Pithily Oroborus, An overview of our D&D module

[MegasquidMan]

Me and EddieG have devised a Random Monster encounter Table around the riverside (and possibly Lake Möbius)

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River Random Encounters.

Encounters for animals and monster indigenous to the water and the coastal areas.

1: 1 Kuo-Toa Straggler: CR 2
2: 1 Bat Swarm: CR 2
3-4: 1 Euparkeria: CR ½
5-6: 1 Darkmantle: CR 1
7-8: 2 Small Monstrous Centipedes: CR ½
9-11: 3 Kobolds: CR 1
12-14: 2 Jermlaine: CR 1
15-16: 1 Small Monstrous Spider: CR ½
17-18: 1 Shrieker Fungus: CR 1
19: 1 Black Bear: CR 2
20: 1 Dire Toad: CR 3

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Ed, we must continue to be on a roll like this. The more we get done, the better. I feel so much promise with this.

EDIT: Also, you'll all most likely notice that your Monster Manuals don't have a "Euparkeria" in it's stats. That's because we found it on a site with a list of fan-made monsters for 3.5 D&D usage (none of which seem broken... yet). Its stats will be put into the Module (either under "Euparkaria", or "Dinosaur, Euparkeria"). The site where we've gotten it from will be credited, of course.

P.S.: Ed, it's called "Euparkeria", not "Euparkaria". Google helps like that.

[EddieG]

As they continue their trip the players will eventually come across the Troglodyte Druid Rass and his brother Syntarsus. Rass will recognize PC’s and confront them about what is happening to the water and the fish.

(If the PC’s left the Goblins in Rass’s care some of them will be fishing alongside the river. They will be celebrating how much easier catching dead fish is and either of the surviving goblin leaders can be present at DM discretion. Now could also be a good time for Rass to reward the PC if they did.)

“As you travel down the banks of the river you can see two figures alongside the water. One of them is Rass, the Troglodyte that assisted with the Goblins at the old road. He is knelt down in the stream examining the water and fish. He sniffs at the water and watches it as it flows through his fingers. His badger alongside him stomps through water and paws noisily at the fish.

The second figure standing behind him is also a Troglodyte, about the same size and wearing similar garb. Unlike Rass this one has a much more blue tone to his complexion. He observes the situation in silent reflection as if in deep thought. A sizeable snake rests idly over his shoulders, seemingly as relaxed as it keeper.

The second Troglodyte notices the party, calls out calmly to Rass and waves his spear toward their direction. Rass snarls prominently, he turns his focus toward the group. He walks away form the water eyeing the party. He then addresses the party in the ever irritated tone trademark of him.”

[EddieG]

“*Snarl* It seems the adventures from before have returned to travel the wilderness of the Pithily Oroborus once again. So then what do we owe the pleasure of your continued presents? Do you have more dealings with the Abominations that ruin these lands? *Growl*”

“Clam yourself brother.” The other Troglodyte interjects with a cool even tone. “The time to deal with the disgraces to this land will come. Now we have other matters of the balance to attend.”

“Indeed, Syntarsus.” Rass responds and then continues his exchange with the party. “Perhaps you’re here because the previous efforts to restore the condition of the land have fallen short of the waterways. Fish are dying in increasing numbers and the water slowly becomes bitter and undrinkable. We’ve noticed that as we move further north the effects diminish. *Snarl* So we’ve come to believe the source of this… contamination… comes from the Lake Möbius. We plan to travel there, will you travel with us again to purge this affront?”

Syntarsus like his brother is a Druid and concerns himself with keeping “The balance.” He also shares his hate of things unnatural and works towards their destruction. Unlike Rass he is much more even-toned and coolheaded. He speaks with a smooth collected voice and always addresses Rass as “Brother”. He fights with spear and sling and is accompanied by a constricting snake named Steve.

[EddieG]

With the Troglodyte brothers the PC’s can continue traveling southwards to Lake Möbius. They will soon make it to their destination and find quite a surprise waiting for them. By the lake’s edge and surrounding area a number of Illithid’s slaves will be found slaughtered by Kuo-toa invaders whose bodies are also littering the ground. Nyth’ghuul and his thrall Cassandra (unless she escaped earlier) will be found here surveying the carnage alongside some other Illithids, one of which is council member Gorrack.

“The group makes its way closer and closer to the banks of Lake Möbius, the scent of fresh water and a faint metallic taste drifts through the air. The clean water begins to take slowly on a crimson hue as you make your way. Soon you discover the reason for the waters transformation; a number of corpses litter the banks of the lake. Most of the bodies are humanoid although some are more unusual then others. Upon closer inspection of the more “Unusual humanoids” you realize that the "humanoid" details fall short. Their large glossed eyes, pale green slime-covered scales, webbed hands and feet, and unsightly fishlike faces make them seem more monstrous than humanoid. A number of people are overseeing the carnage seemingly led by a small number of Mind Flayers. You recognize one of the Mind Flayers as Nyth'ghuul, he speaks aloud as another Illithid looms over him authoritively.”

“Forgive me, but our thralls were poorly equipped and prepared for such an unlikely and dangerous incursion...”

“The more prestige of the two Mind Flayers, dressed in iconic black robes adorned with stylized skulls and markings one could surmise to be similar to wrinkles in grey matter, undulates its mouth tentacles toward the other Illithid. Its thoughts booming in your head.”

"DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES, YOU INFERIOR BREED!!! See that you correct this... and be GREATFUL that I spare your pitiful life!"

[EddieG]

“The thoughts, as they are projected, literally feel like you're being punched in your own brain. Nyth'ghuul bows in shame, and his tentacles quiver with what appears to be rage. He notices the parties approach and glares intensely. Nyth'ghuul respectfully withdraws from the lead Illithid to approach the party. He looks over the group, each one of you feeling a icy chill as he once again appraises you.”

“Ah, the Corpse Merchant and his… entourage have arrived at a most opportune time.” The physically imposing Mind Flayer speaks aloud.

“We travel together out of necessity more so then choice.” Dirge responds impersonally. “To move this many corpses will take quite some time and it is getting more difficult to do so.”

“Abominations.” Rass mutters disgusted.

Dirge and Nyth’ghuul disregard the Troglodyte’s slur and the Mind Flayer continues to explain the situation.

“These creatures came from the water, they killed a number of our thralls before being repelled by our superior power. Now it has been decided that this act must be responded to and the aggressors destroyed or bent to our will. We must go out upon lake and discover the source of these suicidal fools, but to do so we will need transportation. We will be escorting Councilor Gorrack to our Drow… allies to petition them use of boats to transverse the lake. If you wish to continue plying your trade cleric you will assist us in this endeavor.”

Dirge nods understandingly.

[EddieG]

Syntarsus who has been studying one of the fishlike corpses speaks aloud to his brother.

“These creatures stink of whatever is responsible for killing the fish.”

Rass digests this new information and then responds.

“If that is the case then we will be joining you in your trip to the Dark Elves and over the lake once you have their boats.”

“Do as you please Troglodyte, but do not hinder us lest you feel your existence forfeit.” Snaps Nyth’Ghuul.

The party can now travel eastwards with the Mind Flayer entourage to visit the city of the Drow, Orbb’s Z’ress. The Illithid group is comprised of Councilor Gorrack, Nyth’ghuul, 3 adult Illithids, and 18 Thralls of different races one of which being Cassandra if she is still held prisoner. Councilor Gorrack will brook no questions from non Illithids, and even then will not tolerate anything he finds foolish. Non Illithids will be commanded to direct any inquires to Nyth’ghuul, lest they suffer Gorrack's anger. Nyth’ghuul can answer most basic questions about the Drow and their city and will caution the group that they will survive only at grace of the Mind Flayers, so they should behave themselves.

(DM’s may also make Random Encounter rolls as the players travel until they arrive at Orbb’s Z’ress.)

[EddieG]

Sidebar: Path to Drow City Random Encounters
Possible encounters the party may face on their way to Orbb’s Z’ress. The encounters listed here are for the entire group, PC’s will be required to handle only as many of the creatures the DM sees fit. Encounters listed under certain conditions (words in brackets"[ ]") will behave according to these conditions. There is also a % chance that the encounter will have been defeated beforehand by the Leucrotta the PC’s will encounter later in the module. DM may use this for foreshadowing proposes if inclined.

["friendly"] – Friendly encounters will not attack the group. If the PC’s attack a friendly encounter the entire group will turn on them.
["indifferent"] – Indifferent encounters will not try to attack the group. If the PC’s attack an indifferent encounter the group will not assist unless the encounter engages them as well.
["hostile"] - Will indeed attack the group regardless of PC behavior.
["hungry"] - Will attack if prey is easy enough to catch.

1: 2 Pulverizer Automatons (Programmed to "Mine for ore.") CR 6 (0%) ["indifferent"]
2: 5 Chokers feasting on a dead group of adventures CR 10 (20% No adventures in this case) ["indifferent"]
3-4: 3 Bat Swarms CR 6 (0%) ["hungry"]
5-6: 3 Fihyrs CR 9 (35%) ["hostile"]
7-8: 7 Dire Corbies CR 7 (50%) ["hostile"]
9-12: Drow Patrollers - 6 Drow and 3 Bugbear Entourages CR 12 (20%) ["friendly"]
13-14: Jermlaine Raiding Party - 12 Jermlaines and 6 Dire Rats CR 8 (20%) ["hostile"]
15-16: 2 Orc Tribesmen (Lv 1 Barbarian), and 1 Orc Chieftain (Lv 4 Druid) with Black Bear Companion CR 8 (35%) ["hostile"]
17-18: 3 Rat Swarms CR 6 (0%) ["hungry"]
19: 5 Giant Cockroaches CR 10 (0%) ["hungry"]
20: Dead Very Young Fang Dragon ["indifferent"]

[MegasquidMan]

Well, while we wait, let me key all of you in on what we have for the next installments:

There are several ways to pay tribute to gain access to the Drow's boats. We have planned out that the PCs could-

A: Head to the "House of Pleasure" and gamble up the necessary amount of money needed. The current most available way of doing that is to bet of Gladiatorial Combat matches, or even compete in them.

B: Find the High Priestess's Husband, who tells the PCs of a Caravan of Deep Gnomes. These Caravans hold many riches, and more.

C: The PCs find a Drow Agent (or, rather, he finds them) who sees the PCs as an easy means to locate an old Drow hideout located at the very edge of the Crystalline Fields, and find whatever is inside of there. All while using an old parchment using only directions and coordinates to locate this lost hideout.

Further detailed information will follow.

[MegasquidMan]

What we failed to mention. Me and Ed are slowly but steadily working on the... portions of the next step of the story.

One thing I will spoil: There is a side-quest where a Drow Agent will hand out a "hard-to-decipher" map. Yes, this Module is for more experienced players, but I've decided to do something a little out of the ordinary for this little side-quest: I've given Ed both a picture file of the portion of Pithily Oroborus the PCs will venture (South of Orbb's Z'ress, which lead to the entrance of the Crystalline Field. The land there has an abrupt transition as if the crystalized area southbound was mass-created rapidly... like some volcanic flash-fry) with compass needle and inch/distance converter on it, as well as a "parchment" piece with instructions.

How it works is this: The Parchment given to the PCs have specific instructions involving math and directional coordinates (hint: the compass and distance bar will be a BIG help).

Honestly, I probably held back a few punches with this one, but it may be fair this time because it introduces a new element into the game, and it'd be a shame to make it too hard for people to solve it, or even have fun. Once the players get what we've done, and can prepare for the next time (and I get the appropriate feedback and critiques needed to progress this interesting element) will I make them harder (harder, but not impossible).

Why this odd deviation of play? For starters, I LOVE puzzles! Anything that gives me the chance to work out an answer and challenges me gives me a feeling of satisfaction; that I've accomplished something, and formed new skills involving mathematics/shape geometry, preparation skills, or some good ol' "thinking outside of the box". It's this reason that I figured I'd want to add something new to the table (for us, maybe not for some DMs), something innovative, freshly clever, and potentially something players will talk about for a few days. And in all due fairness, it's not that big of a deviation if it can be incorporated into the gameplay.

I'll definitely say that, if our beta version gives us the results we seek, it'll certainly be a refreshing break from the tedious hack-n-slash fighting, or the PC/NPC interaction which, depending on how your players play and how their PCs play, may or may not give you the results you expected (if it's progressive or dynamic it's all perfectly fine... but, like some players I know, if it draws out too long because some PCs do little to roll the story along or derail it too much, it becomes a BORING, OSTRACIZING NIGHTMARE!!).

A picture of the landscape will hopefully be added on this post, once it is added to this site.

[EddieG]

Part 2: Chapter 2 Paying Tribute

The PC’s, alongside the Mind Flayer group, will make their way eastwards to the Drow city of Orbb’s Z’ress. There they will meet the High Priestess Walukena, her husband Mauduin, and the enigmatic Officer 612. Here they will bear witness as the Illithids petition the Drow for use of boats and be called upon to acquire the funds necessary to procure the vessels needed. The PC will have the chance to visit the El'lar D'ssinssrigg to do some gambling and maybe even enter into some gladiatorial games. The party will even have the chance to raid Gnomish caravans and explore a forgotten Drow hideout. “The Party travels eastwards; eventually passing through a small valley between modest sized rocky cliffs. The entire length of the trip you can feel the eyes of dark dangerous persons upon you, and if not for the Illithids you know they would have struck you down. Even untrained eyes can see that these valley walls have been worked to make them difficult terrain for scaling. Off not far into the distance you can make out the imposing natural walls that compose the defense of Orbb’s Z’ress. Over the walls you can almost discern the tops of impressively tall buildings. Soon you are before the tall black iron doors that are the entrance to the city. Before anyone needs make their presents known the thick entry groans open and a score of Drow sentries greet the group.”

“Great allies of the Drow; we welcome you to Orbb’s Z’ress.” An officer uniformed like the others proclaims. His only discernable feature in comparison a branding on his bicep of the numbers 612. “Our Darkrunners saw your approach so we prepared for your arrival immediately. The High Priestess eagerly awaits your arrival.”

Councilor Gorrack’s tentacles writhe over themselves as his thoughts thunder into your minds; some Drow apparently ill at ease by his communiqué. “Then waste no more time; take me to her without delay!”

(DM Note: As PC’s travel through the city Officer 612 will answer any questions they might have. Should the PC’s be unable to understand or converse in Drow he will also act as translator.)

“The trip into Orbb’s Z’ress continues as the Drow now lead you through the city. The city is beautiful if not monotonous. Two monolithic building stand watch over the city; one you’re told is the El'lar D'ssinssrigg a den for gambling, fighting, and drinking, the other is The Temple of Lolth, your destination. The populous watch intently as your procession transverses the road, some of them apparently displeased by your presents. Aside from some uncomfortable glances you arrived at the temple safely. The Temple is an impressive structure, large and tall adorned with many breath taking reliefs. You’re given little time to enjoy the sight as you are quickly directed into the building and through its halls. The interior is absolutely gorgeous decorated with the finest furniture and tapestries. Soon you’re all taken into the audience chamber where the high priestess awaits your arrival sitting from her throne. The priestess is strikingly beautiful and speaks aloud to you in Drowish from behind a stunning silver mask polished to a mirror sheen.”

“Good Gorrack, mighty ally to the Drow. We bid you welcome to Orbb’s Z’ress.”

“And welcome we are great priestess.” Councilor Gorrack’s thought boom into your heads noticeably less intensely then before.

“What brings you before us, Councilor?”

“Some damnable fools came from the water and in their foolishness dared to harm our stock. Now they must be made to suffer for their ignorance. We would petition you for the use of your vessels to transverse Lake Möbius, and deal upon them much needed punishment.”

“Our boats are much too valuable to be simply handed out. Petitions do not come cheap, Good Councilor”

“And how would they come to the great allies of the Drow?”

“By tribute.”
“As I perceived it would... state your requisites, great priestess.”

“Two Thousand pieces by way of gold or greater.” “Then we shall endeavor to please. We will return with your… needed tribute.”

“Gorrack politely excuses himself and makes his exit with the group. Your escorting officer leads you once again through the city. You’re brought to a Town House which you’re told you may use while in the city.”

The town house is a very comfortable, single story building used for visiting dignitaries and important guests. Gorrack will take a few moments to prepare the new surroundings and make plans to acquire the tribute necessary. He will demand that Nyth’ghuul take the PC’s and try to find at least half the tribute while he calls in favors from close allies. Officer 612 will suggest two different routes the PC’s can take if interested: The El'lar D'ssinssrigg or a lost trove of stolen Drow treasure.

"If you and your lot really intend to acquire tribute to our High Priestess's boats, might I suggest one of two ways that you could go about it? The first is that our Gladiatorial tournaments in El'lar D'ssinssigg, our house of pleasure, allows those to participate in gambling and wagering bets to gain money fast, but be aware of the house rules. I've had to... straighten out a few of our own who preferred to take everything for themselves, to tamper with the earnings.

Another way would be this odd map that my men had found the other day. It tells of a Drow Trove that we've lost some decades ago, but the map is, not tough to read, but just tough to figure where we need to start at. Its worded instructions, rather than a typical picture map, you see. On the back on Undercommon is says the destined ones will be the ones who'll see the starting point... maybe you can do what me and my men could not.”

[EddieG]

DM's Note:

If in such case a PC either thinks or says something out-of-line, concerning or toward Gorrack, Gorrack himself can respond in any of the following ways: "If you do not like your current lot, you can easily be executed and replaced!" "You would do well to hold what your kind calls a tongue... unless you'd prefer I remove the problematic organ." "You have such fire and spirit, meat-creature... I shall one day put it out." "You will know your place, or feel the lash of my tentacles on your brain-case!!"