Project - Ptolemides Part 3

Project - Ptolemides Part 3

9a). At both of these spots marked in the corridor there is a large pool of dried blood. Between these marked spots on the map and location 9b there are smears and drops of blood streaked across the stone floor in the direction of area 9b.

9b). This area is layered with debris; wood that has been splintered, cloth torn into strips, even vegetation such as roots and wild vines. The debris is spread across the room and several feet thick. At a point near the center of the room a man's foot and lower leg is half buried under this mess.

If anyone pulls at this foot it will resist slightly then pull away revealing a foot with a leg severed a few inches above the knee. If the leg is pulled free or if anyone searches or disturbs the debris 2 swarms of baby giant ticks will erupt from their layered nest and attack. There are a total of 5 baby tick swarms within this room. After the initial 2 that attack, another 1 will form and attack whenever anyone disturbs the debris or tries to search.

If the debris is searched carefully, a long, messy and disgusting job, they will discover the upper body of a man in chainmail, a severed hand with a gold ring with ruby chips worth 10gp, a chipped and dulled longsword that radiates magic, which is -1 to hit but +2 to damage, and 32gp, 15sp and a small bag containing 5 uncut diamonds which appear to be cloudy crystals but are worth 50gp each.

New Monster:

Tick, Giant (Baby Swarm)

No. Encountered: 1d6

Size: S

Movement: 25

Dexterity: 12

Armour Class: 9

Hit Dice: 5

No. Attacks: 1

Damage: 1d4

Saving Throw: 10

Morale: -

Experience Points: 50

Treasure Class: -

A swarm of baby giant ticks represents 40 of these little monsters. Each is about 3 inches long and has 1hp. Any damage to the swarm represents the actual number killed in the attack.

Special:

Fire will keep them at bay

Piercing weapons do only 1hp damage per attack

If reduced below 16 in number the swarm will dissolve and the surviving baby giant ticks attempt  to skitter away.

10). This circular niche off the west side of the corridor contains a fountain and a small pool that is about 2ft high and the diameter of the niche. The water pours from a pitcher in the hands of a statue of a voluptuous naked woman. The water is collected in the circular pool at the statues feet. Followers of Lunaqqua will receive a blessing following their first drink of this water. This blessing will give them a +1 advantage in all dice rolls for the next 6 game turns. Subsequent drinking at this fountain will be refreshing but does nothing but dispel thirst.

Anyone desecrating this fountain (which includes attempts to damage it) will receive a curse of lycanthropy unless a save versus magic succeeds.

An overturned wooden bucket is at the edge of the stone pool.

11a). The door to this room is ajar. It can be barred from inside the room but no crosspiece is in evidence. It can be locked but the key is nowhere to be found.

11b). Three long tables are set side by side toward the center of this area. On each table is a nude body, two men and one woman. An overturned metal tripod and metal basin is near the west-most of the tables and half-burnt coals, now long cooled, have spilled from it. (The coals can be gathered and will burn for an hour, giving off a good deal of heat but very little light). Under the coals is a dagger made from a chunk of obsidian and wrapped with leather. It radiates magic if detected.

New Item: This is a Dagger of Mordezzan. It is a +1 magic weapon, but its main use is in the creation of animated skeletons and the production of Skins of Mordezzan. The dagger can make incisions in dead flesh that when complete will animate up to 3 skeletons per day. These skeletons will be at the command of their creator, except they will take no actions against a follower of Mordezzan who wears a Skin or bears the symbol of Mordezzan. A follower of Mordezzan who is a cleric or necromancer may wrest the command of these skeletons if they are of higher level.

New Item: The Skin of Mordezzan is the specially prepared skin of a sacrificial victim. It radiates evil and is worn by a follower of Mordezzan granting him the same armour class as that of leather armour, provides +1 to saving throws, and protection against paralysis, cold based and charm spells and abilities. Arcane markings are placed on the victim's skin, then they are submerged in a vat of enchanted liquid, then a Dagger of Mordezzan is used to remove the skin. Anyone trying to wear a Skin of Mordezzan who is not a follower  must save versus poison of suffer 1d6 hp damage per combat round (save for half damage) and will suffer 1d6 hp damage per combat round until such a save is made even after the suit is removed. (Only 1 saving throw is necessary once the Skin is removed, but a save must be rolled each turn the Skin is worn.

A giant tick sits on top of the man's body on the center table. It has been poisoned while trying to drain the body. The tick is at half-hp and -1 to hit and damage. The bodies of 4 dead giant ticks are scattered around the floor north of the tables.

If anyone examines the bodies they will find arcane markings on the flesh that a necromancer will recognize as part of a ritual to animate the dead. Each body has bone deep incisions and it would take little effort to remove the skeletons from the surrounding flesh.

11b). A set of spikes on the east wall holds 7 human skins. These are completed Skins of Mordezzan. No trace of internal organs or bones are in evidence.

11c). The drained and dry body of a man in a dark blue robe is crumpled here. If searched it is revealed that he wears a Skin of Mordezzan beneath his robe, but it is damaged beyond repair showing many knife wounds in the back and head of the Skin and the man almost completely severed, hanging together only by the skin at the back of the neck.

12). The west wall of this room is lined with skeletons who stand motionless until someone approaches within 20ft, opens the northern doors or who attacks them from a distance. There are 9 skeletons lined up in two rows facing the west wall. In each of their hands is a human thigh-bone, one end spiked with nails, which they use like a spiked mace, damage 1d6. A stack of boxes three high is on the north wall and the south. Each box contains 2 skeletons. These will attack if the crate is open. These skeletons will obey the commands of anyone in a Skin of Mordezzan and will not attack anyone showing a symbol of Mordezzan.

12a). This door is shut but not locked. It can be barred from inside the room. The wooden crosspiece is on the floor near the door.

12b). This door is shut but not locked. It can be barred but no crosspiece is in evidence.

13). There is a large vat in the center of this room 5ft high and 10ft in diameter. The walls of this room are set with iron spikes and the bodies of 12 men are hanging upside down from the spikes. Each has been marked with arcane symbols and the sign of Mordezzan. Their bodies show lines of deep incisions head to toe.

An iron chain hangs from a pulley above the vat. Inside the vat is a thick, dark liquid that radiates magic if anyone detects such. The liquid is a primary ingredient in creating a Skin of Mordezzan, and a flask of it would be worth 5gp to an alchemist, Necromancer or seller of spell components. There is enough liquid in the vat to fill 1,000 flasks.

If anyone peers into the vat an Undead Minion of Mordezzan will reach out from the liquid and try to first grapple with the character then drag them into the vat. If this is successful the character will be attacked by 5 Undead Minions of Mordezzan

If the attempt to grapple the character fails, all 5 Minions will burst from the vat, pulling themselves over its edge and attack.

At the same time the Minions attack the bodies on the wall will begin to writhe and shake. In 2 combat rounds 5 of the bodies of the wall will have had their skeletons pull free of the flesh that surrounds them. They will drop to the floor and attack. 2 combat rounds after that 5 more will pull themselves free and 2 rounds later 5 more till a total of 15 skeletons have left their skins hanging on the walls. The empty skins are not yet enchanted and are merely dead flesh.

New Monster: Minion of Mordezzan Undead Type 3

No. Encountered: 1d6

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Size: M

Movement: 40

Dexterity: 10

Armour Class: 7

Hit Dice: 2

No. Attacks 3(Claw/Claw/Bite)

Damage: 1d3/1d3/1d6

Saving Throw: 15

Morale: 10

Experience Points: 41

Treasure Class: S,T

Minions of Mordezzan are similar to ghouls but lack the ability to paralyze their prey. At one time they were loyal members of the Mordazzen cult and wore sacred Skins of Mordezzan. Upon the death of the cultist this Skin bonds with their own flesh and they rise after a short time as an undead Minion of Mordazzen.

Special:

Immune to poison, paralysis, fear and cold-based attacks

Protection from evil holds them at bay

14). This chamber has walls covered in torn, blood spattered and shredded tapestry. 2 of these hangings have gold thread woven into them and are worth 25gp each, even in their mangled condition. In the south-west corner is a pile of broken wood made up mainly of chairs but some larger furniture of unknown type as well. Along the north wall there is a table, swept clear but covered in dried blood, as is the floor around the table. Against the east wall there is an overturned and smashed cabinet. Mixed in with the cabinet are torn books and scrolls and broken glass.

If the cabinet is searched there is a 50% chance that a hidden drawer at the bottom of a splintered shelf will be found. The drawer is locked and a thief can attempt to pick it. If the secret drawer is smashed open the two glass vials in will be smashed.

The drawer contains 2 potion vials and a small spell book.

Potion #1 is of Healing

Potion #2 is of Fire Resistance

The small book holds 3 spells; Animate Carrion, Extermination, and Skeleton Servant.

14a). A bench runs along the south wall of this alcove. Huddled against the east wall on the bench are two figures in blue robes. If approached closer than 10ft these 2 Undead Minions of Mordezzan will attack. If attacked from a distance they will also attack.

14b). This alcove at the south end of the main room is hidden from casual view by a torn tapestry. There are pegs running down the west wall and 5 dark blue robes are scattered beneath them on the floor.

Most noticeable is the Undead Minion of Mordezzan, stripped of its blue robe and nailed to the south wall with iron spikes. The creature is at only 5hp but is still animated and struggles to free itself.

15). This door is locked and barred shut from the east side of the door. A glyph has been carved into the wood of the door. If shown around the city above it will be found out that it is the mark of Ptolemides Thieve's Guild, but such questions will be noted and the Thieve's Guild will be informed. 

Project - Ptolemides Part 2

Continued from Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6a

The Catacombs of Ptolemides

Rooms and passages in the catacombs normally have ceilings roughly 10 feet overhead and sconces or holders where torches or lanterns can be set, but are no torches or lanterns will be found unless specifically mentioned. Light must be provided by the player characters otherwise the catacombs are lightless black (unless the described areas mention illumination).

The initial area is formed from carved stone with wooden supports for the typical entranceway. 

1). The platform that the characters are standing on is circular and a little over 20ft in diameter. Large torches (taking two hands to hold) are set around the edges of the platform in metal standing brackets welded to the platform. These torches will burn for a full hour before guttering and going out. A slow but continual circulation of air bends the flames from the torches slightly to the west.

As the platform nears the last 10ft to the floor the PC's will see skeletal bodies in ancient armor affixed to the north, south and east walls. Iron spikes are set into each 10ft section of these walls the bodies of these long dead warriors have been thrust upon the spikes with enough force to pierce the ancient verdigris encrusted chest plates they all wear. 

Several large mallets, some of wood, and some shaped from human thigh bones, are scattered near to the walls, and these can be used to beat upon the armor of the dead hanging upon the walls. If hammered for more than three combat rounds this noise will alert Tomeron's servants who man the winches above and they will begin to draw up the platform. If the room is dark a circle of light will appear 50ft above as the iron cover is first lifted before the chains take up the slack and the platform begins to rise. It will be several combat round before the platform begins to rise after the winches begin to turn but then the platform will be drawn up 10ft every 3 combat rounds. No amount of shouting will get Tomeron's servants to stop or bring the platform back to the ground once they have begun drawing it up, unless it is the command of Tomeron himself.

If anyone begins beating on one of the chest plates, tries to remove the armor or searches the bodies, a normal sized rat will leap from the mouth of the dead body and attack. 1 combat round after this attack, 6 rats will begin to pour from the various bodies and attack the PC's. 6 more will appear the following combat round, and finally 6 more after that in the next combat round for a total of 19 attacking rats. 

If more than 8 of their number are slain the rats will flee toward area 1b where a rat-hole has been gnawed at the bottom of the secret door. 

The 20th Rat

There is one rat that will not take part in the combat but will be the last rat through the hole at area 1b. If it is attacked it will continue in its attempt to flee. If it is slain and the body examined it will be revealed as some type of autonomaton formed of wood and metal enclosed in the pelt of a rat.

*Clockwork Scout
No. Encountered: 1 or 1d6
Alignment: Neutral
Size: S
Movement: 15
Dexterity: 12
Armour Class: 4
Hit Dice: 1
No. Attacks: 1
Damage: 1d4
Saving Throw: 17
Morale: -
Experience Points: 15
Treasure Class: -

Clockwork Scouts are part of a mechanical species developed during the height of Suel civilization in ages past. They have survived and can be found mainly in the ruins of ancient Suel centers of learning and sorcery.

Clockwork Scouts have a rudimentary sentience but what will and independent thought they might have is subsumed by the greater purpose and willpower of more powerful members of their species. They have no known language but can somehow communicate all the have seen, heard and experienced to there more powerful Clockwork beings. 

Each clockwork scout is shaped into a skeletal version of a small animal and covered with such creatures fur, flesh or hide.

While a Clockwork Scout possess no treasure of its own their non-functioning bodies can be worth from 10 to 50gp depending on the type of damage. A function Clockwork Scout is easily worth over 250gp.

*The Clockwork Scout is from Frog God Games 'The Tome of Horror Complete S&W version' though slightly altered for my Greyhawk campaign.

1a).  The dead body of a mangy dog is crumpled in the upper corner of the south facing passage. It is a thin and rat-eaten corpse, mainly skin, hair and bone. If closely examined a fragment of blue cloth can be found in its clenched teeth.

1b). This is a secret door that has been well-crafted to appear as a section of the north wall. It even has one of the old dead bodies and an iron pike set into it. At the bottom edge of the door the rats have gnawed a small hole. If a lightsource such as a bullseye lantern is directed through the hole a space or chamber can be seen on the otherside.

The door is stoutly build and an iron bar is set in place. It will take at least 300hp of damage to batter down the door. Any noise may attract a wandering monster but will not in itself signal for the platform to be raised. 

(To be continued...)

Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6a The Catacombs of Ptolemides part 1

Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6a

SPOILER WARNING!

If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.

6a). The Epiphany of Death

(Written January 25, 1930)

Ptolemides, Catacombs of [PLC]

Ptolemides, City of [TWN]

Tomeron [NPC]

"Somehow, Tomeron seemed never to belong to the present; but one could readily have imagined him as living in some bygone age. About him, there was nothing whatever of the lineaments of our own period; and he even went so far as to affect in his costume an approximation to the garments worn several centuries ago. His complexion was extremely pale and cadaverous, and he stooped heavily from poring over ancient tomes and no less ancient maps. He moved always with the slow, meditative pace of one who dwells  among far off reveries and memories; and he spoke often of people and events and ideas that have long since been forgotten."

"I cab readily recall, however, the studies to which Tomeron had devoted himself, the lost demonian volumes from Hyperborea and Mu and Atlantis with which his library shelves were heaped to the ceiling and the queer charts, not of any land that lies above the surface of the earth, on which he pored by perpetual candlelight."

"He maintained that life and death were not the fixed conditions that people commonly believed them to be; that the two realms were often intermingled in ways not readily discerned, and had penumbral borderlands; that the dead were not always the dead, nor the living the living, as such terms  are habitually understood."

"Carrying torches, we left the mansion of Tomeron and sought the ancient catacombs of Ptolemides, which lie beyond the walls and have long been disused, for there is now a fine necropolis in the very heart of the city. The moon had gone down beyond the desert that encroaches toward the catacombs; and we were forced to light our torches long before we came to the subterranean adits; for the rays of Mars and Jupiter in a sodden and funereal sky were not enough to illumine the perilous path we followed among mounds and fallen obelisks and broken graves. At length we discovered the dark and weed-choked entrance of the charnels; and here Tomeron led the way with a swiftness and surety of footing that bespoke long familiarity with the place."

"Entering, we found ourselves in a crumbling passage where the bones of dilapidated skeletons were scattered amid the rubble that had fallen from the sides and roof. A choking stench of stagnant air and of age-old corruption made me pause for a moment but Tomeron scarcely appeared to perceive it, for he strode onward, lifting his torch and beckoning me to follow. We traversed many vaults in which mouldy bones and verdigris-eaten sarcophagi were piled about the walls or strewn where desecrating thieves had left them in bygone years. The air was increasingly dank, chill and miasmal; and mephitic shadows crouched or swayed before our torches in every niche and corner. Also, as we went onward, the walls became more ruinous and the bones we saw on every hand were greener with the mould of time."

ADVENTURE IDEAS

The Catacombs of Ptolemides

The city of Ptolemides was once a proud Pre-Imperium Suel City-State, but after the advent of the Imperium it was slowly abandoned and only a fraction of its population remained. It was home to an ancient temple of Lendor, perhaps the oldest Suel temple of the god's, and during the Rain of Colorless Fire this saved the city, in a manner.

A great storm surrounded the city during the Rain of Colorless fire and transported it between time. The people of Ptolemides who survived live their lives trapped between the beat of a heart. They do not die or age, they hunger little and lead a life of quiet dreaming. The farmland around the city survived even when most within the city did not and the crops are grown picked and grow again to be picked and consumed each day. Cattle bear young who grow to adulthood, are slaughtered and eaten, all as needed to fill the larders of the people, and generally all are unaware of this.

The city and its surroundings are a strange living scar in the outskirts of the Sea of Dust near to Slerotin's Passage. Those who enter the environs of the city become caught within the web of timelessness woven by Lendore. The only way out is the said to be deep under thre city in the Catacombs of Ptolemides.

Within the city only the sections near the outer gates and the central citadel are occupied, while entire quarters are abandoned and walled off, for Ptolemides is also a city of the dead.

When Lendore storm of time came it swallowed the city whole and only those within the citadel survived. These survivors were overwhelmed by the number of the dead, and in houses, manors, tenements and even the streets, the bodies were left unhallowed to putrefy and rot. But these unshriven spirits soon began to walk, to haunt the dead quarters of the city, and to prey upon the living.

Gates were shut, all entrances to these dead quarters walled off, closed and guarded. The priests of Lendore joined the city guard in a desperate attempt to drive back the dead. Then, more welcome than they have ever been, came the hidden cult of necromancers, and the greatest of these was Tomeron.

When Ptolemides was first settled, when the foundations stones were first set, these early Suel found the catacombs, and what they believed, perhaps rightly, was the entrance to the underworld, the land of the dead. These passages were old and endless, already filled with tombs and ancient bones and passages that went deep into the earth. For generations the bodies of the dead were placed reverently within vaults and mausoleums and niches cut into the walls. Over time the nearest of the passages were filled, and the tunnels were followed further and further while a slow sense of evil and darkness crept nearer, and the dead were no longer left undisturbed.

A great necropolis was built in the abandoned foreign quarter of the city and the catacombs of Ptolemides were sealed. The Rain of Colorless Fire and The Storm of Time came, and the dead walked, and then came the necromancers, and with them Tomeron.

Tomeron has unsealed the catacombs and from the abandoned manor where he now lives, in a dead quarter of the city, he directs others; magicians, thieves, priests, fighters, adventurers, fools, to do his bidding and search the catacombs. Of what is brought back to the surface Tomeron has his tithe, but always he seems disappointed, as if what he is truly looking for is never found.

NOTE: Here begins my conversion of TSRs 'Legendary' boxed set, the Ruins of Undermountain. I will just be using the maps for the most part (because my cartographic skill is so poor) but I've always loved this particular dungeon crawl and it will be a pleasure to convert for my Greyhawk campaign.

Tomeron, as I plan to use him, is a high level Necromancer. 

Reaching Tomeron's manor is best done in daylight. What was once the artisan's quarter of Ptolemides is now a walled and guarded ruin. Only one gate into the quarter is left open, though rumors say that the Guild of Thieves knows of a secret way. 

A small fortress has been built before the gate to this quarter and a toll of 5gp per person is collected to let anyone inside. A toll of 20gp per person is collected to let anyone back out again, and a tax on any treasure of 1 coin, armor, weapon, or valuable, is levied by the king.

There are three gates and a wide circular tunnel that lead to this dead quarter. The outer gate within the fortress will first be opened and as the party approaches the 2nd gate, this outer gate will be closed. Then the 2nd gate will be opened and when the party reaches the gate to the dead quarter, that gate too will close. Finally this 3rd gate will open and the party will be allowed to enter what was once the Artisan's Quarter. 

If anyone wants out there is a bell that can be struck near the gate and a basket will be lowered from the wall to collect the 20gp return fee. After dark the guards will ask for extra coin to allow escape from this quarter, and some will not respond at all, preferring to lock and bolt their doors rather than face what might be ringing the bell.

Once outside the small fortress a returning party will be lead to a counting house next door to the fort and there the tax will be levied.

Shops catering to adventurers have sprung up on the avenue leading to this gate and a large inn called 'The Dirge' sits on the far corner from the fortress. It is common for a last drink to be bought here before entering the gate and all manner or business is transacted within this tavern. Hirelings hired, rumors gathered, notices left and what-not.

The dead quarters of the city are very grim and dangerous places, and Tomeron's is no exception. Most buildings are in ruins and many are unpleasantly  occupied. rats, bats, vermin and spiders infest these buildings, as well as all manner and kind of undead. The main street is kept warded, at least during the day, but at night the undead roam and there is little shelter to be found.

Several necromancers do live within this quarter and far down its streets can be found an almost-palace that is their guild hall, but these buildings are guarded and sturdy and do not welcome visitors. 

Tomeron, on the other hand, welcomes adventurers at anytime. His manor is in a large walled compound three blocks from the gate. The doors to his house are always open and lead to a large entrance hall. Tomeron himself will come to greet all those wishing to journey to the catacombs. 

Inside this hall is a large staircase leading to a dimly lit upper floor, but the players will not be invited to see it more clearly. On its balustrade sits a pair of gargoyles, perhaps mere statues, but their unmoving features are grinning and malevolent. A half-dozen uniformed footmen are nearby, pale men with the stench of carrion about them, and the black beneath the stairs seems filled with something more awful than darkness.

To the left of the entrance-way is a set of double-doors. These open to a long, wide passage that turns and turns as it leads down, and finally comes to a broad square room. A quick estimates shows a ceiling vaulting out of site, and a room at least eighty feet wide as it is eighty feet long. Some tables and chairs are at the north end, at its center is a large round pit covered by an iron plate. Massive chains lead from the plate to four crank mechanisms spaced evenly around its sides.

"I take one coin in five and such items, jewels, gems and such-like as take my fancy. No more than one in three. If you agree and are prepared, that is your way to the catacombs," Tomeron points to the pit and the iron plate which covers it.

If the party agrees and wants to proceed Tomeron will speak a sharp command and four tall and heavily scared men will approach the cranks and begin raising the iron plate. Suspended by chains beneath the plate is a platform. Once the iron plate has reached the ceiling the platform will be even with the edge of the pit and a panel will be  extended to act as a bridge. Once the party is on the platform the panel will be removed and the platform lowered into the pit.

Tomeron  will call down to the party, "From here your adventure begins. Beat upon the armor of the dead to signal your return."

NPC 1. Ch'lvendn

NPC 1. Ch'lvendn - M-U Lvl 9 H.P. 27 AC: (10)

Ch'lvendn was born on the rolling hills of the northern plains beyond the city of Uzuldaroum near the Lake of Rust. She traveled with her people the Barovoz who cross the empty places between the northern cities in long caravans protected by their horsemen, their shamans and their wielders of magic (who are all female among the Barovoz). Her mother was a powerful figure in the council of the Three Elders who lead them and her daughter inherited much of her mother's ability but none of her desire to stay among the people.

When Ch'lvendn was old enough to become a journeywoman among the practitioners of magic she disappeared from the Barovoz during a quest to the ruins of once great Commoriom  and traveled south and east increasing her skill, finding adventure and making a small name for herself among the cities and people of the more populous and less cold south.

Currently she has a small residence in the City-State of Ptolemides but she is not often found at home. She is no longer the teenage girl riding fearlessly away from all that she once knew, but her desire for power, treasure and adventure is still as strong.

Inspiring Illustrations - Fantasy - #26 - The Guardsmen of Ptolemides

26) The Guardsmen of Ptolemides

The lost and ancient city of Ptolemides sits on the coast of an ocean that has no name beneath strange stars which sing eerily in the darkness for those who have the fate to hear them. Long ago, it is said, the Hellenic fleet that came upon this land, discovered a vast ruined city on whose foundation they built temples and homes, but others say that Ptolemides has always been as it is now, taken complete to the last stone from their homeland, but all agree that the shifting skies and mist shrouded land, the cold waters of the ocean, are not and will never be 'home'.

Those who guard the gates and walls of the city, those who walk the streets or stand against the peoples and creatures which approach the environs of Ptolemides bear the arms and armor of the Hellenes from long ago, but over the years, how many is not known as time flows strangely in the land around Ptolemides, they have become a mixed group of Hellene and wanderer, conquered or barbarian outsiders.

The traditional arms of Ptolemides guardians is a full helm with cheek and noseguard; a breastplate of steel and shield of embossed wood and leather with a bronze edge. An armored skirt is worn and greaves that protect from ankle to knee. The ancient short-spear suitable for thrusting or throwing and a short-sword are the normal armaments for a Ptolemides guardsman. Some short-bows are still in use but the crossbow was introduced to the city in past years and the guardsmen took to its use immediately, both light and heavy cross bows are used,.

The basic patrol group is a 'Hand' of five guardsmen. One experienced guard in charge with one veteran and a mix of three green recruits or city reserves. The green recruits gain experience in the city and once they become veterans join the patrols that march or ride outside the walls if needed. Reserve guardsmen serve for several weeks a year as their work permits but a good excuse is needed if they don't answer a summons to duty.

Green recruits are chosen at the age of 16 (men and women) and may serve as guardsmen all their useful lives. Those who are trained as reserves also begin their training and selection at age 16 but are generally not called upon past the age 40. Both male and female Hellenes serve in the guard and are trained as reserves.

The Catacombs of Ptolemides (revised) - 1

The Catacombs of Ptolemides (revised) - 1

Ptolemides was once a proud Hellenic city-state, but the world shook, the great island kingdom of Atlantis sank beneath the waves and Ptolemides found itself cut from the world that it once knew. Today, though the exact when and where of Ptolemides is a question much debated by the cities philosophers, the city seems becalmed on the edge of a great void, a crossroads of places and times unimagined. The seas have changed and beyond the farmlands that surround and feed the city are the mists and into the mists few will go, and out the mists come strangers.

Beneath the city are the catacombs. The dead were taken and interred among the passages for centuries, but it is no longer used, no longer safe. The temple of Thanatos has somehow become lost amid the endless winding passages and chambers. Some say that they feel his presence even in the sewers and deeper chambers of the city. Some say that they have seen the God himself, though few believe. Those that see Thanatos do not return.

 "And there the children of dark Night have their dwellings, Sleep and Death, awful gods. The glowing Sun never looks upon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, nor as he comes down from heaven. And the former of them roams peacefully over the earth and the sea's broad back and is kindly to men; but the other has a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze: whomsoever of men he has once seized he holds fast: and he is hateful even to the deathless gods." (Hesiod)

The people of the city rarely go to the catacombs, but the strangers are drawn to its stygian depths. Ptolemides accepts these strangers as it has accepted the changing sky where the stars dance and the moon is too bright, and too near. Walls have been built around the precincts of the city where the entrance to the catacombs can be found. A tax is charged for entrance, a tax on the strangers and their goods, and a tax on what the strangers take from the catacombs, those that return.

Among the people of the mists word has spread of the riches to be found in the catacombs of Ptolemides, of the dangers and the challenge. Those seeking wealth, adventure and renown make the trip to Ptolemides. The city thrives on the coin they bring, but looks down on these people of different worlds and different times.

The know entrance to the catacombs is a gated cave set in an empty hillside. Once the temple of Thantos sat upon that hill, but in the night when the world shook it vanished and left only the open cave behind. Around the cave are now shops and inns that serve those who would enter the cave. Here can be found rest and gear, weapons and armor, temples to strange gods and shrines covered in offerings for those who have not returned. The cave itself is guarded by soldiers of Ptolemides and a tax is collected on all those who would enter. There is a second gate deeper into the cavern, and here those who would seek to leave the catacombs must pay a tithe on all that they have gathered from below. The entrance is well guarded and fortified, not only to bar the way of travelers and collect the tax, but also to protect the city from what might emerge from below.

Here begins the revised adventure The Catacombs of Ptolemides

Inspiring Illustrations - The Minions of the Moon

35). The Minions of the Moon

NOTE: These are adventure seeds and setting work for my own Hyperborea campaign inspired by the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerors of Hyperborea Gazetteer

(Note: In My AS&SH campaign I have only the single moon which we all know and love, rather than the two moons Selene and Phobos, at least so far...)

North of the Hellenic City-State of Ptolemides, beyond the forest of the Crowned Beast (but known to most as the Foxwoman's Domain), lies a pool of liquid silver metal that is death to touch. Around this pool can be found white-clad devotees of a new cult that has followers in both Khromarium and Ptolemides and seems to be spreading like fire among dry leaves to every city and large town in all of disparate Hyperborea. These are "The Minions of the Moon" and they worship both the Moon as a divinity and the silver pool as the Moon's avatar upon the earth.

It is rumored that at both the waxing and waning of the moon human sacrifices are performed which the cultists call 'The Silver Death' and the victims are submerged in the liquid metal pool. The bodies are said to be held by chains and drawn back from their fatal bath now withered and hardened like iron. Their spirits are then purposed to walk the environs of the people serving the will of this new lunar divinity. The reality is much more deadly.

These sacrifices have become servants of the silver metal pool, which is a living entity fallen to earth millennia ago. It is an animal creature without need of sustenance and without language. It can rise into a wave and move, sometimes at great speed, but will always return to the basin where it now resides connected by a cord of liquid metal to a crystal-like object buried deep within the earth below. These servants act as automaton akin to those of Iron but with several differences (See New Monster).

The truth behind the cult is the discovery of the crystal by a notorious thief from Rusland, Mikhaliov Fydrovich, who , fleeing from a monstrous guardian of a Ptolemides merchant's treasure, came across the pool of liquid metal and the fragment of crystal which lay almost within the pool itself. The body of a dying manticore had come in contact with the pool and with the crystal Mikhaliov was able to summon it to his defense and defeat the guardian Daemon which pursued him. Much to his disappointment the silvered form of the manticore fell to dust within a few weeks time.

Mikhaliov was not one to let a good thing go and his quick mind immediately formed the idea of the cult and "The Minions of the Moon". Originally all the members were thieves or the like, but the cult has taken on a life of its own and only the original core (and some select recruits) now know that the cult is false.

Worshippers of Lunaqqua are the dire enemies of the cult and minor war of assassination and retribution is being waged between the two.

New Monster

Automaton, Silver Metal [MON]

No. Encountered: 1-6

Alignment: Neutral

Size: Varied, most common size is M

Movement: 40

Dexterity: 16

Armor Class: 5

Hit Dice: 4+2

No. Attacks: varied most commonly 2 (Pummel) (see Notes)

Damage: 2d6/2d6

Saving Throw: 14

Morale: NA

Experience Points: 750

Silver Metal Automatons are formerly living creatures (most notably human but to a much lesser extent any creature existing in Hyperborea  and even some that do not) whose flesh and bone has been consumed and replaced by the creature that is the pool of liquid metal. They have only an animal intelligence regardless of their former intelligence as a living creature and a life span of under two months. At the fullness of the moon above Hyperborea they must return to the liquid metal pool where they merge with the creature or harden into a solid piece of dull grey metal and fragment into a powder that will eventually sift away to nothingness.

These Automatons can be controlled by a fragment of crystal that is now set within a small medallion (and worn by the Master of the Minions of the Moon. They will obey basic commands when within a 60foot radius but otherwise act as an extension of the pool of liquid metal with a completely alien set of reactions and desires. (They my stand still and let themselves be hacked to bits, walk into a fire, off a cliff, attack wildly, etc... )

NOTE: Silver Metal Automatons that are formed from monstrous creatures retain and physical type of attacks including number and damage of attacks of the formerly living creature with a +2 damage per attack. All other stats remain as per the basic listing (AC, Dex, Etc.. ) for any form the Silver Metal Automaton may take regardless of previous HD or abilities.

NOTE: These Automatons are not constructs and are much quicker, moving with a high grace and dexterity, than magically created Automatons. Part of their AC comes from a bonus for high dexterity.

NOTE: Sacrifices to the pool of liquid metal can only be done at the waning and waxing of the moon. At other times anything entering the pool is simply absorbed into the liquid metal. Even at these time there is a 75% chance that anyone or thing of flesh placed into the pool will simply be absorbed.

NOTE: These Automaton's can regain full HP by resubmerging themselves within the pool, but will also regenerate 50% of their total HP every night when the moon rises (up to their original HP total). If reduced to 0 HP they turn into a grey metal and fall to dust.