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The Dead Lands of Athas
The Ebony Plain
an adventure for 3-5 players, levels 14-17
by Gerald Arthur Lewis
email U15959@snet.net
copyright 1998, Gerald Lewis, All Rights Reserved
TSR discontinued Dark Sun before making an adventure for really high level characters. Though I’m sure there have been very few characters that have attained substantial levels in the Dark Sun world, there must be some demand for it, and I believe this adventure shall fill the niche. This adventure can best be used if one has read the Dead Lands of Athas Net. Project by Gerald Arthur Lewis, but it is not absolutely necessary that the entire supplement be read.
Basic Premise:
It has been rumored that undead have been amassing around Gretch’s palace for the last seven years. Wanting to negotiate an alliance between his city-state and the Dead Lands, Hamanu, Sorcerer-King of Urik sends a party of strong warriors, magic-weilders and psionicists to speak on his behalf. Deedone, a peaceful Pyreen, doesn’t like the scenario at all. If Gretch truly is stirring, it could mean big trouble for the Tablelands. With the Kreen and Dregoth causing problems, the Tyr region just isn’t ready for a hoard of undead. The first group of adventurers Hamanu sent out (in Free Year 6) never returned, or even sent word back to their king. They simply disappeared into the wastes. Determined not to let the same thing happen again, this time Hamanu wants to send down a group he knows will survive, a group of the most incredibly powerful people he can find. Deedone will not have this. She hires the PC’s to track Hamanu’s group, and if at all possible, eliminate them. She also knows that if Gretch wakes, it’s possible that all life on Athas could be wiped out.
The PC’s:
This adventure comes with no template characters. Nor do I believe that any 14-17th level characters should be created for this. High level adventuring is something that is rarely able to be done in Dark Sun. I think that making such strong characters undermines the uniqueness of playing a justly powerful group of PC’s on the world.
This adventure works best if there is at least one mage in the group. A fundamental knowledge of magic is important for the quest, so a group of magic-fearing gladiators will not fare well.
The NPC’s:
Each NPC will not only have his or her stats provided, but also some information that will help to role-play the particular character.
Treasure:
I’m a miserly DM (by TSR’s standards anyway), so you may wish to increase the amount of treasure found in this quest. I put in what I felt would actually exist -- I don’t like to tailor the rewards to player’s level. If you have a problem with this, just stick a bit more in.
The Start:
This adventure starts in small grove on the western side of the mountains by Altaruk. It is here that the Pyreen Deedone resides. She will call for the party by calling to them in their dreams. She will most likely target a woman, though a preserver or good-aligned cleric also have strong chances to be contacted. The dreams will show a rich paradise, filled with beautiful plants, animals and pools of water. The character will then have an incredibly strong urge to trek to Deedone’s grove, though will not know where he or she is going. The character can resist by making a Wisom check once a day, but once the check fails, 4 point penalties are applied to the check daily. A less direct way of getting the characters there would be to have their caravan or mode of transportation blown off course by a sandstorm, and accidentally finding Deedone’s place.
The characters should eventually make it to the grove, and when they do, read or paraphrase this passage.
Your tiring trek is finally yeilding results. The barren, hilly lands surrounding the small mountain suddenly give way to a verdant grove of lush greens, bright reds, and deep maroons. The glint of water shines through a small group of bushes, and the reflection plays against the body of yourself and your travelling-companions. The scent of fragrant flowers lilts in the gentle breeze. This must be paradise.
The grove is owned and maintained by the Pyreen known as Deedone. She is happy to see anyone use it, as long as they do not abuse her generosity and as long as they are not defilers. Deedone has lived in the area for the past seven hundred years, and has shaped it from a barren wasteland to a thriving oasis. The expanse covers nearly 30 square miles and nearly one fourth of it is devoted to clear ponds and pristine streams.
Deedone:
Deedone is very old, even for a Pyreen. She knew Rajaat when she was young (but did not associate herself with him). She saw the Cleansing Wars come, tried to stop them, and failed. She still feels guilty for not doing more during the war (not that she could have) and so treats all non-humans especially well. It is her nature, though, to treat everyone with at least some degree of kindness and compassion, except for defilers. There is no room in her heart for defilers, and she has developed a spell to help rid Athas of them.
Deedone’s Pennance connects defilers to the land around them. Every time they steal the life force from plants, it hurts them. It is a fouth level spell, and she will teach it to any cleric or druid as long as they promise to teach at least four others how to cast it.
Deedone is ancient and tired. She feels her time is running out on Athas, and wants to make one more lasting contribution before she dies. She talks slowly and deliberately, carefully weighing what she says before hand. Occasionally, she breaks into coughing spells, and must rest for a while before proceeding with anything. Make sure the PCs see that Deedone is in pain and on her last legs. Have her send them on a guilt trip, but disguise it. Deedone would never say “If you don’t go for me, Athas will suffer and it will be on your heads,” she would say “But don’t go for me, go so that your children will live in a better world.” Make the guilt trip sound positive.
What she wants:
Deedone realizes that if Hammanu’s group reached the Dead Lands and manages to contact Gretch, it could mean serious trouble for the Tablelands. She is aware of the Kreen threat to the West, and knows that fighting a two-front war would be impossible.
She has nothing to offer the adventurers that quest for her, save for an ancient sword, her own spells, and a ring she still has not figured out what to do with. The gifts are small, but they are all she has.
Deedone is passive, and so doesn’t want the characters to kill Hammanu’s party, but she does realize that if they are not stopped the evil undead of the south could rise up and slay countless thousands of innocents, and so feels that if the charcters must kill, then that is what they must do.
Her orders are simple: find Hammanu’s party before they find Gretch and stop them. If they have gotten to Gretch already, stop Gretch before he enters the Tablelands. She points them in the direction of the Dead Lands, and has them set out as soon as possible.
Deedone’s Equipment:
Deedone is willing to part with as much food and water as the PC’s can carry. She has lots to spare, and sees it as good use. There are no pack animals in her grove, though there is a flock of erdlus who sometimes show up outside of it. If any PC’s would like to try, give them a cumulative 10% chance per day to spot the flock. Harnessing the creatures is another matter entirely. Deedone has nothing else to spare, and will only allow the party to stay with her for ten days. After that, she insists they leave. She is a good and gracious host, but manners can wait when all of Athas is at stake.
The Trip to the Dead Lands
The trip to the Dead Lands is a tough one, but nothing that a well-equipped, high-level party can’t handle. Below are a list of random encounters. Most are unnecessary, though some are crucial to the plot. Run any you like, but be sure to included the “*”ed ones.
1) Caravan to Celik: Not far from the grove, the players notice a large caravan moving towards the south with the emblem of house Stel emblazoned on its flags. The caravan needs guards, as it was recently raided by a large band og Blue Elves. Many died, and the trek will be a perilous one for the merchants if they can’t hire some sort of protection. Talks of mutiny have started, so the caravan captain will do almost anything to hire the PC’s. His name is Tavek, and is transporting bushels of faro needles and a few pounds of ore to Celik under a pact Stel made with the people there. He will pay up to five ceramic a day, which is a lot of money for the job. If the PC’s join up with Tavek and his caravan, still run the encounters below, just change them so that the party’s attacked in a caravan (or outside it if they are on foot patrol).
2) Dark Oasis: During their travels, the PC’s come across an oasis marked as being a healthy, safe and stable one. Unfortunately, it has recently become the hunting grounds of a Nightmare Beast. The creature recently killed off the elves who had claimed the site as their own, and were charging six ceramics to anything that used their water. Apparently, the Nightmare Beast didn’t care much for that price... When the PC’s get to the area, read or paraphrase the following:
After travelling over some horrendously tall dunes, you smell the lovely smell of flowers. Only oases, large oases, can make that kind of scent, and you hurry onward to investigate. Hidden behind a fairly large outcrop of rocks lies an oasis that reminds you much of Deedone’s grove. A scorched sign lays at your feet, the symbol of a man drinking water badly sits singed and blackened. Just inside the oasis, the feeling of death becomes palpable. Something is wrong here. Horribly wrong...
If the PC’s are smart they’ll either flee or try to divine exactly what lies ahead. There’s a good chance that they’ll proceed though, and the Nightmare Beast will quickly make its existence known with a Fireball. If the party survives and wishes to search the area, they may find the elve’s loot locked in a chest under one of their beds. The contents total four gold, and a purple gem lies inside worth another two gold.
That's all for now...