The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

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These are the ice devils that serve Bastirak as guards
and retainers. By means of the gateway to Hell (see
below), Bastirak has been able to bargain with certain
infernal powers. In return for frequent sacrifices and
similar tributes, he is allowed a small retinue of ice
devils for his personal use. As the ice devils have come
through planar gateways rather than being summoned
by a spell, they can stay here indefinitely.
The number of ice devils depends on the party’s
strength. The Games Master should set an EL for the
party according to the Player Characters’ average level
of experience. A 14 th level party should encounter two
devils, a 15 th level party three and a 14 th level party four.
This is a very strong encounter, as it is Bastirak’s second
line of defence.
The devils challenge anyone who approaches, rather
than attacking immediately. What with all of the planar
disturbances, the citadel frequently has unexpected
guests running around inside, some of whom prove to
be echoes and illusions. The party may conceivably
talk its way past these guards, so long as the Player
Characters have a very convincing story and have not
obviously smashed their way in.
Bronderbok the Planespider (see page 139) has been
persuaded to leave these ice devils alone, as they are
here by contract rather than as the result of interplanar
confusion.
Ice Devil Guards: CR 13; Large outsider (evil,
extraplanar, lawful); HD 14d8+84; hp 147; Init +5; Spd
40 ft.; AC 32, touch 14, flat-footed 27; Base Atk +14;
Grp +24; Atk +20 melee (2d6+9/x3 plus slow, spear) or
+19 melee (1d10+6, claw); Full Atk +20/+15/+10 melee
(2d6+9/x3 plus slow, spear) and +14 melee (2d6+3,
bite) and +14 melee (3d6+3 plus slow, tail); or +19
melee (1d10+6, 2 claws) and +14 melee (2d6+3, bite)
and +14 melee (3d6+3 plus slow, tail); Space/Reach 10
ft./10 ft.; SA fear aura, slow, spell-like abilities, summon
devil; SQ damage reduction 10/good, darkvision 60 ft.,
immunity to fire and poison, regeneration 5, resistance
to acid 10 and cold 10, see in darkness, spell resistance
25, telepathy 100 ft.; AL LE; SV Fort +15, Ref +14,
Will +15; Str 23, Dex 21, Con 23, Int 22, Wis 22, Cha
20.
Skills & Feats: Bluff +22, Climb +23, Concentration
+23, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Intimidate
+24, Jump +27, Knowledge (planes) +23, Listen +25,
Move Silently +22, Search +23, Sense Motive +23,
Spellcraft +23, Spot +25, Survival +6 (+8 following
tracks); Alertness, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Power
Attack, Weapon Focus (spear).
The Ice Column: The central pillar does not hold up
the roof of the dome, as that is self-supporting. Its
purpose is to provide a stairway up to the various rooms
in the dome’s interior. The very heart of the pillar is
hollow, providing a drop shaft down to the underground
sections of the citadel.
The ice walkways that branch out from the column are
much more structurally fragile than the column itself.
Each one is five feet across and consists of a mere threefoot
thickness of ice, arched in the centre for greater
structural strength. Destruction of any part of the
walkway results in the collapse of the whole thing.
4. The Aged Sages
A single sheet of ice one foot thick closes off the
doorway to this room. Bastirak uses his circlet of chill
bone to remove and recreate the barrier when he needs
to gain access.
Sitting around a table on which a heatless green lamp
burns are four peculiar creatures. Their hair is long
and grey, their faces shrivelled and wrinkled. They look
like human beings who have lived twice as long as any
human should. They nod their heads in a monotonous
rhythm, seemingly oblivious to your presence.
These four wretches are counsellors of Bastirak’s
who should have died long ago, who are being kept
alive by the cold. Bastirak has discovered a way to
lengthen a creature’s lifespan, though its quality of
life afterwards is not enviable. The creature must be
fed a glutinous potion at the moment of death. If the
creature is thereafter kept bathed in a particular kind
of alchemically produced light and not allowed to thaw
out, it will remain animate and articulate.
The aged sages beg the party to end their agony and
slay them. They answer any questions that the Player
Characters have, so long as it is within their power to do
so. Each sage is 15 th level expert specialises in arcana
and religion, another in the planes and their denizens,
another in geography and history and the last in flora
and fauna.
For game purposes, the Games Master should assume
that the sages can answer any questions that would be
useful to the furthering of the story, such as ‘how did
Bastirak build this citadel?’, ‘why are there extraplanar
creatures running around in the Waste?’ and ‘where can
we find tenebrium?’. The sages answer that tenebrium
is found on the sub-plane of Noctulos and that Bastirak
has some means of access to it, but beyond that, they
cannot help.
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8