Exemplars of Evil

ENCOUNTER 2-2
44
L IBRARY
Encounter Level 7
SETUP
An orc captain stands guard over each entrance to this
room. By Zargath’s orders, no one is allowed to enter
through the southern or eastern door. Player characters
who do so are surprised and immediately attacked by the
orcs in the room. Those who enter through the western
doors are confronted by two orc guards, who first look
to see if the intruders have an escort and a feather of the
correct color. If the PCs attack as their first action when
entering the room through this door, they gain surprise.
Otherwise, roll for initiative normally.
If the PCs open the western doors, read:
The door swings open to reveal a tall and mostly
empty bookshelf standing directly in front of you,
with another to your left. To the right, a miserable
and abused human sits at a desk, writing with a
quill on a piece of parchment. Two orcs with their
swords drawn stand in front of the first bookshelf.
“You got business here?” the one on the left snarls.
The library contains tall bookshelves, desks, chairs, and
an alchemy station. Six human prisoners (H) sit at desks,
filling parchment with information that Zargath has
demanded. They are being watched by eight orc soldiers
(O), two orc captains (C), and Dwarreg (D), the dwarf who
thinks he’s an orc.
TACTICS
Once combat begins, four orcs confront the PCs while the
rest duck behind bookshelves and try to pepper the intruders
with arrows, aiming first at any obvious spellcasters.
The four orcs in melee combat try to use the bookshelves
to flank the party. Whenever possible, the orcs try to push
a bookshelf over onto a party member (for details, see Features
of the Area).
The six human captives are noncombatants and try to
avoid the orcs and the PCs alike. When combat begins,
three hide under their desks, while the rest scramble
around the room, trying to escape through any door in
the confusion.
As soon as Dwarreg realizes that combat has started, he
drinks his potion of barkskin and moves to attack the party.
Like the orcs, he tries to use the bookshelves as cover,
throwing all of the items on his belt at a rate of about 1
per round. He starts by tossing a tanglefoot bag at the first
PC he sees, followed by a vial of alchemist’s fire. Dwarreg
then moves and targets a different PC in the same manner.
When he runs out of alchemist’s fire, he starts hurling
flasks of acid instead. If he sees a PC kill an orc in melee
combat, he throws a thunderstone at that character, hoping
Dwarreg CR 4
hp 23 (4 HD)
Male dwarf expert (combat engineer) 3
N Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +1, Spot +1
Languages Common, Dwarven, Orc
AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 14
(+4 armor)
Fort +3 (+5 against poison), Ref +1, Will +4; +2 against
spells and spell-like effects
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee mwk morningstar +5 (1d6+2)
Base Atk +2; Grp +4
Combat Gear 1 potion of barkskin, 3 vials alchemist’s fire,
6 tanglefoot bags, 3 thunderstones, 3 flasks acid
Abilities Str 14, Dex 11, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 8
Feats Combat Expertise, Diligent
Skills Appraise +4 (+6 Craft), Balance –1, Craft +9,
Decipher Script +5, Diplomacy +7, Disable Device +4,
Intimidate +2, Knowledge (architecture) +8, Listen +1,
Open Lock +3, Search +2 (+6 secret doors), Spot +1,
Survival +7
Possessions combat gear plus masterwork morningstar,
masterwork chain shirt
8 Orc Soldiers CR 1/2
hp 5 each (1 HD); see page 39
2 Orc Captains CR 2
hp 11 each (2 HD); see page 39
6 Human Captives CR 1
hp 6 each (1 HD)
Male or female human expert 2
AC 10
Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +3
to deafen her, though he holds one thunderstone in reserve
in case he is attacked directly.
The orcs make every effort to stay away from the alchemy
station (see Features of the Area) and herd the PCs into
its general vicinity. The first time any PC steps within 3
squares of the station, the orcs attempt to detonate the station
by firing arrows at it. If they make a successful attack
against AC 10, an arrow strikes a volatile object and causes
the whole station to explode.
DEVELOPMENT
When Dwarreg runs out of vials and flasks, he scurries to
the alchemy station (provided it has not been detonated)
and attempts to retrieve the four vials of alchemist’s fire
kept in the steel box. It takes him 2 rounds to unlock
the box and pull out the vials. If he cannot retrieve the
vials, he uses his last thunderstone on the nearest PC and
enters melee combat with his morningstar, fighting to
the death.