Vogg Tarsh, the sorcerer of the Verdant Marsh, had recently banished the bone men inhabiting the water crypt of the old ones and in so doing had recovered a tome of ancient arcane knowledge. The learned scroll was written in an obscure Old One language of magic, but Vogg Tarsh held binding agreements over elder devils capable of translating such magical lore. Soon, Vogg Tarsh was practicing the art of dimensional transplantation. After perfecting the ability, he contacted the twilight dimensions and began enslaving beings encountered there. The Moak Runner, the lowly Fife beast, and the hive of Rootam Ek. All of these are creatures brought to our world by Vogg Tarsh.
On one of his other dimensional sojourns, Vogg Tarsh encountered a tribe of men like beings who dwelt on a desert world. They would hunt the dust dragons and sand worms by day, and worship the ancient star gods by night. These men themselves would join into groups of marauders, and venture out into the astral realms between dimensions and attack sorcerors and other travellers they encountered there. Vogg Tarsh had heard of these star marauders, and had lost several colleague sorcerers to their attacks. While those sorcerers could not be said to be the friends of Vogg Tarsh (can such a man afford to have friends?), they were trusted colleagues, and he was offended by the loss of their knowledge of the magical universe. So the sorcerer vowed to take revenge on these star marauders.
Over time, one by one, he would capture bands of the star marauders and transport them to other worlds, and always without the aid of their tribal shamans (who served as astral guides). One of the forms of magic that these marauders practiced was the use of tattoos of power. These tattoos would each be modeled after one of the stellar constellations that they drew power from in their home dimension, and they would grant certain powers to the marauders that wore them. They were favored, individually, by certain tribes - so groups encountered almost always have the same tattoo.
The constellations from the dimension of the Star Marauders, and the magical powers that they provide, are listed here:
Ginar the Block - Stone skin, occasionally other stone related manifestations
K'Nar, the Fire Goat - Heat generation, sometimes flame generation
Helfin the Striker - The ability to fire small shards of glass from the arms and hands
Assep and Kutar - The head and body split and operate separate. The body has magical senses. The head will grow additional bodies.
Ch'Nar, the Ice Goat - The ability to slow living opponents by chilling their blood.
Ubell the Spider _ Climbing walls, casting webs, draining blood.
Rish the Stormwind - The body becomes incorporal, only affected by magical weapons. It can attack normally, however.
Uesti the Kraken - Can breathe water. In addition, multiple tentacle limbs grow, which can all use weapons. Resistant to magic.
T'Nux the Suneater - Can create darkness and also absorb magic, to be reused.
Felp the Owl - Silent, stealthy, and flying.
M'tor the Worm - The ability to meld through stone and earth, and also corrode flesh with a touch.
Hagtar the King - Mental powers of attack and defense.
Physically, the Star Marauders are very similar to normal men, and may adopt the abilities of any of the character classes. Far and away, the most commonly encountered are fighters (and occasionally thieves). They are often organized into bands, and will be led by leaders of slightly higher level. They appear as bald humans, are given to sparse dark clothing. For armor they tend to wear a curious hide armor from their own dimension, made of cured strips of Kraken flesh (AC 5). They favor their own weapons - the Sukkong (a short sword), the Lasterak (throwing dagger) and the Peffalar (a halberd). All of these weapons are made of specially treated ivory taken from the fangs of giant desert spiders in their own dimension.
The bad news is that the Star Marauders are hardy and have a long lifespan (perhaps up to 1000 years). The good news is that they are not inter-fertile with regular human females, and Vogg Tarsh brought no women from their own dimension.
As encountered in the Valley of the Old Ones, Star Marauders are almost always groups gathered together by a sorcerer either attack someone or to protect something. They would never be encountered as a randomly moving group.
Showing posts with label Vogg Tarsh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vogg Tarsh. Show all posts
Nov 24, 2010
Nov 23, 2010
Week of Encounters Day 1: The King's Highway
This encounter takes place in the Shattered Plains region of the valley, far to the west. It occurs along the King's Highway, not too far to the west of the Durwash River crossing, where the Highway passes over that mighty river. Like all of the river crossings, the mound the Highway is built on has a vast opening through it for the river to pass underneath.
The King's Highway is an interesting feature in the Valley of the Old Ones. It was built by the last King of the Old Ones, and in spite of their absence for a long, long time the highway remains intact, and still in use. It is, however, a magnet for danger, because of the associated rumors about periodic structures full of the treasures of the Old Ones.
The encounter in question here concerns the efforts of the player party to cross past the highway for some reason.
Physically, the obstacle is the Highway itself. The section the players come up against is over 150 feet tall. Much of the side is covered with patches of exposed rock face and boulders. Climbing the nearly sheer face of the highway is bad enough (requires 1 hand at all times to hang on, and dexterity and strength checks as the DM warrants), but the rocks are teaming with all manner of small predators, like rock snails.
Rock Snails
Num Appearing: 2-8
Alignment: neutral (evil)
Movement: 5'
Armor Class: 4 vs. One foe in contact. 1 vs. All others
Hit Dice: 1d-1
Attacks: 1 (bite), possible poison
Damage: 1d4
Save: F2
Morale: 8
Special Attack: poison (save or as sleep spell); corrosive slime (after successful attack, or against incapacitated foe, snail slime causes automatic 1d3 points per round. Save for half)
The top of the mound is approximately 500 feet across in the area the players are attempting to cross (although this varies from place to place). The most striking feature is that the entire surface is covered in smooth marble blocks.
The top of the mound is indeed a highway, and it stretches as far as one can see to the east and west. The center 150 feet of the top is the highway itself, with approximately 150 feet on either side dedicated to structures that were once standing, and in some spots are still present in a ruined state. The remainder of the top is just a grassy surface that gives way to the rocky escarpment on either side.
Once the party comes up to the top, the DM should show them the map of the apparent buildings in the area, and let them look around for a few minutes. Suddenly, the rubbled doors are thrown open on the "Great Stone House" on the map, and out rush a band (16) of Star Marauders. These particular Marauders have the tattoo'd Sign of K'nar visible on their foreheads.
Star Marauders (sign of K'nar)
Num Appearing: 4-24
Alignment: chaotic-evil
Movement: 60'
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 2d (9 h.p.)
Attacks: 1 (shortsword)
Damage: 1d6
Save: F2
Morale: 9
Special Attack: Heat generation. This band of Star Marauders has been branded with the "Sign of K'nar" tattoo, which means that they have the capability to generate extreme heat for a short amount of time. Once per day, for a period up to 10 consecutive melee rounds, these Star Marauders generate heat that will cause 1d4 H.P. damage per round to anyone in melee contact with them (save v. spells for half).
These are led by a 3HD leader (14 h.p.), who is an expert with a longsword.
Once the Marauders are dealt with, it is revealed that there is a set of stairs in the great stone house, leading down into a series of dungeon chambers (detailed separately).
The King's Highway is an interesting feature in the Valley of the Old Ones. It was built by the last King of the Old Ones, and in spite of their absence for a long, long time the highway remains intact, and still in use. It is, however, a magnet for danger, because of the associated rumors about periodic structures full of the treasures of the Old Ones.
The encounter in question here concerns the efforts of the player party to cross past the highway for some reason.
Physically, the obstacle is the Highway itself. The section the players come up against is over 150 feet tall. Much of the side is covered with patches of exposed rock face and boulders. Climbing the nearly sheer face of the highway is bad enough (requires 1 hand at all times to hang on, and dexterity and strength checks as the DM warrants), but the rocks are teaming with all manner of small predators, like rock snails.
Rock Snails
Num Appearing: 2-8
Alignment: neutral (evil)
Movement: 5'
Armor Class: 4 vs. One foe in contact. 1 vs. All others
Hit Dice: 1d-1
Attacks: 1 (bite), possible poison
Damage: 1d4
Save: F2
Morale: 8
Special Attack: poison (save or as sleep spell); corrosive slime (after successful attack, or against incapacitated foe, snail slime causes automatic 1d3 points per round. Save for half)
The top of the mound is approximately 500 feet across in the area the players are attempting to cross (although this varies from place to place). The most striking feature is that the entire surface is covered in smooth marble blocks.
The top of the mound is indeed a highway, and it stretches as far as one can see to the east and west. The center 150 feet of the top is the highway itself, with approximately 150 feet on either side dedicated to structures that were once standing, and in some spots are still present in a ruined state. The remainder of the top is just a grassy surface that gives way to the rocky escarpment on either side.
Once the party comes up to the top, the DM should show them the map of the apparent buildings in the area, and let them look around for a few minutes. Suddenly, the rubbled doors are thrown open on the "Great Stone House" on the map, and out rush a band (16) of Star Marauders. These particular Marauders have the tattoo'd Sign of K'nar visible on their foreheads.
Star Marauders (sign of K'nar)
Num Appearing: 4-24
Alignment: chaotic-evil
Movement: 60'
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 2d (9 h.p.)
Attacks: 1 (shortsword)
Damage: 1d6
Save: F2
Morale: 9
Special Attack: Heat generation. This band of Star Marauders has been branded with the "Sign of K'nar" tattoo, which means that they have the capability to generate extreme heat for a short amount of time. Once per day, for a period up to 10 consecutive melee rounds, these Star Marauders generate heat that will cause 1d4 H.P. damage per round to anyone in melee contact with them (save v. spells for half).
These are led by a 3HD leader (14 h.p.), who is an expert with a longsword.
Once the Marauders are dealt with, it is revealed that there is a set of stairs in the great stone house, leading down into a series of dungeon chambers (detailed separately).
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