Shadow Cultists - encounter from Cult of the White Shadow

One of the final remaining encounters mentioned in the Cult of the White Shadow adventure are the Cultists themselves.  These are a varied group of deranged individuals, whom have decided to follow the madness of the cult, at one level of dedication or another.

Membership comes from a nomination, which to be accepted, must be from an individual who has renounced the established Westroner religions, and whom has dedicated him/her self to the path of following the cult's pursuit of knowledge about the White Shadow, the Shadow Wyrms, and the originator of Shadow, the Lady of the Air.

A nominant must serve, as such, for a period of at least one year.  During that time, they are requested to perform more and more horrible acts, which are intended to make life difficult for those around them not of the cult, and also to forward the campaign of fear and terror that the cult pursues.

After a year, the nominant can present them self for recognition as a cultist.  They must have performed some horrible deed, which then can brag about at a council of local elders, in order to impress them for membership.

There are several levels of cultists - from the lowly simple thugs (called the despised), on up through the warrior types (called swords of the shadow), mission leadership (called the mind of the shadow), assassins (claws of the shadow), priests/priestesses (fist of the shadow), and sorcerers (flame of the shadow).  All are chaotic neutral, and all can vary in level, although the despised typically are not above 3rd level.

While doing the business of their cult, all cultists are robed in simple grey robes.

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The Despised
Num Appearing: 2d6 (or as a mission master from the Cult decrees)
Alignment: chaotic evil
Movement: Walk 90'
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 2d (12 h.p.)
Attacks: 1 (trademark spiky flail)
Damage: 1d8+2
Save: T2
Morale: 8
Treasure: None, other than mission related.  Individuals - 2d6 GP each.
Special: Usually none, other than special magical conditioning which gives a +2 on all saving throws.  Occasionally, some of The Despised will be given the Food of the Shadow (see below).  An individual member of The Despised is called only Scum, and accompanied by a number.  By vow and oath, the Despised are not allowed to speak, and often have vile, filthy rags tied around their mouths.

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There are times when a mission calls for better trained members of the cult than The Despised.  In those instances they are often warriors known as the Swords of the Shadow.  These are lead by leaders known as the Mind of the Shadow.  There will never be more than one Mind of the Shadow on a single mission, regardless of what other types of cultists are present.

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Swords of the Shadow
Num Appearing: 1d6
Alignment:  chaotic evil
Movement: Walk 90'
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 4d (36 h.p.)
Attacks: 3 attacks every 2 rounds, Broadsword (specialized)
Damage: 2d4+4
Save: F4
Morale: 10
Treasure: None.  Occasionally, a magic item for the leader of the group.
Special: Swords of the Shadow are human warriors, specialized in the use of the broadsword (THAC0 13).  They will occasionally also carry darts (standard), and these may be poisoned with a burning blood poison (save vs. poison, or take 1d6 per round, for three rounds and a -2 to hit during those three rounds).

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The Swords of the Shadow are lead by the blind masters known as the Mind of the Shadow.  Such a leader leads via mental awareness and telepathy, which are the result of long and torturous treatments of dedicated sorcerers.  They lose both their eyesight, and the ability to cast spells, in return for mental gifts the cult bestows on them.

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Mind of the Shadow
Num Appearing: 1
Alignment: chaotic evil
Movement: Walk 90'
Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 4-8 d4 (number varies)
Attacks: 1 knife; 1 mind blast
Damage: Knife does 1d4, mind blast does 2d6 (see special)
Save: MU4-8
Morale: 10
Treasure: Doses of Food of the Shadow (see below).
Special: The mind blast of the Mind of the Shadow has no effect at all on any type of fey creature, elf or otherwise.  It does affect the intelligent much more than those less gifted in that area.  Apply as a bonus to the damage, the number of additional languages that the target is able to learn.
The Mind of the Shadow is completely blind, but is in constant communication with any Swords of the Shadow or Despised under it's command.  It itself is not affected by being in the dark, or other adverse visibility conditions (including being attacked from the flank or rear), and halves the negatives applied to those it controls.
A party controlled by a Mind of the Shadow is never surprised.

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Finally, there are assassins (Claws of the Shadow), priests (Fist of the Shadow), and sorcerers (Flame of the Shadow) but each of these is an individual of reasonably high level (near title level, for their profession) who have, for whatever reason, turned to service of the Cult.  They are each treated as individuals, and as such, would not come under control of a Mind of the Shadow.

The magical food of the shadow is an item that will sometimes be in possession of either The Despised (rarely), or more likely the Swords of the Shadow or a Mind of the Shadow.  It is usually known what doses are present, but in the case that it is not recorded, or in a random encounter, the doses can be diced for.  See below for a description of the effects of this item.

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Food of the Shadow (magic item)
The food of the shadow refers to a number of different items. prepared from the magical leavings of shadow creatures, which they exude when absent from the Shadow Dimension for too long.  These leavings are gathered up by select members of The Despised, and prepared according to certain magical formulae, and result in hard small wafers, which may be consumed.  Once done so, a roll on the following chart (1d8) is made (unless the type is known before hand, according to the scenario) to determine the effects.  All effects last for only 2d12 rounds.

1. Burst into flames - all within weapon's reach of the cultist are singed for 2d4 damage, and must make a save vs. breath weapon each round, to avoid catching fire.  If they catch fire, it burns for 2d6 the first round, and 1d6 for each additional round until it is extinguished.
2. Fly - the cultist is able to fly, at a speed of 120' per minute.
3. Iron Skin - the cultist assumes the density and hardness of tough iron.  Armor Class 1.
4. Become the Shadow - the cultist wisps out into a shadowy form, and then disappears altogether.
5. Transformation - the cultist becomes a Shadow Creature.  This effect does not wear off, but is permanent.
6. Legion - the cultist sprouts 4 additional copies of him/her self.
7. Essence of Acid - the cultist's bodily fluids become a horrible acid.  Any combat blows against the cultist will result in a rain of acid to all within a 10' radius.  All take 2d4 damage, and an additional 1d4 for each of the next two rounds.  A successful save vs. poison will halve the damage.
8. Devoted Spirit - the cultist is affect as if by a haste spell.

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Week of Encounters Day 5: Living Skulls of the Purple Marsh

This encounter takes place in the Darkearth Plains region of the Valley.  It takes place just north of the Great River, where the Jazzan Mountains can be seen to the south, and the Harp Woods spread out to the North.

On the northern banks of the Great River, as it passes just east of the Jazzan Mountains, near the Harp woods, there is a swampy expanse that stretches for approximately 25 miles along the river. This swamp is called the Purple Marsh, named long ago for the semi-aquatic Narreck trees that clog the waterways of the swamp (the Narreck, when they flower, produce a purple floss that becomes airborne in the spring winds, and spread the growth of the trees).

The locals from the fishing villages that owe fealty to the Barony of Khomaes have long known that they should give the Marsh a wide miss. It is widely known that the normal dangerous Marsh inhabitants (trolls, lizardmen, dangerous large aquatic grazers such as the catoblepas and so on) are present, but these rarely leave the marsh to raid surrounding areas. When they do, the fighting men of Khomaes, led by Knights of the White Lady, often arise to contain the threat, and keep it limited to the marsh itself. The area is too large, and largely impassable to military units, for the soldiery to clear out the marsh - but they can keep the dangerous inhabitants contained.

Recently, numerous trading cogs from areas west of the Jazzan have been attacked by a string of piracy in the area of the Marsh. The Player Characters, traveling through the area, come across the wreckage of a cog that has washed up on shore. It was attacked, and the crew mostly killed, but a few survivors are found with the wreckage. They talk about an attack by a pirate ship that came out of the morning mists on the Great River, as the cog passed by a part of the Purple Marsh. The cog was carrying a heavy cargo of expensive clothes and other luxury items, meant for trade in Khomaes and Gorrem river towns. These trade goods have all disappeared. The player characters should be given a sense that tracking down the pirates will be quite profitable for them.

The survivors will describe the pirates as living men (human fighting men and thieves), but with skulls for heads. Living Skulls with no flesh, no skin, no eyes - but attached to the body and capable of a rude speech. The players have no concept of these skull men, nor have they encountered anything like it before.

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Living Skull
Num Appearing: Special (created creature)
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Movement: 60'
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 2d (10 h.p.)
Attacks: 1 (claw) or by weapon
Damage: 1d6 - or by weapon (claws are 40% poisoned)
Save: F2
Morale: special (commanded creatures)
Special Abilities: Similar to undead - can be controlled by Evil priests and clerics, but cannot but turned by Good or Neutral priests and clerics.

The claws of a Living Skull are poisoned 40% of the time. Every time a claw attack scores, there is a 40% chance that it is poisonous (does an additional 1d3 points of damage per round, for 1d6 additional rounds - save for half as many rounds).

Living Skulls are supernaturally strong, even if they are slow (if using initiative rules, they suffer are -2 slower than a typical human). Their strength gives them +1 to hit in combat with weapons, and +2 damage when using weapons.

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The searching and investigating of the players should lead them to a watery inlet into the Purple Marsh, that goes to a protected lake, surrounded by small islands and ridges of dry land, but the whole area is thickly forested with Narreck trees. The region is full of primitive bands of hunting lizardmen who are always seeking a source of fresh meat. On one of the larger dry land ridges at the edge of the lake, there is a small walled village, with some simple piers stretching into the lake. There are several galleys (the sort that would make good piracy vessels) moored here.

The village appears deserted. There are some wild denizens of the Marsh who have moved in where pirates and brigands once dwelt. Nearby is a solitary stone structure (all else is made of wood and bamboo), a squat round tower, with a large bronze brazier (25' across) on the exposed top floor. Examining this reveals that there is a dungeon complex underneath. Several layers, magically constructed, lined with marble and extending deep underground, past the water table levels of the swamp. Some areas of the dungeon are dry, and some are intentionally flooded as pools.

Within the dungeon is a society of cultists of the ancient Old Ones' deity, the "One beneath the Waves". These deranged beings seek to draw their deity back to the world, in order to destroy it. They have taken up with a clan of Kuo Toa (who dwell in the dungeon as well, within the flooded chambers, and elsewhere), and have perfected and cast a spell on the inhabitants of the brigand village on the surface. All of the men (and women and children - although the latter were mostly eaten by the cultists in cannibalistic rites) were transformed into "skull men" - mindless servants that are enslaved to the cult and do its bidding. These are strange hybrids of life and undeath, but are immune to the religious sway that modern priests and clerics would have over normal undead. While slow, like most undead, they fight very well and are persistent to the point of destruction.

The dungeons under the tower are quite well stocked with treasures of both the normal and magical types, and exploration of the site by the Player Characters would prove quite valuable. What to do with the knowledge of the Cult and their macabre invention is up to them.

Living Skulls are created by EHP's of the cult of the "One Beneath the Waves". It is a level 6 spell, taught only to priests of the cult, and it works as follows:

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Create Living Skulls (spell)
Level: 6
Duration: Permanent
Range: 30'
This spell turns incapacitated humans (it only works on humans) into Living Skulls. The created beings have no memory of their pre-converted life. The process removes all skin, hair, eyes, brain, muscle etc from the head, leaving an exposed skull. The created beings respond to simple commands (as with other simple undead) from their creator, although this can be a command to transfer their allegience (such as "Obey Igor").

The number of humans converted per application of the spell is equal to 1d6 plus the caster's level. All of the humans to be converted must be incapacitated (sleeping, knocked out, tied up, or something similar), and within the range of the spell.

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