Hooks
Having sworn to guard the city’s mayoral mansion during the Khadoran invasion, a lone Llaelese swordsman returned from death to continue his vigil. Khadoran soldiers that attempt to enter the mansion find themselves facing a nearly inde- structible foe.
A Thamarite sect called the Shroud is seeking the recovery of the skull of the infamous Lord Governor Legison of Five Fingers from Traitor’s Park in that city. Once they have the skull, the soulform of the governor will become a particularly powerful corporeal revenant under their control.
The sloop Drunken Swan brings news and trades fresh supplies with the party’s ship while at sea, but it then falls prey to rev- enant pirates the next night. The ship is taken as a prize and her crew is captured alive. If they are not rescued, they face a grim fate in Cryx: swear an oath and become a revenant pirate or become fodder for Necrotech experiments.
A young Order of Illumination agent seeks the party’s help in hunting a mysterious man with sorcerous powers responsible for multiple killings on the Market Line and who is said to be indestructible. Each time he is killed his corpse disappears in a plume of foul smelling smoke. Afterward the agent admits that his quarry is a life-like revenant and a prior member of the Order whose witch-hunting has turned to serial killing.
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Rhinodon
N Large Magical Beast CR 12
Hit Dice: 14d10+98 (175 hp)
Immunities/Resist: Resistance to fire and electricity 15
Senses: Listen +5, Spot –1, low-light vision, scent
Initiative: –1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 25, touch 7, flat-footed 25 (–2 size, –1 Dex, +18 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +14/+29
Attack: Tail +20 melee (2d6+7/19–20 plus critical slam)
Full Attack: Tail +20 melee (2d6+7/19–20 plus critical slam), 2 slams +14 melee (1d6+3)
Special Attacks: Critical slam, gore, powerful charge
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Qualities: Solid horn, stable
Saves: Fort +16, Reflex +8, Will +3
Abilities: Str 25, Dex 8, Con 24, Int 4, Wis 9, Cha 8
Skills: Climb +13, Listen +5, Spot –1, Survival +5
Feats: Die Hard, Endurance, Power Attack, Improved Overrun, Improved Critical (tail)B, Weapon Focus (tail)
Environment: Any desert or warm land
Organization: Solitary, family (3–5), herd (6–19)
Advancement: 15–19 HD (Large), 20–32 (Huge)
E
very thirty-sixth fullness of Calder, all trollkin kri- els in the Wyrmwall region participate in a shift- ing holiday of drink, thunderous song, and the rampages trollkin call dancing known as the Storm Moot. I once imagined that cacophony of noise and trembling earth the most bone-shaking experience one could endure. Recently, the trumpeting charge of an armored legion of titans forced me to reconsider. Now, to my horrifiedamazement, the ground-cracking stampede of the lumbering rhinodon has forced me to change my thinking again.
A beast apparently made less from flesh and more from stone pitted and made craggy by eons of erosion and harsh wind, the apply named rhinodon epitomizes the harsh tenacity and brutishness of the Bloodstone Marches. Twin rows of rough- hewn plates jut from their weathered and armored backs. The solid, double horns growing from the beasts’ foreheads, and the stone-shattering boney clubs at the ends of their powerful tails make them deadly opponents.
For all their savage appearances, though, the hulk- ing beats look to split the difference between massive desert herbivores and primitive humanoids. Capable of walking upright, supporting themselves on two broad-toed rear legs, possessed of a highly social nature, and distinguished by a lan- guage of nasal blasts and blaring honks, my first encounter with the creatures led me to mistakenly approach with open arms, calling out a encyclopedia of greetings. I obviously startled them. A bull of the group dropped to all fours and, splaying
its armored ridges, launched into a bellowing charge without hesitation. A stunted, unsuspecting outcropping of dark quartz saved my life as I leapt for cover behind it. Undeterred, the rhinodon crashed into the crystalline barrier with all the sound and fury of an avalanche. When the earth stopped shaking and I dared to peek from my cover I expected to see the broken- necked corpse of the rampaging brute. Instead I watched, awed, as the thing merely shook its head and ambled away.
Although my encounter speaks poorly of the beasts’ judg- ment and eyesight, I would guess that such things matter little when reinforced by
nearly a ton of blunt muscle, boney armor, and man-skewering horn.
Combat
While normally docile and easily avoided, rhinodons’ notoriously poor eyesight and
hearing make them easily surprised. A startled rhinodon quickly charges into an opponent with all the force of a steam- jack, sometimes sending smaller enemies flying. With their powerful hands, broad footing, and substantial bulk, few creatures can hope to overpower these beasts, and those that try risk impalement on a rhinodon’s boney plates.
Critical Slam (Ex): If a rhinodon critically hits a Medium
or smaller target with its tail, the creature must make a Reflex save (DC 24) or be stunned for 1d4 rounds, knocked fly- ing 10 feet in a direction of the attacking creature’s choice, and fall prone. If an obstacle prevents the completion of the
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opponent’s move, the opponent and the obstacle each take 1d6 points of damage, and the opponent stops in the space adja- cent to the obstacle. If the critically hit target is of Large size or greater it is not knocked backward, but it still must save to resist being stunned. The save DC is Strength-based.
Gore (Ex): If a rhinodon hits with both its slam attacks, it
throws its head forward to impale its opponent on its mighty horn. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6+10 points of damage.
Powerful Charge (Ex): A rhinodon deals 4d6+21 points
of damage when it makes a charge.
Solid Horn (Ex): A rhinodon’s gore attack counts as ser-
ricsteel for overcoming damage resistance.
Stable (Ex): With their broad feet and strong hands, few
terrains or impediments can slow a rhinodon. Rhinodons gain a +8 racial bonus on all Balance checks. In addition, they gain a +4 bonus on checks to resist being tripped and ignore rough terrain, such as that found on mountainous slopes or created by spells like stone spikes.
Legends & Lore
Common: Bad-tempered barrens animals, rhinodons
wander the Bloodstone Marches in ponderous herds.
Uncommon: A rhinodon will charge anything they see moving
that isn’t another rhinodon—and sometimes other rhinodons.
Rare: Rhinodons possess notoriously poor vision. They have
little ability to distinguish between threats, always attacking the largest danger to face them.
Obscure: Rhinodons won’t attack you if you aren’t moving,
mistaking you for some part of the environment.
Treasure
While rhinodons carry nothing with them, gemstones of vary- ing value are sometimes found in the creatures’ gullets, swallowed along with small stones to aid in digestion.
Hooks
A group of Idrian herdsmen from the west has captured a rhin- odon calf, intent on domesticating it and judging its usefulness as a pack animal. The creature’s infuriated parents, though, have followed their child’s scent and are laying waste to everything in the kidnappers’ wake.
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Riven
CE Medium Undead (Incorporeal) CR 13 Hit Dice: 17d12 (110 hp)
Immunities/Resist: Incorporeal traits, undead traits
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Listen +17, Spot + 18
Initiative: +14
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 25, touch 25, flat-footed 15 (+10 Dex, +5 deflection)
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/—
Attack: Incorporeal touch +18 melee (1d8 plus 1d6 Wisdom drain)
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch +18 melee (1d8 plus 1d6 Wisdom drain)
Special Attacks: Spirit bind, Wisdom drain
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Qualities: Futile fatality, incorporeal traits, spell-like abilities, telepathy 100 ft., undead traits, unwelcomed
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +15, Will +16
Abilities: Str —, Dex 30, Con —, Int 17, Wis 22, Cha 21
Skills: Bluff +24, Hide +22, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (history) +22, Knowledge (religion) +22, Listen +17, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +14, Spot +18
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (incorporeal touch), Spring Attack
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Advancement: 17–28 (Medium)
M
y assistant Edrea Lloryrr encountered a rivenwhile traveling near her homelands recently. She related the intriguing and harrowing tale to me as a warning.
With equal amounts of pity and abhorrence, she con- fessed to me that long ago some Iosan priests went mad from a tragedy that Edrea would not elaborate upon. Whatever the cause, their violent madness drove them to com-
mit bloody atrocities among their people. At the time their people most needed them, they turned on their
own with savage depravity.
As penance
for their violent crimes, Edrea explained, these riven lost access to the afterlife, cursed to wander the earth with the necklace containing their symbol of office as a burning noose around their necks. Even
the souls they wronged in life sleep lightly. Edrea painted a vivid image of the riven’s apparition locked in an eternal scream, the grasping hands of its victims’ spirits constantly pulling it earthward.
Most disturbing, however, is the manner in which these poor wretches seek to free themselves. Here Edrea made clear that these creatures truly threaten men, not Iosans. The guilt
ridden riven do not desire more Iosan victims. Instead they seek out mortal humans whose souls travel to Urcaen; possess- ing a soul pure of heart, they bring about its death in a futile attempt to follow it into the afterlife.
To my relief, she gave some hint of how to avoid these creatures. She suspects that these Iosan ghosts may not leave Ios except when asked, though the asker may not suspect him-
self the ghost’s next victim. According to her lore, a border or threshold can contain these terrors.
To invite one across such a barrier is to invite death, however.
Let us hope few of these creatures have escaped from the sleeping woods of Ios and into the world at large.
As one last note, I can’t help but think that Edrea knows more than she says about these ghosts, and that the tragedy of their origin runs deeper than she will express. If my suspicions are correct then they are but a symptom of some larger malady that plagues the elven-kind.
Combat
The riven are the crazed, tortured spirits of elven priests who suffered and died during the Rivening. During this time, the
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Riven
connection between the deities of the Divine Court—with the exception of Scyrah and Nyssor—and their worshippers broke. Many of the most pious Iosans, wracked by fundamental loss (and, some say, tormented divine screams), lost their minds and committed atrocities against their terrified people. Their crimes bind these insane apparitions to Caen, each sin manifested as the spirit of one they wronged. They bear their former holy symbols as painful brands.
The riven believe that if they inhabit a body as it dies they might tether themselves to the passing soul and pass into Urcaen. They believe their chances are best if following the soul of a non-elf, given the uncertain fate of their own people, and to this end they seek out mortals of pure soul to possess and then kill. In this they delude themselves. The deaths they provoke can never bring them release.
Spirit Bind (Ex): Once per round, a riven can merge its
body with a living creature, as a magic jar spell except that it does not require a receptacle. To use this ability, the riven must try to move into its target’s space, which provokes attacks of opportunity. The target can resist the attack with a successful Will save (DC 23). A creature that saves is immune to that same riven’s spirit bind for 24 hours, and the riven cannot enter the target’s space. The save DC is Charisma-based. Elves
receive a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist spirit bind.
If the save fails, the riven possess the target. The target may make another Will save every round for the next 5 rounds to expel the riven. If all the saves fail, the riven possesses the tar- get for the rest of the day. Every day thereafter, the target can attempt another save to regain control of its body.
Wisdom Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a riven’s
incorporeal touch attack must pass a Fortitude save (DC 23) or take 1d6 points of Wisdom drain. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Futile Fatality (Su): If the body a riven inhabits is
reduced to –10 hit points by others, an energy draining wave affects the surrounding area as the spirit attempts to force its way into Urcaen, killing plants and draining away life. All crea- tures within 15 feet of the body must make a Fortitude save (DC 23) or take 1d6 points of Constitution damage. The save DC is Charisma-based. After this blast, the riven is shunted from the creature it possessed into the square where the body last stood. For 1d4 rounds after being forced from a creature a riven is dazed and loses its turn resistance.
Unwelcomed: Riven cannot pass through any border or
threshold without receiving permission or an invitation. This includes anything from the national border of Ios to a
doorway. If a riven possessing a body passed a border, the riven is immediately shunted from its possessed
body and dazed for 1d4 rounds.
Spell-like Abilities: 3/day— bane (DC
16), doom (DC 16), deeper darkness, suggestion (DC 18). 1/day—crushing despair (DC
19). Caster level 16th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.