Adventure I · Part 0
Diamond Lake & the Hooks
Level 1
The campaign opens in the sullen mining town of Diamond Lake. The job: beat a trio of Free City adventurers to an old tomb in the hills — the Whispering Cairn.
Getting the party moving
Diamond Lake is a corrupt, sooty town of miners and brothels three days' ride from the Free City. The hills around it are thick with ancient tombs. Word around the Feral Dog is that a confident trio of out-of-town adventurers — Auric, Khellek and Tirra — mean to loot the empty Stirgenest Cairn. If strangers think the cairns pay out, why not the one the local kids dare each other to sleep in: the Whispering Cairn?
Give one or two PCs a reason to want out of Diamond Lake, then hand them a lead: a 70-year-old mine map that marks the cairn's entrance (newer maps don't). A friend sets up a meeting at an abandoned mine-overseer's office an hour outside town — a natural home base with a roof and (collapsed) second floor.
Run it
No combat. Introduce the PCs to each other at the office, let them gear up, and point them at the cairn 10 minutes east. The sage Allustan and the jeweler Tidwoad are the town contacts who can identify and buy oddments later.
DM secretEverything here is the prologue to a 12-part campaign. The real engine — the god Kyuss and the Ebon Triad — stays invisible for now. Seed names, don't explain them.
Adventure I · Act 1
The Whispering Cairn
Level 1→2
A vaati (Wind Duke) tomb built for the fallen hero Zosiel. Most of it is a decoy over a hidden true tomb. Haunting wind-pipes give the place its name. Interior halls are 20 ft wide unless noted; the whispers are harmless air-tubes (Auran speakers catch words like "sacrilege, enemies").
Area 1 Coward's Rest
Read-aloudA wide, monolith-lined mouth gives onto a long hall running north into dark. A faint breeze carries sighing, almost-human whispers. Waist-high bands of faded purple-and-mustard geometry line the walls, hacked and graffitied near two side alcoves. A child-sized bundle of rotted cloth lies in the west alcove.
The whispers are wind forced through hidden tubes (Investigation DC 10 to find them in the wall; DC 20 for the surface holes). The west alcove's bedroll belonged to a local girl who vanished here six years ago — a Diamond Lake native under 20 recalls the story on a History DC 15.
Run it
No fight. Dust shows wolves have crossed repeatedly (Survival DC 14). A flicker of green light is visible to the north every so often (Perception DC 10) — the everburning torch in the False Tomb.
Areas 2–3 Transport Alcove & Collapsed Passage
West: a shattered black-glass portal frame on a dais, carved with the glyph of the Wind Duke general Icosiol and transport runes (Arcana DC 10). It once linked the vaati cairns; it's dead now (a future installment reopens its partner). East: a rubble-choked passage hiding a second, still-working portal the party can't reach yet.
Run it
No fight. Loot glass shards sell for ~20 gp to Tidwoad or Allustan. Loud work here risks rousing the wolves (area 4): roll their Perception at distance, DC 0–10 by volume.
Area 4 Hall of Honor Hard · L1
Read-aloudThe hall opens into a pillared chamber. A 20-ft arch to the north is curtained top-to-bottom in cobweb, a sick green light flickering beyond. The west wing rises to a painted dais; the east wing looks collapsed — and reeks of wet fur and spoor.
The "collapse" east hides a 10-ft gap into the wolves' den (area 5). The webs (harmless spiders) take a full action to cut; barrelling through blinds you until cleared.
Run it
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Hungry wolf | 2 | 1/4 · 50 | MM Wolf |
| Scarred alpha (18 HP) | 1 | 1/4 · 50 | MM Wolf, max HP |
150 XP ×2 = 300 adjusted → Hard for a fresh party. Pack Tactics + prone-knockdown is dangerous at L1.
Areas 5–6 Wolf Den & Gallery of Seven Lanterns
The den (crawl-in) holds bones and loot: an indigo lantern (one of the seven; 50 gp) in a buried pack (Investigation DC 5), an elven leaf-motif armband (75/100 gp, DC 15), and a marble statue finger (DC 20) that fits the sarcophagus in area 7. The west dais (area 6) is a fresco of a seven-hallway room, each hall ending in a lit coloured lantern — Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. This is the solution to the face-door.
Area 7 The False Tomb Hazards · L1–2
Read-aloudA domed hall. Seven short tunnels radiate out, each ending in a dangling chain; five bear coloured lanterns, two hang empty. A green lantern opposite the stairs throws murky light across a ceiling of glittering chips — like falling snow. At the centre, on an arrow-shaped dais, rests a sealed marble sarcophagus with a seven-foot, hairless figure carved on the lid.
A decoy tomb full of traps, with two hidden elevators down to the sub-lairs. Rotating the arrow-dais (Str DC 15, clockwise only) points it at each tunnel in turn and triggers that tunnel's gimmick. The Red and Indigo lanterns are missing (in areas 20 and 5). The only true exit is the face-door (area 8), opened by lighting all seven lanterns.
Tunnels: Orange/Violet — decorative. Yellow — elevator to the Architect's Lair (area 9). Green — a failing elevator (see trap). Indigo — the crushing false elevator (see trap). Blue — a 50-ft shaft; climb the chain (Athletics DC 15) 40 ft to reach area 8. A fall-killed skeleton lies at its foot.
Traps & foes
SarcophagusLifting the lid: DC 12 Dex, 2d6 fire (half on save). Spot Investigation 15, disarm thieves' tools 15. Empty coffin.
Indigo crusherStep in → sealed 2 rounds → DC 13 Dex, 4d10 bludgeoning (half; fail = also restrained, Athletics 15). Crushed bones + a pouch (35 gp, 15 sp, 50-gp ruby; Investigation 10) warn careful PCs.
Green collapse → the Hive risesPoint the arrow at Green ×3 → shaft collapses (a creature on it: DC 12 Dex or drop 60 ft). Two rounds later a flood of beetles & a mad slasher boil up:
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Mad slasher | 1 | 1 · 200 | Bestiary |
| Acid-beetle swarm | 1 | 1/2 · 100 | Bestiary |
300 XP ×1.5 = 450 adj (Deadly at L1, Medium by L2). Optional — a trap for the over-curious.
LootFive lanterns @ 50 gp. The two missing ones complete the puzzle.
ResetOnce a week the wind-spirits reset the sarcophagus, the fire trap, and the elevators — a timely reset is your nudge if the party is stuck.
Area 8 Passage of the Face Trap · L1–2
Read-aloudA thin passage runs some seventy feet to an enormous stone face, its mouth open in a scream — the same hairless visage as the sarcophagus lid, 40 ft above the lantern dome.
Drag-marks (Investigation DC 5) and the broken skeleton below are the warnings. Beaten by puzzle, not by force: light each lantern to drop its colour from the eyes; all seven lit = the mouth opens to the true tomb.
The Face in Darkness
A pressure plate 60 ft in wakes the face. Each round, two effects:
- Hypnotic eyes (colours of the unlit lanterns): each creature that sees it, DC 13 Wis or paralyzed (repeat save end of turn).
- Rising wind: from round 2 (Small)/3 (Medium), DC 15 Str or pushed 15 ft toward the shaft & prone; pushed over = 40-ft fall for 4d6 unless it grabs the indigo chain (Dex 10).
Spot the plate Investigation 15; disarm directly thieves' tools / Arcana 17. Wind runs 10 min then resets. The slow ramp and the clues are the mercy — keep them; this trap can kill.
Areas 9–14 Lair of the Architect
Down the Yellow elevator: the quarters of Nadroc, the vaati architect. Better-preserved, still holding his tools.
9 · Foyer — a heavy slab on a pressure plate. Four PCs can topple it (Athletics DC 20), releasing gas after 3 rounds: DC 13 Con or 3d6 poison + poisoned 1 hr (half & no condition on save). Jam the plate first: thieves' tools 13.
10 · Passage of Honor — statues on cushions of living air. The lurking strangler (CR 1) hides here and opens with a Sleep ray — it can strangle a downed PC to death in 3 rounds, so telegraph it.
11 · Gallery — a nutrient-still (15 servings of edible sludge), brown mold (within 5 ft: DC 12 Con, 4d10 cold; fire doubles it, cold kills it), and a sprung column trap. Raise the column (Investigation DC 15) for the loot: +1 chain mail, three 200-gp maquettes, a wand of unseen servant, a wand of shatter, and goggles of minute seeing.
12 · Living Quarters — ransacked; an air-bed (resting there: DC 20 Con or no benefit). 13 · Workshop — the bound earth elemental Artophanx (CR 1) sleeps in a black egg; touch wakes him, but a Terran-speaker can talk him down (Deception/Persuasion 13) for Cairn lore. Loot: a 300-gp alien-metal pedestal; the statue's rod is a masterwork quarterstaff with six grooves (a hint at the seven-part Rod). 14 · Toilet — empty.
Areas 15–22 Lair of the Laborers
Down the Green elevator (or the violent collapse). Cruder work; a beetle hive above, drowned chambers below.
16 · The Hive Hard · L2
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Giant bombardier beetle | 1 | 1 · 200 | Bestiary |
| Acid-beetle swarm | 1 | 1/2 · 100 | Bestiary |
300 XP ×1.5 = 450 adj → Hard. Loot from three dead Seekers: 3 potions of healing, a pearl of power, and (in the nest) a ring of feather falling.
17 · Sleeping Quarters Medium · L2
A fatigued beetle (disadv. attacks). Each round in the room: DC 15 Wis or "fatigued" (disadv. on checks) until you leave. The Guardian statue (MM Animated Armor, CR 1) only animates to smash a sleeper. Loot: masterwork leather + silver ring (75 gp).
19–21 · Flooded lair Hard · L2–3
Pitch-dark and fully flooded (5e breath-holding/drowning; swimming is difficult terrain). The insane water elemental (CR 1) snuffs the party's light first. In area 20, a Seeker corpse holds the missing Red lantern and a +1 shortsword. In area 21, the ghoul Ulavant (CR 1) — paralysis is lethal underwater — wears a Seeker ring (200 gp).
Area 23 Alastor's Haunt Medium · L3
Read-aloudBeyond the face: a long room with no floor. A three-foot beam of petrified wood spans the dark; ten feet below, countless iron spheres form an uneven, shifting floor. The side walls are a honeycomb of geometric carving.
A grick tunnels beneath the spheres; the ghost of Alastor Land watches from the Ethereal, giggling at every misstep. Beat the grick and Alastor manifests to bargain, not fight — read his lines from his card. The spheres are difficult terrain; strenuous action on them = Acrobatics DC 10 or fall prone.
Run it
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Grick | 1 | 2 · 450 | MM Grick |
| Alastor (ghost) — talk, don't fight | 1 | 4 · 1100 | MM Ghost |
Grick alone = 450 adj → Medium. Fighting Alastor (CR 4, Possession) is Deadly at L3.
Hail of iron spheresCrossing the beam's central span: ranged +5, 1d4 to each creature on it, and DC 13 Dex or fall off (1d4, into the grick's reach). Spot/disable 15.
Loot (in the spheres)47 gp, 7 sp, 1 pp, a rusty longsword, masterwork splint. Alastor's bones are ~3 ft down near the door.
The dealBury his bones with his family (the farmstead, next) and he phases into area 24 to open the metal door, then fades free. This is the pivot into Act 2.
Areas 24–25 Chamber of Sighs & the True Tomb Deadly · L3
Read-aloudA great pillar of roaring air rises through a ring over a 60-ft pit, sun-bright light falling from above. Four steam-fed murals around the walls stir into motion as you near them, telling a story of war, a seven-part rod, and a hero's fall.
The murals recount the vaati war with the Queen of Chaos, the forging of the Rod of Law, and Zosiel's death to a sphere of annihilation. Step into the air-pillar to be carried safely up to area 25 — past the guardians.
24 · The guardians
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Wind warrior | 2 | 2 · 450 | Bestiary |
900 XP ×1.5 = 1350 adj → high Hard / low Deadly. They open with a sonic blast, then fly in with twin blades over the pit. At 0 HP each crumbles to dust.
25 · Zosiel's tomb
Step on the dais and the wall-figure says "Speak my name." Answer "Zosiel" to unseal the lid (Athletics DC 10).
Campaign loot — keep as writtenThe Circlet of Wisdom, two black horns (50 gp each), and a sealed pewter box holding a dormant talisman of the sphere. Allustan can name the talisman and urges the party to keep it.
Adventure I · Act 2
Tomb Stories — the Land Farmstead
Level 2→3
To free Alastor, the party must rebury his bones with his family — but the family graves have just been robbed. The trail leads back toward town and into a conspiracy.
The family graveyard
Read-aloudA quiet clearing under great trees, 10 minutes east of town. Five grave markers — Anders, Bemissa, Coldaran, Gertia, Alastor — each stand before a yawning, freshly dug pit. Spades lie abandoned in heaps of new earth.
Four graves have been emptied within the week (Alastor's was always empty). The Land family died of the Red Death plague 19 years ago (Medicine/History DC 10 reads the plague motif). A wheelbarrow trail runs toward Diamond Lake (Investigation/Survival DC 9); five sets of boot-tracks circle the graves (Survival DC 10).
DM secretThe bones went to the necromancer Filge at the old observatory, on Smenk's coin. Until they're returned, Alastor stays cursed. Proving the link needs the farmhouse clue below.
The farmhouse Hard · L2–3
Read-aloudThe sagging farmhouse reeks of blood. Just inside the door, gore and unidentifiable scraps of flesh are smeared across the boards.
A grieving mother owlbear guards her one surviving cub, already half-dead from the brawl that killed the grave-robbers' man, Skutch.
Run it
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Wounded owlbear (start 27 HP) | 1 | 3 · 700 | MM Owlbear |
700 XP → Deadly at L2, Hard at L3 — but she begins at ~half HP. The cub is non-combat (a feral, impractical "pet").
ClueInvestigation DC 10 finds Skutch's severed, tattooed arm — the brand of the dead mine-boss Garavin Vesst (History/local 10). His old gang now serves Smenk and drinks at the Feral Dog (a round of asking / Persuasion 15). On to Act 3.
Adventure I · Act 3
The Feral Dog — Smenk's Gang
Level 3
Four indentured toughs delivered the bones to Filge. Getting the location out of them is better done with coin or flattery than with steel — a straight fight with all four can wipe the party.
Kullen's crew at the taproom Deadly · L3 — avoid, split, or ambush
The gang arrives nightly ~8pm and leaves drunk (disadvantage) after midnight. Starting attitude unfriendly. Bribe: turn one friendly → 200 gp buys the truth ("a crazy old goat named Filge, up at the old observatory"). Flatter: turn them all friendly → Kullen tells all and asks a "favour" (read his line from his card). Fight: last resort.
Run it
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Kullen, half-orc barbarian | 1 | 3 · 700 | Bestiary |
| Rastophan, two-blade ranger | 1 | 1 · 200 | Bestiary |
| Todrik, reach fighter | 1 | 1 · 200 | Bestiary |
| Merovinn Bask, enchanter | 1 | 1 · 200 | Bestiary |
1300 XP ×2 = 2600 adj → well past Deadly (1600). Reward isolating, bribing, or ambushing. If they never learn the location peacefully, Kullen's crew comes to "rough them up" later, on terms the PCs can win.
Adventure I · Act 4
The Old Observatory — Filge
Level 3
The necromancer's charnel workshop. Recover the Land bones to free Alastor — and find the papers that expose Smenk, the Ebon Triad, and the mine that leads into Adventure II.
Area 1 Landing Easy · L3
Moon-face double doors (lock, thieves' tools DC 15; a loud fail wakes area 2). A tool closet under the stairs hides a tomb mote (CR 1/2) that attacks anyone but Filge.
Area 2 Watchers in the Dark Easy · L3
Read-aloudSmashed furniture and broken glass fill the room. A barricade of upturned tables lines the far wall — and three poison-tipped crossbows rest on it, each held by a skeleton that was once a person.
Three of Alastor's kin — Anders, Bemissa, Coldaran — in thrall to Filge. The tables give half cover; the floor is difficult terrain.
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Skeleton (poisoned bolts) | 3 | 1/4 · 50 | MM Skeleton |
150 XP ×2 = 300 adj → Easy. Bolts: on hit, DC 11 Con or poisoned 1 hr. These are the bones Alastor wants.
Areas 5 & 9 Feast Hall & Bedchamber
5 · Feasting Hall — nine zombie "guests" pantomime a dinner (via magic mouth) only if a PC sits at the head of the table. They don't fight and grant no XP — pure dread. Silver utensils: 200 gp.
9 · Bedchamber — Filge is usually upstairs until midnight. A preserved head on a "butler's" platter screams magic mouth ("INTRUDER!") if touched, alerting him; asleep, his owl keeps watch (passive Perception 17). Loot: his spellbook, a silver tray (50 gp), ash spectacles, a lammasu-fur rug (200 gp), a scroll of animate dead, and four "Necroturgon" syringe-potions. The reach through the roof windows lets a stealthy party catch him asleep.
Area 11 Operating Theater Deadly · L3
Read-aloudMirror-focused shafts of light stab down onto a recessed operating floor and a blue-skinned corpse pinned open on the table. Four fluid-tanks flank the stairs, each holding a silent, man-shaped shadow in rust-streaked yellow soup.
Filge attacks on sight unless shown something terrifying (Kullen's head, or his own dinner-zombies thralled) — and even then parleys only on a successful Intimidation check. His skeletal bodyguard is poor Gertia Land.
Run it
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Filge | 1 | 3 · 700 | Bestiary |
| Troglodyte zombie | 3 | 1/4 · 50 | MM Zombie +stench |
| Bugbear zombie | 1 | 1 · 200 | Bestiary |
| Gertia, skeleton | 1 | 1/4 · 50 | MM Skeleton |
1100 XP ×2 = 2200 adj → Deadly. He opens the tanks ("Arise, my beautiful monstrosities!"), takes cover, drinks his false-life syringe, and fights behind a wall of undead. Catching him asleep/alone makes this a manageable Hard.
Payoff → Adventure IIGertia's bones (and area 2's) free Alastor. Filge's papers name Smenk, the Ebon Triad, the dwarf Ragnolin Dourstone, and the "Black Cathedral" below his mine — the hook straight into The Three Faces of Evil.
Adventure II · Part 0
Into Dourstone's Mine
Level 3
The evidence from Filge points under the copper mine of the dwarf Ragnolin Dourstone. There, three heretic cults — of Hextor, Erythnul and Vecna — share one blasphemous pool as the Ebon Triad, trying to midwife a tripartite overgod.
The mine & the elevator
A barred side-passage (Athletics DC 18, or batter the AC 15 / 15-HP timber) hides a 200-ft mine lift down to the Cathedral. By day, 2d4 miners loiter near it; they won't fetch the guards unless the party forces the lift without first winning them over.
Overloading the liftMore than its limit → it drops. Everyone aboard: DC 20 Dex (Acrobatics) to keep footing, 5d6 bludgeoning on impact.
Area 1 The Dark Cathedral Medium · L3
Read-aloudThe rough mine gives way to black marble. Worked pillars and arches sweep up into a sixty-foot dome. Three doors lead north — an eye clutched in a hand, a fist gripping six arrows, one unmarked. At the far end, a pool of cold, viscous dark laps below a stair that climbs to a platform high above it.
The hub. The three doors open the three wings (Vecna's eye-in-hand, Hextor's six arrows, and Vecna's unmarked west). Two Hextorite tiefling guards loiter by the pillars and assume anyone off the lift has business — until one bolts to rouse the skeletons behind the Hextor door.
The poolSupernatural cold. Splash: DC 15 Con, 2d6 cold. Immersion: 4d6 cold/round & speed halved. Solid as stone below 30 ft. The Ebon Aspect sleeps in its depths.
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Tiefling guard | 2 | 1/2 · 100 | Bestiary |
200 XP ×1.5 = 300 adj → Medium. Loot: an offering basket above the pool — 100 gp + a silver Erythnul idol (300 gp).
The finale happens hereOnce all three high priests fall, the Ebon Aspect rises from this pool. Keep that in mind as the party clears the wings.
Adventure II · Wing A
Citadel of Hextor
Level 3→4
Lawful, drilled, and reinforcing. Run the whole citadel as one escalating defence: once alerted, the rabble lures the party into the Battle Temple (11), guards unleash Beast (5) and barricade, and the clerics rain spells from the balcony. Temple doors: AC 15, 20 HP, DC 20 to pick.
Area 2 Chamber of the Guardians Hard · L3
Read-aloudA dozen suits of armour line the walls, from battered leather to rusted plate, bones bleaching inside them. Each has a mace at its belt and bells on leather thongs — arranged as if the dead were mustering for war.
Eight suits hold skeletons that strike anyone entering without the knock-code — and the bells ring either way, summoning areas 3–4 in 1d4(+4) rounds.
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Armoured skeleton (AC 16, mace+shield) | 8 | 1/4 · 50 | MM Skeleton |
400 XP ×2.5 = 1000 adj → Hard pushing Deadly. Don't let the party dawdle while the bells ring.
Areas 3–4 The Faithful & the Guard Chamber
3 · Chamber of the Faithful — 6–8 fanatic petitioners (some recognisable Diamond Lake locals), MM Cultists (CR 1/8), fighting to the death with longspears and the Help action. ~500 adj → Medium. Under the crate (Investigation 15): a gold Hextor symbol (100 gp) + broken silver dagger blade (50 gp).
4 · Guard Chamber — two tiefling guards who fight blind inside their own darkness. 300 adj → Medium. A bed hides 20 pp + a gold necklace (100 gp).
Areas 5–6 Beast & the Inner Guards
5 · Chamber of the Beast — chained doors (padlock DC 20) and the cult's iron-tusked dire boar, Beast (MM Giant Boar, CR 2, max HP 50). A retreating cultist looses it on purpose — Hard solo at L3. 6 · Inner Guard Chamber — three tiefling guards (600 adj → Hard) who bar the south door and fight in relays to buy Theldrick time. One carries an emerald ring (200 gp). (Area 7 is a barracks — a weapon rack with 6 javelins, a longsword, a +2-Str longbow and 80 arrows.)
Area 8 Priests' Chambers Hard · L4
The married war-priests Garras and Kendra, who serve Theldrick grudgingly and plot to supplant him. They fight as a drilled pair.
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Garras, war-priest | 1 | 2 · 450 | Bestiary |
| Kendra, cleric | 1 | 2 · 450 | Bestiary |
900 XP ×1.5 = 1350 adj → Hard at L4. Garras trips in melee; Kendra calls the chapel zombies (9), then bane, bless, hold person.
LootLocked chest (DC 20, Kendra's key): 200 gp, a wand of enlarge (7 ch.), and a jewelled bracer (1,000 gp).
Area 9 Chapel of Hextor Medium · L4
A desecrated altar (undead within 20 ft: +1 to hit & damage) guarded by two troglodyte zombies (CR 1). 600 adj → Medium.
Cache trapThe relic panel (Investigation 20) is trapped unless you first say "Hextor guide me": DC 12 Con, 2d8 necrotic (half on save). Inside (box, DC 20): a gold chalice (250 gp), two silver symbols (50 gp each), a pearl of power, and a jewelled silvered dagger (150 gp).
Areas 10–11 Theldrick & the Battle Temple Deadly · L4
Read-aloudA pit-arena ringed by a high balcony, a sloped viewing box of ostentatious chairs set above it. A twenty-foot statue of a six-armed war-god looms over the sand, a blood-red ruby glinting in its brow.
Where the citadel makes its stand. The statue topples (Athletics DC 20) into a ramp to the balcony. The viewing throne's three gems open, lock, and unlock the arena doors — Theldrick uses them to trap the party inside. His quarters (10) hold cipher-scrolls (need the Vecna codebook or Investigation/Arcana 20) and his log (a handout).
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Theldrick, High Priest | 1 | 4 · 1100 | Bestiary |
| + surviving guards / zombies / fanatics | var. | — | as above |
Theldrick alone = Hard; with the rallied temple this is the Deadly climax of the wing (can exceed 2000 adj). He seals the doors, summons a fiendish ape (conjure animals), drops spirit guardians + hold person, then crossbows from the balcony. If cornered in his room he stalls and parleys — he's broken no laws yet.
Loot+1 plate, ring of protection, scrolls (dispel magic, enhance ability), potion of protection from arrows. His chest (DC 25): 70 gp + a gem-crowned gold dwarf bust (2,400 gp). The arena ruby: 800 gp.
Adventure II · Wing B
Caves of Erythnul
Level 4
Lightless natural caves of chaotic grimlocks with blindsight 30 ft (blind beyond). They smash the party's light first (torch AC 11/2 HP; lantern AC 11/5 HP) and fight in the dark. The wing is a horseshoe cavern that herds the party down cliffs and across a choker-floor while archers snipe. A party without darkvision should feel hunted.
Areas 12–13 Stone Forest & the Ledge
12 · Stone Forest — a stalactite guardroom (cover; difficult terrain). Three grimlocks (MM, CR 1/4) ambush from concealment. 300 adj; blindsight + dark play it up a band.
13 · The Ledge Medium · L4 — the grimlock kennel master (CR 1) and two krenshars (CR 1/2) at a 45-ft cliff. The krenshars' fear-howl drives PCs over the edge toward the archers below. 800 adj. Loot: four agates (50 gp) + a ruby (200 gp).
Areas 14–17 The Horseshoe Cavern
14 · Descent into the Dark Hard · L4 — two hidden grimlock archers (CR 1) pelt climbers with arrows and nets (the climb is the danger). 600 adj. Loot: drow dice (300 gp each).
15 · The Tunnel Hard · L4 — a feral grimlock berserker (CR 3) who leaps from the bridge once the party is busy with the chokers. Loot: a wand of cure wounds (34 ch.); she wears +1 studded leather.
16 · Choker Tunnels Hard · L4 — two starving chokers (CR 1) hide in a debris slope and grab climbers. 600 adj. Loot: ruby necklace (200 gp), cold-iron longsword.
17 · The Bridge & 18 · Cliff Chamber — grimlock trios (CR 1/4) who can shake the rope-bridge (DC 10 Dex or fall) and raise the alarm.
Areas 19–20 Barracks & Chieftain's Lodge
19 · Common Chamber Hard · L4 — six grimlocks at rest; caught unaware they're unarmed and spend a turn grabbing weapons/shields. 600 adj. Four caches (Investigation 20 each): a jade idol (200 gp), 50 gp, three garnets (50 gp), a gem necklace (100 gp).
20 · Chieftain's Lodge Hard · L4–5 — the mushroom-mad grimlock chieftain (CR 3) charges the weakest-looking PC and fixates. Loot: 4 rubies (100 gp), 150 gp, a 450-gp drow statuette, and a Heward's handy haversack; he wears a +1 mithral shirt.
Area 21 Temple to Erythnul Deadly · L4–5
Read-aloudThe spiral bottoms out in a reeking cavern lit by a low red fire. On a ledge above the flames crouches a grimlock with a beholder's stolen eyes sewn into his sockets, breathing smoke and visions. Three masked fanatics wait below.
The Erythnul climax. Grallak Kur casts from his ledge (knotted rope; Athletics DC 10) while the guards hold the slope. The exit is collapsed — no escape.
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Grallak Kur | 1 | 4 · 1100 | Bestiary |
| Grimlock bodyguard | 3 | 1/4 · 50 | MM Grimlock |
1250 XP ×2 = 2500 adj → Deadly. Opens with a ward, then spirit guardians, hold person, spiritual weapon.
LootBehind a wedged rock (Investigation 20): 500 gp, a hacked Lolth symbol (200 gp), a pearl necklace (400 gp), a rope of climbing, and two vision-scrolls naming Kyuss and the Age of Worms.
Adventure II · Wing C
Labyrinth of Vecna
Level 4→5
A secret-door maze patrolled by kenku who mimic voices to split and ambush. Stone/secret doors open freely for the faithful, hidden from others (Investigation DC 25). Each kenku band is a separate encounter; they fight in trios, not as a mob — the corridors are too tight. Run it with a copy of the map.
Area 22 The Labyrinth Deadly across the bands · L4
Three kenku bands + two dire weasels patrol. Group 1 (six kenku rogues) watch the entrance; Group 2 (six more) back them up; Group 3 (the leaders) ambush near the sanctum. The dire weasels shriek on scent to alert the kenku.
| Group | Make-up | Adj XP |
|---|
| 1 & 2 | 6× kenku rogue (CR 1/2) each | 1500 ea · Hard |
| 3 | boss (CR 2) + lieutenant (CR 1) + 2 rogues | 1700 · Deadly |
| Weasels | 2× dire weasel (CR 1/2) | 300 · Medium |
They won't all engage at once. The boss's necklace of fireballs is the nasty surprise in these tight halls. Loot across the camps: ~800 gp, two 100-gp diamonds, and a pair of eyes of the eagle.
Areas 23 & 26 Outer & Inner Sanctum
23 · Outer Sanctum — green-veined columns (study one: DC 16 Wis or catatonic 2d4 min, then 1 level of exhaustion) and wall-eyes that open if a non-Vecna caster casts here, summoning the sanctum in 1d4 rounds.
26 · Inner Sanctum Deadly · L4 — soul-pillars of trapped hands (enter a pillar's square → it grabs you, Athletics DC 13 to escape) and an allip (CR 2) with two acolytes of Vecna (CR 1). 1700 adj. Altar: two gold goblets (100 gp) + a ruby sacrificial dagger (400 gp).
Area 27 Laboratory of the Faceless One Deadly · L5
Read-aloudLong tables crowd with beakers and bubbling liquors. A skeleton stands by the shelves, fresh organs pulsing behind its ribs. In the centre squats a great black cauldron, sealed with a thick skin of wax.
The Vecna wing's master at his reanimation work. He summons a monster to wall the door, flees to area 25 to buff, and fights to a fanatical death. Breaking the cauldron: DC 15 Con or poisoned 10 min. The Faceless One is the hidden hand behind the lurking strangler in the Cairn — a recurring villain.
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| The Faceless One | 1 | 5 · 1800 | Bestiary |
| Acolyte of Vecna | 2 | 1 · 200 | Bestiary |
| Summoned beast | 1 | 1–2 | MM |
~2650 XP ×2 = ~5300 adj → emphatically Deadly, the Vecna climax. Opens with the summon, then web, fireball/lightning bolt, flaming sphere from cover.
LootAn alchemist's kit, 200 gp, six garnets (50 gp), a cloak of Charisma +2, a +1 shield of blinding, bracers of defense, and a metamagic rod (extend). The lab also yields the cipher for Theldrick's scrolls.
Adventure II · Finale
The God in the Pool
Level 5
The Ebon Aspect of the Overgod Deadly · L5
Read-aloudThe black pool heaves. A ten-foot, six-armed horror drags itself out — grey-skinned, slab-muscled, three of its hands torn to stumps, a skull-face snarling like a beast.
When the last high priest (Theldrick, Grallak Kur, the Faceless One) falls or flees, the half-formed Ebon Aspect climbs from the pool in area 1. (Capture them instead and it manifests 1d4 hours later, draining their souls to be born.) It needs ten minutes to gather strength — then hunts the party across a one-mile sense. Left alive, it climbs toward Diamond Lake and must be put down by Allustan and the garrison.
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Ebon Aspect | 1 | 7 · 2900 | Bestiary |
2900 XP → Deadly at L5 (the party should be 5th and rested). Deliberately a weak aspect; for a 6-PC or well-rested party, give it a second pair of claws or run two.
Aftermath → #126The mine implicates Dourstone and Smenk. Expose them to the governor-mayor and both face ruin — or bribe their way out and become lasting enemies. The vision-scrolls point to the Mistmarsh and Encounter at Blackwall Keep (#126).
Adventure III
Encounter at Blackwall Keep
Level 5→7
Dungeon #126 (Sean K Reynolds). Allustan sends the party to escort his friend, the battle-mage Marzena, to a border garrison — and they arrive to find it under lizardfolk siege. Behind the raid: a black dragon, Ilthane, seeding a tribe's eggs with the worms of Kyuss. The first time the party sees the real threat behind the Age of Worms.
The Siege of Blackwall Keep Running battle · L5
Read-aloudSmoke smears the sky over a squat stone tower on the marsh's edge. Lizardfolk boil around its broken door; inside, a handful of exhausted soldiers in bloodied leather are making a last stand.
The party arrives mid-siege. Help break the attack (waves of lizardfolk, CR 1/2, in groups of 3–5 — scale the waves to the party), then the survivors beg them to rescue three captives dragged south into the Mistmarsh: two soldiers and Marzena. The garrison can't spare anyone to go.
Steer them to the marsh firstThe keep's basement holds a trapped spawn of Kyuss (see below). If the party breaks it open before the marsh, it may rampage and scatter the garrison — losing you Part Three. Keep the basement door shut: press the rescue, launch another wave if they poke around.
The Thing in the Basement Hard · L5
Two years ago the keep's own wizard turned into a spawn of Kyuss; the soldiers trapped it in a half-dug escape tunnel behind a nailed, padlocked door (a lizardfolk smashed the lock during the raid). Best met after the marsh, as the party's last stop.
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Spawn of Kyuss | 1 | 4 · 1100 | Bestiary |
1100 XP → Hard at L5. Its fear aura and the worms it plants (which can turn a dropped PC into another spawn) make it scarier than its numbers. Radiant damage and cure/remove-disease magic are the hard counters — flag this to the party's cleric.
Into the Mistmarsh Wandering · L5–6
Three days' travel to the Twisted Branch lair. Roll a wandering encounter or two to make the swamp bite: a pack of 5 lizardfolk; 5 ghouls (MM, CR 1); a giant crocodile (MM Giant Crocodile, CR 5); a giant constrictor (MM, CR 2); a swarm of giant spiders (MM, CR 1); or 2 cockatrices (MM, CR 1/2) — foreshadowed by petrified swamp-beasts. Don't grind; one or two is plenty.
The Twisted Branch Lair A whole dungeon · L6
A warren woven through the roots of ancient mangaroo trees — 7-ft ceilings, constant drip, and +10 to Listen/Perception DCs from the noise (so a loud fight pulls a dozen lizardfolk at once; stealth and silence are the party's friends). Patrols of 2 lizardfolk range ~100 ft out; a harpy watches at night. Kill sentries quietly to thin the warren. There are 21 rank-and-file lizardfolk besides the named foes.
Key rooms
3 · Compost Pile Medium — a tribe-tamed assassin vine (CR 3) bound to the wall; it won't attack lizardfolk but relishes anyone else.
4 · Harpy Nest Easy — 2 harpies (CR 1) kept as guard-pets; often out hunting at night. Small hoard (coins + a gem).
5 · Garbage Room Hard — the tribe's pet otyugh (MM, CR 5) in the refuse.
6 · Commons — sleeping rooms of rank-and-file lizardfolk. One warrior in 6C is worm-infected (a slow-worm victim, visibly wrong) — a clue the dragon has betrayed the tribe.
7 · Lieutenant Kotabas Hard · L6
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Kotabas, dragon-elixir brute | 1 | 3 · 700 | Bestiary |
| His mate (lizardfolk) | 1 | 1/2 · 100 | MM Lizardfolk |
Holds two bound, unconscious soldiers — he'll threaten them to make the party back off, or hurt one to bait them.
8 · Shaman Hishka Deadly if fought · L6 — but negotiable
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Hishka, druid shaman | 1 | 4 · 1100 | Bestiary |
| Seskitar, giant viper | 1 | 1/4 · 50 | MM Giant Poisonous Snake |
The pivot of the adventure. Hishka distrusts the new king's war and will parley: kill or drive off Shukak and Hishka pauses the raids and hands over the prisoners (including the injured Marzena, whose jaw and hands the king broke — she needs healing). Can also be bribed (~2,000 gp). Read Hishka's lines from the card.
9 · Shukak, the Lizard King Deadly · L6
| Foe | # | CR/XP | Source |
|---|
| Shukak, dragon-blooded king | 1 | 6 · 2300 | Bestiary |
2300 XP → Deadly for a solo at L6. The arena-raised usurper Ilthane installed. Fights to the death — without the tribe he loses the dragon's favour. Targets casters first.
11–12 · The Egg Chamber Deadly timed climax · L6–7
Read-aloudShallow water laps at hundreds of pale, leathery eggs. Looming over them at the far end, black and glistening like a gargoyle, squats one egg the size of a halfling.
Eight draconic kobolds (Ilthane's, CR 1/4) guard the nursery (a decoy chest of worm-laced potions waits for the greedy). The black "dragon egg" is a lie — it's packed with Kyuss worms. Break it and the worms race through the water at 5 ft/round, infecting the lizardfolk eggs; each infected egg hatches a Kyuss spawnling (CR 1/4) in 1d4 rounds. This becomes a frantic race: move eggs out of the water, wall off the worms, or blast the infested squares (which kills those eggs too). Cold stuns the worms; remove disease/curse, silversheen, or 20+ fire destroys them.
How it pays offSave the eggs (especially if the party helps the lizardfolk) and you cement the truce and 500 bonus XP each. The underwater chest holds real treasure — ~1,930 gp, 21 pp, a minor ring of spell storing, and six potions, every one laced with a slow worm (DC 20 Perception to notice). This is the reveal: Ilthane serves the dracolich Dragotha, herald of Kyuss. The Age of Worms is real.
Tiers 2–4 (installments 4–12). Every chapter below is converted to run order with 5e encounter lineups, difficulty, boss stat blocks and key loot. At these levels I convert at the encounter-and-boss level rather than every broom-closet, and keep maps and read-aloud in your magazines. High-tier 5e balance is an art — treat boss HP/AC as a strong starting point and nudge to your table. Difficulty badges are from the boss's point of view for a party at the stated level.
Adventure IV · #127
The Hall of Harsh Reflections
Level 7→8
Jason Bulmahn. The party reaches the Free City to have Allustan's worm identified by the sage Eligos — and walks into a trap. Doppelgangers impersonate them and frame them for a crime; unravelling it leads to a mirror-maze hideout on the waterfront, the doppelganger lord Telakin, and the hidden master pulling the strings: the mind flayer Zyrxog, whose ledger ties everything to arena-director Loris Raknian.
The Frame-Up Investigation · L7
Soon after the party settles at the Crooked House inn, doppelgangers wearing their faces rob or kill in their names (a jewel heist / a murder), turning the watch and locals against them. The party must clear their names — a chase through a city of wizards and thieves — and trace the shapeshifters to a waterfront warehouse. Set-piece skirmishes: the doppelganger "thieves" Aregen & Sald (CR 3 each), a body-snatcher in a tavern brawl (14 panicked patrons as terrain), and drow sentries at the hideout entrance.
The House of Mirrors Hard · L8
Read-aloudBeyond the waterfront door the walls are glass. Your own reflection walks beside you, a half-step wrong — and then it steps out of the mirror.
A disorienting mirror maze (disadvantage on ranged attacks across false reflections; Investigation DC 15 to tell glass from gap). Traps include a hidden spiked pit and a poisoned ceiling-spear. At its heart: Telakin, the doppelganger lord, who fights wearing a party-member's face and taunts in their voice.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Telakin, doppelganger lord | 1 | 6 | Bestiary |
| Doppelganger | 2–3 | 3 | MM Doppelganger |
TwistTelakin's death reveals he was never in charge — a deeper, alien master has been directing the cell. Before the party leaves, Zyrxog strikes.
Zyrxog's Lair Deadly · L8
The illithid's alien warren beneath the streets — fungus caverns, a spirit pool, a dominate-person trap, a stone-brain guardian, and a drow enclave led by the elite Myrianaas (use an MM Drow Mage/Elite). Zyrxog fights from behind thralls, opening with a Mind Blast, dominating the tank, and trying to flee with his ledger.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Zyrxog, mind flayer master | 1 | 9 | Bestiary |
| Drow thralls / elite | 2–4 | 3–7 | MM Drow, Drow Elite, Drow Mage |
PayoffZyrxog's ledger details payments from Loris Raknian — who paid for the party's assassination. The thread into #128. New ally for the arc: the sage Eligos.
Adventure V · #128
The Champion's Belt
Level 8→9
Tito Leati. Raknian is untouchable in public, so the party enters his Champion's Games as gladiators — sponsored by the bard Ekaym (who's hunting for his vanished sister) and tipped off by the mysterious Celeste. Between public matches they explore the arena understructure and race to stop Raknian's true plan: sacrificing the games' dead to raise the Apostle of Kyuss on the final day.
The Games Gauntlet · L8–9
A ladder of public arena matches on a timer — crowd, hazards, and named rival teams (the champion Auric's crew, the archer Rennida, the duelist Joren). Use MM Gladiators (CR 5) and Veterans for rival teams; stage each bout as a set-piece with arena gimmicks. Winning advances the party and their cover.
Beneath the Arena Dungeon · L9
Vaults, cells and the ritual chamber under the sands. The party can find Ekaym's sister's fate, cult guards, and Captain Okoral's arena enforcers (use an MM Gladiator/Veteran captain, CR 6). Traps and the growing presence of worms warn of what's being fed below.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Captain Okoral + enforcers | 1+ | 6 / 3 | Bestiary / MM Gladiator |
The Final Match & the Apostle Deadly climax · L9
Read-aloudThe crowd roars for the final bout — and the sand splits. Something vast and wormed heaves up from the dark beneath the arena, Raknian screaming hymns from the director's box.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Apostle of Kyuss (ulgurstasta) | 1 | 11 | Bestiary |
| Loris Raknian | 1 | 8 | Bestiary |
A huge undead that swallows whole and vomits spawn-worms, with Raknian driving the ritual. The campaign's first true set-piece boss. Loot: the Champion's Belt (a belt of giant strength-grade item) and Raknian's cult correspondence.
Adventure VI · #129
A Gathering of Winds
Level 9→11
Wolfgang Baur. The party returns to find Diamond Lake wrecked — the black dragon Ilthane (from Blackwall Keep) came hunting Allustan and levelled the town. Allustan is missing in the Whispering Cairn, where he opened the dead portal to the grand tomb of the Wind Duke Icosiol. The party must kill the waiting dragon, pass through, and brave the vaati deathtomb for a fragment of the Rod of Seven Parts.
Ilthane at the Cairn Deadly · L9–10
Read-aloudThe old tomb mouth you cleared years ago is scorched black now. Coiled across the hillside, acid steaming from her jaws, Ilthane has been waiting for you.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Ilthane the Black | 1 | 14 | MM Adult Black Dragon (see card) |
The recurring dragon finally met in the flesh — Legendary actions and a lair at the cairn make her a genuine Deadly solo. Her hoard pays for the climb ahead.
The Tomb of Icosiol Deathtrap dungeon · L10–11
A vaati tomb even deadlier than the Whispering Cairn — a gauntlet of lethal traps (poison-gas, energy-drain urns, flooding tunnels, tempest-globes) and strange guardians: Flycatcher (a plant-horror guardian), relief golems that step from the walls, abyssal ghouls, and blood amniotes. Allustan is a trap's victim partway in — rescue him (he's a CR 8 wizard ally) for extra lore and help.
The prizeIn the deepest chamber: a fragment of the Rod of Seven Parts, and the talisman of the sphere (dormant since #124) finally activates — the payoff of the Rod-of-Law lore seeded in the very first dungeon.
Adventure VII · #130
The Spire of Long Shadows
Level 11→13
Jesse Decker. Allustan sends the party to his old master, the archmage Manzorian, at the Fortress of Unknown Depths. Manzorian sends them south on the trail of his lost friend Balakarde to Kuluth-Mar — the ancient jungle city of Kyuss and his Spire. The darkest, most hallucinatory chapter: the party learns what Kyuss truly is.
Kuluth-Mar & the Spire Undead legion · L11–13
Read-aloudGreen mist pools between toppled ziggurats. Everything here is wrong — the worms in the stone, the whispers that taste your name, the tower that leans across a sky it shouldn't touch.
A ruined-city crawl heavy with spawn, madness effects (Wisdom saves vs visions and short-term madness), and Kyuss lore carved into the walls. Standout foes: the Wormtouched (CR 9 cult-horrors), Angels of the Worm (CR 8 undead fliers), and the Spire's keeper Sruggut (CR 11 boss), a worm-ridden aberration guarding the heart of Kyuss's old seat.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Sruggut | 1 | 11 | Bestiary |
| Wormtouched / Angels of the Worm | var. | 9 / 8 | Bestiary |
PayoffNo treasure chapter — the reward is knowledge: the true history of Kyuss and the shape of the apocalypse, which sets up the hunt for Dragotha.
Adventure VIII · #131
The Prince of Redhand
Level 13→15
Richard Pett. A deliberate change of pace — mostly intrigue in the decadent city of Alhaster. The party must reach the elusive Lashonna, who may know Balakarde's fate, and the only chance is Prince Zeech's invitation-only gala. The party isn't meant to "win" by force here — it's a stage-setting chapter for the finale city.
Working Alhaster Social · L13–14
Several days of city play: secure gala invitations, investigate the Ebon Triad's reach here, find the local black dragon's lair, and probe the Well of Triptych Knowledge. Threats are mostly social and covert — assassins and enforcers like B'kruss (CR 14), Rhorsk and V'juss, and a hangman golem guarding a secret — but violence blows the party's cover.
Zeech's Gala Set-piece · L14–15
Read-aloudRedhand Keep glitters with the province's cruellest nobility. Then the chandeliers gutter green, and the guest of honour is not who anyone thought.
The banquet introduces the movers of the Bandit Kingdoms and finally Lashonna. The sting at the end is a greater Overgod aspect (the Ebon Triad's god, grown vast) erupting into the party — a brutal reminder of the stakes before the descent toward Dragotha.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| The Overgod (greater aspect) | 1 | 17 | Bestiary (scale from the Ebon Aspect) |
Adventure IX · #132
The Library of Last Resort
Level 15→16
Nicolas Logue. Lashonna names the real enemy: the dracolich Dragotha, Kyuss's general — kill him and the cult collapses, but only by first finding his hidden phylactery. The druids who hid it left the knowledge in the Library of Last Resort, on Tilagos Island.
Tilagos Island & the Trials Wilderness · L15
A maze-ruin opens onto the demiplane of Last Resort, warded by powerful fey (the wild watchers). To earn the Library the party must prove themselves: best a cursed titan, survive an elder nightmare beast, breach Doomshroud Forest (the Ancient Night Twist, CR 15–16), and take a feather from a living roc (the Roc King, CR 16). Orc pirates (Grogriss Spit-Eye, CR 16) and other island horrors stalk the coast.
The Fountain of Dreams Vision + chase · L16
The "library" is the Fountain of Dreams — drink and live a 1,500-year-old battle defending a vault from Dragotha's undead. The vision reveals where the phylactery lies. But the Fountain vanishes as its secret returns to the world — meaning Dragotha will learn it too. The race is on. The death-priest Darl Quethos (CR 14 boss) hunts the same prize.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Darl Quethos | 1 | 14 | Bestiary |
Adventure X · #133
Kings of the Rift
Level 16→18
Greg A. Vaughan. A smash-and-grab into the ruined giant-city of Kongen-Thulnir in the Rift Canyon, already under siege by Dragotha's dragon-flight. The party must beat the cult to the phylactery, held in the vault beneath the Citadel of Weeping Dragons.
The City of Kings under Siege Wilderness + battle · L16–17
Arrive mid-siege. First blood: Dragotha's fiendish green dragon commander Necrozyte (CR 20 → run as a scaled fiendish adult/ancient green). Reunite with the Ominous Fabler (from Alhaster). Fight through fire giants and rift giants (use MM Fire Giant, CR 9) to reach the citadel. Two keys open the vault — one held by a fire giant inside, one in the Carrion Pit (the worm-horror Mother Worm, CR 20, and her brood).
The Vault & Brazzemal Deadly · L17–18
Read-aloudThe vault doors grind apart on the phylactery — and the sky catches fire as the ancient red Brazzemal folds his wings and dives.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Brazzemal, the siege-leader | 1 | 17 | MM Ancient Red Dragon (see card) |
Claim the phylactery and survive the red dragon's assault — the key to destroying Dragotha himself next.
Adventure XI · #134
Into the Wormcrawl Fissure
Level 18→20
James Jacobs. The assault on Dragotha. In the worm-riddled fissure, the shattered ghost of Balakarde waits in three fragments; gathering them (one held by the ulgurstasta sorcerer N'vesh-n'kar, one in a mass of feral flesh, one by the exiled lillend Zulshyn) arms the party for the dracolich. Then: the Tabernacle of Worms, Kyuss's 1,500-year prison, and Dragotha's lair.
The Fissure & the Three Fragments Approach · L18–19
A hellscape of Kyuss chimeras (CR 15), apocalypse golems (CR 14) and worm-things. Rescue Balakarde's fragments: defeat N'vesh-n'kar (CR 21 ulgurstasta sorcerer → run ~CR 18), free the feral fragment, and win over Zulshyn. Reunited, Balakarde grants potent gifts against the dracolich.
The Writhing Sanctum — Dragotha Boss · L19–20
Read-aloudThe herald of the Wormgod uncoils from his throne of bones, half his flesh gone to writhing green, and the air itself begins to rot.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Dragotha, the dracolich | 1 | 22 | Bestiary (legendary) |
The gut-punchReaching Dragotha, the party learns Kyuss's prison-monolith has already been moved to Alhaster — by Lashonna herself, his secret high priestess. The betrayal that launches the finale.
Adventure XII · #135
Dawn of a New Age
Level 20+
Tito Leati. The finale, at Alhaster. Kyuss is breaking into the world atop Zeech's completed Spire. Manzorian can slow the escape; the party must end it. Three steps weaken the Wormgod before the last battle — and the clock is real: take too long and Kyuss ascends fully, beyond stopping.
The Three Steps Siege city · L20
Alhaster is overrun — green mist, immense worms, and Kyuss Knights (CR 13) in the streets. Three moves cripple Kyuss before the summit: destroy the Unlife Vortex beneath the Boneyard (feeding negative energy to his prison), break the despair his minions spread through the city, and remove his high priestess Lashonna from the board. Each one measurably weakens the final boss.
The Worm That Walks Final boss · L20+
Read-aloudThe vortex above the Spire splits like a wound, and the Wormgod pours through — a mountain of writhing green, wearing the shape of a god that should never have been.
| Foe | # | CR | Source |
|---|
| Kyuss, the Wormgod | 1 | 24 (mythic) | Bestiary (legendary + lair) |
| Advanced overworms | 2 | 19 | Bestiary / MM Purple Worm+ |
The capstone. How weakened Kyuss is depends on the three steps above — reward the party's groundwork by stripping legendary actions / lair actions / HP accordingly. Beat him and the Age of Worms is averted.
AfterThis is the ceiling of 5e. If your table wants an epilogue beyond 20th, that's homebrew territory — happy to help design it.
Full path converted. #124–135, start to Kyuss. The deepest tiers (15–20+) are given at the encounter-and-boss level with 5e stat blocks for every named villain in the Bestiary; maps, full room text and handouts stay in your magazines. Tell me any chapter you want deepened to room-by-room and I'll expand it.
Reference
Key People
tap a card
Every named NPC — who they are, what they say to the party, their stats, and the secret the DM holds. Tap any name anywhere in the text to open the same card.
Reference
Key Items
tap a card
Notable magic items and plot treasures, and where they're found.