After exploring the peak of the Isle of Dread’s mountain volcano, Teravaku, the heroes must eventually descend to the island at large. Game trails and natural stair-like formations offer four routes down the volcano, each corresponding to a cardinal direction. The northern and eastern descents are rough and rocky, with switch-backs and precipitous falls, while the southern and western pathways wind downward through heavily forested mountainside, with fast flowing brooks and small clearings marking the trails.
The surviving white apes of the mountain peak are unfriendly, and though they do not openly attack, they glare and will attempt to throw chunks of rock when they believe they are not being observed. If the party insists on camping anywhere near the peak of Teravaku, the apes will mount a night raid against the party. 12 great apes (XP value 2,100) will attack from stealth by throwing stones from maximum range (10 squares) as a surprise attack before charging in. if half their number are destroyed, the remaining apes will flee and no longer bother the party. The party begins the next day one healing surge down apiece, due to the nights excitement.
These apes are level 4 creatures, so it is likely they will not perform very well, and could result in a slaughter. That is ok, only poorly prepared parties will suffer the full brunt of the attack, mostly from the initial volley of stones, but also because their armor class will be reduced due to the lack of armor. Careless or imperceptive parties will be automatically surprised by the great ape attack. Otherwise any character asleep or with a passive perception of less than 20 will be surprised. Those actively guarding will be surprised on an active perception of 20 or less. Remember that PCs cannot sleep in armour heavier than cloth.
To the North – The Volcano drops precipitously down many hundreds of feet to the heaving waters of the Jade Sea. The north face of the island is almost all cliff, and the waves roil and splash against the isle, and through the maze of tiny islets and pillars of stone that jut out of the northern waters. Black shapes dart and fly amongst the spray, diving and swooping. There is a twisting, back-tracking route that leads downwards to the waters edge.
After an hour of travelling, the party is close enough that perceptive characters may be able to discern (DC 19 perception) that the flying creatures are in fact manticores who nest in shallow caves that dot the cliffs of the north face. The pathway they are on descends down to the level of one of these cliffs, but not all the way to the waters edge. If the party continues they will be discovered when they are within 100 feet of the cave unless the party takes care to conceal themselves – not likely while climbing down a cliff-side. A manticore will do a fly-by while out of range to determine who the interlopers are, and will then return with its pack-mates for an impromptu lunch.
Level 11 hard combat encounter 3000 xp
3 Manticore Spike Hurlers (2400)
1 Manticore Impaler (600 xp)
Tactics – The Manticore strikers will stay out of melee reach and bombard the party while trying to cover for the impaler to swoop in and pick off individual characters one by one before dropping them onto the rocky cliffs. If the manticores are winning the fight, the hurlers could land and vent their rage in melee, but they are not stupid and will use their natural flying advantage for all it is worth.
If a character is plucked off the cliff and dropped, or knocked off, they will fall onto the cliffs below. From the upper run of pathway, they will fall 40’ (8 squares) plus whatever height the impaler achieved before dropping the PC, and will land on the nearest square of lower path. If the character is dropped from the lower run of path, they will fall 1d10 x 10 feet (2 – 20 squares) before catching themselves on some outcropping. In either case the character will take the standard 1d10 per 10 feet of falling damage. Climbing back up to the fight requires a DC 14 athletics check each turn of movement, and every square upwards is considered difficult terrain for purposes of movement. Failing the roll means the character makes no upwards gain, and on a roll of natural 1, slips an additional 10 feet down (no damage).This means that a dropped character could have up to 20 squares of difficult terrain to navigate.
If a character is knocked out by the falling damage, they will slip down into the sea 200 feet below on their FIRST failed death save, practically insuring their permanent death. The unconscious character can be described as hanging by a thread, about to fall, to give the players a warning of what is about to befall. This is a dangerous fight.
Treasure – The shallow cavern contains a central area of rough bedding provided by all the uncured hides of the manticores victims. Perceptive characters can recognize the hides of gorillas, large reptiles, and horses (actually centaurs) as well as man-skin. 1d4+1 manticore eggs can also be gleaned from the cave, and their worth is estimated at 500-1,00 gold apiece, for the right buyer. They will hatch in 2 weeks.
Some players may want to continue exploring manticore caves to gather more eggs for instance. Allow at least one more cave within climbing distance, with a similar but slightly harder combat – subtract a spike hurler and add a second impaler and a Sky hunter to the next encounter, as the manticores call upon an alpha sky hunter to help defend the cave. The treasure is the same, or if the DM wishes, it could contain 1d4+1 newborn manticore cubs instead, for a little variety and hilarity of course.
To the East – The trail is rough and tumble. One minute you are skirting large rock formations, the next you are plunging through narrow canyons that wind ever downwards. While weaving through one such box canyon, the sun is blocked momentarily by large black shapes plunging out of the sky. With a sound somewhere between a screech and a lion’s roar, the manticores swoop in to attack.
Any character who rolls an ainitiative of 20 or less is surprised. The manticores get a single surprise action from their starting position just above the canyons edge, approximately 25 feet (5 squares) above. This gives them just enough room to charge or to hang back and use long range attacks. The canyon walls can be climbed with a DC 17 athletics check, and all 5 wall squares are considered difficult terrain for the purposes of climbing.
Level 12 combat encounter 3600 xp
Manticore Sky Hunter (800 xp)
3 Manticore Impalers (1800)
2 Manticore Strikers (1000 xp)
Tactics – This is a straight forward battle. The hunting squadron will deploy to maximum affect, with the impalers trying to pick up and drop PCs while the strikers stay back by perching on the canyon tops and firing down into the valley, while the Sky Hunter goes where he is neede most, not afraid to mix it up with melee.
The canyon walls are 30 feet high, are difficult terrain for climbing purposes, and require a DC 14 athletics check at the beginning of each turn for climbing. The manticores have little treasure other than a couple slaughtered deer which they drop onto the cliff-top before beginning battle. The Sky Hunter wears a gold armband around its front paw that acts as Bloodsoaked Bracers (giving the Sky Hunter +5 damage when bloodied.)
To the northwest is a narrow side-passage which leads to a sheltered area of the map, protected from above by a shelf of rock 15 feet up letting in only a sliver of light along one edge. The manticores will have to squeeze through the passageway to get to the party and will only do so if they are winning the fight. Otherwise the party has found a safe place for an extended rest. In additon, others have camped here before and buried under a large rock near the back wall (with a symbol for ‘gem’ scratched into the rockwall above DC 24 to spot.) The gem is an astral diamond worth 10,000 gold.
To the South or West – The narrow game trail jogs back and forth along the mountain wall as it descends. The jungle is lush with life and the scents and sounds are overpowering. The path crosses many cold flowing springs and through groves and clearings, until one such clearing seems especially inviting. The floor of the clearing is spongy moss and along iits edges a dark flower blooms. Occasionally it seems like you are being watched, and you catch emerald eyes staring between the leaves, but always they are gone before you can focus on them.
DC 21 Nature to reveal it is Black Lotus and will make a DC 10+lvl will attack to any who come within its aura or be forced to fall prone, save ends. On the first failed save, the traget falls into a magical slumber and must be awakened by another (as a minor action) or sleep for 1d6 hours. A character who makes their save can no longer be affected by the lotus.
The enemy in this encounter, the oblivikon moss mind master, or Ommm, has developed an especially nasty trick. It has spread out its form to be in the center 4×4 area of the tile, and those who are hit by the lotus will attack will sit on the lush moss. The combat will begiin as usual, and characters on the moss at the beginning of their turn take 5 acid damage as they sink into the acidic mossy flesh of the concealed mind master.
Level 11 hard combat encounter 3,700 xp
Oblivion Moss Mind Master (1,400 xp)
4(+) Mossling Hurler Minions (700 xp)
Displacer Beast Pack Lord (1,600 xp)
Tactics – The mind master has prepared the ambush in advance, and has four mossling hurlers prepared. THe master itself will form into its natural large shape as a move action, and then resume combat as normal, trying to create as many minions as possible. The displacer beast will spend the first round of combat invisible in the treeline off-map finding the best area to approach. it intends to target one character and cut them off from the rest. The panther may choose to escape if it becomes bloodied and the outlook of the battle is not favorable. In which case it will continue to hunt the party and spring another such ambush when the time seems right.
The treasure in this clearing is of unusual nature. Once the oblivion moss is dealt with, it will be found on a thorough search of the clearing (DC 24 Perception, DC 17 dungeoneering) that an outcropping of rock broken apart by a baobab tree root reveals a vein of gold. By careful mining operations up to 5,500 gold can be removed from the deep vein. Generally 100 gold per day per person involved is the rate of removal, without creative mining ideas. Alternatively, during an extended rest, each person could collect 1d100 gold worth of nuggets, for a simpler mining experience.
After the encounter – The sun is setting and night falls with surprising speed. Even as one edge of the sky is lit with brilliant crimson, the opposite side of the world goes to sleep under a purple starry night. The howls from the day walking beasts give way to the cries of the night hunters. Pacified, this area seems safe enough now that a camp might be safely made.
Thus ends the first day on the Isle of Dread.
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