Ruins in the reeds

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Ruins in the Reeds

6. The Ruin ................................................... 10 Area Details: Weak spots ......................... 10

Contents ........................................................................... 1 Overview ............................................................ 3 Adventure Themes ......................................... 3 Beginning the Adventure (why would we go into this awful place?) .................................... 3

Encounter: Shambling Mound and Assassin Vine .......................................................... 10 7. Active Golem ............................................ 11 8. The Hand .................................................. 11 9: Pillar ......................................................... 12 Area Details: Strange History ................... 12

....................................................................... 3

10: The Aisle of Pillars .................................. 13

Experience...................................................... 3

The Pyramid ................................................. 14

Brief History ................................................... 3

Appendix A: Monsters ..................................... 15

DM techniques ............................................... 4

Alcedo Rex ................................................... 15

Incremental increase in difficulty .............. 4

Alcedo Rex Hatchling ................................... 16

Avoid Tedium ............................................. 4

Assassin Vine................................................ 17

Foreshadowing........................................... 4

Giant Crocodile ............................................ 18

Limited Perception ..................................... 4

Shambling Mound........................................ 18

General Area Features ....................................... 5

Stirge ............................................................ 18

Fragile Stonework ...................................... 5

Appendix B: Maps ............................................ 19

Rubble Piles ................................................ 5

Players’ Map ................................................ 19

Dense Muck................................................ 5

DM’s Map..................................................... 20

Rain ............................................................ 5 Reed Forest ................................................ 5 Ongoing Encounters........................................... 6 Stirges......................................................... 6 Crocodiles................................................... 6 Alcedo Hatchlings....................................... 6 Alcedo Rex.................................................. 7 The Lost City of Oth............................................ 7 1: The Far Shore ............................................. 7 2: The Walls .................................................... 8 3: Fallen Tower............................................... 9 4. Altar Stone ................................................. 9 5. Sunken Battle ........................................... 10

Overview This is a short adventure meant for 4-5 characters level 5-6. It is meant as universal adventure element that can be slotted into an ongoing campaign. It is an outdoor maze that uses impassable terrain to restrict PC movement and vision. Enemies are local animals adapted to the environment. The fact that the enemies can move freely while the PCs are restricted makes combat harder than it otherwise would be.

Adventure Themes Frustration: The ruins of Oth are hard to traverse, and the enemies have it all their own way. Problem solving: There are some gaps in the city too big to jump, and swimming is impossible. PCs must create solutions. Wonder: Though broken and buried, Oth still gives hints about its scale and grandeur. Empathy: There are golems here that have human spirits. They have spent millennia waiting for release.

Beginning the Adventure (why would we go into this awful place?) This adventure is meant to serve as a bridging piece in an ongoing adventure. It’s a genuinely hellish environment, and so the PCs are going to have to be pretty desperate to go in there. Here are some possibilities that might drive them to do so.

• This can serve as a sequel to “Mud and Snakes.” • The Pyramid at the center of the city contains something that they need for the plot of the adventure. • This could be an extended random encounter for parties lost in the jungle. • The city is a barrier between the PCs and something they need to get to. • This could be a small, flavorful encounter in the jungle of Chult.

Experience Monsters: 13,100 Hazardous Terrain Bonus: 4000 Destroy the Crystal: 2000 Total: 19,100

Brief History The City of Oth was the capital of an ancient Yuan-Ti civilization. It derived power from human slaves. They were used as labour, and as sacrifices to fuel massive arcane rituals. Binding sacrifices into stone bodies also let the Yuan-Ti create and control Stone Golems on a scale that the modern people of Faerun would find unbelievable. Slaves represented power and status, and the Yuan-Ti of Oth could never have enough. They came to outnumber their masters more than ten to one. Then some forgotten human genius figured out how to release the behavioural bindings that made the stone golems obey their masters. There was a slave revolt. Freed golems and slave golems fought, and tore the city to

pieces, and the slaves rose up and butchered their former masters. The city of Oth died.

be afraid to gloss over further instances of it.

That was six thousand years ago. Since then, the river has escaped its banks and inundated the city. Most of it is buried. Mud, shallow water and reeds cover the buildings. Only the largest structures and the tops of walls and pillar still protrude from the muck. The city of Oth is reduced to a handful of scattered stones in a sea of reeds.

Things are actually scarier if you know that they are coming. People also need stories to introduce new things in stages. Think about the movie Aliens. It never asks you to believe two crazy things at the same time. Each new crazy thing is built up carefully so the audience is ready to accept it by the time it happens. This is built the same way. The PCs should hear Alcedo Rex, and see the remains of its victims well before they see the bird itself. Likewise, the PCs will encounter destroyed golems before encountering ones that are still active.

Things still live in the city; mostly crocodiles, wading birds and fish. But there are some things here that should have died six thousand years ago. The slave golems, immobilized in the mud, still wait for orders from their masters.

Foreshadowing

Limited Perception

DM techniques There are a few important elements of game design that bear mention at the beginning. These will help you guide PCs through new mechanics and monsters.

Incremental increase in difficulty The order of the challenges is intentional. First the PCs solve mobility problems in the absence of enemies. Let them get used to the terrain and the new expectations before making them fight.

Avoid Tedium Between falling off the walls, getting spotted by animals, and dying of thirst, there are a lot of threats. There are also a lot of rolls that you could make. If you go over every step of this thing making every roll you could, it will take forever and be very boring. Once the PCs discover a solution to something, don’t

Generating tension in this game requires managing what the PCs can perceive and what they can’t. The reeds make it almost impossible to track location and distance, just like being in a dungeon. Even if a PC can see over them, the paths through them are not visible. Remember to tell your players what the characters perceive, not what you know is there. The Alcedo Rex makes terrifying noises. Don’t tell them they hear it. Tell them they hear a shrill whirring howl. The first sign of the presence of an insect swarm might not be visual, but being bitten. The characters probably can’t see the crocodiles under the water, but they will be able to see swirls and disturbances on the surface that suggest something big underneath.

General Area Features Fragile Stonework: The PCs must move through the city on the tops of old walls and pillars. These crumble without warning around the edges without warning. PCs can move at half-speed without risk. Moving at full speed across the old walls requires a Dexterity (Athletics) check DC 10. Failing the check means the character falls into the water next to the wall. This is difficult to get out of. The splashing may also attract crocodiles.

Rubble Piles: Though many of the wall are still standing, most of the city is reduced to rubble. The taller piles and larger stones still stick up over the water. When the stones are closer together, you can treat them like walls. If they piles are big enough, PCs don’t fall into the water, just prone. If the stones are far apart, PCs may have to jump or find some other way to cross them.

Dense Muck: The terrain that surrounds the broken pieces of city is technically water. It is usually eight feet deep, and full of reeds, roots, and floating plants. This makes swimming almost impossible. A character can move 5 feet by making an Strength Athletics check DC 13. Every time this check is made the difficulty increases by one, as the character gets more and more tangled in the roots. If they can reach solid ground from their location, they can pull themselves out with a Strength (Athletics) Check DC 13. If someone is there to assist them or throw them a rope, they can move without skill checks. Moving around in this stuff is exhausting. You have to move your

arms and legs fast enough to tread water, and you have to do that pulling through dense roots. Every time a character falls into the water has to swim, they must make a constitution save DC 13 or gain a level of exhaustion. Heat and Humidity and Water: Conditions in the jungle mean that character sweat much, much more than usual. Water consumption doubles, and dehydration sets in fast. Characters need to drink 2 gallons of water every day. This works out to about a pint of water every waking hour. If the PCs go an hour without drinking, then they make a Constitution save DC 10 or gain a level of exhaustion. This check goes up by 1 every hour the character goes without water. You can die of dehydration here in a day. It is possible to drink the river water. Characters that do must make a Constitution save DC 10 or contract a flux of the bowels. This has an incubation period of 8 hours. It causes brutal, unstoppable diarrhea for 1d6 days and adds another gallon to required water consumption, for a total of 3 per day. Affected characters may re-take the save every day. If they are successful the disease ends.

Rain: This is a rainforest, and the rain just switches on sometimes. There is a 50% chance of a rainstorm every hour. This lasts for 2d6 minutes, and causes the area to be lightly obscured. On the bright side, this can provide thirsty PCs with water, if they can figure out some way to catch it. A 5 foot square yields a pint every minute.

Reed Forest. The reeds that choke the river are twelve feet tall, and dense as

grass. Characters cannot see over or through them unless they can somehow get above. If they can do this, all of the large features on the map are visible, although it is no obvious how to get to them. Anything up to 10 feet into the reeds is lightly obscured. Anything past that is completely obscured.

Ongoing Encounters Most of the encounters in this adventure can’t depend on location, because though the PCs are restricted, the marsh animals can move freely. Encounters with the main adversaries are not listed in the location descriptions, because they could happen anywhere.

Stirges Difficulty: Easy Adjusted XP: 900 There is a stirge nest in area 3. Every hour or so, the PCs are spotted and attacked by a flight of 12 Stirges. This continues until the nest is dealt with somehow. If the PCs can get over the reeds, and watch for them for about 20 minutes, it is easy to spot where they are coming from. Only grant XP for the first two attacks.

Crocodiles Difficulty: easy Adjusted XP: 2300 At the edge of the reeds, where the river deepens, massive crocodiles lie waiting. There is a dotted line on the map marking the beginning of deep water. This is where the crocodiles live. They don’t usually go into the reed forest because they don’t want to fight the Alcedo Rex but if they hear something making helpless-prey-

splashes in the water, they might not be able to resist. Every time a PCs falls in the water, there is a 20% chance that a Giant Crocodile will come looking. It arrives in 2d6 rounds. There are effectively an infinite number of crocodiles. PCs might get it into their heads that they can solve this problem by killing them all. If this happens, it’s up to you as the DM to give them some hints about the sheer number of these things without actually killing the party. The crocodiles can hear the Alcedo Rex coming, and will retreat at top speed when they do. This might be good tension building. One second there are crocodiles everywhere, the next they are just gone. It will also help balance encounters. The party might have a hard time with both crocodiles and Alcedo Rex at the same time.

Alcedo Hatchlings Difficulty: Easy Adjusted XP: 2700 The hatchlings are not meant to be a challenging encounter on their own, but rather as foreshadowing for the larger creature. They begin tracking the party from the moment they enter the swamp. They won’t attack if the party is together, but will wait until one member gets separated or falls in the water. At this point, they attack immediately. If they are reduced to half hit points, they will retreat and they won’t come near the party again. They will also leave if their mother is coming. They instinctively know not to get between mom and dinner.

If the party gets a close look at one of these creatures, either by paying close attention during combat or after its dead, an Intelligence (Nature) check DC 10 will show them that this creature is juvenile. It has the downy birth feathers of a chick; probably not more than a few weeks old. A further check DC 15 will tell them that baby birds are never, ever far away from their mothers.

Alcedo Rex Difficulty: Hard Adjusted XP: 3900 The Alcedo Rex is a top predator. It fears nothing. To it, every other creature is either food or a rival. If it spots the PCs it will treat them as food, and try to eat them. If they resist it effectively, it will treat them as rivals and try to drive them off or kill them. However, it won’t go out into the river, or into the forest. Two things have to be true for the Alcedo Rex to attack: the PCs have to have encountered the hatchlings, and it has to spot them. It will see anything that sticks up above the reeds. When these two things have happened, start the encounter. You are above the reeds for no more than a few seconds when you hear an earsplitting screech. If there were parrots the size of elephants, this is what they would sound like. Something starts moving through the reeds. You can’t see it, just moving weeds. Whatever it is, it’s big….very big, and headed directly towards you. If the PCs attack the Alcedo effectively, then it interprets them as a threat. Once this happens, it will fight to the

death to defend its territory. It will use its superior speed and mobility to mount ambushes or hit and run attacks. It will attack from as far away as it can. Note that this means it is always lightly obscured by the reeds.

The Lost City of Oth 1: The Far Shore You emerge from the jungle into the fierce sun. After the deep shade of the canopy, the light is almost painful. In front of you is a sea of reeds. In the near distance you can see vine-covered ruins jutting up, and past them, more jungle on the other side. The land in front of you drops sharply down a steep dirt bank. Thick tree roots twist down it, and merge with the roots of the reeds below. The bank is at least ten feet high, and your head is only barely above the level of reeds. They must be at least twelve feet. Of to you left, a low stone wall emerges from the bank and disappears into the sward. There are two walls that meet the bank within reach of the PCs. The first one is plainly visible. The second is hidden in the reeds and requires an Intelligence (Investigation) check DC 12, or a Wisdom (Perception) check DC 16.

2: The Walls The pathway is narrow, only an armspan wide. It’s made from stone blocks about the size of cows. They might have had square edges once, but not they are ragged and pitted. Some are missing, some are broken, making footing uncertain. As you walk, a section breaks off next to your foot and tumbles into the reeds, where it sinks slowly through the mass of roots. Massive reeds tower over you on either side, dense as grass and ten feet tall. They make a constant susurrus, which suggests there must be a breeze above them. It doesn’t get down here. The air is still, humid and oppressive. The hum of insects fills the background. You are bitten constantly. Everything here seems to be trying to eat everything else. Moving and swatting at them doesn’t seem to deter them. It just shows t hem you’re fresh. The walls connect all the major locations on the map. The palace complex they were part of was massive and tangled, and so are the remains. Not all of the paths go somewhere. They branch and divide, there are T junctions and dead ends. All of them look more or less the same. This should be very difficult for the PCs to find their way around in if they don’t make a map, or mark their progress somehow. Because they walls are broken and irregular, they count as difficult terrain. PCs can move at full speed if they make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check DC 10. If they fail, then they fall in the water.

If PCs are forced into combat on the walls, there is a good chance they will fall into the reeds. Fighting on the walls requires a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check DC 5. The risk every round is small, but if they keep it up long enough, they are going to fall in. If the PCs manage to look over the Reeds, they can see the Pyramid, the Ruin, the Tower, the Hand, and the Pillar. None of the connecting paths are visible. If they are patient and still, they might see the Alcedo Rex. Let them roll a Wisdom (Perception) check DC 14. If they succeed, read the following. There’s something standing in the reeds. It looks like a crane, or a heron; some kind of wading bird. It’s hard to pick out, because it’s the same color as the reeds, and it is perfectly still, but it is definitely there. It’s hard to tell scale and distance in this place, but its head comes well over the reeds. They may also, if they watch for long enough, spot some Stirges. You see something weird flying around, just above the level of the reeds. They are just dark shapes from here. They move like hummingbirds, or mosquitoes, but they seem a lot bigger than either. Deformed birds? Giant bugs? PCs with the Nature skill can roll to see what they know about these creatures. See their entries in Appendix B for more information.

3: Fallen Tower This wall ends in a hill of massive blocks. They are piled higher than the reeds, maybe three times the height of a man, in a rough cone. The blocks have come to rest at 45 degrees, making a steep slope on all sides. The blocks are cart sized, although some are obviously broken into pieces. There are black spaces between them, and you can hear the sloshing of water underneath. There is a faint buzzing noise, just on the edge of perception, and a smell that is almost, but not quite like an abandoned cellar. Area Details: This is a fallen tower. It rises well up above the reeds, and so PCs that climb it can get a good view of the surrounding area. The blocks are easy to climb; Strength (Athletics) check DC 10. Remember that it counts as difficult terrain. There is a Stirge nest far under the rubble. They have three exits that they use. Spotting the exits requires a Wisdom (Perception) Check DC 20. Players could also make an Intelligence (Investigation) check DC 12, but this would require climbing all over the structure, and would take at least an hour. Blocking up the exits to the hive means that the PCs will no longer be attacked by stirges for the rest of the adventure. It will take them a week to dig their way out. Encounter: Every 10 minutes, 2d6 stirges emerge from the nest. If they spot the PCs, they attack immediately. Otherwise they fly off in search of large animals. 2d6 stirges also return every 10 minutes. They are full of blood, and do not engage unless desperate, but try to get into the hive.

4. Altar Stone Through the reeds you see something black. It is a rectangle that rises out of the swamp fifteen feet high. At first you think it must be something in shadow, but it’s not. The sun is shining directly on it, but it reflects no light at all. It is as black as a hole cut into the world. You are pretty sure it has three dimensions, but it’s so black you can’t see its edges. Nothing grows on this object. It has no stains, no dirt, and no marks of any kind. Area details: This is a pure mobility challenge. The surface of the object is slick as glass and cool to the touch. It is not climbable. It is fifteen feet tall, and obstructs the only path forward. The party is going to have to get over or around this thing somehow. In the center of the object is a depression shaped like a huge human. In the torso is another depression the size of a normal human. These are impossible to see, and anyone who walks across them will fall in. This is harmless, but disturbing. If someone casts detect magic they will see that the stone radiates necromantic energy. Its reach is contained, to within five feet, but fearsomely powerful within that range. This object exists to extract the souls from living creatures and imbue them into non-living material. It is how the golems that served here were made. Rest is impossible on or near the object If the PCs attempt to sleep there, they are woken within 20 minutes by hideous nightmares. They can almost remember them, but trying provokes fits of agonizing fear. Anyone affected must make a Wisdom Save DC 15 or

take 1d4 points of wisdom damage. This can be restored after a long rest, or with a Lesser Restoration spell. Healing spell do not work on the object, and are actually reversed, dealing damage instead of restoring hit points. An Intelligence (Arcana) Check DC 14 will tell that this object is incredibly dangerous and should be left alone. DC 16 will reveal that it is an extrusion of the Plane of Negative Energy, and DC 20 will tell the above effects, and that its purpose was to extract souls.

5. Sunken Battle There are bodies parts rising from the water everywhere here. You can see arms, heads, the occasional hunched back. This place is a slaughterhouse. There must be hundreds of bodies here. When your brain catches up with your eyes, the scene slowly comes into better focus. The limbs and heads are far too large to be human, and they are sticking up at angles that human limbs couldn’t maintain in death. They all appear to be made of stone. Area Details: This is the remains of a battle between the slave and free golems in the revolt that destroyed the city. The spells that powered and controlled them were destroyed, they froze in mid-combat and have been here ever since. An Intelligence (Arcana) check DC 13 reveals that these are stone golems. It is possible to make one’s way across this section by climbing across the bodies. This requires a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check DC 10 to do at 5 feet per round, and DC 18 to move at half speed. If anyone falls in, the crocodiles start to close in.

If anyone pays attention to the golems as the party move across, they will notice that the eyes in all the heads turn to follow the party. The souls that were bound to these things are still trapped here.

6. The Ruin The walls rise up out of the reeds here . Above you, you can see what must have been a building. One corner of it is still more or less intact. The walls slope down from the corner. From here you can see that there is a small intact section of the roof, and quite a bit of the second story supported between the two remaining walls. The wall you are standing on slopes upward right to the highest point on the buildings. You could probably get onto the second floor just by walking up it. The breeze shifts into your face, and you smell rotting fish.

Area Details: Weak spots There are a few spots on the floor that will collapse if PCs step on them. These are marked with an X on the DM’s map. A Deterity Save DC 13 will allow a character to leap to safety. On a failed roll, the victim falls twelve feet through reed, lands in the muck and begins to sink. See the General Features section for more details.

Encounter: Shambling Mound and Assassin Vine Difficulty: Hard Adjusted XP: 3750 This place is an opportunity and a threat. The second story represents a defensible position. The PCs could fight much more effectively from there. However, it is already occupied. The vines hanging from the roof are an

Assassin Vine. It survives by pulling the occasional fish up out of the water. Hence the smell. If the PCs watch for ten minutes or so, they will be able to see this happen. It requires no perception check. The vines yank a struggling fish out of the water and twist it in half. The second story is only just above the reeds. Under the floor, in the corner of the building, is a Shambling Mound. When the PCs arrive, it is dormant. It takes 1d3 rounds to wake up and emerge from its lair. It climbs up to the second floor and attacks the party. The Vine and the Mound, both being plants, do not react to each other. They don’t really work together. They don’t coordinate. However, they won’t attack each other.

7. Active Golem As you cross the stone, you can see something in the water. On the north side of the stone, there is a huge stone statue of a man. The head is a simplified carving. It has big blocky features: eyes, nose, ears, but no mouth. It is lying like the legs are under the stone. Its torso is sitting up out of the water, and its arm points to the side of the rock. This golem is still active, although it wont move for fear of frightening the PCs. The soul bound to this golem is still there, and has been for 6000 years. During that time it has inscribed into the rock in front of it a step by step guide to destroy it, and all the others trapped here. If the PCs look where the golem points, read the following:

The side of the rock here has been flattened and smoothed, like a sheet of paper. All around it are… sketches? Carvings with hundreds of light lines depicting bird, reeds, sunsets and water. There is also a clear sequence of images. They are rendered with such skill that they seem like they might be windows onto scenes. The first shows a large featureless block with a man on top of it. The second shows a golem on top of the man, and the third shows a man inside a golem. On the next row of images is a tall spire rising above the city, with a gem on the top. From the spire come chains that reach to many small golem figures below it. The last sequence shows a human figure hitting the gem with the hammer. The final image shows the chains breaking, and all the small golem figures lying on the ground. The gem depicted on the carvings is on top of the pillar in area 9. If the PCs look like they are going to leave without examining the stone, the golem become desperate and rises from the mud, waving frantically and pointing to its drawings.

8. The Hand A giant stone hand juts from the water. It is palm up, fingers open and slightly curled. Each finger is about half as tall as a man. You can see that it is still attached to a wrist, which disappears beneath the swamp. There is a thick, black band around its middle finger. This is the remains of a titanic stone golem, set loose in Oth as a last ditch attempt to quell the slave rebellion. It’s about 60 ft tall, and the whole thing is buried here. PCs that look around in

the weeds next to the hand can see a hilt sticking up out of the water a few feet away. If the PCs want get out to the hand, it might be a challenge. It is ten feet away from the nearest wall. The black band is solid silver, tarnished completely black. It weighs 50 lbs, and is worth about 300 gp. It is covered in magical symbols. An Intelligence (Arcana) check DC 10 will reveal that these are part of a binding and control pattern. The patterns are similar to the spell Dominate Monster. Taking it off might provoke a reflex action. If the PCs remove or damage the ring, read the following. The entire swamp buckles and heaves. Birds detonate out of every square foot for what seems like miles. The hand twitches, then closes slightly, like it would if it held something. There is about a second of quiet, and then huge waves of black, stinking water emerge from the reeds. They’re as high as your chest, and by the time you see them they are almost on top of you. If a PC is in the hand when it closes, they take 3d6+5 damage (Dexterity Save DC 14 for half damage). PCs standing on a wall when they wave hits are washed 3d10 feet away. Give them one chance to decide what their characters do. PCs that drop and hold onto the wall aren’t washed away. See the rules in General Area Features for more information on swimming in the reeds.

9: Pillar An immense stone block slopes gently up out of the water. It is at least fifteen feet wide, and probably a hundred feet long. The rock is grey, and pitted on top; the first solid footing you have had in a while. You could get above the level of the reeds, if you walked to the high end. Unfortunately, the closest you can get to the low end is about 20 feet away. There a lot of impassable muck between you and it.

Area Details: Strange History If the PCs examine the pillar, they can make an Intelligence (Investigation) check DC 15. If they succeed they realize that the whole pillar is a solid, seamless block. An Intelligence (History) check DC 10 will tell the PCs exactly how weird that is. Tall pillars are built from large blocks. They may be carved to look seamless, but when they fall, they always come apart into sections. This is one piece. Moving it into position should have been impossible. An Intelligence (Arcana) check DC 12 will suggest that it may have been created with a Stoneshape spell, but on a scale that you have never heard of as being feasible. Dwarves, or characters with a background in stonemasonry may see another strange thing. The end of the pillar isn’t broken. It’s cut. The end has a perfect diagonal slice. In the water underneath it, the other half is visible. On top of the pillar is the gem mentioned in area 7. It is set into the top of the pillar with bands made from solid gold. These can be pried loose if the PCs want to try, but it will be dangerous.

The top of the pillar is a ten-foot square at a 75 degree angle. The bottom of it is 5 feet over the water, and the water is full of crocodiles, which begin to gather in large numbers (1d8) if the PCs start climbing around. Strange channels and arcane symbols are cut into the top of it, which allow the surface to be navigated with a Strength (Athletics) check DC 15. An Intelligence (Arcana) Check DC 16 shows that these symbols are part of a command and control spell, probably something meant to be broadcast over a wide area. Removing the gem takes a Strength check DC 18. This can be offset by tools or other stratagems at the DMs discretion. If the PC succeeds in pulling it off, it comes loose suddenly, and the character pulling it must make a Strength or Dexterity save DC 14 or fall off the pillar. There is a lot of gold holding the gem in place. If the PCs take the time to gather all of it, it comes to 400 gp worth. The gem itself looks like nothing special; a large fine quartz worth about 50gp as a gem. To a mage’s guild or other magical institution, it would be worth a great deal more. How much is up to the DM. If the PCs destroy the stone read the following:

The whole world seems to freeze around you, and then everything….. stutters. The sun dims. Birds stop in midflight, and then appear elsewhere in the sky. The reeds, water, stone, everything seems to shift a half inch to the left, and you feel something break. The sun returns. The birds fly like they always have. The world stills. The marsh ripples and waves all around you, and reeds move with the waves, creating concentric circles the mesh and rebound. It seems like the whole places heaves a great sigh, then is still. After a few minutes, three stone golems wade up to the party. They bow, then wait. If the PCs move on to section 10, the golems will offer to carry them across the river.

10: The Aisle of Pillars You emerge from the marsh into the open river. Black water flows around the stone that you stand on, and you can see crocodiles floating lazily all around. In front of you, in the middle of the river is an immense structure. It is a pyramid made of great grey blocks as big as houses. It is at least two hundred feet from where you are. Between you and it are seven pillars, four on the west side, three on the east. They are five feet in diameter, and they jut seven feet out of the water. There is about twenty feet of open river in between each one. Open river and crocodiles. How the PCs navigate this is entirely up to them. There are an effectively infinite number of crocodiles. If anyone falls in the water, 1d8 crocodiles arrive in 2d6 rounds.

It is possible to distract the crocodiles with meat. If one of the crocodiles is killed (or some other large animal is dragged out) they spend 2d10 minutes tearing it to pieces. During this time they are not interested in the PCs. If the PCs destroyed the control Gem in section 9, then the three golems that emerge will offer to carry the PCs across the river. This offer will take some role playing, because the golems have no mounts, and no language in common with the characters. The whole transaction will have to take place with gesture. If communication is successful, the Golems carry the PCs across the river. A medium creature can sit comfortably on a golem’s shoulder. When the crocodiles attack, the golems casually murder them. They pick them up by the heads and whip them around once, breaking their necks.

The Pyramid This is the end of this adventure. There is a Pyramid here as a sort of placeholder. This is where you can put anything you want. Ruins in the Reeds is meant to provide an obstacle between your players and something that they want. It could simply be the opposite bank of the river.

Appendix A: Monsters Alcedo Rex Somewhere in between bird and dinosaur, the Alecdo Rex is a top predator adapted for life in a marsh. They are between 20 and 24 feet tall, and weight between 3 and 5 tons. Long thin legs and large, long toed feet help it navigate marshland. Hunting: The Alcedo eats mostly large fish, but its opportunistic. It will try to swallow whatever comes its way. It attacks by pinning prey to the ground with its clawed feet, and then pecking the unfortunate animal to death. Its beak is long and pointed. It inflicts wounds like a large spear. Once a prey animal stops moving, it is swallowed whole. Movement: Because its adapted to its environment, the Alcedo Rex can move without penalty through marshlands. Fighting: As a top predator, territory is everything to Alcedo Rex. Without domination of a large tract of productive marsh, it won’t get enough to eat, and so it defends its patch with its life. Submission to an opponent is the equivalent of death. Once the Alcedo Rex has identified a threat, it will not stop attacking. It uses its superior mobility to perform hit and run attacks. It can’t fly, but it can use its wings to assist a backward leap that carries it far away from danger. Its usual pattern is to attack once, then withdraw immediately. If challenged or damaged, it retreats, but never for long. It will always circle around and try attacking from another angle.

If its challenger eludes it, the Alcedo Rex will search its territory until the sun sets. If it hasn’t found its rival by sundown, it assumes that the foe has run away.

Alcedo Rex Hatchling These hatchlings are just smaller than a horse. They are about twelve feet tall, and their weight 500 pounds. Most of their height is in their long bony legs. Like their mother, they have small feathered wings, and long thin beaks. The hatchlings live in the marsh under the protection of their mother until they are grown. Then they must challenge their mother for primacy, or flee to seek new territory. Hunting: While they grow, they practice and perfect their hunting skills. Anything that enters their territory is stalked until it shows signs of weakness, or wanders away from the groups. It is then attacked instantly. Fighting: The hatchling depends on its mother for protection against powerful opponents. If it runs into serious resistance, it will flee. After that it will do its best to avoid whatever damaged it. Movement: Hatchlings are not tall enough to move through the marsh freely. They treat it as difficult terrain. Their backwards leap is also affected by this.

Assassin Vine

Giant Crocodile Monster Manual Page 234

Shambling Mound Monster Manual Page 270

Stirge Monster Manual page 284

Appendix B: Maps Players’ Map

DM’s Map