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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 531405" data-attributes="member: 5137">IngredientsBonesEarth ElementalGhoulsMagic KeyKuo-toaHoly GroundThis one was beaten near to death in the original Home Game, but I thought there might still be some life in this old horse, so I kicked it one more time...You know. Just to be sure.Dem Bones (an epic scenario)Note: This needs to be fleshed a bit to fit into any given campaign setting, but should work well enough as is.Summary: A kuo-toa plot to destroy a LG priest elemental uses the PCs as their pawn. The first quest: acquire the heartstone of Jademantle the earth elemental to destroy a necromantic gate. The second quest: now that the first quest gave the heartstone to the kuo-toa, stop the damage done by their possession of it.JademantleJademantle is simultaneously the name of a lighthouse shrine, the cave-riddled cliffs on which the lighthouse stands, and the unusual earth elemental for which both are named.The earth elemental, an elder entity of huge proportions (standing nearly 40 feet high when she is leaves her earthly rest), is a 25th level priestess of the daylight gods. She is so named for the rich green texture of her body's granite deposits (there is no actual jade), and the surrounding area has slowly shifted to be similar. A selfless entity, Jademantle has devoted herself to the oversight of this section of coast, and has many projects in that regard.The tower is a shrine to the daylight gods, and functions as a lighthouse in addition. The top of the tower glows like a tiny sun, and provides perpetual daylight for miles, acting as a hallow for the entire jademantle cliffs, and part of the sea.Despite her power, Jademantle prefers non-powerful solutions to most problems. She resurrects only when it is truly needed, avoids magically manipulating the sea or weather for safe passage, and prefers diplomacy over combat. It is frustrating to those who would prefer that she use her vast powers on their behalf, but is largely in line with the plans of the gods.The Kuo-ToaThis happy little paradise is not to everyone's taste. The caverns riddling the cliffs extend deep into the underdark, and into the salty seawater itself. Here a city of kuo-toa once dwelt, until the coming of Jademantle some centuries ago destroyed their dark temples, drove them from their homes, and sent them deeper into the black depths of the sea. Not to mention the perpetual daylight that now stretches for miles along what used to be one of the choicest shores to attack the land dwellers from.They want it back. All of it. And recently, they acquired the means to do so.Jademantle is a powerful priest, and a powerful elemental, but she is now omnipotent, and she has weaknesses. One of them is her heartstone, which she brought into the Prime Material to make it her home. Most elementals of a certain power level have something of the sort, but it is usually on their home plane, and nearly impossible to find. Jademantle brought hers to the physical plane, which made it more vulnerable and more findable... but also makes the Prime Material her "home plane" for all practical purposes (she can not be banished to Earth).Jademantle's heartstone looks like a four-foot long key made of green quartzite and granite, and is safely buried beneath the tower, where evil would have an extremely difficult time getting ahold of it. So the kuo-toa have come up with a slightly offbeat plan.Gate of BonesFor centuries before the coming of Jademantle, the city of kuo-toa (then known as Slevkratoa) had crushed generations of slaves beneath its heel in the construction of a massive necromantic gate. When a slave died, their flesh was dissolved and the bones added to the gate by the rest.It was to be a necromantic artifact beyond any other.They never finished it, and so it has languished for lack of a few thousand more skeletal corpses, and the hallowing effect of the shrines aboveground. Still, it has some power, and the kuo-toa have begun to work upon it again.A few minor changes to the enchantments were needed, however. A bone lock has been added, one which will destroy the gate utterly, should Jademantle's heartstone be fit into it and turned... and the heartstone will be teleported to a secret location, where it will be used to command Jademantle. The loss of the gate is tragic, true, but it is necessary that any and all attempts to analyze the situation will indicate that the heart key will destroy it.In the meantime, even in its weak state, the gate has been set about to mass producing a ghoul army of incredible proportions. Ghouls begin rising across the country side, for hundreds of miles. And when they die, the negative energies seek out new corpses.Even epic level characters will not be able to directly fight the hordes - they are too widespread, too many, and are adding corpses with each passing day. Divinations must be made (and here the GM must be crafty and subtle), and they will indicate that the ghouls are being caused by the gate, and that Jademantle's heartstone will destroy it.The kuo-toa's gods will naturally be obscuring the rest of the story.Acts & ConsequencesJademantle will happily provide trusted, good heroes with the temporary possession of her heartstone for this purpose. And it will all work as expected, except...Upon the disappearance of the heartstone, shortly thereafter, Jademantle will seemingly go berserk. She will destroy the lighthouse, and break the hallow, and then go on a rampage, destroying all that she values.From here, the PCs may choose to stop her (dealing the deathblow to one of the most stalwart and selfless of people, but stopping her rampage) or they may investigate more deeply with divinations and track down the kuo-toa plot (which would include a big fight with a city full of kuo-toa and their high-level uberheroes). In either case, the final power structure of the area will depend upon the PCs choices here, and if the DM needs a good archvillain, a surviving band of kuo-toa could make for a cunning adversary.</blockquote>

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