Lords of the Cruth Lowlands - Vaults of Pandius

The Ruins of Achelos
Thus, he brought with him a few allies and
guards for this mission: Ocythoe and
Nikothoe, two mercenary harpy sisters.
Ocythoe (Harpy 1, C) is a pugnacious
being who will use her charming touch to
even out the odds against numerous
opponents, only to sweep down on the
remaining ones and engage in vicious
melee (she has 14 Str and 16 Dex).
Nikothoe (Harpy 1/Wicca 1, C) prefers to
let her sister do the fighting, staying up in
the air casting her spell (a Magic Missile)
or charming opponents with her song. She
targets spellcasters first, and enemies
armed with ranged weapons second. Both
sisters speak the Skycommon tongue of
Serraine, and the screeching language of
the Harpies, so they are unlikely to be able
to communicate with PCs.
Finally, Brandin Firehand (Sky Gnome 3,
C) has been hired as a guide. His cousins
Glondin and Mardin pilot the Cloud Clipper,
and are camped near the Nithian Obelisk.
Most of the books in the library are either
too damaged to be of any use, or of no
interest. The following tomes can be
found:
● Cicercios Paphocuzitum,
“Oratory” 17 . This book can be used
to learn the Oratory skill. It can be
found with a successful Loot skill
check (or other similar skills).
● Gunntarr Rolfsen, “Treaty of
Exploration” 18 , can be used to learn
the Survival skill for any terrain,
obtaining a +1 bonus to the skill.
● Anonymous, “Curses of the
Corrupted Souls from Beyond”. This
is actually the Traladaran
translation of the Thanatopsis that
Serdalu is looking for. It can be
found with a Loot skill check (or
other similar skills) of Heroic
difficulty.
17 from “A Short Reference to Thyatian
Literature”, by Giulio Caroletti and James
Ruhland, http://pandius.com/thy_lit.html
18
from M5 Twilight Calling
● Anonymous, Annales Regum
Acheloion, 10 volumes, only 2
surviving. These books contain
most of the historical information
on Achelos during the V and IX
century. Besides their antiquary
value, volume X can help prove the
Ivanovich family hereditary rights
to the area.
Only the ground floor of the library is
accessible. The upper story is too filled
with rubble from the collapsed roof, which
is also piled on the ground of the main
hall.
1. Entrance and lobby: This large
hall was once adorned with statues
depicting the kings of Achelos in
the guise of Traldar heroes. Most of
the statues are now broken, with
missing arms and heads. Two
appear to be in pristine conditions,
though, including the brightly
painted colours. There is a large
counter near the wall opposite the
entrance, and lines of wooden pegs
jut from the side walls behind the
statues. Brandin Firehand stands
guard here, sitting on the counter
with his meddling box. If the PCs
do not approach stealthily, he hears
them before they enter, and hides
behind the counter. The two
pristine statues are Living Crystal
Statues, brought here by Serdalu
as guards and obey Brandin’s
orders. The gnome is not
necessarily hostile, but very wary of
intruders. If combat starts, he will
flee to area 2, letting the statues
hinder the PCs.
2. Main hall: This large hall once
reached to the ceiling, with a
narrow balconade running all
around the room. As the ceiling
collapsed, the hall is now exposed
to the weather, and is full of pools
of stagnant water, rubble, and the
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