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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ElectricDragon" data-source="post: 4973720" data-attributes="member: 10778">Utreyal’s RevengePlot Hooks: •    The party has used this town as their base for many adventures and most if not all are from this town. Some of the background information should already be available to the party members. Fill them in without rolls on most of the information listed in the Town of Utral section. Exceptions being the disappearances of the townsfolk, the wizard’s proclamation, and the strange figure limping through the ruins. These will be picked up as written.•    The party is passing through this crossroads-town on their way to bigger and better things. Use the adventure as written except the party is taking a break on their long trip to the city rather than meeting at the pub to discuss what they will do next.This is an adventure for four characters of about 6th level, uses the 3.5 rules set, and a generic setting. It is important that the party has a good mix of character classes including one of the following a bard, a rogue with good information gathering skills, or some type of Knowledge specialist. A cleric with the ability to turn undead would be helpful, but is not necessary. Make sure at least one party member has generous writing supplies.WIZARD’S PROCLAMATION [Read this each time the crier appears]: From Lord Arcturus, High Mage of Kerthbor,Let it be known that a comet is predicted to appear in the night sky, lighting it up like mid-day for several weeks. Local hedge mages, and so-called wisewomen have begun to sell protective charms against the effects of the comet.    Charlatans, all, the comet will not come close enough to harm anyone. This comet has visited us nearly 15 millennia ago and then it did come close enough to cause concern; but this time there is no reason to worry.    So says the High Mage of Kerthbor, Lord Arcturus. Heed all and obey. Town of UtralParty has gathered after their last adventure in the local pub, the Roost, to discuss plans for future exploits. Encounters1. Karl, an old human, bent and slow, walking with a silver-tipped cane, dressed in expensive clothes, with puffy cheeks and bloodshot eyes, enters the tavern and comes straight up to the party. As soon as he comes within 10 feet of them, he begins blasting them with accusations of unscrupulous crimes against him by whisking away certain people that owe him money. He won’t have it. The party has no right to rob him of his rightful profit. If they don’t stop, he will have to take action and the law is on his side. He refuses to give particulars about who is missing or how much they owe and storms out.Should the party attempt to start combat, the bartender comes over and pleads with them to start nothing in the bar, and the waitress whispers to one that the party doesn’t really want trouble with Karl the Moneylender. He has connections with the mayor, the duke, and even the king.2. At this time a crier comes into the tavern and recites the wizard’s proclamation, then leaves.Party Actions:Gather Information (DC 5*) or Knowledge (local, DC 10):Talking with the bartender or waitress) allows the character to know that many townspeople have gone missing lately for no apparent reason. How many disappeared is unknown, but most lived in outlying areas far from neighbors or other witnesses. A few people who live in town have also vanished, chief among them Charlie, the town drunk who last claimed to have found a hidden chamber in the dungeons beneath the ruins of Skull Keep. Everyone warned him to stay away from that cursed place, the bloody dungeon itself, but he said he slept there and kept mighty dry and warm, so no way.*Note that this Gather Information check takes only 10 minutes as opposed to the normal 1d4+1 hours, but it covers only those in the bar at this time.Bardic Knowledge (DC 10) or Knowledge (local, DC 15): Local legends claim that on nights of the new moon; zombies, ghouls, and worse things gather in the dungeons of that dreaded place. Childhood stories tell of bad children being taken away by these undead never to be seen again and that especially bad kids are visited by Bloody Utreyal himself to become some of his undead army. The dungeon beneath the ruins of Skull Keep gained its bad reputation nearly 2,000 years ago from a necromancer who set up shop there and experimented first on the town's graveyard then on the townsfolk themselves to produce many new kinds of undead hoping to build an army and take over the countryside and set himself up as king. Utreyal the Royal he was called, Bloody Utreyal and Dark Utreyal also.The rumors about strange kinds of undead are very prevalent in this area, most show up out of nowhere with powers and abilities unknown in common undead with no vile necromancer, undead lord, or evil cleric to claim credit for the event. The Skull Keep ruins lie on a hilltop at the north edge of town, not 5 minutes walk away from the bar.Gather Information (DC 15): The character gains all the information listed above as well as that the number of people missing is up to 11: 3 farmers who live alone in the north, a sheep-herder’s son, 4 farm-hands working in the fields, a horse messenger riding to the wizard’s tower, a travelling merchant who has always been in town this time of year, and the town drunk, Charlie.The wizard’s proclamations are posted on the mayor’s door, on the window of the general store Keragin’s Staples, and even on the bar’s, the Roost, bat-winged doors.A strange figure has been seen at night wandering around the ruins of Skull Keep. Just shadows really as no one got close enough to see what it really was. It seems to limp badly and swing its arms widely as if balance were a great problem.Encounters1. During this time taken to gather more info, Karl returns promising that he will get to the bottom of this even if he has to hire magical diviners to find out where the party has spirited away his livelihood.2. The crier also makes two or three appearances repeating exactly what he said before. This happens more as a background event than an encounter. Questioning the crier will get no results as all he knows is what he has been told to recite.Timing:Party takes lunch break.Skull KeepAbove GroundThe clues should lead the party to search this area. Above ground there is nothing but large piles of stone rubble that were roughly shaped like a skull at one time. It now resembles nothing more than shapeless ruins. There is one uncovered entrance to the dungeons, partially blocked by rubble. It is a set of worn stone stairs spiraling down into darkness. It is easily seen, Spot check (DC5) due to the many footprints leading to and from it. Survival (DC 15) for someone with the Track feat: Success notices that one set of footprints is unevenly spaced with one foot larger than the other. This set also enters and exits the stairway many times, but while the other prints always go toward the town, these prints always head toward the north away from town.Beneath the Ruins of Skull Keep, the Bloody DungeonEntrance Chamber: After several turns, enough so that most will be unsure of direction (5 ranks of Survival negates this disorientation), the steps end in an uneven flagstone floor with moss growing in the cracks between the stones. The overall flooring is slippery, requiring a Balance check DC 5 if moving more than half speed, and a Balance check DC 15 if running, failure means the character slipped and fell prone. There are three places where light streams in from above, holes in the ceiling of about fist size that offer shadowy illumination throughout the first chamber during daytime. At night, the areas below the holes provide shadowy illumination while the rest of the room is dark. The room is about 40 feet square with four corridors leading out of it in the middle of each wall. One corridor is completely blocked by rubble from a partial collapse of the ceiling. Two others lead on an incline down several yards and then they too end in piles of rocks. The fourth tunnel is clear and has footprints leading from the stairs from ground level all around the room and into and out of this clear hallway. In one corner of the room between two of the blocked tunnels, lies a makeshift bed of cast-off rags and torn blankets. A Search check DC 5 reveals that Charlie hid his stash of money under his “bed” in the form of 12 cp and 1 sp as well as a half empty bottle of rot-gut whiskey (Fortitude DC10 or spit it out immediately for anyone drinking some, Fortitude DC15 or sickened for 1 hour, after 10 minutes if not spit out (sickened: –2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks).Hallway: This corridor meanders curving left then right then back again until it ends in an open rotten wooden door once strengthened with iron bands, now no more than a large piece of firewood leaning against the wall.Second Chamber: This room is the same size as the former room and also has four exits, but other than the doorway the party used as an entrance, the other tunnels are blocked by piles of rubble. In several places, the flagstones of the floor are missing and moss covers the area. A Search check DC 15 reveals a skeletal arm and hand sticking out of one pile of rubble and finds one 5-foot by 8-foot section of wall, inscribed with strange runic glyphs that the party doesn’t recognize as belonging to any of their known languages. A rubbing of the area will take 20 minutes and requires at least 20 sheets of paper of some type, a writing instrument, and ink or coal. A copy of the writing will take 1 hour and requires at least 20 sheets of paper of some type, a writing instrument, ink, and a bright light. Any encounter interrupts any rubbing or copying process and it must be started again (where it left off) after the battle is over.DM’s note: The wall with the etchings is also the outside of the phase door.EncountersRoll 2d6 every 10 minutes in the area.2. The patchwork golem (see new creatures below) steps out of the phase door and attacks the party to subdue. It concentrates on the nearest party member until that person is unconscious; then, ignoring the other party members scoops the fallen one up and disappears back through the phase door. Note to DM’s it is important that the golem escapes this time, so if things are going badly for it, have it retreat early without a captive, though this goes against its programming, it is imperative to the story. The party has one chance to make a Listen check (DC 10) as the golem leaves, use the party’s best listener. A successful check reveals the series of knocks to enter the phase door. At this time though don’t reveal this information to the party, let them remember it later when they know about the phase door spell. Now it just seems that the golem appeared out of thin air and disappeared the same way. This encounter only happens once, after then it is counted as: No encounter.3. 2d4 bleeding hearts (see new creatures below) charge from the direction of the stairs. 4. 1d10+10 dire rats charge out of the nearest pile of rubble and attack.5. A shadow silently begins attacking someone in or near shadows.6. A sleeping death (see new creatures below) seeps through the cracks in the walls and attacks the party.7. 1d3+2 wights claw their way out of the ground where there are no flagstones and attack the party.8. 1d10+10 dire rats charge out of the nearest pile of rubble and attack.9. 1d2 wraiths come through the walls and attack the party.10. 3d4 bleeding hearts (see new creatures below) charge from the direction of the stairs.11. 1d3+2 wights claw their way out of the ground where there are no flagstones and attack the party.12. A shadow silently begins attacking someone in or near shadows.Though the party should not be able to visit the area at this time, the final room of the dungeon is described below.Interdimensional Chamber: This is a round room approximately 50 feet in diameter with bodies lying everywhere, but most are asleep instead of dead. The wizard who created this chamber lies here, but his heart did not survive the initial subduing and he died long ago and is just shards and bone dust now. In this pile of bone dust can be found a dagger +1 and a ring of protection +2 (Search DC 18). A drawback is that the room can only suspend animation on 50 people at a time, so new ones release older ones randomly once the maximum is reached. The ancient town originally had a population of 45 at the time of the comet and some have been released to wander about the interdimensional chamber looking for a way out. The missing townsfolk are also here asleep. Five of the original townsfolk are awake and wandering about. If and when the golem exits, these five (or 6 if a party member is captured) will discover the method and means of escape. The phase door is set to operate on a series of knocks, 4 then 3 from the inside and 2 then 2 from the outside. It has unlimited uses left, but will be destroyed when there are no longer any living creatures within the interdimensional chamber. Once the golem exits, any conscious creatures inside can then exit also by repeating the series of knocks. They will wait until they are sure the golem is gone before trying this, so none of them exit at this time.The chamber also heals the guardian of any damage sustained. This process takes 10 minutes. The golem will await nightfall to exit againBack to the town of UtralGather Information (DC 10): Only the wizard has a chance to decipher the writings discovered by the party. He has an immense library of ancient texts that could help him.Decipher Script (DC 29):This will partially translate the document as follows: it mentions a “comet of destruction,” a “town of sleeping dead” and a “protector of the dead.” To be properly translated a library of ancient languages is required.Other skills (such as various knowledge skills) might or might not provide information, at the DM’s choice, based on whether the skill has ties to the situation at hand.Encounters1. Crier again, exactly as before, maybe a little more tired and a little hoarse.2. Karl appears, and states, “I warned you.” And his thugs attack the party from all sides at once while Karl fades away into an alley.Thugs6 Humans; Warrior 5; AC 14; hp 27 each; Init: +6; Spd: 30 ft.; Att: short sword +8 melee (1d6+2/19); F: +5, R: +3, W: +1; Str 15, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8; Feats: Blind-Fight, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (short sword).Timing:Party takes dinner break and beds down for the night or pushes on to deal with trail rations and sleeping bags instead.EncountersThe party will have one encounter on the way to the tower and another one on the way back to town, no matter if they ride horses or walk. Roll randomly or choose from the table below; once an entry is used, do not use it again.Roll 1d41. 2 Ancient town guards, plus sergeant: [Each of these three humans wears strange armor made of leather. Instead of the normal leather trousers normally associated with leather armor, these men wear pleated leather skirts with studs. Each has sandals with leather bindings that wind up their legs to their knees. They all wear copper-colored helmets and one has a crest of some reddish material on top of his helmet. All have a short sword on their side in scabbards and carry a long spear.] DM’s note: The weapons carried by these humans are made of copper and bend on a natural 2 or 3 and break on a natural 1. It takes one round to unbend a sword.    These humans in both the first and second encounter speak a language unknown to the party and comprehend languages only partially alleviates the problem as some words are not translated (because they are the same words just pronounced differently). Tongues allows normal communication. The language is an ancient form of Common, like the difference between English and Old English. Bonus xp for ending this encounter without killing the town guards: 500. 2 Humans; Warrior 3; AC 13; hp 19 each; Init: +5; Spd: 30 ft.; Att: long spear +6 melee (1d8+3/x3) or short sword +5 melee (1d6+2/19); F +5, R +2, W +1; Str 15, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8; Feats: Blind-Fight, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (long spear).1 Human; Warrior 6; AC 14; hp 39; Init: +5; Spd: 30 ft.; Att: long spear +10/+5 melee (1d8+4/x3) or short sword +9/+4 melee (1d6+3/19); F +7, R +3, W +3; Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8; Feats: Blind-Fight, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (long spear).2. Ancient town shopkeeper:    [This man wears a white tunic and a toga over it. His feet are sandaled and he carries a dagger almost hidden in his robes.] The dagger is copper, see DM’s note above for melee modifiers.    1 Human; Commoner 2; AC 10; hp 5; Init: +0; Spd: 30 ft.; Att: dagger +1 melee (1d4/19); F +0, R +0, W +0; Str. 11, Dex 10, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 10; Feat: Dodge; Loss of xp for killing shopkeeper: –250.3. Sleeping death attacks (see new monsters below).4. 8 Bleeding Hearts attack (see new monsters below).Tower of ArcturusThe wizard’s tower is also to the north of town, just 10 minutes away by horseback, walking will take 30 minutes. The dirt road leaves town to the east and slowly curves around until it is heading north after widely passing the ruins of skull keep. Then the road goes straight up to the stone tower and ends there. Flowering bushes line either side of the road for the last 20 or so feet up to the tower.    The tower is square and 30 feet on each side; it rises high into the air leading one to believe that it has at least 4 stories as well as a battlement on top. By craning one’s neck, several siege engines can be seen sticking out between the battlements. No windows are apparent on the first floor, but arrow slits pierce the walls higher up. Two gargoyles (statues, not monsters, or are they?) perch at the corners on a ledge about halfway up the tower’s side.    A single iron door bars entrance to the tower in the center of the wall at the end of the road. The door is equipped with a large iron knocker to announce visitors. Anyone using the knocker must make a Dex check (DC10) to jump out of the way as the door immediately swings outward (failure results in 1d3 damage from the door hitting them in the face) and a deep voice rings out “Come in. Make yourself at home. I’ll be right with you.”First Floor: A stone door on one wall is marked with the word “Private” in common and a set of wooden stairs leads up to the next floor opposite it. The room is furnished with several divans and end tables. An unseen servant automatically brings drinks (wine) on a tray to each visitor. This room is lit via an ingenious chandelier of torches hanging unside down from the ceiling’s center enchanted with continual flame spells.When the party enters, a purple-robed mage walks down the stairs and motions for them to sit. He begins explaining immediately.     “There is no worry; this comet shows up every 15,000 years. The last time it visited, it came so close it devastated large swaths of the world, volcanic explosions, earthquakes, and tidal waves destroyed much that was around back then. This time it will not come so close though, so go back to your homes and rest assured that nothing bad will happen because of the comet. I assure you of this. Now please leave.”    The mage goes through his speech despite interruptions, waves away the party and turns to go back up the stairs. If any party member tries to interrupt the mage that party member gains a save versus Will DC 20 to notice that this is an illusion. If a party member tries to physically stop the mage (by grabbing his shoulder, for example) another save versus Will is allowed for each party member with a +2 circumstance bonus to notice that that party-member’s hand went right through the mage and he must be an illusion.At the top of the stairs, the mage fades away into nothingness and by then it will be apparent that the mage was an illusion to all party members, no save required. This was a programmed illusion.Second Floor: The stairs pass on by this level, continuing their way up the tower with only a small landing at the door. The door on this level leads to the laboratory where the wizard is currently at work. Describe this lab as a normal “Mad Scientist’s” lab complete with long tables, beakers, retorts, cabinets filled with bottles, strange smells, etc. There are three arrow slits on each wall of this room as well as two torches in sconces on each wall set in-between the arrow slits.    “What are you doing here? Didn’t I explain about the comet below? You have nothing to worry about, so go away and leave me to my work.” Arcturus blasts at the party once they enter his lab.Once the party shows him the rubbings/copies and explains things; Arcturus becomes slightly more accommodating. He leads the party up the stairs past the third floor to his library on the fourth floor.He spends twenty to thirty minutes rummaging around in his books and scrolls and finally settles on two scrolls, a book and a pile of clay tablets which he dumps on the table. An hour of studying and hmmm-ing and a-hah-ing, and Arcturus looks up smiling.    “I’ve found it. Here is what that stone says: When the comet last came to our world, nearly 15,000 years ago, a wizard of some note predicted that it would destroy the world and kill everybody. So, he devised a plan to put his town to sleep in an other dimensional area for protection until the devastation caused by the comet had stopped. He also made some type of quickly-thrown-together automaton as a guardian to awaken the townsfolk when the time was right. It seems that he came up with a decidedly different version of the temporal stasis spell that could be easily broken by the automaton. He put the spell to effect inside some sort of extra-dimensional chamber to automatically affect any unconscious creatures. He claims to have made some sort of ‘shocking arrows’ that the guardian could use to awaken the townsfolk. The townspeople called the proposed spell, ‘the sleeping death’ and many refused to go along with the mage’s plan.”DM’s note: At this time make sure the party recalls the patchwork golem’s bow, quiver, and arrows.“Unfortunately, there is no mention of whether this plan worked or not. It seems that maybe the stone could be a marker for the entrance to the interdimensional chamber; but that’s your only hope of finding it. Was there nothing else inscribed on that wall?”“Also, time is running out, as the comet will show up tomorrow night and that automaton might not come out of the room again for another fifteen millennia. You had better hurry back to the ruins to find the missing people or else all will be lost for at least our lifetimes.” Third Floor: The stairs stop at this level and another set of stairs continue up the tower on the other side of the room. There is no door, just lines of bunks with footlockers at the end of each bunk on one side of the room and a kitchen complete with fireplace and a small wood stove on the other side. Currently there are four guards here, three playing knucklebones at a small table lit by an oil lamp and a fourth asleep on a bunk. Each bunk hides underneath it a chamber pot. There are two arrow slits on each wall of this room as well as a torch in a sconce on each wall.Fourth Floor: The stairs pass on by this level, continuing their way up the tower with only a small landing at the door. The door on this level leads to the library, a large room with bookshelves covering each wall from floor to ceiling. The shelves are crammed with all manner of books, scrolls, and even clay tablets. In the center of the room is a table, also loaded with books, scrolls, and a few tablets as well as an ink well with a feather quill sticking out of it. There are three arrow slits on each wall of this room as well as two torches in sconces on each wall set in-between the arrow slits.Battlements: 8 Ballistae: 2 facing each cardinal direction. Two soldiers man the tower top at all times. In one corner there is a rope that goes through a hole in the floor all the way down to the living quarters to a bell that, if rung, will summon reinforcements to the tower top.Basement: This is Arcturus’ private quarters and contains a bed and night table as well as chamber pot, washing stand, basin and a dressing screen. This room is lit with a glowing metal globe that floats in the air beside the bed that gives the equivalent of a continual flame spell.Timing:The party spends most of the day listening to both his illusion’s and Arcturus’ own lecture. They can bed down outside the tower (Arcturus will not offer to let them spend the night). Or push on back to town and sleep there. In either case the night is uneventful. (Exception, if the party chooses to go back to town, they will have an encounter on the way as described above, otherwise the encounter happens on tomorrow’s trip).Back to the Bloody Dungeon AgainIt will take the party 10 minutes by horseback or 30 minutes on foot to make the journey from the wizard’s tower to the ruins of Skull Keep whether they keep to the road and ride/walk to Utral first or leave the road and head overland to the keep, as the road is worn and smooth as is the path from town to the keep, while the terrain between the road north of town and the keep is rough and rocky and generally is uphill. Utral ReduxA stop in town alerts the party that another two people have gone missing. The bartender and most of the rest of the town are nearly hysterical now. Encounters1. The crier can be heard spieling out his memorized statement. 2. Karl makes another appearance, this time with thugs backed by mages.“You won’t get away with destroying my business! Get ‘em boys!”Karl’s thugs charge from the shadows all around the party, the spellcasters have taken cover behind barrels and gain a +4 cover bonus to their AC in addition to that listed below.4. Thugs (as above)2 Humans; Sorcerer 3; AC 16; hp 10 each; Init: +6; Spd: 30 ft.; Att: dagger +1 melee (1d4–1); F: +2, R: +3, W: +3; Str 8, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 15; Skills: Concentration +9; Feats: Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Concentration); Spells/day: 6*; Spells Known: 1st: magic missile, sleep, mage armor* (already cast).Bloody Dungeon ReduxA sleeping death meets the party as they enter the stairway Once the second underground chamber is reached, the golem again steps out of the phase door to attack the party. This time it does not retreat.Encounters1. Sleeping Death (see new monsters below) and two Bleeding Hearts (see new monsters below)2. Patchwork Golem (see new monsters below)Epilogue:DM’s note: have the party now recall the series of knocks on the inscribed section of wall previously used by the golem when it disappeared. Intelligence check, highest result remembers first.Using the arrows, the party can easily free most of the ancient townsfolk as well as the newly captured townsfolk. This should use up all the arrows. There are two released ancient townsfolk in the interdimensional chamber that watched the golem and know how to open the door from the inside. Let the party try to exit for a while first, to no avail. Let it sink in that they may have trapped themselves in an otherworldly chamber with no means of escape, no food, no water, and 50 other people before allowing the awoken ancients to provide the fix.The mayor of Utral offers the party 100 gp each for their help in finding and releasing the townsfolk. As this nearly empties the town’s coffers, nothing more can be negotiated.The ancient townsfolk will need to be retrained but should provide the party with a pool of easily accessible and loyal followers/hirelings/cohorts. Other than the dagger and ring found earlier, this is the treasure for this adventure.New MonstersBLEEDING HEARTMedium UndeadHit Dice: 3d12 (19 hp) Initiative: +5Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares) Armor Class: 15 (+1 Dex, +2 natural, +2 heavy steel shield), touch 11, flat-footed 14Base Attack/Grapple: +0/+1Attack: Scimitar +2 melee (1d6+1/18–20) or claw +2 melee (1d4+1 plus bleeding touch)Full Attack: Scimitar +2 melee (1d6+1/18–20) or 2 claws +2 melee (1d4+1 plus bleeding touch)Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: Bleeding touchSpecial Qualities: Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to cold, undead traitsSaves: Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +2Abilities: Str 13, Dex 17, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1Skills: —Feats: Improved InitiativeEnvironment: Temperate plainsOrganization: Solitary, troop (2-12), or army (15-60)Challenge Rating: 4Treasure: NoneAlignment: Always neutral evilBleeding hearts are the animated bones of the dead, in the chest cavity, a desiccated heart beats incessantly. Bleeding hearts are mindless automatons that obey the orders of their evil masters.A bleeding heart is seldom garbed in anything more than the rotting remnants of any clothing or armor it was wearing when slain. A bleeding heart does only what it is ordered to do. It can draw no conclusions of its own and takes no initiative. Because of this limitation, its instructions must always be simple. A bleeding heart attacks until destroyed.COMBATA bleeding heart attacks until destroyed with no concern for its own well-being. It uses no tactics and only attacks head-on. It will use a weapon if it has one but will not pick up discarded or lost weapons unless ordered to do so by its creator.Bleeding Touch (Su): The touch of a bleeding heart causes wounds to bleed for the next 10 rounds. Each touch of a bleeding heart makes a bleeding wound that deals one point of damage each round for the next 10 rounds. This damage stacks, so that someone hit three times will take 3 hp damage at the beginning of the next round in addition to any damage he might take later in the round. A Heal check DC15, or any type of cure spell immediately stops the bleeding from all wounds suffered from a bleeding heart.Ecology:  This is the rank and file soldier created by the dark necromancer, Utreyal. Most of these creatures were created from skeletons stolen from graves. Thankfully, few of them still remain active.PATCHWORK GOLEMLarge ConstructHit Dice: 8d10+30 (74 hp)Initiative: –2Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)Armor Class: 17 (–1 size, –2 Dex, +10 natural), touch 7, flat-footed 17Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+15Attack: Slam +10 melee (2d6+5), or shortbow +3 ranged (1d3+shock)Full Attack: 2 slams +10 melee (2d6+5), or shortbow +3 ranged (1d3+shock)Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.Special Attacks: Missile weaponsSpecial Qualities: Construct traits, damage reduction 5/adamantine, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to magic, low-light visionSaves: Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +3Abilities: Str 21, Dex 7, Con —, Int —, Wis 11, Cha 1Skills: —Feats: —Environment: AnyOrganization: SolitaryChallenge Rating: 6Treasure: NoneAlignment: Always neutralA patchwork golem is a type of flesh golem that can be made from any type of humanoid creatures and a giant’s torso, stitched together into a single composite form. No natural animal willingly tracks a patchwork golem. The golem wears whatever clothing its creator desires, usually just a ragged pair of trousers. It carries a bow and a quiver of special arrows (see below). It stands 6½ feet tall and weighs almost 350 pounds.A patchwork golem cannot speak, although it can emit a hoarse roar of sorts. It walks and moves with a severe limp, and swings its arms widely as if not in complete control of its body.COMBATMissile Weapons: The patchwork golem carries a bow and quiver of special arrows. It can use them but is sadly deficient in their use due to its different-sized arms. The arrows are old and have degenerated badly, so they now do only 1d3 damage. Their special property is still intact though and delivers a shock that causes 0–1 point of damage and makes the target suffer a –1 to attacks for the next round. The shock is intense enough to be felt even if it does no damage. The golem has 50 of these arrows. These arrows also break the temporal stasis-like effect upon anyone in the interdimensional chamber.The golem does not use its bow and arrows at all, reserving them to awaken those under the sleeping death.Commands: This golem has been prepared with 2 separate commands.1st: When the comet is gone, release the townsfolk.2nd: When the comet nears; round up all townsfolk and subdue them and carry them through phase door to the interdimensional chamber and lay them down in an empty space. Persons unconscious in the chamber are subjected to a special form of temporal stasis that can be broken by special shocking arrows enchanted for the purpose.Unfortunately, something went wrong and the first command was ignored. Maybe the golem could only remember one command at a time, maybe the wizard that enchanted it did something wrong in the creation process, maybe the wizard’s command was somehow convoluted, or maybe the comet itself changed the golem’s programming. In any case none of the ancient townsfolk were set free after the comet left.Immunity to Magic (Ex): A patchwork golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below.A magical attack that deals cold or fire damage slows a patchwork golem (as the slow spell) for 2d6 rounds, with no saving throw.A magical attack that deals electricity damage breaks any slow effect on the golem and heals 1 point of damage for every 3 points of damage the attack would otherwise deal. If the amount of healing would cause the golem to exceed its full normal hit points, it gains any excess as temporary hit points. For example, a patchwork golem hit by a lightning bolt heals 4 points of damage if the attack would have dealt 13 points of damage. A patchwork golem gets no saving throw against attacks that deal electricity damage.ConstructionThe pieces of a patchwork golem must come from humanoid corpses that have not decayed significantly, except the torso which must come from a giant. Assembly requires a minimum of six different bodies—one for each limb, the torso (including head), and the brain. In some cases, more bodies may be necessary. Special unguents and bindings worth 350 gp are also required. Note that creating a patchwork golem requires casting a spell with the evil descriptor.Assembling the body requires a DC 12 Craft (leatherworking) check or a DC 12 Heal check. CL 8th; Craft Construct, animate dead, bull’s strength, geas/quest, limited wish, caster must be at least 8th level; Price 10,500 gp; Cost 5,500 gp + 400 XP.SLEEPING DEATHMedium Undead (Incorporeal)Hit Dice: 5d12 (32 hp)Initiative: +7Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), fly 80 ft. (perfect)Armor Class: 15 (+3 Dex, +2 deflection), touch 15, flat-footed 12Base Attack/Grapple: +2/—Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee (1d6 plus energy drain)Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +5 melee (1d6 plus energy drain)Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: Create spawn, energy drain, wailSpecial Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., incorporeal traits, +2 turn resistance, undead traits, unnatural auraSaves: Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +6Abilities: Str —, Dex 16, Con —, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 15Skills: Hide +11, Intimidate +10, Listen +12, Search +10, Spot +12, Survival +10 (+12 following tracks)Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Improved InitiativeEnvironment: Any land and undergroundOrganization: Solitary, gang (3–5), or swarm (6–11)Challenge Rating: 7Treasure: NoneAlignment: Always lawful evilAdvancement: 6–10 HD (Medium)Level Adjustment: —A sleeping death looks much as it did in life just before its death, usually cut, bruised, and bloody and it can be recognized by those who knew the individual or have seen the individual’s face in a painting or a drawing. A sleeping death is roughly human-sized and is weightless.COMBATIn close combat a sleeping death attacks with its mind-numbing wail and its burning, life-draining touch. It makes full use of its incorporeal nature, moving through walls, ceilings, and floors as it attacks. It usually ignores sleeping victims until awake and aware ones have been taken out.Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a sleeping death’s incorporeal touch attack gain a negative level. The DC is 14 for the Fortitude save to remove a negative level. The save DC is Charisma-based. For each such negative level bestowed the sleeping death gains 5 temporary hit points.Create Spawn (Su): Any humanoid slain by a sleeping death becomes a sleeping death in 1d6 rounds. Spawn are under the command of the sleeping death that created them and remain enslaved until its death. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.Unnatural Aura (Su): Animals, whether wild or domesticated, can sense the unnatural presence of a sleeping death at a distance of 30 feet. They do not willingly approach nearer than that and panic if forced to do so; they remain panicked as long as they are within that range.Wail (Su): A sleeping death usually begins combat with its wail, a sonic attack that numbs the mind causing unconsciousness in a 30-foot radius. The sleeping death can use its wail only once per day. A Fortitude save, DC 14 is allowed to partially negate the wail’s effectiveness, successful saves means the victim is only slowed for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.Ecology: This particular type of undead was created by the dark necromancer, Utreyal, in his experiments on local townsfolk in his bloody dungeon.</blockquote>

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