TEXT: Midnight
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  Midnight
  Midnight
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  The
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  By Sam Zeitlin
  A PATHFINDER RPG ADVENTURE FOR LEVEL 4
  
  1 square = 5 feet
  First Floor
  Second Floor
  Basement
  G1
  G2
  G3
  G4
  G5
  G6
  G7
  G8a
  G8b
  G8c
  G8d
  G9
  G10
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  Up to 
  Second Floor
  Down 
  to G2
  Down 
  to G11
  G12
  G13
  G14
  G15
  G16
  G17
  G18
  G19
  G20
  G21
  House of Night
  Up to 
  First Floor
  
  Midnight
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  Paizo Publishing, LLC
  7120 185th Ave NE, Ste 120
  Redmond, WA 98052-0577
  paizo.com
  This product is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the 3.5 edition of the 
  world’s oldest fantasy roleplaying game. 
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  may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
  Pathfinder Module: The Midnight Mirror is published by Paizo Publishing, LLC under the Open Game License version 1.0a Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, 
  Inc. Paizo Publishing, LLC, the Paizo golem logo, Pathfinder, and GameMastery are registered trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, 
  Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Pathfinder Module, Pathfinder Player Companion, Pathfinder Society, and Pathfinder Tales are trademarks 
  of Paizo Publishing, LLC. © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC.
  Printed in China.
  Author • Sam Zeitlin
  Cover Artist • Grafit
  Cartography • Robert Lazzaretti
  Interior Artists • Jon Hodgson and Carlos Villa
  Creative Director • James Jacobs
  Senior Art Director • Sarah E. Robinson
  Managing Editor • F. Wesley Schneider
  Development Lead • Mark Moreland
  Editing and Development • Judy Bauer, Christopher Carey,  
  Patrick Renie, James L. Sutter, and Vic Wertz
  Editorial Assistance • Jason Bulmahn, Rob McCreary,  
  Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Sean K Reynolds
  Editorial Interns • Alexandra Schecterson and Jerome Virnich
  Graphic Designer • Andrew Vallas
  Production Specialist • Crystal Frasier
  Publisher • Erik Mona
  Paizo CEO • Lisa Stevens
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  Sales Assistant • Dylan Green
  Finance Manager • Christopher Self
  Staff Accountant • Kunji Sedo
  Technical Director • Vic Wertz
  Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator • Mike Brock
  Special Thanks
  The Paizo Customer Service, Warehouse, and Website Teams
  The Midnight Mirror is a Pathfinder Module designed for four 4th-level characters and uses the medium XP advancement track. This 
  module is designed for play in the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be adapted for use with any world.  
  This product makes use of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary,  
  Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3, and Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide. These rules can be found online as part of the 
  Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document at paizo.com/prd.
  Credits
  
  Midnight
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  Midnight
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  A
  mong the most frightening Kuthite relics from the Age of Darkness 
  are the inescapable magical prisons called midnight mirrors—each 
  containing a demiplane in which the user can keep any creature indefinitely. 
  Within the mirror, the prison actively works to break the prisoner’s mind, 
  resulting in an eternity of madness and torment for the unlucky soul within. 
  Were such a victim ever to escape or be released, it would doubtlessly wreak 
  havoc upon the face of Golarion.
   –Anistol Garlaiv, A Recounting of Pain and Darkness
  2
  
  Midnight
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  Nidal
  •
  •
  Nisroch
  Karpad
  Pangolais
  Adventure Background
  Stepan Boroi, the ambitious third son of a minor 
  Nidalese noble, was not content to see his eldest brother, 
  Iozif, inherit the family lands. Amid the detritus of 
  generations that fills the crumbling Boroi Manor, Stepan 
  discovered an ancient mirror—acquired centuries ago by 
  an ancestor of sinister repute—that gave him just what 
  he needed to secure the barony for himself. In the mirror 
  Stepan saw another manor, shadowed and hazy like a 
  half-remembered dream. Yet where Stepan’s reflection 
  should have been, there stood instead a dark figure, taller 
  than a man, with a face covered in a white mask and eyes 
  like distant stars. This was Nicasor, both the mirror’s 
  master and its greatest prisoner.
  Nicasor is a member of the shadowy race known as 
  the shaes, mysterious beings with bodies formed from 
  living shadow. Formerly an advisor to the Boroi family 
  when it held much more influence in Nidal, Nicasor 
  was imprisoned by a midnight mirror 950 years ago for 
  fomenting a revolt against Stepan’s ancestors among his 
  fellow shaes and the many fetchling citizens in Karpad, 
  and his entire family and all fetchlings in the barony 
  were damned to an eternity of torment within the prison.
  Their prison was slightly broken, however. During 
  the Age of Darkness, a powerful nightshade was released 
  from the same midnight mirror, and in the process of being 
  freed from its shadowy bonds, it damaged the magical 
  looking glass. For centuries, the essence of the Shadow 
  Plane has leaked into the countryside around Boroi 
  Manor, and the local town of Karpad has developed a 
  well-known proclivity for shadow-tainted creatures, a 
  strong propensity even by Nidalese standards. While 
  shadow essence can escape through the mirror’s 
  crack, no creature can pass through into the Material 
  Plane, and the normal ritual to release a creature from 
  imprisonment no longer works; an imprisoned creature 
  can, however, trade bodies with a willing subject on the 
  other side of the mirror, using the mirror’s crack to 
  essentially trade souls. Nicasor spent centuries searching 
  for a means of escaping his prison until one day 10 years 
  ago, the shae saw something unexpected as he gazed out 
  the sole window of his glass prison—Stepan Boroi gazing 
  inquisitively back through the mirror.
  Stepan, seeking a means of wresting power from his 
  elder brothers, and Nicasor, desperate to escape his prison, 
  struck a dark bargain. Nicasor agreed to help Stepan 
  succeed his father as baron and Stepan, in return, would 
  trade places with the shae for 1 year once every decade, 
  granting Nicasor control of his body so the shae could 
  escape his prison for a time without anyone knowing 
  he was free. Over the next months, Stepan’s brothers 
  mysteriously disappeared; both were sent into the midnight 
  mirror to live an eternity as Nicasor’s prisoners. Stepan 
  claimed they perished of sudden illness, and was crowned 
  Baron of Karpad when his father died shortly thereafter. 
  Neither bandits nor monsters troubled Stepan’s realm 
  during his reign, and villagers whispered that the shadows 
  themselves watched over their valley by night.
  Ten years passed. Last year, Stepan took a wife—a 
  beautiful noblewoman from Nisroch named Anya—and 
  2 months ago, she bore him a son. Now it is time for 
  Stepan to exchange bodies with Nicasor, but he fears 
  that the shae will keep his body forever, and is afraid of 
  what Nicasor will do to his wife and son—whose love has 
  softened his iron heart—as well as to his land and people. 
  Thus Stepan broke his pact with Nicasor, enraging the 
  shae, who vowed to ruin all that Stepan holds dear.
  The cheated shae’s rage suffused the shadow essence 
  escaping the mirror and manifested in the form of a 
  disease—termed tallowthroat—that has started to infect 
  the local population. Victims suffer growing madness 
  and their necks swell as though from goiter, eventually 
  bursting open, releasing shadows into the world and 
  killing the host. Stepan fears—correctly—that the 
  new disease is a direct result of his failure to meet the 
  terms of his agreement with Nicasor, and has resorted to 
  desperate measures to protect his people and to preclude 
  mass hysteria at the spreading plague. 
  WHERE ON GOLARION?
  The Midnight Mirror takes place in the small, rural 
  barony of Karpad in northern Nidal, located on the 
  thinning edges of the Uskwood. Its citizens know little 
  of the shadowy secret aristocracy in Pangolais or the 
  core of Zon-Kuthon’s worshipers in southern Ridwan. 
  Nevertheless, the fear and darkness that permeate Nidal 
  are prominent here as they are throughout the nation. 
  For more information on the shadowy state of Nidal, 
  see Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World 
  Guide, available in local bookstores and game stores, or 
  online at paizo.com.
  3
  
  In an effort to keep the treacherous shadows of night 
  at bay, Stepan made yet another unfortunate deal, this 
  time with a lurker in light named Ilquis, who tricked the 
  baron into believing that Ilquis had the ability to ward 
  the town from shadowy powers. In truth, this cruel fey 
  has no such powers, and is merely using his unrestricted 
  run of the town to kidnap victims, whom he sacrifices 
  in order to bring allies to the Material Plane from the 
  First World. The villagers blame the disappearances on 
  unseen and imaginary shadow monsters, as well as on the 
  town’s very real population of fetchlings, many of whom 
  are the direct result of the shadowy taint that has leaked 
  from the midnight mirror for centuries. As Nicasor bides 
  his time, Karpad threatens to dissolve into paranoia  
  and violence.
  Adventure Summary
  At the behest of a worried noble family, the PCs travel 
  to the rural Nidalese hamlet of Karpad to ensure the 
  family’s daughter Anya—married a year ago to the town’s 
  baron—is doing well after her letters to them spoke of 
  increased paranoia in her husband and then ceased 
  altogether. While Anya herself is fine, all is not well in 
  Karpad. Its citizens have been plagued by an unknown 
  affliction, several citizens have disappeared, and the 
  human and fetchling populations in the region are on the 
  verge of violence. The baron asks the PCs to investigate 
  the trouble in his town and end the dangers to his people.
  The PCs’ investigation of the disappearances leads to 
  a lurker in light named Ilquis, who has been kidnapping 
  and sacrificing people in a ritual to bring allies to the 
  Material Plane from the First World. As the PCs confront 
  the evil fey, it claims immunity by the baron’s own 
  word. Meanwhile, the PCs’ investigation into the racial 
  tension in town proves that the disappearances are not 
  the fault of the fetchlings in town, and hints at a powerful 
  connection between the valley of Karpad and the Shadow 
  Plane. Finally, a study of the disease further hints at links 
  to the Shadow Plane and indicates that the source of the 
  plague lies within Boroi Manor itself.
  When the PCs confront Stepan or investigate his manor, 
  they learn of his fateful deal with Nicasor. The desperate 
  baron begs them to venture into the midnight mirror to 
  end the threat to the town. Armed with the knowledge 
  of how the mirror works and how to destroy it, the PCs 
  can enter the magical prison, ensure that Nicasor and 
  his allies are dead, and defeat the Heart of the Mirror—
  the manifestation of the midnight mirror within itself—
  destroying the prison and ending the pathological shadow 
  taint. With the town out of imminent danger and the 
  PCs’ armed with the full truth about the sins the baron 
  committed on his road to power, the party must decide for 
  themselves whether he deserves justice or mercy.
  Part One: Dread of Night
  The influential Tiboros family of Nisroch is worried over 
  the wellbeing of their youngest daughter, Anya. A year 
  ago she married a handsome baron from rural Karpad, 
  and 2 months ago she gave birth to a son. All seemed 
  fine for Anya until her frequent letters to her parents 
  mentioned her husband’s growing paranoia and erratic 
  behavior. Three weeks ago her letters stopped altogether, 
  and her family wants answers.
  The Tiboroses don’t want to involve the Nidalese 
  authorities in any investigation, fearing that such 
  inquiries might jeopardize their noble standing. Instead, 
  the family contacts the PCs—known for their previous 
  exploits—to travel to the rural barony and ensure their 
  daughter’s safety, promising a sum of 5,000 gp to cover 
  expenses and to thank them for their trouble.
  The simplest route from Nisroch to Karpad is to travel 
  up the Usk River past Pangolais to the minor river known 
  as Dimar’s Way. While too narrow and shallow for water 
  travel, Dimar’s Way carves a path through the countryside, 
  and a road—known as Geron’s Way near Karpad—runs 
  parallel to the river from Pangolais to beyond the PCs’ 
  destination. Such a journey likely takes the PCs several 
  weeks, during which time the situation in Karpad worsens 
  to the state presented in the rest of the adventure.
  Karpad is an isolated, rural town far from the dark 
  streets of the great cities of Nidal, with cobbled streets 
  and roughly 60 wood and stone buildings, all featuring 
  thatch roofs. The largest structure in the vale is the 
  towering stone manor house at the top of the hill, where 
  Baron Stepan and his family live. In a superstitious effort 
  to ward off shadows, the villagers have set a number of 
  bonfires on the edges of town, and every intersection 
  features a handful of lit torches, all kept burning day and 
  night. The manor house is surrounded by no fewer than 
  six bonfires, and the parapets of its roof are ablaze with 
  lit lanterns. For more information on the town of Karpad 
  and its inhabitants, see the appendix on page 30.
  The following encounters are presented in the most likely 
  order the PCs progress through their investigation, but 
  may be rearranged depending on the decisions your players 
  make. The PCs needn’t solve all three aspects of the current 
  situation in Karpad in order to progress to Part Two, but 
  the more information they can gather in Karpad, the more 
  likely the baron is to reveal the truth about his mistakes to 
  the party at the start of that section of the adventure.
  Tallowthroat
  Shortly after Stepan reneged on his agreement with 
  Nicasor, the shae’s rage infused the shadow essence 
  that leaked from the midnight mirror and manifested in 
  the Material Plane as a strange new disease that locals 
  of Karpad have named tallowthroat. Victims sweat 
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  constantly, giving their skin a waxy appearance, and 
  their throats swell as though suffering from goiter as the 
  shadow essence infusing them takes form into hostile 
  creatures. An infected creature becomes increasingly 
  irritable, to the point of possessing an attitude of 
  unfriendly with even its closest friends and relatives. 
  Intimidate check DCs are treated as Diplomacy checks to 
  change an infected creature’s starting attitude (regardless 
  of the actual skill used).
  Because of their ties to the Plane of Shadow, fetchlings 
  are immune to the effects of tallowthroat, though they 
  often act as carriers; only the town’s existing system of 
  fetchling segregation has prevented the spread of the 
  disease to the entire town. In fact, it was the fetchling 
  Sergyev, a groundskeeper at Baroi Manor, who first came 
  into contact with the disease, which leaked into the Material 
  Plane through the water in the manor’s courtyard fountain. 
  Sergyev spread the disease to several other members of the 
  household staff, and later around Karpad when Stepan fired 
  all but one of the fetchlings working in the manor.
  Tallowthroat
  Type disease, ingested or touch; Save Fortitude DC 14
  Onset 1d3 days; Frequency 1/day
  Effect 1d3 Cha damage and –4 penalty on saving throws to 
  resist mind-affecting effects in areas of bright illumination 
  (does not stack). A creature dies if this Charisma damage 
  equals or exceeds its actual Charisma score, releasing 
  1d3 shadows as its swollen neck explodes (Pathfinder RPG 
  Bestiary 245); Cure 2 consecutive saves.
  A. Boroi Manor
  Sent to investigate Anya’s wellbeing, the PCs are likely to 
  head through town directly to Boroi Manor. Built on the 
  valley’s slope overlooking the town, the manor is the oldest 
  building in Karpad by centuries, and the largest structure 
  in the region; only the town’s temple of Zon-Kuthon even 
  comes close in either regard. The manor is octagonal, with 
  a central courtyard and extensions built into the hillside to 
  the south and west. Great bonfires rage around the manor, 
  but their light only serves to reveal the cracking paint and 
  crumbling eaves of a once-palatial estate now in decline. 
  While the wooden houses in Karpad are rebuilt every few 
  decades as fire and rot exact their toll, the stone walls of 
  the manor house stand as a symbol of the continuity of 
  feudal power across the generations.
  Apart from serving as the Boroi family’s year-round 
  residence, the manor also houses all of the baron’s 
  servants. The number of servants within the manor 
  has dwindled in the decade since Stepan succeeded his 
  father as baron, in no small part because the family’s 
  numbers were cut so drastically by the disappearance of 
  both of Stepan’s elder brothers. Today only 10 servants 
  live on the manor grounds. The first the PCs are likely 
  to meet is Laurentiu (LN male human expert 3), the 
  manor’s majordomo. Laurentiu greets the PCs at the 
  door and ushers them inside to A8 upon their mention 
  of representing Anya’s family in Nisroch. A stern man 
  with a graying beard, Laurentiu has dark circles under 
  his eyes, and old age has caused his once-proud face to 
  crease with worry lines. If questioned about his master 
  or mistress, Laurentiu maintains the decorum required 
  by his position and suggests the PCs speak directly to the 
  baron and baroness with any questions.
  A1. Antechamber: This large antechamber is draped in 
  the baron’s heraldry—a red bear couchant against a black 
  sky with stars. Portraits of dour-looking nobles line the 
  walls. Two towering statues flank the entrance, of stern 
  men with long straight hair. One carries a sword and is 
  missing his nose; the other carries a whip and is missing 
  both ears. Despite the damaged statues, the antechamber 
  is better maintained than most of the manor. The two 
  statues are of Geron and Dimar, legendary ancestors of 
  the Boroi family from centuries past. A stairwell, hidden 
  from view by a low wall upon which sit a number of ornate 
  decorations, leads down to the manor’s basement.
  A2. Dining Room: A massive table of dark cherry wood 
  set with exquisite silver utensils and fine Tian porcelain 
  dominates this formal dining room. If the PCs accept the 
  baron’s hospitality, Stepan expects them to sup here every 
  night with Anya (the baron takes special meals alone in 
  his study, for fear of poison).
  A3. Kitchen: This room is abustle with activity around 
  the clock, and the manor’s cook and her two assistants 
  works in overlapping 12-hour shifts to prepare meals for 
  the baron and his family.
  A4. Servants’ Quarters: These cramped bedrooms 
  each hold a bunk bed, a modest dresser, and a simple 
  table. When not on duty, the manor’s servants can be 
  found here, often sleeping, though they occasionally 
  cram into one room for a game of cards or to gossip. 
  Only the southeastern room— reserved for Laurentiu, 
  who oversees the manor’s other servants—features nicer 
  furniture and a single person bed. 
  With the exception of the majordomo, the servants 
  love to gossip and happily discuss the town, the baron, 
  or rumors (see the sidebar on page 12) over cards. The 
  servants like their master and adore their mistress. 
  Stepan has always paid them well, but he was a cold and 
  demanding lord. Anya changed all that, and her presence 
  has made Stepan more kind and forgiving. In the past 
  month, however, they have watched Stepan become 
  fearful and withdrawn, to the point that they are rarely 
  allowed in his presence. Last month, only days after two 
  human gardeners on staff fell ill and died, he let go all 
  but one of the fetchlings in his employ—some of whom 
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  had worked for the family for decades—claiming they 
  couldn’t be trusted. Since the fetchlings were released 
  from service, no one else has become ill.
  A5. Drawing Room: Crumbling antiques deemed too 
  precious to throw out but too dilapidated to use fill this 
  crowded room. Chests of drawers, moth-eaten chairs, a 
  spinning wheel, sets of plates missing the platters, and 
  other detritus cover much of the floor. An enormous 
  painting sits leaning against one wall, half-covered with 
  cloth. This is a family portrait depicting the baron’s 
  father, Demetri; his mother, Beatrix; and their three 
  sons: Iozif, the eldest; Henric, the middle child; and 
  Stepan, the youngest. Stepan has put the painting here 
  as part of his ongoing attempt to forget the treachery he 
  dealt his own flesh and blood. 
  A6. Armory: Long racks of polearms, swords, and shields 
  emblazoned with the baron’s red bear dominate this 
  utilitarian room. Much of the equipment in the armory 
  is in desperate need of a good sharpening or oiling, but 
  there are a few choice pieces that look none the worse for 
  time and neglect. The armory contains two +1 weapons of 
  the GM’s choice. The baron offers these to the party if they 
  agree to fight on his behalf within the midnight mirror.
  A7. Kennels: A row of painted kennels houses enormous 
  black dogs, sleeping, pacing, or contentedly eating large 
  pieces of red meat. The dogs are well cared for, and indeed 
  the kennels as a whole are in better shape than the rest 
  of the house. The baron’s houndmaster Gavril (N male 
  fetchling ranger 2) is the only fetchling still employed by 
  the baron, because he is the only person who can control 
  Stepan’s favorite dog: a huge, aggressive mastiff named 
  Iozif. The PCs’ potential interaction with Gavril is detailed 
  on page 8. 
  A8. Sitting Room: This room has red wallpaper with 
  floral designs done in gold leaf. Armchairs of soft leather 
  surround a low glass table set with light refreshments, 
  and a glass chandelier glitters overhead, unlit. The 
  room smells pleasantly musty, like old books. Like the 
  antechamber, this room is relatively well-kept for the 
  purpose of impressing visitors. If the PCs arrive at Boroi 
  Manor on good terms, Laurentiu escorts them here, 
  where they may meet Anya for the first time. See Meeting 
  Anya on page 7 for more details on this encounter. 
  A9. Courtyard: This wide courtyard has seen better 
  days. Grass and weeds push through the crumbling 
  cobblestones around a central fountain, which smells 
  of mildew and merely trickles, its pipeworks filled with 
  years of grime and corrosion. The water in the basin is 
  dark and murky, but not from mud. A PC who succeeds 
  at a DC 15 Perception check recognizes the water as 
  tainted, but there is no tangible source of pollution that 
  could cause the water to turn so gray. In fact, the water 
  is clouded by highly concentrated shadow essence—the 
  source of the tallowthroat infection currently facing 
  Karpad. Any living creature that touches or drinks the 
  water risks infection (see page 5).
  The shadow essence from the leaking midnight mirror 
  is strongest here, as this location corresponds to G12 in 
  the House of Night, where the Heart resides. Because of 
  the taint, the water radiates a faint aura of conjuration 
  and necromancy, and a successful DC 20 Spellcraft or 
  Knowledge (planes) check can identify it as having some 
  connection to the Plane of Shadow.
  A10. The Baron’s Chambers: Faded tapestries adorn 
  the walls of this spacious chamber and threadbare rugs 
  cover the floor; a four-poster bed dominates the room’s 
  center. A spiral staircase leads up to the tower room, 
  which has been converted into a nursery with a crib. The 
  tower room has beautiful stained-glass windows large 
  enough for a man to walk through without crouching. 
  Anya spends most of her time here with the baby Marek, 
  and can be found here if the PCs go looking for her.
  A11. Study: This room features a long desk and wooden 
  cabinets full of ledgers and correspondence; it is a mess. 
  Stepan keeps his prized Book of Night without Moon here, 
  locked in a cabinet with an average lock to which only 
  he has the key. The baron spends most of his time in 
  seclusion here, poring over esoteric volumes from the 
  adjacent library in fits of paranoia, looking for a solution 
  to his current problems. He can be found here if the PCs 
  come looking for him, but is loathe to see anyone. Refer to 
  Meeting Stepan on page 8 for more information.
  A12. Library: The walls of this library are lined with 
  bookshelves filled with folio editions in various stages of 
  decay. A pair of armchairs stand in a central reading area. 
  Books in the library include A Short History of the Usklands, 
  which recounts the history of Karpad as described in 
  the adventure background and appendix; a crumbling 
  copy of Zon-Kuthon’s holy text, The Umbral Leaves; and 
  Sojourner in the Sunless Waste, an account of journeys into 
  the Shadow Plane that purports to have been originally 
  written during the Age of Anguish. Referencing Sojourner 
  grants a +4 circumstance bonus on Knowledge (planes) 
  checks relating to the Shadow Plane and its inhabitants. 
  A DC 17 Diplomacy check is required to get the baron to 
  lend out any of the books in his library.
  A13. Guest Rooms: These well-appointed guest rooms 
  smell musty, and moths have had their way with the lace 
  curtains. Nonetheless, the beds are quite comfortable, 
  and the doors lock. If the PCs make a good impression 
  on Stepan or Anya, the house’s master and mistress offer 
  these rooms to stay in for as long as the PCs are in Karpad.
  A14. Shrine: The walls of this dark chamber are lined 
  with hooks, knives, and other instruments of pain. A 
  steel altar, encrusted with dried blood and graven runes, 
  sits in the room’s center. Behind the altar stands an iron 
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  maiden, whose cover depicts a woman in a bridal veil and 
  dress; this decoration contains the remains of Evgenia 
  Boroi, Stepan’s fanatical aunt. See The Midnight Bride 
  on page 8 for details on this encounter.
  A15. Cells: A single guard sits, bored, in a chair in the 
  torchlit hallway between these six iron-doored cells. All but 
  one of the cells are empty; the sixth is occupied by a petty 
  thief awaiting transfer to a work camp outside Pangolais. 
  A16. Vaults: These secure vaults are partially filled 
  by the ever-dwindling Boroi fortune. Only Stepan 
  holds the key to these rooms, and they possess the 
  strongest locks in the manor (Disable Device 
  DC 30). Within, the PCs can find 6,000 
  gp worth of coins, art objects, family 
  heirlooms, and deeds to thousands 
  of acres of property in and 
  around Karpad. 
  A17. The Midnight Mirror: 
  The northernmost vault holds 
  the midnight mirror, sitting in  
  a ritual circle of silver runes, 
  with an everburning torch at 
  each cardinal direction. Few people 
  know it is here, and the PCs are unlikely 
  to see it before Part Two unless they break in for 
  some reason. See page 18 for more information on this 
  chamber and the relic within.
  Meeting Anya
  When the party arrives at Boroi Manor, they are escorted 
  to the sitting room at A8 to await an audience with the 
  baroness, Anya. After a short wait, she enters and greets 
  the PCs.
  Anya (LN female human aristocrat 3), is a delicate, thin-
  lipped, birdlike woman. Despite her demure appearance, 
  she has a strong voice and a warm laugh. Her auburn 
  hair curls across the shoulders of her finely embroidered 
  gown. She wears short sleeves, the better to show off the 
  traceries of scarwork that spiral up her forearms, painful 
  devotions to a painful god—the current fashion among 
  Nisroch’s nobility. On her right hand, her pinky and ring 
  fingers have been removed above the first joint. Such 
  mutilation is common among the daughters of wealthy 
  Nidalese nobility—it shows that they will never need 
  to work for their living. Anya is no religious fanatic, 
  and was glad to marry into the pragmatic, rural Boroi 
  family, which by and large has little time for ostentatious 
  displays of piety to Zon-Kuthon.
  Anya seems in good spirits, welcoming the PCs warmly 
  to Karpad and pleasantly inquiring about their business. 
  Anya reacts with surprise to the PCs’ indication that they 
  were sent by her family to check on her well-being, stating 
  that her lack of correspondence resulted from the cessation 
  of all post into or out of Karpad when the disappearances 
  and tallowthroat outbreak started up a month ago.
  If the PCs mention the tone of her last few letters to 
  her family, especially regarding her husband, Anya 
  admits that Stepan is not today the man she married a 
  year ago. She describes his increased paranoia, which 
  began shortly after the birth of their son, when several 
  BOOK OF NIGHT WITHOUT MOON
  Book of Night without Moon
  Aura moderate illusion; CL 8th
  Slot none; Price 15,000 gp; Weight 4 lbs.
  DESCRIPTION
  This black grimoire’s pages are mostly blank, but a few contain 
  rough watercolor silhouettes. The Book of Night without Moon 
  is a repository for trapped shadows. To sever a shadow from 
  its owner and add it to the book, the user must speak 
  a command word and snap the book 
  shut on the shadow. The shadow 
  must be very still when it is severed, 
  so the victim must be either willing 
  or helpless. The book has 40 pages; 
  a shadow takes up a number of 
  pages equal to the Hit Dice of the 
  creature that cast it.
  A creature whose shadow is stolen 
  must succeed at a DC 18 Will save or be 
  sickened by a nameless melancholy until 
  its shadow is returned (in the meantime, the 
  creature casts no shadow). Losing its shadow 
  has no adverse effect on a creature that cannot be 
  sickened. A remove curse spell cast on the creature ends 
  the effect and retrieves the shadow from the book.
  As a standard action, the book’s bearer may release a 
  shadow from the book, conjuring an illusory duplicate of 
  the shadow’s owner as if with the spell shadow conjuration 
  (DC 18 Will save to recognize that the conjuration is 
  an illusion). The shadow is intelligent and can follow 
  complex commands, but cannot speak and lacks the 
  memories or personality of the creature that cast it. The 
  shadow serves the character who released it for 1 hour or 
  until destroyed, whichever comes first. The shadow then 
  returns instantly and permanently to its original owner, 
  wherever he or she may be. It cannot be commanded to 
  return to the book and cannot be stolen again. The book’s 
  magic can sustain up to five active shadows at a time.
  A Book of Night without Moon purchased or found as 
  treasure contains 2d6 shadows, chosen by the GM.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, shadow conjuration; 
  Cost 7,500 gp
  7
  
  Baron Stepan Boroi (CN male human aristocrat 4) is of 
  average height but sturdily built. His face is clean-shaven, 
  and his black hair is neatly cropped. He wears muted 
  versions of his heraldic colors, red and black, setting off 
  his clear blue eyes. The baron is morose and withdrawn. 
  With a successful DC 15 Perception check, a PC notices 
  that Baron Stepan casts no shadow. Terrified of shadows 
  since reneging on his bargain with Nicasor, he has trapped 
  his own in a Book of Night without Moon (see sidebar), but its 
  loss has only made him more moody and unstable. Stepan 
  has a +11 bonus on Bluff checks, a +2 Charisma modifier, 
  and a –1 Wisdom modifier for determining the 
  PCs’ Sense Motive, Diplomacy, and Intimidate  
  DCs, respectively.
  If questioned about the goings-on in Karpad, 
  Stepan rattles off paranoid theories about 
  shadows coming to life, a fetchling uprising, and 
  an intelligent disease meant to wipe out not only 
  his subjects, but his family as well. All of these 
  claims are partly true, but have been 
  twisted by his paranoia and fear of 
  the very real retaliation Nicasor 
  has planned for him. Stepan is a 
  haughty, short-tempered man, 
  and he answers any queries as 
  curtly as possible, always trying 
  to direct discussion toward the 
  many dangers poised against him 
  rather than any wrongdoing he may 
  be guilty of. He makes no mention of 
  the midnight mirror or Ilquis, and only 
  reveals the details of either of his unfortunate bargains 
  if the PCs press him with evidence after an investigation. 
  Refer to Part Two for details on interactions with Stepan 
  after the PCs have discovered his ties to the disease  
  and disappearances.
  The Midnight Bride (CR 6)
  In the dungeon shrine to Zon-Kuthon at A14, an iron 
  maiden stands upright before the altar. This is what 
  remains of Evgenia Boroi—or what she has become. 
  Creature: Stepan’s maiden aunt Evgenia was a religious 
  fanatic devoted to the Midnight Lord. Despite her great 
  beauty, she rejected all the suitors her increasingly 
  desperate father found for her. Instead, Evgenia chose 
  to undergo a hideous ritual, sealing herself inside an 
  iron maiden and becoming a self-proclaimed bride 
  of Zon-Kuthon, imprisoned in both constant torment 
  and constant ecstasy. Receiving neither sustenance nor 
  healing for the many wounds the ritual imparted upon 
  her, Evgenia died after 3 weeks of agony and masochistic 
  pleasure. Today, decades later, her spirit remains as a 
  ghost, refusing to leave the iron maiden in which she died.
  members of the manor’s staff and then three locals in 
  town came down with a strange new disease. When the 
  first of the infected died, Stepan released all but one of 
  the fetchlings working in the manor from service, and 
  promised that “the shadows wouldn’t take the town.” 
  But not long thereafter, the mysterious disappearance of 
  Karpad’s citizens began, and her husband’s madness only 
  seemed to increase. A week later, messengers to and from 
  Karpad stopped traveling for fear of spreading the illness 
  plaguing the region. 
  Anya asks the PCs to investigate the disappearances and 
  disease and hopefully put an end to both in order to 
  restore Karpad to peace and her husband to sanity. 
  She promises that her family will compensate 
  them above any promised payment for checking 
  on her, certain that they would want the problem 
  dealt with for her benefit alone.
  Questioning Gavril
  The manor’s aging houndmaster, 
  Gavril, has a starting attitude of 
  indifferent to the party, or 
  friendly if the characters 
  saved the fetchlings in the 
  town square (see page 9).  
  If any of the fetchlings 
  in town sent the PCs here 
  to speak with Gavril and the 
  PCs inquire about how he’s faring so 
  isolated from other kayal during this time 
  of heated tension, the houndmaster thanks 
  them for their consideration, and motions them closer to 
  reveal his secret: he was having an affair with one of Karpad’s 
  recently disappeared citizens, a married human woman 
  named Irini, right up until her disappearance. Human-
  fetchling relationships are taboo in Karpad, especially now, 
  and the combination of adultery and Irini’s abduction mean 
  that if the affair became public, Gavril would have to flee the 
  valley or be killed, especially because he last saw Irini on the 
  afternoon of her disappearance. Gavril knows that he was 
  not the last person to see Irini, however—he had to sneak 
  out the window because Irini’s friend Catalina, the chandler, 
  had arrived for lunch. Unbeknownst to him, Catalina suffers 
  from tallowthroat, and is responsible for the abduction, as 
  she was manipulated into bringing her friend to Ilquis.
  Meeting Stepan
  The first time the PCs meet Baron Boroi, he has locked 
  himself in his study in area A11, where he has taken to 
  obsessively reading books about the Plane of Shadow, 
  poring over esoteric tomes on his family history and Zon-
  Kuthon, and plotting half-conceived means of preventing 
  the destruction of his family and barony.
  Baron Stepan Boroi
  8
  
  Midnight
  Mirror
  Midnight
  Midnight
  Mirror
  Mirror
  The
  The
  The
  Evgenia has an initial attitude of indifferent, but if made 
  friendly she gladly shares her knowledge of the Boroi 
  family’s history and local legends, though she knows little of 
  recent events in the outside world unless the PCs enlighten 
  her. Evgenia doesn’t think much of Stepan. He was a 
  quiet, bookish boy, and now he has grown up to be a weak, 
  irreligious lord. She considers it a tragedy that his eldest 
  brother—the strong, charismatic, and ruthless Iozif—died 
  young. Nonetheless, Stepan is the lord of Karpad and the 
  patriarch of the Boroi family, and must be protected until 
  his son comes of age. If asked about the deaths of Stepan’s 
  family, she muses that it has always surprised her that 
  illness took Iozif and Henric so quickly that they were never 
  brought to her shrine for healing; she muses to herself 
  that Stepan likely didn’t even ensure his brothers received 
  true Kuthite rites in their burials. If Stepan were somehow 
  responsible for his own ascent to the throne of Karpad, 
  however, it would increase her respect for him a great deal.
  Evgenia does not know about Stepan’s claim that shadows 
  are attacking Karpad nor the outbreak of tallowthroat, and 
  if told of her nephew’s paranoid ramblings, the ghost openly 
  mocks him. She believes those who serve Zon-Kuthon 
  faithfully have no need to fear shadows, for shadows are a 
  weapon of the Midnight Lord, and that a disease such as the 
  one the PCs describe should be seen as a blessing from her 
  divine bridegroom rather than as a curse.
  If the party makes Evgenia helpful, or convinces her 
  that they themselves are worshippers of Zon-Kuthon, she 
  offers them healing if given time to prepare spells to aid 
  the living. Diplomacy and Bluff checks against Evgenia 
  receive a +5 circumstance bonus if the party worships at 
  the shrine, and a +3 circumstance bonus if they convince 
  her that they are trying to help the Boroi family, to whom 
  she still holds familial allegiance.
  Evgenia Boroi 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Female human ghost cleric of Zon-Kuthon 5 (Pathfinder RPG 
  Bestiary 144)
  LE Medium undead (augmented humanoid, incorporeal)
  Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +11
  DEFENSE
  AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 deflection)
  hp 56 (5d8+30)
  Fort +8, Ref +3, Will +7
  Defensive Abilities incorporeal, rejuvenation; channel 
  resistance +4; Immune undead traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed fly 30 ft. (perfect)
  Melee corrupting touch +3 (5d6, Fort DC 16 half)
  Special Attacks animate iron maiden, channel negative energy 
  7/day (DC 16, 3d6)
  Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +8)
  6/day—touch of darkness (2 rounds)
  6/day—touch of law
  Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 5th; concentration +8)
  3rd—bestow curse (DC 16), deeper darknessD, dispel magic
  2nd—blindness/deafness (DC 15; only to cause blindness)D,  
  hold person (DC 15), inflict moderate wounds (DC 15), 
  silence (DC 15)
  1st—bane (DC 14), cause fear (DC 14), doom (DC 14), 
  obscuring mistD, sanctuary (DC 14)
  0 (at will)—bleed (DC 13), guidance, mending, resistance
  D Domain spell; Domains Darkness, Law
  STATISTICS
  Str —, Dex 10, Con —, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 18
  Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 17
  Feats Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus 
  (Knowledge [religion]), Toughness
  Skills Fly +8, Heal +11, Knowledge (nobility) +6, Knowledge 
  (religion) +11, Perception +11, Spellcraft +8; Racial Modifiers 
  +8 Perception Languages Common, Shadowtongue
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Animate Iron Maiden (Su) Evgenia can cast animate object on 
  the iron maiden in which her corpse resides as a standard 
  action (caster level 12th). The animated iron maiden is a 
  Medium animated object with AC 16, 36 hp, and hardness 
  10 that follows Evgenia’s command (see page 14 of the 
  Pathfinder RPG Bestiary for full statistics).
  Karpad
  After the PCs have met with the Borois and have a better 
  sense of the various problems plaguing Karpad, they 
  have free roam of the town to investigate any of the leads 
  presented in the manor. The following events can take 
  place in any order, triggered by the PCs’ actions or the 
  natural progression of the situation in the troubled village.
  A Miscarriage of Justice (CR 5)
  As the PCs make their way into town from the manor, or 
  upon their arrival in town if they choose not to go directly 
  to Boroi Manor to check on Anya, the din of a shouting 
  crowd fills the air, coming from the main square in the 
  center of Karpad. The streets are mostly empty save for a 
  few stragglers rushing to see what’s going on. Should the 
  PCs investigate, read the following.
  An inn, a smithy, and a carriage house mark the three sides 
  of a town square paved with cobblestones. A gnarled, leafless 
  oak grows in the northeast corner. Ropes dangle from its 
  branches above a low platform to make a crude gallows.
  Creatures: The town square is full of 30 angry 
  villagers—all human—who have surrounded a family of 
  three fetchling farmers: Sergei (N male fetchling ranger 1),  
  Marius, and Delia (N fetchling commoners 1). The mob 
  9
  
  trapped them in the square while the trio attempted to 
  return to Shade Row after an afternoon of shopping. 
  Lucian Groy, captain of the village watch, whose daughter 
  Olya vanished from his yard the previous evening, 
  leads the mob. In his bellowing voice, Lucian accuses 
  the fetchlings of stealing Olya away. Addressing the 
  townsfolk, the watchman’s demeanor swings erratically 
  from crazed with worry for his lost child to demanding 
  bloody justice from the fetchlings. Lucian suffers from 
  the advanced stages of tallowthroat and begins as 
  unfriendly to most characters, and hostile toward anyone 
  who attempts to stand between him and vigilante justice 
  for his daughter’s disappearance. In his maddened state, 
  Lucian has no real evidence against the farmers, and if 
  pressed, the specifics of his accusations have a tendency 
  to shift—sometimes he claims the fetchlings have 
  murdered his child to make spell components; other 
  times he suggests that they sell their victims as slaves or 
  meat to night hags. Unfortunately, his words are a spark 
  to the dry tinder of the villagers’ fear and anger, and other 
  members of the mob answer his calls with accusations 
  of bringing a plague upon the town and fomenting a 
  fetchling revolution against the humans of Karpad. If the 
  party doesn’t intervene swiftly, the three fetchlings will 
  be hanged from the gallows tree within the hour.
  Lucian is difficult to reason with, and attempts to use 
  Intimidate on him are treated as Diplomacy attempts 
  for determining DCs. The PCs may have better luck 
  conversing with the saner townsfolk about the situation. 
  Below are the answers to several likely questions they 
  might ask. 
  What evidence do you have against these fetchlings? 
  “Lucian is captain of the village watch. His word is all the 
  evidence we need. Besides, the first people to come down 
  with tallowthroat were the ones who dealt most closely 
  with the fetchlings recently fired from Boroi Manor. 
  It’s clear to all of us that they’re the ones spreading this 
  disease, likely kidnapping the healthy to weaken our 
  resolve even further against the plague.”
  Shouldn’t the baron be consulted about this execution? 
  “Normally, sure, but he’s been absent since this whole 
  thing started a few weeks ago. And I’m sure he’d agree 
  with us about their guilt; he fired every fetchling in his 
  employ after the disease first showed up. He’s got to know 
  they’re behind the whole thing, right?”
  Don’t you think killing these fetchlings will cause 
  problems with the rest of the fetchlings in Karpad? “I 
  can’t see how it could make things any worse. They’re 
  already plotting our deaths. Whether they’re just evil or 
  set on bringing down the baron by killing all his subjects, 
  there’s a reason we keep them all on the other side of the 
  river in Shade Row. And three less fetchlings is three less 
  potential killers on the loose.”
  At first the mob is indifferent to the PCs, but if made 
  friendly, the townsfolk stop supporting Lucian’s call 
  for the fetchlings’ deaths. If they are made helpful, they 
  actively work to talk the raving watchman down from 
  his rage, granting the PCs the benefits of an aid another 
  action on any Diplomacy or Intimidate checks against 
  Lucian. The player characters can sway 1d6 townsfolk 
  with a DC 15 Diplomacy check or a DC 20 Intimidate 
  check, moving those mob members’ attitudes one step 
  closer to helpful. Once half the townsfolk have been 
  made friendly, they collectively grant the PCs a +2 bonus 
  on attempts to sway the rest of the crowd. If the entire 
  crowd is made friendly, the PCs may attempt to further 
  convince them to actively work to prevent Lucian from 
  killing the fetchlings.
  If the PCs wish instead to end the conflict through 
  violence, Lucian answers them in kind, impassioned by 
  his diseased rage and the very real loss of his child. Most 
  of the crowd disperses, happy to partake in mob justice 
  against three bound fetchlings but unwilling to risk 
  their own safety against a party of armed adventurers.
  Lucian Groy 
  CR 5
  XP 1,600
  Male human warrior 7
  N Medium humanoid (human)
  Init –1; Senses Perception +2
  DEFENSE
  AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 16 (+7 armor, –1 Dex)
  hp 59 (7d10+21)
  Fort +6, Ref +1, Will +3; –4 vs. mind–affecting in areas of 
  bright illumination
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft.
  Melee +1 light mace +11/+6 (1d6+3)
  Ranged mwk light crossbow +7 (1d8/19–20)
  STATISTICS
  Str 14, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 9, Cha 4
  Base Atk +7; CMB +9; CMD 18
  Feats Iron Will, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), 
  Toughness, Weapon Focus (light mace)
  Skills Climb +8, Perception +2, Profession (guard) +9, Ride +5, 
  Swim +8
  Languages Common, Goblin
  SQ tallowthroat
  Gear +1 chainmail, +1 light mace, masterwork light crossbow 
  with 10 bolts, 44 gp
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Tallowthroat (Ex) Lucian’s advanced stage of tallowthroat has 
  reduced his Charisma score to 4, and he suffers a –4 penalty 
  on saving throws made against mind-affecting effects in 
  areas of bright illumination. Any character who touches 
  Lucian risks contracting the disease.
  10
  
  Midnight
  Mirror
  Midnight
  Midnight
  Mirror
  Mirror
  The
  The
  The
  Development: If the PCs step in and prevent the 
  execution of the accused, they earn the respect of the 
  town’s sizable fetchling community for the rest of the 
  adventure (all fletchlings’ starting attitudes increase 
  by one step). If the PCs openly support Lucian and the 
  mob and the fetchlings are hanged, the reaction is the 
  opposite—all fetchlings treat them as one step closer to 
  hostile when they first meet. If the PCs stand idly by and 
  don’t draw attention to themselves, they go unnoticed by 
  the crowd and Karpad’s fetchling community sees them 
  as neither allies nor enemies.
  If rescued, the grateful trio offers the PCs food and 
  lodging in the modest fetchling part of town—referred 
  to as Shade Row by the town’s non-fetchlings—where 
  the shadowy half-breeds are forced to live separated 
  from the rest of the townsfolk. If questioned about the 
  circumstances that led to their near execution, they claim 
  to be nothing more than a convenient target as they 
  returned home from picking up farming supplies at the 
  general store. Fearing that they may face further violence 
  should they venture out of Shade Row again, the fetchlings 
  ask the PCs to please check on their cousin Gavril, who is 
  the only fetchling in town not living in the ghetto; Gavril 
  is still employed at Boroi Manor and lives there. 
  Alternatively, if the PCs do not stop the execution, 
  Lucian seeks them out after the crowd disperses and, in 
  a flash of mental clarity, asks them to help him locate his 
  daughter. Even with misguided vigilante justice served, 
  he still has no clue where to find his missing child and 
  asks the PCs to look into it, since they seem to know what 
  they’re doing. The last place he saw his daughter was the 
  backyard behind their home, where he gladly escorts the 
  PCs if they agree to help him.
  Story Award: Award the party experience for a CR 6 
  encounter if they save the fetchlings without violence.
  Karpad Lore
  The PCs may seek general knowledge about Karpad 
  and its inhabitants before investigating specific events, 
  people, and circumstances. They may learn the following 
  information with successful Knowledge (local) checks or 
  Diplomacy checks to gather information. The characters 
  may also find out this information by questioning 
  friendly or helpful NPCs.
  DC 5: Karpad is an isolated farming and logging village 
  that occasionally serves as a stopping point for Atteran 
  horse-ranchers driving their stock to Pangolais. The Boroi 
  family has ruled here for centuries, and the current baron 
  is well liked for his low taxes and even-handed justice. 
  Last year, the baron married a Nisrochi noblewoman 
  named Anya. They have an infant son, Marek.
  DC 10: There have been rumors of shadow creatures 
  stalking the valley at night for many years, but they 
  never attacked humans. Last month, people started 
  coming down with a strange disease and then began 
  disappearing. The baron made a speech warning the 
  townsfolk of dangerous shadow creatures.
  DC 15: The town has about 30 fetchlings, and the 
  population has existed in roughly the same proportion 
  to humans for as long as anyone can remember. The 
  fetchlings are generally tolerated, and until recently, the 
  baron made a point of employing a number of them within 
  his manor. All fetchlings in Karpad live in the ghetto 
  known as Shade Row and mostly keep to themselves.
  DC 20: The baron was the youngest of three sons. His 
  father and brothers all died suddenly in the same year. It 
  was very tragic, but the new baron is a better ruler than 
  his father. 
  Lucian Groy
  11
  
  DC 25: The baron has been extremely reclusive lately, 
  and since his pronouncement about the shadows has 
  not left the manor. He fired all but one of his fetchling 
  servants, who all suspect he may be going mad.
  B. The Groy Home
  If the PCs investigate the location from which Olya Groy 
  disappeared—whether prompted by Lucian or on their 
  own—they discover a fairly unassuming single-story 
  house adjacent to Karpad’s modest watch station where 
  Lucian and his small family live. Lucian indicated at 
  the lynching that his daughter had been playing outside 
  around dusk and never came in when called for dinner. 
  While Olya’s mother finished the night’s meal and Lucian 
  was tending to business in his office next door, Catalina, 
  charmed into serving Ilquis, came into the yard and lured 
  the girl back to her shop with the promise of candy. The 
  child had no reason not to trust Catalina, whom she had 
  known her whole life and whom her parents were friends 
  with, and so followed the woman back to the chandlery, 
  where Ilquis now has her imprisoned (see area C4).
  Because Olya went willingly with Catalina, there are no 
  signs of a struggle, but a DC 20 Perception check allows 
  a PC to notice flecks of wax in the grass—spatters from 
  her shop that fell, dried, from her clothing as she moved 
  about. Once discovered, the wax flecks are simple to follow 
  back to the chandlery with a DC 16 Survival check.
  C. Chandlery
  Catalina the chandler inherited Karpad’s sole candlemaking 
  shop 5 years ago when her uncle retired and moved to 
  Nisroch. She was born and raised in Karpad and knows the 
  entire town. As the only chandler in the region, she served 
  both the human and fetchling population and never turned 
  away a customer. When Ilquis, freshly granted what he 
  deemed as free run of the town, noticed that he could easily 
  charm the citizens of Karpad suffering from tallowthroat, 
  he quickly took control of Catalina and has used the well-lit 
  and rarely visited workshop as his base of operations. Here 
  he sacrificed the first of his victims, and here he plans to 
  sacrifice the rest in the coming days.
  The chandlery is a 20-foot-by-25-foot rectangular 
  building with a single door and windows looking into 
  the storefront, most of its rooms remaining hidden 
  underground in its large cellar. Sixty feet to the east of the 
  building’s east wall, a set of reinforced double doors opens 
  onto a side of the hill, granting access directly to the cellar. 
  This set of double doors (hardness 5, hp 15, Break DC 18) 
  has an average lock (Disable Device DC 25) and is trapped 
  to prevent entry from outside (see area C4).
  C1. Storefront (CR 3)
  This cramped shop smells of wax and incense. Candles of every 
  shape, size, and color line all available surfaces, poking out of 
  crates and perching precariously on overstuffed shelves.
  The small storefront is crammed full of candles, lamp 
  wicks, and spare lantern parts, leaving room for only a 
  few customers and a single employee. Since Catalina 
  has no apprentice yet, however, she only needs room for 
  herself to tend the counter when she’s not in the basement 
  making new wares. A DC 18 Survival check reveals that 
  RANDOM RUMORS
  In addition to the information the PCs can glean 
  through Knowledge (local) and Diplomacy checks, they 
  may overhear any of the following rumors around town, 
  each pointing—somewhat—toward evidence of the 
  baron’s involvement in Karpad’s current problems.
  • “I heard the baron made a pact with a demon made of 
  shadows. That’s why he lets fetchlings live here. If the 
  baron’s in league with them, maybe he’s behind the 
  disappearances. I always wondered about what really 
  happened to his brothers...” (Partly true; however, the 
  baron is not behind the disappearances, and didn’t 
  make a deal with a demon.)
  • “The baker’s wife, Irini, was a whore who cuckolded 
  her husband Mycah. I know it’s cruel to say, but he’s 
  better off now that she’s disappeared. She was having 
  an affair when she vanished, though she wouldn’t say 
  with who.” (True; Irini’s lover was Gavril, the baron’s 
  houndmaster.)
  • “None of this would have ever come to pass if Iozif 
  hadn’t died so tragically. Had he been baron after 
  Stepan’s father died we’d all be fine. Now he, his 
  father, and Henric are all buried in the Boroi crypt. 
  Some help they’ll be to us from there.” (Partly true; 
  Karpad’s current problems wouldn’t have arisen had 
  Iozif succeeded his father, but neither Boroi brother is 
  buried in the family crypt.)
  • “Catalina, the chandler, has tallowthroat, though she 
  won’t admit it ’cause then someone’d make her stop 
  working so hard. The demand for candles has been 
  unmanageable for her lately, I think—she’s been 
  working around the clock to keep up output. At least, 
  I heard noises coming from her place in the middle of 
  the night.” (True; the chandlery has been busy day and 
  night since Ilquis moved in.)
  • “I think the fetchlings are responsible for this disease. 
  The first folks to catch it worked at the manor with 
  those gray-skins. People here in town only started 
  getting sick when the baron fired all the fetchlings 
  working for him.” (True; the disease was accidentally 
  spread by fetchlings from Boroi Manor.)
  12
  
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  five or six different people have recently passed through 
  the door to Catalina’s living quarters in C2, including 
  what could have been a barefoot human child.
  Creature: Just before Catalina caught tallowthroat from 
  a fetchling customer, she used a golem manual her uncle 
  had left her to craft a waxwork assistant in the shape of 
  a handsome human male, hoping the living model could 
  learn her craft and perform menial tasks to increase her 
  productivity. Since Ilquis charmed her, however, the 
  awkwardly sculpted mannequin has served as a guard 
  and lookout in the shop, tasked with keeping anyone not 
  escorted by Catalina or Ilquis from entering area C2.
  Wax Golem 
  CR 3
  XP 800
  Pathfinder Adventure Path #47 90
  N Medium construct
  Init –1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
  DEFENSE
  AC 15, touch 9, flat-footed 15 (–1 Dex, +6 natural)
  hp 42 (4d10+20)
  Fort +1, Ref +0, Will +1
  Immune construct traits, magic
  Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee slam +6 (1d6+3)
  STATISTICS
  Str 14, Dex 9, Con—, Int—, Wis 11, Cha 1
  Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 15
  SQ conditional sentience
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Conditional Sentience (Su) While some wax golems 
  constructed to look like a humanoid gain sentience, 
  genuinely believing themselves to be living creatures, 
  Catalina’s is still new enough that it has not yet become 
  intelligent and willful. If allowed to persist, however, it 
  would eventually attempt to live the life of a chandler’s 
  apprentice to the best of its ability.
  Immunity to Magic (Ex) A wax golem is immune to any spell 
  or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance, with the 
  exception of spells and spell-like abilities that have the fire 
  descriptor. In addition, certain spells and effects function 
  differently against the creature, as noted below.
  • A magical attack that deals fire damage slows a wax golem 
  (as the slow spell) for 2d6 rounds (no save). In addition, 
  for 3 rounds after being dealt fire damage, every time a 
  wax golem uses its slam attack, it deals an additional 1d4 
  points of fire damage due to the molten wax.
  • A magical attack that deals cold damage breaks any slow 
  effect on the golem and heals 1 point of damage for each 
  3 points of damage the attack would otherwise deal. If 
  the amount of healing would cause the golem to exceed 
  its full normal hit points, it gains any excess as temporary 
  hit points. A wax golem gets no saving throw against 
  cold effects.
  C2. Catalina’s Quarters (CR 4)
  A chandler’s working clothes lie scattered around this simple 
  room. A mattress lies along the wall, and stacks of ledgers 
  block access to the wardrobe. 
  The modest room adjacent to the chandlery’s storefront 
  acts as Catalina’s primary living quarters. She hopes to 
  someday make enough money with the shop to buy herself 
  a separate house, but for now, these quarters serve her well. 
  In one corner, a trap door covers the stairs to the chandlery 
  proper in the basement below. 
  Trap: Catalina’s uncle installed a trap on the trap door to 
  prevent thieves from getting into this room if they were to 
  ever break into the chandlery from the loading doors to area 
  C4, but Catalina never armed it until Ilquis asked her to.
  Electricity Arc Trap 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200
  Type mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device DC 20
  EFFECTS
  Trigger touch; Reset none 
  Effect electricity arc (4d6 electricity damage, DC 20 Reflex save 
  for half damage); multiple targets (all targets in a 30-ft. line)
  Treasure: Catalina keeps the store’s lockbox under 
  her bed, though it isn’t very well hidden beyond that 
  (Perception DC 14 to locate). The box is locked (the key 
  is on Catalina’s body in C3), but it can be opened with a 
  DC 20 Disable Device check or via force (hardness DC 5, 
  hp 5, Break DC 15). Within are the shop’s earnings since 
  Catalina took over the operation: 65 gp, 29 sp, and 88 cp 
  as well as a candle of truth Catalina felt was too valuable to 
  display in open view. 
  C3. Packing Room (CR 5)
  This room is piled high with crates and boxes filled with 
  candles and packing material. Though there was once some 
  semblance of order to this place, it is long gone as spools of 
  twine, pots of dye, and other elements of candle manufacture 
  have been dumped here haphazardly.
  Despite the mess in this room, the most notable thing 
  lying on the floor is the lifeless body of Catalina the 
  chandler. Her corpse is splayed out on the ground in a 
  pool of blood, and she has a large gash in her throat where 
  the shadows gestating in her throat burst from her body. 
  Ilquis didn’t know that a person who died of tallowthroat 
  13
  
  released uncontrollable undead into the world, else he 
  would have told Catalina—who had seemed on the verge 
  of death for a few days—to stand guard farther from his 
  own position in C4. He does not yet know that his most 
  effective thrall has died, nor that two creatures of darkness 
  are on the other side of the chandlery’s thin walls.
  Creatures: Two shadows still lurk in the room, trying 
  to get their bearings after recently entering the world by 
  violently birthing themselves from their unwilling host. 
  They attack the first living creatures to enter the room, 
  who just happen to be the PCs.
  Shadows (2) 
  CR 3
  hp 19 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 245)
  Treasure: On Catalina’s corpse, the PCs can find a key 
  to the chandlery’s lockbox (in area C2), a ring of climbing, 
  two potions of pass without trace, and an everburning torch 
  given to her by Ilquis.
  C4. Chandlery Floor (CR 6)
  The smell of hot fat is overpowering. In the front of the room 
  is a drying rack on which candles are hung while they cool. 
  Broken and mangled, it sits in a circle drawn in blood and fat. 
  Farther back, a furnace emits a dim light, and behind it stand 
  several enormous vats, each as tall as a human.
  This is the main chandlery floor. Here Ilquis holds 
  court, and his growing cult of tallowthroat-infected 
  thralls bring their kidnapped victims here for eventual 
  sacrifice. A DC 15 Knowledge (arcana) check reveals 
  that the drying rack in the center of the floor has been 
  transformed into a makeshift altar for ritual sacrifice. 
  At the far end of the room are vats full of cold wax that 
  are being used to hold prisoners. The prisoners were 
  inserted while the stuff was soft and warm, then when it 
  cooled they were immobilized. The vat directly in front of 
  the loading doors is set on a brazier and is kept bubbling 
  hot; it is a trap set to pour molten wax on anyone foolish 
  enough to open the loading doors to the hill beyond.
  Creatures: Ilquis is here preparing for a ritual to bring 
  allies from the First World to Golarion. The lurker in light 
  already performed the ritual once a week ago, creating 
  a gate for an evil satyr who now makes his home in the 
  forest north of Karpad awaiting Ilquis’s next batch of 
  reinforcements. Ilquis has two of his charmed thralls—a 
  husband and wife named Fane and Oana—acting as 
  assistants and bodyguards. While they aren’t quite sure 
  what he’s up to, they believe his claims of working for the 
  baron and lack the knowledge that his powers of light 
  offer no real protection from shadows. Ilquis is furious 
  that the PCs would try to stop him from completing his 
  plan, and he warns them that the baron will make them 
  pay for disrupting him. If pressed on the issue, Ilquis 
  authoritatively declares that he has the baron’s direct 
  approval and urges the PCs to take the matter up with 
  Stepan, if only to get them out of the way until after he has 
  completed his next ritual.
  Ilquis 
  CR 6
  XP 2,400
  Lurker in light sorcerer 1 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 180)
  NE Small fey (extraplanar)
  Init +9; Senses low-light vision; Perception +13
  DEFENSE
  AC 19, touch 16, flat-footed 14 (+5 Dex, +3 natural, +1 size)
  hp 68 (9d6+37)
  Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +10 
  Defensive Abilities blend with light; DR 5/cold iron; Immune 
  blindness
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (average)
  Melee +1 dagger +11 (1d3+2/19–20 plus poison) or
  2 claws +10 (1d3+1)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +3d6
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +13)
  At will—dancing lights, flare (DC 15), ghost sound (DC 15), 
  light, mage hand
  3/day—daylight, blindness/deafness (DC 17)
  Bloodline Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +6)
  8/day—laughing touch
  Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +6)
  1st (5/day)—charm person (DC 16), color spray (DC 16)
  0 (at will)—bleed (DC 15), detect magic, open/close, 
  prestidigitation
  Bloodline Fey
  TACTICS
  Before Combat If Ilquis has time to prepare for battle, he 
  casts daylight and hides within the bright illumination the 
  spell provides.
  During Combat Ilquis is invisible in bright light, a fact he uses 
  to his tactical advantage. He casts blindness/deafness on 
  rogues and spellcasters, then begins to sneak attack while 
  vocally taunting the party.
  Morale If reduced to fewer than 15 hit points, Ilquis uses his 
  daylight door ability to escape.
  STATISTICS
  Str 13, Dex 20, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 21
  Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 19
  Feats Deceitful, Eschew Materials, Flyby Attack, Improved 
  Initiative, Persuasive, Weapon Finesse
  Skills Acrobatics +16, Bluff +18, Diplomacy +7, Disguise +7, 
  Escape Artist +16, Fly +18, Intimidate +7, Knowledge 
  (arcana) +14, Knowledge (planes) +11, Perception +13, 
  Spellcraft +11, Stealth +20, Survival +10
  14
  
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  Languages Aklo, Common, Sylvan
  SQ daylight door, poison use, ritual gate, bloodline 
  arcana (+2 DC for compulsion spells)
  Combat Gear scroll of continual flame, wand of dominate 
  person (CL 10th, 3 charges); Other Gear +1 dagger, 348 gp
  Fane and Oana 
  CR 1/2
  XP 200 each
  Human commoner 2
  N Medium humanoid (human)
  Init +0; Senses Perception +5
  DEFENSE
  AC 12, touch 10, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor)
  hp 6 each (2d6)
  Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +1; –4 vs. mind-affecting in areas of 
  bright illumination
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee club +2 (1d6+1)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Fane and Oana don’t want to see any harm 
  befall Ilquis, but they are not trained in the ways of combat 
  and fight only haphazardly to protect him.
  Morale Though afflicted with tallowthroat and charmed 
  by Ilquis, Fane and Oana are not stupid and surrender if 
  reduced to below half their total hit points.
  STATISTICS
  Str 13, Dex 11, Con 10, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 5
  Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 12
  Feats Great Fortitude, Skill Focus (Profession [farmer])
  Skills Climb +6, Perception +6, Profession (farmer) +9
  Languages Common
  SQ tallowthroat
  Gear leather armor, club, 15 gp
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Tallowthroat (Ex) Fane and Oana’s advanced stage of 
  tallowthroat has reduced their Charisma scores to 5, and 
  they take a –4 penalty on saving throws made against mind-
  affecting effects in areas of bright illumination. A character 
  touching either thrall risks contracting the disease.
  Trap: The wax vat in front of the loading doors on the 
  east end of the room is rigged to tip onto any creature 
  opening the doors from the outside, filling the 10-foot 
  square on the east side of the doors.
  Molten Wax Trap 
  CR 5
  XP 1,600
  Type mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device DC 20
  EFFECTS
  Trigger touch; Reset manual 
  Effect Atk +15 melee (6d6 fire damage); multiple targets (all 
  targets in a 10-ft.-square area).
  Development: The two northernmost and the southern 
  vat each hold one of Ilquis’s victims encased up to their 
  necks in cold, dried wax. The northwest vat holds Olya 
  Groy, while the other two hold the butcher’s son Delian 
  and a farmer named Zona. Freeing a prisoner from a wax 
  vat requires a DC 15 Strength check or removal of the wax 
  by another means such as cutting through it or scooping 
  it out and away from the captive. Alternatively, if the wax 
  is heated to 105 degrees F, it becomes soft enough for the 
  prisoner to wriggle out without becoming hot enough to 
  melt and scald them.
  If questioned about their abductions, each victim 
  recounts how a fellow villager lured them here under 
  false but believable pretences (Catalina ensnared both 
  Zona and Olya, and Delian was lured here by Fane). 
  Once they were brought to the cellar, Ilquis cast a spell 
  that made them agreeable to his suggestions, and none 
  of them remember thinking that climbing into the 
  vats of hot wax was a bad idea at the time. The lurker 
  made no secret of his intentions to sacrifice them in a 
  terrible ritual, and when they begged for mercy, the fey 
  claimed that the baron knew what he was doing and had 
  Ilquis
  15
  
  given him permission to—in fact, had ordered him to—
  sacrifice whomever in town Ilquis wanted.
  Treasure: Before submerging his captives in wax, 
  Ilquis removed all their valuables to avoid ruining 
  anything within the solid block, and put them in a barrel 
  marked “paraffin” next to the furnace. Inside the barrel 
  are two sets of studded leather armor, a masterwork chain 
  shirt, 4 daggers, a masterwork short sword, a composite 
  shortbow (+1 Strength bonus) and 15 arrows, and a potion of 
  cure moderate wounds. Delian and Zona tell their rescuers 
  that they can keep the items that once belonged to them 
  as thanks for saving the prisoners’ lives.
  C5. Storerooms 
  These small rooms are filled with cotton 
  cord and twine, cleaning supplies, raw 
  wax, and organic resins.
  While most of the contents of these 
  rooms are only valuable to someone in 
  the candlemaking profession or a trader of 
  such raw materials, the most notable 
  contents of these storerooms are 
  likely the corpses of Ilquis’s previous 
  victims. Spread through the three 
  rooms are five human bodies—two 
  men and three women—that a DC 20 
  Heal check identifies as having been 
  dead about a week. All of the bodies are 
  covered in a thin layer of wax from 
  being submerged in the barrels in 
  area C4. One of the women is Irini, 
  the baker’s wife and Gavril’s illicit 
  lover; the other is Neliana, a 
  weaver whose husband Durvik is 
  also among the dead. The other 
  two victims are a pair of siblings 
  who worked as lumberers in the 
  woods and came into town at the wrong 
  time to resupply and schedule their next 
  shipment to Pangolais. The bodies have 
  been stripped of all valuables.
  D. Temple of Zon-Kuthon
  A graveyard surrounds this austere, spired 
  temple, and imagery of skulls and chains 
  is carved in riotous profusion onto the 
  tombstones and black stone edifice. Mausoleums 
  line the edge of the cemetery, each 
  emblazoned with the Boroi family 
  crest and dozens of names. 
  The PCs likely venture to the temple as part of their 
  investigation into either the mysterious circumstances 
  of the elder Boroi brothers’ deaths or the tallowthroat 
  infection plaguing the town. In either case, they likely 
  wish to speak to the head priest, Radu Miklos (LE male 
  human cleric of Zon-Kuthon 5). Miklos is an overweight 
  man in his late thirties with a facial tattoo and numerous 
  silver piercings along the bridge of his nose and on his 
  pale, bald scalp. While normally tasked with conducting 
  religious ceremonies to the Midnight Lord, Miklos has 
  been smothered in requests for healing since tallowthroat 
  broke out, but has limited resources to truly assist the 
  population with the problem.
  He attempts to keep any conversation with the PCs 
  short, as he has a lot on his mind and many priorities 
  higher than an investigation conducted by foreigners. 
  Regarding tallowthroat, Miklos swears he’s doing 
  all he can to help the afflicted, but claims that 
  many with the illness don’t seek or want help, 
  and those farthest along are the worst offenders. 
  If any PCs need healing, he offers his services 
  for a price in either gold or pain (the latter 
  leaving the PC sickened for a number 
  of hours equal to the spell level cast 
  upon him). The priest recalls that the 
  first victims he treated were human 
  gardeners who worked at the manor, a 
  man and woman named Urix and Devia, 
  who contracted the disease again and died 
  before he could save them. Only after the baron 
  fired all his fetchling servants did the disease 
  start to spread to the rest of Karpad.
  If questioned about the deaths and funerals 
  of Iozif and Henric Boroi, Miklos seems 
  perturbed. He quickly assures the PCs that 
  his annoyance is not at them, but rather at 
  the baron, who claimed their funerary 
  rites were performed in the family 
  shrine in Boroi Manor. Miklos dealt 
  only with the gravedigger Fustra regarding 
  interring their coffins in the family crypt.
  Fustra (N female human expert 3) can 
  be found in the graveyard tending to a 
  hedgerow between two Boroi family 
  mausoleums. If asked about Iozif and 
  Henric, she says she was paid to inter 
  those coffins, and that’s what she did. 
  But she’s buried a lot of coffins, and 
  those that supposedly had the baron’s 
  brothers in them didn’t have people 
  in them. The late baron—Stepan’s 
  father—well, his funeral was just 
  as you’d expect, but the other two? 
  Petricca
  16
  
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  Something was fishy with those. Should the PCs wish 
  to investigate the tombs firsthand, Fustra grants them 
  access if they succeed at a DC 15 Diplomacy check. Both 
  Iozif and Henric’s coffins contain heavy rocks bundled in 
  rolls of burlap to keep them from rolling around.
  Tallowthroat Victim (CR 5)
  As the PCs make their way back to the manor to confront 
  Stepan or further investigate leads they uncovered in 
  Karpad, they encounter Petricca, a tallowthroat victim only 
  moments away from death. The woman calls to the party 
  from the shadows of an alleyway, begging for help. As she 
  steps toward them, arm outstretched, pleading eyes fixed 
  on the PCs, she suddenly arches her back and screams out 
  in pain—a scream silenced as her bulbous throat explodes, 
  releasing two shadows and ending the poor woman’s life.
  Creatures: The shadows are staggered for 1 round after 
  breaking free from Petricca’s throat as they take in their 
  new environment, but upon regaining their composure, 
  the shadows immediately attack the PCs.
  Shadows (2) 
  CR 3
  hp 19 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 245)
  Part Two: Through a Glass, Darkly
  Once the PCs have collected a reasonable amount of 
  evidence in their investigations throughout Karpad 
  and Boroi Manor, they should have at least one clue 
  pointing back to Stepan as the source of Karpad’s current 
  problems. How much evidence they have connecting the 
  baron to the disease, Ilquis’s kidnapping spree, and the 
  murder of his brothers will determine how easily they 
  can convince Stepan to reveal the midnight mirror to them.
  The Confrontation
  The PCs once again find Stepan locked in his study at A11, still 
  as paranoid as during their first visit, but eager to hear what 
  the PCs have discovered about the troubles facing his realm. 
  He remains cagey about his involvement in the situation 
  unless presented with evidence of his connection. For each 
  line of questioning the PCs raise or for each accusation they 
  make against him, allow the party a Diplomacy or Intimidate 
  check to increase his attitude from indifferent (his attitude 
  resets to indifferent for each of the three areas in which the 
  PCs may accuse him). If made friendly, Stepan admits his 
  involvement in the given area, revealing the existence of the 
  midnight mirror and any bargains he might have made relating 
  to it. If made helpful during any of the three possible checks, 
  Stepan actively gives the PCs the information he has on the 
  mirror to help them defeat Nicasor and the Heart. Stepan 
  has a +11 bonus on Bluff checks, a +2 Charisma modifier, 
  and a –1 Wisdom modifier for determining the PCs’ Sense 
  Motive, Diplomacy, and Intimidate DCs, respectively.
  The Boroi Brothers: If the PCs insinuate that Stepan 
  had something to do with his brothers’ deaths and provide 
  evidence of their empty tombs in area D, they can pressure 
  or convince Stepan to admit his bargain with Nicasor and 
  that he sent both brothers through the midnight mirror a 
  decade ago by shifting his attitude to friendly. He further 
  admits sending decoy coffins for burial in the family tomb, 
  since they left no bodies behind, and describes the terms of 
  his bargain with Nicasor, stating that the disease seemed to 
  start spreading after he reneged on his end of the deal.
  Ilquis: If the PCs accuse Stepan of dealing with Ilquis 
  and shift his attitude to friendly, the baron admits to his 
  agreement with the lurker in light. Fearing an attack from 
  the forces of shadow from Nicasor’s allies, he agreed to let 
  the fey “take any actions necessary” to ensure the safety of 
  his family and townsfolk. Stepan doesn’t know, however, 
  that Ilquis has been kidnapping and killing people with 
  the baron’s tacit permission, and grows ashen at the 
  revelation of such information.
  Tallowthroat: If the PCs linked the source of tallowthroat 
  back to the Boroi Manor fountain in area A9, the baron is 
  again shocked to hear the evidence, but if his attitude is 
  shifted to friendly, he resigns himself to his guilt, citing 
  Nicasor’s anger and his own research into the midnight 
  mirror’s leaking shadowstuff.
  Regardless of how many connections the PCs can prove, 
  as long as they get Stepan to admit to one of them, he 
  pleads with them to help solve his problems. He is truly 
  remorseful for his past actions, be they making deals with 
  manipulative and deceptive fey or sending his brothers 
  into the eternal prison of the midnight mirror in order 
  to inherit the barony, and honestly asserts that he has 
  learned his lesson. He asks the PCs to enter the mirror 
  and rescue his brothers if they still live, kill Nicasor, and 
  destroy the prison plane within. He offers full access to his 
  library to research the mirror, and if made helpful during 
  any of the preceding lines of questioning, he personally 
  gives the PCs all of the information up to DC 25 from the 
  Researching the Mirror section below.
  Story Award: For each of the three connections the PCs 
  can prove between Stepan and Karpad’s current problems, 
  award them XP as though they had completed a CR 5 
  encounter if they made Stepan helpful, or a CR 4 encounter 
  if they made him friendly, for a total of up to 4,800 XP if 
  they made him helpful in all three lines of questioning.
  Researching the Mirror
  With access to Stepan’s library, the PCs can discover the 
  following pieces of information about the midnight mirror 
  with Knowledge (arcana, history, planes, or religion) 
  checks, using the same set of DCs for each type of check. 
  Each PC may attempt each Knowledge check once, and 
  those utilizing the library receive a +5 bonus on the check.
  17
  
  The Midnight Mirror
  DC 10: Midnight mirrors are magical prisons used by 
  the church of Zon-Kuthon to punish those who offend 
  the church and its god. Each is an extraplanar prison 
  within a mirror in which the prisoners never age and are 
  trapped for an eternity of torment.
  DC 15: The midnight mirror in the Boroi family’s possession 
  was broken centuries ago, and now functions differently 
  than normal. The command word to 
  retrieve a prisoner from the plane no 
  longer works, and the mirror leaks 
  shadow essence from the Plane of 
  Shadow into the Material Plane.
  DC 20: Unlike a normal midnight 
  mirror, the broken specimen in the 
  basement of Boroi Manor allows two 
  willing subjects on opposite sides 
  of the mirror to trade bodies (as the 
  magic jar spell) by simultaneously 
  touching the mirror’s surface. Such 
  a switch lasts indefinitely, or until 
  the two subjects switch souls again 
  through the same process.
  DC 25: The only way to destroy 
  the midnight mirror is to enter it and 
  kill the physical manifestation of the 
  magic item’s consciousness with a 
  shard of itself from the Material Plane. 
  Doing so will cause the prison plane 
  to break apart and disgorge all living 
  creatures and items originally from 
  the Material Plane through the shattered 
  mirror back to their plane of origin.
  Stepan eagerly sends the PCs through 
  the mirror once they know how the 
  magic item works and how to destroy 
  it. The baron gives them a shard of the cracked mirror 
  which functions as an improvised light weapon dealing 
  1d4 damage. When used against the Heart, the shard 
  instead functions as a +1 bane dagger, and the wielder 
  takes no penalties for using an improvised weapon.
  In the Midnight Mirror
  Within the midnight mirror exists an extraplanar prison 
  created by the ancient church of Zon-Kuthon to torment 
  any creature held in its grasp. Nicasor’s prison took on the 
  shape of a dark, twisted manor house. Indeed, just as the 
  Plane of Shadow distortedly mirrors the Material Plane, 
  the manor seems to be an off-kilter reflection of Boroi 
  Manor—the very household Nicasor lived in for decades 
  while serving Karpad’s ruling family. While the mirror 
  has been successful in its task of driving Nicasor mad, the 
  shae has nevertheless come to call the prison home, and he 
  has named his weird manor the House of Night. Though 
  he yearns to find an escape from his extraplanar exile, he 
  relishes the opportunity to rule his realm with a sadism 
  and tyranny befitting a servant of the Midnight Lord, and 
  his power and will have grown enough that the mirror 
  leaves him and those most loyal to him in relative peace.
  Inside the House of Night, it is dark and very cold. 
  There is no color here, and the windows are reflective, 
  not transparent, so there is no way 
  to see outside—indeed, within the 
  midnight mirror, there is no outside. 
  The manor’s walls (made of an 
  unidentifiable 
  black 
  woodlike 
  substance) are blurry and slowly 
  undulate as if the house itself were 
  breathing. This is not far from the 
  truth—the malign intelligence that 
  controls the realm within the midnight 
  mirror fractured when the mirror broke 
  millennia ago, and now infuses the 
  very essence of the realm it controls, 
  treating the House of Night as its 
  twisted umbral body, manifesting at 
  the center of the manor. 
  Over the centuries, the Heart 
  has grown capricious and wild, its 
  moods exacerbated by the perpetual 
  leaking of its shadow essence into the 
  Material Plane. But so entwined is the 
  Heart to the midnight mirror that one can 
  only escape the confines of the prison by 
  killing the Heart with a piece of itself—a 
  shattered fragment of the midnight mirror 
  as it exists on the Material Plane. The 
  Heart exists in a walled-in courtyard on 
  the House of Night’s first floor; reaching 
  it requires breaking down a wall. All walls adjacent to this 
  isolated chamber bleed a dark, viscous ichor like the walls 
  of a sick internal organ. Unlike other walls in the realm, 
  however, a broken wall to G12 heals any rifts in itself, as 
  though made of living tissue, in 1d4 hours.
  The extraplanar prison within the midnight mirror was 
  originally part of the Shadow Plane, and it retains the same 
  planar traits (except, of course, that as a small demiplane it 
  has a finite shape). It is only a few degrees above freezing in 
  the House of Night, and it is also pitch black, too dark for 
  low-light vision to function. The substance of the house’s 
  walls and furniture is not flammable, and has a moist, 
  mealy texture to it when examined closely. It has a hardness 
  of 7 and 13 hit points per inch of thickness; most walls are 
  8 inches thick. The outer walls are infinitely thick, as they 
  demarcate the edges of the demiplane and can thus not be 
  breached. All of the doors in the House of Night are made of 
  the same shadowstuff that makes up the rest of the manor, 
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  but possess the statistics of strong wooden doors for the 
  purposes of Break DCs, hit points, and hardness. Once they 
  are ready, Stepan sends the PCs through the midnight mirror 
  by uttering a command word while they stand near it. While 
  within the midnight mirror, characters do not need to eat or 
  drink, and although time flows normally, living creatures 
  stop aging once they reach maturity. 
  G1. The Midnight Portal
  A chain-bound mirror, identical to that in the basement vault 
  of Boroi Manor, stands unsupported in a small, stone room. 
  The frigid air is thick with a near impenetrable darkness. The 
  only source of light comes from within the mirror itself, the 
  flickering flames from the ring of torches pale silver, as though 
  the illumination had to strain the color from itself to penetrate 
  the darkness here. 
  This room is a smaller, colorless reflection of A17, 
  though no ring of glowing sigils or torches illuminate the 
  chamber. Instead, the pitch darkness of the Shadow Plane 
  is permeated only by the faint glint of the baron’s torches 
  on the other side of the mirror. The surface of the mirror 
  does not reflect the room it sits in; instead it shows Baron 
  Stepan’s vault, as seen from the midnight mirror, though all 
  color has been washed from the image. But touching it 
  does nothing, and there is no way back across from here.
  Once the PCs destroy the Heart, to avoid taking damage 
  they must walk out through this mirror while the house 
  crumbles apart. Otherwise they are shunted violently out 
  of the prison and back into the Material Plane.
  G2. Torture Chamber (CR 6)
  The shelves of this disused room are full of empty bottles, 
  bones, and implements of torture. Two doors stand in the 
  center of the north and west walls, the former adjacent to a 
  set of stairs leading up. An iron maiden stands in the eastern 
  corner of the chamber.
  This room is a spacially-compressed mirror image of 
  A14, though in place of an altar is a crumbling wooden 
  shelf, and an empty iron maiden stands in the spot where 
  Evgenia’s iron maiden rests in the Material Plane. 
  G3. Crypts (CR 5)
  Six five-foot-square alcoves branch off a thirty-foot hallway. 
  Within each stands a six-foot tall sarcophagus of the same 
  shadowy substance as the walls and floors of the chamber. 
  While creatures in the midnight mirror do not age—
  allowing the prison to torment them indefinitely—
  sometimes they do die, whether from suicide or the prison 
  pushing the limits of their tender mortal bodies too far. 
  When the first of the prisoners exiled to the midnight mirror 
  with Nicasor died, the mirror conceded to the survivors a 
  place to memorialize the dead, creating this space for their 
  remains to be interred. Not without malice, the prison 
  required that no living soul enter the crypt, whether to 
  inter a corpse or visit the previously buried, without first 
  making a sacrifice—the severing of a single digit. Now 
  nearly two dozen toe and finger bones lie strewn about the 
  area, identifiable as such with a DC 15 Heal check.
  Creatures: To ensure all the prisoners pay their due 
  upon entering the crypt, the Heart created a pair of 
  guardians from the shadow essence of the demiplane 
  MIDNIGHT MIRROR PLANAR TRAITS
  Though an independent demiplane, the midnight mirror 
  has many of the same planar traits as the Shadow Plane 
  after which it was modeled. See the Pathfinder RPG 
  GameMastery Guide for more details on how these planar 
  traits work.
  Dampened Light: Within the midnight mirror, all 
  sources of light—both magical and mundane—have 
  their ranges halved.
  Enhanced Magic: Spells with the shadow descriptor or 
  of the shadow subschool are enhanced in the midnight 
  mirror, functioning as if their caster levels were 2 higher 
  than normal, and specific spells become even more 
  powerful. Shadow conjuration and shadow evocation are 
  30% as powerful as the conjurations and evocations they 
  mimic (as opposed to 20%). Greater shadow conjuration 
  and greater shadow evocation are 70% as powerful (not 
  60%), and a shades spell conjures at 90% of the original 
  (not 80%). Despite the dark nature of the midnight mirror, 
  spells that produce, use, or manipulate darkness are 
  unaffected by the plane.
  Impeded Magic: Spells with the light descriptor or 
  that use or generate light or fire are impeded within the 
  midnight mirror, requiring a concentration check (DC 20 + 
  the level of the spell) in order to function normally. If the 
  check fails, the spell does not function but is still lost as a 
  prepared spell or spell slot.
  Locked Plane: As the midnight mirror is a prison plane 
  meant to hold souls indefinitely, planar travel to or from 
  the midnight mirror is restricted. Creatures may only 
  enter or leave the plane via the mirror’s user uttering the 
  designated command word. In the case of the midnight 
  mirror in Boroi Manor, the ability to remove a creature 
  from the mirror in this way has been broken. Instead, 
  a willing creature on each side of the mirror can switch 
  bodies. Alternatively, all living creatures in the midnight 
  mirror are ejected from the plane if the Heart is killed.
  19
  
  itself. These necrophidiuses attack any creature entering 
  the crypt that does not present a newly severed finger or 
  toe. As constructs of the prison plane, the necrophidiuses 
  cannot exist outside the midnight mirror, and if the Heart 
  is destroyed, they melt into shadow in a matter of minutes 
  as the midnight mirror breaks apart.
  Necrophidiuses (2) 
  CR 3
  XP 800 each 
  hp 36 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 196)
  Treasure: Within the sarcophagi are the remains of four 
  fetchlings and the possessions of two shae whose bodies 
  disintegrated into shadow over time. Among the bones, the 
  PCs may locate a brooch of shielding, a cloak of resistance +1, and 
  two silver simple or martial weapons of the GM’s choosing.
  G4. The Kennel (CR 5)
  Within this large room, ruined armchairs, tapestries, suits 
  of armor, and other noble accoutrements have been torn 
  apart and used to build what appear to be houses or nests for 
  creatures roughly the size of small ponies.
  Cramped kennels once held Nicasor’s shadow mastiffs—
  loyal hounds exiled into the midnight mirror with their 
  master. The mastiffs are particular favorites of the Heart, 
  and it long ago forced the fetchling prisoners within the 
  mirror to build them better accommodations. Only one 
  mastiff remains, having long since eaten its brothers and 
  sisters out of boredom.
  Shadow Mastiff 
  CR 5
  XP 1,600
  hp 51 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 241)
  Treasure: The shadow mastiff has several small, 
  discarded objects that it worries in its kennel. Two are 
  useful to the player characters: a fully charged wand of 
  cure light wounds and a hand of the mage. Both are heavily 
  gnawed but fully functional.
  G5. Broken Room (CR 6)
  This room is full of broken things: mannequins, grandfather 
  clocks, musical instruments, and so on, all slowly falling 
  to pieces. They have been carefully arranged to create the 
  appearance of a lived-in room, even though a cursory glance 
  shows that no one could possibly use these things.
  The entrance to this room is secured with an average 
  lock, requiring a DC 25 Disable Device check to open. This 
  room is where the Heart has deposited all of the humanoid 
  niceties it once created for its prisoners’ use that they no 
  longer need. While the Heart could easily dissolve them all 
  into shadowstuff, it hoards them for reasons only it knows.
  Creatures: The Heart, displeased that anyone would 
  violate the sanctity of this locked room, animates two of 
  the pieces of furniture strewn about the room to punish 
  the PCs, and transforms the detritus on the room’s floor 
  into sharp shards of metal, glass, and wood to harry their 
  escape.
  Animated Furniture (2) 
  CR 2
  XP 600 each
  Animated object (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 14)
  N Small construct 
  Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception –5
  DEFENSE
  AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+1 Dex, +4 natural, +1 size)
  hp 21 each (2d10+10)
  Fort +0, Ref +1, Will –5
  Defensive Abilities hardness 5; Immune construct traits
  OFFENSE
  Speed 40 ft.
  Melee slam +3 (1d4)
  STATISTICS
  Str 10, Dex 12, Con —, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 1
  Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 12
  SQ construction points (faster)
  Hazard: At the same instant the Heart animates the 
  furniture, it also alters the state of the junk along the 
  room’s floor. In a flash, blunt objects become sharp, torn 
  cloth turns to jagged shards of glass, and smooth sections 
  of floor become covered in small caltroplike spikes. Treat 
  all surfaces in the room as if under the effects of a spike 
  growth spell. A PC can bypass the hazard with a DC 28 
  Disable Device check, finding carpets or unaltered planks 
  of wood with which she can cover the floor, allowing 
  unhindered passage for herself and her allies.
  Treasure: A DC 18 Perception check while searching 
  the room reveals a silver raven figurine of wondrous power 
  hidden amid the refuse in the room’s northwest corner.
  G6. Key Room
  The floor of this room is covered in thousands of keys of all 
  sizes and shapes.
  Whenever the Heart creates a new room within the 
  midnight mirror, it creates a door, and a key for that door. The 
  Heart cannot bear to throw away a key, so it stores them all 
  in the key room. It has created and destroyed thousands 
  of rooms over the millennia since the midnight mirror’s 
  creation, and so the room is full of keys. The key to any lock 
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  in the manor can be found after 1d4 hours of searching and 
  a successful DC 20 Disable Device or Perception check. 
  Treasure: Hidden among the thousands of mundane 
  keys is a chime of opening with six charges remaining, 
  molded not in the traditional tube shape, but in the shape 
  of a key with a tuning fork head. It functions in all ways 
  like a standard chime of opening, despite its unique shape. 
  Noticing the magical key requires a DC 30 Perception 
  check or application of a detect magic spell.
  G7. Elenuta’s Room (CR 5)
  A large table occupies the center of this room, with maps 
  and tattered books strewn across its surface. Along the walls, 
  makeshift mannequins are peppered with arrows and slashes 
  as though used for target practice.
  The entrance to this room is secured with a good lock, 
  requiring a DC 30 Disable Device check to open.
  Creatures: Elenuta was one of the most passionate 
  members of Nicasor’s burgeoning rebellion, and over her 
  centuries in the midnight mirror, her fervor and mania have 
  only grown as her frustration builds at being unable to get 
  justice for her people. The Heart torments her by allowing 
  her this space to plot a vengeance that will never come, and 
  occasionally sends shadows and other manifested beings 
  after her and her lone follower Trakis to keep their violent 
  survival instincts in the forefront of their psyches. When 
  the PCs enter, both fetchlings take them for the next batch 
  of Heart-conjured monsters and attack.
  Elenuta 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200
  Female fetchling sorcerer 5 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 123)
  CN Medium outsider (native)
  Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +1
  DEFENSE
  AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+1 deflection, +2 Dex)
  hp 35 (5d6+15)
  Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +3
  Defensive Abilities shadow blending
  Resist cold 5, electricity 5
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee quarterstaff +1 (1d6–1)
  Special Attacks shadowstrike (6/day)
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th, concentration +9)
  1/day—disguise self (humanoid only)
  Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 5th; concentration +9)
  2nd (5/day)—blindness/deafness (DC 18), darkvision, hideous 
  laughter (DC 16)
  1st (7/day)—cause fear (DC 17), mage armor, magic missile, 
  obscuring mist, ray of enfeeblement (DC 17)
  0 (at will)—detect magic, daze (DC 14), ghost sound (DC 14), 
  mage hand, message, resistance 
  Bloodline shadow*
  TACTICS
  Before Combat If Elenuta has time before combat starts, 
  she casts mage armor and uses her last remaining scroll of 
  false life.
  During Combat Elenuta casts obscuring mist to grant herself 
  concealment and uses targeted spells such as blindness/
  deafness, cause fear, and ray of enfeeblement against foes at 
  range. If approached in melee, she uses her shadowstrike 
  bloodline power until she has expended all its daily uses, 
  before attacking with her quarterstaff.
  Morale Elenuta believes the PCs to be the Heart’s latest trick 
  and fights to the death, knowing that the midnight mirror 
  gives no quarter when its minions attack.
  STATISTICS
  Str 8, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 18
  Elenuta
  21
  
  Feats Dodge, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse
  Skills Acrobatics +9, Bluff +6, Disguise +6, Escape Artist +9, 
  Intimidate +6, Knowledge (planes) +3, Perception +5, Sense 
  Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +11
  Languages Aklo, Common
  SQ rogue talents (finesse rogue), trapfinding +1
  Gear masterwork studded leather, masterwork short sword, 
  masterwork shortbow with 20 arrows
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Shadow Blending (Su) Attacks against a fetchling in dim light 
  have a 50% miss chance instead of the normal 20% miss 
  chance. This ability does not grant total concealment; it just 
  increases the miss chance.
  G8. Fetchlings’ Chambers (CR 5)
  Thin walls break this area into four small rooms, each furnished 
  with cramped beds. A central area remains open save for a 
  crooked table and mismatched chairs.
  The Heart created this series of haphazard living 
  quarters for the surviving fetchling rebels imprisoned 
  within the mirror. Centuries ago there were over two 
  dozen fetchlings living here, and the space was much 
  larger to accommodate their number. Now, only two 
  women and a man live here: Merys, Jerda, and Lucoth. 
  They have claimed areas G8a, G8c, and G8d as their 
  respective quarters, leaving G8b vacant. In time, the 
  Heart will likely remove the empty room from the manor 
  as a result of the fetchlings’ dwindling numbers. For the 
  most part, however, the Heart ignores the fetchlings here 
  because they are less fun to torment than more resistant 
  prisoners like Elenuta.
  Creatures: The PCs find all three fetchlings here, 
  depressed and resigned to their eternity in the midnight 
  mirror. They are indifferent to the PCs, seeing them as 
  yet another batch of humanoids thrown into the prison, 
  just like “those two noblemen a while back,” and take no 
  violent action unless provoked. If the PCs inquire about 
  the aforementioned nobles, the fetchlings simply say that 
  two men arrived some time ago—how long they do not 
  know, for time means little in a timeless realm—but were 
  kept upstairs among the “Updwellers.” The fetchlings can 
  tell the PCs about the rooms on this floor of the manor, 
  but know nothing of upstairs, for they are not allowed 
  above after some long-forgotten slight against Nicasor.
  If the PCs inquire about what got the fetchlings 
  imprisoned in the midnight mirror, the prisoners freely 
  admit to their mistake in following Nicasor’s kayal 
  rebellion. The centuries spent in exile, tormented by the 
  Heart’s sadistic whims, have brought about near total 
  rehabilitation in these prisoners, and they gladly tell the 
  PCs all the information about Nicasor’s rebellion indicated 
  Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 14
  Feats Combat Casting, Eschew Materials, Greater Spell Focus 
  (necromancy), Spell Focus (necromancy)
  Skills Bluff +12, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (planes) +3, 
  Perception +1, Stealth +9
  Languages Aklo, Common
  SQ nighteye*
  Combat Gear potions of cure light wounds (2), potion of 
  invisibility, scroll of false life, wand of magic missile (CL 5th, 
  12 charges); Other Gear quarterstaff, ring of protection +1
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Bloodline Arcana Whenever Elenuta casts a spell with the 
  darkness descriptor or of the shadow subschool, she gains 
  a circumstance bonus on Stealth checks equal to the spell’s 
  level for 1d4 rounds.
  Shadow Blending (Ex) Attacks against a fetchling in dim light 
  have a 50% miss chance instead of the normal 20% miss 
  chance. This ability does not grant total concealment; it just 
  increases the miss chance.
  Shadowstrike (Sp) Elenuta can make a melee touch attack as a 
  standard action that deals 1d4+2 points of nonlethal damage 
  and dazzles the target for 1 minute. Creatures with low-light 
  vision or darkvision are not dazzled by this ability.
  * See the Advanced Player’s Guide.
  Trakis 
  CR 2
  XP 600
  Male fetchling rogue 3 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 123)
  N Medium outsider (native)
  Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +5
  DEFENSE
  AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge)
  hp 26 (3d8+9)
  Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +2
  Defensive Abilities evasion, shadow blending, trap sense +1; 
  Resist cold 5, electricity 5
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee mwk short sword +6 (1d6+1/19–20)
  Ranged mwk shortbow +6 (1d6/×3)
  Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd, concentration +3)
  1/day—disguise self (humanoid only)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Trakis has not seen combat for many years 
  now, but does the best he can. If an opportunity to flank 
  presents itself, he takes advantage of it, but he does not go 
  out of his way to set up the situation.
  Morale Trakis has been imprisoned in the midnight mirror for 
  centuries and welcomes the chance to escape it in death.
  STATISTICS
  Str 12, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 10
  Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 17
  22
  
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  in the adventure background. They warn the PCs to steer 
  clear of Elenuta in G7, as she still clings to the ideals of the 
  rebellion, even though she will never be able to escape the 
  mirror to see them through to fruition.
  All three fetchlings live in constant fear of the Heart and 
  speak of it only in hushed and paranoid tones, as if the very 
  mention of its name or discussion of its cruelty and power 
  will bring its wrath upon them. If the PCs inquire about 
  its location or nature, the fetchlings simply tell them that 
  “the Heart lies at the center, but it abides no visitors.”
  Merys, Jerda, and Lucoth 
  CR 2
  XP 600 each
  hp 26 each (see page 22)
  TACTICS
  During Combat The fetchlings have not seen combat for 
  many years and do not work well with one another. If an 
  opportunity to flank presents itself, they take advantage of it, 
  but they do not go out of their way to set up the situation.
  Morale The fetchlings have been imprisoned in the midnight 
  mirror for centuries and welcome the chance of escaping it 
  in death if presented the option in combat.
  G9. Portrait Room
  Dark portraits cover the walls of this otherwise empty ballroom, 
  stretching from the floor to the ceiling.
  While the mortal inhabitants of the House of Night have 
  a memorial for the dead in area G3, the Heart has turned 
  this space into its own memorial for the dead. For each soul 
  that perishes within the midnight mirror, the Heart creates 
  a dour portrait of the person and places it on the wall, 
  resizing and rearranging the existing portraits to make 
  room. Most of the portraits on the wall are fetchlings, 
  though there are five shaes, as well as two human men 
  whom the PCs can recognize from their portraits in Boroi 
  Manor’s drawing room (A5) as Iozif and Henric Boroi. If 
  the PCs kill any of the fetchlings or shaes in the midnight 
  mirror, the dead too appear here, as do any PCs who meet an 
  unfortunate end in the prison plane. The wall bordering 
  G12 drips ichor; knocking it out reveals the way to the 
  courtyard and the Heart.
  G10. Fireplace Room (CR 5)
  As if in a cruel jest, this freezing room has a twenty-foot-wide 
  fireplace housing a raging fire, albeit one that has no color, 
  and generates no light or heat.
  The sole entrance to this room has an average lock 
  (Disable Device DC 25). The ghostly fire in the fireplace 
  offers neither light nor heat, and can only be seen if the PCs 
  illuminate it with their own light source, though it can be 
  heard crackling in the dark. Any creature that touches the 
  blaze takes 1d6 points of cold damage per round of contact. 
  The frigid blaze does not consume the wood in the fireplace 
  and cannot be extinguished by any means, including the 
  quench spell. If the party lights a true fire here, it functions 
  normally, canceling out the cold generated by the ghost fire 
  and warming the room, but consuming the firewood in the 
  process. The north wall drips ichor; knocking it out reveals 
  the way to the Heart’s courtyard.
  Creatures: The ghostly fireplace disgorges shadowy fire 
  elementals when the PCs enter the room. These creatures 
  of living ice-fire serve the Heart and actively work to 
  destroy intruders in its realm.
  Ghostfire Elementals (2) 
  CR 3
  XP 800 each
  N Medium outsider (cold, elemental)
  Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7
  DEFENSE
  AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural)
  hp 30 each (4d10+8)
  Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +1
  Immune cold, elemental traits
  Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee slam +7 (1d6+1 plus 1d4 cold)
  Special Attacks numbing cold (DC 14)
  STATISTICS
  Str 12, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
  Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 19
  Feats Dodge, Improved InitiativeB, Mobility, Weapon FinesseB
  Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +5, Escape Artist +8, Intimidate +5, 
  Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +7
  Languages Aklo
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Numbing Cold (Su) When a ghostfire elemental deals cold 
  damage to a creature, that creature must succeed at a  
  DC 14 Fortitude save or be staggered for 1 round.
  G11. Dining Room
  This elegant room resembles a fine dining room on the Material 
  Plane, spread with a feast fit for a great lord. A stairway in the 
  room’s northwest corner leads up to another floor.
  The entrance to this room has an average lock (Disable 
  Device DC 25). Unlike much of the dark and imposing 
  decor within the House of Night, the dining room has a 
  beautiful table setting and looks almost inviting. Some of 
  the fetchlings exiled with Nicasor were servants in Boroi 
  Manor and had standing orders to keep this room’s double 
  23
  
  on the Material Plane ready for a feast on a moment’s 
  notice; the Heart of the midnight mirror held them to doing 
  the same here eternally. Those fetchlings have long since 
  perished, but the Heart still creates food from shadowstuff, 
  keeping a meal without flavor or nourishment on display 
  at all times. 
  The wall abutting G12 bleeds black ichor; knocking it 
  out opens the way to the courtyard and the Heart.
  Treasure: The ornate bone flatware intricately set 
  about the table is worth 200 gp. The delicate porcelain 
  dishes that adorn the banquet table and fill the two 
  hutches along the south and east walls are worth 1,000 gp 
  if collected in their entirety.
  G12. Heart’s Courtyard (CR 8)
  Dark flagstones pave a twisted reflection of the courtyard in 
  Boroi Manor. Walls of thick, writhing flesh fill the archways 
  that would normally lead to adjoining rooms; a layer of seeping 
  black ichor covers each wall. Above, only a black void exists 
  where one would expect to see the sky. What appears to be 
  an enormous, quivering black plant is growing in the central 
  pool. Black tendrils are everywhere, pushing into the manor 
  and running through it like veins into the rest of the house.
  This atrium can only be reached by breaking down 
  one of the bleeding walls from an adjacent room. Such 
  ingresses heal themselves as though made of living tissue 
  in 1d4 hours.
  Creature: The Heart was originally nothing more than 
  the slightly conscious soul of the midnight mirror itself. 
  But when the mirror was broken millennia ago, the Heart 
  broke with it, and has since desired more and more to take 
  on physical form. Its appearance and abilities have shifted 
  many times since it first made flesh for itself, but most 
  recently it took the form of a giant, twisted plant—a mockery 
  of the vegetation one would normally find in the courtyard 
  of a noble estate. It has grown wildly and haphazardly over 
  the ages of Nicasor’s imprisonment, and now resembles a 
  horrid cross between an enormous tree and an octopus.
  24
  
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  As a physical manifestation of the midnight mirror itself, 
  the Heart can only truly be killed by damage dealt by a 
  shard of the very mirror in which it resides. The PCs should 
  have gathered such a weapon before entering the midnight 
  mirror, and should be equipped with the knowledge that 
  this is the only means of escape from the prison within. In 
  addition to suppressing the Heart’s regeneration ability, 
  when used to attack the Heart, a shard of the midnight 
  mirror is treated as a +1 bane weapon, dealing an additional 
  2d6 points of damage on a successful hit.
  The Heart 
  CR 8
  XP 4,800
  Tenebrous tendriculos (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 259, The Tome 
  of Horrors Complete 737)
  NE Huge outsider
  Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +7
  DEFENSE
  AC 25, touch 7, flat-footed 25 (–1 Dex, +18 natural, –2 size)
  hp 94 (9d8+54); regeneration 10 (midnight mirror shard)
  Fort +12, Ref +4, Will +4
  Immune acid, plant traits; Weaknesses light blindness
  OFFENSE
  Speed 20 ft.
  Melee bite +12 (3d6+8 plus 2d6 acid and grab), 2 tentacles +7 
  (1d8+4 plus grab)
  Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
  Special Attacks bristles (DC 20), paralysis (3d6 rounds, DC 20), 
  swallow whole (2d6 acid damage plus paralysis, AC 19, 9 hp)
  TACTICS
  Before Combat The Heart is aware of everything that happens 
  within the midnight mirror and cannot be surprised.
  During Combat The Heart is immobile and nearly mindless, 
  so it fights using only rudimentary tactics, biting PCs and 
  striking them with its tentacles until they leave its courtyard.
  Morale The Heart is inexorably connected to the demiplane of 
  the midnight mirror and has no alternative but to fight until 
  destroyed. If the Heart is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points 
  while its regeneration ability still functions, it takes 1d4 hours 
  to regenerate to its full capabilities and does not actively 
  attack or waylay the PCs in any way during this time.
  STATISTICS
  Str 26, Dex 9, Con 22, Int 3, Wis 8, Cha 5
  Base Atk +6; CMB +16 (+20 grapple); CMD 25 (can’t be tripped)
  Feats Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power 
  Attack, Skill Focus (Stealth)
  Skills Perception +7, Stealth +1 (+9 in undergrowth); Racial 
  Modifiers +8 Stealth in undergrowth
  Languages Shadowtongue (cannot speak)
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Bristles (Ex) A tenebrous creature’s head is covered in many 
  small filaments that inject a deadly poison into any living 
  creature that comes into contact with them. An opponent 
  attacking a tenebrous creature with natural weapons or 
  unarmed attacks must succeed at a DC 20 Reflex save 
  or contact the many bristles that cover the tenebrous 
  creature’s head and be subjected to its poison.
  On a failed Reflex save, the opponent is paralyzed for 
  1d4 rounds. Immediately after the paralysis wears off, the 
  opponent must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or take 
  2d6 Str damage.
  A neutralize poison spell removes the effects of the poison 
  and, if cast before an opponent makes its Fortitude save, 
  prevents the need for such. Creatures with resistance to 
  poison receive their normal bonus on their saving throws, 
  and creatures immune to poison are unaffected by a 
  tenebrous creature’s bristles.
  Regeneration (Ex) Only damage dealt by a shard of the 
  midnight mirror can suppress the Heart’s regeneration 
  ability. If the Heart would normally be killed by a different 
  effect, it returns to life and full health after 1d4 hours.
  Development: When the Heart is finally destroyed, 
  the prison realm it held together quickly breaks apart in 
  a process that takes 2d10 minutes. During this time, a 
  number of random effects appear in any encounter area 
  the PCs enter (or attempt to enter in the case of the first 
  effect). Consult the following table to determine what 
  effect the PCs find in any given room. If the PCs (or any 
  other living creature in the midnight mirror) have not exited 
  through the portal in area G1 by the end of the plane’s 
  deterioration, they are instantly shunted out of the prison 
  in its final death throes, taking 2d6 points of damage and 
  arriving prone and dazed for 1d6 rounds in area A17.
  Random deteRioRation events
  1d10 
  Result
  1 
  This room ceases to exist. If the PCs attempt to 
  enter it, they find themselves unable to cross the 
  threshold; if they are already in the room when 
  this effect is rolled, they are immediately forced 
  into the next available space.
  2 
  The floor in this room liquefies, functioning as 
  quicksand (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 427).
  3 
  The floor here becomes spiky and uneven; treat the 
  entire room as though it were covered in caltrops.
  4 
  All spellcasters attempting to cast a spell in this 
  area must succeed at a DC 15 caster level check or 
  lose the spell with no effect.
  5–7 
  No effect.
  8 
  Gravity ceases to function here, and all creatures 
  in the room are treated as if under the effects of 
  the levitate spell.
  9 
  1d3 shadows materialize from the melting walls of 
  this chamber and attack the PCs.
  10 
  The darkness here can’t be illuminated by any means.
  25
  
  G13. Iozif’s Room
  A feather bed piled high with blankets dominates this well-
  appointed room. Floral wallpaper has been carefully pasted 
  over the black walls of the manor, and carpets cover the floor. 
  A dresser, mirror, desk and armchair complete the illusion of a 
  comfortable apartment on the Material Plane.
  The corpse of Stepan’s brother Iozif lies in the bed, 
  propped up against pillows and swaddled in coverlets. The 
  cold air has preserved his body well, and there is little smell. 
  Nicasor held Iozif prisoner after Stepan trapped him in the 
  midnight mirror, treating him as an honored (albeit captive) 
  guest. Iozif had free reign of much of the upper floor of the 
  House of Night, but this was his bedroom, which the servants 
  appointed to be as comfortable and familiar as possible. 
  For the most part, the Heart left Iozif free from torment, 
  focusing its efforts instead on the Boroi heir’s brother. 
  Despite this, Iozif, lacking the immunities and resistances 
  of shaes and fetchlings versus the cold, became  sick because 
  of  the mirror’s perpetual chill several years ago and died.
  A PC examining Iozif’s hand notes that he is missing 
  one finger, the payment Iozif made to the Heart in order 
  to inter his deceased fetchling lover when she died giving 
  birth to his son, Sorin, 8 years ago.
  A DC 15 Perception check reveals a makeshift child’s 
  doll with gray skin and white hair on the floor beneath 
  the bed. Iozif’s son Sorin comes to his father’s room to 
  play and be alone with what remains of his father, and left 
  this toy behind on his last visit.
  G14. Henric’s Room (CR 4)
  This is a well-appointed bedroom, where carpets and wallpaper 
  cover the otherwise grim substance from which the house is 
  constructed. Every available surface is covered in writing, lines of 
  curly script that wind around the room in great arcs and spirals. 
  A hanged body dangles from the ceiling, immobile in the still air.
  This room belonged to Henric, the middle Boroi 
  brother, kept prisoner in the midnight mirror after Stepan 
  imprisoned him. The Heart tormented Henric from the 
  moment he arrived in the midnight mirror, and after the 
  death of his brother Iozif, Henric went mad from the 
  constant stress and eventually hanged himself. 
  All the writing is poetry circling around the same 
  themes: blood, family, betrayal, and justice. Not written 
  with ink or engraved into the walls, the words are 
  ectoplasmic manifestations of Henric’s insane ramblings 
  in patterns resembling the web of a crazed spider. Any 
  PCs attempting to read these weblike words must succeed 
  at a DC 15 Will save or be fascinated for 2d4 rounds, just as 
  if they were subject to the allip’s babble ability.
  Creature: In death, Henric’s spirit remains as an allip, 
  which prevents the other denizens of the mirror from 
  removing his corpse. Henric fights wildly, using his babble 
  ability to get close to targets before attacking with his 
  touch of insanity. The crazed allip stops attacking the PCs 
  only if they promise him vengeance for Stepan’s betrayal.
  Henric Boroi 
  CR 4
  XP 800 
  Scribbling allip (Pathfinder Bestiary 3 12; Pathfinder Campaign 
  Setting: Undead Revisited 55)
  hp 30 
  Special Attack web (+4 ranged, DC 15, 4 hp)
  Treasure: In addition to being unable to claim Henric’s 
  corpse, the other residents of the House of Night have 
  been unable to retrieve any of the clothing or equipment 
  he wore when he was imprisoned within the midnight 
  mirror. On Henric’s body, the PCs find a noble’s outfit 
  worth 200 gp and a ring of sustenance, while his other most 
  prized possessions are stowed in an ornate darkwood 
  wardrobe: a +1 longsword, two potions of protection from evil, 
  and an intricate belt of linked gold rings worth 1,000 gp.
  G15. Fetchlings’ Apartments (CR 4)
  Unevenly upholstered furniture fills this large common area, 
  chairs and sofas circled around asymmetrical tables. Doors on 
  both sides of the room lead off into tiny bedchambers.
  The fetchling rebels who remained most loyal to 
  Nicasor through their centuries of imprisonment were 
  granted quarters on the House of Night’s second floor, 
  and live a life of relative luxury here compared to their 
  counterparts in area G8.
  Creatures: There are six favored fetchlings here now, 
  lounging and going about their daily lives with a monotony 
  that those on the Material Plane—where time flows 
  normally—cannot possibly fathom. When the PCs arrive, 
  one of the fetchlings goes to inform a member of Nicasor’s 
  family of the intruders unless one of the PCs stops them.
  Although they are primarily interested in asking questions 
  of the characters, the fetchlings are happy to tell the PCs 
  about Nicasor and his family (see areas G17–G20). By and 
  large, they like Atamin and Manar, dislike Corys, and respect 
  or fear Nicasor. The prisoners admit to centuries of loyalty 
  to Nicasor and their continued allegiance to his cause, but 
  they lack the passion and mania of Elenuta, and only attack 
  the PCs if they sense aggression from the intruders or are 
  instructed to by one of the shaes. They know about Stepan’s 
  bargain with Nicasor, and that it was broken. Most of their 
  information about Stepan came from Iozif and Henric, so 
  they have an extremely negative opinion of the baron.
  26
  
  Midnight
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  The
  The
  The
  If the PCs inquire about Iozif, the toy in his room, or 
  his son (whom they can find in G16), one of the fetchlings 
  tells of Sorin’s conception and birth within the prison, 
  and the death of his mother Leowyn, who now lies in the 
  crypt at G3. A DC 15 Knowledge (nobility) reveals that 
  such a child would have a strong claim to be the rightful 
  heir to Karpad.
  Fetchlings (6) 
  CR 1/2
  hp 6 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 123)
  G16. Manar’s Room
  Sinuous, curving shapes topped with delicate spines rise 
  seamlessly from the floor to form distinctly uncomfortable-
  looking furniture. Black flowers appear to bloom everywhere, 
  but they, like everything else in this chamber, are formed from 
  a colorless, textureless shadow substance. 
  This room belongs to Manar—Atamin’s daughter 
  and Nicasor’s niece. Manar was born in the midnight 
  mirror, and her connection to the place as a true native 
  of the prison plane has given her the ability to shape and 
  influence the room she calls her home, making it the 
  most decorative room in the entire House of Night.
  Creature: Playing in Manar’s room is Iozif Boroi’s 
  8-year-old fetchling son, Sorin. While Sorin is a 
  fetchling and an illegitimate child, he is nevertheless 
  the true heir to the Boroi line, and if returned to the 
  Material Plane could make a claim on Stepan’s title were 
  he or an advocate able to prove his lineage. After Iozif’s 
  death—3 years after Sorin’s mother’s passing—Manar 
  adopted Sorin, feeling a kinship to the young fetchling, 
  as both were born in the midnight mirror and both lost 
  their mothers as young children.
  An inquisitive but shy child, Sorin recognizes instantly 
  that the PCs are not of this plane, just as his father and 
  uncle were not. Not fully able to comprehend death, he 
  asks if they have come to bring his father back to him, and 
  if they are also members of the Boroi family like himself. 
  A native to the midnight mirror, Sorin knows nothing of the 
  Boroi family except the few pieces of history his father 
  told him before his death or the mad ramblings of his 
  suicidal uncle Henric, and he assumes that all humanoids 
  from the Material Plane must also be Borois, not quite 
  understanding that it is a family name.
  G17. Corys’s Room (CR 4)
  Thick, plush draperies cover the walls in this room, making 
  the darkness seem even more oppressive. While not 
  quite luxurious, the furnishings and decorations here are 
  comfortable and more than just functional.
  This room belongs to Nicasor’s uncle Corys, who is one 
  of the shae’s three remaining relatives within the midnight 
  mirror. Tired of hearing the sounds of the fetchlings 
  babbling in G15, Corys installed thick curtains on all the 
  walls in the room to dampen the sound, and anyone in the 
  room with the door closed takes a –5 penalty on Perception 
  checks to hear anything taking place in another room. 
  Creatures: Corys likes peace and quiet, and finds the 
  company of others more torturous a punishment than 
  anything else the Heart could come up with. He is hostile 
  to the PCs, annoyed at their intrusion and spoiling for 
  a fight after centuries of idleness, though with enough 
  Diplomacy or Intimidate checks he can be calmed 
  down before a brawl ensues. Unlike his nephew Atamin 
  (currently in G19), Corys doesn’t call out for help, and 
  suffers from the hubris of thinking himself a more capable 
  warrior than he perhaps is in reality. If engaged in combat, 
  Corys fights to the death, spouting insults at the PCs the 
  entire time.
  Corys 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 
  Male shae (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 242)
  hp 38
  Story Award: If the PCs encounter Corys and avoid 
  violent conflict with the curmudgeonly shae, award them 
  XP as if they had defeated the shae in combat.
  G18. Atamin’s Room
  This room resembles Corys’s chambers, but is currently 
  unoccupied. Atamin can be found in the adjacent library 
  at G19 with his daughter, Manar. This room acts as a 
  sound buffer between Corys’s equally padded room 
  and the library, imparting an additional –5 penalty on 
  Perception checks made in either G17 or G19 to hear 
  activities taking place in the other room (bringing 
  the total to –10 for someone in either room to hear the 
  goings-on in the other).
  G19. Library (CR 6)
  The wall, floor, and ceiling here are all covered in improbable 
  bookshelves that bulge and contract to match crumbling 
  volumes of all shapes and sizes.
  The shelves of Nicasor’s library are heavy with ancient 
  tomes, but most have slowly disintegrated over time, their 
  heavy bindings now concealing only papyrus dust and 
  slivers of parchment. The spellbooks of Mordrial, a shae 
  wizard and Nicasor’s consort who killed herself after mere 
  decades in the midnight mirror, remain intact, however, their 
  magical nature protecting them from the ravages of time; 
  27
  
  and his family since it seemed the only way for him to 
  escape the midnight mirror. He planned to use Stepan’s noble 
  status to lure the most powerful aristocrats he could to 
  Karpad, and torture them into submitting to the body swap 
  (Nicasor would likely have begun with Anya’s family, though 
  at present he knows little of Stepan’s current life). Nicasor 
  planned to return Stepan’s body to him at the end of the year 
  as promised, once he’d acquired a higher-status host. Once 
  free of the midnight mirror, Nicasor hopes to reassess the 
  status of shaes and kayal in Nidal and resume his revolt as 
  if it were merely put on hiatus for a few days. Nicasor knows 
  that the party will likely find his scheme unpalatable, and 
  doesn’t reveal it unless he sees a tangible benefit.
  If Nicasor discovers that the PCs have a means of defeating 
  the Heart and destroying the midnight mirror (likely by asking 
  the PCs how they plan to escape once they’ve eliminated him, 
  if that is indeed their plan), he attempts to bribe them with 
  power or riches upon his escape should they defeat the Heart 
  and allow him to leave his prison, telling them where to find 
  the Heart if they haven’t already discovered area G12. Should 
  they agree, however, Nicasor betrays them immediately upon 
  escaping from the prison plane, not trusting them due to 
  their association with Stepan prior to entering the mirror.
  Nicasor 
  CR 7
  XP 3,200
  Male shae fighter 3 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 242)
  NE Medium outsider 
  Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +12
  DEFENSE
  AC 22, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +6 Dex, +1 dodge, 
  +1 shield)
  hp 83 (7d10+45)
  Fort +13, Ref +9, Will +7; +1 vs. fear
  Defensive Abilities amorphous, blur, bravery +1; Immune cold
  OFFENSE
  Speed 30 ft.
  Melee +1 longsword +11/+6 (1d8+6/19–20 plus 1d6 cold), 
   
  +1 short sword +11/+6 (1d6+6/19–20 plus 1d6 cold) or
  touch +7 (1d6 cold)
  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th; concentration +6)
  Constant—blur
  At will—lesser shadow evocation (DC 15)
  TACTICS
  During Combat Nicasor is confident in his abilities, and he 
  utilizes full attacks with both his swords whenever possible, 
  unafraid to take the fight directly to his foes. If faced with 
  formidable ranged combatants, Nicasor uses lesser shadow 
  evocation to waylay his enemies with shadow versions of 
  scorching ray and magic missile.
  Morale Nicasor, faced with no escape from the midnight mirror 
  without the PCs’ aid, fights to the death, seeing it as the only 
  way to end his suffering if the PCs won’t assist him.
  they contain black tentacles, enervation, fear, phantasmal killer, 
  shadow conjuration, shadow evocation, and six spells each 
  from levels 1–3 (chosen by the GM). An iron-bound folio 
  entitled Atlas of the Black Shores (written in Aklo) contains an 
  enormous map of the citadels and fastnesses of the Shadow 
  Plane during the Age of Darkness; this can easily be sold for 
  300 gp, but is near priceless to the right buyer.
  Creatures: Nicasor’s brother Atamin and Atamin’s 
  daughter Manar are here, reading what remains of two 
  works of fiction. They have read these books many times 
  before, as they are among the few legible texts left in the 
  library. Atamin is initially unfriendly toward the PCs. He 
  hides his surprise upon seeing the party, and asks them 
  to surrender their weapons as guests in his home; he calls 
  for help and attacks if they refuse. Manar is indifferent 
  to the PCs, but friendly if they have obviously befriended 
  Sorin. She’s more interested in talking than fighting, 
  though she joins her father if violence breaks out. Manar 
  was born inside the mirror shortly after her parents were 
  imprisoned there, and has neither seen the outside world 
  nor contemplated escape; the midnight mirror is simply her 
  reality. Manar has adopted Iozif’s 8-year-old fetchling 
  son, Sorin, who can be found in area G16.
  Atamin and Manar 
  CR 4
  XP 1,200 each
  Shae (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 242)
  hp 38 each
  Story Award: If the PCs encounter Atamin and Manar 
  and avoid conflict, award them XP as though they had 
  defeated the shaes in combat. 
  G20. Nicasor’s Chambers (CR 7)
  This luxurious and urbane apartment would be at home in any 
  lord’s palace, were everything not in shades of gray.
  Creature: Nicasor spends most of his time in his 
  chambers, and can be found there by the PCs if none of 
  his servants summoned him earlier. He is tall, even for a 
  shae, and wears a gray cloak over lacquered black armor. 
  His white mask is polished to a mirror sheen and reflects 
  the face of anyone he looks at. The shae is calm and 
  sophisticated, and expresses little interest in fighting the 
  party (though he is certainly chagrined by any damage to 
  his home or family). He asks the party why they’ve come, 
  and what they want from him. If the PCs ask, Nicasor fills 
  in any missing details about his agreement with Stepan, 
  and reiterates that he has upheld his end of the bargain 
  and expects Stepan to do the same. 
  Nicasor’s original plan was to use his time in Stepan’s 
  body to arrange for permanent human skins for himself 
  28
  
  Midnight
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  The
  The
  STATISTICS
  Str 20, Dex 24, Con 22, Int 21, Wis 15, Cha 15
  Base Atk +7; CMB +12; CMD 30
  Feats Dodge, Double Slice, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, 
  Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting, Vital Strike
  Skills Acrobatics +17, Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, Disguise +9,  
  Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge 
  (planes) +12, Perception +12, Sense Motive +12, Stealth +17, 
  Use Magic Device +9
  Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Draconic, 
  Infernal, Shadowtongue, Shae
  SQ armor training 1
  Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds; Other Gear +1 
  studded leather, +1 longsword, +1 short sword
  SPECIAL ABILITIES
  Lesser Shadow Evocation (Sp) This spell-like ability functions 
  identically to the spell shadow evocation, but it can only 
  create quasi-real versions of sorcerer or wizard evocation 
  spells of 2nd level or lower. This spell-like ability is the 
  equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.
  G21. Meditation Room
  This hemispherical room has a simple, stark beauty; it has 
  no furnishings save for a simple mat, and geometric patterns 
  decorate the ceiling, walls, and floor, which meld with each 
  other in a seamless manner that defies conventional physics.
  Nicasor uses this room to collect his thoughts and focus 
  his rage upon Stepan and all who would do him or his 
  people wrong.
  Treasure: The House of Night’s de facto ruler keeps 
  his most valued possessions in this room—items taken 
  from the fetchlings and shaes who have died since their 
  imprisonment began—hidden in a secret compartment 
  beneath the meditation mat. This secret door is visible 
  with a DC 20 Perception check, or if the mat is pulled back. 
  Within it are a scroll of daylight, two potions of cure moderate 
  wounds, a potion of remove disease, a masterwork hand 
  crossbow with 12 silver bolts, a set of bracers of armor +1, 
  and a wand of lesser restoration with 14 charges remaining.
  Concluding the Adventure
  The PCs must defeat the Heart in order to escape the 
  House of Night, but once they do, any living creatures 
  within the midnight mirror (as well as any treasure or 
  equipment native to the Material Plane) are ejected into 
  the basement of Boroi Manor. If Nicasor is among those 
  freed from the realm, he immediately attempts to murder 
  Stepan for reneging on their agreement. If he has surviving 
  followers, he organizes them and foments a revolt against 
  any who oppress his kind in Nidal. If Nicasor is dead, any 
  surviving fetchlings put their ideals of revolution behind 
  them, thankful to be free of their imprisonment and 
  lacking a strong leader to guide them. They move to Shade 
  Row or elsewhere in Nidal to make new lives for themselves.
  With the mirror destroyed, the seeping of shadow essence 
  (and the tallowthroat taint it carried) stops, and over the years, 
  Karpad sees fewer fetchlings born to its human population. 
  Within a few days, new cases of tallowthroat stop appearing. 
  Racial tensions in Karpad wane, though fetchlings are still 
  forced to live in Shade Row rather than Karpad proper.
  Should the truth of Stepan’s murder of his brothers 
  and involvement in the spread of tallowthroat and the 
  abductions be made public, the town turns its rage toward 
  him and demands justice. If the party wishes to install 
  Sorin as ruler of Karpad, they must deal with resistance 
  from both Stepan and Anya, the townsfolk’s mistrust of 
  fetchlings, and the boy’s own youth.
  Nicasor
  29
  
  Appendix: Karpad
  Karpad
  LN village
  Corruption –1; Crime –6; Economy –3; Law +1; Lore –1; 
  Society –6
  Qualities insular, rumormongering citizens
  Danger +0; Disadvantages plagued (likely ended during The 
  Midnight Mirror)
  DEMOGRAPHICS
  Government overlord (baron)
  Population 195 (158 humans, 34 fetchlings, 3 other)
  Notable NPCs
  Baron Stepan Boroi (CN male human aristocrat 4)
  Priest Radu Miklos (LE male human cleric of Zon-Kuthon 5)
  Watch Captain Lucian Groy (N male human warrior 7)
  Mayor of Shade Row Ionela Zagrev (CG female fetchling 
  rogue 3)
  MARKETPLACE
  Base Value 400 gp; Purchase Limit 2,500 gp; Spellcasting 3rd 
  (5th for cleric spells)
  Minor Items 2d4; Medium Items 1d4; Major Items —
  The vale of Karpad lies almost a hundred miles north of 
  shadow-kissed Pangolais, where the towering trees of the 
  Uskwood begin to thin, slowly fading into rolling hills and 
  fertile cropland. Wooden houses with thatched roofs rise 
  from the valley floor, following the curve of the stream that 
  carved Karpad into the hillside when the world was young. 
  The quiet town that shares the valley’s name is an ancient 
  settlement, dating back well into the Age of Anguish. From 
  the manor on the slopes of the vale, the house of Boroi has 
  ruled Karpad for centuries. Their sigil is a red bear against 
  a starry sky.
  History
  The Boroi claim to trace their line back to Geron and Dimar, 
  Nidalese heroes from the Age of Anguish. According to local 
  legend, the two brothers disagreed on the quickest route 
  past the valley on their way to a great battle, and decided to 
  race. Geron moved his troops by the road, while Dimar sent 
  his down the river. Ever after, the road and the river that 
  pass through the town have been named for the brothers. 
  Dimar won, and even had time to sire a bastard on a local 
  noblewoman, a child who would grow up to rule the vale. 
  30
  Geron's Way
  A
  B
  C
  F
  D
  E
  Dimar's Way
  
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  Once, Dimar’s Way was a swift, powerful river; now, the 
  silt of ages has reduced it to a thin, silvery thread, barely 
  strong enough to turn the mill wheels that dot its course as 
  the stream winds south to join the flow of the mighty Usk. 
  The fortunes of Karpad and the Boroi have waned with the 
  flow of the river. River trade once made Karpad wealthy and 
  cosmopolitan, but what remains is a sleepy and forgotten 
  hamlet of farmers and loggers. The occasional arrival of 
  a merchant buying wood or a caravan of horses bound for 
  sale in Pangolais is the most excitement Karpad sees in a 
  typical year. The people of Karpad are practical, dour, self-
  sufficient, and poor, but possessed of stubborn pride. They 
  are also insular and suspicious of outsiders. They worship 
  Zon-Kuthon, but theirs is the quiet piety of tradition, not 
  the burning devotion of fanatics. Each week at the temple 
  the townsfolk cut or pierce themselves to offer a measure of 
  blood and pain to their god, but none bring the knife near 
  their hands—a farmer must be able to hold his tools, after all. 
  For reasons unknown to Karpad’s inhabitants, fetchlings 
  have always been relatively common in the valley, and 
  several are born to human parents each generation with 
  no explanation. Under the leadership of a shae advisor 
  to the Boroi family nearly a millennia ago, the fetchling 
  population attempted a revolt to overthrow the ruling 
  family and establish themselves as the primary inhabitants 
  in Karpad. The revolt was put down and all fetchlings living 
  in Karpad at the time were imprisoned in the manor. Yet 
  the next year, more fetchlings were born to Karpad’s human 
  citizens. Now, to prevent revolts, and out of the believe that 
  fetchlings are bastards or abominations, they in Karpad are 
  ghettoized, forced to live in the ramshackle neighborhood 
  on the southern banks of Dimar’s Way known as Shade Row. 
  Notable Locations
  Below are some of the more notable locations in Karpad.
  A. Boroi Manor: Boroi Manor is the largest and oldest 
  building in Karpad, and the ancestral home of the ruling 
  Boroi family. See page 5 for more information on its layout 
  and inhabitants. 
  B. Town Watch: This modest building houses the 
  town’s 10-person watch, who take 12-hour shifts on duty in 
  groups of four. The captain of the watch has a modest home 
  adjacent to the watch building, and is always considered to 
  be on duty. The watch contains four small holding cells for 
  prisoners, beyond which they must transfer miscreants to 
  Pangolais for trial or further imprisonment.
  C. Chandlery: One of Karpad’s most successful 
  businesses, the chandlery changed hands 5 years ago when 
  current chandler Catalina inherited it from her aging 
  uncle. With the current emphasis on keeping the town well 
  lit throughout both day and night, the chandlery has seen 
  a giant boost in business. For more information on the 
  chandlery, see page 12.
  D. Temple of Zon-Kuthon: The second-oldest and 
  second-largest building in Karpad, the temple to Zon-
  Kuthon is also one of the few built entirely of stone. A 
  graveyard surrounds the spired temple, and a row of 
  Boroi family mausoleums surrounds that. The priest at 
  the temple is Radu Miklos, a well-educated man recently 
  arrived from the Nidalese capital of Pangolais. His 
  theology focuses on self-mutilation and masochism rather 
  than sadism and murder, but it is still off-putting and 
  somewhat threatening to his new parishioners. For more 
  information on the temple of Zon-Kuthon, see page 16.
  E. Shade Row: Karpad’s non-farming fetchling 
  population is restricted to living in this ghetto, isolated 
  from the rest of the town by Dimar’s Way. The fetchlings 
  here have most of the amenities of a full settlement, with 
  their own inn, general store, and tavern, though they lack 
  more specialized shops and artisans and must cross the 
  river to purchase the many goods they need for their daily 
  lives. Ionela Zagrev, an old woman who grew up in a freak 
  show in Cheliax, is the de facto mayor of the ghetto, and 
  works hard to ensure that her “subjects” do not starve. She 
  is friendly to humans and relatively loyal to Baron Stepan, 
  and she tries to keep internal divisions in Shade Row 
  invisible to the outside world.
  F. The Weeping Willow: The Willow, as locals call it, is the 
  sole tavern in Karpad. Owned by Lorin Camm (CN female 
  human expert 3) and her husband Boris (NG male human 
  commoner 2), the Willow is a hub for gossip and a place 
  of business for the town’s few prostitutes. Fetchlings are 
  generally not allowed in the tavern except during daylight.
  Inhabitants
  In addition to the notable inhabitants mentioned above and 
  throughout the adventure, the following Karpad locals each 
  have interesting stories and may serve to expand the flavor 
  of the town beyond the scope of The Midnight Mirror.
  Nadia Witch-Blood (CN female half-elf sorcerer 3). In 
  public, the people of Karpad claim to mistrust the aging 
  hedge mage Nadia and attribute ills and misfortunes to 
  her. In private, most of the villagers go to her for herbs, 
  love potions, and advice.
  Cosmin (CN male human ranger 3). The woodsman 
  Cosmin has fallen under the spell of a nymph deep in the 
  forest. He has begun a campaign of intimidation against 
  loggers who approach her grove, and plans to leave his wife 
  behind to dwell in the forest forever.
  Rucia (CG female human commoner 1). One hot summer 
  night, Rucia—a waitress at the Weeping Willow—had a 
  vision of Desna in the form of a giant butterfly. For the first 
  time, she understood the true horror of Nidal and Zon-
  Kuthon. That night, she took the first steps towards the path 
  of the cleric. So far she has kept her revelation secret for fear 
  of her life, but she is desperate for someone to talk to.
  31
  
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  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
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  System Reference Document © 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc; Authors: Jonathan Tweet, 
  Monte Cook, and Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
  Necrophidius from the Tome of Horrors Complete © 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., 
  published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author: Scott Greene, based on original 
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  Pathfinder Module: The Midnight Mirror © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Sam Zeitlin.
  32
  
  1 square = 5 feet
  C1
  C2
  C3
  C4
  C5
  C5
  C5
  The Chandlery
  1 square = 10 feet
  A9
  A4
  A5
  A6
  A7
  A8
  A10
  A11
  A12
  A13
  A13
  A13
  A10
  A14
  A15
  A16
  A16
  A17
  A1
  A2
  A3
  Boroi Manor
  Down 
  to A14
  Down 
  to C3
  Up 
  to C2
  Up to 
  A1
  Up to
  Second Floor
  Down to
  First Floor
  
  Printed in China
  PZO9535
  Pathfinder Module 
  The Midnight Mirror
  The sleepy town of Karpad in shadow-haunted Nidal has long been overseen by the 
  Boroi family, and until a few weeks ago, the citizens under Baron Stepan Boroi's 
  rule have lived uneventful lives of relative peace. Recently, however, the outbreak 
  of a virulent and fatal disease and a number of mysterious disappearances 
  have left the people of Karpad paranoid and fearful. Even Baron Stepan 
  has been acting strangely, and now the tenuous balance of racial 
  tensions between Karpad's human and fetchling populations stands 
  on the verge of collapsing into total anarchy. Can the PCs uncover 
  the root of Karpad's problems and put an end to the deadly virus, the 
  terrifying disappearances, and the miasma of fear and distrust that 
  threatens to overwhelm the region?
  Written by Sam Zeitlin, 2011's winner of Paizo Publishing's 
  annual RPG Superstar contest—in which unpublished authors 
  compete before a panel of celebrity game designers and legions of their 
  peers for the chance to write a Pathfinder Module—The Midnight Mirror takes 
  players from a mysterious investigation into a shadowy demiplane prison and 
  pits them against the evil forces of both darkness and light.
  The Midnight Mirror is an investigation and horror adventure for 
  4th-level characters, written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying 
  Game and compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s 
  oldest RPG. This volume also contains a fully-detailed 
  gazetteer of the town of Karpad and a new magic item that 
  are sure to add depth and flavor to any campaign.
  paizo.com/pathfinder
  Fear the Shadows
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Pathfinder/1st Edition/Modules/The Midnight Mirror.pdf