The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

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News from Jehannum
The merchants encountered at the Oasis of Pashtar have
this to say:
‘The situation is worse than anyone could have
imagined, outlander! The dark domes still keep the
blessed Sun from shining His light upon the people of
the Five Cities, and now the drow have entrenched their
rule by executing the captured soldiery en masse. They
hang outside the city walls as a warning to the others.
The rumours from inside the city say that they sometimes
spare those who do… degrading things. They make the
men beg for their lives and promise them that the pain
will stop, if only they do the unmanly things that are
asked, with the drow, or with each other. Ai, it is not
good to talk of this.
‘Some of the city people have fled to the northern limits
of the desert, others into the countryside of Jehannum.
There is talk of a resistance but it is only words, words
to keep alive the dream of having once been free. The
drow let the people talk, for it is cruel to give them hope
and then to take it away. To break the people’s spirit
would rob the drow of their sport.
‘The Bright Lord knows that no real resistance ever has
a chance. Even now, drow captains mounted upon black
horses that snort flame like things of Hell are leading
troops into the villages to hunt for escaped warriors.
Sheltering an infantryman means death for the family
who provided the shelter, while villages where a human
is found guilty of sheltering a commander are put to the
torch. Surely these are the last days. Surely this can
get no worse.’
3. Fazz’avoq Oasis: The smoke is still billowing from
this inferno as the Player Characters approach. From
the scale of the destruction, this was not merely an oasis
but a small, fertile valley fed by a plentiful underground
water supply. The blackened patches that were once
areas of light vegetation stretch for several acres on
each side and the variety of different scorched animal
corpses testify to the abundant life that was once found
here. Most of them are goats but there is one lion
carcass, burned along with its prey. They seem to have
been roasted alive.
Rocs Fall: The oasis has never been built upon nor
guarded, as it is unsafe. The goats that drank and grazed
here were the habitual prey of a pair of rocs, unusually
large even by their standards, roosting on the hills to
the west. They are hungry, since there have been no
animals nearby for several days, and swoop down to
attack the Player Characters on sight, thinking them to
be easy meat.
Rocs (2): CR 16; Colossal animal; HD 33d8+297; hp
445; Init +4; Spd 20 ft., fly 80 ft. (average); AC 18,
touch 6, flat-footed 14; Base Atk +24; Grp +56; Atk
+33 melee (2d8+16/19–20, talon); Full Atk +33 melee
(2d6+16/19–20, 2 talons) and +31 melee (4d6+8, bite);
Space/Reach 30 ft./20 ft.; SQ low-light vision; AL N;
SV Fort +27, Ref +22, Will +15; Str 42, Dex 18, Con
28, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 11.
Skills & Feats: Hide –5, Listen +18, Spot +19; Alertness,
Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Critical (talon),
Improved Natural Armour, Iron Will, Multiattack,
Power Attack, Snatch, Weapon Focus (bite), Weapon
Focus (talon), Wingover.
4. Oasis of the Trodden Serpent: This oasis presents
a now familiar scene of scorched plants, dead animals
and humans and a water source turned sluggish and
stinking. This oasis was marshier than the others, so the
marks of spike-soled feet can be seen clearly without the
need to make Search or Spot checks. If the prints are
examined further, a Search check (DC 25) finds a single
brass spike left behind in one of the indentations.
5. Jeshmal Oasis: This is an underground spring rather
than a patch of vegetation, so the Tyrant has ignored it.
Granite steps lead down into a cool, shadowy chamber
rather like a tomb, with troughs in the walls where the
water collects. The walls have been partly decorated
with ceramic tiles in geometric designs, now old and
cracked.
6. Albeyahn Oasis: This oasis has not yet been
assaulted. The Tyrant is heading towards it even now.
Event: Seven Ragged Tigers
This encounter can be slotted in anywhere in the desert
but works best close to Jeshmal Oasis or Devourer’s
Mound.
The desert close to the Plateau of Skulls is home to
numerous evils, among them a clan of rakshasa. These
cunning shapeshifters love to masquerade as friends,
leading travellers into peril – especially by bringing
them close to the lairs of monsters – and then looting
their bodies. For several months now they have been
searching through the ruins at the Plateau of Skulls,
looking for buried art objects and other treasures to loot
from the dead. Rakshasa have no fear of tribal taboos.
They want to investigate old legends of treasures in
Devourer’s Mound but fear the creatures that lie within,
so they hope to trick some do-gooder adventurers into
going in first.
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8