mouth, streaking 
  toward the mountain. Whoever attacked or damaged her in the last 
  round must make a Wisdom save (dc 15) or be stunned for one round 
  by the screaming and cackling.
  Additionally, creatures who failed the save are affected by the prey 
  of the coven curse, if it isn’t already under the effect of that curse.
  Spellcasting. Sister Deliria has two spell slots available to cast any of the 
  following spells. The save dc is 15, and all the spells are cast as if with a 
  5th-level slot. These slots replenish after a short or long rest.
  Spells Prepared (2 slots): cloud of daggers, cure wounds, dispel magic, 
  entangle, hallucinatory terrain, hex, phantasmal killer, remove curse, 
  suggestion, witch bolt
  Actions
  Sacrificial Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 7 (1d4+5) piercing damage. The target must make a 
  Constitution save (dc 15) or fall prone from sudden wracking pain.
  Raven’s Flight. The witch transforms into a Tiny raven, with a fly speed 
  of 50 ft. She immediately dashes that speed. She can only use this 
  ability once per day.
  Torturous Curse. One creature within 30 ft. makes a Wisdom saving 
  throw (dc 15). If it fails, the witch deals 16 (3d10) necrotic damage 
  to that creature, and then the witch bestows a curse on the creature. 
  After using this power, the witch cannot attempt to curse the same 
  creature until she takes a short or long rest.
  The witches have a shared suite of common curses (see sidebar 
  above), and each witch has one personal, preferred curse. Choose one 
  available curse, which lasts until the coven is defeated or until it is 
  broken by remove curse.
  A creature afflicted by a torturous curse can spend an action to fight 
  the curse. Taking this action allows that creature to ignore the effect of 
  the curse until the end of its next turn, after which the curse takes hold 
  again.
  • Preferred Curse: Amateur’s Amnesia. Affected creatures are unable 
  to remember the thing they do the best — for example, for Harkover 
  Lee this is fire magic; for King Lorcan this is how to fight with a 
  sword. Affected creatures simply cannot take actions having to do 
  with their signature talent, as determined by the gm.
  Magic Items Deliria wears a hat of disguise.
  The Witches’ Curses.
  All the witches in this adventure who can use curses can use the fol-
  lowing curses using their torturous curse ability.
  •	 Brainless. The affected creature cannot communicate with any-
  thing more than gestures, grunts, and gibberish, nor understand 
  other people’s linguistic communications. This does not prevent 
  spellcasting.
  •	 Cowardly Lion. If the affected creature is adjacent to an enemy 
  and none of its allies are also adjacent to that enemy, the affected 
  creature is frightened of the enemy (taking disadvantage on 
  ability checks and attack rolls against that enemy).
  •	 Heartless. The affected creature cannot heal.
  •	 Prey for the Coven. Attacks made by and spells cast by members 
  of the coven deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to the affected 
  creature. Natural animals are spooked by the affected creature.
  Sister 
  Deliria
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 11
  D
  efeated, Deliria curses her killers
   and flees; then, Rachel Lang returns to 
  shore. The confused mob has fled in panic.
  The Cracked Cauldron
  Rachel, in her relaxed, languid style, thanks the pcs for rescuing 
  her and her acolytes. She reports that she was on her way to share a 
  vision when the mob drove them onto the lake. She offers what little 
  healing magic she has left to the king (which gives her an oppor-
  tunity to wipe away any blood the king may have shed; see below).
  After casting two cure wounds spells (each restores 4d8+3 hit 
  points), she recounts her vision:
  “Blood coats the peak of the mountain, pouring out of a cauldron scorched 
  black with fire. Body after body is dragged into that pot, and the victims 
  scream and die and lend their blood to the cascade, while their terrified 
  souls seep into the stone of the mountain. Then blood falls from the moon, 
  raining across the entire city, and the eyes of a countess watch from every 
  pool of moonlight. It is not safe to attack tonight!
  “When the moon is near setting, and the glow of dawn waits to appear, 
  the cauldron is unguarded, the coven exhausted and sleeping after their 
  night of revelry. And a figure steps willingly into the boil and the bubble. 
  By that selfless sacrifice, the fire turns to ice, the cascade stops, the blood 
  fades away. And then the sun rises, the witches turn to stone, and the 
  mountain is purified.”
  This false vision might fool the group if not for Amielle’s warning. 
  But if the king insists on continuing up the mountain, Rachel says 
  she can cast a spell that will protect them. She has a gourd of milk 
  which she fills with herbs, and she asks each of them to shed a drop 
  of blood into it. She says the purity of the milk will protect them 
  from the witches’ blood magic. She’ll stay down at ground level and 
  pray over the gourd to keep the ward active.
  Lang has tried to think of anything that might give away her 
  ruse, and she’s quite convincing (Insight dc 22). [By the way, we 
  didn’t give any of the pcs Insight for this very reason.] Nevertheless, 
  pcs might understandably be wary of giving anyone their blood.
  A character who presses for details of the magic can make an 
  Arcana check. A result that beats dc 10 realizes the magic will in-
  deed provide magical defenses. A dc 25 result, however, is enough 
  to realize that the spell does more than she’s saying.
  Successful Trick.
  If the party falls for this, Rachel promises that she and her acolytes 
  will head to safety and begin praying over the gourd in an hour, 
  after which the king’s ascent will be blessed.
  She mentions that she also glimpsed in her vision prisoners 
  trapped in cages at “the hunch,” where the gentle slope of the 
  mountain becomes much steeper for the final thousand feet up to 
  the peak. She assumed those prisoners were doomed and would be 
  hurled into the cauldron, but if the king insists on bravely attacking 
  during the blood moon, perhaps they could be spared ritual sacrifice.
  Again, Lang is just trying to appear helpful and cooperative, and 
  wants to offer more warnings in order to distract any suspicions 
  that her request for blood is a trick.
  Failed Trick.
  Unlike her sisters, Lang does not have bond of forced faith active, so 
  she’s loath to risk combat, but she needs to get at least a sample of 
  King Lorcan’s blood. If the party sees through Lang’s lies, she has 
  two backup options.
  First, if she was able to tend the king’s wounds, she makes sure to 
  get some of the king’s blood into her sleeve or on a rag. If the king 
  took any damage from slashing or piercing attacks, that’s enough 
  for her to get a drop of blood.
  Failing that, she can try one last gambit. She casts cloud of dag-
  gers (as a 5th-level spell) to try to get King Lorcan to bleed. If she 
  survives until her next turn she soaks the king’s blood into her 
  sleeve or a rag, then uses raven’s flight to flee.
  Sister Languor
  Medium humanoid (human), chaotic evil
  Armor Class 12
  Hit Points 63
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  10 (+0)
  14 (+2)
  12 (+1)
  13 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  16 (+3)
  Saving Throws wis +4, cha +7
  Skills Arcana +5, Deception +7, Perception +4, Stealth +5
  Condition Immunities charmed
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
  Dying Curse. See Deliria’s ability of the same name (page 10).
  Spellcasting. See Deliria’s ability of the same name (page 10).
  Challenge 5 (1,800 xp)
  Actions
  Staff of Withering. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 5 (1d8) bludgeoning damage. The staff has three charges, 
  and Sister Languor can spend one charge when she hits an enemy to 
  deal an extra 11 (2d10) necrotic damage. In addition, the target must 
  succeed a dc 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer disadvantage 
  for 1 hour on any ability check or saving throw that uses Strength or 
  Constitution.
  Raven’s Flight. This functions as Deliria’s ability of the same name.
  Torturous Curse. This functions as Deliria’s ability of the same name 
  (see page 10), except Sister Languor has a different preferred curse.
  • Preferred Curse: Layabout’s Lethargy. Sister Languor prefers to 
  curse foes with laziness. Affected creatures have disadvantage on 
  Dexterity-based checks and saves and always roll a 1 for initiative.
  Magic Items Languor carries a staff of withering.
  Act Two
  
  12 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Act Two
  Ascend the Hunchback
  It takes about an hour to reach the base of the path up Cauldron 
  Hill. Remind the pcs what time it is (it is most likely 7:00 pm, just 
  before sunset, if they spent time to help rescue Rachel Lang). At a 
  safe pace it would take two hours to reach the “hunch,” and another 
  two to reach the peak. This is not the time for a safe pace.
  Effect of the Gourd.
  As the party starts climbing the mountain, if they fell for Rachel 
  Lang’s deception they are indeed granted some small protection by 
  the prayers of her acolytes. They are immune to poison and have 
  resistance to cold damage, which is enough to shield them from 
  exposure for the duration of their climb. This is a unique abjuration 
  effect, which helps mask the aura of the bond of forced faith the Red 
  Contessa casts upon them.
  First Ascent.
  To abstractly represent the party climbing a few thousand feet in a 
  hurry, each pc must make a Strength (Athletics) check (dc 10) or 
  take 1d6 damage, plus an additional 1d6 for every 5 points they fail 
  by. Then each character must make a Constitution saving throw 
  (dc 5) or suffer a level of exhaustion. This exhaustion goes away if 
  the character takes a short rest.
  Clever ideas — like the king reshaping land to clear barricades 
  in particularly tricky spots — might grant the retinue a +5 bonus to 
  their checks. If the group is traveling without light sources, those 
  without darkvision take a -10 penalty to their Strength checks.
  Watchful Scarecrows.
  During this ascent, the retinue comes upon one of the witch hunt-
  ers who was captured in the teaser. He’s lashed to a tree, and is quite 
  dead, with his gut torn open and slits cut from his eyes down his 
  cheeks to his throat.
  His blood has pooled at his feet, and if Harkover Lee hasn’t used 
  his black gem or if someone approaches the corpse outside the gem’s 
  radius, the Contessa’s voice trills happily from the scab of a pool 
  beneath him.
  “I see you. I do hope Roland is here again. Don’t worry. Just because their 
  bodies are stiff doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten how you got them killed.”
  At this point, she dispatches the undying spirits (see below) to 
  find and attack them. They’ll arrive within two minutes. The party 
  takes a –5 penalty on Dexterity (Stealth) checks if they want to hide 
  from these monsters.
  If the party is hidden from the Contessa’s scrying, though, the 
  corpse hangs inert, though its eyes are slit open, giving an eerie 
  sense it’s watching them. If someone disturbs the body, it slumps 
  forward and a serpent in the corpse’s abdomen lunges out. Make 
  the following attack.
  Hidden Adder. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 1 piercing damage and the target must make a dc 10 Constitution 
  save. On a successful save the target takes 5 poison damage. On a 
  failed save the target takes 5 poison damage, and each round thereafter 
  must make another save. Each subsequent failure deals less damage 
  (4, then 3, then 2, then 1). If the target fails all five saves, the target is 
  poisoned until he or she completes a long rest.
  A half-dozen more of these scarecrows dot the path up to the hunch.
  My Death, Your Death.
  Scores of shadowy undead roam the mountainside, though the 
  area’s vast enough that only five will come upon the party. As they 
  near the hunch, or if they are spotted near the Contessa’s blood 
  pools, characters who make Perception checks (dc 16) notice a chill 
  and the presence of a mysterious “something” while the spirits are 
  still a hundred feet away.
  If the party is being stealthy already, or is alerted and decides 
  to hide, have everyone in the retinue make a Dexterity (Stealth) 
  check (dc 10) to slip past the spirits. If three or more fail, the spirits 
  hone in on their location, forcing a second check (dc 15) to slip past 
  them. If three or more people fail the second time, the spirits attack. 
  They completely ignore Mayor Stanfield, because the Red Contessa 
  likes to kill him herself.
  If the party brought along guards or soldiers, the spirits almost 
  certainly spot such a large group, and they target the cannon fod-
  der first.
  Tortured to Death.
  An undying spirit manifests when the victim of a ritual sacrifice is 
  magically compelled at the moment of death to forget everything 
  but the manner of his demise. Thereafter the spirits serve the one 
  who killed them, hoping for release from their endless memories 
  of death. These oily vestiges of a soul resemble animate shadows 
  until they get within reach of a living creature, at which point the 
  darkness peels away, revealing a pale, wispy figure that resembles 
  the spirit’s form in life. It screams or begs as it reaches out, trying 
  to anchor itself to a living creature.
  Foes on the Ascent.
  •	 5 undying spirits
  Sister 
  Languor
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 13
  Act Two
  Undying Spirits (5)
  Medium undead, chaotic evil
  Armor Class 12
  Hit Points 22
  Speed 40 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  6 (–2)
  14 (+2)
  11 (+0)
  10 (+0)
  8 (–1)
  9 (–1)
  Damage Resistances acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, 
  piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons
  Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
  Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, 
  restrained, unconscious
  Skills Stealth +4 (+6 in dim light or darkness)
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
  Incorporeal Movement. The spirit can move through other creatures and 
  objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage 
  if it ends its turn inside an object.
  Shadow Stealth. While in dim light or darkness, the spirit can take the 
  Hide action as a bonus action.
  Challenge 1 (200 xp)
  Actions
  Frigid Grasp. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 10 (3d6) cold damage. This damage never kills a creature, since 
  the spirit wants to take people alive. The target must make a Strength 
  check (dc 8) or be grabbed.
  Relive Death. If the undying spirit has a creature grabbed, that creature 
  must make a Wisdom save (dc 9) or be stunned for one round as it 
  experiences how the spirit died. This is a fear effect, and can affect 
  other undying spirits (such as if Tomas Masaryk’s divine vessel ability 
  lets him dominate one).
  Second Ascent.
  To make it all the way to the hunch, more climbing is in order. But 
  first, during this climb the air whips up in irregular, moaning 
  gusts; and red eyes watch from distant tree branches that buck in 
  the tempest. Barely glimpsed gremlins giggle as they dash at the 
  edge of the party’s vision. The air grows intensely cold and clouds 
  descend to grip and blind the party.
  Each pc must make a Constitution save (dc 10) or suffer a level 
  of exhaustion from the cold and climb. If the party is protected by 
  Lang’s magic, the dc is only 5.
  Then as before, each pc must make a Strength (Athletics) check 
  (dc 10) or take 1d6 damage, plus an additional 1d6 for every 5 
  points he failed by.
  Churrascaria.
  As the party nears the hunch, the fog begins to clear as the enticing 
  scent of cooking meat reaches their noses. A half-dozen burning 
  stakes light up a section of forest a few hundred feet ahead, but 
  seem to be surrounded by darkness on one side. At further examina-
  tion, the fires sit at the edge of a steep cliff face, beside a thousand 
  foot drop. Beyond them looms the hunch, where the relatively flat 
  wooded slope becomes much steeper and rocky for the final ascent.
  At this distance, the party has the option of snuffing their light 
  and sneaking up — requiring a Strength (Athletics) check (dc 10; 
  dc 20 for those without darkvision) to navigate the rough terrain. 
  Failure deals damage as above. Then a Dexterity (Stealth) check 
  (dc 10) lets them sneak up to Pernicity’s hut, or bypass it entirely, 
  depending on whether they want to rescue the prisoners.
  Pyres of Pernicity.
  Pernicity’s hut sits in a small clearing near a perilous cliff edge. 
  Nearby cages hold more prisoners. Between the hut and the cages, 
  a pentagram is burned into the ground, and a number of tiny dark 
  fey — red-eyed, gnome-like beings, their ears curled like devil horns — 
  are tossing charred bodies into a pile atop the pentagram. The fey 
  carry small covered lanterns, which bob and flash like will-o-wisps.
  Tiny and adorable Sister Pernicity sits inside a scorched cauldron 
  atop the pile of corpses, humming and swishing her fingers along 
  to a Hall of the Mountain King-esque tune. Given a couple minutes, 
  she finishes the song, then leans into her cauldron, which magically 
  glides to her hut. She grins to her fey and says:
  “Little hellions, go and lash me some more poor souls to the pyres. I want 
  to give the king a good kick in the groin when he arrives. Oh, but pick the 
  ones I marked. Don’t want to let the good meat go to waste.”
  Pernicity’s plan is to have half a dozen live prisoners lashed to poles, 
  which are primed with oil and pyrotechnic powder to ignite in an in-
  stant. The fey await her order, at which they set the innocents alight, 
  which Pernicity hopes will distract King Lorcan and his crew and 
  draw them to the cliff side. She’d quite love to send the king careen-
  ing down a thousand-foot drop to shatter on the woods below.
  Rescuing Prisoners.
  The dark fey drag six people out of the cage farthest from the cliff 
  face, and then over the course of five minutes they drag the poor, 
  whimpering men to the pyres and tie them up. During this, they’re 
  fairly oblivious (passive Perception 5). This leaves seven prisoners 
  in that cage, and thirteen in the cage closer to Pernicity’s hut. These 
  are the twenty people Pernicity is linked to with bond of forced faith.
  Minion Tactics.
  The pile of corpses Pernicity sat on in the pentagram are actually all 
  zombies under her control. They remain inert until she’s attacked, 
  at which point she’ll hover over them and order them to swarm 
  her foes. Since they’re prone and staggered, the party has at least 
  a round before they’ll be attacked, but since they’ve already been 
  burned alive, fire can’t do much more to them.
  One dark fey rushes to set the bonfires alight. This requires the 
  creature to spend an action to light the pyrotechnic powder. There-
  after the bonfire flashes brightly, though in the first round the fire 
  does no damage. One round later the bonfire does 1 damage to the 
  lashed victim, and in subsequent rounds the victim takes 3 (1d6) 
  fire damage and creates a cloud of smoke in a 20-ft. radius that 
  provides concealment. Each victim has 10 hit points.
  Meanwhile, the other fey will try to use their bonfire gusts to 
  drive the pcs, either off the cliff or into the horde of zombies. If 
  multiple zombies start their turn adjacent to a pc, they will try to 
  cooperate to knock the pc prone (see “Grab or Shove”).
  
  14 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Act Two
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 15
  Act Two
  Pernicity’s Tactics.
  Pernicity opens by targeting Tomas with torturous curse. She snick-
  ers, “Pretty boy’s too serious!” and attempts to inflict her preferred 
  curse, madman’s mirth. She follows with a bonus action to hex some-
  one else, probably Dame Melissa, to sap her Strength. She then flies 
  up to thirty feet above the battle, preferably among trees to get cover.
  The next turn she swoops around the battle cackling for a moment 
  before going silent to hide. The following turn she’ll dive in and use 
  her scythe to slash and pick up the target she hexed. She’ll carry 
  them up into the air and then release them for extra falling damage.
  Thereafter she swoops through trees, using torturous curse or 
  swiping her scythe at isolated foes. If her zombies manage to grab 
  and drag down someone, she squeals with glee, flies above them, 
  and casts witch bolt (as a 5th level spell). Seriously, this spell is so
  hard to use effectively, so this is her one chance to make it work.
  When her buffer of temporary hit points is gone she sneers and 
  flies away in her cauldron.
  Foes at the Hunch.
  •	 Sister Pernicity
  •	 8 Cauldron Hill dark fey
  •	 20 burnt zombies
  Sister Pernicity
  Medium humanoid (human), chaotic evil
  Armor Class 12
  Hit Points 63 plus 200 temporary hit points
  Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  20 (+5)
  14 (+2)
  12 (+1)
  13 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  16 (+3)
  Saving Throws Wisdom +4, Charisma +7
  Skills Arcana +5, Deception +7, Perception +4, Stealth +5
  Condition Immunities charmed
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
  Challenge 9 (5,000 xp)
  Bond of Forced Faith. See Deliria’s ability of the same name (page 10).
  Dying Curse. See Deliria’s ability of the same name (page 10).
  Spellcasting. See Deliria’s ability of the same name (page 10).
  Actions
  Carrying Scythe. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 12 (2d6+5) slashing damage. If Pernicity keeps moving this turn, 
  she and the target make opposed Strength (Athletics) checks. If she 
  succeeds, Pernicity moves the target with her and then releases it at 
  the end of her turn
  Raven’s Flight. This functions as Deliria’s ability of the same name.
  Torturous Curse. This functions as Deliria’s ability of the same name 
  (see page 10), except Sister Pernicity has a different preferred curse.
  • Preferred Curse — Madman’s Mirth. Sister Pernicity curses foes 
  with insane laughter. The victim has disadvantage on Deception, 
  Influence, Intimidation, and Stealth checks due to constant chortling 
  and giggling. Additionally, the first time the victim takes damage in 
  each encounter, he falls prone in a sudden fit of inexplicable laughter 
  at the pain.
  Magic Items Pernicity rides around in a magic cauldron that functions 
  like carpet of flying with speed of 60 ft.
  Cauldron Hill Dark Fey (8)
  Small fey, chaotic evil
  Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 9
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  6 (–2)
  14 (+2)
  12 (+1)
  8 (–1)
  10 (+0)
  10 (+0)
  Skills Stealth +4 (+6 in dim light or darkness)
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
  Challenge ½ (100 xp)
  Spooky. The fey can innately cast minor illusion at will, requiring no 
  components, but can only create sound. Spending an action to make an 
  Intelligence (Investigation) check (dc 9) reveals the sound is illusory.
  Actions
  Flaming Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 7 (2d6) fire damage. If the target is a creature or flammable object, 
  it ignites. Until a creature takes an action to douse the fire, it takes 
  3 (1d6) fire damage at the end of each of its turns.
  Bonfire Gust. Once per day the fey can create a flaming gust, similar 
  to a combined burning hands and thunderwave. Creatures in a 15-ft. 
  cone must make a Dexterity save (dc 9) and Constitution save (dc 9). 
  They take 10 (3d6) fire damage on a failed Dexterity save, or half on a 
  successful save; and they are pushed 10 feet on a failed Constitution 
  save. (The dark fey aren’t resistant to fire themselves, but they’re a bit 
  cavalier about avoiding hitting each other.)
  Equipment covered lantern (illuminates 10 ft., 20 ft. dim light)
  Burnt Zombies (20)
  Medium undead, neutral evil
  Armor Class 8
  Hit Points 22
  Speed 20 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  13 (+1)
  6 (–2)
  16 (+3)
  3 (–4)
  6 (–2)
  5 (–3)
  Saving Throws wis +0
  Damage Resistances fire
  Damage Immunities poison
  Condition Immunities poisoned
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 8
  Challenge ¼ (50 xp)
  Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces the zombie to 0 hit points, the 
  zombie makes a Constitution saving throw (dc 5 + damage taken), 
  unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, the 
  zombie drops to 1 hit point instead.
  Actions
  Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 4 (1d6+1) bludgeoning damage.
  Grab or Shove. The zombies sometimes cooperate in a rudimentary way 
  to knock a target prone. If they choose to do this, one zombie makes a 
  Strength (Athletics) check to grapple, which the target can oppose with 
  Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) as usual. Once a zombie 
  has a target grappled, another zombie will make a shove attack (same 
  procedure) to knock it prone. Then additional zombies will surround 
  the prone target and attack with advantage. (A grappled creature can’t 
  stand up; it must escape the grapple first.)
  
  16 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  i
  f any hostages survived Sister Pernicity’s
   tender ministrations, there’s no point having 
  them come along, though some offer. They profusely 
  thank the king and his retinue for saving them, but 
  most are too terrified and exhausted to try moving un-
  til dawn. They know that more people were dragged 
  up to the peak during the day, though, so the pcs can 
  easily guess that the Red Contessa will have hostages 
  of her own.
  Final Ascent.
  There are few traversable routes up from the hunch, for the moun-
  tain here is perilously steep, with only sparse foliage. For a moment, 
  the king and his retinue might enjoy the stunning moonlit vista of 
  Flint stretching out below them to the coast. But it’s likely that pen-
  umbra begins to darken the moon’s face. The king and his retinue 
  might spare the time to take a short rest, treat their wounds, and 
  break some curses, but then they must hurry upward.
  As they ascend from Pernicity’s hut, unearthly gales howl around 
  the mountain, and sometimes those howls sound more like beasts 
  than the wind. It is an hour-long, mind-eroding cacophony, and 
  each pc who does not take precautions must make a Wisdom save 
  (dc 12) or suffering disadvantage on their other ability checks and 
  saves during the climb. This is a fear effect. Possible precautions 
  include crafting earplugs (Medicine dc 12 per pc), distracting 
  the group from the sound (Performance dc 17), or reciting pro-
  tective chants (Religion dc 17). One successful precaution grants 
  advantage to the save. Two or more successful precautions yield an 
  automatic success.
  Then there’s the matter of actually reaching the peak alive. The 
  last few hundred feet call for each pc to make a Constitution save 
  (dc 12) or suffer a level of exhaustion from the cold and climb. If the 
  party is protected by Lang’s magic, the dc is only 7.
  Then each pc must make a Strength (Climb) check (dc 15) or 
  take 1d6 damage, plus an additional 1d6 for every 5 points they 
  fail by. As before, grant bonuses for cleverness and penalties for 
  darkness.
  After about an hour of blood-chilling climbing, the mountain’s 
  crest flattens slightly, and the party spots a fire burning beneath 
  a huge iron cauldron. The pcs have reached the eastern edge of 
  the peak, and can choose how they approach. The wind still whirls 
  around them, but is slightly weaker here, only gusting to dangerous 
  speeds every few rounds.
  Ritual of the Red Moon.
  The pinnacle of Cauldron Hill teeters upward to a pair of flat pla-
  teaus separated by about forty feet, with a truly precipitous drop to 
  the north and west and a rough but climbable slope to the south and 
  east. The Red Contessa and her minions congregate on the west-
  ern plateau, centered on a cauldron surrounded by standing stones. 
  Those minions include a serpent-maned lion and a handful of lesser 
  witches, all of them spinning and cavorting to harness the energy 
  of the blood moon. If Rachel Lang tricked or escaped the party, she 
  appears here, hooded as Sister Languor. Likewise, Sisters Deliria 
  and Pernicity attend the ritual if they have survived.
  Eight devilish fey like those at the Hunch patrol the base of the 
  plateaus (passive Perception 10), each holding a covered lantern 
  that illuminates out 10 feet, with 20 ft. of dim light. These are really 
  just here for the party to be able to hew through and feel bad-ass, 
  but if they want to be sneaky they’ll have to come up with a way 
  to keep the lanterns from shattering (like by having King Lorcan 
  shoot a fey and Harkover grab the lantern with mage hand).
  The Contessa is laughing and dancing around her cauldron. 
  Her dress is torn from numerous puncture marks, and she holds a 
  bloody dagger which she has been using to stab herself, to the tor-
  ment of her hostages, who sit on the eastern plateau, guarded by a 
  pair of undying spirits. Their hands are bound by rope, and another 
  rope threads all twenty of them into a single awkward mass, mak-
  ing it impossible for them to slip away.
  However, those prisoners are only red herrings. If it’s 8:13 or 
  later, the Contessa’s ritual has taken hold, and she has bonded to 
  everyone in the city. If she’s able to let the ritual run its course 
  until the lunar eclipse reaches totality at 10:47, the effect will be 
  permanent, making her nigh invincible.
  She hopes the king will assume the hostages are the only source 
  of her immunity, and will waste precious time trying to save 
  them. She pretends to be distracted, but keeps an eye on that peak 
  Act Three
  Sister 
  Pernicity
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 17
  Act Three
  (passive Perception 14), because she so desperately wants to be able 
  to say her piece to King Lorcan.
  Do note that during this encounter, King Lorcan gains a +5 
  bonus to Strength-, Dexterity-, and Constitution-based checks, be-
  cause the Red Contessa seeks to wrest control of Risuri land from 
  him.
  Speaking Her Piece.
  Eventually the Contessa will notice the group, and she’ll start 
  monologuing. She’ll do her whole spiel if given the chance. Other-
  wise she reads one paragraph each round during combat. (Adjust as 
  needed to match events that have occurred so far.)
  “King, now that we are alone, let me apologize for my earlier threats. I’m 
  an artist, and it’s important to strike the right tone. So I have to ask, how 
  do you like my audition?
  “Like I said earlier today, a queen must protect her subjects. This eve-
  ning, thanks to my plans, two vile witches who were terrorizing Flint have 
  died. Rachel Lang, a traitor among the skyseers, was unmasked as a witch 
  as well. Oh, you do know that Sister Languor is in my coven, right?”
  She gestures to a hooded figure also standing by the cauldron, and 
  pulls back the cloth to reveal the skyseer. Rachel Lang — or Sister Lan-
  guor — looks askance at the Contessa, seeming slow to grasp that her 
  mistress is offering to betray her.
  “I know,” the Contessa laughs, “your majesty, you are feeling your age, 
  and that crown is so very heavy. So many people are your responsibility. 
  Well, if you name me your successor, it’s just possible that the horrible 
  ritual I’ve got going on in this cauldron will be stopped before anything 
  terrible happens to the little people down below us.
  “So who could protect Risur better? Me, or your self-absorbed, war-
  obsessed knight lady? Maybe you want to make the devil girl the queen. 
  I know: you’re thinking, ‘What? Isn’t this witch evil?’ Ha! Neither of us 
  really cares about the peasantry. World affairs, that’s what matters! Oh, 
  and look, we have representatives from Danor and the Clergy. They came 
  here because of, that’s right, me!” She winks to Amielle and Tomas.
  “Face it, old man, I’m making you look like a hero. I’m smarter than you. 
  I’m more powerful. If you want to protect your kingdom, only one person 
  up here deserves that crown. So lay it on me, kingy! Do we have a deal?”
  If the king agrees, they might have to kill the other witnesses, 
  which can turn into a battle of the Contessa and the king (plus the 
  fey, spirits, and serpent-maned lion) versus the party, Sister Lan-
  guor, and the remaining witches.
  If the king declines, the Contessa shrugs.
  “Fine, I’ll make my own country. It’ll have blood magic and nightly orgies. 
  Kill them!”
  How to Win.
  The cauldron is the focus of the Contessa’s bond of forced faith ritu-
  al, linking her to the whole population of Flint. With the cauldron 
  intact, rather than the normal 250 ft. range limit, the ritual works 
  anywhere in Flint. While it’s active, even if she is also bonded to 
  any of the pcs through Languor’s trickery, damage dealt to her is 
  dispersed so widely that none of the linked creatures take any dam-
  age. Only if the large ritual ends does any smaller bond take over.
  So, how to end the large ritual?
  If the cauldron is cracked (Strength dc 20 to break or ac 15 and 
  40 hp), the ritual ends. Likewise, Harkover could get lucky and dis-
  pel the ritual (Intelligence check dc 19), which would really catch 
  the Red Contessa by surprise. Shoving the cauldron off the cliff 
  
  18 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Act Three
  automatically breaks it, and is sort of assumed to be the canoni-
  cal ending, since the pcs in Zeitgeist Adventure Two, The Dying 
  Skyseer, find it there a century later.
  Be open to other creative solutions. Throwing the Contessa off 
  the mountain alone isn’t enough to kill her, since the falling dam-
  age will just be dispersed and kill a couple hundred peasants, but as 
  long as the cauldron is destroyed, she’ll be defeated and will have to 
  flee. Maybe Amielle pours her blood into the cauldron, and the tief-
  ling immunity to curses suppresses the ritual for a minute. Perhaps 
  Tomas uses his hook pendant to redirect the ritual from the city of 
  Flint to himself, so the Contessa is only bonded to him.
  The Cauldron.
  Jumping in the cauldron definitely does not help. The boiling liquid 
  inside deals 17 (5d6) fire damage each round to any poor idiot who 
  winds up inside the thing.
  Effects of Ending the Ritual.
  If the cauldron ritual ends and the Contessa isn’t bonded to any-
  one else, she suffers disadvantage on Strength checks, saves, and 
  weapon attack rolls, and her weapon attacks do half damage, and 
  she takes damage normally.
  However, if the Contessa is bonded to at least one pc through 
  Sister Languor’s deception, ending the cauldron ritual doesn’t end 
  her bond with those pcs. Damage is still divided among those pcs 
  instead of dealt to her. This smaller bond does have the normal 
  250 ft. range limit.
  Foes at the Peak of Cauldron Hill.
  •	 The Red Contessa
  •	 Sister Languor (see page 11)
  •	 1 serpent-maned lion
  •	 5 minor witches
  •	 2 undying spirits (see page 13)
  •	 8 Cauldron Hill dark fey (see page 15)
  The Red Contessa
  Medium humanoid (human), chaotic evil
  Armor Class 12
  Hit Points 93
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  25 (+7)
  14 (+2)
  12 (+1)
  16 (+3)
  10 (+0)
  18 (+4)
  Saving Throws wis +5, cha +9
  Skills Arcana +8, Deception +9, Perception +5, Stealth +7
  Condition Immunities charmed
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
  Challenge 14 (11,500 xp)
  Coven Leader. As long as at least one of her other witches is alive, the 
  Contessa can concentrate on three spells at a time. (Usually that will be 
  animate objects, call lightning, and hex.)
  Greater Bond of Forced Faith. The Red Contessa has is bonded to the 
  entire city of Flint, and so she is immune to damage. As long as this 
  effect persists, damage does not disrupt her concentration on spells. If 
  her cauldron is destroyed, this effect ends. If she is not bonded with at 
  least one pc through the lesser bond of forced faith, she has disad-
  vantage on all Strength checks and melee attack rolls, and her melee 
  weapon attacks do half damage.
  Bond of Forced Faith. If the party fell for Sister Languor’s trick, the 
  Red Contessa may be bonded to one or more pcs. If the greater ritual 
  is ended, any damage that would be dealt to the Contessa is instead 
  divided among those bonded to her.
  Blood Magic. The Contessa can see through pools of blood within three 
  miles, and can manifest her voice, face, or even body, if there is suf-
  ficient blood, similar to the project image spell. These projections can in 
  no way harm or attack others.
  Once the Contessa has actually taken damage (so not if she’s still 
  protected by bond of forced faith), as a bonus action she can wreath 
  herself in her own blood, in a shape akin to a large water elemental. 
  She gains resistance to acid, and to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing 
  damage from nonmagical weapons. Her reach extends to ten feet, and 
  the bleed effect of her dagger increases from 1 damage to 5.
  Dying Curse. When the Contessa is reduced to 0 hp, she chooses an 
  enemy who attacked her in the past hour (probably King Lorcan). For 
  the next 10 rounds that creature gushes blood. At the end its turn 
  it must succeed a Constitution save (dc 17) or take 20 damage. A 
  success prevents the damage for that round.
  During this minute, the wind around Cauldron Hill rises to a 
  hurricane intensity. Any creature that is not prone or holding onto 
  something heavy at the end of its turn must make a Strength save 
  (dc 10) to avoid being pushed 15 feet away from where the Contessa 
  died. Traveling against the wind costs double movement.
  Spellcasting. The Red Contessa has three spell slots available to cast any 
  of the following spells. The save dc is 17, and all the spells are cast as if 
  with a 5th-level slot. These slots replenish after a short or long rest.
  Spells prepared (3 slots): call lightning, cloud of daggers, cure wounds, 
  dispel magic, entangle, hallucinatory terrain, hex, phantasmal killer, 
  remove curse, suggestion
  The Red 
  Contessa
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 19
  Act Three
  Serpent-Maned Lion
  Large monstrosity, chaotic evil
  Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 93
  Speed 50 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  18 (+4)
  14 (+2)
  16 (+3)
  3 (–4)
  12 (+1)
  8 (–1)
  Skills Perception +4
  Damage Immunities poison
  Condition Immunities poisoned
  Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
  Challenge 4 (1,100 xp)
  Beyond the Veil. The lion was a creature of the Dreaming, corrupted by 
  the dark energy of the Bleak Gate. It counts as fey and undead, which 
  means King Lorcan’s sword and bow deal more damage to it, and Tomas 
  Masaryk can dominate it if he defeats it.
  Keen Smell. The lion has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that 
  rely on smell.
  Running Leap. With a 10-foot running start, the lion can long jump up 
  to 25 feet.
  Serpent Mane. Blind, hissing serpents form this monster’s mane, and 
  their mesmerizing presence makes all spaces adjacent to the lion count 
  as difficult terrain for enemies.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The lion makes a claw attack and then a bite attack.
  Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 
  (2d6+4) slashing damage. The target must make a Strength saving 
  throw (dc 13) or fall prone.
  Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 
  (2d8+4) piercing damage. If the target is prone, it also must make a 
  Constitution save (dc 13) or be poisoned from the biting mane. While 
  poisoned, the target takes 5 poison damage at the start of its turn. 
  The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, 
  ending the effect with a successful save.
  Minor Witches (5)
  Medium humanoid (human), chaotic evil
  Armor Class 12
  Hit Points 33
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  10 (+0)
  14 (+2)
  12 (+1)
  13 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  14 (+2)
  Saving Throws wis +2, cha +4
  Skills Arcana +3, Deception +4, Perception +2, Stealth +4
  Senses passive Perception 12
  Challenge 2 (450 xp)
  Spellcasting. The witches each have one spell slot available to cast any 
  of the following spells. The save dc is 12, and all the spells are cast as if 
  with a 2nd level slot.
  Spells prepared (1 slot): darkness, hex, inflict wounds
  Actions
  Multiattack. The witch makes two dagger attacks.
  Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 
  (1d4+2) piercing damage. The witch can also throw the dagger with 
  range 20/60 ft.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The Contessa uses her deva-slaying dagger and then makes 
  an unearthly strength attack.
  Deva-Slaying Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 9 (1d4+7) piercing damage, and the target bleeds until it 
  receives magical healing or someone makes a Medicine check (dc 10) 
  as an action. While bleeding, the creature takes 1 damage at the end of 
  its turn. If the Red Contessa hits a deva with this attack, she deals an 
  extra 10 (3d6) damage.
  Unearthly Strength. The Contessa makes an opposed Strength (Athlet-
  ics) check against a creature within 5 ft. If she succeeds, she can grab 
  the target or throw it 10 ft. and knock it prone.
  Torturous Curse. One creature within 30 ft. makes a Wisdom saving 
  throw (dc 17). If it fails, the Red Contessa deals 16 (3d10) necrotic 
  damage to that creature, and then she bestows a curse on the creature. 
  After using this power, the Contessa cannot use this power on the same 
  creature until she takes a short or long rest.
  Choose one of the following curses, which has a duration until the 
  coven is defeated, or until broken by remove curse. A creature afflicted 
  by a curse can spend an action to fight against the curse. This lets it 
  ignore the effect of the curse until the end of its next turn, after which 
  the curse takes hold again. In addition to the weaker curses the other 
  witches in the coven know (see page 10), the Contessa prefers the 
  following three curses. She can only have one creature afflicted with 
  each of these curses as a time.
  • Curse of Cacophony. The target is deafened, grants advantage to 
  attacks from all enemies, and treats all creatures as enemies. It must 
  take opportunity attacks if possible.
  • Curse of the White-Eyed Doppelganger. Whenever the target 
  makes an attack, he repeats the attack against himself, perceiving 
  a doppelganger-like duplicate attacking. The duplicate exists only in 
  the target’s mind; nothing can damage or affect it.
  • Curse of the Writhing Cauldron. Whenever the target performs a 
  strenuous action (like attacking or casting a spell), it takes damage 
  equal to half its maximum hit points. If the target dies, it erupts into 
  a harmless swarm of centipedes.
  Legendary Actions
  The Contessa can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options 
  below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time, and 
  only at the end of another creature’s turn. She regains spent legendary 
  actions at the start of her turn.
  Call Down Lightning (Costs 2 Actions). The Contessa casts call 
  lightning if she has not already, or she calls down a new bolt, dealing 27 
  (5d10) lightning damage to a target within 120 ft. The target takes half 
  damage with a successful Dexterity save (dc 17).
  Retributive Curse. If a creature hit the Contessa with an attack on the 
  turn just ended, she uses torturous curse against them.
  Through the Veil. The Contessa’s form blurs and she moves her speed. 
  During this time she can move through solid objects and creatures as 
  if they were difficult terrain. If she ends her movement in a solid object 
  she takes 5 force damage and is shunted to the nearest open space. She 
  cannot move if restrained or if an effect would block teleportation.
  Magic Items The Red Contessa specially crafted a deva-slaying dagger 
  that deals an extra 3d6 damage to devas. She also has a scroll case that 
  contains the ritual bond of forced faith.
  
  20 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Act Three
  Tactics.
  The Red Contessa opens by casting animate objects on two of the 
  standing stones (Large objects) and the cauldron itself (Medium 
  object), then casts hex as a bonus action. She’ll use her first leg-
  endary action to cast call lightning, and will drop a lightning bolt 
  once per round, using her other legendary action to curse unless 
  she needs to relocate in a hurry.
  Thereafter she expects enemies to close with her. Once they’re 
  within 30 ft., she’ll use torturous curse and then uses one of her 
  three unique curses. She prefers to target Dame Melissa with the 
  Curse of Cacophony (shouting, “You’d make a pathetic queen!”) 
  and Tomas Masaryk with the Curse of the White-Eyed Doppel-
  ganger (spitting on him and hissing, “Your gods have fallen!”). She 
  saves Curse of the Writhing Cauldron for King Lorcan.
  Since she assumes she’s invincible, she’s in no rush, and will stalk 
  after Stanfield. If her bond with Flint and her bonds (if any) with 
  the pcs end, she casts suggestion and says, “Just sit down and ap-
  plaud me until the battle’s over.” Then she wreathes herself in blood 
  and fights to the death, smiling the whole time.
  Aftermath.
  With the Red Contessa’s defeat, her dying curse will likely kill King 
  Lorcan (or someone else if the king actually allied with her) unless 
  the party unites to save him. Narratively, this is intended to moti-
  vate the king to pick a successor.
  The winds around the peak rise to hurricane intensity. For 
  nearly a minute, it becomes difficult to move without being picked 
  up and dragged toward a cliff. Trees are uprooted, any surviving 
  witches are carried into the sky screaming, and even the standing 
  stones crash and crack. If the cauldron was not yet destroyed, it is 
  knocked over and rolls off the cliff.
  Overhead the clouds rapidly swirl and fill the sky, until the 
  red haze of the blood moon is fully blocked. Darkness hangs over 
  Cauldron Hill, but for the moment, mundane shadows feel safer 
  than the sanguine glow of the lunar eclipse. With any luck, King 
  Lorcan will have chosen a worthy successor, and for a time, the 
  city of Flint will be safe. But in the coming decades, the citizens 
  of that city will keep a wary eye on the mountain in their midst, 
  ever suspicious of when its curses and malevolence will boil over 
  and threaten them all again.
  Pregenerated Characters
  The following character sheets are intended to be playable, fun, and 
  balanced. They do not necessarily conform to existing character 
  classes. For unlisted skills, just use the appropriate ability score 
  modifiers.
  Note: As stated on his character sheet, King Lorcan’s rites of 
  rulership trait has a special effect while in the presence of someone 
  “contesting control over Risuri land.” For the purposes of adjudicat-
  ing this ability during this adventure, it only applies in the final 
  encounter against the Red Contessa. +
  Animated Cauldron
  Medium construct, unaligned
  Armor Class 15
  Hit Points 40
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  10 (+0)
  12 (+1)
  10 (+0)
  3 (–4)
  3 (–4)
  1 (–5)
  Damage Resistances fire
  Damage Immunities poison, psychic
  Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, fright-
  ened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
  Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 6
  Challenge 2 (450 xp)
  Sloshing Brew. Whenever a creature within 5 feet of the cauldron hits 
  it with a melee attack, steamy gruel splashes that creature dealing 
  2d8 fire damage. If a creature enters the pot, it takes 5d6 fire damage 
  immediately, and at the end of each subsequent turn it remains in the 
  boiling brew. If the cauldron falls prone, when it stands up the brew 
  drains out and it loses this ability.
  Actions
  Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 
  (2d6+1) bludgeoning damage and 9 (2d8) fire damage.
  Upend. The cauldron leaps, flips in midair, and attempts to land upside 
  down over someone. One Medium or smaller target within 5 ft. makes a 
  Dexterity save (dc 13). If the target fails, the cauldron traps the crea-
  ture, which is considered grappled. The cauldron is considered prone, 
  but until it stands up there is still enough boiling brew inside to burn the 
  trapped creature, per the sloshing brew ability. A creature (including the 
  one trapped inside) can as an action make an opposed Athletics check 
  to shove the cauldron off.
  Animated Henge Stones (3)
  Large construct, unaligned
  Armor Class 10
  Hit Points 50
  Speed 30 ft.
  str
  dex
  con
  int
  wis
  cha
  14 (+2)
  10 (+0)
  10 (+0)
  3 (–4)
  3 (–4)
  1 (–5)
  Damage Immunities poison, psychic
  Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, fright-
  ened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
  Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 6
  Challenge 1 (200 xp)
  Tumbling Death. When the standing stones are reduced to 0 hit points, 
  they try to fall on an enemy if one is within 5 ft. That creature must 
  make a Dexterity save (dc 10) or take 7 (2d6) damage and be knocked 
  prone and restrained. The creature can use an action to make a 
  Strength check (dc 10) to free itself.
  Actions
  Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 
  (2d10+2) bludgeoning damage.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 21
  Pregenerated Characters
  Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  King Lorcan Finn
  Level 11 Human King
  Abilities
  STR
  16 (+3)
  DEX
  10 (+0)
  CON
  12 (+1)
  INT
  14 (+2)
  WIS
  16 (+3)
  CHA
  16 (+3)
  Rites of Rulership. You have a magical connection with the 
  kingdom of Risur that accords you several benefits.
  You gain a +5 bonus to saves against charm, fear, and poison.
  As long as you are above 0 hp, at the start of your turn you heal 10 hp.
  The first time each encounter that you fall to 0 hp or below, each of 
  your subjects within three miles is overcome with weakness and falls 
  prone.
  Once per round as a bonus action you can move up to four 5-ft. cubes 
  of earth, stone, or foliage up to five feet while on Risuri land. This can-
  not affect land that is within 5 feet of a hostile creature, so no dropping 
  people in pits.
  When you are in the presence of a creature who is contesting con-
  trol over Risuri land, you gain a +5 bonus to Strength-, Dexterity-, and 
  Constitution-based checks. For the purpose of effects like grappling or 
  shoving that depend on size, you can choose to be treated as that contest-
  ing creature’s size.
  Equipment.
  In addition to a variety of mundane gear (daggers, rope, etc.), you have 
  the following items.
  Coat of Armor. Your royal attire defends you as well as a suit of plate 
  armor. You cannot be teleported against your will.
  King’s Claymore. This cold iron greatsword teleports to your hand at 
  your command. Attacks against fey deal an extra 3d6 damage.
  Silent Shortbow. Creatures damaged by this weapon cannot speak 
  above a whisper for one round. Your enchanted quiver contains nigh-
  unlimited cold iron and silver arrows. Attacks against fey deal an extra 
  3d6 damage.
  Crown of Risur. You always know the preferred name of those you can 
  see. On your turn you can say someone’s name to grant them a new save 
  against an effect with an ongoing duration, but only once per person 
  per day.
  81
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  l
  a
  s
  s
  Plate 
  armor; 
  defense 
  fighting 
  style
  Saving Throws.
  str +7, con +5
  Proficient Skills.
  Athletics
  +7
  Deception
  +7
  History
  +6
  Nature
  +6
  Performance
  +7
  Persuasion
  +7
  Survival
  +7
  Combat.
  You get two attacks per action, and your weapon attacks 
  score critical hits when you roll a 19 or 20 to attack.
  Melee.
  King’s Claymore +8 (2d6+4), or
  Dagger +8 (1d4+3)
  Ranged.
  Silent Shortbow +7 (1d6+1, 80/320)
  Inspiring Leader. By spending 10 minutes offering 
  inspiring and encouraging words, you can grant up to six 
  creatures (including yourself) 14 temporary hit points.
  Polyglot. You can speak every language used by every 
  creature and npc in this adventure.
  Initiative
  +0
  Speed
  30 ft.
  
  22 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Pregenerated Characters
   Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Background.
  You’ve chosen to give yourself an unusual gift for your fiftieth 
  birthday: you intend to abdicate.
  A year ago you declared an armistice with the godless, techno-
  logically superior nation of Danor, ruled by tieflings. Risur lost 
  territory in the war, and you can already feel your people’s fading 
  trust weaken the power granted you by the Rites of Rulership.
  The monarchs of Risur pass their title based on merit, not 
  blood, which is good because your children are all obnoxious. 
  You intend to name as your successor Dame Melissa Gahlot, your 
  chief bodyguard, known as the Green Knight. But the rites are 
  only strong if the monarch is beloved by the masses and approved 
  by the nobility, so Melissa needs to be seen as a hero.
  A tragedy has given you a rare opportunity, though. During 
  the war a coven of witches in one of your less-important cities — 
  Flint — grew bold and deadly. Led by a woman known as the Red 
  Contessa, they terrorized the townsfolk, these witches killed the 
  mayor three times (he reincarnated, though), and now they seem 
  bent on laying claim to the area.
  In the last month they have abducted dozens of hostages, and 
  you intended to help, but a skyseer named Rachel Lang — one of 
  Risur’s folk prophets who sees the future in the stars — warned 
  you not to move against the witches before this night, the night 
  of a lunar eclipse, which you know as an ill omen. In any event, 
  tomorrow is your birthday. You have gathered trusted allies to 
  plan an assault on the witches’ stronghold, the mountain known 
  as Cauldron Hill, which looms over Flint’s city center. You will 
  strike at dawn.
  You might not return, but there’s more at stake than simply 
  saving your citizens. Dame Melissa is noble and mighty, but she 
  has no bond with the common folk. You pray that she will see 
  that the nation is nothing if its people do not have faith in their 
  monarch. If you fail, you’re not sure who will succeed you.
  Suggested Starting Interactions.
  Ask your allies to brief you. Let Roland Stanfield, mayor of Flint, tell what 
  has happened so far in his city, and have your chief advisor Harkover Lee 
  explain the nature of the witches. The foreigner Tomas Masaryk claims he 
  knows a secret of the witches’ power. Impress on Dame Melissa that pro-
  tecting the people of Flint is your chief concern and that this is the proper 
  attitude of a responsible monarch.
  Character Goal.
  Do not tell anyone you intend to abdicate. It would be wise to keep it quiet 
  that you’re considering Dame Melissa as your successor, though you think 
  she already suspects, as she has grown haughty and overconfident. Make 
  sure that you do not die before passing the crown on to someone else.
  You could declare almost anyone to be your successor, but not Mayor 
  Stanfield (the rites demand the monarch must be “mortal”; because he is 
  a deva, Stanfield perpetually reincarnates) nor your principal minister Har-
  kover Lee (the rites disqualify anyone who has ruled another nation from 
  wearing the crown of Risur).
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 23
  Pregenerated Characters
  Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Dame Melissa Gahlot
  Level 10 Half-Elf Green Knight
  Nature’s Blessing. You derive a number of powers from your 
  connection with nature.
  You are immune to disease.
  As an action you can heal a creature you touch. You have a pool of 
  50 hp you can heal per day, and in lieu of healing 5 hp you can cure a 
  disease or neutralize a poison.
  If you die and remain dead for five minutes, you can spend a Hit Die 
  and revive at 1 hp.
  You and allies within 10 ft. get a +4 bonus on saves, resistance to 
  damage from spells, and can’t be frightened while you’re conscious. As 
  an action 5 times per day, you can sense celestials, fiends, and undead 
  within 60 ft.
  Once per short rest you can shout a rebuke to fiends and fey within 
  30 ft. Each fey that fails a Wisdom save (dc 16) is turned for one minute 
  or until it takes damage. A turned creature must try to move as far away 
  from you as possible. If it cannot get away, it spends its action to Dodge.
  You can cast the following spells spontaneously. Any save dc is 16.
  •	 1st Level (4/day) — command, cure wounds, ensnaring strike, 
  speak with animals, thunderous smite
  •	 2nd Level (3/day) — branding strike, lesser restoration, misty step, 
  moonbeam, zone of truth
  •	 3rd Level (2/day) — crusader’s mantle, plant growth, protection 
  from energy, remove curse, revivify
  Equipment.
  In addition to a variety of mundane gear (daggers, rope, etc.) and non-
  magical combat gear (longsword, plate armor, shield, cold iron dagger), 
  you have the following items.
  Vanguard Lance. If there is an enemy within 60 ft. distance at the 
  start of combat, you may choose to treat your initiative as if you rolled a 
  natural 20. If you do, you must charge on the first turn of combat.
  Returning Spear. If thrown, it flies back to you at the start of your 
  next turn.
  Golden Net. Creature struck is restrained (str check dc 15 or 15 slash-
  ing damage to break). Restrained creature cannot teleport or phase out.
  Abilities
  STR
  18 (+4)
  DEX
  8 (–1)
  CON
  10 (+0)
  INT
  13 (+1)
  WIS
  12 (+1)
  CHA
  18 (+4)
  64
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  s
  Saving Throws.
  wis +5, cha +8
  Proficient Skills.
  History
  +5
  Intimidation
  +8
  Medicine
  +5
  Persuasion
  +8
  Combat.
  You get two attacks per action.
  Melee.
  Vanguard Lance +9 (1d12+5), or 
  Cold iron dagger +8 (1d4+4)
  Ranged.
  Returning Spear +8 (1d8+4, 20/60), or 
  Golden Net +8 (restrained, 5/15)
  Charger. When you use your action to Dash, you can 
  use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or 
  shove a creature. If you move at least 10 feet before taking 
  this bonus action, you either get +5 to damage or push the 
  target up to 10 feet away from you.
  Divine Smite. When you hit a creature with a melee 
  weapon attack, you can expend a spell slot to deal extra 
  radiant damage — 2d8 for a 1st level slot, 3d8 for 2nd, or 
  4d8 for 3rd. Increase the damage another 1d8 if the target 
  is undead or a fiend. You can also use this power to gain a 
  bonus to Strength checks to break an item, with the bonus 
  equal to 3 plus twice the spell’s level.
  Initiative
  –1
  Speed
  30 ft.
  Magic 
  plate 
  armor, 
  shield
  Darkvision
  60 ft.
  
  24 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Pregenerated Characters
   Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Background.
  You should be the next monarch of Risur. You have worked all 
  your adult life toward this goal, since thirty years ago when you 
  were knighted by Queen Caroline, the predecessor of your cur-
  rent king, Lorcan.
  For three decades you have honed your prowess, for any ruler 
  of Risur must be fit to give battle to conquerers and usurpers. 
  Your forthrightness and honesty have earned you the respect of 
  the nobles of Risur, and your skill at subtle mockery has won 
  you favor from the fey Unseen Court. And in the last war for 
  the Yerasol Isles you inspired terror in your opponents, the effete 
  tieflings who ruled the nation of Danor. Last year King Lorcan 
  ceased hostilities, but you think he gave up too much territory.
  The people think he is weak, and so if he’s smart he’ll pick a 
  strong successor to protect the nation, before the Rites of Ruler-
  ship that grant him his power fade.
  Now comes your final test to prove your worth. A coven of 
  witches in control of a mountain called Cauldron Hill have com-
  mitted many horrors, and King Lorcan has called upon you to 
  wade into battle by his side. You will strike at dawn tomorrow, 
  which happens to be your king’s fiftieth birthday. He is human, 
  and he will not maintain his strength much longer, but your elf 
  blood will give you a century more of life. If you can defeat these 
  dark villains, surely he shall name you his successor. You will be 
  a good queen.
  Suggested Starting Interactions.
  Be sure to remind King Lorcan, in as polite a way as possible, that the ter-
  ritory Risur lost in the recent war has undercut the respect the common 
  people have for him. Ask him if he feels their doubt through the Rites. Pre-
  tend to be sympathetic.
  Character Goal.
  You want King Lorcan to name you his successor. Toward that end, protect 
  him, but also strive to be seen as a hero.
  Weodam, Fey Stag. You have a stag mount that obeys all your 
  commands. If you do not command it, it acts on its own, on your initia-
  tive. It has the statistics and attack shown at right.
  Twice per day as an action, Weodam can teleport you and it 60 ft. 
  together.
  Mounted Combat. While mounted, you have advantage on melee 
  attack rolls against unmounted foes that are size Medium or smaller.
  While mounted, you can force an attack that targets your mount to tar-
  get you instead. If you do, your mount takes half damage against effects 
  that grant a Dexterity save, or no damage if it succeeds the save.
  ac 16 (leather barding)
  hp 19
  speed 60 ft.
  str
  8 (–1)
  dex 12 (+1)
  con 13 (+1)
  int
  6 (–2)
  wis 12 (+1)
  cha
  7 (–2)
  melee gore +4 (2d6+4)
  Weodam
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 25
  Pregenerated Characters
  Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Roland Stanfield
  Level 10 Deva Mayor
  Rogue Tricks. In this life you find yourself sneaky and clever.
  Once per turn you deal +5d6 sneak attack damage when you hit an 
  enemy and have advantage on the attack roll, or if one of your allies is 
  within 5 feet of the enemy.
  You can use a bonus action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide.
  When an attacker you can see hits you, you can spend your reaction to 
  halve the damage.
  You take half damage against effects that grant a Dexterity save, or no 
  damage if you succeed the save.
  Deva Traits. Your status as a deva offers you the following benefits. 
  You have resistance to necrotic and radiant energy, and you cannot be 
  blinded by bright light.
  Once per day you can recall knowledge from a past life. Roll 1d4 and 
  add it to one ability check, skill check, or saving throw of your choice, 
  after you roll but before you know the result. If you do this for a skill you 
  are not proficient with, you gain proficiency for the next minute.
  If you die, eight hours later your body dissolves and you reincarnate, 
  fully grown but with jumbled memories, somewhere within three miles. 
  (You hope you never reincarnate while at sea.)
  Manifest Incarnations. As a bonus action you can call forth a 
  shimmering manifestation of one of your past lives. He appears besides 
  you, can roam up to 250 ft. from you, and lasts as long as you remain 
  conscious. You share senses intuitively. Each of you can move indepen-
  dently, but you have only one action, and can use it either for yourself or 
  for one of your incarnations.
  Each incarnation has 20 hp and uses your stats, but do not have Rogue 
  Tricks. The incarnations have additional abilities listed on the next page.
  If an incarnation is reduced to 0 hp, it vanishes, and you lose 20 hp. 
  You can have multiple incarnations manifested at the same time, but no 
  more than one of each type. You can dismiss an incarnation as a bonus 
  action. If you manifest it again, it starts at 20 hp.
  STR
  8 (–1)
  DEX
  12 (+1)
  CON
  11 (+0)
  INT
  16 (+3)
  WIS
  19 (+4)
  CHA
  14 (+2)
  53
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  Saving Throws.
  con +4, dex +5, int +7, wis +8
  Proficient Skills.
  Deception
  +10
  History
  +7
  Medicine
  +7
  Perception
  +12
  Persuasion
  +10
  Religion
  +7
  Stealth
  +9
  Combat.
  Your past lives give you some unusual combat options. See 
  Manifest Incarnations at right and the incarnation statis-
  tics on the next page.
  Melee.
  Shortsword +5 (1d6+1)
  Ranged.
  Dagger +5 (1d4+1)
  Old Injury. A back injury you suffered in your first life 
  recurs each time you reincarnate. Whenever you fall prone, 
  you bleed, and suffer 1 damage each round until you receive 
  magical healing or someone succeeds a dc 10 Medicine 
  check to stop the bleeding. Your incarnations all have the 
  same weakness.
  Equipment. Aside from a variety of mundane items 
  (daggers, rope, etc.), your studded leather armor, and your 
  shortsword, you have no noteworthy gear.
  Initiative
  +1
  Speed
  30 ft.
  Studded 
  leather 
  armor
  Abilities
  
  26 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Pregenerated Characters
   Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Background.
  Four centuries ago you saw a goddess die. It changed you, and 
  years later when you eventually perished you reincarnated, reap-
  pearing fully-grown in the wilderness with only vague memories. 
  You are no longer a man, but a deva, bearing a sliver of the god-
  dess’s power.
  Over the course of a hundred years and several incarnations 
  you found your way to Risur, and became mayor of the coastal 
  town of Flint. Upon your next death, the people of Flint found 
  you and asked you to return.
  You had trouble at first, but then a wise man helped you unlock 
  memories of your previous incarnations. With each life you were 
  a slightly different man, but now your former selves could advise 
  you. Thereafter Flint quickly prospered.
  Then forty years ago a witch known as the Red Contessa es-
  tablished a coven atop a looming peak in the city’s center. The 
  mountain was once called the Hunchback, but the locals have 
  renamed it Cauldron Hill. At first the coven moved subtly, and 
  the threat they posed was not worth the risk of fighting them. 
  But a few years ago Risur went to war, and while the nation was 
  distracted the witches began to terrorize your people and curse 
  the families who looked to you for protection and guidance. You 
  tried to drive them out. They killed you.
  Your next incarnation opposed them as well, and a couple 
  years later the Contessa killed you again, which only increased 
  her infamy and made it seem impossible to confront her. Your 
  next incarnation called on the king to save your city, but he took 
  too long, so you led a desperate mission yourself. You wish you 
  couldn’t remember this latest death, how horrifying it was to 
  watch men who trusted you burn alive.
  Last night you were visited again by the same wise man who 
  helped you centuries ago, though he wore a new face. He con-
  gratulated your leadership, and asked two favors before leaving: 
  “Tell no one else of my visit, please.” And, “When the tiefling 
  arrives, accept her aid, and keep her alive. She has the power to 
  make Flint the mightiest city in the world.”
  Your current incarnation feels … sneakier than usual. But 
  what hasn’t changed is your commitment to the improvement of 
  Flint and the protection of its people.
  Suggested Starting Interactions.
  Tell King Lorcan and his retinue about your city’s suffering at the witches’ 
  hands, and of your own deaths. The king intends to strike at dawn. Insist on 
  joining this mission.
  Character Goal.
  The people of Flint must be safe from the torment of the witches. Accept the 
  aid of the tiefling, whoever she happens to be, and make sure she survives, 
  even if you die. You’ll reincarnate anyway. Tell no one about the mysterious 
  wise man.
  Warrior Incarnation.
  Centuries ago you fought in a holy war.
  •	 ac 20 (plate armor, shield)
  •	 str 19 (+4)
  •	 Combat. This incarnation makes two 
  attacks with a single action, and has 
  the following attacks:
  Melee longsword +8 (1d8+4)
  Ranged holy light +5 (2d6 fire 
  damage, range 60 ft., at-will)
  Loremaster Incarnation.
  Since then you have devoted yourself to 
  learning.
  •	 ac 11
  •	 Spellcasting. The number of uses for 
  each spell refreshes each day; getting 
  a “new” loremaster incarnation 
  doesn’t help.
  Cantrips — mage hand, message, 
  prestidigitation
  1st (4/day) — detect magic, magic 
  missile, silent image
  2nd (3/day) — hold person, invisibility, 
  mirror image, spider climb
  Politician Incarnation.
  You’ve found your greatest success in lead-
  ing and governance.
  •	 Unassuming. Attacks against you 
  have disadvantage if the attacker can 
  see any of its other enemies.
  •	 Inspirational Presence. As a bonus 
  action twice per short rest, you 
  can grant an ally who can hear you 
  rhetorical inspiration. That ally can 
  spend the rhetorical inspiration to get 
  +1d10 to any d20 roll.
  •	 Poisoned Weapon. Applying poison is 
  a bonus action. A target struck takes 
  24 poison damage. A Constitution 
  save (dc 15) reduces the damage by 
  half. The poison can only coat this 
  incarnation’s weapons.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 27
  Pregenerated Characters
  Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Harkover Lee
  Level 10 Enigmatic Mage
  Spellcasting. You have the following spells prepared. The save dc
  is 17, and any spell attack is at +9. Once per day at the end of a short 
  rest you can regain up to 5 levels worth of spell slots.
  You can shape the area of your evocation spells (marked with an aster-
  isk) to ignore a number of creatures equal to 1 + the spell’s level. 
  Evocation spells you cast that deal damage deal an extra 5 damage.
  •	 Cantrips (at-will) — fire bolt*, mage hand, mending, message, 
  minor illusion
  •	 1st Level (3/day) — burning hands*, detect magic, feather fall, 
  identify, mage armor
  •	 2nd Level (3/day) — flaming sphere*, scorching ray*, see invisibil-
  ity, shatter*
  •	 3rd Level (3/day) — dispel magic, clairvoyance, fireball*, remove 
  curse
  •	 4th Level (3/day) — dimension door, fire shield*
  •	 5th Level (2/day) — wall of force
  Equipment. As a consequence of your taboo, you carry no weapons.
  Golden Orb. Etched with arcane writings, this 4-inch diameter sphere 
  of gold is your spellbook. It weighs 22 pounds, but you carry it easily.
  Robes of the Pyromancer. Any creature that grabs you catches on fire, 
  and takes 2d6 fire damage immediately and each round thereafter. Only 
  if the creature releases you can it attempt to put out the flames, making 
  a dex save (dc 10) for free at the end of its turn. It can spend an action to 
  automatically extinguish the flames.
  Black Gem. Crack in order to release an aura that blocks scrying 
  within 100 ft. Lasts one day once activated.
  Rune of Succor. Inscribed into your flesh but hidden from view, this 
  rune triggers if you remain at 0 hp or below for more than two rounds. 
  If triggered, you teleport to your sanctum hundreds of miles away in the 
  city of Slate, where minions can revive you. You cannot share this con-
  tingency with anyone else. You have a scroll of teleport at your sanctum, 
  but it would take you a few minutes to retrieve it.
  Scrolls. You have three scrolls of dispel magic and three scrolls of re-
  move curse. Dispelling has a chance of removing curses, but might be 
  better saved to thwart other spell effects.
  STR
  25 (+7)
  DEX
  8 (–1)
  CON
  10 (+0)
  INT
  20 (+5)
  WIS
  16 (+3)
  CHA
  14 (+2)
  42
  12
  H
  i
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  P
  o
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  n
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  s
  1
  0
  d
  6
  A
  r
  m
  or
   C
  l
  a
  s
  s
  Saving Throws.
  int +9, wis +7
  Proficient Skills.
  Deception
  +10
  History
  +7
  Medicine
  +7
  Perception
  +12
  Persuasion
  +10
  Religion
  +7
  Stealth
  +9
  Combat.
  As a consequence of your taboo,
  you cannot make melee attacks or
  otherwise use your physical might to cause damage to other 
  creatures. You use your magical abilities instead.
  Melee.
  Unarmed strike +11 (8 damage, objects only)
  Ranged.
  Handheld flame +9 (1d10+5 fire, 120 ft.)
  Enigmatic Taboo. You should keep your strength a 
  secret; openly displaying it would raise questions you’re not 
  prepared to answer. You may not attack to injure another 
  creature with your physical might, but you may use magic 
  to do so. Your strength can still aid with skill checks, com-
  bat maneuvers like grappling, and attacks against objects.
  Friend to Flame. You are immune to fire damage. 
  You can see perfectly through smoke. You can conjure fire 
  and throw it at-will.
  Initiative
  –1
  Speed
  30 ft.
  Mage 
  armor
  spell
  Darkvision
  120 ft.
  Abilities
  
  28 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Pregenerated Characters
   Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Background.
  You do not speak of your history, and you will not eat or drink in 
  front of others, nor may you fight with your physical might, only 
  your magic. And — for one more year at least — you must obey 
  your pledge of loyalty to Risur and continue to serve as principal 
  minister to the monarch, whomever he or she may be.
  King Lorcan, fifty years old tomorrow yet still strong for a 
  human his age, asks you to aid him against the witch coven of 
  Cauldron Hill, and so you shall. You have never been to the city 
  of Flint before, but you and your apprentices have scryed it and 
  learned information that will be critical in defeating the witch 
  known as the Red Contessa. The king intends to strike at dawn.
  Serve the king well. Risur has done you a great favor.
  Suggested Starting Interactions.
  Share this information with the king and his council:
  The coven’s leader, the Red Contessa, can sense any blood spilled within 3 
  miles, and can speak and observe through pools of blood. Your black gem will 
  help you sneak up on her.
  The witch known as Sister Pernicity can command dark fey and the 
  spirits of the dead. Sister Deliria confuses people’s minds, using trickery, il-
  lusions, and enchantment. There may be more witches.
  People have reported attacking the witches, inflicting mortal wounds, and 
  then seeing no effect. The witches have many minions, some willing, some 
  coerced, some enchanted. And not all of them are human. The witches are 
  never seen far from their minions, so perhaps they derive power from them.
  The witches have captured more than a hundred hostages in the past 
  month, and hundreds more in the past decade. Ritual sacrifice in the past 
  has drawn the peak of Cauldron Hill in close contact with the realm of spirits, 
  but you cannot determine what the Contessa intends her current crop of 
  blood sacrifice for.
  The visitor Tomas Masaryk has come from the nation Crisillyir, who follow 
  a religion known as the Clergy. Tomas claims he has information that will be 
  useful, and you have used magic to verify the truth of his claims. He can 
  be trusted as an ally, at least for the mission of defeating the Red Contessa.
  Character Goal.
  While you are fond of King Lorcan, you are more loyal to Risur as a na-
  tion than to its monarch. You worry Lorcan plans to name Dame Melissa his 
  successor. She would be a terrible queen, so try to make sure if he names 
  a successor that he names someone else. You would prefer not to actively 
  harm Dame Melissa, but you will if it’s the only way to stop her from taking 
  the crown.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 29
  Pregenerated Characters
  Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Tomas Masaryk
  Level 10 Human Godhand
  Divine Vessel. Your holy power manifests in a number of ways.
  You have a halo that you can have cast light as bright as a torch, or 
  have it simply float dim, like polished metal. Whenever a ranged weapon 
  hits you, as a reaction you may have your halo flare, unleashing a force 
  that reduces the damage by 1d10+14. If this reduces the damage to zero, 
  you may send the weapon back at the attacker, with a +8 attack bonus.
  You are immune to disease, poison, charm, and fear effects.
  When you succeed a dex save for half damage, you instead take no 
  damage; if you fail, you only take half damage.
  You reduce all falling damage by 50 points.
  You can use speak with dead any number of times per day, but only 
  once for a given corpse. Each attempt requires a minute berating and 
  compelling the corpse to answer you.
  You have ten uses of divine favor per day. You can spend one use for 
  any of the following:
  •	 You can take the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action, and 
  you double your jump distance this turn.
  •	 Your fists unleash glowing blasts of holy energy, extending your 
  melee reach to 120 ft. this turn.
  •	 Heal 15 damage to a creature you touch as an action.
  •	 If you reduce an undead or fiend to 0 hp, you can keep it alive and 
  dominated with 10 hp. Five minutes after being dominated, it is 
  destroyed.
  Equipment. You wear the light clothing of a Clergy supplicant.
  Holy Scripture of Triegenes. The sacred text of your faith, a humble 
  book. If you spend an action to recite from it, your halo illuminates a 
  10-ft. aura around you. Until the start of your next turn, foes must make 
  a wis save (dc 16) to attack you or your allies in the aura. This protection 
  is broken if you or an ally in the aura attacks or casts a spell that affects 
  an enemy.
  Martyr’s Fishhook Necklace. As a reaction, you can change one spell 
  that targets one ally within 30 ft. and cause it to target you instead.
  Urn of Holy Water from the Aqueducts of Alais Primos. Weapons 
  anointed with this water can harm ghosts. Can affect nine weapons (in-
  cluding fists), lasting 24 hours.
  STR
  9 (–1)
  DEX
  18 (+4)
  CON
  14 (+2)
  INT
  11 (+0)
  WIS
  16 (+3)
  CHA
  14 (+2)
  73
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  o
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  s
  1
  0
  d
  8
  +
  2
  0
  Saving Throws.
  str +3, dex +8
  Proficient Skills.
  Acrobatics
  +8
  Athletics
  +3
  Intimidate
  +6
  Religion
  +4
  Combat.
  You get two attacks per action, plus you can use a bonus ac-
  tion to make an additional unarmed strike attack.
  Melee.
  Unarmed strike +8 (1d6+4)
  Ranged.
  Hook chain +8 (1d6+4, thrown, 5/15 ft.)
  Holy Sentinel. In combat, your holy power makes you 
  a defender of others.
  Creatures within 5 feet of you provoke opportunity at-
  tacks even if they Disengage.
  Whenever you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, 
  its speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn.
  Whenever an enemy within 5 feet of you attacks one of 
  your allies, you may make a melee attack against that enemy 
  as a reaction.
  Initiative
  +4
  Speed
  50 ft.
  Holy 
  sentinel 
  benefit
  17
  A
  r
  m
  or
   C
  l
  a
  s
  s
  Abilities
  
  30 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Pregenerated Characters
   Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Background.
  You are a geneu credeto, a godhand, and you have not flesh but 
  faith made manifest. You have traveled a thousand miles to 
  see done the will of your hierarchs, to restore the purity of the 
  Clergy, which guards this world from infernal magic and guides 
  mortals to reach for godhood.
  The Red Contessa is a heretic who was cast out four decades 
  past. Five years ago she returned to your homeland and snuck 
  into the Vault of Heresies, from which she stole the blasphemous 
  ritual bond of forced faith, scribed by the ancient fiend Namtar-
  Shamash of the demonocracy, which your Clergy gloriously 
  defeated a thousand years ago.
  The Contessa leads a coven of witches in the Risuri city of 
  Flint, and the hierarchs divined that Risur’s monarch King 
  Lorcan Finn intends to give battle to the foul women. You desire 
  power in your church, and if you can slay the Contessa, you in-
  tend to petition for a place among the hierarchs.
  King Lorcan is a non-believer — the folk of Risur worship spir-
  its of the land and gods of the faeries — but your interests align 
  on this mission. Indeed, King Lorcan recently lost land in a war 
  against the hellish tieflings who rule the nation of Danor, Risur’s 
  rival across the sea. While they’re a primitive people, Risur at 
  least is strong enough to oppose true evil.
  Your hierarchs would prefer the Contessa purified in the fires 
  of your homeland’s holy volcano Enzyo Mons, but any death will 
  do. You have been given a full indulgence by the church: whatever 
  sins you commit in this duty shall be expunged upon your return.
  Suggested Starting Interactions.
  You have already endured a magical test to prove to the king’s wizard that 
  you are not trying to deceive them, but you want your allies to trust you. Try 
  to bond with King Lorcan over your mutual disdain of the tieflings of Danor.
  Share this information with the king and his council:
  The Red Contessa stole a heretical text and has learned a blood ritual 
  known as bond of forced faith. Willing allies or unwilling hostages share their 
  life force with the caster, whose physical might is increased. Wounds dealt to 
  the caster are instead distributed among those bonded to her, but she must 
  remain within 250 feet of them. Drowning and other non-wounding subdual 
  should still work, as would moving her far enough from those bonded to her.
  Character Goal.
  Ensure the Red Contessa dies, preferably in fire. Recover or destroy the 
  ritual she stole. Serve as a strong example of your faith, so that Risur might 
  be more amenable to conversion.
  Also in Your Backpack. Along with your other items, you carry 
  a copy of the Catalogue of Fiends of the Demonocracy, a work said to be 
  transcribed directly from the blasphemous utterings of Ashima-Shimtu, 
  prisoner of the Crypta Hereticarum. Bound in silver and white leather. 
  Just some light reading you brought along; no mechanical effect.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith | 31
  Pregenerated Characters
  Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Amielle Latimer
  Level 10 Tiefling Gunsmith
  Racial and Family Traits. As a Danoran tiefling of the 
  Latimer line, you have some useful inborn qualities.
  You have resistance to fire damage.
  You are immune to curses.
  Twice per day, when a foe deals you damage, as a reaction you may 
  wrathfully ignite that creature. It takes 2d6 fire damage and catches on 
  fire. Each round thereafter it takes another 2d6 fire damage. At the end 
  of its turn the creature can make a dex save (dc 15) to put out the fires, 
  or it can spend an action to automatically stop the flames. This ability 
  recharges if the damage kills the foe.
  Gunplay. Your firearms are the first of their kind, which you crafted 
  yourself. Some kinks remain to be worked out.
  Whenever you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll with a firearm, the 
  gun misfires — nothing happens, and the gun remains loaded. Clearing 
  the barrel requires an action, and makes the gun safe to use. You can 
  continue using a misfired gun without clearing the barrel, but attacks 
  with the weapon have disadvantage, and if you roll a second natural 1, 
  the weapon suffers a mishap and explodes: it is destroyed and deals its 
  base damage die to you (2d8 for the musket, 1d10 for a pistol).
  After you attack with a firearm, smoke fills your square and each adja-
  cent square, providing concealment until dispersed.
  Reloading a firearm requires either an action or bonus action; it en-
  tails pouring a charge of firedust into the barrel, loading a lead ball, and 
  inserting a ramrod to pack the shot firmly.
  Equipment. You wear a mithral jerkin you took from a Risuri 
  soldier in the war, but otherwise your main items of equipment are all 
  hand-crafted masterpieces from Danor, including your rapier and main-
  gauche, a flintlock musket, four flintlock pistols, a flintlock lighter, and 
  cigars. You have more than enough ammunition and firedust powder to 
  complete this adventure without needing to replenish your supply.
  You carry two explosive fragmentation grenades.*
  You wear an electrum ring engraved inside the band with the words 
  “One Bullet Kill.”
  STR
  10 (+0)
  DEX
  18 (+4)
  CON
  10 (+0)
  INT
  14 (+2)
  WIS
  12 (+1)
  CHA
  16 (+3)
  64
  H
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  P
  o
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  s
  1
  0
  d
  1
  0
  Initiative
  +4
  Speed
  40 ft.
  Chain 
  shirt
  16
  A
  r
  m
  or
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  l
  a
  s
  s
  Abilities
  Darkvision
  60 ft.
  * see next page for grenade rules
  Saving Throws.
  str +4, dex +4
  Proficient Skills.
  Acrobatics
  +8
  Athletics
  +5
  Deception
  +7
  Engineering
  +6
  Perception
  +5
  Stealth
  +8
  Combat.
  You get two attacks per action,
  plus you can use a bonus action
  to attack with your off-hand weapon.
  Melee.
  Rapier +8 (1d8+4), or
  Main-gauche (off-hand weapon) +8 (1d4)
  Ranged.
  Musket +10 (2d8+4, 60/180), or 
  Pistol +10 (1d10+4, 20/60), or
  Grenade* (3d6 in 5-ft. radius; dex dc 12 negates. 20/60)
  Courseur. You practice a daring form of athleticism.
  Climbing doesn’t halve your speed, and you use Dexterity 
  for Athletics checks to climb or jump.
  You only need a 5-ft. start for a running jump.
  You can stand by spending only 5 ft. of movement.
  When you Dash, difficult terrain doesn’t slow you.
  When you make a melee attack against an enemy, you 
  don’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the 
  rest of the turn.
  
  32 | EN5ider Presents: Bonds of Forced Faith
  Pregenerated Characters
   Permission is granted to photocopy this page for personal use only.
  Background.
  You graduated valedictorian from the prestigious martial acad-
  emy Jierre Sciens d’Arms. In the Second War for the Yerasol Isles 
  you earned medal after medal as your keen aim and hand-crafted 
  musket felled dozens of Risuri soldiers. The war ended a year ago 
  in Danor’s favor, and you could have retired to a life of aristocracy.
  But you know war is destructive for both sides, and you want 
  to have children and not give them a dangerous world to inherit. 
  You have joined with like-minded intellectuals of Danor in a se-
  cret society devoted to bringing Risur and Danor closer together.
  Now you see your chance. In the Risuri city of Flint, for de-
  cades a witch coven has gathered atop the mountain known as 
  Cauldron Hill, spreading fear and madness, abducting children, 
  and raising the walking dead. Spies report that Risur’s King 
  Lorcan plans a massive assault to defeat them.
  The Risuri see you only as an enemy. They fear that your 
  nation’s technology may supplant their magic, and that your en-
  lightened reason will cast down their superstitious religion. But 
  you must make them see you as an ally.
  Suggested Starting Interactions.
  You’ll arrive on your steamship Hinc ad Aeternitatem shortly after everyone 
  else begins discussing their plans. You’ll need to convince them to let you 
  help.
  Share this information with the king and his council:
  An astronomer colleague of yours has calculated that tonight’s lunar 
  eclipse will be in conjunction with the dark planet Nem, creating a strong 
  surge of necromantic mana. At 10:37 pm, the focus of that power will align 
  with the peak of Cauldron Hill, so any magic performed at that time will be 
  greatly enhanced.
  You know the Risuri think eclipses are bad omens, but they cannot let 
  superstition cause them to hesitate. They must strike tonight, before the 
  eclipse reaches its maximum. You have rushed on Danor’s fastest ship to 
  warn them while there’s still time.
  Character Goal.
  Earn the trust of the monarch of Risur, and make the first steps to introduc-
  ing Danoran technological industry to this superstitious nation.
  *Grenades. When you throw a grenade, choose a creature or an unoccupied 5-ft. square. 
  (If the creature occupies more than one 5-ft. square, choose one of the squares it occupies.) 
  Make an attack roll against ac 10. If the attack misses, the grenade veers off course, missing 
  by 5 ft. in a random direction, or 10 ft. if the target area was at long range. Each creature 
  in a 5-ft. radius of where the grenade lands must succeed a dex save (dc 12) or else take 3d6 
  bludgeoning and piercing damage.
  If you targeted a creature and the attack roll is a critical hit, the grenade directly strikes 
  that creature (or the creature of your choice, if there are multiple). The grenade does double 
  damage to that creature without allowing a save. Other creatures in the area are affected 
  normally.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 142 - Zeitgeist 00 Bonds of Forced Faith.pdf