tsr09117 - cm1 test of the warlords

PREROLLED CHARACTERSIf your players do not have high-level characters, they may usethe prerolled characters given below. Each descriptionincludes notes on background, but you should encourage theplayers to add personality details to these descriptions.Only the bare minimum of equipment and armor has beenlisted for these characters. Make sure that each of these charac-ters has the following:

* 200,000 gp in gems, jewelry, or coins* 4-9 potions* 1-2 magical rings* 1-2 miscellaneous magical items* 1-4 loyal henchmen, if the player wants

When necessary, use dice to determine how many of the aboveitems a character has. To determine which items a characterhas, you may roll randomly on any of the lists in the D&D®Basic, Expert, or Companion rules. If, however, you use onlythe Companion lists, reroll all results that would give the char-acters items found only in the Companion rules. Give theseitems out during the course of play.

Even though these characters come from different parts of theworld, you may tell the players that these characters haveadventured together in the past, or that they have met andbecome acquainted on the journey to Norwold.

Fergus the JustifierLawful 15th level Fighter

Strength 15 Dexterity 17Intelligence 7 Constitution 14Wisdom 12 Charisma 10

Armor Class -5 Hit points 54

Weapons: sword +3; longbow +2; 20arrows +1

Armor: plate mail +3; shield +2

Fergus is a wandering warrior fromthe kingdom of Vestland. He hastraveled most of the civilized lands,and has made a substantial fortune.Fergus recently won a major tourna-ment in Norrvik. It was there that heheard of the new kingdom ofNorwold and decided to move northto see what the fuss was about.

Quillan Elm-GrowerLawful 10th level elf



Weapons: sword +2; longbow +3; 20arrows +1

Armor: chain mail +4; shield +2

Quillan is an accomplished elf fromthe Forest of Alfheim. The restless,adventurous elf has come toNorwold in search of excitement.Knowing that there are many elvesin that land's northern forests, heintends to meet and get to know thisfolk. Quillan hopes to form a nichefor himself in the Norwold's elvensociety. He does enjoy the rambunc-tious company and rowdy goodhumor of humans, however, so hedoes his best to keep up contacts withhis human comrades.

Geoffrey of HeldannLawful 15th level cleric

StrengthIntelligenceWisdom

10 Dexterity 1110 Constitution 1715 Charisma 9


Weapon: mace +3 (+5 vs. undead)


Geoffrey has spent most of his careerhelping the poor and sick in hisnative land of the Heldann Free-holds. As he developed in both repu-tation and power, Geoffrey waschallenged more and more often byforces of evil that had tracked himdown. Since a number of lower levelclerics are studying now in Heldann,Geoffrey has left his ancestral homein order to spare it the scourge of theevil that follows him. He hopes thatin the new land of Norwold he willbe free to begin a new life.

Brogahn of the SteppesLawful 15th level fighter



Weapons: war hammer +3; shortbow; 20 arrows +2


Brogahn is an imposing figure. Hehas broad shoulders, a scowlingface, and a huge black beard. Beingone of the most accomplished war-riors of the Ethengar Khanate, Bro-gahn had begun to seem like a threatto that warlike nation's ruling coun-cil. Brogahn decided that his futurelie elsewhere, so he has come toNorwold in search of whatever thatland has to offer.

Weston the TallLawful 15th level thief


Armor Class 1 Hit points 40

Weapons: sword +3; two daggers +2Armor: leather armor +3; ring of

protection +1

Weston the Tall is a well-traveledadventurer. He has seen most of thecities and lands in the civilizedworld. He usually arrives in a newarea with a full purse and highexpectations, only to leave a monthor two later, just ahead of a pack ofcity guards and irate merchants. Sofar, Weston has managed to stay twosteps ahead of those who would dohim harm. Weston has decided totake the profits made from manyyears of living dangerously and set-tle down. He wants to try his hand atrunning a dominion.

Claransa the SeerLawful 15th level magic-user


13 Dexterity 1117 Constitution 1411 Charisma 11

32Armor Class 6 Hit points

Weapons: two daggers +4; staff ofwizardry

Armor: ring of protection +1; dis-placer cloak

Claransa has spent much timestudying magic in the scholarly hallsof Specularum. She has adventuredin the Grand Duchy of Karameikos,but has seen little of the rest of theworld. Nevertheless, her exploits inKarameikos have earned her a repu-tation as a steadfast comrade andknowledgeable wizard.

PROLOGUE: HOW TO RUN THIS ADVENTURE

With the fall of the Black Eagle Barony andits allied forces, the settled lands of the conti-nent are now peaceful. Most of the land'sdungeons have been plundered, and mon-sters have been driven from all but a few ofthe civilized dominions. Prosperity reignsthroughout the land now, which is just howthe rulers want it. The government is stable,and day-to-day life is routine. Prospects foradventure, however, are minimal.

Then comes word from the north: theempire of Alphatia has claimed the vast landsof Norwold, and has appointed a king to ruleover those lands. This monarch is in need ofsteadfast characters to administer the manydominions that may be carved from the wil-derness of Norwold!

TEST OF THE WARLORDS is a campaignadventure designed for use with the D&D®Companion Set rules. Two to ten player char-acters of level 15 or higher may participate inthe "land grab" as Norwold is partitionedinto dominions. For those characters who donot wish to claim a dominion for themselves,plenty of other adventures await in the fledg-ling states of the new kingdom, as Alphatia isnot the only empire casting a covetous eyetoward the potentially wealthy lands ofNorwold. Secret emissaries have arrivedfrom the southern lands of Thyatis, and aremoving among the folk of Norwold, gaining asizable following of their own.

The fate of this sprawling land, and of thepeople who make it their home, will bedecided by those who succeed at the Test ofthe Warlords.

What is a campaign adventure?This adventure may be a little different fromothers you and your players have used. Testof the Warlords does not concentrate on a sin-gle scenario. Rather, this adventure shouldserve as a framework for a D&D® Compan-ion-level game.

Several dungeon and wilderness encoun-ters are featured in this adventure, but muchof the adventure's development depends onthe characters' actions, such as claimingdominions, establishing strongholds, andinteracting with other characters and non-player characters.

If you run only the encounters detailed inthe Norwold Encounters section, this adven-ture should last 5 to7 game sessions. If, how-ever, you use this adventure to develop acampaign in which characters may claim

dominions, the adventure should provideenough excitement to last 12 to 15 game ses-sions.

No less than an entire kingdom is at stakein this adventure. Although Norwold is littlemore than wilderness when the adventurebegins, its value becomes apparent whenexplorers return to tell of its sheer vastnessand its valuable natural resources. The wideopen spaces of Norwold become even morevaluable as the population of the civilizedlands to the south explodes.

Characters in this adventure compete withseveral high-level NPCs, who are also inter-ested in claiming dominions in Norwold. Aschoice pieces of land are taken, much of theadventure's conflict should come from theinteraction between the characters and theseNPCs.

Several events and encounters occur dur-ing this adventure's time frame. Some ofthese events require characters to worktogether to reach a common goal or defeat acommon enemy. Of course, this strange, newland is home to more than a few monsters!

Finally, characters must help to determinethe very fate of Norwold. If characters claimdominions in Norwold, they must swearfealty to the land's king, who has beenappointed by the empire of Alphatia. To thesouth, the empire of Thyatis plots to take therich lands of Norwold for itself. Thus, themighty forces of two great empires are drawntogether in a bloody war to determine whowill rule Norwold.

How to use this adventureThis adventure is divided into several majorsections. Unlike most adventures, you can-not simply progress from one section to thenext as the characters run the course of theadventure. Each section contains importantinformation that should be used throughoutthe various events and encounters. Also, youmay use the settings and characters in thisadventure to expand your D&D* campaignworld.

Adventure sections

The setting: This section outlines the landsof Norwold, its terrain types, climate, eco-nomics, and major cities. This section alsodetails the empires of Alphatia and Thyatis,and explains the nature of the empires' rela-tions.

Nonplayer characters: This section detailsthe adventure's major nonplayer characters.Statistics and a brief personality profile aregiven for each.

Land grab: This section outlines how you

may bring the characters into the campaign.Details on how to set up character dominionsare also given.

Major events: This section describes twomajor events that take place in Norwold dur-ing the adventure.

Norwold encounters: This section outlinesfive major scenarios that may take place dur-ing the adventure.

War of the crown: This section lists thewar machine statistics for all forces involvedin the war for control of Norwold. Majorevents of the war and key strategies are alsogiven.

Epilogue: This section lists possible sce-narios for continuing your campaign inNorwold. A list of random encounters is alsoincluded.

Adventure mapsPlayers' Map: Norwold is shown on theinside booklet cover. Show this map to theplayers when their characters begin claimingtheir dominions. You may draw the charac-ters' dominions on this map, but be sure touse pencil. The borders could change for anynumber of reasons!

DM Map 1: World Area shows the rela-tionship of the empire of Alphatia to theempire of Thyatis. If you compare this mapto the large area map in the D&D® Compan-ion rules, you will be able to place the twoempires into their proper positions relative tothe maps provided in the D&D® Expert rules.

DM Map 2: Norwold is your copy of theplayers' map of Norwold. This map showsareas that the characters may learn aboutonly by exploring.

DM Maps 3-5 coincide with three of theNorwold encounters.

A blank hex-grid sheet is also provided onp. 32 of this booklet. Make photocopies ofthis page and give each player several copies.Each player should map out his character'sdominion on these sheets. You may also wantto use extra hex-grid sheets to make detailedmaps of Norwold where specific battles aretaking place.

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PROLOGUE

Player characters

This adventure is designed so that you mayrun virtually any number of charactersthrough its encounters and events. You mayhave a great deal of trouble running one char-acter through the adventure, although it ispossible. Running 10 to 15 characters mightprove difficult as well. Ideally, you should tryto have from three to eight characters for thisadventure.

A list of eight prerolled Companion (high)level characters is provided on the outsidebooklet cover. Your players do not have to usethese characters if they don't want to. Theyare given as options for players whose charac-ter level is not yet high enough for a Compan-ion level adventure, or for players whosecharacters may have had an "unfortunateaccident."

If you have a small number of player char-

acters for this adventure, you should use atleast one of the prerolled characters as anNPC aligned with the characters.

Random encounters

A list of random encounters that might occurat different points during the adventure isgiven on p. 31. Obviously, checking once perhour or even several times per day would beinappropriate for this type of campaignadventure.

The timing of the random encounters is leftentirely up to you, based on your sense ofdrama. If the adventure is moving along rap-idly, and if the characters are keeping busy,you may not need to introduce a randomencounter for many "months." On the otherhand, you may wish to inhabit the charac-ters' dominions with challenging monsters orNPCs, or you may wish to throw in a surprise

for the characters as they make a routinejourney through some area of Norwold.

Not all of these encounters need put thecharacters in combat. Characters who have agreat deal of experience should have someappreciation of the value of a good friend, aswell as a vanquished foe. In these "easy"encounters, characters should gain experi-ence points for establishing alliances or help-ing those in need (depending, of course, onalignment).

When you decide to use a random encoun-ter, determine the type of terrain in which theencounter will occur. A modified die roll isgiven at the top of the Random EncountersTable for each terrain type. Find the die rollresult and the corresponding encounter onthe table.

DM Map 1:World Area

Areas claimedby the empireof Alphatia

Areas claimedby the empireof Thyatis Sea of Dread

Thanegioth

Archipelago

3

THE SETTING: OUTLINING NORWOLD AND THE EMPIRES

A large continent lies in the northern hemi-sphere of the D&D® world. The largest singleregion on this continent is Norwold.

Norwold lies to the north of the land shownon p. 33 of the D&D® Expert rule book. Tosee how the Expert map relates to Norwold,line up the coastline near the bottom left cor-ner of the map shown on this adventure'sinside booklet cover with the coastline at thetop of the Expert map (near the HeldannFreeholds). If you want to see more of theExpert/Companion world, you may line upthe players' map with the map shown on p.16-17 of adventure X1, "The Isle of Dread."

Competing empires

Two major empires are competing for powerin Norwold. The empire of Alphatia hasalready established a kingdom in the area,and is actively seeking to develop firm controlover the region. The empire of Thyatis isalarmed by this development, and is deter-mined to disrupt the expansion of the Alpha-tian empire.

These two empires have come into conflictover territory in the past. DM Map 1 showseach empire's areas of control. The areaswhere the two empires overlap are currentlybeing contested.

Alphatia background

Alphatia is the oldest empire in the world. Itis located on a massive island off the easterncoast of Norwold. The empire built its poweron a solid foundation of magic. No fewer than1,000 36th level magic-users make up thisempire's ruling council. Reliance on magicalabilities, and complete confidence in theoverwhelming superiority of these abilities,are the hallmarks of Alphatian power.

King Ericall is the second son of the cur-rent Empress of Alphatia, Eriadna the Wise.Eriadna has granted Ericall all of Norwold ashis dominion, and has given him the freedomto develop and rule the kingdom as he sees fit.After a decade or so, Eriadna expects Ericallto begin making substantial tax paymentsfrom Norwold into Alphatia's coffers.

Thyatis background

This empire is much younger than Alphatia.Actually, it is little more than a century old.The empire has spread rapidly outward fromThyatis, its capital city. It now encompassesseveral large islands off the southern coast ofthe continent.

Unlike Alphatia, Thyatis has developedupon a triad of powers. The theocratic, magi-cal, and military elements of the empire allshare the responsibilities of problem solvingand policy development.

Thincol the Brave is currently the emperorof Thyatis. He is a 36th level fighter who hasbeen known on many occasions to be crueland merciless. He does, however, possess akeen soldier's mind that has allowed hisempire to hold its own against the mightylegions of Alphatia.

Many historians attribute Thyatis' rapidgrowth to its leaders' fabled capacity forgreed and trickery. Although several of Thy-atis' territorial battles appear to have beenfought on the field of honor, many more, his-torians agree, were won through treacheryand deceit.

Relations between the two empires

Alphatia and Thyatis have rarely met to dis-cuss their territorial differences. More often,the two empires clash in minor wars, foughtchiefly in outlying areas (the two empiresconsider Norwold an outlying area). Neitherempire has made a concerted effort to wipethe other out, since the resources and risksinvolved in such an undertaking wouldseverely restrict the possibility of victory foreither side.

Alphatia has won most of the skirmishesbetween the two empires, because of itspotent magical abilities. Thyatis has, how-ever, prevailed on occasion.

Each empire places active spies and agentsin all of its rival's lands. Agents from theempires have even penetrated each other'sruling councils.

Overall, these two empires have achieved adelicate balance of power. The weight of thisbalance may gradually shift from decade todecade, but it is unlikely that either of theempires will be able to destroy its foe for along time to come.

Norwold terrain typesA variety of terrain types covers the land ofNorwold. Most of these types are shown onthe players' map. Consider unmarked hexesto be forest, as this is Norwold's most com-mon terrain type.

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THE SETTING

MountainsTwo huge mountain ranges make up thespine of the subcontinent. The Final Rangeruns parallel to the southeastern coast ofNorwold. It is situated about 200 milesinland. The range took its name from ancientexplorers who thought it represented the faredge of the world.

The other range in Norwold is even greaterthan the Final Range. It runs north and southalong the kingdom's western border. Barbari-ans and savages refer to it as the IcereachRange or White Range, but the new govern-ment has not officially explored and namedthe range.

The mountains of Norwold are toweringpinnacles of rock that dwarf the summits ofthe renowned Altan Tepe Range, which liesfar to the south. A number of peaks in thecentral regions of the Final Range reach18,000 feet above sea level, while at least adozen peaks in the Icereach tower over24,000 feet high.

Many peaks in both ranges are snow-cov-ered all year long. In the upper reaches ofboth ranges, huge glaciers sprawl outward.The ice in these areas has not melted for thou-sands of years.

Trees grow in the lower mountain valleysas far north as the Great Bay. Mountainousareas north of the bay are barren of trees. Notrees grow at altitudes higher than 8,000 feet.

Where a mountain hex on the players' mapis adjacent to a clear hex, assume that half ofthe mountain hex is made up of "foothills" —long, gradually rising ridges of rock that leadto the mountains.

HillsDense forests cover most of the hilly areas inNorwold. Pines and other evergreens are thepredominant forms of trees. Lakes and clear-ings dot the hills, and flowers and herbs arecommon in the thick meadows.

Bogs and marshes fill some of the low spotson the hilly terrain. If characters drain theseareas, they have ideal farmland. Any druidsin the area take grave exception to such eco-logical tampering, however!

Marshes

These areas are simply wet lowlands, and areunsuitable for development. No permanentstructures could stand in these areas. There isa 20% chance, however, that a marsh hexcontains small areas of higher ground largeenough to hold a small village. Nevertheless,marsh areas are definitely not prime realestate.

The nearby rivers and lakes flood the

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THE SETTING

marsh areas each spring, covering all but thehighest ground in 2-8 feet of water. Themarshes freeze in winter, and characters maycross them during this time. Consider all fro-zen marshes as plains.

ForestsForests cover most of the land in Norwold.Evergreens are the only types of trees thatgrow in the northern forests, while broadstretches of oak, hickory, maple, elm, ash,fruit, and other hardwood trees mix with theevergreens in the southern forests.

Many different types of woodlands may befound in a single forest hex. In many places,old and giant trees stretch toward the sun.These trees are incredibly wide, and standseveral yards apart. The underbrush in theseareas is sparse, so characters may travelthrough the areas easily. In other areas, thetrees are younger and weaker. They do notscreen sunlight from the forest floor, so theunderbrush in these areas is dense. Travelthrough these areas is difficult. You mayalternate between the two types of forest ter-rain, depending on the pace of the adventure.When characters move through thick under-brush, you may cut their movement rate inhalf.

Several meadows may break the growth ina forest hex. These meadows may actuallyseem more like prairies, since some of themstretch for 5-10 miles.

Gently rolling dirt makes up much of theland in these forest areas. Low hills are fairlycommon.

TundraThis flat, wet land exists only at the extremenorthern end of Norwold. The tundra is aregion of terrifyingly severe winters andsoggy, muddy summers.

Herds of grazing animals cross the tundraduring the pleasant months, stalked by anoccasional predator. All but the cold-lovingcreatures abandon the tundra in winter, how-ever.

During the summer, 10-40% (1d4xl0) of atundra hex is covered by ponds, and wide,shallow lakes. Fish are not common in thesebodies of water, but huge swarms of insectsusually are.

RiversOnly the largest of Norwold's many rivers areshown on the players' map. Those rivers thatare shown may be 1-4 miles wide at any givenspot. For the most part, these rivers are toodeep for wading.

Assume that at least one river (50-200 feet

wide) and several streams drain each hex onthe map.

Feel free to add to the waterways markedon the Norwold maps. Rivers may make use-ful boundaries when characters establish orcontest the size of their dominions.

LakesAs with rivers, only the major lakes areshown on the Norwold maps. Since so muchof the land of Norwold is wooded and rainy,small lakes dot much of the land (at least oneper hex in the south, as many as a dozen perhex in the north).

All of the inland lakes are freshwater lakes.The mountain lakes are very deep, while theflatland lakes are shallow.

Norwold climate

Norwold is a northern temperate region hav-ing four distinct seasons. Each of these sea-sons lasts approximately three months.Seasons in the southern part of Norwold areless severe than the seasons in the north.

Precipitation is common in Norwold, andcomes in the form of snow in winter, and rainin summer. During the spring and fall, theprecipitation may come as either rain or snow(50% chance, modified plus or minus 30%based on the location of the specific region,and the time of the season—late spring, latefall, etc.).

Some form of precipitation falls every fourdays. Of course, a thunderstorm or snow-storm may last much longer than one day.Also, a dry spell might last for weeks. Use thefour-day figure as a rough average when you

run your campaign. You may want to usesevere weather (torrential rains, droughts) asplot twists.

Trade routes and resources

DM Map 2 shows several Norwold traderoutes. Characters may discover and markthese routes on their own map, but theyshould not be aware of these routes at thestart of the adventure.

The only civilized areas in Norwold whenthe adventure begins are Alpha and the fivehexes that surround that city; the demi-human strongholds; Landfall; Oceansend,and the coastal hexes on each side of that portcity.

Dominion resources are explained in detailin the Companion rules, although some sug-gestions for calculating resources are givenbelow:

Most mountain resources are mineral innature.

The most common mineral resources inhilly areas are tar, clay, coal, and stone.

Besides the obvious wood and timberresources in forest areas, the main resourcesin these areas are animal or vegetable in nat-ure.

Tundra areas have only a 30% chance ofholding a resource. A tundra hex never holdsmore than one resource, and that resource isnever animal in nature.

Norwold citiesAlpha, the king's cityThis sprawling community numbers some30,000 residents. More than 60,000 farmerslive and work in the civilized regions nearby.

Blessed with a splendid deep-water port,Alpha boasts a bustling waterfront. Shipscarrying imports from other parts of the con-tinent, as well as from the empire of Alphatia,arrive at least once per day. Ships carryinggoods from all of Norwold sail from this portalmost as frequently. A large fishing industrybased here provides food for much of the cityand jobs for many of those living on thewaterfront.

The farms that surround Alpha are veryprosperous. The soil, deposited by a glacier,is rich loam, and the farmers are a hardy,industrious folk. Many of them have lived onand farmed this land for generations. As agroup, the farmers have welcomed the arrivalof King Ericall and are happy to be membersof an established form of government.

Alpha was erected on the ruins of anancient fortress, utilizing some of the old for-tifications in its construction. All areas of the

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THE SETTING

city are heavily fortified. Up to 10,000 peoplemay take shelter in the fortress, which stillallows access to the harbor. Walls surroundthe entire city and represent a formidableobstacle to any foe.

King Ericall's palace stands on a hill in thecenter of the fortified zone. Although foun-tains and gardens adorn the structure, thepalace's high, thick walls, and numerous tow-ers give testimony to the fact that its mainpurpose is defense.

The palace covers a huge area of Alpha. Itis made up of dozens of buildings, all locatedinside the wall. Fireplaces are common in allof the buildings, making the palace comfort-ably warm even in the dead of winter. Hun-dreds of guestrooms, and dozens of kitchensand dining rooms ensure that many visitorscan be comfortably attended to at one time.

Funds from the empire of Alphatia helpedpay for the palace, which took 10 years tobuild. The palace's Grand Ballroom is con-sidered one of the masterpieces of architec-ture in the civilized world.

The peninsula on which Alpha is located iscut off from the rest of Norwold at its neck bya rugged stretch of mountains. This pass,known as Regent Pass, is the only gapthrough these mountains. A small garrison of500 of the king's guards stands watch overthis pass.

Landfall, pirate's haven

This dirty city is little more than a collectionof squalid huts and sleazy dives. Somehow,10,000 people survive in these filthy sur-roundings. If characters are looking for anitem or person of seedy nature, chances arethey can find it here.

King Ericall has already appointed Lernalthe Swill, his demented half-brother, as lordof this dominion (see the Nonplayer Charac-ters section for a description of this wretchedgentleman). Lernal pays the king 40% of allof his tax income, so Ericall allows Lernal torule this vile place with a fairly free hand. Eri-call does not know that Lernal reports lessthan half of his tax earnings.

Landfall is often a port of call for shipsjourneying north to Alpha, so there is achance that the characters stop here beforethey see much else of Norwold. This firstimpression should be a strong one.

The dirty, ramshackle docks of Landfallmar the shore of a once placid bay. Screamsand cries ring through the streets frequently,attracting little notice other than the occa-sional turned head.

The Thieves' Guild is the true ruler ofLandfall, and any thieves who would practicetheir craft here must deal with the Guild verysoon after arriving.

There is a 10% chance per turn that anystranger visiting Landfall is robbed. The thiefwould be the same level as his victim, and hetries to take as much as he can. Once a visitoris cleaned out, or once he has foiled three rob-bery attempts, the thieves leave that visitoralone.

Landfall's defenses are woefully inade-quate. Lernal lives in a large, poorly builtwood mansion, and the rest of the city isdevoid of any stone buildings or fortresses. Ifa military force threatens Landfall, most peo-ple react by setting sail for the open seas orrunning for the hills.

Poor farms and small villages are scatteredthroughout the land that surrounds the city.Old sailors inhabit most of these villages.Many of the other settlers are outlaws hidingfrom the justice of more civilized parts of theworld.

Oceansend, free city

This heavily fortified community has not yetagreed to join in declaring allegiance to KingEricall. Oceansend is a thriving, vibrant citythat is much older than either Alpha or Land-fall. Its people are generally wiser in the waysof dominions, and are reluctant to join anynewly created kingdoms.

Nearly 20,000 people live in Oceansend.Demi-humans make up a large proportion ofthe population. There are at least 3,000dwarves, 2,000 halflings, and 500 elves livingwithin the city walls. All of the inhabitantsare very loyal to the ruler of the city, KingYarrvik the Just (see the Nonplayer Charac-ters section for a description of this king).Anyone who tries to subvert the city's rulingstructure is likely to incite a riot in support ofthe king and his family.

Another 20,000 people live in the country-side that surrounds Oceansend. Most of thesepeople live on prosperous farms or in smallvillages within 50 miles or so of the city. Eachof these villages keeps a well-trained militia(troop class: good). These villagers are veryloyal to the Oceansend government.

Well-traveled trade routes lead west fromOceansend to some branches of the FinalRange. Small dwarven communities near themountains trade metal items for the produceand imported goods from Oceansend. Astaunch alliance exists between the mountaindwarves and the city. If invaders attack eitherarea, the one group invariably comes to thedefense of the other. The dwarves can mustersome 1,000 troops. The city can call uparound 6,000 troops.

Consider the entire city of Oceansend afortress. Even if attackers invade the city byland, Oceansend residents would still have

access to their docks, and since the residentscould live on seafood almost indefinitely, anattack by land would have little chance of suc-

Special geographical featuresArch of fire

Two volcanoes are located near the IcereachRange. They stand 75 miles apart. A uniquephenomenon connects the two volcanoes: thenorthern volcano is an inflowing vortex fromthe plane of fire, and the southern volcano isan outflowing vortex to the same plane.Thus, the two volcanoes form a towering"arch of fire" that flows from the north vol-cano to the south volcano.

The arch of fire is visible up to 72 milesaway (3 hexes) at night, and up to 48 milesaway by day. The arch reaches a height of 6miles in its center, and forms a tube roughly300 feet in diameter.

The hexes containing the two volcanoesare true wastelands of fire. The land that sur-rounds each of the volcanoes is relatively flat,and is crisscrossed by flowing rivers of lava.Huge lakes of fire lie at the bases of the volca-noes.

Many small cave mouths dot the rocks thatsurround the mountains. Although most ofthese openings lead nowhere, some do con-nect to fissures deep within the earth. Rush-ing gouts of steam occasionally scald thesecaves. Fire giants, red dragons, and a host ofother heat-loving creatures occupy many ofthe caves.

The most fearsome residents of these val-leys of lava are the huge bands of fire elemen-tals. The elementals spend a great deal oftime on this portion of the prime materialplane, because it reminds them so much oftheir natural habitat. If the elementalsencounter characters in these areas, theyeither slay the characters immediately, orthey carry them off to the plane of fire for anuncomfortably warm period of imprison-ment. The elementals do take care to see thattheir prisoners are protected from some of themore extreme features of their environment,however.

Wormholes lead out of many of the caves inthese areas, and empty into the vortexes thatflow into and out of the plane of fire. All of thefire elementals' caves feature these worm-holes.

Whirlpool

This churning mass of water fills an entirehex in a bay along the northern shores ofNorwold. The water surface in the bay ischoppy and unpredictable. A strong current

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THE SETTING

(90 feet per turn) pulls toward the whirlpool,which is in the center of the bay.

The whirlpool is actually an elemental vor-tex that flows from the prime material planeto the plane of water. The whirlpool spiralsdownward until the water reaches the vor-tex—about 200 feet below the surface—andthen flows out of the prime material plane in afoaming rush.

Several water elementals live in the bay,and are accompanied, in winter, by the occa-sional hydrax. Characters who venture ontothe bay are attacked by a band of water ele-mentals. The creatures try to abduct thecharacters and carry them to the plane ofwater.

Clanholds of the small folk

An "H" on the players' map marks the loca-tion of a clanhold. Each clanhold shown onthe map represents a halfling clan. Each ofthe seven communities is different and has itsown leadership and crucible of black flame.The fact that all of the clans are located closeto each other has encouraged the halflings todevelop together, however.

The stronghold of Leeha is the clans' cen-tral gathering place. The stronghold islocated near the White Bear River. The half-lings have excavated huge warrens along theriverbank, so that the members of all theclans may stay in Leeha and have a safe roofover their heads and a warm fire before theirfeet.

Each individual clan numbers from 700 to1,200 halflings. A total of 6,500 halflings livesin the seven communities. The halflings canmuster a force of 1,500 warriors in times ofcrisis. Although the small folk try not tobecome involved in their human neighbors'quarrels, they do not hesitate to bandtogether and defend their homeland againstincursions by monsters and other undesir-ables.

The halflings control passage up and downthe White Bear River, which runs betweenthe clanholds. The halflings charge 1-10 gpfor each vessel that passes. The size of the ves-sel determines the rate.

A number of fine inns, large enough toaccommodate humans, are located in Leeha.Without exception, these inns are high qual-ity places, filled with warm food and goodcheer.

Frosthaven

A huge clan of frost giants lives on this barrenisland of rocks and ice. Because the island liesso far north, no plants other than mosses andfungi grow on the island. Icy winds and bliz-zards sweep Frosthaven three seasons of the

year. Characters would find this an extremelydangerous place in which to live.

The frost giants are right at home, how-ever. They live in a number of huge caverns,which are carved into the ice of the living gla-ciers. A complicated series of ice tunnels con-nects most of these caves. Some 6,000 frostgiants live on the island; 2,000 of them arewarlike males.

In the dead of winter, ice connects Fros-thaven to the shores of northern Norwold. Atleast once every 5 years, a huge band of frostgiants crosses this ice to raid Norwold. Theraiding party usually includes 2,000 giants;the giants split up into smaller groups if theydo not meet resistance. Once the giants havecrossed the ice, they spend most of the winterraiding various areas of Norwold. They usu-ally go no further south than the Great Bay,and they try to cross the ice back to Fros-thaven by early spring.

The frost giants' vast treasure horde liesdeep in the passages of the mightiest glacierin Frosthaven. You may arrange to havecharacters hear tales of the giants' greatwealth. If the characters search for the trea-sure, they must pass numerous caves full ofgiants, as well as hundreds of the giants' pets(polar bears and wolves), to reach the giants'treasure vault. The vault holds at least 4 mil-lion gp in coins, gems, and jewelry.

Wyrmsteeth range

This mountain range lies to the northeast ofthe Final Range. No civilized beings livethere, because it is the home of nearly 1,000dragons. The range is named for the appear-ance of the peaks. If characters view therange from the horizon, they see that themain ridges look like the lower jaw of a drag-on's mouth, and that the towering pinnaclesof rock closely resemble a serpent's droolingfangs.

The lord of the Wyrmsteeth is a huge reddragon (HD 23, hp 160) of unknown age.Huge and large dragons of all colors (exceptgold) are common in the range, and hun-dreds of the "small" types make their homehere.

Because the lord is extremely smart, it doesnot lead the dragons on massive raids into thecivilized lands of Norwold, plundering anddestroying everything in sight. Rather, thelord leads the dragons on short forays, oftenflying far from the Wyrmsteeth Range beforestriking, so that the people of Norwold do notbecome aware of the high concentration ofserpents in the range. Norwold settlers havealways known that some dragons live in therange, but most nearby residents would esti-mate the total number at no more than 100.

Nearly all of the caves in the WyrmsteethRange are dragon lairs. A large cavern mightbe the home to as many as 20 serpents. Trea-sures are also plentiful in these caves. It's safeto say that, somewhere in the WyrmsteethRange, characters could find at least one ofevery magic item and type of treasure listedin the D&D® Basic, Expert, and Companionrules. Small dragons have unusually smalltreasures, however, since their huge and largebrethren get most of the good stuff. To deter-mine how much treasure a small dragon has,divide in half the amount given in the Com-panion rules for large dragons.

ForesthomesSeveral dozen elven communities (known byvarious explorers as "Foresthomes") thrivein the forests of Norwold. Neither the kingnor his agents are aware of these communi-ties, so they are not marked on the map. Youmay place an elven village wherever youwish, as long as it fits in with the surroundingterrain.

Each of the communities is home to 200-1,200 elves. When necessary, each commu-nity can call up a fourth of its members toform a military force. Elves are usually notpleased to see more humans arriving in theirarea, but they are wise enough to see thatusing force to resist the humans would befutile. The elves do not become involved inwars between humans, but they do lend theirsupport when the enemy is an invading bandof monsters or other evil creatures.

Most of the elven communities exist inareas where the trees are a mixture of ever-greens and hardwoods. Some elves buildstructures in the tall branches of the hard-woods, while others construct isolated nichesamong the lush pines. The elves then buildbridges to connect their tree homes. The fewmeandering paths the elves leave on theground are almost unnoticeable. A Tree ofLife stands at the center of each of these com-munities.

The elven agriculture consists mainly of afew small gardens. The elves are skilledhunters, and would rather roam the woodsfor their food. Elves are especially skilled atthinning the old and weak animals from theherds they hunt.

Characters may encounter elven huntingparties several miles from an elven commu-nity. Elves have little sense of territory, andrarely come into conflict with neighboringelven communities.

8

NONPLAYER CHARACTERS: INTRODUCING KINGS & LORDS

When the land grab begins in Norwold, thecharacters won't be the only ones requestingdominions from the king. Several other high-level nonplayer characters also arrive inAlpha to meet with the king.

Twelve new NPCs are described in this sec-tion. Each description includes statistics,weapons, and a brief character background.

The NPCs in this section are divided intotwo groups: Established Characters andCompeting Characters. The former includesNPCs who already have dominions. Charac-ters are more likely to interact and ally them-selves with these characters. The latterincludes NPCs who are competing with thecharacters for dominions. If you have anyother NPCs in your campaign that your char-acters have encountered before, you maybring them to Norwold to compete for

dominions also. Make sure that these NPCsare about the same level as your characters.

Keep in mind that using NPCs is one of thebest ways to add life to your campaign.Including many NPCs helps make the char-

acters feel more like members of a society,rather than isolated heroes in a sea of anony-mous faces.

Established characters

King Ericall of NorwoldLawful 28th level fighter



Weapons: sword +3; dagger +3


King Ericall is a very likable young man.He is not yet 30 years old, but the rigoroustraining required of Alphatian royaltyensures that he has reached an accom-plished level of experience.

Ericall is the second son of Eriadna theWise, Empress of Alphatia. His olderbrother is first in line for the imperialthrone, so Ericall has been grantedNorwold as his fief.

Ericall has very good intentions, andwishes to be fair to all. He gets very upsetwhen a decision he made hurts people inany way. Although he is young, his experi-ences, together with the responsibilities ofrunning a kingdom, are maturing him rap-idly. Ericall is still uncomfortable with someaspects of his occupation, but he does nothesitate to carry out actions that he feels areproper or necessary.

Ericall is handsome, rich, and quite eligi-ble. He will be married during the course ofevents set up in this adventure (see theMajor Events section). You may have one ofthe female characters in your campaign

become Ericall's bride, if you wish.The king owns a wide variety of both per-

manent and temporary magic items. Heuses them only when he feels such usewould benefit the kingdom in some way.Use your discretion in determining whattypes of items Ericall owns.

If some unfortunate accident shouldbefall King Ericall during the campaign, astruggle for the throne results. Lernal theSwill, King Ericall's half-brother, claimsthat the throne is his, and he tries to raise anarmy to back up his claim. If the king hasmarried, his queen has the legal right to thethrone. If the king has not married, theempress of Alphatia sends an heir within2d6 months.

An elite bodyguard of knights protectsthe king at all times. Each of these knightshas the same statistics:

Royal Bodyguards (20): AC -4; F12; hp 75;MV 90' (30'); #AT sword/longbow; D5-12/1-6; Save F12; ML 12; AL L

Lernal the SwillNeutral 6th level fighter



Weapon: sword *2

Armor: plate mail +2; shield

Lernal the Swill is King Ericall's younger

half-brother. Ericall granted Lernal thedominion of Landfall, mainly because i t ' sfar from Alpha. Lernal is a totally unscru-pulous and rotten individual. He never tellsthe truth if he can come up with a suitablelie.

Lernal is a puppet of the Thieves Guild.He hold power only because he can be eas-ily bribed. He keeps a scruffy group ofguards on hand, since there are many whowish him ill.

Swill's Bodyguards (8): AC 0; F9; hp 45;MV 90' (30'); #AT l; D 2-9; Save F9;ML 9; AL N; XP 900

King Yarrvik the JustLawful 9th level fighter



Weapons: sword +2; dagger +4


King Yarrvik is a good and just man. Herules the city of Oceansend. He is willing tocome under the wing of the kingdom ofNorwold, but only if he retains his own title.King Ericall, however, is not yet willing toconcede this. Currently, Ericall and Yarrvikcoexist in uneasy peace.

King Yarrvik does not side with Ericall inthe War of the Crown, although he may sidewith Thyatis, if characters' forces attackOceansend (see the War of the Crown sec-tion, Activating Neutral Forces for details).

(Cont. on next page)

9

NONPLAYER CHARACTERS

Tarn OakleafNeutral 24th level druid

Strength 11 Dexterity 10Intelligence 12 Constitution 13Wisdom 18 Charisma 11Armor Class 0 Hit points 51

Weapon: mace +4

Armor: leather armor +5, shield +2

Spells, (level: no. of spells)First 8 Second 7Third 6 Fourth 6Fifth 5 Sixth 5Seventh 4

Tarn Oakleafs spells have not been listed,because he may cast virtually any clerical ordruid spell that he wishes Make sure that ifTarn engages in extended combat, he doesnot exceed the number of spells allowed forany level

Tarn is not the highest level druid inNorwold, but King Ericall has chosen himto be the druidic representative to his court.Tarn speaks for the woodlands and the crea-tures that live there. He counsels the king toavoid policies that might prove destructivein any way to the forests.

Tarn is normally calm and passive, buton the rare occasions when he does lose histemper, people run for cover.

Madiera the CounselorLawful 25th level magic-user



Weapons: staff of wizardry; wand of fire-balls

Armor: scarab of protection; ring of pro-tection +5

Spells. (level: no. of spells)First: 7 Second: 7Third: 6 Fourth: 6Fifth: 5 Sixth: 5Seventh: 4 Eighth: 3Ninth: 2

Assume that Madiera knows any spell thatyou want her to cast. Make sure, as withTarn Oakleaf, that she doesn't use morethan the allowed number of spells for anylevel.

Madiera is one of the sages of Alphatia.She is not yet accomplished enough to sit onthe empire's ruling council, but she is ambi-tious. Currently, she serves as King Eri-call's advisor. She is very conscientiousabout her job.

Madiera uses a number of magic items inher job, including a slate of identification.She also has many other items that help herobtain information.

Competing characters

These NPCs arrive in Alpha in time for thespring festival. They have come to requestdominions from King Ericall. Make surethat some of these NPCs request the sameareas that the characters want (see the LandGrab section, Establishing Dominions fordetails).

Alak DoolChaotic 19th level magic-user

1214

730

Strength 11 DexterityIntelligence 14 ConstitutionWisdom 10 Charisma

Armor Class 5 Hit points

Weapons: staff of power; wand of illusion;wand of lightning bolts

Armor: ring of protection +4

Spells. (level: no. of spells)First: 6 Second: 5Third: 5 Fourth: 5Fifth: 4 Sixth: 3Seventh: 2 Eighth: 2

Choose Alak Dool's spells before he goesinto direct combat with any character. Alakmay cast nearly any type of spell (within thelevels given here).

Alak Dool is an ambitious man. He iswell-funded by Thyatian backers. Dool'sjob is to carve out a dominion in Norwold,and then secretly report to the Thyatians onthe kingdom's development. When warbreaks out, Dool drops his cover and openlysides with the Thyatian invaders. The Thy-atians have promised nearly half ofNorwold to Dool for this betrayal, so heworks very hard to see that Thyatis pre-vails.

He is, incidentally, an extremely selfishand cruel individual.

Sir Ernest DayLawful 16th level fighter


16 Dexterity12 Constitution10 Charisma

141413


Weapon: sword +2 (+5 vs. Chaotic beings)


10

This good-natured fellow, who was once apaladin, has decided to settle down andform a dominion. Some people would referto Sir Ernest as a "goody two-shoes."

A large handlebar mustache splitsErnest's face, which is usually sporting abroad smile. Ernest's hearty laugh is veryfamiliar to all who have met him. Sir Ernestis usually doing something "good"— help-ing a maiden across a muddy spot in theroad, feeding a lost puppy, or cheerfully tip-ping a beggar.

Rutger DagNeutral 15th level fighter



Weapons: sword +2 (flying); longbow +4


Rutger Dag is a wild character from thekingdom of Vestland. He has made a goodfortune adventuring, and now he plans toturn his energies toward settling down andcreating a dominion. He enjoys banquetsand parties above all other forms of enter-tainment.

Sandralane of GlantriLawful 16th level cleric



Weapons: mace +4 (+5 vs. undead); snakestaff


Sandralane is a devout young cleric fromthe Principalities of Glantri. She has growntired of the lack of respect shown her profes-sion by the mages who control Glantri, soshe has moved north to form a dominion ofher own. She intends to make sure thatproper deference is shown to clerics living inher dominion.

Sandralane is a very pretty woman. Shehas an alluring smile, and a soft, melodiousvoice. Her long hair and her eyes are jetblack. A hint of mystery always seems to beplaying on her expression.

Max the FirstChaotic 15th level fighter

own dynasty. He fully expects that one ofhis descendants will one day rule not onlyall of Norwold, but all of the rest of the con-tinent as well.

In open combat, Max seems a bit cow-ardly. He is certainly unwilling to take anyundue risks—he is well aware that a deadman can father no children!

Max listens to the pleas of Thyatianagents with an eager ear. He sees in the con-flict between the two empires a chance tobetter his position. When the War of theCrown begins, Max commits his forces tothe empire of Thyatis.

Allisa PatricianLawful 15th level fighter


LongtoothChaotic 20th level thief



18 Dexterity12 Constitution13 Charisma

1114

7

55Armor Class -5 Hit points

Weapons: sword +4 (charm person - 3weeks); heavy crossbow +2


Max the First is an ambitious, careful war-rior who has come to Norwold to start his

Weapons: sword +2; longbow +3; hand axe+3 (returns to thrower)


Allisa is a proud warrior from the steppes ofthe Ethengar Khanate. Her short statureand petite appearance belie her skill with alongbow. She stands less than 5 feet tall, butthe cool precision of her aim with a bow thatis longer than she is attests to her remark-able ability.

Allisa has come to Norwold on a lark. Sheenjoys a rousing adventure, and if she cangain a title and lands in the process, somuch the better. She is friendly, and shetakes an oath seriously. Once she pledgesallegiance to Ericall, she becomes a staunchally.



Weapons: sword +4; longbow +3

Armor: leather armor +3; ring of protec-tion +3

Special abilities.

Open Locks - 88 Find Traps - 89Remove Traps- 82 Pick Pockets - 115Move Silently - 80 Climb Walls - 106Hide/Shadows- 68 Hear Noise - 98

Longtooth has come to Norwold to set up astronghold for his professional colleagues,or so he says. Actually, this smiling, beady-eyed thief is the chief agent for the empire ofThyatis. He tries to befriend all of the char-acters at different times, and does his best topersuade them to join forces with Thyatis.

Any character who gets on Longtooth'sbad side is likely to be visited by a band ofhigh-level thieves in the middle of a moon-less night. Although these thieves are look-ing primarily for magic items, they do notrule out murder, particularly if the charac-ter has greatly angered or insultedLongtooth.

Longtooth does his best to make sure thatThyatian spies infiltrate the castles of alllords allied with Alphatia. Even though hisoperation is quite extensive, Longtoothdoes an excellent job of covering his tracks.If a character catches a Thyatian spy in hishome, he has a very difficult time linkingthe spy to Longtooth.

11

LAND GRAB: BEGINNING THE ADVENTURE

Setting the stageBefore this adventure can begin, you mustmotivate the characters to move north intothe lands of Norwold. You may give them thefollowing reasons for doing so.

The opportunities for adventure in the civ-ilized world (the areas outlined in adventureX1, "The Isle of Dread") have dwindled to amere few. The area has become the startingpoint for many young, inexperienced adven-turers, and there are very few treasures leftthat haven't been plundered. To bring thispoint home, you might have your charactersspend some time mopping up kobolds andgoblins, and earning dozens of copper piecesfor their efforts.

You should also tell the characters that anumber of messengers are arriving fromNorwold, bringing word that the recentlyinstalled king there needs high level charac-ters to help rule the vast domain. The mes-sengers explain that the lands of Norwold arelocated somewhere north of the HeldannFreeholds. Tell the characters that otheraccounts place Norwold north and east ofOstland and Vestland.

If the characters are still not interested intraveling to Norwold, have personal repre-

sentatives of King Ericall visit the characters.These representatives invite the characters toAlpha, the king's city. The representativesexplain that the king has heard many tales ofthe characters' brave adventures, and wouldbe honored if they would serve as rulers ofdominions in Norwold.

The messengers (or the representatives)should also inform the characters of the com-ing of the spring festival in Norwold. Themessengers tell the characters that King Eri-call will likely choose many of his dominionrulers at this festival. Make sure the charac-ters receive word of the festival at least 6months in advance, so they may tie up theiraffairs and make travel arrangements, if theywish to attend.

Getting the charactersto Norwold

Characters may use any means available totravel to Norwold. They may leave on a shipto Alpha from any of these port cities:Zeaburg, Norrvik, or Soderfjord. If charac-ters decide to depart from one of these cities,they must wait 2d6 days for a ship. Charac-ters may get to one of these port cities fromnearly any coastal city shown on the D&D®Expert continent map.

The trip takes 1d 10+20 days and costs 40 gpper character.

Characters may also charter a ship toAlpha from one of the three cities listedabove. The characters may rent a longshipfor 2,000 gp.

The spring festivalCharacters should arrive in Norwold in timefor the spring festival (around March 21 onour calendar). King Ericall has establishedthe festival as a celebration of the coming ofspring to Norwold. The festivities alsoinclude a tournament, which the king hopesto use in evaluating candidates for dominionrulers.

The festival's major participants shouldinclude King Ericall, all of the NPCs listed inthe Nonplayer Characters section, all charac-ters who decide to attend, and any of yourown NPCs that you might want to include inthe campaign.

The festival is a 2-week affair, featuringplenty of entertainment and refreshments.The king is very concerned that the party be asuccess, so he has taken extra precautions toensure that no thieves, spies, or other unde-sirables disrupt it.

During the first few days of the festival, theking meets privately with each character andNPC interested in claiming a dominion. Thecharacters may choose an area of Norwoldthat they would like as their dominion (seeEstablishing Dominions for details). In caseswhere several characters and NPCs have cho-sen the same dominion, the king uses thetournament to determine which charactermay rightfully claim the land. Make sure thatsome of the NPCs choose the same territoriesas the characters. This will add conflict to theprocess.

Feel free to add any other conflicts to thefestival that you wish. Naturally, high-levelthieves would be attracted to such a gatheringof wealth. Perhaps even a kidnapping mayoccur. You are limited only by your imagina-tion, and by your decision as to how muchtime you wish to spend on this scenario.

Establishing dominionsThe king's provisionsAny character who is level 15 or higher, andwho shows up at the king's palace in Alphamay claim a dominion in Norwold, providedhe agrees to the following conditions:

1. The character must swear fealty toKing Ericall of Norwold.

2. The character must pledge to pay thestandard rate of taxation on all incomeearned by the dominion. Because carving adominion from the wilderness is so difficult,characters are excused from their tax respon-sibilities for 2 years. If a character claims adominion in civilized lands or borderlands,he is not allowed a tax reprieve.

3. The character must solemnly swearthat he has no ties to the empire of Thyatis,and that he will report the presence of anyThyatian ambassadors, emissaries, and spiesdirectly to the king.

Choosing the landPlayers should choose dominions for theircharacters from the area shown on the play-

12

LAND GRAB

ers' map. Have players choose on a first-come, first-served basis. Characters mayclaim an amount of land equal to one maphex. If a character chooses to have a domin-ion of civilized lands, he cannot claim anymore land. Roll 1dl0 to determine the num-ber of resources his land holds (see the Com-panion rules for details).

If a character chooses to have a dominionof borderlands or wilderness, he is entitled told6+6 resources. When this character choosesone hex, roll 1dl0 to determine the numberof resources his land holds. If his land holdsfewer than seven resources, the charactermay choose an adjacent hex of land and roll1dl0 again for resources. The character maychoose adjacent hexes and roll 1dl0 forresources until his dominion holds at leastseven resources. His dominion may hold nomore than 12 resources.

Joining the king's courtAny character or NPC who claims a domin-ion under King Ericall becomes a member ofthe king's court. Each character begins hisrule as a Baron or Baroness. The Companionrules explain how characters may upgradetheir titles by adding land and citizens to their

dominions.No matter what title a character goes by, a

member of the king's court is always knownas a lord. The king usually requests the pres-ence of all of his lords at court in Alpha twicea year.

A rough status does exist among lords. Thecharacter having the higher rank has morestatus. If two characters are in the same rank(both are barons, for example), the characterholding the most land has greater status. Thismeasurement of status has little real meaningin your campaign, but you may use it to cre-ate rifts or alliances within a king's court.

Campaign time scaleThe events described in this adventureshould occur over a time period of 1 to 2years. If characters claim their dominions inspring, they have one full summer to developtheir lands. You should scatter the events andencounters over the time period, making surethe characters have enough time to developtheir dominions.

Following is a possible plan for the timeperiod whose events are described in thisadventure:

1. Spring festival; the characters arrive inAlpha to claim their dominions.

2. Summer; the characters explore thedungeons of Kwyll (see Norwold Encounter2).

3. Autumn; the characters witness (andpossibly take part in) the barbarian's battle(see Norwold Encounter 4).

4. Winter; frost giants invade Norwold(see Major Events).

5. Early spring; the characters receivetheir invitations to the wedding of King Eri-call.

6. Spring; the characters may help a dwar-ven clan regain their Forge of Power (seeNorwold Encounter 3).

7. Summer; the characters attend thewedding of King Ericall (see Major Events).

8. Late autumn; the characters move tostop a small band of frost giants making raidsin their dominions (see Norwold Encounter1).

9. Winter; the characters travel to meetthe crones of Crystykk (see Norwold Encoun-ter 5).

10. Spring; the characters return to findthe empires of Alphatia and Thyatis fullyengaged in the War of the Crown.

13

MAJOR EVENTS: BRINGING DOMINIONS TOGETHER

Two major Norwold events are detailed inthis section. Each event should occur duringthe time frame of your campaign.

Each event is keyed to a specific season ofthe year, and should occur regardless of thecharacter's actions. Characters need not takepart in the events, but each event is designedso that characters may participate in it andpossibly affect its outcome.

The events also involve a large number ofNPCs, so you should take a little extra time toprepare for them.

For suggestions on where to place theseevents in your campaign, see the CampaignTime Scale guidelines in the Land Grab sec-tion.

The royal wedding

Your Most Honorable Lordship (Lady-ship):

His Majesty, King Ericall of Norwold,wishes to extend his hospitality upon theoccasion of his wedding.

The Day of the Summer Solstice has beenselected for the ceremony and celebration,to be held in the Great Hall of the RoyalPalace in Alpha.

The week preceding the event will bedevoted to festivities appropriate to theoccurrence; thus, your presence in Alphafor this time will be desired.

Wishing the Spring blooms soon uponyour lands, may the season be a happyone!

Ericall, King ofNorwold

Each of the invitations to King Ericall's wed-ding is engraved on a thin sheet of platinum.

This gala, high-stepping affair promises tobe the social event of the century in Norwold!Have the characters, as well as all the rest ofthe king's lords and ladies, receive their invi-tations no later than the winter before the

wedding. Characters should then haveenough time to prepare for the trip to Alpha.

It's not necessary to have the king marrythe bride described in this section. If one ofthe female characters in your campaignwants to marry the king, or if you want tohave Ericall fall in love with a female charac-ter, you may arrange such a situation. Theevent goes on as outlined, no matter who isstanding at the altar.

If you do decide to use an NPC bride, referto the description below. Remember thatmost residents of Norwold will not even knowwho this woman is until the week before thewedding.

Christina Marie AlaniraNeutral 12th level magic-user


Weapons: wand of illusion; ring of humancontrol; staff of wizardry

Armor: ring of protection +3; scarab of pro-tection

Spells.First level: magic missile, read magic,

sleepSecond level: detect evil, ESP, invisibilityThird level: fireball, fly, hasteFourth level: dimension door, polymorph

self, wizard eyeFifth level: conjure elemental, teleport

Christina is a very likable, albeit strong-willed young lady. She has received trainingfrom some of the most powerful wizards inAlphatia, and has learned powers that are notoften attained by someone of her age. Chris-tina is 19 years old.

Christina has a marvelous sense of humor,and a great flair for practical jokes. She oftenuses her polymorph self spell for such pur-poses.

14

Christina has not seen her husband-to-besince they were small children. Sailing fromAlphatia, she arrives in Norwold only a fewweeks before the wedding. Although some-what unsettled by the move to a new land,Christina makes friends easily and has littletrouble adjusting.

Wedding week preparationsAll of the NPC lords of Norwold should reachAlpha 8 to 10 days before the wedding day.King Yarrvik of Oceansend also arrives dur-ing this time, and should be greeted with thefanfare appropriate to his title.

Any characters who hold dominions inNorwold find that they lose a great deal offavor with the king if they do not attend hiswedding.

King Ericall sees to it that all of his visitinglords are put up in fine quarters in the royalpalace. He also arranges to have all of thelords quartered near each other, and reservesa large, fully staffed dining room for theiruse.

The king throws a huge banquet everynight of the week before the wedding.Dominion rulers are granted privileged sta-tus at the head table during each of the lavishbanquets. If you wish, you may play throughone or several of these banquets, using themto expand on characters' relationships withvarious NPCs.

Lernal the Swill, in particular, is very visi-ble throughout the week. His behavior dur-ing the banquets should be particularly rudeand vulgar. His jealousy toward his brothershould also be readily apparent.

Wedding week scenariosAgents of Thyatis are crawling all over Alphaduring the wedding week. The agents hatchseveral plots designed to confound and demo-ralize the leaders of Ericall's dominions.These agents try to inflict as much damage aspossible without revealing any high-placedspies. Two of the plots are detailed below. Youmay create and add your own plots to theweek's festivities as well.

A night on the town: Following one of theweek's banquets, the king asks several femalecharacters to escort and entertain Christinafor the evening. (You may have male charac-ters escort Christina if you have no femalecharacters in your campaign.) As soon as thebride-to-be joins the characters, she suggestsan adventure, and tries to persuade her com-panions to accompany her.

Christina tells the characters that she isgoing to polymorph into the form of an oldsailor and visit Alpha's waterfront. She has


MAJOR EVENTS

several potions of polymorph with her, so shemay transform all of her escorts as well.

If Christina persuades her escorts to joinher, she insists on visiting every tavern, cafe,and store on the waterfront that looks lively.Because of the bustling nature of Alpha'sport, this excursion may take some time.

A group of kidnappers shadows Christinaand the characters, following them from thepalace to the waterfront. These kidnappersare fully aware of Christina's and the charac-ters' true identities. You may have the kid-nappers*, strike at any time during theevening. The kidnappers' statistics are listedbelow.

Fighters (6): AC -2; F10; hp 55; MV 90'(30'); #AT 1 sword or net; D 3-10 orentangle; Save F10; ML 9; AL N; XP900

Thieves (4): AC 3; T10; hp 28; MV120'(40'); #AT 1 sword or whip; D 2-9/1-2 + entangle; Save T10; ML 9; AL N;XP 900

Magic-user: AC 4; MU16; hp 29; MV 120'(40'); #AT 1 dagger or spell; D 3-6;Save MU16; ML 9; AL N; XP 1,350

Spells.First level: charm person, read magic,

shield, sleep, ventriloquismSecond level: continual light, detect invis-

ible, invisibility (x2), webThird level: dispel magic, fireball, fly,

haste, protection from evil (10' radius)Fourth level: confusion, dimension door,

ice storm/wall, polymorph selfFifth level: cloudkill, magic jar, teleportSixth level: disintegrate, flesh to stoneSeventh level: power word stun, teleport

any objectThis magic-user carries a wand of fireballs(12 charges), a ring of regeneration, and aring of spell turning.

The magic-user can cast up to five spellsbefore combat begins. The kidnappers try tocapture Christina (or whoever is Ericall'sbride-to-be) and take her to the dungeon ofAlak Dool's stronghold. The kidnappers holdher there, refusing to release her until theking pays a ransom of 1 million gp. The brideshould not know where she is being held cap-tive.

The black avengers: Begin this scenario dur-ing one of the wedding week's evening ban-quets. Read the following boxed text to theplayers when you decide to run the scenario.

Dozens of lords and ladies sit at the tables,eating and chatting among themselves.

Suddenly, the massive bronze doors tothe banquet hall crash inward. Fourimposing figures, clad head to foot inblack plate mail, stride into the room.

A stillness falls over the room. Thesound of eight heavy boots rings againstthe walls. As the figures approach theking, several royal guards leap for theirweapons. King Ericall holds up his hand,stopping the guards. Ericall stands andcalmly faces the intruders.

"What is the meaning of this?" hedemands quietly.

The intruders halt. One advances sev-eral steps beyond the others. "We are hereto honor the wedding of a king to a com-mon tramp. If you have four warriorsbold enough to claim otherwise, meet uson the field of trial at dawn."

The intruders then turn to leave.

boding one.If the wedding is scheduled to go on as

planned, and the characters have succeededat their various tests of the week, read the fol-lowing boxed text to the players when thewedding begins.

An immense assortment of culinarydelights is spread out on several tables.

King Ericall requests that four of his lordsrepresent the queen as champions. The lordsshould be fighters or demi-humans. Anycharacter may participate in the combat, butthe character may not use spells, as thiswould dishonor the queen. Only the force ofarms may settle these duels.

A Chaotic church has ordered the fourblack avengers to disrupt the king's weddingand weaken his domain. The Chaotic fightersare hoping to lower the status of the king'sknights. If the fighters defeat Ericall'sknights, the king suffers a great loss of face.

Black Avengers (4): AC -4; F16; hp 62; MV90' (30'); #AT 1 two-handed sword; D4-14; Save F16; ML 11; AL N; XP1,350

All fighter combat options are acceptable forthese duels. If you do not have four charac-ters in your campaign that are appropriatefor the duels, use all of the fighting charactersyou have, and fill out the group with NPClords (or ladies—this is not a discriminatorycontest!). If you have more than four charac-ters who could participate in the contest, youmay increase the number of avengers tomatch the number of characters.

If the characters lose the duels, the wed-ding goes on as scheduled, but a pall is castover the entire proceedings.

The wedding dayNaturally, the day of the ceremony is adelightfully sunny day, unless of course, thebride has been kidnapped, or the blackavengers have triumphed over the queen'schampions. The day is then a dark and fore-

15

Banners, candles, and other royal decora-tions bedeck the Great Hall of Alpha. Acollection of Alphatia's finest bards playsmusic that sings first of high celebrationand then of sober responsibility. A hugemirror at the far end of the hall reflects anatmosphere of elegance. The 10-foot-widemirror towers 30 feet high, and makes thecavernous hall seem even larger than itreally is.

The king stands proudly at the altar.Only his fidgeting hands belie the look ofunruffled calm on his face.

A trace of a smile suddenly dancesacross the king's lips. Heads turn, andeveryone looks to the back of the hall. Thebride is stunningly beautiful. Silk andsatin cascade from her shoulders likewaterfalls of flowing diamond. Her face,normally so impish, bears an expressionof serene dignity.

The bride walks slowly down the aisle,and then takes the king's arm in hers.

The wedding is short, but dignified.The chief cleric proceeds through the cere-mony gracefully. As his final act, the clericpronounces that the king and his bride arenow husband and wife.

Suddenly, a shadow falls over the room.Thunder rumbles in the distance. Thegreat mirror on the wall fades to darkness.Smoke swirls in the glass as the room'sreflection disappears. The face of an uglyold crone forms in the mirror's mists. Herwrinkled visage twists into an evil grin.

"Good afternoon, my friends," thecrone says. Her voice has the quality offingernails scraping across a smooth slate."Enjoy your celebration while you can,my king," she cackles. "Storm clouds aregathering on the horizon, darker than anyyou've known. If you and yours are aliveafter the passing of another summer, thenyou may be happy. Until then, sleeplightly, king." Her terrible laughter ringsonce more through the hall. The imageslowly fades from the mirror, and theshadow of darkness lifts.

The woman in the mirror is Chasandri, oneof the crones of Crystykk. See the NorwoldEncounters section for more informationabout these crones.

MAJOR EVENTS

Raiders in the snow

This event should take place during the firstwinter the characters spend in Norwold. Forcampaign purposes, describe this winter tothe characters as being extremely cold andsnowy. Raging blizzards strike in late fall,and lakes and rivers freeze over. The farmersof Norwold are hit particularly hard. Manyof their animals die off, and they are forced toharvest their crops early, resulting in anunusually poor yield.

Because of the premature winter, the waterpassage between Frosthaven and Norwoldfreezes early. The frost giants that live inFrosthaven see this as an opportunity for anextended raid of Norwold. All 2,000 of themale frost giants living in Frosthaven crossthe ice passage by late fall.

For details on these frost giants, see thenotes on Frosthaven in The Setting section.Use the War Machine rules from the D&D®Companion set when you run this event.

The plan of attackShortly after the giants cross the ice passageinto Norwold, they separate into 20 bands of100 giants each. Each band of giants has aBattle Rating of 114.

The giants can move 24 miles per day, or 7hexes per week.

Ten of the giant bands move straight southtoward the halfling dominions. These bandsattack and plunder any strongholds or settle-ments that lie in their path. If the giants can-not immediately conquer a stronghold orsettlement, however, they move on.

The other 10 giant bands move southeast-ward toward the mouth of the Great Bay.These bands also loot and plunder settle-ments along the way, but they do not spendmuch time in any one area.

Use a pencil to keep track of the movementof the giant bands on DM Map 2. Rememberthat no characters or NPCs (including theking) find out about the raid until some survi-vor brings word of what he has seen. Sinceseveral elven communities lie in the giants'paths, it won't be too long before word of theraids reaches the civilized lands. However,this information should be sketchy at best.

After the two major groups of giant bandshave reached opposite ends of the Great Bay,both groups move into the climax of theirraid. Because the winter has been so severe,the Great Bay is completely frozen across.The giants at the eastern end of the bay begincrossing the ice, while the giants at the west-ern end cross the White Bear River, andbegin heading east.

The two groups of giant bands now com-bine in a large pincer movement, moving

along the south shore of the Great Bay andplundering any dominions that they comeacross there. The giants are making theirmove on the city of Alpha.

The call to arms goes out soon after word ofthe raid reaches Alpha. All of King Ericall'sarmies mobilize for war. The king orders allof his lords (both characters and NPCs) tomake for Alpha with as many troops as theycan raise.

Movement restrictionsBecause of the deep snow, cut the movementrate of all normal forces in half, unless theyare equipped with skis or snowshoes. Elvenand halfling troops have such equipment, buta character's forces should be so equippedonly if the character makes appropriatearrangements.

No movement restrictions apply to thefrost giants. Deep snow is their natural ele-ment.

Encountering the giants

In most cases, character lords encounterbands of no more than 100 giants. You shouldalso keep track of and resolve encountersbetween giant bands and NPC lords. Thegiants are not selective about whose domin-ions they raid.

The characters may be able to combineseveral forces and destroy some of the giantbands piecemeal. If your players want you torun individual combat for an encounterbetween characters and giants, use the fol-lowing statistics for each frost giant the char-acters encounter.

Frost Giant: AC 4; HD 10+1*; hp 46; #AT 1club/hurl rocks; D 4-14/3-18; Save F10;ML 9; AL C; XP 1,600

You may want to increase a giant's hit pointsif a character fights a frost giant chieftain oran accomplished giant warrior.

Once the characters and NPCs havedefeated a few giant bands, the giants pull intheir extended formations and move in twoblocks of 1,000 giants each (minus any casu-alties the characters and NPCs may haveinflicted). If characters and NPCs manage torout one of these massive groups, consider allgiants in that group to be defeated, for cam-paign purposes. They are considereddefeated because any survivors would flee forFrosthaven.

Unless the characters and NPCs send all ofthe giants running back to Frosthaven in theearly phases of the raid, you should set thestage for a major battle near Alpha. The twolarge groups of giant bands avoid the moun-tains at the foot of the capital peninsula.

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Rather, they go around the mountains bycrossing the ice of the bay. Once the twogroups pass the mountains, however, theyunite and advance on Alpha as one massiveforce.

If the king's forces do not advance to meetthe giants, the giants besiege the city. Thecharacters' advice should weigh heavily inthe king's decisions about battle strategy. Inany event, the giants withdraw to the north24 weeks after their raid began. They mustreturn to Frosthaven before the bridge of icebetween the two lands begins to melt.

Remember that the giants are not trying toconquer Norwold. Their aim is to plunder,and if they are successful, they head back toFrosthaven heavily laden with treasure.

Ending the raidAfter the giants' raid has ended, King Ericallevaluates the performance of each of his lordsin battle. The king may add lands to the hold-ings of a lord who acted courageously andheroically in the battle. The king may alsodecrease the holdings of a lord who per-formed less than enthusiastically in battle.

Remember that your campaign is a living,changing operation. Situations that ariseduring this period of tension may have long-lasting effects. Characters may prove them-selves as trustworthy, or they may prove thatthey cannot be counted among the king'strusted advisors.

The raids and ensuing battles may alsodecrease the population of Norwold, whichmay result in a loss of income for the lords.

NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS: EXPANDING THE CAMPAIGN

Five short encounters are detailed in this sec-tion. You should be able to run each of theencounters in 2-4 hours of playing time. Youmay insert these encounters into your cam-paign as you see fit. Some of the encountersshould take place during specific seasons. Seethe Campaign Time Scale guidelines in theLand Grab section for details.

Each encounter serves a specific purposerelating to the conflict between the empires ofAlphatia and Thyatis. You should run theseencounters before running the War of theCrown. Try to assemble as many charactersas possible for each of these encounters, as thechallenges will be difficult, and the characterswill need a wide variety of skills.

A suggested setting is given at the begin-ning of each encounter. These settings aredesigned to bring the characters into theencounter. Feel free to disregard these set-tings if they are not consistent with your cam-

paign. You may also come up with your ownways of involving characters in encounters.

In most cases, the location of the encoun-ters is also left up to you. Some encounters dolist suggested Norwold locations.

Three of the encounters include maps foryour reference. The other two encounters donot require maps. You may map areas for thecharacters to explore in these two encounters,if you wish.

Encounter 1:The ruins of Alinor

(Use DM Map 3.)

Encounter settingThe people of Norwold are panicking! Mes-sengers bring word of a large band of frostgiants, raiding far to the south of their usualstomping grounds. The farmers are too busy

guarding their homes from invasion to workthe fields or tend the animals; as a result, pro-ductivity is dropping rapidly.

Tell the characters that the most recentreports about the giants have placed themsomewhere in the middle of the characters'dominions. Explain that a high-level forcemay be the farmers' only hope.

If this information motivates the charac-ters, then you may go ahead with the encoun-ter. If the characters do not react, explain thatthe giants are bound to devastate small com-munities, and the farmers will demand pro-tection before they return to work.

If characters send an armed force to meetthe giants (via the War Machine rules), theforce fails to locate the giants unless accompa-nied by one or more characters. As soon ascharacters lead a force in search of the giants,you may go to area Al.

Encounter key

Al. STAMPEDE!

A fresh trail leads into a small cluster ofrocky hills. The terrain surrounding thetrail climbs steeply. There appear to be nosigns of human habitation here.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footfallsshakes the ground. Gasping breaths comefrom the rocks to the east. Both ominoussounds are quickly drawing closer.

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NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS

One round after characters enter this area,four frost giants emerge from the rocky hills.They come running around a bend in thenarrow trail. The giants' mouths are hangingopen in desperate gasps for breath, and looksof crazed fear fill their faces. Every few sec-onds, one of the giants glances over his shoul-der.

The giants furiously attack any characterswho stand in their way. Once the giants failtheir morale check, however, they run pastthe characters toward the west. They do notgo back toward the east for any reason.

Frost Giants (4): AC 4; HD 10+1 *; hp 64, 57,54, 43; MV 120' (40'); #AT 1 club; D4-24; Save F10; ML 9; AL C; XP 1,600

These giants are carrying nothing of value.

A2. THE RAIDERS' CAMPAs characters approach the opening to thiscave, read the following boxed text to theplayers.

The rocky trail winds north to the mouthof a cave. The orange light of a fire flickerscheerily within the cave. The rich smell ofroasting venison wafts outward, accompa-nied by the sound of sizzling meat.

Lying motionless around the fire in thecave are the bodies of several giants.Expressions of terror are frozen on theirfaces. Their cold eyes are fixed with thestare of death.

Five more dead giants lie beyond thefire. Weapons are clenched in the giants'stiffening fingers. The bodies of at least adozen large wolves lie scattered among thedead giants. It appears as if some incredi-bly powerful force used a blunt instru-ment to kill the giants.

If characters inspect the bodies of the giantsor the wolves, they see that the attack on thesecreatures occurred within the last half-hour.The meat roasting over the fire has justbegun to burn, and is in fact quite edible. Ifcharacters examine the cave more closely,read the following boxed text to the players.

This cave is large and irregularly shaped.Dirty furs, clubs, and three large sacks arescattered carelessly about the floor. A pileof dry wood is stacked near the fire.

Many loose stones lie on the floor near agaping, black hole in the cave's east wall.The hole is about 10 feet in diameter, andappears to puncture the wall, leading intothe bedrock at a steep, downward angle.

contains copper and silver dishes and uten-sils. The other two sacks contain the follow-ing coins: 7,330 cp, 1,680 sp, and 213 gp.The weight of each sack is equal to 5,000 cn.

If the characters go through the dark tun-nel in the east wall, they notice that the air init is damp, musty, and stale. Some dust hangsin the air, but none has settled on the walls orfloor. There are no footprints in the tunnel.

A3. THE STING

The sound of crunching rises from thiscave. Several crablike creatures areswarming over the carcass of some animalin this room. The creatures' giant mandi-bles cause the horrible crunching sound.The only other sound in this room is theoccasional click of hard carapaces knock-ing into each other.

This cave is the lair of six giant scorpions.The scorpions are feasting on one of the frostgiants' slain wolves.

If any characters walk into this cavern, thescorpions rush forward and try to sink theirclaws into this new, fresh meat.

Giant Scorpions (6): AC 2; HD 4*; hp 30,24, 21, 19, 18, 15; MV 150' (50'); #AT2 claws/1 sting; D 1-10/1-10/1-4 * poi-son; Save F2; ML 11; AL N; XP 125

If the scorpions fail a morale check, theyretreat into their lair,which is empty.

A4. THE DOORMAN

A dull roar echoes off the walls of thisrough hallway. Cool, moist breezes blowsoftly through the tunnel. The echoingroar slowly grows to a pounding thunder.

The tunnel widens as a bubbling streamof water enters from the south wall andrushes forward toward the east. Thestream water runs 50 feet along the southwall of the tunnel, and then drops over thelip of a precipice.

The tunnel eventually opens into ahuge cavern, which is lit by a dim, phos-phorescent glow. The silhouette of a mon-strous figure partially blocks the cavern'seerie light. The huge humanoid shapestands motionless at the mouth of the cav-ern, its head nearly touching the 16-foot-high ceiling.

The sacks contain some of the treasure thegiants plundered from farmers. One sack

The figure is a bronze golem that has beencharged with the task of preventing any crea-tures from entering the cavern. The golemdoes not move unless a character comeswithin 40 feet of it, or if a character attacks it.In either case, the golem attacks immediately.

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Bronze Golem: AC 0; HD 20***; hp 97; MV240' (80'); #AT 1 fist + special; D 3-30 +1-10 (heat); Save F10; ML 12; AL N;XP 4,300

The golem fights desperately to prevent anycharacter from entering the cavern. If anycharacters run past the golem, it pursues thecharacters. If any characters fly past thegolem, the creature summons the drolemfrom area A5 to attack the flying characters.

Beyond the golem, the floor of the caverngives way to a sheer cliff.

A5. THE OLD GUARD

The eerie glow of green phosphorescencelights this mysterious cavern. The mistfrom the plunging falls drifts through thecave and settles on the shattered, mossystones of what once must have beenmighty columns.

A large pool, rippled by the flow of thewaterfall, covers much of the cave floor.Square corners of stone, fitted with brassand iron, jut upward from the water inseveral places, hinting at the proud ances-try of this crumbled ruin.

Slender granite columns, which oncemust have graced an awesome fortress, liebroken in mossy, stagnant water. Thefacade of a building strains beneath theweight of a collapsed cavern wall, andmighty brass doors, now tarnished andmoldy, hang loosely on their hinges.Beyond these doors, all is dark.

This ruin is all that remains of a once mightyport. Earthquakes and erosion caused it tosink below ground level. The destructiveactions of the elements have destroyed all butthis tiny portion.

A mighty magic-user was once lord of thiscity. The building before which the charactersnow stand was the magic-user's palace. Lurk-ing within the palace is the magic-user's"pet" drolem, which was instructed to killanyone who entered this hallowed realm.Unless the golem from area A4 summons it,the drolem emerges from the ruined palacewhile the characters are climbing down to thecavern floor.

Drolem: AC -3; HD 20*****; hp 112; MV120' (40') on land, 240' (80 ')flying;#AT 2 claws/1 bite; D 2-12/2-12/11-30 +breath; Save F10 + immunities; ML 12;AL N; XP 7,750

The drolem fights to the death. It uses itsbreath weapon if it can catch more than one

character in its area of effect.If the characters slay the drolem, they find

that the only items of interest in the cavernare within the palace walls. As soon as char-acters enter the palace, they recognize it as astructure of former grandeur. Rubble andbroken stones line the hallways, and lime-stone, fallen from the cavern walls, chokesmost of the palace's open areas.

Two areas of the palace, however, havemanaged to escape the ravages of time. Eachof these areas is described below in detail.You may create your own map of these areas,if you wish.

Palace library: As characters enter the pal-ace, they see a brass door in the wall to theleft. The door is closed. Behind the door lies alibrary. Many tomes, most of them moldyand unreadable, line the shelves here.

If characters search the library, they find asmall compartment behind one of theshelves. The compartment is a secret door,protected by a poison needle trap. If charac-ters open the secret door, they find a smallgold box. The box is not trapped, but if char-acters check, it does radiate magic. If charac-ters smash or pry open the box, all of itscontents burn in a flash. If a thief picks thebox lock, the characters find the followingitems inside: a scroll of creation, a scroll oftruth, and a diary.

If characters examine the diary, they findthat it is the journal of "Alinor, prince ofAlphia." In it, Alinor relates the story of hispeople's migration to the west, traveling onships that "towered to the very clouds."Alinor brought his people to a new land, builta city, and declared a kingdom dedicated tothe consummate power of magic. With theaid of a potent staff created by Alinor, his peo-ple conquered dominions of savages to thenorth and south.

As characters read further in the diary,they discover that Alinor became increas-ingly obsessed with the idea of mastering notjust his people, but the very land itself.Alinor's last entry describes his intentions toraise a mountain range through the use ofarcane arts.

Palace tomb: Standing at the far end of thepalace's main hallway are two huge doorsmade of gleaming gold. The doors are closed.The doors creak loudly as characters pushthem open.

Dust and spiderwebs cover the shadowyroom that lies beyond the doors. Shatteredcolumns and crumbled mosaics litter thefloor.

If characters examine the room, they dis-cover that it was once a throneroom. A tall,ivory throne lies on its side in one corner ofthe room. Much of the throne's ornate carv-ing is cracked or smashed.

If characters take the time to examine theroom more closely, they see two skeletalhands reaching out from under a massivestone block. Clutched in the bony fingers is astaff, which gleams as if it has just been pol-ished. The staff is a rod of victory.

The only other items of value in this roomare the doors. Each door is worth 20,000 gp,and each weighs an equivalent amount.

Encounter 2:The dungeon of Kwyll

(Use DM Map 4.)Encounter setting

The evil cleric Kwyll originally constructedthe dungeon shown in DM Map 4. The clericwas able to attract a number of ferocious

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monsters to the dungeon, and things seemedto be going very well . . . until the hellhoundsgot hungry.

The monsters control this dungeon now,and Kwyll's evil spirit, now in the form of adruj, is confined to one room. The monstersdon't seem to mind the lack of leadership; infact, they've been doing pretty well on theirown.

Trolls, fire giants, and hellhounds leave thedungeon and roam freely at night, taking res-idents prisoner and carrying them back to thedungeon. The monsters loot and plunderalong the way as well. The dungeon's newestresident is a red dragon, which has not yetpaid a visit to the countryside.

You may draw the characters into thisencounter by having them listen to numerouscomplaints from farmers and villagers:"Them foul things stole my wife, and I wanther back!" Of course, characters may send alow level party of adventurers to clear out themonsters, but they should probably becomemore curious when the party fails to return!

You should locate Kwyll's dungeon in thewilderness area of one of the character'sdominions. Explain to the characters thatfinding the dungeon is easy, because the mon-sters are not very good at covering theirtracks. Start the encounter at area Bl.

Encounter key

Bl. OLD SMOKYNOSE

Old Smokynose is a large red dragon thatmoved into the dungeon. "Smoky" wasattracted by the treasure in area B7. Thedragon is still trying to figure out how to dealwith the beholder that guards the treasure inthat area. Smoky hasn't yet made his moveon the beholder. The dragon ignores the dun-

NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS

geon's other inhabitants, because they oftenbring it food. Smoky immediately attacks anyintruders, however.

Large Red Dragon: AC -3; HD 16; hp 89;MV 120' (40') on land, 300' (100')flying; #AT up to 6; D 2-11/8-36 +breath; Save F30; ML 9; AL C; XP6,100

Spells.First level: darkness, detect magic, magic

missile, sleep, ventriloquismSecond level: detect invisible, ESP, invisi-

bility, webThird level: dispel magic, haste, slowFourth level: dimension door, polymorph

other

Smoky fights intelligently, and if charactersreduce its hit points to 25 or fewer, the dragontries to leave the dungeon, either by fleeingthrough the entrance or by using the dimen-sion door spell.

Eight trolls arrive from area B4 2-5 roundsafter the dragon attacks the characters. Thetrolls immediately join the battle.

A shallow well stands in an alcove in thiscave's southeast corner. When other mon-sters leave food for the dragon, they leave it inthis area. There is nothing of value in thisalcove.

B2. OFFICE

The door to this room is locked.

Thick furs cover the walls and floor of thisneat, well-furnished room. Several hugechairs stand next to a massive fireplace inthe room's southwest corner. A desk, lit-tered with parchment, stands against theeast wall.

Six sheets of parchment lie on the desk. Eachbears an unfinished attempt at a coat of arms.Each coat of arms includes these features: ahuman skull, a black mace, and a stakedriven through the letter "A." The text var-ies from scroll to scroll. Characters may beable to read these phrases: "Kwyll theMighty," "Kwyll, King of the World," and"Kwyll the Invincible."

B3. KWYLL'S HOME

Heavy iron bars rest across these doors.

The door to this room opens with a grimcreak. Beyond the door lies a filthy room,littered with dust, dirt, and bones. A grin-ning skull rests on a table near the southwall. Many of the other bones in the roomlook as if they may also have been part of ahuman skeleton.

Moldy leather and pieces of cloth arepiled in the center of the floor, and otherbits of miscellaneous junk are scatteredabout the room.

around area B7.

B5. HALL OF THE FIRE GIANTS

Kwyll has become a skull druj, and has beenimprisoned in this room. If it is daytime, he isinvisible. He moves out the door as soon ascharacters open it. In this case, explain to thecharacters that the skull on the table is that ofan unlucky adventurer. Kwyll remains out-side the dungeon, waiting to attack the char-acters as soon as night falls.

If it is night, Kwyll attacks the charactersas soon as they enter the room.

Skull Druj: AC -4; HD 14****; hp 6 8 ; MV90' (30'); #AT 1 or 4; D 2-8 ^poison;Save F14; ML 11; ALC; XP 5,150; SApoison touch and presence, clericalspells, can split into four identical parts;SD can only be hit by +2 or betterweapon, immune to all spells below 4thlevel

As soon as Kwyll attacks, he splits into fouridentical parts. Three of these skulls attackthe characters, while the fourth holds back tocast spells.

There is nothing of value in this room.

B4. TROLL HAVEN

A feeble fire in the center of this room fillsthe air with sooty smoke. Several well-gnawed bones lie scattered about the floor.Some crude clubs are piled against thewest wall. A dirty sack lies along the northwall near the cave opening.

This cave is the home of eight trolls. Thecharacters may already have fought thesetrolls in area Bl. If the characters somehowpassed the dragon without being noticed,they encounter the trolls in this area. Thetrolls attack the characters as soon as they seethem.

Trolls (8): AC 4; HD 6+3*; hp 39, 38, 34, 32,30, 27, 25, 24; MV 120' (40'); #AT 2claws/1 bite; D 1-6/1-6/1-10; Save F6;ML 10; AL C; XP 650

The sack against the north wall contains 420gp, 290 pp, three 500 gp gems, one 600 gpgem, one 700 gp gem, two 1,000 gp gems,and one 2,000 gp gem.

An alcove stands along the cave's southwall. A locked chest sits in the alcove. Thechest is trapped with a particularly deadlypoison needle (-5 penalty to saving throw).The chest contains 4,000 sp, 850 gp, and 25gems worth a total of 20,000 gp. The key tothis chest is among the items scattered

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Flickering splashes of orange and red lightdance on the walls of this huge cavern.The intense heat of a large fire pours forthfrom the cave. Every few seconds, the firecrackles greedily as more fuel is added toit.

A band of fire giants lives in this lair. Theyare gathered around a towering blaze, enjoy-ing sizzling haunches of fresh meat. Thegiants are quite unaware of any occurrencesin other parts of the dungeon. Read the fol-lowing boxed text to the players as the char-acters enter the giants' lair.

The crimson flames light the smudgedfaces of the giants. The creatures chew,grin, and bite off huge hunks of meat fromthe haunches they are holding. Juice runsthrough their beards like red rivers.

As soon as the characters come into view, oneof the giants notices them. All but one of thegiants leap to attack the characters. Theremaining giant pauses for 1 round to pullopen the release on the hellhounds' cage(area B6).

Fire Giants (7): AC 4; HD 11+2*; hp 78, 62,61, 60, 59, 53, 45; MV 120' (40'); #AT1 club; D 5-30; Save F l l ; ML 9; AL C;XP 1,900

A pack of hellhounds enters the cavern 2rounds after the giants attack the characters.The hellhounds immediately leap to attackthe characters. The dogs fight as long as thegiants do. If the characters defeat all of thegiants, or if the giants flee, the hounds runout of the dungeon, fleeing to the west.

Hellhounds (7): AC 4; HD 7; hp 39, 35, 31,30, 27, 26, 22; MV 120' (40'); #AT 1bite or breath; D 1-6 or 7-42; Save F7;ML special; AL C; XP 1,250

Two terrified farmers lie against the southwall of this cavern. Each of the farmers isbound and gagged. A band of monsters fromthe dungeon took the farmers prisoner on oneof its raids in the countryside. The farmerstell the characters that more farmers and vil-lagers are locked up in a cage in area B7.

The giants have no treasure in this room.They keep their treasure in area B7, where abeholder guards it (for a 10% share).

NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS

B6. DOGHOUSE

This is a dirty cage that smells of dogs. Araised iron portcullis rests 3 feet above thecage opening. There doesn't appear to beany kind of mechanism for raising theportcullis anywhere near the cage.

B7. THE EYE OF DEATH

A grim apparition floats in the center ofthis large cavern. The creature appears tobe a giant, disembodied eye, but as theseconds go by, more features becomeapparent.

The creature is round and covered withsome sort of plate material. Its eye staresforward from its center. Tubes, whichresemble the legendary Medusa's snakes,wave from the top of the creature. A sin-gle, glaring eye stares out from the top ofeach tube.

Treasures of every size and shape arescattered about this shadowy cave.

Suddenly, the great eye begins to moveforward, its eye-tubes waving ominously.

The creature in this cave is a beholder. Thebeholder never leaves this cave; in fact, italways stays within 30 feet of the center of thecave. It uses all of its abilities to destroy any-one or anything that enters its lair. Thebeholder may summon any monsters that arestill in the dungeon to help fight the charac-ters.

Beholder: AC 0/2/7; HD 11 * * * * *; hp 50/20/12 (xlO); MV 30' (10'); #AT 1 bite +special; D 2-16; Save MU11; ML 12;AL C; XP5,100

The beholder has the following treasure:Coins. 24,000 cp, 20,000 sp, 10,000 gp,

and 6,000 pp.Gems. 2,000 gems, worth a total of

150,000 gp.Potions (two doses of each). agility,

blending, bug repellent, elemental form,luck, merging, and speech.

Scrolls. communication, and spell catch-ing.

Magic items. snake staff, earring, ring ofelemental adaptation, ointment of blessing,ointment of poison, shield +1 of haste, arrowsof wounding (5), quarrels of flying (2), sword+2, and bastard sword +2.

Eight villagers stand in an alcove behindiron bars in the cave's east end. These vil-lagers cheer the characters on as they fight themonsters, but they are anxious to be set free.They tell the characters so several times.

Encounter 3: Revenge of themountain clan

(Use DM Map 5.)

Encounter setting

The mad wizard Gargantua, through a proc-ess of trial and error, has located a naturalcavern near a dwarven stronghold. He tele-ported several of his monster "friends" to thecavern and directed them to attack thedwarves. The monsters broke through a wallin the dwarven stronghold, and now theyhold the chamber that is the home for thedwarves' Forge of Power.

Because the dwarves lack the magicalweapons needed to defeat many of the mon-sters in the caves, they are reluctantly forcedto ask for help.

To emphasize the importance of theirappeal, the dwarves send their Clanmasterand the Keeper of the Forge to ask the charac-ters for help. Twelve dwarven bodyguards (allninth level) accompany the two clan leaders.

Gard Rocktooth, Clanmaster: AC 2; D12;hp 77; MV 90' (30'); #AT 1 battleaxe; D3-10; Save D12; ML 11; AL L;S 16; I 11; W 14; DX 9; CN 17; CH 12

Gard wears plate mail +1. He is a proud andcompetent clanmaster, and is obviouslyuncomfortable asking humans for help.

Niddrow the Wise, Keeper of the Forge: AC7; D8; hp 42; MV 120' (40'); #AT 1battle axe; D 2-9; Save D8; ML 12; ALL; S 13; I 15; W 16; DX 10; CN 13;CH 7

Niddrow is a small, bespectacled dwarf whohas been driven to distraction by the loss ofhis forge. He is always cleaning his glasses,scratching his beard, and making remarkslike, "Oh, dear me!"

The two dwarves tell the characters about themonsters breaking through a wall into theirstronghold. They tell the characters that theClanholder, a twelfth level dwarf of high com-bat prowess, led a party into the forgeroomafter gargoyles had taken it. All of thedwarves were slain. The dwarves do notknow that a gargantuan troll is also lurking inthe forgeroom.

The dwarves offer the characters two possi-ble rewards. All characters must agree onwhich reward they will take before they gointo the dwarven stronghold. The dwarvesoffer:

1. An immediate reward payment of100,000 gp in gems.

2. A "pledge of call," which would allowthe characters to call upon the dwarven clan

22

for help one time only. If the characters usethe call, the dwarves mobilize their entiremilitary force for a period of time up to 3months. The dwarves agree to help the char-acters accomplish any task. They do not,however, perform any sort of evil deed.

The dwarves refer to their stronghold asStormhaven. It is a network of caves locatedhigh in a rugged mountain range. A profit-able mining operation provides the economicfoundation of the clan, which has 2,500 mem-bers. The clan can field a military force of1,000 in times of duress, or in answer to acall.

The characters do not encounter Gargan-tua the wizard in this encounter. He is theforce behind the monsters in the dwarvenstronghold, however.

You may place this encounter in anymountainous hex that you wish, althoughyou should probably place it somewhere nearthe characters' dominions.

The dwarves' forgeroom is located deep inthe heart of a massive mountain peak. Char-acters may reach it only by passing through 2miles of mazelike tunnels. When charactersare ready to begin the encounter, go to areaCl.

Encounter key

Cl. THE FORGEROOM

Characters may approach this chamber fromany one of three corridors. The dwarves haveset up blockades in each of the corridors, 200feet from the forgeroom opening. A dozendwarves guard each of the blockades. Noth-ing else lies between the blockades and thechamber itself.

Characters must have their own lightsources here, as these tunnels and caves aretotally dark.

The spots marked "G" on DM Map 5show the locations of three gargantuan gar-goyles. A pedestal rests in the center of thecave. The pedestal once held the forge, but itis now empty.

Gargantuan Gargoyles (3): AC 1; HD 32*;hp 160, 137, 128; MV 180' (60') onland, 300' (100') flying; #AT 4; D 4-12/4-12/4-24/4-16; Save F32; ML 11;AL C; XP 10,000

Gargantua told the gargoyles to prevent any-one from passing through this chamber. Ifcharacters attack the gargoyles from one ofthe three corridors, the gargoyles rush for-ward to attack. Otherwise, they do not leavethis chamber.

NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS

C2. RUBBLE

This loose pile of stone is what's left of theforgeroom's east wall. The gargantuan crea-tures created the rubble when they brokethrough the wall into the forgeroom.

A gargantuan carrion crawler is hidingunder the rubble. Characters cannot see thecreature, nor can they use infravision todetect it, because it is covered with dust. Thecrawler lashes out to attack any characterswho cross the rubble. The crawler gains auto-matic surprise on the first round.

Gargantuan Carrion Crawler: AC 3; HD25*; hp l l2; MV 240' (80'); #AT 8; D2-5 + paralysis; Save F13; ML 11; ALN; XP 6,500

C3. WINDING WAYS

A fourth gargantuan gargoyle prowls thesetwisting caverns. A pair of basilisks, tele-ported in by Gargantua for good measure,accompany the gargoyle. The gargoyle keepsthe basilisks in a wooden box in this area,springing them loose when intruders enterthe tunnels. The gargoyle then tries to circlearound any intruders and attack from therear while the basilisks attack the front.

Gargantuan Gargoyle: AC 1; HD 32*; hp160; MV 180' (60') on land, 300'(100') flying; #AT 4; D 4-12/4-12/4-24/4-16; Save F32; ML 11; AL C; XP10,000

Basilisks (2): AC 4; HD 6+1**; hp 30, 28;MV 60' (20'); #AT 1 bite/1 gaze; D 1-10 * petrification; Save F6; ML 9; ALN; XP 950

All three of these creatures attack the charac-ters in this area, even if their ambush does notwork.

C4. CRYSTAL ROOM

Spectacular crystal stalactites line the walls ofthis chamber. They catch even the slightestbit of light and make the chamber bright asday.

The Forge of Stormhaven lies in the centerof the room. If characters have a light source,they see twelve gargantuan trolls standingalong the walls of the cave! There is actuallyonly one troll in the cave, but the mirrorlikerocks of the walls reflect the creature's imageseveral times over.

If characters attack before they realize theyare seeing an illusion, they have only a 1 in 12chance of attacking the real creature.

Gargantuan Troll: AC 4; HD 51**; hp 248;MV 240' (80'); #AT 3; D 4-24/4-24/4-40; Save F36; ML 12; AL C; XP29,000

The troll chooses its moment of attack care-fully. It tries to gain surprise, if possible. Thetroll fights to the death to prevent the charac-ters from recovering the forge. Once charac-ters kill the troll, however, no other obstaclesstand in their way of recovering the relic.

Encounter 4:Barbarians' battle

Encounter background

A large number of humans have lived inNorwold for centuries, long before any

empire viewed the region with covetous eyes.These people's civilization has not advancedgreatly, but the people have managed to farewell as nomads and hunters. Explorers collec-tively refer to these people as "barbarians."

These barbarians are mainly fighters,thieves, and clerics. None of the thieves' orclerics' abilities has developed beyond 10thlevel, but fighting barbarians can be theequal of any civilized fighters in levels andabilities.

For most of the year, barbarian tribes tra-vel in groups of 100 to 1,000 members. Dur-ing the summer solstice, however, all of thebarbarians in Norwold gather into three mas-sive groups. Each of these groups is made upof about 15,000 members. Each group canmuster about 3,800 barbarians as warriors, ifthe need arises.

The barbarians have never had any trou-ble with King Ericall, since major portions ofNorwold have not yet been civilized. As longas dominion leaders allow the barbariantribes to pass freely across their dominions,there is no trouble. If a dominion leaderblocks a tribe's passage, however, the barbar-ians make a Reaction Check. This actioncould result in war.

Encounter setting

This encounter begins as the barbarians passthrough Alak Dool's dominion (see the Non-player Characters section for details). If youdo not want to use Alak Dool for the encoun-ter, or if his dominion is nowhere near any of

23

NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS

the characters' dominions, you may use anyNPC magic-user, as long as he is at least 9thlevel, and has a conjure elemental spell.

Begin the encounter when the charactersare traveling through their dominions forsome reason. They may be hunting, or theymay be clearing their dominions of monsters.

While the characters are traveling, theyreceive word of a showdown between a bar-barian tribe and Alak Dool. The barbariansare currently camped on the borders ofDool's dominion. There have been no bat-tles—the barbarians would rather hunt foodthan fight humans—but Dool taunts themconstantly.

Dool recently cast invisibility and fly spellson himself, and then traveled to the campsiteof Barkal the Red. Barkal is the chief of thisbarbarian tribe. While hovering over thechief's camp, he conjured an earth elementaland ordered it to attack the frightened bar-barians.

Barkal, wielding his sword, challenged theelemental. The barbarian chief has led theelemental out of the camp, and the two arenow chasing each other through the forest.

Barkal the Red: AC 5; F22; hp 84; MV 120'(40'); #AT 1; D 2-11; Save F22; ML10; AL L; S 13; I 11; W 13; DX 16; CN17; CH 12

Barkal carries a nonmagical two-handedsword, and he wears heavy furs. These fursare considered the equivalent of leatherarmor.

Earth Elemental: AC -2; HD 16; hp 78; MV60' (20'); #AT 1; D 3-24; Save F16;ML 10; AL N; XP 0

When the characters arrive on the scene,Barkal is exhausted from the long chase. Heturns to face the lumbering elemental. Thebarbarian and the monster draw closer toeach other. In a few seconds, they are wres-tling. (Barkal's Wrestling Rating is 21. Theearth elemental's Wrestling Rating is 41.)

Dool, who controls the elemental fromoverhead, has sent it to wrestle Barkal. Oncethe elemental has pinned the barbarian, itstarts inflicting damage upon him. Of course,the characters may intervene any time theywish.

Six rounds after the wrestling matchbegins, eight of Barkal's warriors arrive onthe scene. The warriors stop for a moment,gasping at the horrible monster that is tan-gling with their leader. Within seconds, how-ever, the warriors leap into the fray.

Barbarian Warriors (8): AC 6; F8; hp 48, 42,40, 38, 37, 36, 32, 30; MV 120' (40');#AT 1; D 2-11; Save F8; ML 10; AL L

Each warrior wears heavy furs (treat asleather armor), and carries a two-handedsword.

If the characters have not intervened to helpBarkal by the time his warriors arrive, thewarriors naturally assume that the charactersare somehow involved in the attack on theirleader. In this case, six of the warriors attackthe characters, while the other two aid theirleader.

If the characters help Barkal, Dool forcesthe elemental to fight to the death. Dool isprepared to flee at a moment's notice, how-ever, since he doesn't want the characters toknow that he is involved.

If Barkal and the characters work togetherto defeat the elemental, the barbarian leaderinvites the characters back to his people'scamp.

The barbarians'campBarkal is chief of a tribe of 900 barbarians, allof whom eagerly await their chief's return. Ifthe characters are with Barkal when hereturns, the barbarians greet them enthusias-tically as well. The barbarians serve up animproptu feast, and the characters are theguests of honor.

Wrestling matches make up much of theevening's entertainment. A number of bar-barian warriors (including some brawnyfemales) wrestle each other in the center of ahuge ring. They are more than willing towrestle a few of the characters as well. Thewrestling barbarians are all fighters betweenlevels 9 and 20 (1d12+8). The wrestlers gain1d4 on all ability modifiers. None of the wres-tlers may wear any armor.

If none of the characters voluntarily entersthe ring, some of the barbarians challenge thecharacters to matches. The challenges aregood-natured, and the barbarians take nooffense if a character refuses.

If, however, the characters do wrestle andmanage to show some ability in the ring (ifthey at least hold their own with the barbari-ans), Barkal closes the evening with the ritualof blood-sharing. Each of the characters isrequired to cut his right-hand palm. Barkalthen cuts his palm. Each character thenclasps Barkal's right hand, mingling bloodand allegiance.

The characters may refuse to take part inthis ritual, but Barkal loses face in his tribe ifthey do. The whole tribe then feels insulted,and the characters may have to deal withsome unfriendly barbarians.

If the characters do take part in the cere-mony, an oath of allegiance is impliedbetween the tribe and the characters. If either

party calls upon the other for assistance in thefuture, the call must be answered as quicklyand forcefully as possible.

Encounter 5:The crones of Crystykk

Encounter background

High atop a rocky crag, somewhere in theuncivilized lands of Norwold, sits the gloomycave of the crones of Crystykk. These threeold women are clerics of tremendous power,and each has a different alignment. Isolatedfrom humanity, these crones spend their timeobserving the world through a powerful crys-tal mirror, which is the only one of its kind.

This potent magic item is known as theCrystykk Mirror, and it is similar to a crystalball that has clairaudience. Only the cronesmay use the mirror, which is embedded in therock of their cave.

The crones cannot cast spells through themirror, but they can send messages to others,chiefly in the form of dreams. To send such amessage to an individual, the crones needonly concentrate on the individual's image asit appears in the mirror. Occasionally, thecrones try to use these dreams to summonhigh-level characters to their cave.

The crones may use the mirror to speakthrough other normal mirrors. Such an eventtakes place during King Ericall's wedding(see the Major Events section, The WeddingDay for details).

Because of their hobby, the crones areextremely knowledgeable. They enjoy a goodfight, and they always demand a high price ifthey win. If the crones are defeated, however,they gladly yield important information tothose who have defeated them.

Encounter settingUse the Dream List to introduce this encoun-ter to the characters. Tell the players that eachof their characters awakens one morning withthe lingering memory of a dream. At first, thecharacters cannot recall any details from theirdreams. Have each player roll 1d20 for hischaracter. If the die roll is less than or equal tothe character's Wisdom score, that characterremembers his dream.

Roll 1d6 for each character who remem-bers a dream. Then find the die roll and cor-responding dream on the Dream List. Do notreveal the details of the dreams until you haverolled for each of these characters, becauseseveral characters may have the same dream.Once you have determined which dreams thecharacters have had, read the appropriatepassages to the players.

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NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS

CRONES OF CRYSTYKK DREAM LIST

Die Roll: 1Dream: A path leads from your home and

takes you on a journey that lasts severaldays. Finally, a black fortress, risingfrom a dark crag of stone, towers beforeyou. As you climb upward, massivestone gates swing silently open. As soonas you have passed through the gates,they slam shut behind you. The icy fin-gers of fear grip your chest, and every-thing suddenly goes black.

Die Roll: 2Dream: You awaken in a black room. You

run to a window and discover that youare atop a tall, black tower. The entirecontinent sprawls out below you. Sud-denly, you know where you are! Thecrones! Three crooked old women havelocked you here! Through the bars onthe window, you can see your home. Toreach it would take days! As you lookout the window, the land below seems tomove. Massive ripples, rising up likegreat ocean swells, cross the land. Hugecracks appear in the earth, as buildings,trees, and people fall helplessly into theearth. Your tower sways and begins tofall, but before it strikes the ground, youcatch one last glimpse of Norwold, as agaping fissure splits the land in two.

Die Roll: 3Dream: You have been fighting for days.

Your arms feel like lead weights. Thebodies of friend and foe alike lie allaround you, forming a grisly humancarpet that stretches for as far as you cansee. You tell yourself that if you hadheeded the warnings of the three oldwomen, this tragedy could have beenavoided. Just as this thought crossesyour mind, the earth convulses beneathyour feet. A great fissure opens, andbodies fall into it, like water flowing overa dam. You straddle the fissure, one footon each side, but it grows wider anddeeper. You realize that you will soonjoin the bodies in the long fall down-ward.

Die Roll: 4Dream: A wicked, hook-nosed old woman

beckons you forward with a bony finger.You follow her, walking along a roadthat seems to wind for days throughdark forests and black, frozen moun-tains. At last the road ends before ablack fortress, which stands high on agloomy pinnacle of rock. Suddenly, theold woman turns and attacks you! Shecasts potent spells and wields a crushing

mace, but you fight with skill and dar-ing. The old crone is vanquished. Shepleads for her life, and offers a treasuremore valuable than a gem or magic. Youaccept her offer, reaching out to take abox that she holds weakly aloft. As youopen the box, golden light spills out,encircling you in warm light. Storiesseem to unfold from the light. At lastyou understand.

Die Roll: 5Dream: You are balanced carefully on a

mountain peak, looking down on twohuge forces that have drawn for battle.Standing between the armies are yourfriends, looking upward to you for help.Despair washes over you, because youknow that the only help you could offerlies far away, in the fortress on the rockypeak. Quiet voices had urged you to gothere . . . if only you had listened! But itis too late now.

Die Roll: 6Dream: A mighty weapon gleams in your

hand as you prepare to lead your armyinto war. What you carry inside, how-ever, is even more important. The battleis joined. Enemies fall before you likewheat under a scythe. Whole armies are

defeated by the sting of your sword, butit is the other weapon—the one youcarry inside—that truly proves decisive.With this in your grasp, you know thatthe future of Norwold is up to you.

Any character who remembers his dream hasa clear idea about the location of the blackfortress. Although each character shouldhave a slightly different picture of the fortressand of the women who live there, all of thecharacters have dreamed of the same place.

You may place the fortress of Crystykkanywhere you wish in Norwold. You do nothave to place it in a mountainous area if youdon't want to. Ideally, the characters shouldhave to travel several days from the nearestcharacter dominion to reach the fortress.

Journey to the fortressSelect or roll a few random encounters fromthe chart on p. 31. Have these encountersoccur as the characters travel to the fortress ofCrystykk.

On the last night before the charactersreach Crystykk, they have the followingencounter.

Three aerial servants, one summoned byeach of the crones, raid the characters' camp.Each of the crones has instructed her servant

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NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS

to steal a powerful magic item from the char-acters. You should select these items. Keep inmind that the crones are aware of everythingthe characters are carrying, and they arelikely to select those items that might provemost deadly in the upcoming conflict.

Aerial Servants (3): AC 0; HD 16***; hp 80,73, 67; MV 240' (80') on land, 720'(360') flying; #AT 1; D 8-32; Save F16;ML 9; AL C; XP 3,250

The aerial servants enter the characters'camp at maximum speed, steal the indicateditems, and flee as quickly as possible.

The fortress of CrystykkThis fortress is located in a dark region ofrocky peaks, far from any civilized lands. Ascharacters approach the fortress, the trailthey are following begins winding steeplyupward. The characters must negotiate nar-row canyons and high passes as they followthe trail. At last, the characters emerge on awide ledge. Tell the characters that this area isthe same as the one they saw in their dreams.

When the characters get to this point, readthe following boxed text to the players.

mountain peak that towers above thiscave. Flashes of lightning seem to flickerdimly in the clouds. The sky above themountain grows even darker. Suddenly, itis almost night.

A narrow, rocky trail winds upward to themouth of a dark cave. Gray clouds hug the

Tell the characters that the fortress they sawin their dreams was actually the mountainpeak that now rises before them.

The cave mouth is 20 feet wide. It opensinto a dimly-lit, 50-foot-long tunnel. Thetunnel is 10 feet wide and 20 feet high. Thetunnel leads to large, circular cavern of rock,which is 100 feet in diameter. The rough wallsof the cavern rise to a 20-foot-high ceiling.This cavern is the home of the crones.

In the center of the cavern, a mirror isembedded into a raised block of stone. Thecrones' beds, and a few of their personal pos-sessions stand against the cavern wall, acrossfrom the entrance.

The characters encounter the crones in theentrance tunnel.

The three cronesMequisa (Lawful), Bethidia (Neutral), andChasandri (Chaotic) are the three crones thatlive here. While you are free to use them assimple NPC antagonists, they are intended torepresent something more.

26

These old women symbolize the balance offorces, or alignments, in the world. Their ori-gin is obscure, but they are certainly very old.They are always together. You may want touse them in future adventures. If you do,adjust their spells and possessions, based onthe passage of time.

Mequisa, the Lawful: AC -4; C23; hp 52;MV 90' (30' ); #AT 1 mace +4; D 5-10;Save C23; ML 12; AL L; XP 3,750; S12; I 10; W 17; DX 14; CN 11; CH 6

Spells.First level: cure light wounds*, detect evil,

detect magic, light*, purify food andwater, remove fear*, resist cold

Second level: bless*, find traps, hold per-son*, know alignment, resist fire,silence (15' radius), speak with animal

Third level: continual light*, cure dis-ease*, growth of animal, locate object,remove curse*, striking

Fourth level: cure serious wounds, dispelmagic (x2), neutralize poison*, protec-tion from evil (10' radius), sticks tosnakes

Fifth level: commune, cure criticalwounds, raise dead, truesight

Sixth level: aerial servant, animate objects,barrier, cureall

Seventh level: earthquake, holy word,raise dead fully* (x2)

Mequisa wears plate mail +3, a ring of invisi-bility, and a ring of fire resistance. She carriesa shield +2, a mace +4, and a snake staff (32charges).

Bethidia, the Neutral: AC -6; C23; hp 63;MV 90' (30'); #AT 1 mace +5; D 6-11;Save C23; ML 12; AL N; XP 3,750; S10; I 12; W 17; DX 17; CN 15; CH 8

Spells.First level: cure light wounds*, detect evil,


Second level: bless", find traps, hold per-son", know alignment, resist fire,silence (15' radius), speak with animal






Bethidia wears plate mail +2, a ring of fireresistance, and a ring of spell storing (anti-magic shell, conjure elemental, haste). She

NORWOLD ENCOUNTERS

carries a shield +4, and a mace +5 (slows vic-tims—no saving throws apply).

Chasandri, the Chaotic: AC -3; C23; hp 57;MV 90' (30'); #AT 1 mace +4; D 6-11;Save C23; ML 12; AL C; XP 3,750; S14; I 9; W 15; DX 14; CN 14; CH 6

Spells.First level: cure light wound*, detect evil,


Second level: bless*, find traps, hold per-son *, know alignment, resist fire,silence (15' radius), speak with animal






Chasandri wears plate mail +2, a displacercloak, a ring of spell turning (7 charges), anda ring of memory. She carries a mace +4 (dou-ble damage to Lawful victims), and a shield+2.

Fighting the cronesThe crones, of course, know exactly when thecharacters enter their home. To prepare forthe upcoming battle, the crones cast a fewspells. Bethidia casts haste and conjure ele-mental from her ring. The crones then castbless, resist fire, protection from evil (10'radius), and truesight. These spells affecteach crone.

Just before the characters come into theentrance tunnel to the crones' cave, Mequisacasts a barrier spell at the end of the tunnelthat leads into the cave. As soon as the char-acters enter the tunnel, Chasandri castsanother barrier spell at the tunnel's outerend.

Chasandri immediately moves forward toattack the characters. The three crones stayas far apart as possible. They try to ensurethat two of them do not get caught in the areaof effect of a spell cast by a character.Mequisa sends her snake staff into the fray 1round after Chasandri moves forward. Shecontinues to cast spells as long as she can.Bethidia casts the anti-magic shell from herring as soon as the battle begins, and then shetoo moves forward.

When possible, the crones use. spells thatallow demi-human characters no saving

throws. (Ignore this guideline if there are nodemi-humans in the characters' party.) Thecrones direct those spells that do allow savingthrows at the party's human members.

The crones fight to the best of their abilitiesin their battle with the characters. If charac-ters kill two of the three crones, or if they havereduced each of the crones to 8 hit points orless, the remaining crones surrender. If thecrones are winning the battle, they demandthat the characters surrender, and they con-tinue to fight until the characters do so. If thecharacters flee, the crones follow them.

Battle resultsThe crones have not staged this test becausethey enjoy bullying weaker characters.Rather, they enjoy the thrill of a tough battle.They are good sports about winning or los-ing.

After the battle is over, they make sure thatall wounded characters are healed. If a char-acter is killed in battle, the crones bring thecharacter back to life. The crones use a rod ofhealth and a staff of healing for these pur-poses.

If the characters lose: In this case, the cronesclaim the following "fruits" of victory:

1. 1 magic item from each character2. 5 years' service by one character (char-

acters may share this responsibility—onecharacter serves the crones for 6 months, andthen another character takes over for 6months, etc.)

The crones claim whatever magic item ismost available. They probably choose theitems stolen by the aerial servants.

If characters must go to work for the ser-vants, their jobs include cooking meals forthe crones, cleaning their cave, and goingafter nuisance monsters that might show upin the the vicinity of Crystykk. If a characterdeserts while working for the crones, all threeaerial servants chase the character. Whenthey capture the character, they afflict himwith some mild curse, such as warts. Charac-ters who desert repeatedly may be punishedmore severely.

If the characters win: The crones greatlyrespect any characters who are able to defeatthem in battle. As a token of their respect, thecrones offer the characters important knowl-edge gained through their mirror. Of course,if the characters killed all of the crones, theymust bring the crones back to life in order togain this information.

If one of the crones survives the battle, shereturns to the characters all of the magicitems stolen by the aerial servants. Then she

turns to speak to the characters. Read the fol-lowing boxed text to the players.

"A fine and worthy lot of lords ye be! 'Tisas we thought when we made the call, andyou've given us a jolly fight for our trou-bles.

"The land could do worse than fallunder the likes of you. If she is not takengood care of, though, you're likely to loseher. Even as we speak, armies hostile toyou and your king there are landin'."

The crone draws a tattered scroll from aniche in the cave wall. It is a map ofNorwold.

"Here," the crone says, pointing to thecity of Landfall. "A large force bearingthe flag of Thyatis has come ashore.They're burning and plundering for now,my friends, but in a few days, they'll be onthe march.

"Norwold is about to go to war. Thyatishas had her eyes on this land for a longtime. Your king Ericall presents a problemto Thyatis, and they've decided it's timefor a solution."

The crone turns to the mirror, where a visionof an army mustering around a castle sud-denly appears. The castle should belong to anNPC whose dominion borders on one of thecharacter's dominions. The mirror showsthat a considerable force is assembling at thecastle. The crone turns to speak again.

"Even those you thought were friends aretaking a warlike road. The force you seehere is intended for a treacherous attackon a neighbor's stronghold! Can youimagine such a betrayal?"

The image in the mirror slowly shifts toa maritime scene. White sails crowd thepicture, as a fleet that must be made up ofhundreds of ships sails rapidly before astiff breeze.

"Here is the major threat, friends. Thecombined fleets of Thyatis are preparingto take your capital, the city you callAlpha. The fate of your king is in yourhands, lords.

"Prepare to fight for Alphatia, if youwant to keep your dominions. Alphatia,that is what they call it now, eh? Old as Iam, I remember an earlier, more honesttime, when an empire could be called byits true name. Know ye, lords, the secretname of those you serve? Know ye, lords,that you fight for the crown of Atlantis?"

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WAR OF THE CROWN: RUNNING CAMPAIGN BATTLES

This section outlines the clash between theempires of Thyatis and Alphatia (or Atlantis,which is this empire's secret name). The warshould break out while the characters are vis-iting the crones of Crystykk (see Encounter 5in the Norwold Encounters section).

Running this war is a complex job. Youwill have to keep track of all of the invadingforces, making sure that the characters do notdiscover their movements, unless the charac-ters come up with some means of learningsuch information. You must also representKing Ericall and his NPC allies.

If you are resolving a battle in which bothcharacter and NPC forces are fightingtogether, you should probably let the charac-ters run all of the Alphatian forces. Youshould then take charge of all Thyatianforces. Make sure your players do not abusethis privilege, however. For example, youshould discourage characters from dispatch-ing the entire Royal Army to guard one char-acter's dominion while the city of Alpha falls!

You will probably find it worthwhile toquickly sketch out an area map on a blanksheet of hex paper whenever armies moveinto the same hex on the Norwold map. Drawthis map at a scale of 1 mile per hex. Thesemaps do not have to be detailed. If you takethe time to do such maps, however, you willprobably find that battles take on much moretactical significance, and become much moreexciting.

You will know even before the war beginsthat battles will take place in certain areas—Regent Pass near Alpha, and an NPCdominion near the Thyatian ExpeditionaryForce's landing site. If you prepare maps ofthese areas in advance, you will save timeduring play, and you'll still be able to use allof the necessary details in resolving the bat-tles.

When running the War of the Crown, use1-week time units. When the war progressesto the point that armies are entering into bat-

tle more frequently, switch to 1-day timeunits. If there is a lull in the action, go back to1-week units.

The battle forcesThe four types of forces involved in the Warof the Crown are listed on the next page. Thefour forces are: Alphatian, Thyatian, Neu-tral, and Character-allied.

Alphatian forces are those loyal to KingEricall. These forces always go to war on theside of the king. They respond as soon as theyreceive the word to mobilize.

Thyatian forces are always the enemies ofthe king. These forces begin the war byinvading and attacking the king's forces.These forces include two armies from Thy-atis, and the armies of three NPCs whobetray the king and side with the invaders.

Neutral forces are those who lived inNorwold before King Ericall came to power.These forces do not have a major interest inthis war. See the guidelines on ActivatingNeutral Forces for details on how these forcesmay enter the war.

Character-allied forces are the dwarf andbarbarian forces that may be allied with thecharacters. Characters gain these forces asallies through certain adventure encounters(see Encounters 3 and 4 in the NorwoldEncounters section for details). If they arewilling, these forces mobilize as soon as thecharacters call for them.

The characters' forces are not listed on thecharts, because the characters must createthese forces themselves. By the time the warstarts, the characters should have set upforces in their dominions, since King Ericallis bound to send all of his dominions' forcesinto battle.

The Battle Rating for each force is given sothat you don't have to calculate it. Use theNo. of Troops and Type listings to determinewhich modifiers apply when seeking a Com-bat Result.

Events of the Thyatian invasion

The War of the Crown begins in late winter,at the same time the characters are visitingthe crones of Crystykk. The forces of Thyatisbegin mobilizing at this time. The ThyatianAdvance Force lands at Landfall and attacksthat city. Norwold dominion lords who haveallied themselves with Thyatis move outimmediately, attacking the nearest domin-ions friendly to King Ericall within 1 week. Ifa character has sided with Thyatis, hisdominion's forces also move out at this time.

The Thyatian Expeditionary Force arrivesin Norwold 1d4 weeks later. This force landsjust north of the Oceansend Marshes. Its firstgoal is to try to eliminate any isolated domin-ions that are loyal to King Ericall. Theseforces eventually combine for a march on thecity of Alpha.

Running the war of the crownAlphatian strategy

It is up to the characters allied with King Eri-call to advise the king on how to counter Thy-atis' invasion. If the characters have sidedwith the Thyatians, you should run all of theAlphatian forces. The characters may thenrun the Thyatian forces in battle, but theycannot deviate from the events of the Thy-atian invasion of Norwold.

Activating neutral forces

If Alak Dool's force (consisting of orcs, bug-bears, and trolls) passes within one hex ofeither Leeha or Oceansend, the force in theaffected city immediately mobilizes on theside of King Ericall. Alak Dool does not real-ize that the residents of the two cities wouldreact so strongly (and so negatively) to hisforce, so he makes no attempt to avoid cross-ing through their areas.

If a character's force attacks the city ofOceansend, King Yarrvik's force immedi-ately sides with the Thyatian forces. This sit-uation could come about in the followingmanner:

When war breaks out, King Ericall imme-diately dispatches four characters' forces tothe city of Oceansend. He supplements thecharacters' forces with troops from the RoyalArmy, if the characters' forces number lessthan 2,000. The king sends them to Ocean-send to intercept any hostile forces that mightleave that city.

As soon as the characters reach Ocean-send, King Yarrvik and his force move out ofthe city to meet them. If a parley can bearranged, King Yarrvik tells the characters

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Alphatian forces

1. Force: ROYAL ARMY OFNORWOLD

Leader: King EricallLocation: AlphaNo. of Troops: 4,000Type: 2,500 swordsmen; 1,000

archers; 500 horsemenBattle Rating: 92

2. Force: QUEEN'S GUARDLeader: Queen ChristinaLocation: AlphaNo. of Troops: 500Type: 500 horsemen with bows and

lancesBattle Rating: 135

3. Force: KING'S MILITIALeader: King EricallLocation: 5 hexes of AlphaNo. of Troops: 5,000Type: peasants armed with crude

weaponsBattle Rating: 32

4. Force: REGENT PASS GARRISONLeader: Rodnox, 18th level fighterLocation: Regent Pass fortressNo. of Troops: 500Type: all are archers and swordsmenBattle Rating: 117

5. Force: LANDFALL REGIONLeader: Lernal the SwillLocation: LandfallNo. of Troops: 2,000Type: 1,500 swordsmen; 500 archersBattle Rating: 48

6. Force: SIR ERNEST'S FORCELeader: Sir Ernest DayLocation: Ernest's DominionNo. of Troops: 500Type: all are archers and swordsmenBattle Rating: 79

7. Force: RUTGER DAG'S FORCELeader: Rutger DagLocation: Dag's DominionNo. of Troops: 500Type: horsemen with lances andswordsBattle Rating: 85

8. Force: ALLISA PATRICIAN'SFORCE

Leader: Allisa PatricianLocation: Patrician's DominionNo. of Troops: 800Type: 400 sword/pike men; 200 archersBattle Rating: 92

Thyatian forces

1. Force: THYATIAN ADVANCEFORCE

Leader: Duke of ThyatisLocation: city of ThyatisNo. of Troops: 3,000Type: 2,000 swordsmen; 1,000 horse-

menBattle Rating: 77

2. Force: THYATIAN EXPEDITION-ARY FORCE

Leader: Thincol, 36th level fighterLocation: empire of ThyatisNo. of Troops: 10,000Type: 6,500 swordsmen; 3,000 archers;

500 magic-usersBattle Rating: 85

3. Force: ALAK DOOLS MINIONSLeader: Alak DoolLocation: Dool's DominionNo. of Troops: 2,000Type: 1,000 ores; 800 bugbears; 200

trollsBattle Rating: 74

4. Force: THE ARMY OF MAX THEFIRST

Leader: Max ILocation: Max's DominionNo. of Troops: 800Type: horsemen with bows and swordsBattle Rating: 113

5. Force: LONGTOOTH'S LEGIONLeader: LongtoothLocation: Longtooth's DominionNo. of Troops: 500Type: thieves with bows and swordsBattle Rating: 76

Neutral forces

1. Force: HALFLINGSLeader: Collin the Sheriff, 8th

level halflingLocation: LeehaNo. of Troops: 1,500Type: all are archers and swordsmenBattle Rating: 72

2. Force: ARMY OF OCEANSENDLeader: King YarrvikLocation: OceansendNo. of Troops: 6,000Type: 4,500 swordsmen; 1,500 archersBattle Rating: 75

Character-allied forces

1. Force: DWARVES OF THE MOUN-TAIN CLAN

Leader: Gard RocktoothLocation: StormhavenNo. of Troops: 1,000Type: all have hand axes and battle

axesBattle Rating: 115

2. Force: BARBARIANS OF THE REDBANNER

Leader: Barkal the Red*Location: any character's dominionNo. of Troops: 3,000Type: swordsmen (all have two-handed

swords)Battle Rating: 68

* Barkal leads a barbarian group of15,000 during the summer solstice. At othertimes of the year, his tribe numbers 900. Ina crisis, however, he is always able to mus-ter 3,000 barbarians from various tribes.

that their troops must stay away from Ocean-send, as it is neutral territory. If the charac-ters comply, all is well. If they do not comply,the Thyatians will have gained another ally.

Stronghold garrisons

Most of the forces involved in the War of theCrown start out from a stronghold some-where in Norwold. Army leaders are notlikely to leave these strongholds unguarded.

To determine the number of troops left inan NPC-controlled stronghold, roll 1d4.Multiply the result by 10. This number rep-resents the percentage of the force that hasremained at the stronghold. Do not diminishthe force's field strength. Consider the forceto have extra troops reserved for defendingstrongholds.

Ending the war

If the forces of Thyatis capture the city ofAlpha, the Alphatian forces have 1 month torecapture the city. If they cannot do so,Norwold becomes part of the empire of Thy-atis, and Alphatia's power in this part of theworld is effectively destroyed.

If Thyatis wins the war, Alak Doolbecomes king of Norwold. If this occurs,Dool immediately goes to work eliminatingany potential opposition to his rule.

If, on the other hand, the forces of Alphatiarout all of the Thyatian forces, the empire ofThyatis is considered to have suffered acrushing defeat. Another war between thetwo empires would be very unlikely, at leastin the next 50 years.

If some pockets of Thyatian resistance are

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still in Norwold when winter arrives, theempire of Thyatis withdraws its forces, andthe war ends. If, however, Thyatian forcesare besieging the city of Alpha at this time, allsurviving Thyatian forces remain, and thewar continues. If you wish, you may haverelieving forces arrive from Alphatia the nextsummer.

If Alphatia retains control of Norwold,King Ericall takes care to reward those whoserved him well. Lords who were courageousin battle, or who were helpful in planningbattle strategy, might be given additionallands, or the king may bestow an exalted titleupon them. If a lord failed to answer the callto arms, or if he was cowardly in combat, theking may strip that lord of his lands and ban-ish him from Norwold forever.

EPILOGUE: CONTINUING THE CAMPAIGN

Norwold should not cease to be a vital andinteresting area once you have finished run-ning the adventures outlined in this booklet.Norwold is a large and relatively unexploredland, and there is plenty of room for charac-ters to explore the wilderness and expand theholdings of their dominions.

Other Companion adventures will detailareas of Norwold for you and your players,but you may be able to use the informationgiven in this booklet to create your ownadventures.

This section features several suggestionsfor continuing the campaign you have begunin this adventure. You may use all or any oneof these scenarios in your campaign, depend-ing on how they suit your characters. If a sce-nario seems inappropriate to your campaign,you may want to use the scenario with agroup of Expert-level players, or you maywant to incorporate a few of the ideas sug-gested by the scenario into your campaign.

One factor that will influence your cam-paign is the massive immigration to Norwoldthat begins soon after the War of the Crown.People of all sorts flow into the land, comingfrom all over the D&D* world in search of abetter, more prosperous life. Keep your play-ers informed of this development as the cam-paign progresses. More residents in acharacter's dominion means more power forthat character.

Scenario 1:Dominion conflicts

The dominions set up by characters inNorwold are not bound by static geographi-cal limits. Rather, their boundaries areabstract political measurements that, for anynumber of reasons, may change over time. Acharacter or NPC might get ambitious, andmight try to encroach upon a neighbor'sland. Lords might also make new alliancesand break old ones. These factors all affectthe power structure of Norwold's dominions.

As trade flourishes between dominions,and between Norwold and other parts of the

world, those dominions that hold strategicriver or port areas will become increasinglypowerful. Lords may impose tolls on thosewho use these transportation facilities; suchtolls could become a major source of income.Who controls these strategic ports maybecome a bone of contention between domin-ion lords.

New characters or NPCs might also arrivein Norwold and try to squeeze new domin-ions in between existing ones. This sort of"encroachment" is bound to create somehard feelings, and could even lead to a small-scale war.

Scenario 2:Dragons of the Wyrmsteeth

This rugged range shelters a tremendousnumber of dragons (see The Setting section,Special Geographical Features for details).As more people continue to move toNorwold, clashes between dragons andhumans may become more frequent. Sooneror later, characters may find they must dealwith the problem of the Wyrmsteeth.

Scenario 3:The giants of Frosthaven

While on one of their "normal" winter raids,the giants of Frosthaven may take hostage anextremely important member of the Norwoldleadership (King Ericall's wife, for example)and carry that person back to Frosthaven.

The characters could be charged with jour-neying to Frosthaven and rescuing the hos-tage. You may pose an extra problem byhaving this scenario occur just as the icebetween Frosthaven and Norwold begins tobreak up. You may alter the scenario in otherways as well (setting a time limit, havingNPCs introduce unusual obstacles, etc.).

Scenario 4:Test of the crones

The three crones of Crystykk (detailed inEncounter 5 of the Norwold Encounters sec-

tion) could become important NPCs in along-running campaign. These old womenare more than clerics. They serve as symbolsof the balance of Law and Chaos that mustexist in the D&D* world.

You may have the crones submit the char-acters to new, more challenging tests. Usethese tests as a way of teaching the charactersvaluable lessons, or as a means of passingalong important information. Rememberthat the crones' use of dreams could be a use-ful tool for sending messages to the charac-ters. The characters may also decide to go tothe crones when they are confronted with anespecially difficult problem.

You need not have the characters battle thecrones every time they visit the old women.Adjust these encounters based on the natureof your campaign. Keep in mind, however,that the crones give nothing away for free!

Scenario 5:Beyond Norwold

Your characters may want to explore some ofthe areas that surround Norwold.

Characters may choose to explore the Isleof Dawn, which lies off the eastern coast ofthe continent. This isle is the scene of anongoing conflict between the empires ofAlphatia and Thyatis.

Other areas that have yet to be fullyexplored include the inner sanctums of theIcereach Range, and the regions beyond thewestern edge of the Norwold map.

Your characters may decide to explorethese areas, or you may devise a cleverscheme to draw them to a certain area. Yourimagination is all that limits you! Imaginewhat kind of lost civilizations, bizarre mon-sters, and weird magical phenomena mightlurk just beyond the next horizon!

The important thing to remember is thatyou should work to keep your campaignalive! People/characters change and grow asthey experience life, whether in the real worldor in a D&D® campaign. Your NPCs shouldalso mature as the "years" go by. Rememberthat events and situations that bring charac-ters together (or tear them apart) are usuallynot easily forgotten.

The possibilities for adventure are trulyendless, even on the corner of the map wehave called Norwold. When you considerthat there are other planes for your charactersto visit, as well as the rest of the world (ofwhich Norwold is only a small patch), thenyou should have no trouble keeping yourselfand your players busy with one excitingadventure after another.

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EPILOGUE

RANDOM ENCOUNTERS TABLE

ModifiedDie Roll

Creature or NPCEncountered

ModifiedDie Roll


ModifiedDie Roll


1 Elves (3-18): AC -1; E5; hp18; MV 90' (30'); #AT swordor longbow; D 3-10/1-6; SaveE5; ML 10; AL L; XP 13

2 Old Beggar: AC 9; hp 7; MV60' (20'). This beggar isunarmed. If characters treathim well, he may offer somecryptic warning of future trou-ble; if characters abuse him,he "curses" them (your choiceof curse's effect).

3 Centaurs (6-36): AC 5; HD4; hp 20; MV 180' (60'); #AT2 hooves/1 weapon (longbowor pole arm); D 1-6/1-6/1-6 or1-10; Save F4; ML 8; AL N;XP 75; creatures are automat-ically hostile if characters aredestroying woodlands; other-wise, roll for Reaction nor-mally

4 Odic: AC -4; HD 16****; hp76; MV O; #AT 1; D 1-12* poi-son; Save F16; ML 12; AL C;XP 5,150; special abilities areoutlined in Companion rules

5 Huge Black Dragon: AC -2;HD 14***; hp 69; MV 150'(50') on land, 360' (120') fly-ing; #AT up to 6; D 4-11/10-28; Save F36; ML 10; AL C;XP 5,150

6 Tarn Oakleaf (see The Char-acters section): The druid isinterested solely in the protec-tion of the environment.

7 Gallagha the Sly: AC 4; T9;hp22; MV 120' (40'); #AT 1weapon; D 1-6 (longbow)/3-10(sword); Save T9 +3; ML 8;AL C; XP 900. Gallagha tries

to steal from the characterswhen he first meets them. Ifcharacters don't catch him, hebecomes a constant threat,stealing powerful magic items.If characters catch him andspare his life, he becomes theirally, and provides valuableinformation for a price.

8 Blackguard the Avenger: AC-6; F25; hp 161; MV 90'(30'); #AT 1 weapon; D 3-12(lance)/5-14 (two-handedsword); Save F25; ML 11; ALC; XP 3,500; rides a giantwarhorse; enjoys challenge incombat

9 Sir Sweeney: AC 0; F14; hp79; MV 90' (30'); #AT 1weapon; D 2-1l (lance)/4-11(sword); Save F14; ML 11;AL L. Sir Sweeney is a verygoodhearted, but comicallyinept knight. He has survivedthus far only through incredi-ble luck.

10 Randa the Just: AC -4; F20(paladin); hp 122; MV 90'(30'); #AT 1 weapon; D 1-6(longbow)/6-15 (two-handedsword); Save F20 +3; ML 12;AL L. Randa roams the landincessantly, looking to rightinjustice.

11 Giant Roc: AC 0; HD 36; hp152; MV 60' (20') on land,480' (160') flying; #AT 2claws/1 bite; D 3-18/3-18/8-48; Save F18; ML 10; AL L;XP 6,250

12 Wyverns (6): AC 3; HD 7*;hp 33; MV 90' (30') on land,240' (80') flying; #AT 1 bite/1

sting; D 2-16/1-6 + poison;Save F4; ML 9; AL C; XP 850

13 Frost Salamanders (3): AC 3;HD 12*; hp 58; MV 120'(40'); #AT 4 claws/1 bite; D 1-6 (x4)/2-12; Save F12; ML 9;AL C; XP 1,900

14 Huge White Dragon: AC -1;HD 15***; hp 88; MV 150'(50') on land, 360' (120') fly-ing; #AT up to 6; D 3-10/10-24; Save F36; ML 10; AL C;XP 5,100

15 Pegasi (1-12): AC 6; HD 2+2;hp 12; MV 240' (80') onland, 480'(160') flying; #AT 2hooves; D 1-6/1-6; Save F2;ML 8; AL L; XP 25

16 Cave Bears (2): AC 5; HD 7;hp 40; MV 120' (40'); #AT 2claws/1 bite; D 2-8/2-8/2-12;Save F4; ML 9; AL N; XP 450

17 Manscorpion (2-20): AC 1;HD 8*; hp 33; MV 240'(80'); #AT 1 weapon/1 tail; D3-18/1-10 + poison; Save F8;ML 10; AL C; XP 1,200

18 Doppleganger (1-6): AC 5;HD4*; hp 12; MV90' (30');#AT 1; D 1-12; Save F8; ML8; AL C; XP 125

19 Rust Monster (1-4): AC 2;HD 5*; hp 25; MV 120'(40'); #AT 1; D rusts metal;Save F3; ML 7; AL N; XP 300

20 Dwarves (3-18): AC 0; D5;hp30; MV90' (30'); #AT 1;D 4-11; Save D5; ML 10; ALL; XP 175

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If you want to use a random encounter fromthe table below, check to see what kind of ter-rain your characters are currently travelingthrough. Check the list of terrain types belowand roll the corresponding modified die onthe Random Encounter Table.

Forests and HillsMarshMountainsTundra

Random encounters

- 1d10- ld4+2- 1d10+ 10- 1d4+12

tsr09117 - cm1 test of the warlords

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