The Temple of the Chained Demon

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A campaign for 1-3 4th-8th level characters, 1 a wizard (an NPC mage will do)

This is a two-quest campaign. The first quest involves rescuing a princess from a tower controlled by an evil wizard, the second quest involves reaching a certain temple before the wizard’s brother can free the Demon locked inside of it.

RESCUING THE PRINCESS

4 days ago, Princess Lyss was kidnapped from Castle Grahnin. King Grahnin received a note telling him to, in 5 days time, send a messenger with 50,000 gp to the huge Oak Tree near the Castle. A worried Grahnin posts notices everywhere that he urgently requires several adventurers to investigate some ruins.

FOR THE DM

Grahnin is actually posting the notice to attract adventurers, so that he can ask them to rescue his daughter. The “ruins” are a cover-up to fool the kidnappers, who certainly have their spies.

The wizard Sorlak has captured Lyss, but not for the money. That, too, was a cover up. He actually took her off in an attempt to conjure information from her mind. King Grahnin and Princess Lyss are the Keepers of the Knowledge of the Temple of the Chained Demon, a temple far to the north, hidden. Sorlak wishes to learn where this temple is so that he and his brother Rannon can open the Sealed Temple and free the Demon, than force it to do their bidding. The 5,000 gp is to make everyone think that Sorlak wants only money, and is ignorant of the fact that the Sealed Temple even exists.

Unknown to Sorlak, however, Princess Lyss has a magic charm, a braided necklace, that he cannot remove. The charm prevents all spells relating to the mind–such as ‘charm’, ‘hypnosis’, etc. Sorlak must first break the enchantment of the charm before he can force Lyss to tell him of the temple. He does this in 4 days, then casts a _New memory_ spell (new magic–see NEWMAGIC file) to make Lyss forget she has told the location of the temple, and to make her remember only that she was kept in a locked room the entire time. However, Sorlak does not know of the second function of Lyss’s charm–it prevents all such forgetfulness spells. Lyss pretends that the spell has worked, and Sorlak sends a letter by carrier pigeon to Rannon that all has gone well.

Now Lyss knows that she has told the location of the temple. As soon as she is rescued, she will ask the PCs to help her get into the Sealed Temple and stop Rannon.

ENTER THE PCs.

3 days after the capture of Lyss, the PCs find the following notice on a town building wall:

[URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE KING!][THE HOUSE OF GRAHNIN ASKS FOR VOLUNTEER ADVENTURERS][RUINS HAVE BEEN FOUND ON THE NORTH SHORE AT A SECRET LOCATION][KING GRAHNIN REQUESTS THE HELP OF VOLUNTEERS TO INVESTIGATE THE RUINS][TREASURE PROBABLY EXISTS][REWARD OFFERED][Come to Grahnin Castle and tell the guardsman, “ruins”]

The PCs journey to Grahnin Castle, are received, and are told that they must rescue Princess Lyss. The reward is 15,000 gp. They are told that the wizard’s camp has been found– a small tower surrounded by at least 100 orcs, goblins, and men.

It is up to the PCs how they will go about rescuing Princess Lyss.

THE CAMP OF SORLAK’S ARMY

1. These are the Quarters of Sorlak’s mini-army of orcs, goblins, and evil men. Each houses 35 men (or whatever). For Orc and Goblin Stats, see MM Orc, MM Goblin. Human Fighters– (55) 0F, THAC0 20, AC 9, HP 6, #ATTACKS: 1, DMG: 1d6 (by weapon), EQUIPMENT 5sp (2.5gp)-25gp, short sword, buckler.

2. The Guards are placed here, each pair is within sight of the two next to them, but not the others. Two guards stand in the open, while one sits in the trees watching for foolish PCs, anbd ready to drop down behind the PCs and aid the other 2 guards. The race of the guards depends on the time of day– MID-6am: orcs, 6am-6pm: humans, 6pm-MID: Goblins.

3. This is the camp. Read the following to the PCs when they see the camp: “You see a large number of bustling humanoids. They are mostly idle–you see a pair of orcs polishing their spears, two goblins are sparring, and a few burly human men are placing bets on a dogfight. Dogfights seem to be the main entertainment for these bandits, who are right now enjoying some idle camp-life in between battles. All of them have small buckler shields and a weapon–the orcs and goblins carry either spears or hand-axes, the human men seem to prefer short-swords. All in all, it’s just a big clearing filled with rowdy scum. Small wooden buildings you take to be quarters sit in random order about the clearing–you see (2? 3? 4?) from where you stand. Dead centre of the camp is a 5-story tower, with few windows and a single door.” If the PC’s wizard does not know _levitate_, have him/her find a levitation scroll on the ground, dropped by Sorlak.

4. The Tower.

A. Meeting Room. Sorlak meets with his three captains (an orc, a goblin, and the human Serdrik–F1 THAC0 19 AC 8 DMG: 1d8 + 1 (long-sword+1) #ATT: 1 EQ: 2 daggers, long-sword+1, medium shield, leather armor, iron bracers) to discuss “Big Stuff” as the other bandits refer to it. A large portrait of Sorlak hangs next to another of his brother Rannon. Stairs lead up to FL 2.

B. Mess Hall. This is where the bandits gather to eat each day. It may/may not be empty, depending on when PCs arrive. SCHEDULE: 5am-6am Goblins + Humans, NOON-1pm Goblins + Orcs, 6pm-7pm Humans + Orcs. The stairs end here.

C. Kitchen. The Cook, a fat orc, resides here.

D. Sorlak doesn’t want his men to get into his private rooms, so the stairs end here and a levitation shaft (a hole cut in the ceiling 20 feet up) allows mages to cast levitate and go up.

E. Sorlak’s Library. On the shelves can be found many valuable research books, including four on illusion, two on necromancy, one on alteration, and two on invocation. In addition, there are two book covers filled with Sorlak’s personal notes on all four of those subjects, as well as a spellbook containing all first-level spells. Lying open on the circular table is a research book entitled “Demons, Summoning and Controlling of”. Sorlak has notes scrawled all over the margins. All of the books in here require a _read magic_ spell to read, and Sorlak’s books full of notes require another casting of the spell. The ZIG-ZAGGING LINE represents a door with _Fire Trap_ cast on it as a 7th level wizard. (see the PH, under 4th levels spells, Fire Trap.) A simple detect magic spell will reveal the door is trapped, a thief can undo it at 50% his normal chance, and a dispel magic has a 75% chance of working and may only be tried once.

F. Sorlak’s Laboratory. The ZIG-ZAGGING LINE represents a _Fire Trapped_ Door (SEE PH, WIZARD SPELLS 4TH LEVEL, FIRE TRAP) Here Sorlak mixes various potions and makes a few scrolls (NOTE: I realize that most wizards cannot make potions or scrolls until 9th level, and that Sorlak is only 7th. Make an exception in Sorlak’s case. The DM can make up a reason. Maybe Sorlak owns a magic item that allowed him to make them, or something.) A pentagon is drawn with silver dust in the centre of the room. Three Potions of Gaseous Form, two Potions of Polymorphing, and one Potion of Fire-breathing rest on the table to the west. The east table holds two scrolls (The DM can decide on the spells) and a Ring of Jumping. (SEE DMG FOR ALL MAGIC ITEM DESCRIPTIONS) Also on the table is a Wand of Misplaced Items (SEE TM, IF DM DOES NOT HAVE TM, USE ANOTHER WAND THAT IS VERY, VERY LIMITED IN POWER.). Command word: Misplace, not written anywhere on wand, but Sorlak knows it.

G. Sorlak’s bedroom. The wizard will be here. Beside his bed are a table with his spellbook, and a locked treasure chest with 3,000 gp in it, as well as two gems worth 650gp each. The circle on the map represents Sorlak’s Wizard’s Lamp (SEE NEWMAGIC file) Sorlak: M7, HP 17 THAC0 18, AC 10, #ATT 1, DMG: 1d6 (by weapon–staff). EQUIPMENT: Staff of Swarming Insects, Ring of Free Action, Ring of Fire Resistance, Ring of Speed, Cloak of Spell-Killing (SEE NEWMAGIC). Scrolls: Fireball, Spectral Force, Monster Summoning 2. Spells memorised: Magic Missile, Grease, Phantasmal Force, light, Levitation, Acid Arrow x 2, Blink, Monster Summoning I, Wall of Fire. The Stairs stop here but the Levitation Shaft leads up to Princess Lyss’ Room. The Shaft ends abruptly with a trap-door, made of steel, with a strong, magic-enhanced lock that can only be opened by the key in Sorlak’s belt (Which, by the way, is a Master Key and will also open the doors to the Library and Laboratory without the traps going off.) A thief of over 5th level may open the lock with a 2% chance after a dispel magic spell is cast. (Might as well just get that key.) Sorlak’s spellbook contains: find familiar, feather fall, Tenser’s Floating Disc, Grease, Magic Missile, Burning Hands, phantasmal force, light, continual light, levitation, acid arrow, lightning bolt, blink, fly, Monster Summoning I, fireball, wall of fog, wall of fire, wall of ice, fire trap, and new memory. ALL SPELL DESCRIPTIONS IN THE PH.

H. Princess Lyss’ Prison Room. A dull, windowless room. Princess Lyss expresses her gratitude, then immediately requests the PCs to help her reach the Temple and stop Rannon from releasing the Demon Xathrok, chained there 1,000 years ago by a powerful priestess who opposed the sorcerer who summoned Xathrok. She will offer a reward of another 15,000gp if the PCs show disinterest. NPC: Princess Lyss, P3, THAC0 19, AC 10, DMG: by weapon, #ATT: 1, EQUIPMENT: white robes. Princess Lyss’s Equipment is hovering near the roof by way of a spell Sorlak cast on it as a joke. She cannot reach it (It’s 30 feet up, duh!), but she can see it. A dispel magic spell will bring it crashing to the floor. If the command word “down”, spoken in the elven tongue, is spoken, it floats gently to the ground. There is a morning star+1, Lyss’s holy symbol, and a pair of Gauntlets of Climbing and Swimming. (IDEA FOR THE DM: WOULDN’T IT BE INTERESTING IF LYSS, WHO IS VERY BEUATIFUL, AND A PC FELL IN LOVE…?)

The Journey to the Temple of the Chained Demon

To reach the Temple, the PCs have to go through Fenrayth Swamp, a huge marsh that will take 4 days to travel. However, halfway through the marsh, the PCs are ambushed by either A) Lizardmen or B) Bullywugs. (SEE the MM, Lizardmen, Bullywugs). These are two swamp creatures that inhabit the marsh who are fighting a war. Whoever captures the PCs will think that they are spies of the “other side”. (i.e. the Bullywugs imprison the PCs because they think they are Lizardman spies.) The ambush is thirty Bullywugs or thirty Lizardmen. If the PCs defeat them with ease, the DM may want to have them be ambushed soon after by sixty or seventy creatures. The creatures that ambush them are determined by the direction the characters go. The Temple is to the Northeast. The path divides into a north-north-east path and an east-north-east past. The Lizardmen live to the Northwest, the Bullywugs live to the Southeast. There is a 50/50 chance of running into either if the PCs leave th path to go straight northeast.

Lizardmen Temple (50/50 chance of BULLYWUGS)

Whoever captures the PCs will keep them in a big wooden cage with 3d6 guards. The cage is in the middle of the village of the creatures. Many Bullywugs/Lizardmen will come by to stick oiut an ugly toungue, mock the PCs, etc., so there is constant attention on them. After about 3 days, if they have not yet escaped, the DM should give them a small opening and maybe make it a little easier to escape. But the PCs will have lost 3 days’ time.

What happens in the swamp is completely up to the DM. But he should try to arrange it so that they will reach the Temple the same day as Rannon, 7 days after Princess Lyss is rescued. The swamp takes 4 days to travel, so they can be captured by swamp-creatures for no longer than 3 days. But if they’re there longer and Xathrok gets released to terrorize the world, it’s the fault of the PCs.

RANDOM ENCOUNTER TABLE FOR FENRAYTH SWAMP

1. 1 1d4 Lizardmen
2. 2 1d4 Lizardmen
3. 3 1d4 Bullywugs
4. 4 1d6 Lizardmen
5. 5 1d6 Bullywugs
6. 6 1d8 Lizardmen
7. 7 1d8 Bullywugs
8. 8 1d10 Lizardmen
9. 9 1d10 Bullywugs
10. 10 1d12 Lizardmen
11. 11 1d12 Bullywugs
12. 12 2d6 Lizardmen/Bullywugs.

If the PCs are in the area of either the Lizardmen, replace all “Bullywugs” with “Lizardmen”, and the reverse if they’re in the Bullywug area.

THE TEMPLE OF THE CHAINED DEMON

1. Entrance Room. This is a small, white room with four doors. Three of the doors are sealed shut, and cannot be opened NO MATTER WHAT THE PCs TRY! The first door may be opened, and leads to TEST 1 rm. Here Lyss will explain to the PCs that too reach the SEALED ROOM where the Demon is kept (behind the 4th door), one must pass three tests. There is a riddle fro every test. The riddles are:

TEST 1–“He who his humble and walketh not upright in pride shall pass.”

TEST 2–“He loves knows where the exit is.”

TEST 3–“Only the bravest will find the way to go.”

Lyss will say that she doesn’t know where Rannon is. He might be taking any of the Tests, or he might already be inside the SEALED ROOM. She does not know the answer to the riddles–no one does. At the PCs decision (and Lyss’s suggestion), one of the party should stay behind and watch to see if Rannon comes out any of the doors. Lyss, being the weakest, would be the best choice. If this is what is done, Lyss (or whoever) will not pass the Tests, and, therefore, cannot enter the SEALED ROOM to battle with Rannon.

If at any time the PCs try to tell the answers to someone who wasn’t with them during the Tests, they will find themselves unable to talk. Should a PC tell another PC anyway, the DM should change the answers to all the Tests and have the bad PC punished by being sent to the Land Of Eternal Death, from which there is NO POSSIBLE RETURN! (It’s times like these that make DMing really fun!)

NOTE: THE TESTS CANNOT BE SOLVED BY MAGICAL MEANS. IF A PC TRIES TO A BEAT A TEST WITHOUT DOING THE CORRECT “ANSWER”, IT WON’T WORK!

TEST ONE: The PCs find themselves in a mist-filled room. They hear the sound of what appears to be a god’s voice, “PROSTRATE YOURSELVES!!”. If they use humility (and bow), they will not be hit by the blade that sweeps past them a few seconds later. The god’s hand reaches down, picks up anyone who bowed, and tosses him back into the ENTRANCE ROOM, ready to open Door #2. ANy PCs who are hit by the blade die instantly and their bodies vanish.

TEST TWO: The door opens up onto a little ledge. The room is shaped like a human body, with lines outlining all the main parts–head, heart, eyes, mouth, nose, chest, stomach, etc. A small machine is attached to the ceiling and can be guided around by turning the crank on it. A sign by the machine says, “Pull lever to drop”. If the PC in the machine pulls the lever on it, he will be dropped onto the ground. The answer is to drop over the Heart (Love, heart, get it? Sorry.) The heart opens and drops the PC back onto the ENTRANCE ROOM. Dropping anywhere else dumps the PC into a huge pot of boiling acid (unless the DM can think of a worse way to die–be my guest!!)

TEST 3: The door opens out onto a huge pit. Down in the pit is a monster–a huge, tooth-filled mouth with two small, beady eyes and a three little legs underneath. The mouth fills almost the entire pit and is open and snapping. Of course, “the bravest” will jump directly into the monster’s mouth–only too discover that it is an illusion. He will appear in the ENTRANCE ROOM, and be admitted into the SEALED ROOM.

NOTE: Rannon has been in the SEALED ROOM the entire time, and whoever stays behind at the ENTRANCE ROOM will not see him come out. He’s in the middle of casting the complicated spell that will break the gate.

THE SEALED ROOM

The sealed chamber is a small white room identical to the entrance room–except for one thing. There is a door-shaped design on one side of the wall, made up of hundreds of little spiderweb-like strands. Beyond the thing, glowing gate, the PCs can see one huge claw gripping the earth. Beyond the big red claw is a red desert land (some other plane, DM’s choice which one). Standing in front of the SEALED DOORWAY is Rannon, the powerful brother of Sorlak. He turns as the PCs enter, interrupting his concentration. In fury, he will attack them, hoping to finish the spell afterwards. Rannon-M9, THAC0 18, AC 6, #AT: 1, DMG: 1d6 (by weapon:staff), HP 24, Spells mem. magic missile x 4, flaming sphere x2, acid arrow, fireball, continual light, cone of cold, wall of ice, monster summoning II, monster summoning I, spectral force, monster summoning III, EQUIPMENT: spellbook, 3 scrolls–web, grease, empty, Ring of Spell Turning, Staff of Swarming Insects, Potion of Speed, Potion of Gaseous Form, silver dagger +2 Rannon has ARMOR cast on him, which is why his AC is 6. His spellbook contains all the spells of Sorlak as well as: cone of cold, flaming sphere, continual light, monster summoning II, monster summoning III, spectral force, improved phantasmal force, blind, web, armour, and shield. ALL SPELL DESCRIPTIONS IN THE PH.

POSIBLE ENDINGS

1. IF THE PCS DIE. The PCs souls will be honoured by Princess Lyss, who escapes, but not for long, because soon Xathrok will take over all of Grahnin Castle’s surrounding areas, and Rannon will become the new ruler, his rein will last another 1000 years because he eventually will turn himself into a liche.

2. IF THE PCS ARRIVE TOO LATE. Xathrok is released, who destroys the TEMPLE, and is successfully controlled by Rannon. The PCs will have to embark on another adventure, this one to stop Xathrok’s terrorism and find a priest capable of chaining him into another TEMPLE when he’s defeated. Xathrok can be whatever type of Demon the DM wants, as long as it’s a very powerful one that the PCs stand almost no chance of winning against. They will have to A) Find others to help them in their quest B) Find a priest to seal Xathrok back up once he’s beaten, and C) Actually kill Xathrok in battle. NOTE ABOUT XATHROK: regardless of what the DM makes him, Xathrok will be resurrected 10 days later in a different location if not sealed into another Temple.

3. IF THE PCS DEFEAT RANNON. They arrive back at the Castle Grahnin, where King Grahnin uses magic to wipe the memory of the Temple’s Location from their minds (If PCs don’t role-play the fact that they’ve forgotten, just say that the Temple isn’t in the same place. The place they remember–at the edge of Fenrayth Swamp–was a replaced memory, a result of the NEW MEMORY spell that Sorlak had, and the Grahnin, a 1st-level mage, finds a scroll of and cast on the PCs.) They are given their 30,000 gp (15,000 for rescuing the Princess and another 15,000 for stopping Rannon’s foul plans.) They are honoured in the lands around Grahnin Castle as heroes for the rest of their lives, and can stay free at the home of King Grahnin whenever they wish. Also, they will be allowed to keep all of the treasure they found along the way.

NEW MAGIC SPELLS AND ITEMS:

4th Level Wizard spell–NEW MEMORY
Duration: Permanent
Range: 1 person
Casting Time: 3 rounds
Saving Throw: Special
Components: V,S,M

This spell was researched and created by SOrlak’s brother, Rannon, and is a better version of the _forget_ spell.  The NEW MEMORY spell replaces a memory in the vistim’s mind with another memory that the wizard creates.  It takes two rounds to cast the spell and 1 round to get a good image of the new memory.  The caster could replace the forgotten memory with a black void and reduce the casting time to 2.  The memory to be replaced can span from 1 round to 1 day per level of the wizard.  If successful, the victim does not even know that one memory has been replaced with another.  The victim gets a +3 to the saving throw.  If the save is successful, the victim forgets but the new memory does not come into play.  The victim knows he has just forgotten something important, and remembers the casting, but cannot remember the image he has forgotten, instead he remembers only darkness.

In the case of the campaign “The Temple of the Chained Demon”, Princess Lyss automatically fails her save.  However, the charm she is wearing allows her to know the memory that she is supposed to remember, although it stops the spell from working.  Therefore Princess Lyss can easily pretend she remembers what the caster wants her to remember.

MAGIC ITEM–WIZARD’S LAMP
XP: 3,500
A very common item among wizards.  The Lamp automatically hovers above the ground at the height of the caster’s head.  If the caster is more than 120 feet away, the Lamp hovers at 5 feet.

The Lamp is a sphere of glass resembling a crystal ball, about the size of a human head.  It responds to the following word commands:

Light: Light equal to a large candle
Lighter: Grows several degrees lighter.  Maximum is the light of broad daylight on a cloudless day.
Dimmer: Grows dimmer.  Minimum is a faint sliver of light barely noticed.
Dark: Light goes out.
Go: Lamp moves in the direction the wizard points until told ‘Stop’.  Maximum 120 feet.  Movement rate 3.
Stop: The Lamp stops where it is.
Back: The Lamp returns to the wizard.
The Lamp is especially convenient for reading, memorizing, and researching (all the things mages need to do0.

MAGIC ITEM–CLOAK OF SPELL-KILLING
XP: 10,000
It’s not as good as it sounds!  The Cloak can only be used by a mage.  When the command word, “Mute” is spoken, all spells cast within a 60-foot radius are cast, but instead of a spell, the magical energy resolves itself in a quick flash of light from the caster’s hands, harmless.  THE CLOAK KILLS ALL SPELLS, INCLUDING THE WEARER’S!!  Since it can only be worn by a wizard, the wizard had better have some good magic items to attack with because he’s not doing anything else! The cloak operates until it takes 10 points of damage, a piece of it is completely separated from the rest, the wearer dies, or the command word, “Un-Mute” is spoken.

Whew! My hands are tired! Think I’ll stop typing now that I’m done with the campaign!