Elder Evils

CHAPTER 10
ZARGON
Illus. by W. England
146
for Asmodeus and if you’d prefer the gods not be slain, substitute
high-level wizards, priests, or other adventurers.
TIMELINE
The following timeline
is intended to help
you construct a campaign
around Zargon.
EL 2: Dorn, son of high cultist
Darius and his lover Neheshru, flees
Cynidicea, hoping to
escape his homeland
and make a
life for himself
in the civilized
world. Along
the way, gnoll
slavers capture
him
to sell in
the slave
markets of
a distant city. The
PCs come across
the humanoids and
free Dorn and
the rest of the
slaves.
EL 5 (Faint
Sign): The high cultist
Darius commands his
people to dig out Zargon
from his prison.
This causes horrific
storms to break
out as the elder evil
awakens.
Freed from the slavers,
Dorn finds his
way to a distant city,
where he soon falls in with a cult
of Juiblex, the demon lord of oozes
(FC1 66). The cult learns of his
origins, and the cultists torture
him until
they learn all they can. Dorn goes mad and swears his soul
to the Faceless Lord.
An archeologist named Vanessa hires the PCs to accompany
her across the desert to find a lost city. During the trek, she
pqs
CYNIDICEANS
After the lost city of Cynidicea was sealed underground, centuries
of dwelling in darkness changed its people. In addition to
human racial features, Cynidiceans have the following traits.
Low-Light Vision: A Cynidicean can see twice as far as an
ordinary human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar
conditions of poor lighting.
Light Sensitivity (Ex): Cynidiceans are dazzled in bright
sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
pqs
is separated
from the
PCs by one
of Zargon’s
storms.
Vanessa
flees, alone,
and finds
the city, where
she is captured
and taught the
deeper secrets of
Zargon.
EL 8 (Moderate
Sign): The eerie weather
worsens, and the storms
build in intensity. Reports
of corrupting slime
spread across the region,
and more and more innocents
are transformed into
mindless killers.
Juiblex stirs in the
Abyss and takes an interest
in what happens on
the Material Plane. The
Faceless Lord learns that
Zargon is behind the upheaval
and decides to forge
an alliance with the elder
evil to work toward the
same goal—widespread
destruction. Juiblex commands
Dorn to return to
Zargon the Returner
his homeland and arrange
an alliance with the beast.
Meanwhile, cultists of Zuggtmoy (FC1 79) learn of their
rivals’ plans and believe that if they succeed, Juiblex would
gain incredible power. Rather than confront the cult, they
kill many people and fabricate evidence to implicate the cult
of Juiblex. The PCs are called to investigate. They learn of
the plot, but also the identities of the true culprits.
EL 11 (Strong Sign): Dorn and his fellow cultists arrive
at the ziggurat, where he meets Vanessa. She seduces him
and convinces him to join her in a coup to take control
of the cult of Zargon. Dorn slays his own father, spilling
his blood onto Zargon’s horn. This act of treachery speeds
Zargon’s rebirth, and the world shudders with even more
violent weather.
PCs concerned about the meteorological conditions
might be prompted to identify the cause. As they search
for the source, representatives of sinister and not-sosinister
powers come forward, each seeking to control the
characters. Each faction tries to manipulate the PCs into
leading it to Zargon’s resting place. The PCs must play the
groups against one another to learn about the force behind
the storms, the threat Zargon poses, and the location of the
fabled lost city.
EL 12: The PCs once more look for the Lost City, braving
dreadful storms and terrible creatures. They descend
into the earth, confront the various masked factions and