The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

214
Song of the Night Hags
Stoke the fire and light the tapers,
Strike a jig and cut some capers,
Smell the foul and fuming vapours,
‘Tis the Sabbath tide again!
Now rehearse the best of sins,
Prick the fatted child with pins,
See how master death’s-head grins!
’Tis the Sabbath tide again!
Spin the circle faster, faster!
Speak the spells of dark disaster!
Praise unto the hornèd master!
‘Tis the Sabbath tide again!
in this manner becomes a disembodied shade in the
service of the night hag. Unlike dream haunting, this
ability is not limited to chaotic or evil victims. The hag
cannot, however, drain Constitution from a child who
is under the protection of a good or lawful Abjuration
spell such as protection from evil.
Disease (Ex): Demon fever: bite, Fortitude DC 18,
incubation period 1 day, damage 1d6 Constitution. Each
day after the first, on a failed saving throw, an afflicted
creature must immediately succeed on another Fortitude
saving throw (DC 18) or take one point of Constitution
drain. The saving throw DC is Constitution-based.
Spell-Like Abilities: At will – detect chaos, detect evil,
detect good, detect law, detect magic, magic missile,
polymorph (self only), ray of enfeeblement (DC 12),
sleep (DC 12). Caster level is 8 th . A night hag can
use etherealness at will (caster level 16 th ) so long as it
possesses its heartstone (see below). The saving throw
DCs are Charisma-based.
Equipment & Treasure: Heartstone (see the MM for
details).
5. Tethered Nightmares
Tethered to the trunks of the trees are thirteen nightblack
horses, with manes that flame like crimson gas.
These are the nightmare steeds of the Hags of Noctulos.
If the Player Characters disturb them, they attempt to
break their tethers with a Strength check (DC 22) and
take to the sky (see page 25 for nightmare statistics).
6. The City of Memories
From afar, this city seems to be an abandoned
settlement:
Now that you can see it up close, the small city before
you seems to be completely empty; though there is a
shadowy motion there that you find hard to focus on,
as if tall trees were casting shadows over the streets.
The buildings are all made from the usual materials –
stone, brick, timber and thatch – and yet they all have a
blackish cast to them, as if they had been dipped in ink.
Above the other roofs rises the spire of a central
cathedral. A beam of darkness sweeps past overhead,
emitted from the spire like the ray from a lighthouse.
You feel a brief chill in your bones as it passes, and
there is a faint moaning noise.
The thousands of red lights are now explained as fungal
growths on the walls and roofs, which light up the areas
around them with a hellish radiance. The whole place
gleams in the gloom like a nest of fireflies.
A low wooden sign just outside the city reads: ‘MEMORY
VALE’
.
If the Player Characters enter the city and explore, they
find out the following:
The lumps of red fungus hanging from the walls cast
a sallow light across the streets. From here, you can
clearly see an unsettling sight.
Although there is nobody there to cast them, the red light
is casting the shadows of people. You see the shadows
of men and women go by on the walls, as if the streets
were busy, rather than empty. Through the windows,
the red light shows wavering shadows of families sitting
down to eat at table, in rooms that have no occupants
and no furniture. The shadows talk, laugh and embrace
one another, all in total silence.
If the Player Characters watch the shadows for a while,
they notice something even more disturbing. The
scenes always end in violence. The crowds in the
street suddenly scream and run as a shadowy figure
comes running down on them, hacking away with a
greatsword. The dinner scene in the house dissolves
into an argument; the woman stabs the man in the chest
repeatedly. The happy tavern drinkers begin to fight
and knives are drawn.
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8