Remembrance Day

Adventure Background [Read to the Players]: Some seven hundred years ago, the Skyfire annihilated the surface world, destroying its civilizations and turning to ash any creature that walked, swam or flew in the so-called “Overland.” The stories faithfully told from one generation to the next claim that the disaster was caused by the elves, who committed hubris with their experiments on the nature of magic, while the remnants of your people were saved by the dwarves, who, guided by prophecy, led the survivors deep inside the earth—to the Enclave where you now live. Sometimes the narrative is reversed, assigning the role of destroyer to the dwarves and that of savior to the elves. When the question arises—rarely anymore—as to what the truth is, your Elders shake their heads woefully, then embark on yet another long-winded lamentation about the tragedy of lost knowledge… For there are none who still remember what dwarves or elves even looked like.

However, there is no disputing your survival to this day and so, since centuries passed and over the course of them, the Elders have maintained the tradition of Remembrance, a holiday week at the peak of the Cold Semicircle, when the Preservers regale you with the greatest tales of your people, the food stores fill communal tables, and mushroom wine flows in copious amounts. But the most important day is the one that gives the holiday its name: Remembrance Day, when your ancestors first set foot inside the Enclave, making it into a new home in the depths of the World Below by the sweat of their brows. On the day of celebration, all the creatures of the Enclave exchange gifts, but they also receive gifts from the artisans of Cinder Clacks, an ancient fire troll who is also a part of the Enclave’s community (in a manner of speaking).

Each year, however, a single person receives the greatest gift in the whole Enclave—something unique and precious, made by Cinder Clacks’ own hands and fiery magic. And this is where our tale begins…

The Enclave is an underground community of some 400 people with small fluctuations in population, consisting of beastmen, gnomes, goblins, goliaths, halflings, humans and lizardfolk. There are also a very small number of ogres, half-ogres and trolls. Collectively, the Enclave’s people call themselves the Underfolk.

As the various beastmen have started to evolve into separate species, the Enclave’s Preservers have begun categorizing them morphologically, which also gives you the option to treat them as other standard races, statistics-wise: arkoi (bear beastmen) can be treated as bugbears, cynocephali (canine beastmen) as kobolds, kaproi (boar beastmen) as orcs, simians (ape beastmen) as hobgoblins, and striphokeroi (ram beastmen) as satyrs. Striphokeroi, however, are not fey; they are more heavyset, and their horns deal damage equal to 2d6 + Strength modifier.

Although stories of dwarves and elves abound, no one knows exactly what they were or what they looked like, but it is commonly accepted that the Great Gate (which is beyond the scope of this adventure), at the Enclave’s westernmost cavern and sealed since the founding of the Enclave (according to the Preservers), leads into some ancient dwarven stronghold. To this day, the two races remain part of the tales and legends from before the Great Rain of Fire, which the Underfolk call “Skyfire.”

The Enclave’s community is divided into four Callings, each representing a need or facet of the Underfolk’s particular way of life, headed by an Elder who holds a seat at the Enclave Council. The title of Elder does not require one to actually be old, merely an adult member of the community. The people of the Enclave pass briefly through all Callings in their youth, so they know what each entails when they are called upon to choose, during their coming of age. Each Calling has its own subtleties, but those are covered in the individual entries.

Growers: This Calling is further divided into two groups, the Boendr (Farmers) and the Møður (Mothers). The Farmers are responsible for growing edible mushrooms, lizard breeding, and fishing in Aurora Pool, providing for the vast majority of the Enclave’s needs in food. The Mothers, true to their name, are women from the various races of the Enclave, who offer their bodies to perpetuate the community and raise its young members (as well as the rare foundling brought back into the Enclave from the Tunnels Beyond); children remain as members of the Growers until their own Calling. No woman may be forced to serve as a Mother (Móðir), except in times of critical population decline. In the 700 years of the Enclave’s existence, this has happened only twice, and the decision must be made by majority vote in the Enclave’s Moot, where all the Underfolk have a say, not just the Council of Elders.

The Elder of the Growers is Aldinn Móðir (Great Mother) Bylgja, in fact an elderly half-ogre, whose title is no mere honorary sobriquet: she has indeed birthed and raised dozens if not hundreds of the Enclave’s members. She is wise, loud, sometimes coarse, and loves to make jokes. She is respected by all, or at the very least feared, owing to her terrifying battle prowess.

Preservers: By and large the most enviable Calling, it includes all the healers, the wise women and apothecaries (in both an archaic and pharmaceutical sense) who manage the Enclave’s resources, see to the health of its members and study the artefacts of the World Before. They are also the keepers of knowledge and history handed down to the people of the Enclave by their ancestors, or discovered in the intervening centuries to this day. As there is no written language in the Enclave, and the few remaining records have been salvaged from the World Before, Preservers have excellent memories and are very skilled storytellers, in order to perpetuate their hard-won lore by sharing it with the next generations. That makes them particularly popular during the Week of Remembrance, when they take a rare break from their studies to compete against each other and shine as tellers of tales.

The Elder of the Preservers is Aini, a female goliath who took on the mantle recently from the previous Elder, an aging striphokeros beastman named Ludik Beet-Hoof (due to the deep red color of his hooves and the fur of his legs). Ludik ceded his position when he finally suffered a complete loss of his hearing. As is often the case with Enclave goliaths, who look like living statues, it is almost impossible to get two people to agree on Aini’s age. Aini claims she is as old as the Enclave but not as old as its memories. It is not clear whether she is avoiding the question or if this is merely part of her race’s strange outlook on existence. Enclave goliaths do not reproduce in the usual manner and are instead “born” by breaking away from their mother stone, fully formed like a humanoid in its prime. It is still unclear what brings about their formations and breakaway. Perhaps the Tenders’ Lapidarii (see below)—and especially Olnir—have their own ways of gauging goliath age…

Seekers: Seekers are the foremost warriors of the Enclave, as well as those most experienced in expeditions “beyond the walls,” so to speak. In earlier times they were among the most respected Callings, more respected even than the Preservers, as it fell to them to go on dangerous expeditions, seeking artefacts of the past, establishing contact with other creature enclaves and recovering other survivors of the Skyfire or their descendants, all in order to bolster the Enclave’s population and knowledge.

After centuries of earthquakes, rock-falls and other shifts in the subterranean landscape, which have cut off many avenues of communication and exploration, the Seekers have been slowly turning into food gatherers or food gatherer escorts, merely helping to round out the Enclave’s provisions, with foodstuffs that the Boendr of the Growers cannot produce, through expeditions a few dozen miles away from Aurora Pool. Furthermore, the Seekers have unofficially become the “Last Chance Calling,” where anyone too maladjusted or incompetent to do anything else ends up, in the hopes that military discipline will sort them out, or they meet their demise outside the Enclave. However, in the twelve days preceding Remembrance Day they regain a measure of their lost prestige, as they accompany the Wish-bearers to the abode of Cinder Clacks, usually returning with great stories (real or imagined) to tell over the Week of Remembrance.

The Elder of the Seekers is Ashmiller, a halfling descended from the Docrae of Booh and the most ill-suited to his title, as he is the youngest in the Council of Elders. He took up the mantle some ten years ago, when his grandmother—his last living relative and former Elder of the Seekers—was killed in the Seekers’ last noteworthy expedition, when they returned with the so-called “Svartalf.” That is what Ludik Beet-Hoof called it after consulting the few salvaged books from the World Before. The child, now ten years old (at least estimated so, as it was a baby when they found it), has dark, charcoal-gray skin, arms pitch-black up to its elbows, and fingers ending in sharp, hard nails. Its hair is white, but strangest of all are its eyes, the color of amber and peppered with tiny red spots, sporting no iris or pupil. Ashmiller has not stopped mourning his family and nurses a silent, controlled hatred for the Svartalf growing in the relative ease of the Mothers’ care.

Ashmiller’s face always sports two vertical stripes of ash, from forehead to cheekbone and passing through his eyes, as a sign of perpetual mourning for his family. He is a halfling of few words, coarse and extremely capable, always putting his duty and the Enclave’s well-being first. When not on duty, he drowns his sorrow in mushroom wine, drinking to the point of unconsciousness. In case of emergencies, he has asked the Preservers to concoct him an “’Amethyst Powder,” which he can inhale to forcefully come out of inebriation and become alert within moments. Using this powder, he can withstand incredible hardship for two days straight, not even requiring food or drink, although at the end of the second day he risks complete collapse.

Tenders: True to their name, those following this Calling tend to all the manufacturing needs of the Enclave, from tanning and sewing to stonecutting and metalworking. They also largely tend to the cooking and supervision of communal meals in the Enclave, although this duty sometimes falls to the Preservers. Among the Tenders, those held in highest regard are the Stonecutters (Lapidarii), who mine gemstones and infuse them with useful magical qualities, chief among them the ability to radiate light.

The Elder of the Tenders is Lapidarius Olnir, a deep gnome of indeterminate age; sober, practical and effective. He is a very patient man, though not infinitely so and never at the expense of the Enclave. If an apprentice in the Calling does not exhibit the proper seriousness in their duties or does not demonstrate the required progress in their skill, Olnir summarily sends them to try their hand at a different Calling.

Myceleans: Being a Mycelean is not a Calling in the usual sense, but rather a prestigious duty usually assigned to adult Enclave members originating in any of the Callings, although some children have been chosen as Myceleans before ending their probationary period and choosing their own Calling. Myceleans serve under, and are instructed by, the myconids of the colony dwelling in the Enclave and co-existing with its people. Though the myconids have mastered the various spoken languages of the Enclave (in fact, they knew the pure mother languages from the World Before, so their current, degraded form was nothing hard to master), their use of them is slow and ponderous, and they tend to go on tangents instead of staying on topic. Furthermore, despite the myconids’ co-existence with the creatures of the Enclave, the fungal folk have not quite rid themselves of their wariness regarding what they call “the frantic creatures.” Thus the Myceleans are trained to act as intermediaries to facilitate communication.

Myceleans are instructed by the myconids in the various properties and cultivation of different fungi; they are responsible for harvesting dead myconid matter for use by the Enclave, as well as offering the Enclave’s dead for the colony’s nourishment or for use as spore servants, essentially maintaining the two populations’ symbiotic relationship. Myceleans will also convey the Preservers’ questions on various subjects to the myconids, as their fungal memory stretches back to the World Before.

Myceleans have no Elder per se, although the myconids choose someone to act as their Spore Speaker, also granted a seat at the Council of Elders. The current Spore Speaker is a large, elderly lizard man named Visshok. If the people of the Enclave knew the difference, Visshok more closely resembles a dinosaur or a saurial, specifically a Pachycephalosaurus, with a domed, bone-crowned head and bony knobs dotting his face, neck, and back. Visshok has long been one of the most successful Spore Speakers, as he himself is a ponderous creature, yet who up until recently could empathize with what the myconids call “franticness” of the non-fungal races. Lately, however, it seems Visshok is becoming more and more lost in the dream-like memories communicated through the myconid spores, and has started talking about the Carnifex, the Empire of the Lizard Kings^¹, and having dreams about Ka the Preserver. He has even picked up a smattering of the Carnifex tongue. It feels like the elderly lizard man will soon need to be replaced, though the myconids are certainly in no hurry.

No Immortals are worshipped within the Enclave. In fact, Immortals are mostly unknown to the Enclave’s people, except maybe to the Preservers, and that in a strictly academic sense, based on what little they have managed to glean from salvaged chronicles of the past. The only thing that resembles religion in the Enclave is a sort of totemic ancestor-worship, which is expressed in four archetypal figures, each embodying a Calling’s virtues: the Artisan, the Scholar, the Hunter, and the Mother. As a result, there is no clerical magic in the Enclave, and only Myceleans count a small number of Druids of the Rot and Bloom (effectively Circle of Spores Druids) among them, thanks to the myconids’ strange teachings. Furthermore, any other magic is almost non-existent within the Enclave, with the exception of some hard-earned knowledge by the Preservers’ bards, whose stories and songs seem to unlock their strange powers. The gem infusion technique of the Lapidarii works similarly to the 1st and 2nd level abilities of the 5E Artificer class, Magical Tinkering and Infuse Item, without granting any other spellcasting abilities. Finally, sorcerers are merely an exceptionally rare, aberrant occurrence.

The Underfolk Enclave is located deep under the western part of the Stormkiller Mountains, near what was once the heart of the Blackmoor Empire. This is something the player characters cannot know, except through a few cryptic hints from the myconids about “the old empire of men,” “the civilization before the Skyfire,” etc.

As the Great Rain of Fire shifted the whole planet so that Blackmoor and northern Skothar are now buried under a perpetual, arctic winter, one would expect the Enclave to be freezing cold. However, this is not the case, as the Enclave is being artificially warmed through an ancient Blackmoorian device that is still working by absorbing the ambient radiance on the surface. Again, this is something unknown to the Enclave’s inhabitants. As a result, the two arctic seasons on the surface have little (yet discernible) effect on the Enclave’s microclimate, so the year, known as “cycle,” is simply divided into a Warm and Cold Semicycle. Remembrance Day is celebrated roughly in the middle of the Cold Semicycle. It bears noting that, outside the Enclave, the temperature drop in the surrounding tunnel systems is noticeable.

As you might have inferred from the descriptions so far, this was conceived as a Christmas holiday adventure, “translated” into BC 2300 Mystaran lore. As a nod to that, in organized events I had all the pre-made player characters be gnomes, but you need not adhere to that. See the beginning of the Underfolk Enclave section for available races and how to approach beastmen characters.

As far as classes go, refer to the section about magic. Beyond that, the Enclave’s population leans towards Barbarians and Rangers for fighting classes, Rogues for scouts and jack-of-all-trades, and Bards for lorekeepers. Clerics, Warlocks and Wizards (as well as any subclasses reliant on those classes’ spell lists, like Arcane Trickster, Eldritch Knight, etc.) are non-existent. The rare Sorcerer has origins in Draconic Bloodline, Shadow Magic or Wild Magic. As a rule of thumb, there is no systematic teaching of magic within the Enclave, so use that as your guide.

Instead of backgrounds, characters belong to one of the four Callings or the Myceleans. For information on the features granted by each Calling, refer to the adventure’s Appendix.

As you might have noticed, the descriptions above reference D&D 5th Edition classes and subclasses, and further on the mechanics and creature stat blocks also reference that edition. However, excepting the stat blocks, the reference to mechanics has been kept to a minimum and the scenes rely on descriptions, so it is easy to adapt the adventure to most previous editions. Even the monsters have been overwhelmingly adapted from previous editions, and their sources are listed at the end of the adventure.

[Read to the Players]: There are no longer many who have seen Cinder Clacks with their own eyes, as he left the Enclave proper over half a century ago. However, the Remembrance celebrations and the gifts that the Enclave’s inhabitants receive each cycle—and especially the unique one received by one lucky person, made by Cinder Clacks’ own hands—are “proof” enough to silence even the rare, obstinate doubter.

Three weeks before Remembrance Day, lots are cast in order to select three to seven Wish-bearers and send them to Cinder Clacks’ home, in order to convey to him what gift each person hopes for. Seeing as your society has no written language, it is important that the Wish-bearers have excellent memories, or that they take along one of the Preservers. That is not always possible, however. In any case, so far everyone agrees that Cinder Clacks always knows what each person wants, but is the one to decide what they will get. In some cases, it is what they truly need, even if they do not know it themselves.

The way to Cinder Clacks’ home is known to the Seekers. It usually requires four to six days to get there and back, and under normal circumstances, the journey is not particularly treacherous. However, that bears the question why none have attempted to visit Cinder Clacks except at the appointed time…

[DM’s Notes]: In rare cases where the group of Wish-bearers fails to be formed in the traditional way, this honored duty is assigned to the Seekers, and a group of Wish-bearers always includes at least one seasoned Seeker. In reality, as the players will discover, Cinder Clacks has a whole workshop of Tenders who reached his home with former Wish-bearer expeditions and chose to remain there. On Remembrance Day, the gifts mysteriously appear at the opening of a secret tunnel known only to Lapidarius Olnir and his First Apprentice. However, the passage has also been discovered by Ludik Beet-Hoof.

In truth, Cinder Clacks does not require the Wish-bearers to convey to him the desires of the people of the Enclave. Their thoughts are received by a psionicist Karlheig dwarf^², with whom the fire troll has formed a strange friendship. The reason for the deception requiring Wish-bearers with strong memories is part ritual and part necessity, as Cinder Clacks does not want to expose the people of the Enclave to the truths, wonders and horrors of the World Before, which might lead them to attempt a sojourn to the surface and their almost certain demise. That is also the reason why no Seeker who knows the way to his home will attempt to go or guide anyone there outside of the appointed time. The Karlheig dwarf has implanted in their minds a powerful suggestion and mental block that precludes it.

In fact, any non-Seeker who has taken part in a Wish-bearing expedition remembers nothing of the actual journey nor the location of Cinder Clacks’ home, past their being guests of a nearby goblin tribe. Everything else is rearranged and/or false memories implanted by the Karlheig psionicist. That is why the amazing stories the Seekers tell of these expeditions during the Week of Remembrance rarely align with each other. However, no one saw any reason to properly compare them and draw conclusions—except Ludik Beet-Hoof…

[Read to the players]: On the day of departure, almost the entirety of the Enclave has gathered on the shores of Aurora Pool or the rock outcropping surrounding it, to see the Wish-bearers (that is to say, you) off to Cinder’s home in a festive manner, many shouting outlandish wishes to convey to him.

You board an ancient launch that connects the southwest to the northeast shore of the pool, using a system of pulleys. Essentially, all you have to do is tug on a rope, taking care not to get it tangled in the pulley, but in this case your vessel is also propelled forward by a group of Enclave lizardfolk swimming in the pool.

[DM’s Notes]: Following the Tenders’ secret tunnel, Ludik Beet-Hoof ends up on a side passage from where he sees the player characters pass him by as they move along the main tunnel, sometime in the middle of the first day. If anyone states that they are constantly on alert, have them roll some Perception checks (DC 18, but do not tell them that). If they succeed in one of those checks, they feel that someone is watching them as they pass Beet-Hoof’s side tunnel. Beyond that point, all of Beet-Hoof’s Stealth checks and any checks relying on hearing are rolled with disadvantage, as he is deaf. If the players attempt to locate him, he will do anything he can to avoid it at this stage and will keep following them. However, if he feels they are in mortal danger, he will rush in to assist them.

Ludik has long studied the inconsistencies in the Wish-bearers’ tales, and somehow managed to lift the Karlheig psionicist’s mental block of his own expeditions to Cinder Clacks’ home, before he became Elder of the Preservers. In fact, he remembered that he had once found a passage to the Overland, where he discovered Cinder Clacks encased in a strange crystal, freed him, and brought him back to the Enclave, almost a century ago. He remembered they had been friends, and wanted to ask him why he left the Enclave and attempted to erase their friendship from his mind. But more than anything, as he feels his life coming to an end, he wants to see the Outside one last time. For all his efforts, though, he has not managed to recall the way to Cinder’s home, and so he decided to secretly follow the Wish-bearers.

[Read to the Players]: Following an ostensibly familiar route, the Seekers among you soon realize that the recent, increasing frequency of earthquakes has not left Aurora Passage unscathed. All along the normally flat, unimpeded tunnel, you come across fresh cracks on its floor and walls, while the effects of rock-falls and landslides are readily evident. Under normal circumstances, this tunnel can fit seven of you abreast; in its current condition, four is a tight fit.

[DM’s Notes]: This tunnel has become difficult terrain. If they ask questions about the area, have them make a DC 12 Survival check to realize they don’t see or hear any signs of the usual fauna, such as giant insects or the occasional wandering beastman or goblin. Towards the end of the first day, and provided they inspect the area around them, have them roll a DC 17 Survival check to notice very small concentrations of a strange, semi-transparent mucus. If they think to experiment on it, the mucus is fireproof and can also put out fires the size of a torch. If they succeed on a DC 20 Nature check, they know the mucus comes from a tunnelmouth dweller.

[Read to the Players]: Reaching the end of your first day of travel, you see that the tunnel, already shrinking as it is connected to a narrower tunnel system, now barely fits two people abreast due to the landslides. You just hope the damage isn’t more extensive further on. It is time for you to rest before the next leg of your journey, where you hope to enjoy the hospitality of a nearby tribe of goblins.

[DM’s Notes]: Although the tunnel has indeed suffered some small damage, its apparent further shrinking is due to the fact that a tunnelmouth dweller has placed itself there with its jaws wide open, while standing completely still. Detecting the creature’s presence requires a DC 16 Perception check. Coming within 15 ft. of the creature lowers DC to 14, while a DC 15 Survival check in the wider area will reveal greater concentrations of the same mucus. Regarding these rolls, remember that complete darkness reigns in the tunnel, so without darkvision or some sort of light source, the characters will never see the attack coming. In any event, if more than one character comes within 15 ft. of the tunnelmouth dweller, it attacks immediately. It is slow and not particularly bright, so it simply waits until there are 2 or more potential victims near it.

[Read to the Players]: The seemingly narrow tunnel starts dripping on you, and by the time you raise your head, you realize that two massive jaws are clamping down on you, their circumference lined with razor-sharp teeth the size of swords.

Read to those not attacked by the monster: You watch in horror as a huge, frog-like thing jumps forward from the tunnel and attempts to gobble up your companions in a single wet bite.

The creature’s mucus is very useful as a fire-extinguishing agent (a vial can put out a bonfire almost instantly), as well as an alchemical component.

If Beet-Hoof needs to intervene to save the characters, he is then added to the party as an NPC. Though he will do all he can to help them in the face of mortal danger, he will not sacrifice himself for them. What he set out to do before he dies is more important.

[Read to the Players]: On the second day of travel, after the horror of the tunnelmouth dweller, you find yourselves more alert [roll some d12s and maybe consult a table to keep them on edge, but nothing actually happens]. However, it seems this time you have been favored by the Mother, and you come across no danger on your way. Halfway through the second day, the Seekers among you recognize you are approaching the territory of a small goblin tribe, the Monomatai. The name means “one-eyed ones,” and true enough, all the members of the tribe share the same deformity, having only one large, central eye in the middle of their faces. On the other hand, it is rumored that this deformity is sometimes accompanied by some sort of oracular ability.

[DM’s Notes]: These goblins have been mutated by the radiance left behind from the Great Rain of Fire. It is a very mild version of the Wasting, owed to their freshwater source that connects to the surface. Indeed, most members of the tribe have trivial oracular abilities, more akin to a mentalist’s tricks, such as perceiving strong surface desires, receiving vague mental images, etc. In a few members of the tribe, this takes the form of the Alert Feat. Even fewer members, among which the tribe’s venerable chief, develop true oracular abilities that can reach those of a 7th-level Diviner Wizard (but having access exclusively to spells of the School of Divination).

[Read to the Players]: Your acute vision discerns the entrance to the cave of the Monomatai, where two obviously bored members of the tribe stand guard, their backs leaning against the tunnel wall.

[DM’s Notes]: Give the players the description of this first impression when the characters are at a distance equal to the longest darkvision range in the party. When they get closer, have them make a DC 15 Perception check. If they shout to announce their presence, this DC drops to 13. Again, remember that unless they have a source of light with them, these rolls are made at a disadvantage.

If the check is successful, read the following: The guards are standing too still; unnaturally still even.

If they simply approach the guards without any other interaction and without becoming aware of their stillness, the moment they get close enough they suffer a surprise attack by two Skotharian chokers. The only way a character can avoid this surprise attack is if they have a Passive Perception of at least 15, in which case the chokers roll Stealth against it.

If the PCs notice the guards’ stillness or if they shout a greeting and see that they receive no answer they are likely to approach the corpses cautiously. In this case, the chokers wait for an opportune moment to attack, usually when the characters are examining the guards’ corpses or are about to enter the goblins’ cave.

If the PCs examine the guards’ corpses, read the following: The two guards are obviously dead, and judging from the lack of putrid smell, they must have died recently. With a DC 10 Intelligence check: it is obvious someone placed them this way so they might seem alive from a distance in the underground gloom. With a DC 13 Medicine check: They have a multitude of small, nearly round bite marks on their bodies where the flesh has been completely torn away and the tissue is still wet, but what killed them are their broken necks. DC Medicine check 15+: The fact that their bodies are not completely cold or in full rigor shows that they have died within the last six hours at most.

If the characters have ended up approaching the corpses guardedly, have them roll Perception checks opposed by the chokers’ Stealth. Any who fail the check are subject to surprise attacks by the two chokers. Any who succeed in the checks roll normally for initiative.

[Read to the Players]: Two, horrid, seemingly boneless creatures, part worm and part malformed infant, ambush you, wrapping cold, snakelike limbs of stinking flesh around your throats, at the same time trying to slash you with wicked claws like flensing knives.

One choker attacks from the ceiling, while the other comes out of a crack in the tunnel wall, a few feet above the dead guards’ heads, with a horrible, wet and simultaneously hollow rattling sound. Any characters who see that and are not surprised must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or retreat for the nightmarish sight (frightened for 1 minute, reroll at the end of each of their turns).

It must be noted here that the chokers have no interest in drawn out battles, merely in securing food. If they have not killed their fresh “prey” in 2d4 rounds, they simply try to make their escape and do not bother further with the PCs. Regarding Beet-Hoof’s possible involvement, see the previous encounter.

[Read to the Players]: Entering the Monomatai’s cave, you are met with a silence that sends shivers up your spine. The signs of habitation are evident around you, in stark, terrible contrast with the lack of any sign of actual life, and the obvious remains of a hasty retreat. Fallen torches, upturned carts and chores left unfinished, such as burnt food over open fires, show that whatever happened here was very, very recent. The truly horrible sight, however, are the goblins, frozen in their rigor mortis and posed like macabre dolls, in parody of whatever activity they were pursuing before they died.

[DM’s Notes]: Depending on the strength and/or skill of the party, there are another 2-4 Skotharian chokers inside the cave. There are at least four dead goblins per choker, posed in a similar way as the guards outside. Though the chokers are not particularly clever, they are cunning enough to place them this way as bait. Emphasize the nightmarish picture, describing how apparent everyday activities constitute a sort of tableau made of corpses (e.g. a goblin woman holding her baby as if to rock it asleep, but on closer inspection one of her eyes and part of her face have been eaten, while the baby is a skeleton freshly stripped of flesh; a goblin male leaning over a cooking cauldron with drops of his blood slowly falling on a nearly congealed mass at the bottom). The survivors of the goblin tribe have locked themselves inside their food storage building, a hollowed-out mineral pillar that extends from the cavern’s floor to its ceiling. One or two of the remaining chokers are slithering across the cylindrical surface, looking for cracks through which to squeeze inside. The rest (if any), try to ambush the players at different locations of the Monomatai cavern, dropping down from the ceiling, emerging from one of the corpses or the cavern floor itself.

If the players kill or drive away the chokers, rescuing the rest of the tribe, they are welcomed as heroes and do indeed enjoy the Monomatai’s hospitality, despite the goblins’ grief. They replenish the party’s supplies and offer them two bloodspears, magical artefacts of the World Before. If the players refuse, considering it is more important for the Monbomatai to keep the weapons for their own defense, award an inspiration point to each. Furthermore, if they suggest the tribe move to the Enclave where it is safer for them (knowing that the way they came from is clear of threats for now), again award them an inspiration point. In this particular scene, it is possible to acquire both points.

[Bloodspear: Originally known as hepatizons or biting spears, bloodspears count as magical weapons for the purpose of overcoming resistances or immunities. On a hit, the target must roll a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or suffer 2 points of bleeding damage, and thereafter at the beginning of each of their turns, unless they take the time to dress the wound with a DC 13 Medicine check, use a healing kit, or any healing magic.]

[Read to the Players]: Halfway along a mercifully uneventful day, you feel the temperature starting to rise noticeably, a sign you are approaching Cinder Clacks’ abode. The wariness instilled by your recent mishaps is cast away like a wet garment, as you hear the familiar voices of your brethren welcoming you in cheerful spirits.

Armed and armored in bright metal like heroes from the Preservers’ tales, the guards take you down a spiral path carved out of the sides of a huge pit, with streams of lava emptying out into its bottom. Soon the heat becomes oppressive, which your brethren hasten to counteract with surprisingly cool beverages from their flasks. Among their numbers, you see all the Enclave’s races represented, except for the lizard men who would be hard-pressed to remain in such a scorching environment. Still, you cannot fathom how the rest of them can bear this heat…

At the bottom of the well is a pool of lava with seven stepstones, leading to a small, rocky islet at the center. Both stepstones and islet are made of basalt, and a great table of molten stone seems to have been carved or molded out of the islet’s rock. Standing at the fiery shore for a few moments, just as the heat starts to become agonizing, a large figure begins surfacing from the lava pool, revealing the mighty form of Cinder Clacks. Long-limbed and wide-chested, his skin is fiery red, his hair silvery white, and pieces of coal dangle from his belt and braids, rattling as he moves; hence the name.

He looks at you over his prodigious nose, and his tusks draw apart as his mouth forms a smile. Without a word, he takes pieces of coal from his belt, presses them between his mighty palms until they glow white hot, and then opens them to reveal identical brass rings, each adorned with a small red diamond, equal in number to the members of your expedition.

[DM’s Notes]: The rings grant immunity to natural extremes of heat and resistance to fire damage. Furthermore, they are instantly attuned to the first person to touch them (apart from their creator), and can never be stolen so long as their owners wear them and remain alive (short of cutting their finger off and even then, the potential thief must wait for the finger to rot naturally and the ring to fall off.

As soon as the characters wear the rings, the oppressive heat of the lava pit vanishes, pleasantries are exchanged, and then the party is invited to cross over to the islet.

[Read to the Players]: You stand on one side of the basalt table, with Cinder Clacks standing across from you, and a series of ritual questions follow, to which the answers are fairly obvious:

“Well met then and well come to my abode. Bring your brethren’s wishes to the fore of your thoughts, that they may be plucked from the ether and made solid in the material world.”

[DM’s Notes]: This is a rehearsed ritual and short of the PCs wanting to botch it and anger Cinder Clacks with their selfishness, it is almost impossible to go wrong.

[Read to the Players]: At the fire troll’s final utterance, he makes a gesture, and from a ledge a couple of levels up the pit, a cowled, stout form approaches, its garments hiding its features completely. The figure comes to stand across you next to Cinder Clacks, placing its hands on the table, and compelling you to do the same. A web of fiery rivulets appears across the table’s surface, connecting your fingers with each other’s, as well as the figure’s, and then you feel your brethren’s wishes flow from your mind outward. It is somewhat uncomfortable, yet painless.

[DM’s Notes]: The Karlheig psionicist essentially removes the list of wishes from their minds, at the same time making the “mental arrangements” that will alter their memories once they reach the Monomatai’s cave on the journey back. If any player inquires about the process, a DC 20 Arcana check will reveal that they feel their thoughts sort of being rearranged, and if a druid makes the roll successfully, they will find the feeling similar yet markedly different, more forceful to the dream sequences shared by the myconids.

In any event, they can ask whatever questions they want and will get more or less truthful answers, including what the figure is, who will go so far as to lower back his cowl, revealing the face of an extremely aged, scarred dwarf, with sparse tufts of yellowish hair and beard, pitch-black eyes, and a glowing third eye in the middle of his forehead. Cinder Clacks will introduce him as Ogmedd of Clan Karlheig and will explain to them that after they have feasted they will be given a choice whether to return to the Enclave or remain with Cinder Clacks as so many have before them. At least one must return and any who chose to do so will have their memories altered to keep the Enclave safe from its own curiosity. Depending on how many will remain, the rest will either “remember” that they died on the journey or remained with Cinder Clacks to help him prepare the gifts.

The fire troll will further explain that the dangers of the World Before still lie in wait at the surface, and the Enclave risks disruption and annihilation should it be faced with them. Ogmedd’s scars and deformities serve as an example to drive the point home.

There is no way for the PCs to forcefully avoid this. The combined might and powers of Cinder Clacks, Ogmedd, and the rest of the artisans make it impossible. Good roleplay and good Persuasion rolls might result in their being allowed to retain a bit more of what they have learned, perhaps even a strange artefact to be taken back to the Preservers for study.

[Read to the Players]: As you are about to conclude your negotiations with Cinder Clacks and move on to the feast, a commotion turns your attention back to the spiral paths from whence you descended. A bleating voice, drawing its vowels, echoes inside the lava pit:

“Do not hasten to make any deals with this sycophant. He will tell you what you want to hear and then send you back, none the wiser, to desperately grasp in dreams at truths you know you earned, and yet remain ever elusive…!”

It is Beet-Hoof, being equally cheerfully if a bit confusedly led to the bottom of the pit by the guards. Cinder Clacks scowls at the sight of him, while Ogmedd raises his sparse eyebrows, giving him a surprised, yet appreciative look.

“Stubborn, selfish old goat!” calls Cinder Clacks, his fatherly demeanor and ritualistic decorum evaporating.

“Hello, old friend,” calls Beet-Hoof in a more friendly tone. “Now, at the end of my life, having made my way to your abode once more, in spite of your machinations, can you really deny my request for Remembrance Day?”

Cinder Clacks snorts searing, metallic steam, never taking his eyes from Beet-Hoof. “I could, as nothing compels me.” A long pause, and then, “But I will not. Much as it grieves and aggravates me, you have earned your gift from me.”

He turns to you. “Wish-bearers, what did Ludik Beet-Hoof, former Elder of the Preservers wish for as a gift for Remembrance Day?”

Unbidden, the strange, incomprehensible request rises to the forefront of your minds and you all intone it, word-perfect: “Dear Cinder Clacks, this cycle, on Remembrance Day, I would like you to bring me a green robot from your prison.”

“You know, of course, or rather you have somehow remembered that I cannot bring such a thing to you on Remembrance Day, or any other day. That is beyond even my power. What is within my power, is to remind you of the way, and ask the Wish-bearers to risk life and limb in order to accompany you.”

“Silence,” says the fire troll with finality. “Rules are not mere rituals and they need to be observed for reasons beyond your ken.” He turns to you once more. “You have borne his strange wish to me. Will you now aid me in granting it?”

[DM’s Notes]: The PCs can refuse with no consequence. They will join the feast in their honor and those who choose to return will be sent back on their merry way, the memories altered as described before. Those who remain will be welcomed into the lava pit’s community, eventually learning many lost truths and skills. However, none will ever learn the truth about Ludik Beet-Hoof’s request or his relationship to Cinder Clacks.

If they agree to accompany him, both the party and Ludik join the feast, and the tale is regaled how the once young beastman journeyed far beyond any of his brethren, finding a way to the Outside, and Cinder Clacks encased in a strange crystal from where he freed him. That happened almost a century ago, and though none seem to remember it, around the time when Cinder Clacks left the Enclave, a schism was threatening to form and tear its society apart, as some feared massive discoveries from the World Before while others had worked up the courage to mount massive expeditions. Before leaving the Enclave, Cinder Clacks worked slowly and meticulously to quell the desires of those who advocated for the expeditions. Though he does not go into detail about how he achieved it, it is implied that Ogmedd and possibly other dwarves of the Karlheig clan had a hand in it.

Once the feast has ended and the characters have rested, Ogmedd restores Ludik’s memory and Cinder Clacks points them to one of the many tunnel openings in the lava pit walls, saying that is where their journey must begin. After a bit of awkwardness, the fire troll and the beastman embrace and cordially bid farewell to each other, as Ludik desires to die with the sky of the Outside above his head, and not endless layers of stone.

[Read to the Players]: “Go then, Wish-bearers,” says Cinder Clacks. “At the end of your journey, you will have earned the right to decide whether you want to brave the remnants of the World Before, or to return here or even back to the Enclave proper. May the ancestors guide you.”

[Read to the Players]: As you make your way from Cinder Clacks’ abode, the heat gradually decreases, giving way to a growing cold. Moving through the cold, silent dark, a stark contrast to the bright, if at times uncomfortable warmth and good cheer of the day before, you feel as if you are moving through the petrified vowels of a long dead, colossal beast.

Ludik moves with purpose, exchanging few words, as the overwhelming darkness makes it difficult for him to read lips. After innumerable twists and turns, the tunnel starts shrinking, forcing you to move in single file, your only comfort touching the garments of the person in front of you.

Then, after rounding a sharp corner, a sudden shaft of light makes you pause. It is not too bright, but the contrast briefly hurts your eyes. The path ends in a solid basalt wall, with a jagged vertical crack through which Ludik can barely fit.

Squeezing through the opening, it’s as if you find yourself in a different world. Before you lies a vast, crystalline cavern, with pillars of glowing minerals jutting from floor, ceiling and wall in every direction. Shafts of iridescent blue and violet light crisscross the gigantic space, and various sources of luminescence seem to pulsate lightly in a steady rhythm.

As you find an irregular path among the glowing crystal formations, you feel you are not alone. There is the notion of movement, even though the only sounds are the crystalline tinkling and your own steps. At one point, the most alert—or paranoid—among you are certain of another presence, and suddenly wheel in its direction, brandishing your weapons.

You come face to face with a huge, hybrid reptilian form, part humanoid and part snake, with four arms and twin tails, brandishing intricate weaponry. You let out gasps of surprise or even tiny screams as you ready for combat! In your haste, one of you even manages to attack first… only to be met with the tinkling sound of your weapon against the crystal surface.

This creature seems to have been long encased in crystal, remaining in stasis through the ages. Then you realize many of the crystal formations around you house similar creatures, of varied size and form, but almost all larger than you.

[DM’s Notes]: If they ask Ludik what these creatures are, he shares what little he knows. They were called the Serpent Kings or Drakon’katha^³, one of the greatest threats faced by the old overland empire of men. He cites the empire as “Melanelos,” the word for Blackmoor found in a salvaged elven chronicle carved on an unknown material, though he himself does not know it was of elven origin, nor the actual timeline of these events. He also cryptically says that the Drakon’katha were not imprisoned there, but sealed themselves inside the crystals in order to survive.

[Read to the Players]: As you ask the elderly beastman what the Drakon’katha were trying to save themselves from, the ground abruptly falls away, forming a small crystalline cliff that leads to the ground below and what seems like an exit on the far end, some 150 feet away, leading to the tunnels beyond.

[DM’s Notes]: This is where a ghostly horde of Drakon’katha has made its haunt. As soon as anyone steps on the ground below, they find themselves surrounded by the huge, serpentine forms, who notice them despite their best efforts to hide.

Refer to the ghostly horde stat block for more information on how to run this encounter. It can be an especially strange roleplaying opportunity, especially if only some of the PCs fail their saves and seem to be making battle with thin air, as their companions are looking on helplessly. Forcing an embattled character to abandon the area through the tunnel means they are safe from the horde, though they are entirely convinced of its existence and wonder why the Drakon’katha do not give pursuit.

[Read to the Players]: As you continue along the path indicated by Beet-Hoof, and as the day draws near its end, you come across a new strangeness. The tunnel leads into a much smaller cavern than that of the Drakon’katha, where your path is blocked by a huge sphere, seemingly made of intricately carved stone, floating a few feet above the ground and chained to the floor. The sphere seems to emit a low hum and move slightly, making the chains clink.

You realize you can in fact go around or under the sphere, but the way forward is blocked by yet another collapse, which seems to have closed off the exit tunnel completely. Beet-Hoof studies the scene in front of him and declares it is time to rest.

[DM’s Notes]: If the characters take turns standing guard, Ludik insists on taking the last shift alone, as his age and restlessness will not allow him much sleep.

[Read to the Players]: When next you awake, the sound of clinking chains is much louder, and you find Beet-Hoof having already unlocked two of the four from their anchors on the floor, and now working on the third.

[DM’s Notes]: If confronted, he explains that this is what the Drakon’katha tried to save themselves from, a device made by the ancient people of Melanelos, that was drawn to and devoured magic. The Drakon’katha were an inherently magical race, and so the device sought out and devoured them. Their only solution was to encase themselves in magic-dampening crystals, which drain their magic and turn it into the great cavern’s luminescence.

If they try to stop him, first he reasons with them (if a bit impatiently) that this is the only way forward, asking them to trust him. If that doesn’t work, he employs any and all tricks at his disposal to strike the locks with his metallic walking staff, actually a technological artefact that discharges force energy. The locks require a DC 16 Dexterity check with thieves’ tools to open; alternatively, they break after receiving 35 points of damage, and their AC is 17.

If all four chains are either broken or unlocked from their anchors, read the following: The carved pieces of the sphere start falling away and crashing to the floor. You realize that what you had been looking at up to this point was merely the casing of the actual device, so to speak: a sphere blacker than the darkest, sunless void, featureless and silent. As soon as it is released from its casing, it draws briefly near you, and you are certain the foolish beastman has spelled your doom. Then the sphere changes direction, towards the collapsed tunnel and upward, disintegrating anything that stands in its path.

[DM’s Notes]: If asked, Beet-Hoof explains that the remnants of the Skyfire over the vast expanse of the Overland constitute still more powerful magic than anything they are carrying, so the device headed straight for the surface. Unbeknownst to the elderly Preserver, there is a second reason, as in recent years the Moadreg have started opening the Gate of Light^⁴ from the Shimmering Lands to Blackmoor, around the time when the Enclave celebrates its Remembrance. There is also a reason for this coincidence, but as neither party is privy to the other’s existence, that is a mystery left for another day. The device is obviously a modified blackball and it was definitely not created by Blackmoorian mages, but it is indeed drawn to the highest concentration of magic in the area.

[Read to the Players]: After leaving the device to carve its path of silent destruction, Beet-Hoof begins ascending the newly formed tunnel in silence, almost solemnly. Quite a bit of time passes, days even—you have lost count inside the smooth, featureless passageway—and you are thankful for the hefty provisions Cinder Clacks provided you with. Perhaps he knew exactly how long the journey would take. To you, it seems as though it will never end. If Ludik is frustrated, he makes no show of it, although it is evident he is gradually growing more tired, occasionally stumbling, leaning more heavily on his metallic staff, his breath becoming a bit more labored.

Just as you are about to accept that this road will never end and that it is some sort of punishment for Beet-Hoof, wondering why you should be punished alongside him, the dark sphere’s tunnel intersects with another one above it. The new tunnel is far older, but a DC 13 Investigation check reveals it was likely dug by workers of a past age. More importantly, at the far end of it, you see light.

As you approach the light, so small and yet so remarkably bright that it hurts your eyes, you are filled with awe and dread in equal measure. Meanwhile, Beet-Hoof advances speedily towards it, his vigor seemingly renewed. And then, after the briefest of pauses, he is Outside.

[DM’s Notes]: Characters who want to follow Beet-Hoof must succeed in a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened to step outside. They can repeat the roll after each minute that passes, gaining advantage if one of them has already gone outside. Druids roll at a disadvantage due to their myconid connection.

[Read to the Players]: Your first impression of the outside is a brightness so painful that it brings to mind the tales of the Skyfire, and a blue vastness over your head that nearly causes you to have an agoraphobic reaction. In places, the light has a milder, greenish hue.

When your eyes get somewhat used to the brightness, at first you notice two things. You are standing on a ledge inside a pit so colossal, that vegetation growing out of its sides creates a green canopy in places and at various levels. Secondly, towering above you, seemingly suspended in the middle of the pit by the vegetation, is a huge, vaguely humanoid construct made of metal, wood, and other materials. Multitudes of flying creatures unknown to you perch upon its shoulders and head, showing no fear towards this unnatural monstrosity. Moss and vines cover much of its surface, at the same time eating through and supporting its colossal frame. Likely, this is the “robot” Beet-Hoof mentioned in his wish, whatever the word means.

After you manage to tear your eyes away from the construct, you notice that further up a slight incline of the ledge, Beet-Hoof has sat with his back to the earthen pit wall, next to a large, shattered and half-melted crystal, not unlike the one where the Drakon’katha were encased. As you approach, you notice his expression is serene and when you find yourselves next to him, you realize he has been looking straight at the blinding ball of fire in the sky, and is now blind.

He points at the huge construct: “There is the green robot I saw in my youth.” He pats the ruined crystal next to him: “Here is the prison where I first found Cinder Clacks.” He raises his arms at the sky: “At the very dusk of my life, as the ancients used to say, for I now know what a ‘dusk’ is, I find myself under the sky of our ancestors. I am content.” He turns to you: “And I thank you. Though you might not yet understand them, you now have choices to make. Be bold or be meek, but in any case be knowing.”

And with those words, he dies, his blind gaze firmly fixed on that ball of fire in the sky, his features lit in a way you have never seen before.

You can end the adventure right here, on a bittersweet note full of wonder, with the characters having a million unanswered questions and faced with the prospect of the Outside. However, if you feel this ending is a tad melodramatic, there is a final encounter available. As mentioned before, the Moadreg of the Shimmering Lands have opened the Gate of Light, and an SSP (Scout and Scavenging Party) has been dispatched to the so-called Blighted Lands. Two of the party have detected the colossal pit near Blackmoor (in fact closer to Newgate) and have come to investigate. When they become aware of the PCs and at least one beastman (though Beet-Hoof is dead), they immediately attack as they consider them vermin and mean to exterminate them. The PCs have the option to fight or flee, and in the second case, the Moadred Blightseekers will not be interested enough to give chase.

[Read to the Players]: You hear metallic sounds and the thud of heavy footsteps. Shielding your eyes, you notice two strange contraptions on a ledge overhead the one where you are standing. They have a stout, vaguely humanoid shape and are made of metal the color of rust. The head is helmeted and hidden behind some sort of darkened glass. One arm ends in a large, wicked, jagged axe, and the other in a device you have never seen before. Soon, the device is pointed at you, spewing fire!

[DM’s Notes]: For more on the Moadreg and what the characters may discover through combat and if they defeat them, refer to John Calvin’s work on Mystara 2300 BC.

Characters starting out as members of the Enclave do not have access to the usual selection of backgrounds, accompanying skills, traits, etc. Instead, each character starts out as a member of a Calling or the Myceleans, and that defines their skills and traits. All of the people of the Enclave share a Common language that is derivative of ancient Blackmoorian. Lizardfolk also have their own tongue, and goliaths speak Primordial (Terran, in older editions). There is no written language in the Enclave, and most of its inhabitants cannot read. Preservers and some Myceleans are the two exceptions. The first have gained some skill in reading records or carvings from the World Before through study, while the latter have been imparted the skill through the myconids’ spore memory.

Note that there is no use for money in the Enclave or likely any of the underground communities beneath Blackmoor. It is a strictly bartering economy. Coins from the World Before are mere curiosities and precious metals are only regarded as such for their use in alchemy or resistance to corrosion. Copper, tin, bronze, iron and steel are the only truly valued metals (or better yet, items made of them) for purely practical reasons. Most people in the Enclave have the means to put together a dungeoneer’s or explorer’s pack and only writing materials are truly sparse, as there is mostly no need for them. Any character proficient in tools from the selections listed below automatically gets a set of said tools.

The people of the Enclave mostly fashion simple weapons made of brittle or salvaged materials, or martial weapons made of bronze. Sophisticated or steel weapons are almost always relics from the World Before, and might often be magical to some degree, which has protected them from the vagaries of time. The best such weapons are given to the Seekers. Anything beyond light armor is considered a mixed blessing, as it hampers movement and makes noise most underground-dwelling creatures can detect.

Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Insight, and choose one from Deception, Nature, or Performance

Hearth Wisdom: Sharing in the Mothers’ tales and the Boendr’s work songs, you have gathered pieces of lore, superstition and folk wisdom that sometimes yield unexpectedly useful information. When faced with one of the many unknowns or dangers of the Shadowdeep or the World Before, your DM may give you a cryptic hint of information that will help you navigate the situation before you (such as an old fey greeting that might make such creatures more friendly, or a folk remedy against the effects of some unknown poison).

Underfolk Solidarity: Having grown among the most welcoming and diverse of the Enclave’s groups, you know how to secure help (in the form of medical aid, temporary lodgings, food, or basic equipment, including simple weapons) both from the people of the Enclave and the various non-hostile groups dotting the underground landscape, regardless if you even speak their language; you have learned to communicate your needs in other ways.

Skill Proficiencies: History, and choose one from Medicine, Nature, or Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: Choose one from alchemist’s supplies, smith’s tools, or tinker’s tools

Languages: One of your choice, or two of your choice if you forfeit one of your skill proficiencies

Discovery: Your studies of the World Before have given you access to a unique and powerful discovery. The exact nature of this revelation should be discussed with your DM. It might be a great truth about the Overland, a hint about the Immortals and the workings of clerical magic, or the nature of the radiance besides the Wasting. It could be a site that no one else has ever seen or heard of. You might have uncovered a fact that has long been forgotten, or unearthed some relic of the past that could rewrite history.

Researcher: When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from another Preserver or some salvaged document from the World Before. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place (such as behind the Great Gate), or that it simply cannot be found without expanding your horizons beyond the Enclave.

Skill Proficiencies: Stealth, Survival. Choosing one of these proficiencies a second time, from a different source, grants expertise in it

Equipment: One martial weapon, light armor and shield, or two martial weapons and light armor, or one medium armor

At Home in the Wild: In the wilderness, your home, you can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate that is secure enough to conceal you from most natural threats, but not all supernatural, magical, or threats that actively seek you out. Also, this feature doesn’t shield or conceal you from scrying, mental probing, nor from threats that don’t need the five senses to find you.

Wanderer: You have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and you can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features around you. In addition, you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day, provided that the land offers edible plants or fungi, small game, water, and so forth.

Skill Proficiencies: Investigation and choose one from Deception or Persuasion

Guerilla: You’ve come to know the surrounding area’s natural features in which you can take refuge—or set up ambushes. You can quickly survey your environment for advantageous features. Additionally, you can scavenge around your natural surroundings to cobble together simple supplies (such as improvised torches, rope, patches of fabric, etc.) that are consumed after use.

Leverage: You can exert leverage over one or more below you in the Calling’s hierarchy and demand their help as needs warrant. For example, deliver a message, arrange a ride, or clean up a bloody mess. As your status in the Calling improves, you gain influence over more people of higher station. The DM decides if the demands are reasonable and if subordinates are available.

Skill Proficiencies: Nature, and choose one from Arcana, History, or Insight

Languages: One of your choice, or two of your choice if you forfeit one of your skill proficiencies

Shadowdeep Experience: You are no casual visitor to the Shadowdeep, but have spent considerable time there learning its ways. You are familiar with the various races, monsters, and travel routes of the Shadowdeep beyond the Enclave. You make rolls to recall Shadowdeep lore with advantage, unless the DM rules that the lore is unknown.

Spirit Medium: A fateful experience made you believe you are aligned with spirits and can serve as a conduit for their insights and goals. You have advantage on Arcana and Religion checks to remember or research information about spirits and the afterlife. You have and can use a conduit (a constantly dripping, perfectly spherical moss stone) to commune with otherworldly forces.

John Calvin, Mystara 2300 BC GazBC 1 – Shimmering Lands DM’s Guide (Seeker)

Gregory W. Detwiler, “Dragon’s Bestiary (Tunnelmouth Dweller),” Dragon Magazine #267, January 2000.

Philip J. Slama, Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor MMRPG – Episode 94: “The End,” Zeitgeist Games, 2009.

Various, Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix (Choker, Ghostly Horde), TSR, 1994.

All monsters have been adapted by the author for the 5th edition of D&D, based on the aforementioned sources.

1John Calvin, Mystara 2300 BC Campaign Setting.

2John Calvin, GazBC 1 – Shimmering Lands DM’s Guide, pg. 13.

3Blackmoor MMRPG, Season 4, Episode 91: Rolling Thunder. See Havard’s Blackmoor Blog (http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/2019/06/) for more information.

4John Calvin, GazBC 1 – Shimmering Lands DM’s Guide.