The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 9

The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 9

10.1) This center room is home to the orc leader in charge of this small portion of the tribe. He lives here with 3 body guards and the shaman assigned to him. The room is stripped bare of all furnishings. An iron stove is in the south-east corner and its ventilation shaft is still connected to the ceiling. The stove has no front grill and the glow of the fire, which constantly burns inside, is the only illumination.

There is a sleeping pallet and cloth blankets and thickly furred skins against the south wall near the fire. This belongs to Gron the orc leader.

He keeps a loaded heavy crossbow beside his bed and sheathed longsword under the top skin of his bed. The longsword glows constantly (it glows in the presence of orcs) and is +2 to hit'+2 damage against orcs. It is a named sword called Gutslitter and on a natural '20 will disembowl the orc hit causing double damage and 1d6+6 pts of damage per combat round. A disembowled orc is at -3 to hit. Gron does not normally carry this sword. It is painful for him to hold, but he has found that some of his worst enemies are other members of the growing tribe of the Third Eye.

Gron has a large wooden chest that is locked by a huge lock. It is impressive looking but it's very size makes it +10% to pick. Otherwise it is much easier to smash the wooden chest than to try to break the lock. The chest contains the following items:

a). A human skull with the jaw and top of head removed. Gold fills the empty brain cavity turning into a macabre goblet. Gron drinks from this after battle. It heals 1d8hp of damage if the goblet is filled with blood and drained in a single gulp. The blood must belong to a person or creature the imbiber has killed in combat. This can be done once for every opponent killed but their blood must still be, mostly, liquid. (Gron has one of his body-guards carry this if they are outside of the Library or on one of the lower levels.

b). A bag with 137 gold plated teeth.

c). A small chest with what Gron thinks are gems but are really just glass from a band of players that they once attacked. They entire box of glass gems is worth 1gp. It is unlikely that the players will know the difference between these fake gems and real ones unless they have experience with valuing jewels or something untoward happens to the gems (like being pounded by a mace).

d). A small bag with 8pp, 47gp, 39sp

e) A small wooden box. Inside is a ring made of raw reddish gold with a red gem gripped by the sculpt of two hands. Writing is finely inscripted inside the ring. It will take a Read Magic spell to decipher the writing. It says "Fire, Flare, fire." The ring will give the wearer an immunity to small fires and a +3 save against large or magical fires. If a mage wears the ring and speaks the words inscribed aloud while putting a finger upon the red stone the spell Burning Hands will be cast against who or whatever the wearer wishes as if by a 5th level caster.

f). A large Dagger that radiates magic but has no special abilities. It is a decent finely crafted dagger and could be enchanted at a latter date.

g). A small iron box with 997 cp in it. Gron collects them. An examination will reveal that each copper piece is different in some way. Most of the cp's are common, but 131 would bring 1 to 10sp each from a collector and 41 would bring 1 to 10gp. 7 are fairly rare and would bring from 10 to 100gp each, and 1 is extremely rare and worth 1,000gp or more. Unless a character is a collector of rare coins himself these are very likely to be seen as only copper pieces of face value, but at some time the players may be cheated by a dealer out of the value of the coins or spend it an inn only to have a customer spot the rare coin and seek to rob the characters, etc...

h). This is a rolled cloth that surrounds a small gold statue wearing a crown and with and upraised hand (snapped off). A book is in its other hand. This is the symbol of learning which the characters may recognize. While it has a value of nearly 100gp it is also part of a key that allows access to a secret room deeper in the library.

i). A canvas sack holding 157sp  with a smaller leather pouch holding 67gp.

The Shaman has a small tent made of minotaur hide in the north-west corner. The floor before the tent is blackened with the remains of a small fire. Inside the tent is normally found the shaman. The tent is always closed shut when he is inside and hazy with a thick smoke that smells like a burning rug. This smell and haze remain even when the tent is open. Prolonged exposure to this haze makes characters extremely lethargic and gives them an overpowering desire for food. Those affected can consume up to 3 days rations in a single setting. This feeling will wear off after 3 hours but during that time players will be -3to hit and -3 to damage.

There is a rolled up rug inside the tent and a thick hide of an owlbear on the floor. A leather bag contains several small wooden and ceramic pipes and a large pouch of a green leafy weed that acts the same as the haze if smoked or eaten. Another bag contains a large collection of jerked meat. These strands of meat are surprisingly tasty if eaten but it comes from a number of sources, both animal and sapient. There is the equivalent of 5 days rations worth of the jerked meat.

Finally there is a small carved ivory cheat. The chest itself is valuable if undamaged. Inside are various components that the Shaman considers necessary to cast his spells.

In the center of the room there is a rough wooden table. It is a heavy piece of wood, much scarred and marked. Three benches and a chair surround it. Gron's bodyguards take turns sleeping under the table and there are hides and rags piled there. A large box is also under the table and contains various rations including the headless and quartered bodies of two freshly killed kobolds.

A small box at the bottom of this box of provisions is hidden beneath the rations. It contains the treasury of all three body-guards. Inside are 17pp, 193gp, 390sp, 12 10gp rubies, 13gold rings worth form 1 to 25gp, a gold crown with gems (a worthless prop taken from the strolling player) and a string of 30 pearls (also fake) and a set of 6 worn six-sided dice carved from bone.

Gron is a 3rd level fighter. 23hp, AC 4 Str 17 Int 11 Dex 12

He wears a suit of enchanted chainmail +2 that will cause a normal sword-blade to snap a foot off its end if the attack roll against him is a natural '1'. He uses a battle axe in one hand that is non-magical but wickedly crafted and will cause +2 damage. In his other hand he wields a large enchanted dagger that gives a +1 to hit and allows the wielder to use it in their secondary hand with no training in two weapon fighting.

The three orc bodygyards are 1st level fighters. 8hp each, AC5 they armed with a longsword nonmagical +1 to hit due to quality, A flanged mace, a bastard sword. Each carrier s a pouch with 57, 43 and 41 gold plated teeth.

The Shaman is a 2nd level cleric/ 1st level magic user. 13hp, AC3. He wears a leather suit made of the skin of orcs that gives his AC3. On his head are the horns of a minotaur and can summon the image of the beast but not the beast itself. It will stamp and below and appear to attack but its form is insubstantial and at best it can cause a distraction or a retreat. It is not illusion and in all senses outside of touch it is real; loud, smelly and a character licked it they would taste minotaur (yuck). It will last till the shaman is killed or he dismisses it. He can call upon the minotaur once a day (this minotaur skin will lack this ability with anyone not a orcish shaman). If the shaman receives enough physical damage to kill him the suit will also be destroyed.

He bears a staff made from the carved bones of a man (two legs and an arm melded together with the skeletal hand holding a skull at the top of the staff. If hostile creatures approach within a 30ft radius the jaws will open and the skull will begin to laugh and titter in a most unpleasant manner. During combat the staff acts as a +1 to hit/ +3 to hit against humans and the skull will begin to sing. The song is in the common tongue and tells the story of young mercenary who ventured into the library only to be killed and eaten by these orcs. All players within a 50ft radius must save versus charm or become -1 to hit/-1 damage in combat. No human can hold this staff. A human touching it will receive a powerful jolt that causes 1d4 per combat round while they are holding it.

On his person is a belt with pouches. They have various components to his spells. Around his neck he wears a necklace of ears (from many creatures. They are dried and the Shaman finds them quite nice to snack on.

If captured or made to talk the shaman's eyes will roll up in his head, he will bite off his own tongue and begin shaking. After a minute he will shudder and die. If some divination is used the Shaman's spirit will merely curse and laugh.

Gron and his bodyguards will easily talk. They are unhappy with the tribe of the Third Eye. They are recent recruits from a smaller tribe charmed by the mage Zuel and merged with his ever growing garrison of orcs. This was several weeks ago and Gron would like out. If the characters appear strong enough and the shaman is killed Gron and his guards can be convinced to actual join the party as rather untrustworthy henchmen who look for the opportunity to steal what they can and escape. He will say that this is but a smaller group of orcs. A much larger force commands the west entrance and watches over a pack of kobolds (who they despise and often eat) guarding the north. The chief dwells down in the dungeons of the library in the floor below in a vast room with ledges all around it. The main garrison is down below as well as the women and children of the tribe. There is a great Shaman and all of the lesser shamans (and there are too many of them for Gron's liking) are now being trained by Zuel or his apprentices. The east of the first floor is dangerous and they don't go there (the doors that connect the east and west portions of the library are marked with warnings).  They haven't explored all of the west section of the library and use only the long halls and a few siderooms to get to the west entrance and the north.