Slaughter at Splinterfang Gorge (PF/5E)
5e
Undead: The bodies of fallen elven warriors were harnessed by necromantic magic and thrown into the fray against their living kin.
Spragnokk, The Scourge of Rewlunrain, Bugbear Mummy, Hulking Clearly Undead Bugbear, Imposing Figure: As they descended the Gorge, the goblinoids discovered an odd tomb. After ransacking the sepulcher, the acolytes placed Spragnokk’s body inside. The clerics did not perform the final rites for their leader’s passing though; they poured runes of malice and revenge over his corpse, preparing for his necromantic return instead.
A century ago the goblinoid followers of Spragnokk uncovered Haspsnapper’s tomb, unceremoniously chucked the dwarf’s corpse out of his sarcophagus, and sealed their leader inside. Now, with the skies in the full throes of the Garnet Gales Aurora, Rhekular has invoked the ritual to revive Spragnokk with the life essence of innocents…
Once PCs arrive at the area, Rhekular will have reached the end of his portion of the ritual, the uttering of eldritch runes invoking Spragnokk’s necromantic revival. If the PCs reached the gorge during daylight hours, the northern winds will have picked up to 20 mph (no effect on ranged attacks) over the chasm while the inside remains eerily still. If the party arrives at night, the Garnet Gales Aurora will be in full bloom and the color of blood. As the party gets within a hundred or so feet of the gorge, read or paraphrase the following:
The bugbear trail leads through a wide plane of uneven grassland. Up ahead you see an immense, jagged wound in the earth. The gap, preceded by an odd array of stones to the east, widens out at perhaps one hundred feet as it continues to run west. You can hear the cries of infants coming from within the fissure.
If the party looks down into the gorge before or after confronting the bugbear guards at Area 1, read or paraphrase the following:
The gorge, lined with steep, slick walls, descends gradually into the earth, the end of the downward slope not easily identifiable. The angled floor of the gorge is strewn with boulders large and small. At a point where you deem the ravine’s slope is 50’-to-60’ below the earth’s surface, a cloud of fog can be seen hugging an area not far from the north wall of the fissure. The wails of the infants are much stronger now, the acoustics of the gorge amplifying their outcries.
Rhekular (Area 2) had a premonition about the enemy forces arriving to disrupt Spragnokk’s return. Rhekular read off a scroll of obscuring mist (4th level, 2 minutes remaining) to hide both himself and the tomb’s entrance (Area 2a) so he could finish the ritual’s last remaining verses in relative peace. He tied up the elven infants one at a time to his shield and then lowered them into the tomb via 2a. Once the infant reached the bottom of the shaft, Rhekular upended the shield via ropes so the young would roll off onto the floor into Area 3 (no damage). The PCs arrive just as Rhekular drops in the last offering.
The ritual revived not only Spragnokk, but five bugbear guards as well.
The elven hide scroll Rhekular carries once held the divine runes responsible for Spragnokk’s revival, but the writing on the foul parchment faded away once the ritual was fully cast.
Spragnokk, The Scourge of Rewlunrain, Fully Restored Bugbear Mummy: The foul rite has empowered Spragnokk with the ability to absorb the souls of his enemies for the remaining duration of the Garnet Gales Aurora. Rhekular brought only half of the ten kidnapped infants to the gorge so he would have a bargaining chip of sorts to keep Spragnokk in check; the bugbear warlord of old was renowned for killing his own kind whenever it suited him. Rhekular knows that undeath will likely amplify his ancestor’s base nature. Rhekular doesn’t want to deal with a fully restored Spragnokk (a 10th level cleric) until he sees how the bugbear mummy reacts to being brought back.
Spragnokk’s temporary soul absorption ability is not limited to elven young; he can just as easily suck the energy out of PCs as well. Spragnokk is a perspicacious adversary though, thus will not disrupt combat to harvest soul energy as long as one opponent is still on his or her feet within the tomb. Woe to downed PCs left behind by their party! A single elven PC can restore one level of cleric back to Spragnokk; alternately two nonelven PCs must be harvested to grant Spragnokk one level in cleric. Characters actually slain in combat will be useless to Spragnokk’s reaping. A Constitution DC 20 is required for the dying PC to resist the absorption. PCs who resist the absorption will be ripped apart by Spragnokk and his minions. Spragnokk can max out as a 10th level cleric while the Garnet Gales Aurora is taking place, but only if he has enough victims to harvest.
Bugbear Ghoul, Undead Bodyguard, Newly Risen Undead, Lesser Undead: The ritual revived not only Spragnokk, but five bugbear guards as well. The five were murdered by Spragnokk’s acolytes and stowed in 3 to watch over their lord. Rhekular’s ritual infused negative energy into the guards’ corpses, turning them into ghouls.
The ghouls were once bugbear guards of Spragnokk, sacrificed by his acolytes to protect their lord during his “brief departure.” The acolytes were not powerful enough to grant the corpses of the guards with unlife at the time, but these lesser priests foresaw the sentinels rising up during the second coming of Spragnokk, so the servants’ blades were left just in case.
Mummy Lord: ?
Pathfinder 1e
Undead: The bodies of fallen elven warriors were harnessed by necromantic magic and thrown into the fray against their living kin.
Spragnokk, The Scourge of Rewlunrain, Bugbear Mummy, Hulking Clearly Undead Bugbear, Imposing Figure: As they descended the Gorge, the
goblinoids discovered an odd tomb. After ransacking the sepulcher, the acolytes placed Spragnokk’s body inside. The clerics did not perform the final rites for their leader’s passing though; they poured runes of malice and revenge over his corpse, preparing for his necromantic return instead.
A century ago the goblinoid followers of Spragnokk uncovered Haspsnapper’s tomb, unceremoniously chucked the dwarf’s corpse out of his sarcophagus, and sealed their leader inside. Now, with the skies in the full throes of the Garnet Gales Aurora, Rhekular has invoked the ritual to revive Spragnokk with the life essence of innocents…
Once PCs arrive at the area, Rhekular will have reached the end of his portion of the ritual, the uttering of eldritch runes invoking Spragnokk’s necromantic revival. If the PCs reached the gorge during daylight hours, the northern winds will have picked up to 20 mph (no effect on ranged attacks) over the chasm while the inside remains eerily still. If the party arrives at night, the Garnet Gales Aurora will be in full bloom and the color of blood. As the party gets within a hundred or so feet of the gorge, read or paraphrase the following:
The bugbear trail leads through a wide plane of uneven grassland. Up ahead you see an immense, jagged wound in the earth. The gap, preceded by an odd array of stones to the east, widens out at perhaps one hundred feet as it continues to run west. You can hear the cries of infants coming from within the fissure.
If the party looks down into the gorge before or after confronting the bugbear guards at Area 1, read or paraphrase the following:
The gorge, lined with steep, slick walls, descends gradually into the earth, the end of the downward slope not easily identifiable. The angled floor of the gorge is strewn with boulders large and small. At a point where you deem the ravine’s slope is 50’-to-60’ below the earth’s surface, a cloud of fog can be seen hugging an area not far from the north wall of the fissure. The wails of the infants are much stronger now, the acoustics of the gorge amplifying their outcries.
Rhekular (Area 2) had a premonition about the enemy forces arriving to disrupt Spragnokk’s return. Rhekular read off a scroll of obscuring mist (4th level, 2 minutes remaining) to hide both himself and the tomb’s entrance (Area 2a) so he could finish the ritual’s last remaining verses in relative peace. He tied up the elven infants one at a time to his shield and then lowered them into the tomb via 2a. Once the infant reached the bottom of the shaft, Rhekular upended the shield via ropes so the young would roll off onto the floor into Area 3 (no damage). The PCs arrive just as Rhekular drops in the last offering.
The ritual revived not only Spragnokk, but five bugbear guards as well.
The elven hide scroll Rhekular carries once held the divine runes responsible for Spragnokk’s revival, but the writing on the foul parchment faded away once the ritual was fully cast.
Spragnokk, The Scourge of Rewlunrain, Fully Restored Bugbear Mummy: The foul rite has empowered Spragnokk with the ability to absorb the souls of his enemies for the remaining duration of the Garnet Gales Aurora. Rhekular brought only half of the ten kidnapped infants to the gorge so he would have a bargaining chip of sorts to keep Spragnokk in check; the bugbear warlord of old was renowned for killing his own kind whenever it suited him. Rhekular knows that undeath will likely amplify his ancestor’s base nature. Rhekular doesn’t want to deal with a fully restored Spragnokk (a 10th level cleric) until he sees how the bugbear mummy reacts to being brought back.
Spragnokk’s temporary soul absorption ability is not limited to elven young; he can just as easily suck the energy out of PCs as well. Spragnokk is a perspicacious adversary though, thus will not disrupt combat to harvest soul energy as long as one opponent is still on his or her feet within the tomb. Woe to downed PCs left behind by their party! A single elven PC can restore one level of cleric back to Spragnokk; alternately two nonelven PCs must be harvested to grant Spragnokk one level in cleric. Characters actually slain in combat will be useless to Spragnokk’s reaping. A Fortitude DC 25 is required for the dying PC to resist the absorption. PCs who resist the absorption will be ripped apart by Spragnokk and his minions. Spragnokk can max out as a 10th level cleric while the Garnet Gales Aurora is taking place, but only if he has enough victims to harvest.
Bugbear Ghoul, Undead Bodyguard, Newly Risen Undead, Lesser Undead: The ritual revived not only Spragnokk, but five bugbear guards as well. The five were murdered by Spragnokk’s acolytes and stowed in 3 to watch over their lord. Rhekular’s ritual infused negative energy into the guards’ corpses, turning them into ghouls.
The ghouls were once bugbear guards of Spragnokk, sacrificed by his acolytes to protect their lord during his “brief departure.” The acolytes were not powerful enough to grant the corpses of the guards with unlife at the time, but these lesser priests foresaw the sentinels rising up during the second coming of Spragnokk, so the servants’ blades were left just in case.