The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

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Foundation Keepers
Those who uncover the buried ruins of primeval
temples occasionally find the skeletons of sacrificial
victims buried down among the foundations.
Primitive superstition holds that the soul of the
sacrificed creature will guard the building and make
sure that it stands firm.
A foundation keeper is a ghost created according to a
complicated ritual. First the victim must be prepared
by being fed a cocktail of hallucinogenic herbs and
fungi that require a Craft (herbalism) or Knowledge
(religion) check (DC 20) to prepare properly. Next
the victim must be ritually slain within the precincts
he is to guard, with a single blow (such as a coup
de grace). If more than one blow proves necessary,
a foundation keeper is not created. The creature’s
blood is then used to anoint the boundaries of the
space to be protected, which cannot exceed ten
square feet per Hit Die or character level that the
creature had. Finally, the body must be interred in
the place to be guarded.
Foundation keepers have the following special
features:
• +5 turn resistance, which replaces the ghost’s
standard turn resistance of +4.
• Foundation keepers never have the malevolence
special ability.
• A foundation keeper reforms itself 1d6 hours
after being destroyed, rather than taking 2d4 days.
A foundation keeper cannot leave the marked region
that it has been set to guard. It cannot be ‘laid to
rest’, but if its remains are dug up and moved from
the site it is permanently destroyed. Otherwise it
reforms itself after being dispelled, as is usual for
a ghost.
4. Mammoth Pens
These vast stalls must have been used to house animals.
They have been recently abandoned, as there are
mounds of fresh dung and elephantine footprints in the
frozen muck on the floor. Scattered about are chunks of
chewed bone, too crushed to be identifiable.
Grommen’s band kept a herd of domesticated mammoths
in these stalls, caring for them like family. As they were
omnivorous, he mostly fed them captured humanoids
from the forest. The arrival of the whiteladies made
the mammoths skittish. Eventually they panicked and
broke through their stall gates, and they now roam the
waste again.
A character searching through the refuse and making a
Search check (DC 15) can find a chewed goblin skull.
With a Knowledge (nature) check (DC 15) or Survival
check (DC 15), a character examining the footprints can
conclude that a mammoth made them.
4a: Winter Wolf Cadavers
The stiff, frost-sparkling bodies of five white wolves lie
here, twisted as if they had died in pain. There is no
sign of any blood.
These predators came sniffing around the fortress and
were unlucky enough to run into the whiteladies, who
drained their life essence in moments. The positions
of the bodies suggests that they were backed into the
corner and desperate to get away.
5. Blocked Stairs
This set of stone steps leads down only a few feet
before a gleaming wall of ice blocks it off. You glimpse
something pale embedded in the ice, perhaps a body or
swatch of white cloth.
There is a whitelady (see page 166) at the bottom of
the stairs, hovering behind five feet of ice. If the Player
Characters come close without disturbing her, they
are able to get a good look. She resembles a beautiful
human woman, her long hair hanging veil-like in the
ice, looking somehow artificial like a carnival exhibit.
Assuming the Player Characters do not do anything
hostile, she remains asleep. If they attempt to break
the ice or affect her in any way, her eyes suddenly flick
open and she darts away into the ice like a vanishing
mermaid.
6. Partially Blocked Stairs
White mist seeps up these huge steps, chilling against
your flesh. The steps lead down into a cellar built for
giants. The stairs are partly blocked by fallen rubble,
but you believe you can squeeze through. The roof
above does not look sound.
A Knowledge (dungeoneering) check (DC 15) ascertains
that the roof is not especially robust, but should hold up
so long as nothing disturbs the supports or shakes the
ground too much.
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8