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Vecna: Eve of Ruin

AdventureVEoR2014

Contents

  1. 1Introduction: Danger to the Multiverse
  2. 2Chapter 1: Return from Neverdeath Graveyard
  3. 3Chapter 2: The Wizards Three
  4. 4Chapter 3: The Lambent Zenith's Last Voyage
  5. 5Chapter 4: The Ruined Colossus
  6. 6Chapter 5: Death House
  7. 7Chapter 6: Night of Blue Fire
  8. 8Chapter 7: Tomb of Wayward Souls
  9. 9Chapter 8: The Dragon Queen's Pride
  10. 10Chapter 9: The Betrayer Revealed
  11. 11Chapter 10: The War of Pandesmos
  12. 12Chapter 11: Eve of Ruin
  13. 13Appendix A: Bestiary
  14. 14Appendix B: Character Dossier
  15. 15Appendix C: Secrets Tracker
  16. 16Credits
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Chapter 10: The War of Pandesmos

[image: Kas has fled Sigil, intent on using the Rod of Seven Parts to free Miska, his ally against Vecna]

The characters tracked Kas to Carapace Ridge on the first layer of Pandemonium. In this chapter, the characters must find Kas and learn where Vecna is weaving his Ritual of Remaking. Along the way, the characters might become embroiled in a war raging between Kas's allies and the forces of Lolth, the Spider Queen, who is allied with Vecna.

Running This Chapter

This chapter begins where the previous chapter ended, after the characters followed Kas's trail to Carapace Ridge, a low dip in a cliff that provides access to a beach below. The characters' search for Kas takes them to several locations, from the Ruinous Citadel, where Miska the Wolf-Spider is in the process of breaking free from his prison; to the Hurricane Tower, where the forces of Lolth marshal; and to the cliffside redoubt, where Kas retreated to plan. Along the way, they encounter Vaeve, a drow mage who is loyal to neither Lolth nor Kas, and who offers the characters useful information.

The characters' choices affect where they ultimately face Kas, but regardless, the characters must weaken the vampire enough to banish him with their Chime of Exile. While doing so, they discover Vecna's location in the Cave of Shattered Reflection.

Character Advancement

The characters should be 19th level when this chapter begins. The characters gain a level after they learn the location of Vecna's Ritual of Remaking.

Power of Secrets

The characters can learn two secrets in this chapter applicable to the x rules found in this book's introduction:

  • Naxa's Secret. The drow mage Naxa and her sister came to retrieve a cloak. It isn't simply a fancy magic item—it's a key piece in an important ritual they're planning. The characters can learn this secret later in the chapter in the vault of the Ruinous Citadel (x).
  • Kas's Secret. Vecna is weaving his Ritual of Remaking deep underground in the Cave of Shattered Reflection. The characters learn this secret when they confront Kas later in this chapter.

Chaos Incarnate

When Kas arrived in Pandesmos, he used the Rod of Seven Parts to force a hole in the sealed portal that blocks Miska from exiting the demiplane where he is trapped. The hole isn't wide enough, so Miska is expanding it so he can break free.

As Miska attempts to emerge, Fiends loyal to the demon lord have flocked to the area. They've been met by the forces of Lolth, Vecna's ally in his bid to remake the multiverse. In exchange for the protection supplied by her troops while Vecna weaves his ritual, the lich-god promised the Spider Queen a place at his side when he remakes the multiverse.

When the characters arrive in Pandesmos, they see a battle unfolding on Carapace Ridge. The forces loyal to Miska and Kas are fighting those loyal to Lolth and Vecna. The battle is at a stalemate and Kas cannot yet confront Vecna and co-opt the ritual. The characters have three options to stop Vecna and Kas: confront Kas in his cliffside redoubt, stop Miska from breaking free of his prison, or face Lolth's commander at Hurricane Tower.

Carapace Ridge

This battlefield, including the ridge where the characters arrive, is presented on map 10.1. Distance is difficult to judge on Pandemonium; the physical distance between the locations on map 10.1 is flexible but shouldn't be more than a mile or two.

Read the following to present the scene:

Four spyder-fiend combatants of the battle linger near the characters: a quavilithku spyder-fiend and three kakkuu spyder-fiends (stat blocks for both appear in appendix A). They're busily hollowing out the corpse of a massive citadel spider (see appendix A) as a bunker for use if the battle shifts back this way. If they spot the characters, the spyder-fiends scuttle out of the citadel spider and skitter around its corpse to attack. The spyder-fiends retreat to the carapace if they start to lose the fight.

Both sides of the battle use banners to identify units and send messages. The forces of Camlash, Lolth's balor general, use a stylized symbol of Lolth on their banners, while Miska's forces use banners featuring wolf heads. The troops are so numerous and powerful on both sides that even 19th-level characters can't materially affect the war by joining in the fighting.

Vaeve's Offer

A neutral drow mage named Vaeve is lurking around the battlefield, initially out of sight. Vaeve spots the fighting and realizes that the characters are her best hope for allies. She reveals herself as the battle winds down, perhaps joining the fight against the kakkuus once the characters defeat the dangerous quavilithku.

Talking with Vaeve

Vaeve hopes the characters might help her, so she is eager to talk. She identifies both sides in the fight but insists she's not loyal to either side. Vaeve shares the following key points in her conversation with the characters:

[image: Vaeve]

  • An Explanation. The battle rages between forces loyal to Lolth, who is working with Vecna, and forces loyal to Miska, who is in the process of breaking free from his prison and is allied with a vampire. Vaeve and her identical twin sister, Naxa, are adventurers from Neverwinter who came here to retrieve potent magical components for their arcane rituals. They were using the chaos of battle to steal back a magic cloak—a family heirloom, Vaeve says—recently taken to Miska's treasure vault somewhere in the stone citadel on the beach below. But Vaeve and Naxa became separated in the fighting, and Vaeve worries that Naxa is brazen enough to attempt the retrieval on her own.
  • Assistance Needed. Vaeve doesn't know why the characters are here, but she assumes they're planning to cross the battlefield for some reason. Vaeve asks the characters to escort Naxa from the citadel back to Carapace Ridge. There's significant treasure in the citadel, Vaeve says, and Vaeve would be grateful if the characters helped her sister.
  • General's Presence. Lolth's general, a demon named Camlash, directs troops from the tottering tower. Lolth's forces include giant spiders and driders. The tower looks ready to tip over because it is; only the webbing inside the tower's base keeps it from falling over.
  • Miska's Location. Miska is down in the citadel by the weird ocean of churning energy. Miska was recently freed from imprisonment, but he hasn't left the citadel yet—Vaeve doesn't know why. Miska's forces are varied spyder-fiends as well as flying demons that drip deadly blood.
  • Vampire's Presence. Miska is following the commands of a vampire who occasionally appears on the battlefield to turn the tide of important fights against Lolth's forces. (Vaeve doesn't know the vampire's name, but her description should make it clear to the characters that this is Kas.)
  • Vampire's Home. The vampire inhabits a chamber in the cliff, another mile past the tower. The upper entrance is under siege by Camlash's forces, and the lower entrance is guarded by spyder-fiends. Vaeve points out both entrances to the cliffside redoubt, two miles distant and barely visible through the blowing fog.

If the characters express interest in confronting Kas, Vaeve suggests first facing one or both generals. Defeating Camlash might compel Kas to emerge to seize a final victory over Lolth's forces. Defeating Miska might bring Kas out in a rage. Doing both, Vaeve suggests, could be most effective.

Before the characters leave, Vaeve reiterates her wish that the characters help Naxa. Vaeve insists that it's the least the characters can do in exchange for the useful information Vaeve shared. She refuses to go with them into the conflict.

Avoiding the War

Descriptions for the Ruinous Sea, Hurricane Tower, and the Ruinous Citadel are below—but you might not need them. High-level characters have options for travel to Kas's redoubt without wading through an active battlefield. However, no options are free of danger.

Teleportation

The characters can teleport directly to the redoubt's upper or lower entrances. The characters can't teleport into the redoubt directly, since it's warded with a Forbiddance spell.

Flight

Camlash's citadel spiders (see appendix A) function as artillery, but the skies are predominantly under Miska's control thanks to powerful flying demons pledged to his service. If the characters fly around or above the battle, three hazvongels (see appendix A) soar down from the wispy cloud cover to attack. The hazvongels fight to the death. If the characters don't fly directly toward the cliffside redoubt after this fight, another trio of hazvongels attacks from a different direction. After this second attack, the demons steer clear of the flying characters.

The Ruinous Sea

Pandesmos has no oceans as they're known on mortal worlds, but it contains an enormous, swirling sea of multicolored energy known as the Ruinous Sea. The Ruinous Sea's chaotic energy devours creatures and land alike. At its edges, the Ruinous Sea laps against gritty beaches beneath a steep cliff, gradually eroding the land.

Winds shriek from the Ruinous Sea, joining the gales that scour Pandesmos. Rumors claim that the chaos of Limbo leaks into Pandemonium through the Ruinous Sea; others say that the Elemental Chaos touches Pandemonium in this roiling expanse. Either way, the Ruinous Sea is inimical to all but the strange and powerful chaos krakens that inhabit it.

Swimming the Ruinous Sea

Despite their ephemeral appearance, the Ruinous Sea's roiling clouds are viscous and cloying, acting as a liquid for the purposes of movement. A creature that enters the Ruinous Sea for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there takes 70 (20d6) damage. The type of damage fluctuates with the roiling of the Ruinous Sea (choose or roll a d4): 1, acid; 2, lightning; 3, necrotic; or 4, radiant.

In addition to that danger, the Ruinous Sea is also inhabited by evil chaos krakens (a chaos kraken uses the kraken stat block but is immune to the Ruinous Sea's damage). A chaos kraken named Vashishax lurks in the Ruinous Sea near the beach. Vashishax considers this war among outsiders to be irrelevant, though the kraken is spying on the battle out of curiosity. Vashishax considers any intrusion into the Ruinous Sea to be a personal insult and fights any creature that spends more than a minute within it. Vashishax isn't willing to die here; if reduced to fewer than 100 hit points, the kraken flees to its lair many miles deeper in the Ruinous Sea.

Hurricane Tower

[image: Hurricane Tower]

The 200-foot-tall Hurricane Tower juts from the top of the cliff above the citadel like a broken finger, threatening to fall over the edge of the 400-foot-tall cliff. Thick spider webs woven throughout the base of the tower keep it anchored to the cliff. Hurricane Tower is made of stone, but it is an unsteady structure; it's also the only easily accessible shelter within miles of the characters' initial position in Pandesmos.

Hurricane Tower is the strategic heart of Lolth's forces. The balor general Camlash uses the tower to organize troops and direct their efforts in the war, so she ordered her spiders to reinforce the structure with webbing. The tower remains standing unless the characters sabotage the six web anchors within it.

Camlash

Lolth isn't present in Pandesmos; she has given command of her legions to Camlash. The balor general specializes in leading campaigns with troops of loyal driders and mutated arachnids. For this battle, adherents of Lolth have joined Camlash's forces, despite the usual animosity between driders and people. All fight together in Lolth's name.

Camlash doesn't enjoy fighting in Pandesmos. The wind muffles shouted commands and shreds war-banners, and troops exposed to the wind for too long become slow and erratic.

Without the tower's protection, Camlash's forces are exposed to assault from Miska's flying demons and the effects of Pandemonium's winds. The tower remains stable for now, but the webs are a weak spot the characters and the opposing army could exploit.

Reaching the Tower

Lolth's forces surround the tower, but they are focused on the spyder-fiends below rather than on defense. Hundreds of driders, Humanoids, and demons surround the tower, but the characters don't need to fight these creatures if they create a plausible distraction, disguise, or ruse.

If the characters are careless or fail to fool Lolth's forces, they might face a squad of 1d4 driders, 1d6 giant spiders, and 1d4 assassins. Characters who defeat the squad can try again to infiltrate the tower.

Hurricane Tower Features

A number of features are common throughout Hurricane Tower.

Ceilings

The tower's interior floors are long gone. The ceiling in the vestibule (x) is 15 feet high, and the ceiling in the tower is 200 feet high.

Lighting

The tower's interior is dark. Area descriptions assume the characters have a light source or some other means of seeing in the dark.

Masking Chittering

The winds of Pandemonium aren't audible within the tower, so they don't impede hearing. However, noisy chittering from a million tiny vermin echoes throughout. The chittering masks noise from combat, so tower denizens have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to hear anything outside the area they're in.

Tower Locations

The following locations are keyed to map 10.2.

X1: Vestibule

A drow assassin named Althein and a wood elf mage named Vendrasha, both faithful of Lolth, pray to the Spider Queen at the altar. Of the apparent four driders, three driders are what they appear to be; the fourth is a phisarazu spyder-fiend (see appendix A) named Rachazz, who is masquerading as a drider using its Change Shape ability.

The three driders squad leaders are resting away from Pandemonium's winds here. Rachazz infiltrated the tower and is collecting information for Miska about Camlash's forces.

When intruders enter the vestibule, the three driders rush into melee while Althein and Vendrasha hang back to support the driders. The driders and elves fight to the death.

Rachazz doesn't participate in the fight; it feigns injury and stays out of the way. If the characters look like they're winning the battle, Rachazz tries to slip out of the tower and report back to the Ruinous Citadel about the characters' prowess. The characters might later face Rachazz in or near the citadel. If the characters struggle to defeat the drow and driders, Rachazz joins the fight against the intruders to protect its disguise.

Cutting the Webs

Four web anchors support the walls: two in the southwest and two in the southeast. The webs are tough but, except where they meet the walls, aren't sticky. Each web anchor has AC 12; 60 hit points; and immunity to bludgeoning, fire, poison, and psychic damage.

The tower creaks ominously if these four anchors are cut, but it doesn't fall unless the two anchors in area X2 are also cut.

Treasure

The eight web-crusted candelabras are covered in precious gems. They resemble yochlol demons, and each is worth 45,000 gp.

X2: Tower Base

Camlash (see the accompanying stat block) plans troop movements on the table when the characters arrive. Hundreds of tiny spiders constantly scuttle over and around the demon.

Camlash doesn't consider intruders much of a threat and gloats about how foolish the characters are to meddle in Lolth's affairs. After taunting the characters, Camlash fights to the death.

Causing a Rout

Lolth's forces receive regular instructions from Camlash. If the characters eliminate the general but otherwise keep their presence in Hurricane Tower secret, a squad of four driders checks on Camlash in 10 minutes, and a squad of six driders arrives a few minutes later.

Once news of Camlash's defeat becomes widely known, no one else arrives. Instead, Lolth's followers throw down their banners and flee. Their disorganized retreat spreads across Pandesmos. It takes an hour for all of Lolth's forces to leave the battlefield.

Cutting the Webs

The two web anchors have AC 12; 40 hit points; and immunity to bludgeoning, fire, poison, and psychic damage. The webs are tough, but they're sticky only where they meet the walls. Camlash has enchanted these anchors to inflict a mental backlash on anyone who tampers with them. A creature that deals damage to a web anchor takes 18 (4d8) psychic damage.

The tower creaks ominously if both anchors are cut. If the four anchors in area X1 have also been cut, the tower falls.

The Tower Falls

If all six web anchors are cut or destroyed, Hurricane Tower crashes 400 feet down the cliffside, leaving only its foundation behind. Once it starts falling, the characters have 1 minute to escape the tower. Characters who fail to do so take 70 (20d6) bludgeoning damage.

The tower's fall has a number of additional effects:

  • Destroyed Citadel Areas. If the characters cut or destroy the webbing, the falling tower smashes the creatures near the entrance to the Ruinous Citadel and obliterates most of the citadel's rooms (see the "Ruinous Citadel" section). Areas x–x are destroyed, along with the creatures and objects in them, and the creatures in x are slain. Naxa in x manages to scamper along the ceiling into x, though she hides there and won't reveal herself to the characters until the phisarazu spyder-fiends are dispatched. The Rod of Seven Parts in x is loosened from the stones, though the characters still need to manually pull the rod free to re-imprison Miska.
  • Forces Disperse. Creatures left standing on the tower's floor are in full view of Lolth's forces. The nearby troops, realizing their general is dead and their only fortification is destroyed, throw down their banners and retreat across Pandesmos.
  • Spyder-Fiends Falter. The spyder-fiends can't capitalize on this sudden victory, since their raklupis battle-leaders (see appendix A) immediately devolve into infighting to seize control. The spyder-fiend battle lines break into violent packs.
  • The Vampire Notices. Kas arrives at the tower's broken base within a few minutes to find who caused the collapse. If the characters are there, Kas confronts them as described in the "x" section later in this chapter.

Ruinous Citadel

[image: Miska is imprisoned in the Ruinous Citadel, which serves as the headquarters for the demon lord's forces]

Long ago, adherents of the Queen of Chaos, a powerful demon lord, built a citadel near the Ruinous Sea. The Wind Dukes of Aaqa later used what is now known as the Rod of Seven Parts to imprison Miska within the citadel, eventually ending the terrible Dawn War between the primordials and the gods.

Since then, the Ruinous Sea has encroached on the citadel. It now stands on a beach at the edge of the Ruinous Sea. The citadel is a ruin, as the sea's chaotic energies hasten its erosion and will someday claim it entirely.

Miska

Kas returned the Rod of Seven Parts to the citadel and thrust it into the sealed mystical portal that keeps Miska in his prison demiplane, creating an opening. However, the opening isn't wide enough for Miska to exit, so Miska is widening it. If he can break free, he can join the battle his forces are engaged in and revel in chaos once again. If the rod is removed or knocked aside, the seal snaps shut and binds Miska once more.

Miska isn't idle while trying to free himself. He commands the armies of spyder-fiends and other demons through his spyder-fiend battle leaders, the raklupises. Miska's other spyder-fiends (see appendix A) defend him and implement the demon lord's complex strategies.

Yet Miska's position is precarious. While he's a cunning general, he's unable to command his forces in person, and enforcing discipline is challenging; spyder-fiends, like many demons, find order and organization difficult to tolerate. Additionally, Kas is becoming increasingly frustrated with Miska's slow emergence; until Miska claws his way free and defeats Lolth's forces, Kas can't assault Vecna. And all the while, the portal to the demiplane Miska is trapped in is in danger of being swallowed by the Ruinous Sea.

Features of the Ruinous Citadel

The following features are common throughout the citadel.

Ceilings

Ceilings throughout the citadel are 15 feet high.

Doors

The citadel's doors are made of stone and noisily grind open and closed due to sand in the hinges. Each creature in a room beyond a door hears it open and expects visitors, unless the door's hinges are cleaned, lubricated, or silenced.

Lighting

The citadel is crumbling due to great age and proximity to the Ruinous Sea. Cracks in the ceiling and walls admit dim light throughout the citadel.

Respite from the Winds

The winds of Pandemonium are distantly audible within the citadel. They don't impede hearing within the citadel.

Ruinous Citadel Locations

The following locations are keyed to map 10.3. If the characters felled the Hurricane Tower, areas Y1 and x–x are destroyed, as well as any creatures and objects in them.

Y1: Drill Field

Nine kakkuu spyder-fiends (see appendix A) drill on this beach while awaiting orders from the battle leaders in the citadel. They find marching in formation dull and are eager to rejoin the battle raging on the clifftop above. The kakkuus rush toward any opportunity for combat, so characters can draw them away with any ruse that promises bloodshed. A badly injured kakkuu flees the area, hoping to hide out elsewhere amid the chaos of war.

Glowing Signal

The kakkuus immediately return if they see the glyph glowing on the door to area Y2.

Y2: Guard Hall

The exterior door has an invisible glyph inscribed on it. Each time a creature other than a Fiend opens the door, the glyph glows for a split second, and the creature must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) psychic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. Casting Dispel Magic on the door removes the glyph, allowing the door to be opened safely.

Two phisarazu spyder-fiends (see appendix A) flank the open door that leads to area Y3. The phisarazus don't leave this chamber, but they attack intruders on sight and fight to the death.

The spyder-fiends spun the webs in this room, making the entire room difficult terrain. The webs don't burn, but a creature can use an action to cut away the webs in a 10-foot-square section of the room.

The old carvings depict chaos krakens from the Ruinous Sea, but a spyder-fiend recently used demonic ichor to draw wolf heads on all the krakens.

Y3: Hall

Y4: Vault

The door to this room bears faded markings. A character who examines the door and succeeds on a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) check realizes that a magic glyph was once inscribed on this door, but the glyph's energy has been carefully drained away. The door is now harmless.

The spyder-fiends dump their spoils of war here. The room's only occupant is a neutral drow mage named Naxa, who is wearing a Cloak of Arachnida she found here. The cloak allows Naxa to climb on walls and ceilings, and she is currently on the vault's ceiling.

Meeting Naxa

If the characters search the room or call out for Naxa, she reveals herself. Naxa is Vaeve's twin sister. She doesn't want to fight and is looking for a safe exit from the citadel.

As Vaeve feared, Naxa snuck into this vault to retrieve the Cloak of Arachnida that was stolen from the sisters. The cloak has distinctive purple edging with starburst patterns. Naxa wants to leave, but even with the cloak's powers, she knows that powerful spyder-fiends can spot her. Naxa asks the characters to help her escape the citadel and return to her sister.

Naxa's Secret

When the characters talk at length with Naxa, they realize that the mage is unreasonably preoccupied with her cloak, absently touching it as she chats. If the characters ask Naxa about her behavior, she admits that the cloak isn't merely a fancy magic item with sentimental value. The cloak belonged to their great-grandfather, and Naxa and Vaeve hope to use it in a ritual to seal their home in Neverwinter against their family's enemies.

Regardless of the characters' reaction to this revelation, learning it counts as a secret for the purposes of the Power of Secrets rules. At your discretion, if the characters help Naxa return to her sister and don't know about the cloak's history, Vaeve tells them the full truth about the item.

Piles of Spoils

Amid the detritus are several bloodstained and tattered banners depicting Lolth's symbol of a spider with a woman's head. The mounds of webbing contain a few corpses of people and driders, savagely torn apart by spyder-fiends and tossed here.

If the characters want to disguise themselves to infiltrate Camlash's forces, this room is an excellent resource for drow accoutrements.

Treasure

In addition to the Cloak of Arachnida that Naxa wears, this room contains four +1 Longswords, three +1 Daggers, a +2 Longbow, three Potions of Poison, and a Potion of Giant Strength (stone). One banner bearing Lolth's symbol is bordered with a thick silk rope. This is a Rope of Climbing that functions normally once unstitched from the banner. A mahogany chest the spyder-fiends took from a drow quartermaster contains 750 flawless black opals, each worth 1,000 gp.

Y5: Planning Chamber

A raklupis spyder-fiend named Jallizanx is here with two kakkuu spyder-fiends (for both stat blocks, see appendix A). The kakkuus are relaying orders to troops fighting elsewhere, and Jallizanx is deciding how to give directions the dim-witted kakkuus can be reasonably expected to convey. When they see the characters, the kakkuus rush into melee while Jallizanx hangs back to cast spells and hurl venom globes. If the kakkuus are defeated and Jallizanx is plainly losing the fight, Jallizanx teleports away and doesn't return. If the characters capture Jallizanx, the spyder-fiend tells the characters about the scrolls described in the "Treasure" section and offers this loot in exchange for its life.

Reviewing the Map

The map is a highly detailed model with magical glowing dots that represent troop locations. The map shows the terrain within several miles, including Carapace Ridge to the west and the cliffside redoubt to the east. Churning smoke on the map's lowest edge represents the Ruinous Sea. Characters who investigate the map learn the following:

  • Glowing Dots. The glowing dots represent groups of troops, but they aren't detailed enough to indicate specific numbers or types of foes. A careful look shows that brown and red dots are Miska's, while green and gray dots are Lolth's. A character who succeeds on a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) check realizes that brown and green dots indicate fresh troops, and red and gray dots indicate injured or flagging ones.
  • Indication of Status. The distribution of dots shows the overall state of the war. If the characters haven't defeated either army's general, the forces are at a stalemate along the edge of the clifftop. If either general is defeated, that side is obviously at a disadvantage and faces impending loss.
  • The Cliffside Redoubt. The cliffside redoubt is shown in cross-section on this model. The lower entrance, upper bunker, and central chamber are all visible. The lower entrance has a glowing red dot outside, and the upper bunker has a green dot outside. The central chamber depicts Kas's throne, which has a unique golden dot on it, representing the vampire warrior.
  • Ruinous Citadel. The citadel is depicted without its roof, showing the configuration of rooms inside without any dots. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check while examining this section sees faint Abyssal runes in each chamber. A character who understands Abyssal can read them as Drill Field, Guard Hall, Planning Chamber, Vault, and Miska's Prison Hall.
  • Tower of Mystery. The model of Hurricane Tower is a solid box because the spyder-fiends don't have information about its layout. The webs holding the tower in place look significantly more durable in the model than in real life, since Jallizanx doesn't know how precarious the tower's anchors are.
  • Violet Dot. A violet dot swims back and forth in the Ruinous Sea. Jallizanx knows there's a powerful creature out there but doesn't know what it is.

Treasure

A platinum scroll tube worth 2,500 gp is hidden in webbing in the southwest corner of the room, near the ceiling. It contains two Spell Scrolls of Glyph of Warding. Characters who search the room and succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check find the scroll tube.

Y6: Food Storage

The door to this room has an invisible glyph inscribed on it. Each time a creature other than a raklupis spyder-fiend opens the door, the glyph glows for a split second, and the creature must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) psychic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. Casting Dispel Magic on the door removes the glyph, allowing the door to be opened safely.

Dozens of driders, drow, and giant spiders are wrapped in these webs. Each is unconscious, has the incapacitated condition, and can't regain hit points until 8 hours after being freed from the web cocoons.

The spyder-fiends know that Miska will be voraciously hungry when freed, so they prepared this larder for him. Kakkuus kept sneaking in to steal food, so the raklupises changed the glyph on the door to keep other spyder-fiends away.

The webbed prisoners want to flee the citadel to rejoin Lolth's forces. They are indifferent toward characters who free them.

Y7: Miska's Prison-Hall

[image: Outside the Ruinous Citadel, battles between demonic forces loyal to Miska and Lolth still rage]

The door to this chamber has an invisible glyph inscribed upon it. Each time a creature other than a Fiend opens the door the glyph glows for a split second, and the creature must make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) psychic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. Casting Dispel Magic on the door removes the glyph, allowing the door to be opened safely.

A raklupis spyder-fiend named Uvonxu is here along with a phisarazu spyder-fiend bodyguard (for both stat blocks, see appendix A). Uvonxu coordinates with Miska on strategy, while the phisarazu takes notes to relay to the troops. Both immediately attack intruders. The phisarazu tries to stun enemies and then attacks in melee while Uvonxu hangs back to cast spells. These spyder-fiends fight to the death to defend Miska.

Miska Intervenes

Miska is still trapped within his prison, but the opening is sufficient for him to affect the fight. He can't move, can't be harmed, and can use only his legendary actions (see Miska the Wolf-Spider in x), which originate from the opening. Miska uses the legendary actions to support the spyder-fiends in the fight, using his Howl to inflict psychic damage on the characters and Web to ensnare them.

Demiplane Portal

The circle of stones is the rim of a magical portal to the demiplane that has served as Miska's prison for eons. Miska is bound behind the portal and can't yet move through to Pandemonium. The stones can't be affected by mortal magic, as they are part of the prison that contains Miska. The only way to widen the portal is by using the power of the Rod of Seven Parts.

Kas jammed the Rod of Seven Parts into the pinhole portal to Miska's prison to open it. The rod still bears some of Miska's essence from when it was used to imprison him long ago, so it is the only implement that can free him. Miska has widened the portal to 5 feet across, but he needs time to widen the portal enough to pass through it.

Miska Freed

If the characters return to Sigil without sealing Miska back in his prison, the demon lord emerges and is free to wreak havoc across the multiverse. The characters might encounter him if they return to Pandesmos, or you might decide Miska is present somewhere else in this adventure.

Sealing Miska Away

As an action, a character can try to pull the Rod of Seven Parts from the stone circle, doing so with a successful a DC 25 Athletics (Strength) check. If the Hurricane Tower collapsed on the citadel, the DC of the check is reduced to 10. On a successful check, the rod is removed and the portal snaps closed as Miska howls with rage. See the "Removing the Rod" section below for the other effects of doing so.

Treasure

The Rod of Seven Parts is the greatest treasure here, but the spyder-fiends also left offerings to their general amid the webbing on the walls. The offerings include a Weapon of Warning (scimitar) with engravings of a wolf's head on each side of the blade, a heavy platinum statue of Miska triumphantly raising his arms (worth 120,000 gp), and two huge gold fangs inset with enormous rubies (worth 35,000 gp each).

Removing the Rod

Closing the portal by removing the Rod of Seven Parts from the stones has the following consequences:

  • Spyder-Fiends Flee. All spyder-fiends flee the citadel, including Uvonxu (see x), if she's still alive. Within a few minutes, the spyder-fiends in Pandesmos instinctively realize their general has been sealed away again. They desert their posts to engage in vicious infighting to determine who among them will lead. The spyder-fiend battle lines falter. The characters don't encounter any more raklupises in Pandesmos—the raklupises are too busy jockeying for power to risk a fight with the characters.
  • The Vampire Notices. After about an hour, Kas realizes that something is wrong. He comes to Miska's prison-hall to find out what's going on, and he extends his search for the characters if Miska has been sealed or the Rod of Seven Parts is gone. Characters who keep their presence hidden have enough time to take a short rest. If the characters do something more noticeable to alert Kas first—such as collapsing Hurricane Tower—Kas comes for a fight sooner. In either case, see the "x" section later in the chapter.

Cliffside Redoubt

[image: The vampire Kas refuses to tolerate any interruptions to his plans to ruin Vecna and claim the multiverse for his own]

Kas makes his lair inside the cliff below Carapace Ridge. This cliffside redoubt gives Kas a place to plan, organize excursions against the forces of Lolth, and brood about how long it's taking Miska to free himself.

Although the characters might encounter the vampire in his redoubt, they might also draw him out by changing the tides of war. Unless the characters draw him out by collapsing Hurricane Tower, sealing Miska away, or some other effective strategy, Kas waits in the redoubt for Miska to emerge.

Redoubt Features

The following features are common throughout the cliffside redoubt.

Ceilings

Ceilings within the redoubt are 12 feet high.

Forbiddance

The redoubt's interior is warded by a permanent Forbiddance spell. The ward deals necrotic damage to Celestials and Fey who enter the redoubt.

Lighting

The redoubt's interior is dark. Area descriptions assume the characters have a light source or some other means of seeing in the dark.

Respite from the Winds

The winds of Pandemonium are distantly audible within the redoubt. They don't impede hearing within the redoubt.

Ventilation Tubes

Hidden ventilation tubes less than a half-inch in diameter draw fresh air from the cliffside into the redoubt. The holes keep out Pandemonium's whipping winds and allow Kas to come and go from within the redoubt in the mist form granted by his Change Shape bonus action. A character examining the cliffside must succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check to spot the ventilation holes from the exterior; they're obvious in x.

Cliffside Redoubt Locations

The following locations are keyed to map 10.4.

F1: Upper Bunker

Lolth's forces batter at this bunker to reach Kas, who is lower in the redoubt. A citadel spider (see appendix A) attacks the structure while four driders direct its efforts. They expect retaliation from Miska's forces and are quick to attack unfamiliar creatures. If Lolth's forces were routed due to Camlash's defeat, the four driders are gone but the citadel spider remains to stubbornly bash at the bunker. It attacks anyone who comes near.

The dented metal door doesn't open with any amount of pulling or pushing, since it's anchored from the inside with metal bars driven into metal frames. The area beyond the door is included in the redoubt's Forbiddance effect, so teleportation into the bunker fails. The door has AC 22, 75 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.

The bunker contains a narrow set of stairs descending 200 feet into Kas's chamber (x).

F2: Lower Entrance

A raklupis spyder-fiend named Kalzak and three phisarazu spyder-fiends (for both stat blocks, see appendix A) keep guard here. Kalzak uses Disguise Self to maintain the form of a white-haired and bearded human ascetic leaning against a pillar. The phisarazus are disguised as crabs scuttling around the rubble, keeping watch while looking innocuous among the harmless crabs native to the beach.

If the characters reseal Miska in the Ruinous Citadel, Kalzak orders the phisarazus to remain on guard and then leaves to seize a higher position among the squabbling raklupises. One phisarazu stands in front of the door in its normal form while the other two continue their ruse of being mundane crabs.

Kalzak received this unfavorable posting due to his recent failed assault at Carapace Ridge. He's determined to follow Miska's order that no one enter Kas's redoubt. Kalzak engages in delaying conversation to give the phisarazus time to scuttle into position for an attack, uttering odd prophecies such as "When the winds blowing from chaos bring order, the lawmakers must falter."

The door opens with a noisy groan, revealing a small room and staircase leading 200 feet up the cliffside into the central chamber (area F3). Kas comes and goes from this entrance when he doesn't use the ventilation holes.

F3: Central Chamber

Unless the characters encountered him elsewhere, Kas the Betrayer (see x) broods here on his throne. He feasted on the corpses and drained their bodies of blood. See the "Fighting Kas" section below for information about running this confrontation.

The holes are ventilation tubes less than a half-inch wide that wind through the cliffside.

Treasure

A human corpse bears a platinum medallion of Lolth's symbol with dazzling diamonds at the end of each spider's foot (worth 3,000 gp). A drider corpse wears a bandolier woven of solidified shadow worth 30,000 gp. The bandolier holds two Potions of Healing (supreme) and a Spell Scroll of Seeming.

Fighting Kas

The characters encounter Kas the Betrayer in one of three places: in x of Hurricane Tower after toppling the structure, in x of the Ruinous Citadel after sealing Miska away, or in x of the cliffside redoubt.

[image: At your discretion, the characters might have found the legendary Sword of Kas in this adventure]

Kas spares only a few moments to belittle the characters before he draws his sword and attacks. Throughout the battle, he taunts them for being "Mordenkainen's good little puppets." If the characters had trouble recovering any piece of the Rod of Seven Parts, Kas mocks them for those specific failures, saying they can't even dance on puppet strings properly.

Kas doesn't think he has anything to fear from the Chime of Exile, and he's initially correct. The characters must reduce Kas to 50 hit points or fewer before they can banish him to Tovag, his Domain of Dread.

If the characters banish Kas back to Tovag, a fissure opens in the air behind him and pulls him through. Visible within the rift is a smoky, red-tinged skyline full of mountains.

Kas's Secret

As Kas is pulled back to Tovag, the characters' links to Vecna flare. The links' magic tears Kas's last great secret from his mind: Vecna is currently in the x. If the characters are on the verge of killing Kas, the vampire tells the characters Vecna's location in an attempt to save his life. It's up to the characters what happens to Kas next.

Learning Vecna's location counts as a secret for the purposes of the x rules, and it allows the characters to move on to the next chapter of the adventure.

Next Steps

Once the characters learn the location of Vecna's ritual from Kas, they can continue to the final chapter of this adventure.

Depending on the characters' actions, the war between Lolth's forces and Miska's demons might be over. If the characters haven't defeated one or both generals, they can choose to remain in Pandesmos to do so before moving on to confront Vecna.