Category: Planescape

Here’s the fourth and final level of my abridged Temple of Elemental Evil, the fire level. A succubus named Sezrame and her cambion son Canixos oversee the fire cult. The level also features an ambitious cult fanatic, a cabal of azer craftsmen, and a night hag!

So many links…

• The Air Level
• The Earth Level
• The Water Level
• The Original Map by Dyson Logos
• And, as promised, a compiled PDF:  Dreams of Elemental Evil

Dreams of Elemental Evil

23 – Guard Post

A fire cultist and a hell hound stand guard in the 10’ x 10’ alcove to the south. Three more fire cultists gather in the larger chamber. They seek insight from the flames that burn in a bronze brazier (worth 25 gp) in the center of the room.

24 – Ashen Temple

An impressive tapestry bearing the likeness of Imix, the Prince of Elemental Fire, hangs on the northwest wall. Every three days, the fire cult performs an elaborate ritual in which the tapestry is burnt to honor Imix. The ashes of previous tapestries dust every surface in the room.

Two fire cultists led by a cult fanatic prepare for the next ritual. If the cultists hear combat elsewhere, they ready themselves to ambush the intruders. The cult fanatic, a high elf named Merarian, wears a ring of resistance (fire) and carries the key to his private quarters (Area 28).

25 – Nanny Flametongue

Nanny Flametongue, a night hag, weaves the tapestries the fire cult burns in their rituals (see Area 24). Edison, a flameskull, serves as the hag’s familiar and functions as a sentient heartstone.

Nanny Flametongue:  Nanny Flametongue is loyal to the fire cult but affects a simpering demeanor if the PCs threaten her. If combat breaks out, she retreats to the Ethereal Plane. From there, she observes the party until she has an opportunity to use Nightmare Haunting against one of the PCs.

Nanny Flametongue is jealous of the influence Sezrame (a succubus) has over the fire cult’s leader, a cambion named Canixos. Nanny Flametongue helps the party if they agree to drive a wedge between the two fiends. If the PCs ally with her, Nanny Flametongue explains how to disable the clockwork dragons that guard the fire locks (Areas 29 and 30).

In addition to her ability to weave with supernatural speed, Nanny Flametongue can lick the blade of a sword to give it the properties of a flame tongue sword. The hag can enchant only one such blade at a time. The enchantment lasts for 24 hours, during which time Flametongue is unable to speak or cast spells with a verbal component.

Lock Box:  Along with her soul bag and weaver’s tools (worth 1 gp), Nanny Flametongue possesses an iron lock box. A prominent glyph of warding protects the box. Any creature other than Nanny Flametongue who opens the box triggers the glyph. Each creature within 20 ft. when the glyph is triggered takes 5d8 fire damage (DC 13 DEX save halves). The box contains 800 cp, 10,000 sp, 2,100 gp, 160 pp, and 18 gems worth 100 gp each.

26 – Storage

This narrow chamber contains assorted supplies: foodstuffs, materials Nanny Flametongue (Area 23) uses in her weaving, torches, incense, and two dozens flasks of oil.

27 – Fire Barracks

The fire cultists sleep in shifts in this cramped, untidy room. Bowls of hot coals light the room and ensure the air remains stifling. 1d4+1 cultists rest here at any given time.

Searing Nail, an imp, skulks about the room invisibly. He eavesdrops on the cultists and reports any treasonous behavior to Sezrame (Area 32).

28 – Merarian’s Room

The door to this room is locked. PCs using thieves’ tools can pick the lock with a successful DC 15 DEX check. The door can be forced open with a successful DC 20 STR check.

Merarian, a high elf cult fanatic, takes infrequent rests here. He is found more often in the temple to Imix (Area 24). The room contains a bed, a shallow pit filled with smoldering coals, and a writing desk.

Fire Pit:  Two fire snakes slither among the smoldering coals. They attack anyone other than Merarian who comes within 5 ft. of the pit. Treat the fire snakes as poisonous snakes whose bite deals fire instead of poison damage. Alive, the snakes are worth 100 gp each to a collector of exotic animals.

Writing Desk:  On the desk is correspondence between Merarian and Keshak, the high priest of the air cult (Area 5). Eager to prove himself in the eyes of Canixos, Merarian has brokered an alliance between the air and fire cults. Merarian plans to use the alliance to crush the earth and water cults before turning on the air cult. Unbeknownst to Merarian, Keshak has similar plans.

29 – Northern Fire Lock

Human-sized clockwork dragons perch atop pedestals in the northwest and southeast alcoves. Their inner furnaces flicker with orange flame. Identical arrays of four buttons are set into the walls near each dragon.

Clockwork Dragons:  The dragons are iron constructs. They allow members of the fire cult to pass by unmolested but animate and attack all others. Treat the clockwork dragons as red dragon wyrmlings. Their sturdy construction grants them resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons. As constructs, they are also immune to poison and psychic damage, as well as the charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, and poisoned conditions.

Buttons:  PCs who make a successful DC 10 Arcana check recognize the runes as “AIR”, “EARTH”, “FIRE” and “WATER.” Each array of buttons is linked to one of the dragons. Pushing a button produces a magical effect that affects its corresponding dragon.

• AIR: The AIR button recharges the dragon’s Fire Breath. Pushing the AIR button while the dragon can still use its Fire Breath has no further effect.
• EARTH: The dragon becomes magnetized. Creatures wearing metal armor who start their turn adjacent to the dragon must make a DC 12 STR save or be grappled. Similarly, a creature that hits a dragon with a melee weapon made of metal must make a DC 12 STR save or the weapon becomes stuck to the dragon. Pushing the dragon’s EARTH button a second time causes its joints to seize up. The dragon deactivates until the cult’s azer craftsmen (Area 33) spend 8 hours to repair it.
• FIRE: The dragon uses its Fire Breath, even if it’s not otherwise available, and the flames in the dragon’s inner furnace blow out. The dragon deactivates until another creature uses an action to reignite the flames. While a dragon is deactivated, pushing its FIRE button again has no effect.
• WATER: A reservoir of water is released into the dragon’s inner furnace. Until the end of the dragon’s next turn, the dragon is stunned and a cloud of steam surrounds the dragon in a 10-ft. radius. Pushing a stunned dragon’s WATER button a second time douses its flames completely. The dragon deactivates until another creature uses an action to reignite the flames. While a dragon is deactivated, pushing its WATER button again has no effect.

30 – Southern Fire Lock

This area is identical to the northern fire lock (Area 29), except combat here alerts the guards to the south (Area 31).

31 – Guard Post

Two fire cultists stand guard here at all times. A tapestry bearing an image of Imix (similar to the one found in Area 24) covers the northwest wall. PCs who look behind the tapestry spot the secret door to Area 32.

32 – Sezrame’s Quarters

Canixos (Area 34) is the fire cult’s nominal leader, but his mother Sezrame is the power behind the throne. The succubus spends most of her time here, either studying or advising Canixos.

Sezrame:  If Sezrame hears noise in Area 31, she becomes ethereal and spies on the PCs until she’s assessed their capabilities. If she thinks the PCs will fall for it, she polymorphs into a human earth cultist and materializes inside the cage in Canixos’s quarters (Area 34). She waits for the PCs to rescue her and then turns on them at the first opportunity.

Sezrame uses the fire cult as a tool but has no loyalty to it. If she believes her life is in danger, Sezrame flees the complex and plots revenge at a later date.

Sezrame’s Research:  Sezrame’s research into the Dreaming God covers a small writing desk. If the PCs study this research, they learn the Dreaming God was a deity of natural catastrophes who destroyed multiple worlds on the Material Plane before a group of heroes united to defeat him. Judging from her notes, Sezrame seeks to resurrect the Dreaming God so it can wreak destruction again. Sezrame’s collected research is worth 100 gp to a scholar.

Treasure:  Sezrame’s quarters are lavish, although the decorations have a distinctly hellish bent. The furnishings are worth 250 gp. A wardrobe contains an assortment of outfits, including the distinct robes worn by the other elemental cults. An ebony jewelry box (worth 25 gp) contains 300 gp worth of jewelry.

33 – Azer Forge

Three azer craftsmen toil in this chamber. Their forge is set into the northern wall. Anvils, hammers, and other metalworking tools fill the rest of the space.

The azers forge weapons and armor for fire cult and maintain the clockwork dragons in Area 29 and 30. Currently, they are hard at work on a new project: forging another azer. The incomplete azer’s head and torso rest in separate pieces near the forge. The pieces are worth 250 gp each to a collector.

34 – Canixos’s Quarters

A cambion named Canixos leads the fire cult. Canixos relishes warfare and would have mobilized the cult against its enemies months ago were it not for the counsel of his mother, the succubus Sezrame (Area 34). Canixos flees the complex only if defeat seems inevitable. In battle, he wields a +1 spear.

Canixos’s room contains a bed, table, and wardrobe. An iron cage occupies the center of the room. The cage is currently empty, but Sezrame may use it to trick the PCs into “rescuing” her (see Area 34). An unlocked chest in the wardrobe contains the fire cult’s treasure: 800 cp, 6,000 sp, 2,100 gp, 50 pp, and 10 gems worth 50 gp each.

35 – Exit Stairs

A winding staircase descends 500 ft. to an exit at the base of the Dreaming God’s skull.

On to the third level of my abridged Temple of Elemental Evil, the water level! When the PCs arrive, the water cult has split into two factions, one controlled by a merrow named King Ladon, the other by the kuo-toa archpriest Urgle. Ladon remains loyal to Olhydra, but Urgle and his minions have fallen under the sway of the Dreaming God.

Here’s a link to the Temple’s air level and the earth level, as well as to the original map by Dyson Logos. I plan to compile all the levels into a single PDF at the end!

Dreams of Elemental Evil

16 – Water Lock

Arcs of electricity leap across both archways. Beyond the lightning, a statue of a merrow can be seen in the room’s northern corner. The merrow holds a trident and an amphora. On the walls outside both entrances are two buttons marked with runes.

PCs recognize the runes with a successful DC 10 Arcana check. One button is marked “LIGHTNING” and the other “WATER.” Pushing the LIGHTNING button causes the lightning to retreat into merrow’s trident, allowing safe passage into or out of the room. A creature that passes through an archway while the lightning is active must make a DC 15 DEX save or take 8d6 lightning dmg. Characters wearing metal armor have disadvantage on the save.

If the WATER button is pressed, a water weird emerges from the merrow’s amphora and attacks any creature in the room unable to breathe water. The weird is bound to the amphora and dies if it’s smashed (AC 13, 3 hp, immune to poison and psychic dmg).

Unless the PCs affect the room in a permanent way (by smashing the amphora, for example), the room’s features revert to their normal states after 1 minute.

17 – Water Barracks

Three human water cultists meditate here, lying low until the rift between King Ladon (Area 19) and High Priest Urgle (Area 21) resolves. Fish tanks fill niches in the walls. The largest tank contains a gold idol of Olhydra (worth 75 gp). The idol bears a likeness to the one found in Area 18 and is inscribed (in Aquan) with a prayer to Olhydra. Anyone who recites the prayer while making a sacrifice in Area 18 gains advantage on their Religion check.

18 – Shrine to Olhydra

The southeast alcove contains a shrine to Olhydra, the Prince of Elemental Water. The shrine features a human-sized wooden idol carved in the likeness of Olhydra. Barnacles cover the idol’s surface. The empty husks of crabs and other sea creatures lie about its base.

PCs who make a sacrifice of blood or treasure at the shrine can make a DC 10 Religion check. On a success, the sacrifice pleases Olhydra, who grants the character the ability to breathe underwater for 1 hour. On a failure, Olhydra is angered. The dead sea creatures scattered about the idol animate and attack the offending PC (as a swarm of insects).

A divine spellcaster who successfully makes a sacrifice to Olhydra loses their ability to cast domain spells granted by their deity. Until the character spends a long rest atoning for their sin, their domain spells are replaced by the following: 1st—create or destroy water, thunderwave, 3rd—water breathing, water walk, 5th—conjure elemental (water only), insect plague, 7th—call lightning (cast at 7th level), 9th—storm of vengeance.

19 – King Ladon’s Throne Room

Two glass portholes (marked “S”) provide views into this oddly-shaped room. The portholes are 5 ft. in diameter and can’t be opened from the hallway side. PCs who peer through the portholes see murky water filling the room beyond. Humanoids with fish-like tails swim near the glass.

Portholes:  The portholes radiate conjuration magic if inspected with detect magic. A creature in the hallway who touches a porthole is teleported to the other side of the glass. Touching the portholes from the other side has no effect.

The portholes can be shattered from either side (AC 13, 18 hp, immune to poison and psychic dmg). Creatures adjacent to a porthole when it shatters must make a DC 13 STR save or fall prone and be pushed in a direction of the GM’s choice as a torrent of water sweeps through the hall.

King Ladon:  A merrow named King Ladon once led the water cult but was supplanted when the kuo-toa archpriest Urgle (Area 21) abandoned Olhydra to worship the Dreaming God. Three water cultists still serve Ladon. The cultists were human once, but they have undergone a ritual to transform into merfolk.

King Ladon wields a harpoon that otherwise functions as a javelin of lightning. His pearl-studded crown is worth 2,400 gp. He’ll part with neither item willingly, but he offers the rest of the cult’s wealth (7,000 sp and 1,100 gp) if the PCs agree to defeat Urgle and his followers.

20 – Kuo-Toa Barracks

Three kuo-toa and four human water cultists guard the hall to Area 21 and patrol the bridge to Area 16. They attack intruders on sight but fall back to Area 21 if outmatched.

21 – Chapel of the Dreaming God

The east wall of this room bears a relief of Olhydra, but the kuo-toa archpriest Urgle has ordered his minions to re-work the image into that of the Dreaming God. Urgle imagines the Dreaming God as a four-armed, fish-headed humanoid with a different elemental catastrophe held in its upturned palms. Two kuo-toa whips oversee the four human cultists who perform this work.

Urgle is insane, but he may ally with the PCs if they help him wipe out the remnants of the old water cult. He wears necklaces adorned with polished shells worth 70 gp. The kuo-toa whips wear similar jewelry worth a total of 80 gp.

22 – Prisoner Wells

A pair of human water cultists guard two unlocked cells. Each cell contains a 20 ft.-deep well. Fetid water fills the bottom 5 ft. of the wells.

Western Cell:  The well in the western cell is the home of a giant crab. The skeletal remains of a human water cultist lie beneath the water. A sealed scroll case containing a spell scroll of bane can be found with the remains.

Eastern Cell:  Xander, a human fire cultist, is trapped at the bottom of the eastern well. Urgle’s minions captured Xander a few days ago and threw the man into the well when he refused to give up the fire cult’s secrets. The succubus Sezrame (Area 32) has charmed Xander and remains in telepathic contact with him. If rescued and healed (he has 1 hp currently), Xander helps the party defeat Urgle. He then tries to lead the party to his mistress.

Here’s the second level of my abridged Temple of Elemental Evil, describing the areas of the Temple controlled by the earth cult. A necromancer named Dakima leads the earth cult. Dakima transforms cultists who please her into soldiers of living stone. Those who disappoint become zombies. Dakima’s second-in-command, a half-orc mystic named Namtar, has received a vision from the Dreaming God and now plots an insurrection against Dakima.

Here’s a link to the Temple’s air level and to the original map by the incomparable Dyson Logos. Don’t worry, I’ll compile all the levels into a single PDF at the end!

Dreams of Elemental Evil

10 – Basilisk Den

A tamed basilisk and its master, a blind grimlock named Forthu, lair here. Forthu keeps the basilisk chained to the east wall, but in combat he uses his first action to release it. Dakima (Area 15) has charged Forthu with guarding the stairs to the south and carrying messages back and forth to the air cult. Forthu knows little else about the complex. His only treasure is a belt pouch with 10 sp and 16 cp.

11 – Zombie Garden

Mushrooms of all shapes and sizes grow in four shallow stone beds filled with damp earth. The earth cult’s second-in-command, a half-orc named Namtar, tends the garden, but he spends most of his time in his quarters in Area 12.

Zombies:  Namtar uses the corpses of the earth cult’s enemies as fertilizer. The first time a PC approaches the mushrooms, these bodies erupt from the soil as zombies and attack. Three beds hold two zombies each. The fourth bed contains a single ogre zombie. Combat with the zombies alerts Namtar.

Mushrooms:  PCs who inspect the mushrooms after the battle can attempt a DC 12 Nature or Survival check. On a success, the PC salvages 1d6 mushrooms that function as potions of healing. The mushrooms lose their healing properties if not consumed within 24 hrs.

12 – Namtar’s Quarters

Namtar uses this room to process the mushrooms he grows in Area 11. A single myconid adult assists him. A violet fungus grows from Namtar’s left shoulder. The fungus acts on Namtar’s turn and continues to attack even if Namtar is reduced to 0 hp. Unlike the other earth cultists, Namtar has rejected Dakima’s offer to transform his flesh into living stone.

Namtar ingests psychedelic mushrooms which put him in contact with the Dreaming God. He’s now more loyal to the Dreaming God than to Ogrémoch. If Namtar captures one or more of the PCs, he may enlist them in plotting an insurrection against Dakima.

The jars of spores and gardening tools scattered about Namtar’s quarters function as an herbalism kit (5 gp). Namtar’s other valuables consist of 100 sp, 20 gp, and five edible mushrooms that function as potions of healing.

Namtar: AC 15; 45 hp; SPD 30 ft.; ATK quarterstaff (+4 to hit, 1d8+2 bludgeoning, +2d8 on a crit); STR +2, DEX +0, CON +3, INT +0, WIS +1, CHA +0; TRAITS darkvision, relentless endurance (1/rest, when Namtar is reduced to 0 hp, he drops to 1 hp instead)

13 – Earth Lock

A statue of a well-muscled human man stands against the northern wall. A pulley mechanism attaches to a slab of solid stone blocking the archway to the west. On the wall near the slab are two buttons marked with runes.

PCs recognize the runes with a successful DC 10 Arcana check. One button is marked “FLESH” and the other “STONE.” Pushing the FLESH button causes the stone statue to revert to its true form, a flesh golem. Unless someone interferes with it, the golem uses the pulley mechanism to lift the stone slab. One minute later, it lowers the slab and returns to its original position. The golem attacks only if harmed.

Pushing the STONE button causes the golem to return to its statue form. Other creatures in the room when the button is pushed must make a DC 15 CON save or become subject to the effects of a flesh to stone spell. Pushing the FLESH button returns petrified PCs to their original forms.

Another pair of buttons on the eastern end of the bridge (Area 2) allows the earth cultists to activate the golem from the other side of the slab. Creatures with a combined STR of 19 or higher can use the pulley mechanism to raise the stone slab themselves. Moving the slab in any other way is impossible without the help of magic.

14 – Earth Barracks

Six earth cultists lie atop stone biers, lost in death-like trances. The PCs have advantage on Stealth checks made to sneak past the cultists. A relief of Ogrémoch, the Prince of Elemental Earth, covers the south wall.

Dakima (Area 15) has transformed each the cultists’ flesh into living stone, granting them +2 AC.

15 – Dakima’s Quarters

Dakima was a skilled necromancer before becoming high priest of the earth cult. Mud cakes her clothes and hair. Using cockatrice blood, Dakima can create an unguent that permanently transforms flesh into living stone. Dakima offers to create such an unguent for the PCs if they disrupt the activities of the water cult or as payment for rescuing Mynok Shale, the dwarven cultist captured by the air cult (Area 9).

Two zombies attend Dakima at all times. In combat, Dakima’s first action is to release her pet cockatrice from a nearby urn. Dakima casts meld into stone if she believes her life is in danger.

Treat Dakima as a cult fanatic with the following Spellcasting feature:

Spellcasting. Dakima is a 5th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). She has the following cleric spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): light, resistance, thaumaturgy; 1st level (4 slots): bane, inflict wounds; 2nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness, hold person; 3rd level (2 slots): animate dead, meld into stone

Dakima wears a belt pouch containing 12 gems worth 50 gp each. If gathered together, the arcane trinkets in her quarters are the equivalent of a component pouch (25 gp). A creature who searches the room and makes a successful DC 12 Investigation or Perception check discovers a loose flagstone. Beneath the flagstone is a niche containing 700 cp, 10,000 sp, 1,500 gp, and 110 pp.

The central conceit of Temple of Elemental Evil has always intrigued me:  four elemental cults that work together, but also compete as they pursue their individual goals. I love the idea of the PCs playing the cults against each other until the temple’s balance of power collapses and the world is saved once again!

That being said, the idea has never been interesting enough to devote an entire campaign to it, which is what TSR/WotC seems hell-bent on having me do. The original Temple of Elemental Elemental is 128 pages long. Third edition’s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil is 188 pages. And the Temple’s latest incarnation, Princes of the Apocalypse, is a whopping 250 pages! Even if we didn’t explore every inch of the Temple, that’s years worth of gaming for my group.

As a compromise, I’ve re-populated this amazing map by Dyson Logos to serve as a sort of abridged Temple of Elemental Evil. With a mere 35 encounter areas, it’s still pushing the limits of how much dungeon-crawling my players and I can handle!

This post presents an overview of the Temple, an outpost carved from the head of a dead god in the Astral Sea. It also includes descriptions of the areas controlled by the air cult. The next few posts will cover the earth, water, and fire-controlled areas.

I plan to run this mini-Temple in my Portal Punks of Sigil campaign. If you’d like to use it, the adventure is balanced for a party of 5th-level characters (though YMMV depending on how generous you are with long rests). If you’re one of my players and we haven’t run this adventure yet, stop reading now!

Dreams of Elemental Evil

In the depths of the Astral Sea, cults dedicated to the Princes of Elemental Evil compete for a dead god’s dreams. Whichever cult prevails convinces the god to dream an avatar of their Prince into existence. The Dreaming God senses the cults’ intentions and manipulates their actions from beyond the veils of death.

The PCs may arrive to halt the cults’ plans, to rescue a prisoner, or to take control of the Dreaming God themselves.

1 – Air Locks

Walls of magical force enclose the alcove to the west, as well as the 10’ x 10’ stretch of hall to the south. An air elemental is trapped in the southern air lock. Runes mark two buttons on the east wall.

PCs recognize the runes with a successful DC 10 Arcana check. One button is marked “AIR” and the other “FORCE.” The AIR button teleports the elemental from one lock to the other. The FORCE button deactivates, or reactivates, the walls of force blocking passage to Area 2.

If the elemental is released, both buttons cease to function. A party that manipulates the buttons properly can contain the elemental in the western lock while they proceed to Area 2. The cults use a similar pair of buttons on the northern end of the bridge to bypass the air lock.

Noise in this area (such as combat with the elemental) alerts the air cultists in Area 3.

2 – Dream Vortex

Freestanding stone bridges crisscross a cylindrical chamber. The ceiling rises 20’ above the highest (air) bridge. A vortex of warring elemental energy fills the shaft’s depths, 20’ feet below the lowest (fire) bridge.

Air Bridge:  80’ above the vortex. PCs hear a mournful wind while crossing the bridge.

Water Bridge:  50’ above the vortex. The bridge weeps condensation like tears.

Earth Bridge: 30’ above the vortex. The bridge resembles a mass of humanoid bodies, whose positions shift over time.

Fire Bridge: 20’ above the vortex. PCs who cross the bridge leave footprints of (harmless) flame.

Dream Vortex: The Dreaming God’s subconscious fills the bottom of the shaft. A creature that enters the vortex must make a DC 24 WIS save. On a success, the creature is infused with a remnant of the Dreaming God’s essence (permanent +1 WIS). On a failure, the creature experiences a divine nightmare (5d10 psychic dmg).

The shaft passes through the Dreaming God’s head and is open at the bottom. Unless they can fly or have some other means to save themselves, a character that falls into the vortex is ejected into the Astral Sea after 3 rounds.

3 – Meditation Chamber

Four cultists practice breathing exercises and meditate on the nature of elemental air. A relief of Yan-C-Bin, the Prince of Elemental Air, fills the west wall. The relief’s nostrils conceal 1”-diameter vents to Area 5. The cultists investigate nearby disturbances. Each can cast feather fall once per day.

4 – Air Barracks

Stark barracks for the cultists from Area 3 and 5. Three censors (worth 50 gp each) hang from the ceiling like chandeliers, filling the room with a haze of incense.

5 – High Priest’s Chamber

High priest Keshak (a cult fanatic) paints his skin red and wears a feathered cloak, giving him the appearance of a demonic vulture. His bed is a nest of silk and human skulls. 1d2 scantily clad cultists share his chambers at any given time.

Once per day, Keshak can transform into a being of pure air (as an invisible stalker). Keshak returns to his true form when he dies or loses concentration. In air form, Keshak can travel through the vents leading to Area 3.

The air cult’s wealth is collected in an unlocked chest: 400 cp, 9,000 sp, and 2,500 gp. Keshak may use the treasure to hire the PCs to disrupt the activities of the earth cult. The chest also contains the key to Area 9.

6 – Choking Dust

Rivulets of dust trickle down the steps to collect in Area 6. A layer of dust several inches deep covers the chamber’s floor. The slightest movement in the room sends up clouds of choking dust. A breathing creature that starts its turn in the room must make a DC 10 CON save or be incapacitated (save ends).

Three dust mephits burrow in the dust. They attack as soon as a creature enters the room.

7 – Rookery

The western and southern ends have no walls and grant a view of the Astral Sea beyond. Wood and wire coops containing ravens with colorful plumage occupy the northern and eastern walls.

The ravens are native to the Astral Plane. If released, an astral raven can fly to a matching color pool (DMG 47) in 1d4 x 10 minutes. Each raven is worth 100 gp to a collector. There are 3d6 ravens present when the PCs arrive.

The ravens deliver messages to and from the outpost’s allies on other planes. Only the air cult uses the rookery frequently; the other cults believe (correctly) that Keshak intercepts their messages. If the PCs spend a hour studying the messages, they discover evidence that Keshak plans to betray his alliance with the fire cult (see Area 28).

Clatter, a kenku, maintains the rookery. If confronted, Clatter’s first action is to set free the ravens, which attack as a swarm of ravens. Clatter can’t fly, and the mephits in Area 6 don’t let him leave this chamber. He’s as much a prisoner as the ravens he tends.

8 – Urvashti’s Quarters

Urvashti, the air cult’s second-in-command, guards the stairs leading to the earth level. Urvashti is grasping and impetuous but has learned to focus her breath into darts of force. She smokes othur, infusing her breath with its poisonous fumes. Three air cultists serve her, one of whom is an informant for Keshak in Area 5.

Urvashti’s valuables consist of 280 sp, 40 gp, and 3 doses of burnt othur poison.

Urvashti: AC 16; 60 hp; SPD 40 ft.; ATK unarmed strike (up to 3 strikes, +5 to hit, 1d8+3 bludgeoning) or breath-darts (up to 3 darts, range 20 ft., +5 to hit, 1d4+3 force + DC 13 CON or take 3d6 poison + 1d6 ongoing, target must make 3 saves to end the ongoing dmg); STR +0, DEX +3, CON +1, INT +0, WIS +0, CHA +3; TRAITS immune (inhaled poisons), deflect missile (as a reaction, reduce a ranged weapon attack by 1d10+3 dmg)

9 – Whispering Prison

The walls of this chamber are inscribed with a 3rd-level dissonant whispers spell. A conscious creature that enters the prison or starts its turn there must make a DC 13 WIS save. On a failure, the creature takes 5d6 psychic dmg and must uses its reaction to flee the room. On a success, the creature takes half damage and doesn’t have to flee. Deafened creatures automatically succeed on the save.

A dispel magic spell cast on the dissonant whispers spell ends the effect, but a spellcaster able to cast dissonant whispers can use an action to reactivate it. While the spell is deactivated, a wizard can attempt to copy the spell into their spellbook, given the proper time and materials.

Prisoner:  Mynok Shale, a dwarven earth cultist, is chained to the eastern wall. Keshak is negotiating a ransom for Shale, but in the meantime he’s enjoyed watching the dwarf descend into madness. When the PCs arrive, Mynok is unconscious. He regains consciousness after 1d4 hours if removed from the room. Mynok is grateful toward his rescuers but remains susceptible to fits of mindless rage (1 in 6 chance each hour).

Like the other earth cultists, Mynok’s flesh is made of living stone, granting him +2 AC.