H4 The Throne of Bloodstone.pdf - Free

The door swings silently inward,
and a huge, black figure gestures
politely for you to enter. The creature
moves smoothly, but appears
to made entirely of iron. It holds
the door open, patiently waiting
for your response.
This is a huge iron golem, built to
specifications far beyond the norm for
its type, but trained for a very specific
mission. Quite simply, it greets visitors
to the castle of Orcus, escorting
them through the anteroom into the
corridor beyond. It does nothing else,
unless one of the visitors acts rudely or
offensively. In this case, it attacks.
Rude or offensive acts include
insults, whether directed at the
golem, other PCs, or the fortress in
general, as well as gestures such as
spitting on the floor, or any spellcasting
in the golem’s presence.
Iron Golem, Supercharged: AC -
3; MV 9”; HD 35; hp 160; #AT 1;
Dmg 4d20; AL N; Size L (15’ Tall);
XP Value 15,800; Specials: +3 or
better weapon needed to hit,
immune to magical attacks (except
electrical, which slow it for three
rounds), fire attacks repair 1 hp per
point of fire damage indicated
7. Scrying Room
This vast chamber lies under a
high, domed ceiling. The entire
top of the room seems to be a giant
mirror.
Because of the curve of the walls,
light is amplified so that even the
few torches around the walls cast
brilliant illumination throughout
the chamber.
A detect magic spell will reveal a
strong magical aura to this room. No
specifics can be determined, however.
The room is actually an observation
chamber so that Orcus can see all of
the guests that enter his fortress. The
scrying pool before his throne (area
23) shows him whatever transpires in
this room. Colorings in the scrying
pool give the demon relative estimates
of the strength (hit points) and
magical potential of his foes.
Based on this observation, he will
assemble a team to meet the enemy
(if the intruders are judged to be hostile)
on his battle arena (area 12).
8. Library
This room contains many shelves of
scrolls and tomes, all assembled by
the Prince of the Undead for the
entertainment and education of his
occasional literate guest. The books
have one thing in common: all of
them deal with Orcus in some way or
another—his conquests, his slaves,
his history, his domain, etc. Unfortunately,
there is little information of
any use here—it has all been doctored
in such a fashion that Orcus is always
portrayed in a very favorable light.
9. Torture Chamber
This chamber is like the room
down the hall, in that its ceiling is a
glittering mirror of polished silver.
But it differs in the implements
that arc placed throughout it.
Many of these are recognizable
as devices of torture: racks, chains,
and wicked barbed tools. Fires
glow in braziers; ugly stains are
spattered all over the floor.
This room is Orcus’s little
funhouse. The mirrors allow him to
observe whatever is happening here
from his throne room—an activity
that gives him considerable satisfac-
tion. His favorite “entertainers” are
powerful demons he has captured
from other planes, or mortals who
have attempted to invade his plane
71
and gotten captured in the process. It
is possible that an unfortunate PC
might find himself in the latter category,
but this is left to the DM’s discretion
(or lack thereof).
10. Teleportation Room
This room looks like a big empty
chamber. It radiates faintly of magic.
A narrow hallway exits from the far
wall, opposite the door. If any creature
leaves the room through the far
doorway (which leads into a dead-end
hall) everything in the room and in
that dead-end hall are teleported outside
of the castle and moat. They will
suddenly find themselves standing
before the bridge, looking up at the
two skulls described in area 1.
11. Passageway
This empty room looks just like
area 10. However, the passage from
the far side actually leads to an exit.
12. Battle Arena
The narrow walkway out of the castle
leads over the moat and out to a
platform poised in the air, beyond the
fortress proper. When the PCs reach
the level of this platform, read the
following description:
The wide, smooth area before you
is divided into a series of red and
black squares. Each is about 20 feet
on a side. On the side closest to the
castle, a long, narrow bridge connects
the platform to the fortress
proper.
A simple expedient prevents
intruders from flying onto this platform,
bypassing the ground-based
defenses of his castle: the platform,
and the two bridges connecting it to
the rest of the fortress, does not come
into existence until Orcus sees a worthy
group of opponents pass through