H4 The Throne of Bloodstone.pdf - Free

for Ter-soth. In a chest in Ter-soth’s
quarters can be found the loot he has
taken from visitors to this layers of the
Abyss, including gems and jewelry
worth 125,000 gp (encumbrance value
250,000 gp), potions of delusion,
speed, and super-heroism, rings of
regeneration and wizardry, a rod of rulership,
dust of appearance, helm of
brilliance, mirror of life trapping, and a
robe of powerlessness.
Unknown to the party unless they
happen to use magical means, they
are being spied on by a fire mephit
named Dimwold, who is further
described in area 3.
All four paths from this bowl lead
upward.
2. The Lake of Fire
Horrible screams greet you as you
look out over a long, narrow lake
filled with boiling lava. Demons
with pitchforks jab at pitiful
screaming people trying to escape
the awful pain.
This is a test of alignment. What is
actually going on is that the lake is
filled with magmen and lava mephits
enjoying themselves, with a permanent
illusion spell making them
appear to be human. The screams are
created by magic mouth spells. The
demons are real, but are simply relaxing
by a pleasant lake.
Characters who do not penetrate
the illusion and who do not attack the
demons move one alignment step
closer to chaotic evil. Characters who
do attack must fight 100 Type III
demons (stats as in previous encounters),
several of whom try to escape to
reveal the characters’ presence to
Orcus. The mephits and magmen
simply ignore what’s going on.
Dimwold the fire mephit watches
this encounter as well.
3. Dimwold’s Lair
This cul-de-sac is the home of a fire
mephit named Dimwold, who spies
on the party from the moment they
enter this layer until either they discover
they are being watched or complete
encounter 2.
Dimwold’s treasure trove consists
of 12 platinum pieces, a dagger +1,
and a mirror of opposition he stole
from Ter-soth (area 1). He carries all
items on his person. The lair consists
of filthy bedding, some outrageous
clothing (think of every polyester
plaid nightmare you’ve ever seen, all
worn together heedless of color), and
paper rolled around exceedingly foulsmelling
dried vegetation (cheap
cigars).
NPC Capsule
Dimwold the Mephit
AC: 5
MV: 12”/24” (MC: B)
HD: 3+1
hp: 20
#AT: 2
Dmg: 1d3/1d3
Special Attacks: Breath weapon
shoots a jet of flame 15’ long and 1’ in
diameter for 1d8+1 damage (save for
half damage) or blanket of flame 5’
square immediately in front of
mephit for 4 pts. of damage to all in
range, no saving throw, 3/day. Heat
metal and magic missile (two missiles),
once each per day; 25% chance
to gate in another mephit (if gate succeeds,
25% chance each of fire, lava,
smoke, or steam mephit), usable once
per hour.
Special Defense: Touching mephit
with bare hands causes 1 point of
damage
50
Int: Average (but egotistical)
Size: Medium (5’ tall)
Mephits are the evil messengers
and errand-runners of the lords of the
Abyss. They are connoisseurs of the
vulgar and tasteless; they have
extraordinarily twisted senses of
humor (to a mephit, the sight of a
creature writhing in agony is excruciatingly
funny). They particularly
delight in tormenting the helpless.
They normally wear clothes of the
most garish design and color possible
and are often seen puffing on cheap
cigars. They strut and swagger like
every cheap hood you’ve ever seen in
a gangster movie. They have shrill,
annoying voices. The fire mephit is
dull red in color, with thin streaks of
black over its body. It is about five feet
tall, with functional wings and fangs.
Dimwold is angry with Ter-soth for
reporting him to higher demons in
the palace for goofing off. The report
got Dimwold cashiered, and he’s
been scrounging in the mountains
ever since. No free trips to the Prime
Material plane, no wonderful swims
in the Lake of Fire, no humans to
torment—life just isn’t fun anymore.
And besides, Dimwold is a genius
among mephits. He really should be a
full-fledged demon and boss around
some underlings. Yeah, that’s the
ticket! He could really be somebody.
Yeah, live in a great palace with lots of
servants, and...no, better yet, why
not have his own layer of the Abyss, a
demonic kingdom all his own, and be
married to Morganna the Fair
Demon, yeah! That’s it!
Dreaming grandiose dreams and
scrounging food and coins from
minor demons (using a mirror of
opposition to create warriors to battle
his enemies), Dimwold has been
waiting for his ship to come in, and
now it has. He watched when the par-