13 September 2023 – Wednesday Ghouls

Character Connections

  • Bruno – The Derro have their own cult to the Withering Hand, a mask of Addrikah.
  • Durrim – Many believe the Derro are mad – they just see the world differently.
  • HB – How has HB changed with the lack of a soul and time spent in the underworld?
  • Wynasia – What does it mean to be a paladin in a land of the dead? Gorlu might have been a warrior like the Daughters if he were born in a different time and different place.

Strong Start

Facing Glynd the Disgraced – Darakhul Lord of the Flayed (CR 10 Black gemstone in his skull can fire off necrotic bolts as a bonus action, burns out as a legendary resistance).

Scenes

  • Facing Glynd the Disgraced
  • The Lord of Old Flesh
  • Cave of the hungering ghouls entranced by Gorlu – Antipaladin of the Withered Hand.
  • Journey to the Caverns of Disjunction –
  • A necrotic haunted monolith of Belphegor, Hell’s Inventor (CC 100) – Avatar of Belphegor and its infernal clockworks. Cyberdemon from Doom Baby!!
  • Audience with Orda, priestess of the Withered Hand.
  • The doorway to the Withered Palace in the Dry Lands of Evermaw at the edge of the pits of Vulture’s Beyond, throne of Vardesain.
  • The silent guardians on on the path to the Withered Palace.
  • Audience with Narosain – The Last King.

Secret and Clues

  • The derro are no fans of the ghouls. The derro think the ghouls undead life is an anathma to their goddess, She of the Withered Hand – also known as Addrikah.
  • The derro live on the edge of a madness manifested by their own minds. They love hallucinogenics and use it to alter the worlds around them.
  • Nicoforus the Pale – Emperor of the Ghouls murdered more than a dozen ghoul kings who ruled over their own fiefdoms. Only Narosain – The Last King and only with the blessing of Vardesain whom he served until the end, and still serves as an outcast advisor.
  • The two architects of the darakhul plot, High Priest Radomir Marrowblight – High Priest of Vardesain the Hunger God and Duke Morreto Lichmark – Ruler of Vandekhul, overstep their positions. Its possible Radomir still believes he serves Nicoforus the Pale – Emperor of the Ghouls but Moretto almost certainly seeks to dethrone the emperor.
  • Many agents in the ghoul imperium still serve and remember Narosain – The Last King. His signet ring can bring them allies in the city.
  • Word of their continual defeats and the shattering of the alliance between King Lucan – Lord of the Shroud Eaters and Vampire King of the Grand Duchy of Morgau and Nicoforus the Pale – Emperor of the Ghouls has severely angered the emperor. He has sent his deadliest assassins, the Grim Harvest, to hunt down and kill the characters.
  • The Grim Harvest are led by Kaglyn Kruel – feast-sister of Borys Kreul – Ghoul Assassin of the Imperium, who asked for the job personally. She is no easy mark.
  • Many races of the Underworld deal with the ghouls. They trade in live flesh – not for labor, but for food.
  • Narosain – The Last King knows of a powerful weapon that may serve the characters well in their battle against the forces of Moretto and Radomir but it is lost in a lair known as the dragon’s graveyard. You can guess what lies there. The animated remains of numerous dragons infest the lair but the worst is the dracolich Skyvein the Undying who has not lost her intelligence upon her death and rules over graveyard.
  • A knight priestess of Khors dared to enter the dragon graveyard, smiting down their foes with her powerful mace of light and using beads pulled from a necklace but was slain by Skyvein who summarily reanimated the dragons she had slain. Skyvein’s servants buried the items in an unmarked tomb within her lair.

Fantastic Locations

NPCs

Monsters

  • Deadly Encounter Benchmark: 18
  • Bloody bones (CR4)
  • Skull Lanterns (CR3)
  • Skeletal Guardians (CR2)
  • Darkmantles (CR 1/2)
  • Glynd the Disgraced Imperial Ghoul (CR 10)
  • The Lord of Old Flesh
  • Child of Belphegor – CR 11
  • Gearwork demons – CR 3

Treasure

  • 891cp, 6993sp, 2277gp, 108pp (3957gp); Amber (translucent rich gold, 100gp), Amber (translucent watery gold, 100gp), Amethyst (transparent deep purple, 100gp), Chrysoberyl (transparent pale green, 100gp), Garnet (transparent brown-green, 100gp), Garnet (transparent violet, 100gp), Jade (translucent deep green, 100gp), Jade (translucent light green, 100gp), Jet (opaque deep black, 100gp), Pearl (opaque lustrous yellow, 100gp), Spinel (transparent deep green, 100gp), Tourmaline (transparent pale green, 100gp) 1200gp; Clothes of mending (common wondrous item)
  • Potion of supreme healing (very rare potion)
  • Adamantine armor (chain mail) (uncommon armor), Bracers of archery (uncommon wondrous item), Eyes of the eagle (uncommon wondrous item)
  • An obsidian shadowy spike of Camazotz, Demon Lord of Bats and Fire (ToB pg 85) that casts Afflict Line (Lvl 9)
  • A spiked nightmarish goblet of the Goat of the Woods – Queen of Decadence (MWB 395) that casts Surprise Blessing (Lvl 5)
  • A cracked feyish doll of Rangda, Demon Lord of Witches (CC 78) that casts Sanguine Horror (Lvl 5)

Session Notes