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Check out upcoming Sword and Sorcery Studioproducts online at: http://www.swordsorcery.com
Blood Sea: The Crimson Abyss © 2004 White Wolf Publishing, Inc. Distributed for Sword and Sorcery Studios byWhite Wolf Publishing, Inc.
This printing of Blood Sea: The Crimson Abyss is published in accordance with the Open Game License. See theOpen Game License Appendix of this book for more information.
Blood Sea: The Crimson Abyss, Scarred Lands, the Scarred Lands logo, Sword and Sorcery, Sword and SorceryStudios, the Sword and Sorcery logo, Creature Collection, Creature Collection 2: Dark Menagerie, Creature Collection3: Savage Bestiary, Relics & Rituals and Relics & Rituals 2: Lost Lore are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc.All rights reserved.
“d20 System” and the “d20 System” logo are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro,Inc., and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 4.0. A copy of this license can be found at
http://www.wizards.com/d20.Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the U.S. and/
or other countries, used with permission.The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.
PRINTED IN CANADA.
CreditsAuthors:
Steve Berman, Graveyard Greg, Will Timmins
Developer:Joseph D. Carriker, Jr.
Editor:Janice M. Sellers
Managing Editor:Andrew Bates
Art Director:Mike Chaney
Layout and Typesetting:Mike Chaney
Cover Artist:Steve Ellis
Interior Artists: James Stowe, Grey Thornberry, David Day, &
Mike Chaney
Cartography:Ed Bourelle
Front & Back Cover Design:Mike Chaney
DedicationTo the memory of Joseph D. Carriker, Sr., a
real-life adventurer and rogue, for showing me thewonders and dangers of the open sea.
Special ThanksTo Chris Pramas and the crew over at Green
Ronin Publishing, for letting us use some of the rulesand ideas found in Skull & Bones, a great resource forany pirating or seagoing campaign.
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BLOOD SEA: THE CRIMSON ABYSS
Table of ContentsPreface 3Chapter One: The Scarlet Deeps 4Chapter Two: Beneath the Crimson Waves 24Chapter Three: Heart of the Blood Sea 42Chapter Four: Pirates of the Blood Sea 58Chapter Five: Adventures on the Blood Sea 77Appendix 93Prestige Classes 117
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PREFACE
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Preface
A Note on ReferencesThe reader will find abbreviations in this
book that refer to other titles that offer help-ful reference. Each is listed as follows:CCrev Creature Collection RevisedCC2 Creature Collection II:
Dark MenagerieCC3 Creature Collection III:
Savage BestiaryRR Relics & RitualsRR2 Relics & Rituals II: Lost LoreMM Core Rulebook III
This project has been a fantastic voyage, all onits own.
Growing up, I have fond memories of tripswith my father down to the docks of PortBrownsville, Texas. Even as early as that, the seahas drawn me inexorably — it is terrifying andmesmerizing in equal measures. Its surface hides aworld larger than our own, with mysteries anddangers many times more alien than even thosewe’ve imagined in outer space.
To me, the Blood Sea is in many ways theepitome of that mystery and that danger. Thestrangeness that can be found in its vast crimsonwaters outweirds those in our world, for they aretwisted and made strange by the blood of a being oftremendous power — a titan. This blood makesthings once perhaps sensible, if odd, unwholesomeand terrible in their entirety, as even things assimple as plant life, fish and coral growths becomeabsolute monstrosities. The dangers here are manyand vicious.
So, come explore the blood-drenched waters.See the changes that the viscera of Kadum havehad upon those same seas from which he dredgedthe lands of Scarn eons ago.
Welcome to the Blood Sea. Whatever you do,don’t drink the water.
Joseph D. Carriker, Jr.Scarred Lands DeveloperSword & Sorcery Studios
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BLOOD BAYOU
Lore of the Blood Sea
Chapter One:The Scarlet
Deeps
Chapter One:The Scarlet
Deeps
My dear Maresindra, I trust you and yourbrethren in Rahoch are well? I hope I cause nooffense, but I suggest that in all future correspondence,we acknowledge the glory and just rule of King Virduk.Never know what overzealous eyes may be readingthese words.
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CHAPTER ONE: THE SCARLET DEEPS
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Before the Sea was BloodFrom the rift came wordOracles prophesying warCommanders counseling cautionDreamers waking in terror.All is our servantBowing down to our mightFrom the majestic krakenTo surface folk.No threat is beyond us.— Fragment of poem found on a metal sheet
recovered from deep waters off of Mithril, tentativelydated pre-Old Calendar. It bears a familial resem-blance to the elvish script Ahna.
Research into the Blood Sea begins wellbefore the chaining of Kadum. Earliest recordshint at a large civilization of undersea elvesextending throughout the ocean east of Ghelspad.A number of structural details, such as the Fif-teen Steps submerged close to the Cliffs ofConstancy, evince common origin. Divinationconsistently places these artifacts all well beforethe Old Calendar. Of course, accuracy is, asever, hampered by the chaotic influence of theDivine War.
Theories are split on the nature of this civili-zation. Many of my colleagues believe this to bean empire of the merfolk. The similarity of weapondesign, architecture and language to those of highelves is explained as a borrowing — evidence oftrade rather than identity.
This is slack-minded willful ignorance ofthe evidence.
At the heights of the Ledean empire, acommitted band of wizards could construct acastle in the sky, completely sealed in stone,and survive quite comfortably. It is not difficultto imagine that elves — seeking perhaps to fleecompetition with other titanspawn and the in-fluence of titans in the open land — might usea modest amount of magic to live productivelybeneath the waves.
Testimony of an Elf
In any case, my colleagues here aresupportive of your work. It is obviousthat, as a cleric of Manawe, the prob-lem of the Blood Sea is close to you.Even here in Lokil, the danger and hor-ror of that corrupted place touch us. Iregret, however, that I have been unableto rouse any substantive personnel toassist you in your crusade. My fellowsdo wish to vanquish the monsters andpower of the sanguinary ocean — butthey are scholars, not warriors.
As for your second request, that isa much simpler matter — at least on thesurface. Indeed, I would be hard-pressed to stop the torrent of commentsand references the subject of the BloodSea elicits. I have gathered and copiedmaterials on the subject. As we dis-cussed, you are bound to keep thisinformation in strictest confidence — lim-ited to yourself and the more … restrainedof your faith. I rely on your discretion.
I realize the utility of many of thesedocuments may not be obvious at firstglance. The true secret of knowledge — ifyou will bear a pontifical aside — is thatit is fertile. The loose fact of the habits ofthis place or the experiences of that mayconnect to a matter lying before you.Knowledge is expansive — one fact addedto one fact may yield multitudes.
I will continue my researches here.There are some records I have not beenable to access as of yet, and we are due fora shipment of some interesting tabletsfrom the waters off of Mithril.
— Letter from Telbot the Umber, Sage of Lokil
This one spake to the ancient elf,
seeking an answer for the empty
waters. Many had noted the dearth
of fish and life from the eastern
sea, a lack that fortuitously re-
treated from year to year. In a
mere generation, the number of fish-
ing vessels returning with heavy
nets has doubled. The shore is cov-
ered with seabirds, much like those
seen in western lands.
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