Encounter 4a:
Encounter conditions: corridor 10' wide and 60' long - it branches to the north at a right angle at the end forming an L shape. Halfway along the corridor is a strange magical anomaly; it as if the corridor itself twists into a strange swirling black vortex like a black hole before continuing on the other side. The anomaly seems to be blocking the way forward, and the corridor on the other side seems twisted and contorted in space as you view it through the anomaly. Occasionally the PCs fancy they can see the face of a large green devil leering at them from inside the anomaly.
Divination magic registers this area of the passage as radiating strong necromancy. Further divination magic or a DC 15 Arcana check identifies the portal as the planar representation of the midway point to the lair of Blackrazor - a crossover in the demiplane that leads further 'towards' the realm of the dreaded atropal and towards the event horizon of reality. Anyone who succeeds on a DC 20 Arcana check (or via the use of appropriate divination magic) knows the following:
1) The portal drains the life force from those that pass through, who are not warded against death magics
2) It can be temporarily shut down via the channeling of positive energy. Such a channel if succesful would shut the portal down for a second at most - enough for a single person to leap through.
A PC that attempts to pass through the portal without any protection must succeed in a DC 15 Con save or take 5d10 necrotic damage, and suffer 1 level of exhaustion. This damage also reduces the PCs maximum hit points by the same amount. A PC that is reduced to zero by this damage is annhilated thouroughly - only a carefully worded wish spell can bring him back. A succesful save halves the damage and negates the exhaustion level. A death ward spell protects a creature from this effect.
Alternatively, the portal can be bypassed with the use of channel divinity from a good aligned cleric or paladin or a neutral cleric or paladin of a good deity. One such use holds the portal open long enough for one PC to pass through.
Its also possible that the PCs could bypass the anomaly via other means (misty step for example).
An invisible Imp watches over the anomaly from bend in the northern passage opposite the PCs (see room below for details). It has devils sight so is not hampered by the magical darkness, and PCs have disadvantage to notice the imp due to the presence of the anomaly (perception DC 20 to notice the Imp, and disadvantage on perception checks for creatures on the southern side of the anomaly). If it detects any PCs it notifies its master (see the Githyanki below) and spies on them for a round or two. It flees to the north if detected, or if the anomaly is breached.
Encounter 4b:
The 10' wide corridor hooks to the north from area 4a 30' before opening up into the southern wall of a large fissure (160' east west, 80' north south). There are exits in the middle of the south walls (where the PCs come from) and the north walls (further into the dungeon). A 10’ wide bridge spans the yawning chasm between these exits. The chasm leads to a 60’ drop into a gorge of jagged dark matter stalagmites (deals an additional 6d6 piercing damage on a fall). The ceiling is a further 60’ up from the bridge. The exits each open up onto small 20'x 20' ledges, each ledge linked together by the bridge.
The room is currently held by Zorax (Githynaki knight, add proficiency in athletics +6, a cloak of protection +1, add +1 to saves and AC and add the parry ability as a reaction – as Knight ability but it adds +3 to his AC vs 1 attack. He also has a potion of invulnerability – increase his CR by 2 to 10 to reflect these changes) his 4 surviving githyanki warriors, and Mozaar a Githyanki Gish (use Drow Mage statistics, use Githyanki knight senses, languages and innate spellcasting, remove drow specific features from the stat block, and remove the summon ability). Remove mage hand cantrip and replace it with greenflame blade. Remove witch bolt and replace with absorb elements, remove alter self and replace with featherfall, remove cloudkill and insert wall of force and remove evards black tentacles and insert counterspell. Incease his Con to 12, add con save proficiency (save +4). Increase HP to 55. Remove 2 x 4th, 2 x 1sts and 1 x 2nd level spell slot to reflect his recent battle. He has magic resistance thanks to his imp familiar (see below). His CR is unchanged.
Mozaar has an Imp familiar named Zolzibel. He wears the devils talisman around his neck. He has a telepathic bond with imp, can see though its senses, and shares the Imps magic resistance trait. The Imp is currently scouting over the southern passages (Mozaar wants to ensure the Gith party are not surrounded). The Imp is a coward, and avoids fighting if possible (Mozaar has a fondness for the creature and keeps it out of combat). If the PCs slay Mozaar the owner of the amulet can attune to it (using one of his item attunement slots) and gain the services of the Imp (and its magic resistance trait). The Imp is cowardly and seeks to corrupt its owner at every opportunity.
Two githyanki warrirors stand guard at each entrance to the room observing down the corridors (hidden DC 17 to detect including dim light). Zorax and Mozaar currently stand on the bridge deciding on the best next course of action after a recent battle with shadow demons to the north (they speak Gith). They have just finished resting and Zorax favors a direct assault (he plans to drink his potion he has been saving) while Mozaar favours using greater invisibilty and wall of force and sneaking past. All have nondetection currently active as a precaution. Mozaar has mage armor currently cast.
Why the Gith are here: Keraptis is a noted weapons collector and back in his adventuring days, got his hands on a fabled Githyanki silver sword. (Little do the Githyanki know, he promptly sold it to pay for an extension to his dungeon lair - a crazy idea featuring an inverted ziggurat and a bunch of manticores, giant scorpions and walls of force). Until recently Keraptis' magical protections have rendered him impervious to Gith retribution. When his lair was destroyed and replaced with the demiplane, those protections disappeared. Zorax sensed the state of affairs, and plane shifted in with his companions, seeking to slay the mad archmage to restore the honor of his family. He knows nothing about the causes of the destruction, or of blackrazor.
The Gith warparty plane shifted into the shadow demon room to the north and were caught off guard by the demons in an ambush. They suffered several casualties and are resting here deciding their next course of action. They assume the PCs are agents of Keraptis and attack on sight.
If any of the PCs have the means to communicate with Zorax (he only speaks Gith) he can be persuaded to stop hostilities - but only if the attempt appeals to his honor, and he thinks that the offer will assist him in recovery of the sword (persuasion DC 15). If persuaded, he breaks off hostilities and demands to know who the PCs are and what they are doing here.
If persuaded to talk further, he mentions only that he is here to recover 'the sword that Keraptis stole' - unwary PCs might assume this to mean blackrazor, and indicate that they are here to either destroy the sword or recover it. If the PCs mention this and are not specific enough about which sword they are referring to, he instantly resumes hostilities declaring 'the Sword is mine!'.
If the PCs can avoid crossing wires with the Githyanki knight, and offer to assist him in recovering the stolen sword, he offers to dispatch his gith warriors with the party (knowing full well that Keraptis is a spell caster and seeking to use the PCs and his minions to weaken the archmage and drain his resources so he has the glory of avenging his ancestors personally - he fully expects these puny 'Primes' to get slaughtered by Keraptis). The Gith commanders secretly send the Imp along as a spy (invisible of course) to watch the PCs. He also warns the PCs of the shadow demons to the north and explains recent events.
If alerted to the PCs presence (such as by the familiar or his guards), Zorax drinks his potion, and Mozaar casts greater invisibility. Zorax calls a challenge to any martial PCs to fight him on the bridge (in Gith) while the two closest warriors use misty step to teleport behind the PCs and force them into the room. The warriors on the other side of the bridge have been ordered to remain and only move to engage if ordered to by Zorax (which he does if seriously challenged by PCs).
Mozaar makes use of wall of force to splt the party into two even sized factions (preferably sealing some in the southern corridor to fight the warriors who he considers expendable, and leaving the other half on the bridge to be dealt with by himself and Zorax) leaving the two gith warriors to deal with any PCs trapped one side of the wall. He then uses lightning bolt to capitalise on the narrow encounter area of the bridge, and uses counterspell, absorb elements and shield to protect himself and Zorax. Both senior Gith consider the warriors expendable and do not hestitate to sacrifice them if needed. Mozaar surrenders if Zorax dies. Zorax is fanatical in his cause and fights to the death.
Zorax is not above using his athletics score to push a PC over the bridge in place of a melee attack (he may also use his telekinesis ability to do so). If he is pushed off the edge, he uses his telekinesis power on himself to return to the combat, or else he sucks in his honor and hides if that is not an option.
Adjusted Difficulty Rating: 18,360 XP (Hard) (the Imp doesn’t fight and its xp is not added to the encounter, and the warriors are CR 3, only half of them engage at once, and low enough in CR not to affect the difficulty multiplier of this encounter, however the likelihood of advance warning by the Gith and the challenging terrain adds 20 percent to the encounter difficulty) XP to award: 10,900 XP
running it as an experimental 1shot changed the story fluff a bit so no copy right may even re-skin the giants not sure.
running it as an experimental 1shot changed the story fluff a bit so no copy right may even re-skin the giants not sure.
