TEXT: © 2012, New Big Dragon Games Unlimited
  I
  The Inexplicable Ice Tower  
  of Inverlock Isle
  by Richard J. LeBlanc, Jr.
  For Character Levels 8-12
  For the Players
  The rolling green fields of Orlea, normally 
  aglow with soft sunlight, are blanketed with 
  gray. Clear blue skies have given way to the 
  dismal haze of threatening dark clouds that 
  drizzle cold rain and sleet over the area. 
  The source of this recent and everpresent 
  gloom is a mysterious tower of ice on a small 
  island in the center of Inverlock Lake. The 
  slender, frosty peak supposedly emerged 
  from the ground and over a few weeks has 
  risen to a height of well over 500'.
  No one seems to really know what the tower 
  is or why it appeared (see Local Rumors), 
  but whatever is happening can’t be good. 
  For the DM
  The source of the tower is trouble-maker 
  named Itrmor. He is just a malicious high-
  level magic-user with a love for magical 
  machinery and a penchant for drama—an 
  egotist with no other motive than his own 
  amusement. He chose the area because he 
  likes mutton and they have sheep.
  Numbered Encounters
  Inverlock Lake lies among the rolling green 
  hills of Orlea. It would be a pastoral vision if 
  not for the steeple of bluish white ice spiring 
  from the center of Inverlock Isle, the small 
  island set in the middle of the lake. What 
  makes this truly inexplicable is that Orlea is 
  situated in a temperate area that, even in the 
  coldest of winters, rarely sees snow.
  An icy dark column of mist seeps from the 
  top of the tower and a low humming sounds 
  echoes from it. Ripples on the surface of the 
  water reflect the gloom and despair of the 
  gray skies above. Something is awry.
  Inverlock Lake
  A thin sheet of ice covers the water. It is only 
  strong enough to bear the weight of a few 
  lbs., but is easily cracked and broken away.
  A small dock on the edge of the lake. A small 
  ice-covered boat tied to the dock sits deep in 
  the water. With the ice over the entire boat, 
  it will only support 50 lbs. without sinking.
  Another small boat, upside down on the 
  shore. It’s hull is covered with thin sheet of 
  ice. With the ice on the hull, the boat will 
  support up to 300 lbs. without sinking.
  With the ice completely removed from the 
  boats, each will carry 500 lbs.
  Outside the Tower
  The tower and all of its parts (including the 
  doors and steps inside) are composed of a 
  frosty blue ice. The ice is not transparent 
  enough to see through and only mildly af-
  fected by fire. Attempts to “melt” it (even 
  with strong fireballs) would take forever.
  The entire tower seems to “hum.”
  The icy double doors at the entrance to the 
  tower are unlocked and will creak if opened.
  1. Level 1: Entry Chamber
  The humming is louder inside and seems to 
  have lulled 2 sabre-tooth tigers (hp: 38,36) 
  to sleep at the bottom of the steps leading to 
  level 2. The tigers are light sleepers and the 
  creaking door will wake them.
  The first step on the stairs to level 2 will trig-
  ger a magical trap that summons 2 invisible 
  stalkers (hp: 30, 29). They will appear just 
  inside the doors to the south and their task 
  is to kill any intruders that are present.
  2. Level 2: Frost Giant Lair
  The humming grows louder with each level.
   2 frost giants (hp: 55,41) reside here with 6 
  winter wolves (hp: 33,26,26,25,24,19). 
  If the PCs managed to sneak past the sabre-
  tooths and have not engaged the invisible 
  stalkers, the giants will be eating dinner at 
  the table in the middle of the room and the 
  wolves will be waiting table-side for scraps. 
  If sufficient noise (combat) was made on level 
  1, the giants will have weapons in hand.
  A chest to the E holds the following: 5000 
  g.p., -1 sword (cursed), +1 chain mail 
  (human-sized), +1 shield (human-sized).
  3. Level 3: Frost Salamander Lair
  The humming grows louder still. 
  The walls of the room show evidence of a 
  battle. Nicks and pocks in the wall appear to 
  have been caused by fireballs. 
  3 frost salamanders (hp: 62,48,47) attack.
  The frozen corpse of a human lays against 
  the wall to the southwest. There is nothing 
  of value on his person. 
  Tucked at the edge of the wall on the floor 
  to the east, a small leather pouch contains 
  a moonstone (250 g.p. value) and a piece of 
  obsidian (25 g.p. value).
  4. Level 4: Itrmor’s Residence 
  Standing ready in the middle of the room is 
  Itrmor (see NPCs), a pale-skinned, white-
  bearded, nasty-looking old man who wears 
  a heavy glistening white robe trimmed in 
  sparkling blue. He is flanked by 2 sabre-
  tooth tigers (hp: 43,38), ready to attack at 
  his command. 
  Itrmor will entertain questions from the 
  PCs, to a point. Should they threaten him 
  or make any hostile indication, Itrmor will 
  release the tigers and command them to at-
  tack. He will then cover his head with the 
  hood of his snow robe (see Magic Items) 
  becoming invisible, then engage in combat.
  A chest to the north is trapped with fire (10' 
  radius, 4d8 on failed save). Inside the chest 
  there’s nothing but a ledger of Itrmor’s ac-
  counts, showing him deep in the red (the 
  tower has cost him greatly). The chest has 
  false bottom hiding a white velvet bag hold-
  ing 5 bloodstones (1,000 g.p. value each).
  5. Level 5: Itrmor’s Lab
  The hum now seems to be more of a grinding 
  sound emanating from the ceiling above.
  This room is bare except for six levers made 
  of ice protruding from the floor. These le-
  vers engage/disengage the gears on level 
  6 (see detail drawings 2 and 3). Each is a 
  slightly different tint/shade of blue, with 1 
  being the lightest and 6 being the darkest. 
  All of the levers are pulled in the same direc-
  tion execpt for number 6 (the darkest).
  5. Level 6: Machine Room
  This level houses the six gears that power the 
  magical machine. Each gear corresponds to 
  a lever on level 5, going from darkest/larg-
  est (gear 6) to lightest/smalles (gear 1). 
  All of the gears are engaged and moving, ex-
  cept gear 6 (the largest). If gear 6 is engaged, 
  it will spew unimaginable amounts of ice and 
  snow into the air. 
  All of the gears must be disengaged from the 
  smallest to largest order (from 1 to 6). If dis-
  engaged in the wrong order, the gears will 
  “jam” and the tower will begin to shake and 
  crack. It will completely self-destruct in 19-
  24 (d6+18) rounds (3-4 minutes).
  If all gears are disengaged or the machine 
  self-destructs, a remorhaz (hp: 46, as 8 HD 
  monster) will be summoned to level 1. 
  Given months, the tower will melt away. The 
  quickest way to eliminate it is to destroy it.
  Leveling Up This Adventure
  Additional ice toad encounters (see Monster 
  Stats) may be added to the waters of the 
  lake surrounding the tower and frost giants 
  may be added to Wandering Monsters.
  The HD/hps for the remorhaz (see number 
  4), may be increased to as many as 14 HD.  
  Wortin (see NPCs) may be used as an ally to 
  Itrmor and added to encounter 5. 
  Local Rumors
  Roll 1d12 per local enountered to determine 
  which rumor that local has heard. Every 
  third local encountered will share 2 rumors 
  (roll twice, ignoring duplicates).
  
  1. The gods were angered when local grazi-
  ers sacrificed the weakest of their herds 
  instead of the strongest. (F: they did do 
  this, but this is not the reason the tower 
  has appeared.)
  2. It’s a strange, but normal, geological 
  phenomenon that happens once every 
  couple hundred years. (F)
  3. It’s a magical phenomenon that happens 
  once every couple hundred years. (F)
  4. It’s always been there. It’s only recently 
  people have started to notice it. (F)
  5. A tribe of frost giants has moved in and 
  are raiding the area. (F: Itrmor employs 
  frost giants, but only as guards.)
  6. Crazy magic-user-mumble-mumble-leave 
  me alone. (T)
  7. Tower? What tower?
  8. The tower shot up out of an old diamond 
  mine and threw little bits of diamond all 
  over the area around it. (F)
  9. A similar volcanic tower has sprouted up 
  not too far from the ice tower. (F)
  10. The tower and the weather are both just 
  illusions. None of it really exists. (F)
  11. It’s a cult. That’s all I’m going to say. (F)
  12. Wortin, an evil cleric of some renown, 
  knows something about the tower, but 
  he won’t talk. (T/F at DM’s discretion)
  Wandering Monsters
  Area Around Inverlock Lake
  At DM’s discretion. (It is suggested that any 
  Wandering Monster list include ice toads 
  and winter wolves.)
  Monster Stats
  Invisible Stalker: HD:8; AC:4; AT:1 
  (4d4); M:18; ST:F/2: invisible; surprises on 
  1-5 (on 1d6).
  Giant, Frost: HD:10+1; AC:4; AT:1 weap-
  on (4d6); M:12; ST:F/10; hurl rocks (3d6); 
  immune to cold-based attacks.
  Remorhaz: HD:8; AC:0(overall)/2(head)/
  4(underside); AT:1 bite (6d6); M:12; ST:F/8; 
  swallows prey whole on “to hit” roll of 20.
  Salamanders, Frost: HD:12; AC:3; 
  AT:4 claws (1d6 ea.)/1 bite (2d6); M:12; ST:
  F/12; radiates cold 20' (1d8 to all in radius); 
  immune to cold-based attacks.
  Tiger, Sabre-tooth: HD:8; AC:6; #AT:2 
  claws (2d4+1 ea.)/1 bite (1d10); M:15; ST:F/3.
  Toad, Ice: HD:5; AC:4; AT:1 bite (3d4); 
  M:9; ST:F/3; able to radiate cold (3d6) in 10' 
  radius once every other round; immune to 
  cold-based attacks.
  Wolf, Winter: HD:6; AC:5; AT:1 bite; D:2-
  8, M:18; ST:F/3; cold breath (6d4, 1/2 dam-
  age on successful saving throw) once per 10 
  rounds; immune to cold-based attacks; +1 pt. 
  per die of damage from flame-based attacks; 
  NPCs
  Itrmor (14th-level magic-user): S:11; I:18; 
  W:12; D:17, C:14; CH:10; HP:21; AC:1; 
  #AT:1; D: by spell or weapon, M:12; AL: 
  lawful evil (chaotic); ST:MU/14; MI: snow 
  robe, +1 ring of protection; wand of 
  cold (10 charges); spells: magic missile, 
  shield, sleep, ventriloquism, levitate, mir-
  ror image, phantasmal force, web, dispel 
  magic, hold person, lightning bolt, protec-
  tion/normal missiles, charm monster, con-
  fusion, remove curse, wall of ice, cloudkill, 
  conjure elemental, hold monster, anti-mag-
  ic shell, control weather, invisible stalker.
  Wortin (10th-level cleric): S:13; I:10; W:15; 
  D:11, C:12; CH:13; HP:39; AC:2; #AT:1; 
  D: by weapon, M:9; AL: lawful evil (cha-
  otic); ST:C/10; MI: +1 chain mail, +1 
  shield; +2 mace, scroll of cure serious 
  wounds;  spells: 44332 cure light wounds, 
  detect magic, protection from good, re-
  move fear, curse, hold person, resist fire, 
  speak with animal, cure disease, growth 
  of animals, striking, cure serious wounds, 
  poision, protection/good 10' radius, insect 
  plague, quest.
  New Magic Items
  Snow robe: This hooded fur robe of glis-
  tening white fur is trimmed with sparkling 
  pastel blue. It bestows the following abilities 
  to its wearer: -4 AC bonus, invisibility (when 
  hood is “up”), fire resistance (as ring of fire 
  resistance: invulnerability to normal fire, -2 
  from each die of damage from magical fire, 
  +4 to applicable saving throws).
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  SIDE VIEW OF ICE TOWER
  ICE TOWER LAYOUT
  Level 5
  Level 4
  Level 3
  Level 2
  Level 1
  Level 6
  Level 6
  Level 1
  Level 2
  Level 3
  Level 4
  Level 5
  To L2
  To L1
  To L2
  To L4
  To L5
  To L3
  © 2012, New Big Dragon Games Unlimited
  
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  © 2012, New Big Dragon Games Unlimited
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Basic Fantasy/Basic Fantasy Adventures & Settings/Inexplicable Ice Tower of Inverlock Isle (BasicF).pdf