TEXT: W1 
  Adventure Module W1 
  The Wizard’s Amulet 
  by Clark Peterson and Bill Webb 
  The Wizard’s Amulet is a short, introductory adventure for six newly created good-aligned 1st-level characters. The adven-
  ture revolves around Corian, a fledgling Sorcerer. While an apprentice, Corian discovered a letter written by a wizard 
  named Eralion, who it is said some years ago attempted to become a lich—and failed. Accompanying the letter was a myste-
  rious amulet with strange markings. Joined by newfound companions, Corian set off in search of Eralion’s keep and his sup-
  posedly unguarded treasure. But Corian is not alone in desiring to unlock the mystery of Eralion’s fate. Darker, more evil 
  forces have designs on the secrets reputedly hidden with Eralion—forces willing to stop at nothing to obtain...The Wizard's 
  Amulet. 
  NCG 1000 
  If you enjoy this module, look for more releases under the d20 system by Necromancer Games. 
  Necromancer Games 
  “Third Edition Rules, First Edition Feel” 
  www.necromancergames.com 
  Requires the use of the  
  Dungeons and Dragons® Player’s Handbook,  
  Third Edition,  
  published by Wizards of the Coast® 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 2 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
  print a hard copy of this adventure for your reference 
  and copies of the pre-generated characters for your 
  players’ use. Now sit back, relax, break out the chips 
  and dip (since the pizza is probably gone) and follow 
  these steps. You should be playing within 15 minutes! 
   
  First, read the sections entitled “Notes for the Game 
  Master” and “Adventure Background” to yourself, 
  spending a few minutes becoming familiar with the 
  plot line and the main non-player characters. Also, 
  read Corian’s Supplemental Information found at the 
  very end of this module. 
   
  Second, pass out the pre-generated characters that you 
  can download from the Necromancer Games web 
  site. (See the section entitled “Pre-generated Charac-
  ters” at the end of this adventure.) You can do this one 
  of two ways: you can either pick which six characters 
  you want your players to play and let the players di-
  vide those six as they wish. Or you can show them all 
  of the pre-generated characters and let them choose 
  which six to play.  
   
  You must include Corian, the Sorcerer, in the party. 
  You also should include Galdar, the Cleric, in the 
  party, though he is not essential.  
   
  If you decide to choose the six characters yourself, we 
  recommend that in addition to Corian and Galdar you 
  include at least two of the primary fighters as well as 
  either Helman, Dai or Flarian the Bard because of the 
  importance of having a character with stealth skills. 
  Playtesting demonstrates that this party composition 
  gives the best chance of success. You should use no 
  more than seven or eight total characters—with six 
  being the optimal number. If you add more characters 
  you may have to increase the number of monsters en-
  countered to keep the combat challenging. If you have 
  fewer than six characters or if your players choose 
  primarily non-combat characters, then you will have to 
  reduce the difficulty of the encounters. Notes are pro-
  vided to cover these situations.  
   
  Once the players have selected which characters they 
  will play, you should give the player who is playing 
  Corian a copy of Corian’s Supplemental Information, 
  found at the very end of this module. Make sure to 
  keep the information private, since the contents are to 
  be revealed at Corian’s discretion. 
   
  Third, have the characters familiarize themselves with 
  their characters. The person playing Corian should pay 
  particular attention to his or her back-story and to the 
  letter from Eralion. 
   
  Fourth, read the section entitled “Player’s Introduc-
  tion” to yourself so you understand it and then read it 
  aloud to your players.  
   
  There you have it—fifteen minutes and you should 
  already be adventuring! 
   
   
  The Wizard’s Amulet 
  by Clark Peterson and Bill Webb 
   
   
  Adventure Overview 
   TTTT 
  he Wizard’s Amulet is a short, introductory 
  adventure for six newly created good-aligned 
  1st-level characters. The adventure revolves around 
  Corian, a fledgling Sorcerer. While an apprentice, Co-
  rian discovered a letter written by a wizard named 
  Eralion, who it is said some years ago attempted to 
  become a lich—and failed. Accompanying the letter 
  was a mysterious amulet with strange markings. 
  Joined by newfound companions, Corian set off in 
  search of Eralion’s keep and his supposedly unguarded 
  treasure. But Corian is not alone in desiring to unlock 
  the mystery of Eralion’s fate. Darker, more evil forces 
  have designs on the secrets reputedly hidden with Er-
  alion—forces willing to stop at nothing to obtain...The 
  Wizard's Amulet. 
   
  This adventure is designed to be used “out of the box,” 
  meaning you can download it and run it right away 
  with little preparation time. The Wizard’s Amulet is 
  the perfect adventure for new GMs who want to try 
  their hand at running their first adventure. Just follow 
  the steps outlined in the section entitled “Using this 
  Adventure” and you should be playing your first Third 
  Edition game within fifteen minutes! 
   
  The adventure itself covers several programmed en-
  counters that Corian and his comrades face on the road 
  from Reme to Fairhill, the purported location of Er-
  alion’s keep. The adventure culminates in an ambush 
  by Corian’s nemesis Vortigern who tries to capture 
  Eralion’s amulet by force. The adventure uses a rigid 
  Act and Scene format to facilitate ease of use with 
  little preparation. Veteran GMs should feel free to 
  flesh out the adventure and include events on the road 
  not covered in this module. 
   
  Using this Adventure 
   
  We presume you have the new Dungeons and Drag-
  ons® Player’s Handbook, Third Edition, and that 
  you as the GM have spent some time familiarizing 
  yourself with the new rules. We presume you have 
  called over a bunch of your friends and ordered some 
  pizza. We also presume you have secured a good table 
  as well as paper, pencils and all those funny dice we 
  gamers love so much. You should also have a dry 
  erase board or some other way to draw up the “battle 
  map” for any encounters your character will face. A 
  big pad of paper will do in a pinch. If you have lead 
  figures or some other way to represent the characters 
  we suggest you use them. We recommend that you 
  D&D® 
  This module requires the use 
  of the Dungeons and Drag-
  ons® Player’s Handbook, 
  Third Edition, published by 
  Wizards of the Coast.® You 
  won’t be able to run this 
  adventure without it. 
  Fighters 
  Make sure at least two of 
  your players select combat 
  oriented characters. There is 
  going to be plenty of fighting 
  in this adventure and the 
  party will need to be able to 
  handle it. 
  Make sure someone plays 
  Corian; encourage someone 
  to play Galdar; don’t hand 
  out Corian’s Supplemental 
  Information until after the 
  players have selected their 
  characters. 
  Character Selection 
  Generally you should stay 
  out of the character selection 
  process, but if two players 
  want to play the same charac-
  ter resolve it the old fash-
  ioned way: roll for it! The 
  one rolling higher on a d20 
  gets to play the character. 
  GM Tip 
  
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  These side boxes contain GM 
  Tips, highlights of new rules, 
  monster notes, trap mechan-
  ics and other material helpful 
  to you, the GM. You can use 
  blank space between these 
  boxes for your notes. 
  Fifth, once you have read the Player’s Introduction 
  aloud, turn to the section titled “Running the Adven-
  ture” and play out the acts and scenes of the adventure 
  in the order provided. You are officially under way. 
   
  Sixth, at the end of the night use the section entitled 
  “Concluding the Adventure” to wrap things up.  
   
  If you want more information about continuing the 
  story started by this adventure, about the d20 system 
  or about Necromancer Games and our products, sec-
  tions addressing these topics can be found at the very 
  end of the module. 
   
  As a final matter, remember the Necromancer Games 
  “golden rule”: use what you want, discard or change 
  the rest. We have presented this adventure in a strict 
  step-by-step format to make it easy to get that first 
  game going without any hassle. But if you want to 
  change some things around, go right ahead. In fact, we 
  hope ambitious Game Masters will use this adventure 
  as a campaign seed. Feel free to flesh out the city of 
  Reme and to roleplay Corian’s discharge from his ap-
  prenticeship and his investigation into Eralion and the 
  amulet. Go ahead and play out the meeting between 
  the various characters. Draw up an overland map and 
  handle all the travel rather than just the programmed 
  encounters provided by this adventure. Maybe even 
  throw in a few non-player characters of your own. It’s 
  your world. Your players are just playing in it. 
   
  Notes for the Game Master 
   
  This section is primarily aimed at newer Game Mas-
  ters, though reading the tips in this section may re-
  mind veteran GMs of how they learned these same 
  lessons through much experience. Your players will be 
  mighty wizards, devout clerics, stout fighters and cun-
  ning rogues. But you are in a sense above even the 
  greatest of these, for you are the shaper of the world in 
  which your players adventure. It is your job to breathe 
  life into these written words and make for your players 
  a fictional reality into which they can immerse them-
  selves. 
   
  Though players cannot function without a GM, it is 
  also true that a GM cannot function without players. 
  Thus, the best advice for a new GM is this: always 
  remember that your adventures should be like coopera-
  tive stories written by both you and your players. You 
  must work together for everyone to have fun. That 
  doesn’t mean you should break rules to make your 
  players happy. What it does mean is that, like an en-
  lightened ruler, you should adjudicate your games with 
  fairness and graciousness. Your power should be un-
  questioned not because it is frequently exercised but 
  rather because it is not. You should never be “out to 
  get” your players. If your adventures are challenging 
  and you run them fairly you will be heralded as a great 
  GM. 
   
  You have many hats to wear as the Game Master. First 
  and foremost, as already mentioned, you are the fair 
  arbiter of the rules. But you are also the person who 
  plays all the monsters and non-player characters 
  (NPCs) that the players encounter. Where the players 
  play one (or at most two) characters, you will play 
  many: the person met at the inn or on the road, the vile 
  orc, the mischievous leprechaun, the evil cleric, the 
  friendly wizard, the power-mad king and all the gods. 
  You are, in short, everything except the player charac-
  ters. When you are the thief, be cunning and dishon-
  est, when the orc, cruel and chaotic, when the paladin, 
  noble and chivalrous, when the town guard, loyal and 
  stern. Inject as much of your own personality into your 
  roles as possible. Always remember, however, to be 
  fair both to the characters and to yourself. As one of 
  the best GMs to ever run a game once said: “When 
  playing a monster or an NPC, temper your actions with 
  disinterest in the final outcome and play only from the 
  viewpoint of that particular monster or NPC.” Being a 
  GM is challenging—requiring more skill than that of 
  the best player—but it is equally rewarding. Learn to 
  wear all of your hats well, and to be fair while doing 
  so, and your players will enjoy themselves immensely. 
   
  To assist you, we have provided “Side Boxes”—
  material in the margins which are specific GM notes 
  deserving of special attention. Here you will find im-
  portant things to remember, monster tactics, trap sum-
  maries, highlights of rule changes in the new edition 
  and other material of specific use to you as the GM. 
  We hope these notes make running this adventure as 
  easy as possible. 
   
  We have also provided “Boxed Text”—pieces of nar-
  rative to be read directly to your players to describe 
  key encounter areas and events. Normally, we believe 
  that GMs should describe encounters in their own 
  words. However, since this adventure is designed to be 
  used “out of the box” with little preparation time by 
  novice GMs, we decided to include the boxed text. 
  You should, of course, use your own words if you de-
  sire. 
   
  Also, because this adventure module is designed for 
  people using the new edition of the game rules for the 
  first time (both novice and veteran GMs) we have pro-
  vided a large amount of step-by-step material to help 
  you make sure you are using the new rules properly. 
   
  One final note: Do not let disputes swallow the gam-
  ing session. Since this adventure is designed to be one 
  of your first adventures under the 3rd edition rules, 
  there is a greater chance that you or your players will 
  not be entirely familiar with all the new rule changes. 
  If a dispute arises, listen briefly to the party’s com-
  plaint. If you can remedy their problem without unnec-
  essarily bending the rules then do so. The point of the 
  game is for everyone to have fun. If you intend to rule 
  against the party, explain to them that after the session 
  you can all discuss the matter at length but that you 
  need to make a decision now and continue play. Then 
  Side Boxes 
  
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  make the decision. Remember that your decision for 
  that session is final. Continue with play. If, after dis-
  cussion following the session, you determine that your 
  decision was incorrect then you should do your best to 
  remedy the faulty ruling. Either let the players replay 
  the particular encounter or, if a character was killed, 
  allow that character to return to life. Rules exist for a 
  reason. They must be enforced. But not at the cost of 
  damaging friendships and ruining everyone’s fun. A 
  good GM needs to be firm in his or her rulings but at 
  the same time not afraid to admit he or she was wrong 
  and correct that wrong. Remember, as GM you are a 
  fair judge, not an opponent. 
   
  But most of all have fun. 
   
  Adventure Background 
   
  Long ago, Eralion was a good and kind wizard. He 
  was devoted to his patron deity, a god of law and 
  righteousness. As the shadow of his death grew long 
  and he began to sense his own mortality, Eralion’s 
  heart darkened and his desire for power and fear of 
  death became greater than his devotion to his god. He 
  turned his attention to ways to lengthen his fading life. 
  He learned the rumor of the fabled Mushroom of 
  Youth in the dungeon of Rappan Athuk, the legendary 
  Dungeon of Graves, but he lacked the courage to enter 
  those deadly halls. He researched wish spells, but he 
  did not have the power to master such mighty magics, 
  being himself a mage of only meager power. 
   
  Finally, in his darkest moment, Eralion turned to Or-
  cus, the Demon-lord of the Undead, imploring the 
  dread demon for the secret of unlife—the secret of 
  becoming a lich. Orcus knew that Eralion lacked the 
  power to complete the necessary rituals to become a 
  lich, as Eralion had barely managed the use of a scroll 
  to contact him in the depths of the Abyss in his Palace 
  of Bones. Orcus smiled a cruel smile as he promised 
  the secret of lichdom to Eralion. But there was a price. 
  Orcus required Eralion to give to him his shadow. “A 
  trifling thing,” Orcus whispered to Eralion from the 
  Abyss. “Something you will not need after the ritual 
  which I shall give to you. For the darkness will be your 
  home as you live for untold ages.” 
   
  In his pride, Eralion believed the demon-lord. He 
  learned the ritual Orcus provided to him. He made one 
  final trip to the city of Reme to purchase several items 
  necessary for the phylactery required by the ritual. 
  While there, he delivered a letter to his friend Feri-
  blan the Mad, with whom he had discussed the pros-
  pect of lichdom—though only as a scholarly matter. 
  Feriblan, known for his absent-mindedness, never read 
  the letter, but instead promptly misplaced it and its 
  companion silk-wrapped item. 
   
  Eralion returned to his keep and locked himself in his 
  workroom. He began his ritual, guarded by zombies 
  given to him by Orcus—sent more to make sure Er-
  alion went through with the ritual than to offer him 
  aid. As he uttered false words of power and consumed 
  the transforming potion he realized the demon’s 
  treachery. He felt his life essence slip away—
  transferring in part to his own shadow, which he had 
  sold to the Demon Prince. Eralion found himself Or-
  cus’ unwitting servant, trapped in his own keep. And 
  there he would have stayed, forgotten to the world, 
  had it not been for the actions of a lowly apprentice.  
  Some twenty years later, a young wizard’s apprentice 
  named Corian learned of Eralion accidentally. During 
  his final days under his uncle’s tutelage, Corian and 
  his master had traveled to the library of Feriblan the 
  Mad in the city of Reme. Corian was never pleased to 
  visit Feriblan, for while there he was always forced to 
  have contact with Vortigern, Feriblan’s apprentice, 
  and his loathsome raven familiar—Talon. Luckily for 
  Corian, this day he managed to avoid Vortigern. While 
  perusing mundane documents in an outer sitting room 
  as his master and Feriblan studied ancient scrolls, Co-
  rian nervously fiddled with a clasp on the back of a 
  small reading stand. Quite to his surprise, a secret 
  compartment opened which contained a small, bound 
  piece of parchment and an item wrapped in silk cloth. 
  Checking to see that his actions were unobserved, Co-
  rian slipped both items into the folds of his robe. The 
  parchment proved to be the letter Eralion had left for 
  Feriblan on his last visit before his ritual, and the item 
  wrapped in the silk cloth an amulet of some unknown 
  design.  
   
  Corian’s actions, however, did not go unnoticed. Vor-
  tigern was fast becoming a wizard of some power. It 
  was whispered that had the old wizard Feriblan not 
  been mad, he would have discharged Vortigern from 
  his apprenticeship long ago. It was believed—
  correctly—that Vortigern had learned all the skills of 
  an apprentice and was remaining with Feriblan under 
  the guise of an apprentice in order to have continued 
  access to Feriblan’s legendary library. Among the 
  many musty volumes and forbidden tomes, Vortigern 
  discovered a tract describing  how to call forth an imp 
  from the lower planes. Sacrificing the familiar that 
  Feriblan had called for him, Vortigern summoned the 
  small, devilish creature in secret to act as his familiar. 
  The imp took the form of Vortigern’s prior familiar—a 
  raven—to prevent suspicion. It was this imp familiar 
  who, while in raven form, saw Corian take the amulet 
  and parchment. Talon reported what he saw to his 
  master, though neither knew the significance of the 
  letter and the amulet at that time. 
   
  Freed from his apprenticeship, Corian returned to 
  Feriblan. Taking the risk of asking a direct question of 
  the addled wizard, Corian learned that Eralion was 
  nowhere near powerful enough to become a lich. 
  “Eralion! A lich?!” the old wizard exclaimed. “He was 
  no apprentice, my son, but neither was he a mage with 
  the mastery of the eldritch powers necessary for such a 
  dangerous undertaking! If you have heard such rumors, 
  boy, I shall put them to rest. The magics required for 
  such a transition were far beyond his grasp.” Once on 
  You should become familiar 
  with each of these non-player 
  characters: Corian, Eralion, 
  Orcus, Feriblan the Mad, 
  Vortigern and Talon. 
  Cast of Characters 
  Orcus is a greater demon 
  prince, depicted as a huge 
  bat-winged, 
  pig-snouted, 
  goat-hooved beast wielding a 
  skull-tipped wand which is 
  rumored to slay any mortal it 
  touches. He dwells in the 
  Abyss in his Palace of Bones 
  and he commands hordes of 
  undead. He is a creature of 
  utter chaos and evil. He also 
  happens to be the unofficial 
  Necromancer Games mascot. 
  Orcus 
  The most powerful and evil 
  form of undead, a lich is 
  created when an evil wizard 
  or cleric of high level volun-
  tarily transforms himself into 
  an undead creature to extend 
  his life span and increase his 
  power. The evil being who so 
  transforms himself becomes a 
  hideous skeletal creature, but 
  retains his spell casting pow-
  ers. 
  Lich 
  Talon is an imp, a devilish 
  familiar 
  from 
  the 
  lower 
  planes. As an imp, Talon can 
  take the form of a raven at 
  will. Corian does not know 
  that Talon is actually an imp 
  in the guise of a raven. 
  Talon 
  
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  the topic of his old friend, Feriblan spoke at length, 
  though in a disjointed fashion. He told Corian of Er-
  alion’s keep near the village of Fairhill. Feriblan made 
  reference to a staff that Eralion possessed which ap-
  parently had magical powers. He also mentioned that 
  Eralion had never returned several valuable magical 
  tracts and spell books. Corian left the old wizard de-
  termined to find this tower and the items it con-
  tained—for if Eralion was not a lich, the items should 
  be there for the taking! 
   
  Once again, Corian’s actions did not go unobserved. 
  Vortigern commanded his imp familiar Talon to watch 
  the old mage and Corian as they met together. And so 
  it was that Talon overheard their conversation. Once 
  informed by Talon, Vortigern guessed the connection 
  between Corian’s visit and the purloined letter and 
  item. To solidify his suspicion, Vortigern commanded 
  Talon to consult his devilish patron—Dispater—who 
  confirmed that the amulet Corian possessed was some-
  how a link to Eralion’s sanctuary within his keep. 
   
  Readying himself with the necessary equipment for 
  travel to Fairhill, Corian visited a local tavern—the 
  Starving Stirge. There he posted a notice seeking the 
  aid of able-bodied adventurers willing to join him in 
  an expedition to a wizard’s tower. Promising an equal 
  division of all gold recovered, he soon gathered a 
  group of comrades-at-arms eager for adventure and 
  glory. Corian was also joined by Galdar, a priest of St. 
  Cuthbert, who was instructed in a vision from his god 
  to seek out Corian and to follow where the amulet led 
  him. Someone or something, it appeared, had angered 
  the god of Retribution. Corian was glad for his com-
  pany.  
   
  But Corian was reluctant to give the full story to his 
  new friends, having on more than one occasion seen 
  Talon, the familiar of Vortigern, peering into his 
  chamber window in raven form. Corian, worried that 
  his theft of the amulet and letter had been seen by the 
  wicked bird, did not wish to risk further discovery 
  while still in Reme. The party set out from Reme some 
  four days prior to the start of this adventure, with light 
  hearts and heavy packs—only Corian nursing the nag-
  ging fear that Vortigern and his loathsome bird some-
  how knew of his goal. 
   
  Their hearts would not have been so light had they 
  known of Vortigern’s plotting, for Vortigern had not 
  been idle. While Corian gathered his allies, Vortigern 
  assembled several magical items and two unsavory 
  companions. Delayed with his magical preparations, 
  Vortigern and his henchmen set out from Reme two 
  days behind Corian and his band, intent on recovering 
  the amulet at any cost. And that is where our story 
  begins… 
   
  If you choose not to locate this adventure in your own 
  world, the following description of the area will help 
  you describe the setting to your players. Reme is a 
  large port city on the eastern coast of an Inland Sea. 
  The tradeway—a merchant road—runs directly east 
  from Reme to the city of Bard’s Gate and on towards 
  the forest kingdoms of the east. North of the tradeway, 
  and running parallel to it, lie the Stoneheart Moun-
  tains.  South of the tradeway, and also parallel to it, is 
  the river Greywash. The vale between the river and 
  the mountains through which the tradeway runs is ver-
  dant green and dotted with pine forests, though the 
  forests have mostly been cleared back from the road. 
  Fairhill lies just north of the tradeway about 8 days 
  march from Reme, approximately half way from Reme 
  to Bard’s Gate. Hawks and falcons are a common 
  sight, as are larger eagles. The vale is plentiful with 
  game. 
   
  Player’s Introduction 
   
  Read the following text to your players: 
  Running the Adventure 
   
  Now that you have read the Player’s Introduction, pro-
  ceed through the adventure presented below in Act 
  and Scene format. Each Scene begins with a section of 
  boxed text to be read to your players. It then contains 
  information for you to use to run the particular Scene. 
   
  Act I—A Safe Haven 
   
  The First Watch 
   
  You have traveled four days from Reme with your 
  newfound companions. Rain and cloudy weather have 
  marred your travels since you left, slowing your pace 
  and forcing you to keep off the main road and travel 
  under the eaves of the light woods to the north of the 
  tradeway. It seems odd at this time of year to have 
  such strange weather. Sunshine can be seen on the far 
  horizon, and you all have a feeling that something is 
  amiss, as if a dark cloud is following you from Reme. 
  Each of you thinks back to the Starving Stirge—the 
  Inn where you formed your fellowship. You shift your 
  packs, which seem even heavier in the rain, and recall 
  Corian’s notice: “Seeking Fellow Adventurers,” it 
  read. “Companions to share in glory and gold and ad-
  ventures unnumbered.” As you look down at your 
  muddy boots, you think to yourself that you would 
  gladly trade Corian’s promises of gold for dry clothes 
  and a warm fire. 
  Weary from the long walk, you finally find a nice shel-
  tered area and build your campfire. One of your scouts 
  makes a quick catch of a small brace of conies and 
  soon the smell of roasting rabbit wafts through the air. 
  Each of you feels as if you can finally relax, rest your 
  sore feet and change into dry clothing. It appears your 
  luck may be changing. 
  Act and Scene Format 
  Now all you have to do is 
  proceed through the adven-
  ture scene by scene. Veteran 
  GMs should feel free to flesh 
  out actions between scenes as 
  they see fit. 
  Setting 
  The Wizard’s Amulet is 
  designed to fit easily into any 
  fantasy campaign. If you 
  wish, you can use the setting 
  provided here. This is the 
  default setting for many Nec-
  romancer Games products. 
  For a more detailed treatment 
  of this area, see The Crucible 
  of Freya, the Bard’s Gate 
  Supplement and The Tomb 
  of Abysthor, available from 
  Necromancer Games. You 
  can read about these product 
  at our web site:  
  www.necromancergames.com 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 6 
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  The party makes their camp to get out of the rain. 
  Draw up a map of a small clearing against the base of 
  a hill, amidst a grove of trees. The small clearing is 
  about 20’ in diameter. The hillside is steep and gives 
  protection from the wind and rain, and the light trees 
  give some protection from the rain as well. Stress that 
  the characters should take off their armor and stow 
  their weapons to keep them dry. Make a point of men-
  tioning rust and the problems of sleeping in armor. 
  Ask the players what they do with their other equip-
  ment. Figure out where they build their fire—if they 
  build it in the open of the clearing, they will have trou-
  ble keeping it lit. The better location would be either 
  against the hillside or by one of the trees under cover 
  from the rain. Regardless of what your players decide 
  to do, draw a map of the camp they set up. Ask the 
  party if they set a watch and if so in what order the 
  characters stand watch. Make them arrange their char-
  acters on the map—where they will sleep, etc. Once 
  this is determined, darkness begins to fall, leading to 
  the next scene. 
   
  A Voice in the Darkness 
   
  Read the subsection entitled “Encounter Modifica-
  tion,” below, and determine what monster your players 
  will encounter. Then determine who has the first 
  watch. If you decide not to use the leucrotta, read the 
  boxed text provided under “Encounter Modification.” 
  If you choose to use the leucrotta, then the person on 
  watch has the following encounter: 
  Here it is. The first encounter. If you are a new GM, 
  this is probably your first time refereeing a combat. So 
  you might be a little concerned about running the en-
  counter properly. Even if you aren’t a new GM, the 
  recent edition of the rules is probably new to you. For 
  these reasons, we have provided a substantial amount 
  of detail on how to run this encounter step-by-step, so 
  that novices and experts alike will feel comfortable 
  running the encounter under the new rules. 
   
  The person lured away from the camp has been drawn 
  ten feet into the woods surrounding the clearing in 
  which the party has made camp and there has been 
  attacked by a young leucrotta. The mother leucrotta is 
  making the noise of the crying child, drawing the char-
  acter on watch right by where the baby leucrotta is 
  hiding, ready to spring. As the character passes by its 
  hiding place the young leucrotta jumps out of the dark-
  ness to strike. Though the boxed text makes it seem as 
  if the character has been surprised by the leucrotta, 
  that has yet to be determined. 
   
  Starting Combat: The first thing you need to do is 
  determine if the character lured into the woods is 
  aware of the leucrotta prior to the attack. If he is not 
  aware of the leucrotta then it gets a free round to act, 
  known as the Surprise Round. Have the character roll 
  to see if he has spotted the leucrotta as he passed by it. 
  To see if he spotted the monster, the character has to 
  roll against his Spot skill. His Spot check is an op-
  posed roll (see Table 4-3). To know if he makes the 
  Spot check, you first have to know how well the 
  leucrotta is hiding. Roll 1d20 for the leucrotta and add 
  his bonus for his Hide skill, plus a modifier of +2 (+4 
  for his small size, -2 for his hideous stench) for a total 
  of +4 to the 1d20 check. If the character rolls a higher 
  modified number on his Spot check than the leucrotta 
  did on his Hide check then the character sees the 
  leucrotta before it attacks and he is not surprised. If he 
  fails his roll then he is surprised and the leucrotta gets 
  a free Surprise Round. You do not have to roll for the 
  other leucrotta (the mother) because she does not enter 
  combat initially. 
   
  Surprise round: If the character is surprised then the 
  young leucrotta gets a free Surprise Round. In that 
  round, the young leucrotta will make a 5’ move out of 
  hiding and attack the character from the rear with its 
  bite. This is a partial action, since the leucrotta has 
  been readying, waiting for the character to walk by. 
  The leucrotta, since it is attacking from behind, gets a 
  +2 bonus on its attack with its bite. Remember, that 
  during the Surprise Round, all surprised characters are 
  “flat footed” and do not receive their Dex bonus to 
  their AC. In addition, persons (and monsters) acting 
  during the surprise round can only make partial ac-
  tions. And don’t forget that the leucrotta’s bite is ar-
  mor piercing—see its listed Special Quality. Because 
  the attack in the surprise round is from behind, the 
  armor piercing bite effects the target’s armor, not his 
  shield. 
   
  Initiative: After the Surprise round or if the character 
  is aware of the leucrotta you need to roll initiative. All 
  combatants aware of each other must roll 1d20, adding 
  their initiative bonus if any. The higher roll moves and 
  attacks first. If there is a tie, the combatant with the 
  higher Dex moves first. Record the order of initiative. 
  Persons who subsequently enter combat roll initiative 
  and are added to this ranking. Remember, a person 
  remains “flat footed” (without their Dex bonus to AC) 
  until they have actually acted. So if the character lured 
  into the woods loses initiative he remains flat footed 
  until he acts. 
   
  What the Young Leucrotta Will Do: If the character 
  is not surprised, the leucrotta will still take the action 
  described above—do a 5’ move and attack. The 
  The new rules provide that if 
  a character sleeps in armor 
  with an armor check penalty 
  of –5 or worse (which in-
  cludes all heavy armor and 
  chainmail) then the character 
  is at –2 Str and Dex the next 
  day and can’t charge or run. 
  Sleeping in Armor 
  Before you read the boxed 
  text, determine which en-
  counter you are going to 
  use—the leucrotta or the 
  stirges. 
  Wait! 
  Darkness falls, and the fire begins to die down. As the 
  characters not standing watch drift off to sleep, a 
  child’s voice can be heard, crying in the darkness. 
  Taking a brand from the fire, [the person on watch] 
  leaves the fireside to investigate, when suddenly he is 
  attacked from the rear by a hideous stag-like creature 
  with the head of a badger, large, yellowish-gray fangs 
  and demonic red glowing eyes. The beast smells of 
  rotting corpses. Twenty feet away is another, much 
  larger than the first, crying in the voice that you 
  thought was the child’s. You are stunned that such a 
  beautiful and innocent sound could come from so de-
  monic looking a beast. 
  The player ambushed rolls a 
  Spot check. The leucrotta 
  rolls a Hide check at +2 to 
  his skill. Unless the character 
  ambushed rolls higher, he is 
  surprised. Until a combatant 
  acts, he is “flat footed” and 
  loses his Dex bonus to AC. 
  Any combatant that can act 
  during the surprise round is 
  limited to partial actions and 
  a 5 ft. move. 
  Determining Surprise 
  Initiative is only rolled on 
  1d20 once for each creature 
  (modified by the initiative 
  modifier), when they become 
  aware of their foe. When 
  another 
  creature 
  becomes 
  aware, 
  their 
  initiative 
  is 
  rolled and they are added to 
  the initiative order. Actions 
  are taken in decreasing order 
  of initiative—highest goes 
  first. Ties go in order of 
  higher base Dex. 
  Initiative 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 7 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
   
  leucrotta will then, next round, turn around and retreat 
  at full movement, using its special attack “Retreat 
  Double Kick.” It still hasn’t mastered this attack tech-
  nique, so its rear kick is at a minus (already reflected 
  in the monster stat block for the young leucrotta). If 
  the young leucrotta won initiative, then this kick at-
  tack happens before the character can turn around and 
  so is at +2 to attack. After this initial attack and re-
  treat, the young leucrotta will make a full movement to 
  move around behind the character to try to attack him 
  again. However, since it is still young, the baby 
  leucrotta has not yet learned the importance of focus-
  ing its attack on one victim. If it encounters another 
  person it will forget about the initial victim and launch 
  an attack against the new target. If there are other per-
  sons nearby then they are just as likely to be attacked. 
  You should randomize the victims of the young 
  leucrotta’s attacks. 
   
  What the Mother Leucrotta Will Do: The other, 
  larger leucrotta is the young beast’s mother, who 
  stands and watches the fight, while the baby moves in, 
  bites and leaps out kicking. The mother is interested 
  in seeing whether or not the youngster is properly us-
  ing the hunting techniques she has taught him. She 
  will remain some 20 feet away watching his actions. 
  The mother only joins in if the baby is killed outright 
  or if she is attacked. The party would be foolish to 
  attack her. If the mother does attack, she differs from 
  the young leucrotta in one important aspect—she has 
  the ability to do a Spring Attack, as the Feat of the 
  same name. This means she can move before her at-
  tack and then move again, retreating and using her 
  kick attack, as long as she moves in total no more than 
  her full movement. A nasty attack combination. If 
  someone attacks her she does just that. Then she calls 
  for her and the baby to flee. If the baby has been killed 
  she will not cease her attacks until she is killed or un-
  til every member of the party is dead. 
   
  Ending the Combat: If the baby takes a cumulative 
  total of 6 hit points of damage or more, the pair will 
  retreat into the night. Also, if more than three persons 
  show up to fight against the young leucrotta, the 
  mother will call out in their foul language and the two 
  will retreat. Finally, if the fight is going poorly for the 
  party, the GM in his or her discretion can decide that 
  the beasts have had enough practice and have them 
  retreat (mercifully). If any of these occur, the GM 
  should have the mother “tease” the party for the next 
  two nights, but not really attack them. They will con-
  tinually hear a baby crying off in the distance or a 
  Jump in and bite; don’t forget 
  the bite is armor piercing; 
  then retreat and use the re-
  treat double kick; people 
  kicked have to save or fall 
  over like a Trip attack; then 
  run away and circle around 
  the character for another 
  attack 
  two 
  rounds 
  later. 
  Lather, rinse, repeat. 
  Playing the Leucrotta 
  If the combat is going poorly 
  for the players (more than 
  one 
  player 
  is 
  seriously 
  wounded or one player is 
  unconscious), and the baby 
  leucrotta is still alive, then 
  the mother and the baby re-
  treat, having had enough 
  practice for one night. 
  Escape Hatch 
  Leucrotta, Young: CR 1; SZ Small beast (4 ft. tall 
  at shoulder); HD 2d10; hp 15; Init +1 (Dex); Spd 40 
  ft.; AC 13 (+2 natural, Dex); Atk +1 melee (1d6+1, 
  bite, slashing, armor piercing), -2 melee (2d6, double 
  retreat kick, bludgeoning); SA armor piercing bite, 
  double retreat kick; SQ mimic voice; SV Fort +1, Ref 
  +3, Will +0; AL CE; Str 9/-1, Dex 12/+1, Con 10/+0, 
  Int 6/-2, Wis 5/-3, Cha 3/-4. 
  Skills: Hide +2, Listen +2, Move Silently +1. Feats: 
  Sure-footed. 
  SA—Armor Piercing Bite (Ex): The bony ridges that 
  a leucrotta has for teeth can chew through metal or 
  wood. In addition to inflicting damage on the character 
  attacked, compare the damage rolled against the hard-
  ness rating of the character’s shield or armor (see Ta-
  bles 8-12 and 8-13). Subtract the hardness from the 
  damage done. Then subtract the remainder from the 
  hit points of the item (see Tables 8-12 and 8-13). If the 
  damaged caused by cumulative leucrotta bites exceeds 
  the hit points of the shield or armor it is utterly de-
  stroyed. Sustaining more than half its hit points ren-
  ders a shield useless. Initial attacks are against a 
  shield. Subsequent attacks, or attacks from the rear, 
  are against the victim’s armor, which is handled in the 
  same fashion (again, see Tables 8-12 and 8-13). 
  SA—Retreat Double Kick (Ex): When a leucrotta 
  turns to flee it instinctively kicks with both of its rear 
  legs. Only one attack and damage roll is made for both 
  legs. This is a free action. This attack also counts as a 
  “Trip” attack in that the person kicked can be knocked 
  over. 
  SQ—Mimic Voice (Ex): A leucrotta can mimic the 
  voice of a man, woman, child, or a domestic animal in 
  pain. This is often used to lure a victim into attack 
  range. The young leucrotta has not yet mastered this 
  ability. 
   
  Leucrotta, Mother: CR 3; SZ Large beast (6 ft. tall 
  at shoulder); HD 6d10+6; hp 38; Init +6 (Improved 
  Initiative, Dex); Spd 40 ft.; AC 14 (+3 natural, Dex, -1 
  size); Atk +5 melee (3d6, bite, slashing, armor pierc-
  ing), +7 melee (2d6, double retreat kick, crit 19-20, 
  bludgeoning); Face 5 ft. x 10 ft.; SA armor piercing 
  bite, double retreat kick; SQ mimic voice; SV Fort+3 
  Refl+6 Will+2; AL CE; Str 14/+2, Dex 14/+2, Con 12/
  +1, Int 8/-1, Wis 9/-1, Cha 2/-4. 
  Skills: Hide +2, Listen +6, Move Silently +5. Feats: 
  Improved Initiative, Sure-footed, Weapon Finesse 
  (rear kick), Spring Attack. 
  Special Attacks and Qualities: As above, though 
  this full-grown beast does 3d6 damage and is thus 
  much more likely to ruin armor and shields then is the 
  young leucrotta. 
   
  Description: A leucrotta is a horrible, unbearably 
  ugly beast. It has the body of a stag, the head of a 
  badger and a lionine tail. It has bony, yellow-gray 
  ridges for teeth and burning, feral red eyes. Their bod-
  ies are tan, darkening to black at the head. The stench 
  of rotting corpses surrounds the beast and its breath 
  reeks of the grave. A full-sized male can reach seven 
  feet tall at the shoulder, though they average six feet. 
  Other animals shun this foul creature. Leucrotta are 
  very intelligent for beasts and speak their own evil 
  language. They are wicked and malicious. Because of 
  their mountain goat-like surefootedness, leucrotta nor-
  mally make their lair in treacherous, rocky crags ac-
  cessible only to them. 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 8 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
  You should get into the habit 
  of drawing up the night’s 
  campsite on the battle map 
  even if you know there won’t 
  be an encounter. Otherwise, 
  players will quickly figure 
  out that you only draw the 
  map when there will be an 
  encounter. Keep them on 
  their toes. Don’t ignore draw-
  ing up the map just because 
  you know there is nothing 
  special about this hill.  
   
  wounded animal in pain. 
   
  Encounter Modification: If you are a new GM and 
  running the leucrotta encounter seems too compli-
  cated, then replace the leucrotta with 3 stirges. Note, 
  however, that 3 stirges are more dangerous than one 
  young leucrotta. Obviously, since the leucrotta are no 
  longer involved, the player on watch is not lured away 
  from the fire. Instead, the three stirges come flying in 
  with a horrible buzzing, concentrating their attacks on 
  the character on watch. If the players encounter stirges 
  they do not encounter the leucrotta and if they encoun-
  tered the leucrotta they don’t encounter the stirges. 
  One encounter is enough for first-level characters! If 
  you decide to use the stirges, read the following to 
  your players: 
   
  The stirges are not particularly quiet. The character on 
  watch can make a Listen check (DC 12). If successful, 
  he is aware of the stirges’ approach and is not sur-
  prised. In addition, he can make a Spot check (DC of 
  14) to see them coming. The stirges concentrate on 
  one victim until they drain enough blood to sate their 
  thirst, at which time they will detach themselves and 
  fly away at one-half their speed—bloated from their 
  recent feast. If an attached stirge sustains a hit and 
  takes damage—even if not enough to kill it—that 
  stirge will detach itself and fly away seeking less re-
  sistant prey elsewhere. 
   
   
  The Smiling Skull 
  This is a red herring, and has nothing to do with this 
  adventure. In fact, it is an homage to a classic old ad-
  venture, which had just such an arrangement of stones 
  on the hill in which a certain tomb was located. The 
  party may wish to waste a lot of time and energy here, 
  but there is nothing to find. One of the rocks, however, 
  has been enchanted with a Nystul’s magic aura, de-
  tecting as abjuration magic (DC 18) if the party casts 
  a detect magic spell. 
   
  Act II—A Bird in the Hand 
   
  A Pleasant Camp 
  With a horrible buzzing, three strange flying insects 
  the size of large rats with bat wings, grasping claws 
  and hideous mosquito-like snouts swarm all around 
  you. You shout to wake your comrades as the gro-
  tesque monstrosities are upon you—seeking your 
  warm flesh with their evil beaks. 
  A touch attack ignores the 
  armor and shield bonuses of 
  the target, though the target 
  retains their Dexterity bonus 
  and any magical bonus. A 
  stirge’s initial attack is a 
  touch attack. 
  Touch Attack 
  Some attacks such as poison 
  or stirge bites do temporary 
  damage to an attribute. A 
  character reduced to 0 Con-
  stitution from such damage 
  dies. Brutal! 
  Temporary Damage 
  You have driven off the beasts, though some of you 
  are wounded. You know that you must get out of this 
  wilderness soon. You travel for two more days, and 
  finally you believe the beast’s haunting childlike cry is 
  behind you. At last, the weather starts to clear, and as 
  you stop for a water break along a stream, you see a 
  strange rock formation atop a hill to the west. You 
  can’t be sure, but from your current angle it looks as if 
  the rocks have been placed purposefully. You venture 
  closer and discover that someone has arranged large 
  rocks on the top of the hill in the shape of a grinning 
  human skull. 
  GM Tip 
  Today’s travels were a pleasant change from the previ-
  ous four days. You even found some fresh blueberries 
  and two of your group downed a small deer. You make 
  camp in the open, near a copse of trees, and bask in 
  the warmth of the late afternoon sun with full bellies 
  and dry clothes. You figure your party is still four days 
  travel from Fairhill. 
  Stirges (3): CR 2; SZ Tiny beast (2 ft. wingspan, 1 
  ft. body length); HD 1d10; hp 6,5,5; Init +4 (Dex); Spd 
  10 ft., fly 40 ft. (poor); AC 16 (+2 size, +4 Dex; AC 12 
  if attached); Atk +6 melee (1d3, touch, piercing, plus 
  special attack blood drain on subsequent rounds); Face 
  2 ½ ft. x 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.; SA attach, blood drain; 
  SV Fort+2 Refl+6 Will+1; AL N; Str 3/-4, Dex 19/+4, 
  Con 10/+0, Int 1/-5, Wis 12/+1, Cha 6/-2. 
  Skills: Spot +8 (acute sense of smell), Hide +14. 
  Feats: Weapon Finesse (touch), Darkvision (200 ft.). 
  SD—Attach (Ex): If a stirge hits with a touch at-
  tack (target’s armor bonuses ignored), it uses its eight 
  pincers to latch onto its target’s body. A stirge attaches 
  itself with incredible strength and cannot be pulled 
  off. You must kill a stirge to remove it. If an attack is 
  made against an attached stirge, that attack is at –4 
  because the other person must be careful not to hit the 
  victim. The victim does not suffer this penalty. An 
  attached stirge has AC 12. 
  SA—Blood Drain (Ex): An attached stirge drains 
  blood, dealing 1d4 temporary Constitution damage 
  each round it remains attached. Once it has drained 4 
  points of Constitution, it detaches and flies off to di-
  gest its meal. Temporary Constitution damage is re-
  gained at a rate of 1 point per day. 
   
  Description: Stirges are an obscene cross between 
  a bird, a bat and an insect. They feed off the blood of 
  living creatures and are universally feared. They have 
  a long beak-like proboscis that they use to drain blood. 
  They have four or six insect like legs that end in in-
  credibly strong pincers they use to attach to their vic-
  tims while at their vile feast. They normally feed on 
  animals or children, though they are known to attack 
  humans when hungry. Because of their enhanced sense 
  of smell and the range of their darkvision, it is diffi-
  cult to surprise a stirge unless they are sleeping and 
  digesting after drinking their fill of blood. When they 
  sleep they hang upside down like a bat. 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 9 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
   
  At this point, draw up a camp on the battle map. Talk 
  about a proposed watch order, as if you are going to 
  proceed to spending the night. Once those matters are 
  all settled, continue on to the next scene. 
   
  Corian’s Tale 
  This Scene is entirely for the players, and you should 
  stay out of it as much as possible. Let the player who 
  is playing Corian tell as much or as little of Corian’s 
  back-story as he or she wishes. Encourage the player 
  to speak to the group contemporaneously rather than 
  simply reading from the provided background sheet. 
  But remember that this is probably the first major 
  block of role playing in this adventure and that it is 
  being done with pre-generated characters, not charac-
  ters the players made themselves, so the Corian player 
  will have less of a connection than usual with his or 
  her character. Let the other players ask questions of 
  Corian. The length of this Scene should be dictated 
  entirely by the interaction of the players. Just sit back 
  and watch. You should only intervene if the Corian 
  character makes an obvious mistake. But even in that 
  situation, don’t correct it immediately—the player may 
  be having Corian lie on purpose. Let them bring the 
  Scene to a conclusion—not you. Just as they seem to 
  be coming to a comfortable conclusion, shift immedi-
  ately to the next scene. 
   
  Talon 
  There is no way the PCs can kill Talon now, and he 
  automatically gets away in the round it takes the char-
  acters to grab their weapons. Let them take several 
  shots at Talon if they want (DC of 35). Play up the 
  fear of the impending attack which never comes and 
  make them hear plenty of “things that go bump in the 
  night” for the rest of the night (2-3 noises disturb the 
  watch). Vortigern, however, remains a day behind the 
  group and will not appear until Act III. He sent Talon 
  ahead to scout…successfully, it seems. 
  The characters may be frightened into traveling at 
  night—which is unwise. If they do, halfway through 
  the night they are attacked by 3 stirges. The stirges 
  are completely unrelated to Vortigern and Talon and 
  are a random encounter. The party will not have this 
  encounter if they remain in their camp through the 
  night. Use the stirge statistics from the alternate en-
  counter described in the “Encounter Modification” 
  section of the “Voice in the Darkness” scene, above. 
   
  Stirges (3): CR 2; hp 6,5,5. See the stirge descrip-
  tion above.  
   
  Act III—Vortigern’s Trap 
   
  The Farmhouse 
   
  You need to draw this map. Depict a simple farm 
  dwelling with one door and several windows, as well 
  as a barn, with an open front and small three-foot high 
  wooden-fenced pen enclosing the front area. The gate 
  in the wooden fence is open allowing the animals out 
  of the barn and pen. The farmer’s body lies in front of 
  his home. His wife’s body and two of their children lie 
  just inside the door to the farmhouse. Their young 
  daughter’s body is inside the animal pen in front of the 
  barn. 
   
  Examination of the bodies by a healer or any fighter 
  familiar with combat wounds easily determines that 
  they were all killed with swords or axes and that the 
  murderers were enthusiastic in their work. If a healer 
  or cleric with healing powers makes a successful Heal 
  check (DC 15) that character discovers that two of the 
  children have dagger-like wounds that drip a strange 
  poison. Allow any character with the Heal skill to 
  make a check (DC 28) or any person with Knowledge 
  (Poisons) skill to make a check (DC 24) to evaluate 
  the poison. If, somehow, they make the roll, tell them 
  it appears to be poison from some magical creature. If 
  the roll is failed (which it should be), tell them they 
  have never seen such poison before. 
   
  Searching the House: The house and barn have sev-
  eral animals running around: 4 pigs, 30 chickens, and 
  As the sun drops below the horizon and the fire dims, 
  Corian asks you all to gather. You have been waiting 
  for Corian to explain more of his purpose behind the 
  formation of your group, wondering at his true mo-
  tives. Before tonight, he has always rebuffed your 
  questions, saying that he will speak further when you 
  are far from prying eyes and ears in Reme. It appears 
  that time has come. 
  Just before Corian finishes speaking, one of you no-
  tices that you are not the only listeners. About fifteen 
  feet away is the largest raven you have ever seen, and 
  it’s eyes glow with red fire. You jump up, frightened, 
  as the raven flies off into the night with a shriek. This 
  must be Talon, the familiar of Corian’s nemesis, Vor-
  tigern. You fear that your enemies are near at hand. 
  You have traveled two days and nights since the de-
  monic bird disturbed your camp, drawing within two 
  days travel of Fairhill. Finally, you feel as though your 
  enemies have lost your trail. You see a farmhouse off 
  in the fields, near the woods, and you decide to see if 
  the farmer will let you rest in his barn for the night. 
  As you approach the small dwelling, you notice that 
  something is terribly wrong. The farmer—or what is 
  left of him—lies in the front yard of the home, half 
  eaten and missing one arm. His wife, and three small 
  children lie in various contorted positions, the smallest 
  boy completely disemboweled. Blood covers the hay in 
  the yard, and a chicken pecks at the corpse of a young 
  girl lying in front of the barn. 
  GM Tip 
  There is a really cool picture 
  of the farmhouse on the next 
  page. You should show it to 
  your characters as they ap-
  proach. Hey, we give you this 
  art for a reason. Use it! 
  Drawing the Map 
  Use the farmhouse picture on 
  the next page and the descrip-
  tion here to help you. Make 
  sure that off to one side of the 
  farmhouse (we suggest off to 
  the left, a little to the back) 
  you place a copse of trees 
  about 60 feet away—this is 
  where Vortigern will appear 
  later. 
  Once the characters start to 
  make camp, or start to bury 
  the bodies of the farmers, you 
  need to think about having 
  Vortigern spring his trap as 
  detailed in the next scene. 
  Take a break (it will put your 
  players at false ease), read the 
  next section and decide what 
  you want to do. 
  Ambush! 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 10 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
  a draft horse. In the trees a few hundred feet away—in 
  the opposite direction of Vortigern—are 3 cows. There 
  is little of value in the house, but an old short sword 
  hanging above the fireplace is in fact a +1 short 
  sword, though it has no outward appearance of being 
  magical. A hidden compartment in the bed (DC 20 
  Search check unless they specifically search the bed, 
  then DC 15) contains 22 silver and 45 copper pieces. 
  Two lanterns and numerous other dry goods are about 
  as well. If the party buries or consecrates the bodies, 
  they will not have to fight zombies when Vortigern 
  springs his trap (see “Ambush!,” below). If they wish 
  to search or bury bodies, let them do so. As soon as 
  they either make camp at the farm or leave the farm to 
  make camp somewhere else, proceed to the next scene 
  immediately. Don’t let the party get set up inside the 
  house. The encounter with Vortigern is at hand… 
   
  Ambush! 
   
  All right, here it is—the grand finale. But before we 
  begin the fight itself, a little background is in order. 
   
  Vortigern’s Plan: Vortigern orchestrated this encoun-
  ter to get the amulet from Corian. He has underesti-
  mated the party and believes he can simply take the 
  amulet by force. Vortigern and his thugs have been 
  following behind the characters for some time. Using 
  Talon as a scout, Vortigern learned the party’s direc-
  tion of travel. Projecting the party’s path, Talon 
  scouted and found this farmhouse. Vortigern and his 
  thugs came here and slaughtered the farmers, figuring 
  that would draw Corian and his comrades to investi-
  gate—setting the perfect trap. So far it has worked 
  exactly as Vortigern envisioned. Vortigern plans to 
  summon undead to surround the characters while he 
  and his thugs hide in the nearby trees and fire missiles 
  and spells at them. He then intends to send Talon to 
  retrieve the amulet from Corian. In preparation for this 
  encounter Vortigern cast a number of spells on him-
  self. He is protected by the following spells: resis-
  tance, shield, mage armor, and protection from ar-
  rows. See his description for more details. 
   
  Encounter Difficulty: Now that you know the basics 
  of Vortigern’s plan, you will have to decide how diffi-
  cult you want the combat to be. 
   
  Difficult: This level of difficulty should be used only 
  if your players are veterans and if they are relatively 
  uninjured going into the combat. Now is a good time 
  to remember the GM advice we gave you at the begin-
  ning of the adventure—don’t be out to get you players. 
  Only use this level of difficulty if your players can 
  handle it. If you decide on using this level of difficulty: 
  •  Vortigern springs the trap at the most strategically 
  This encounter can kill char-
  acters. So before you run it, 
  you need to pick the diffi-
  culty level. The default level 
  of difficulty is “Average.” 
  Don’t use the “Difficult” 
  level without good reason. 
  Difficulty Level 
  
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  advantageous time—just as the characters are 
  burying the farmers’ bodies (which veterans will 
  certainly do). 
  •  Vortigern will lean towards attacking after dark if 
  the players are still outside, since he and all his 
  allies have Darkvision.  
  •  Vortigern will know the whereabouts of every 
  character because Talon, who has been flying 
  around invisible, is telling him this information 
  telepathically. This will let Vortigern summon a 
  ring of skeletons around the characters and will 
  allow the zombies to rise up within the circle.  
  •  The thugs will fire right into the circle of skele-
  tons, since they are immune to piercing weapons. 
  The party will have to deal with zombies inside 
  their group, skeletons circling them, thugs firing 
  arrows at them and Vortigern casting offensive 
  spells at Corian, trying to kill him.  
  •  Vortigern will use all his offensive spells against 
  Corian, starting with magic missiles and leading 
  up to melf’s acid arrow. Vortigern will save his 
  flare spells for use on any characters that charge 
  his location.  
  •  Vortigern will also command Talon to use his 
  stinger on Corian and to pry the amulet from him 
  once he is dead.  
  This is probably the most true to what Vortigern would 
  do in this situation. It is also probably going to result 
  in one or two dead characters. Don’t worry. If you con-
  tinue on to The Crucible of Freya, Shandril the 
  priestess can raise them from the dead. Though there 
  might be a small price… 
   
  Average: This is the default level of difficulty and the 
  one that you should use unless your players are veter-
  ans. You may even use this level of difficulty if your 
  players are veterans but several of the characters are 
  injured. The general set up is the same as above, with 
  the same number of foes, except: 
  •  Don’t send Talon out to use his stinger on Corian. 
  Send Talon out invisibly to retrieve the amulet.  
  •  Have Vortigern use his magic missiles on Corian, 
  but have him reserve his acid arrow for his own 
  protection if someone charges him. He will use 
  flare on other fighters.  
  •  At this difficulty, Vortigern has not been using 
  Talon as an invisible spy, so he might not know 
  the location of all the characters. He, therefore, 
  might not spring the trap at the best strategic 
  time—meaning that all the characters may not be 
  inside the circle of summoned skeletons.  
   
  Easy: If your players are all new or if they have some 
  experience but several of the characters are injured, 
  you should use this level of difficulty. At this level of 
  difficulty: 
  •  Vortigern only has one thug with him.  
  •  Vortigern doesn’t cast any offensive spells at Co-
  rian.  
  •  Vortigern sends Talon out to steal the amulet, but 
  Talon will be visible.  
  •  Vortigern will not have gotten all the characters 
  within the ring of summoned skeletons 
  •  There will only be 4 skeletons, not 5.  
  •  The farmers, also, will not rise as zombies.  
  •  If someone charges Vortigern’s location, the thug 
  with Vortigern will flee rather then defend him. 
   
  Starting the Encounter:  
   
  Watch what your players do around the farmhouse. 
  When it seems like a good time to spring the trap, read 
  the following text: 
  Summary of Tactics:  
   
  Before we spell out the combat step-by-step, here is a 
  summary of what the various combatants will do. 
   
  For more information on The 
  Crucible of Freya see the 
  section entitled “Continuing 
  the Story,” below. 
  The Crucible of Freya 
  As you move about the farm, Corian suddenly hears a 
  familiar voice. He looks over and sees Vortigern and 
  two large men with bows drawn, just inside the cover 
  of the surrounding woods some 60 feet away. Vorti-
  gern has his familiar—the devil-eyed raven—perched 
  on his shoulder and he is reading a scroll. As Vorti-
  gern finishes reading the scroll, the raven transforms 
  into a small, devilish, winged creature and with a 
  hideous shriek flies off Vortigern’s shoulder and im-
  mediately goes invisible. Instantly, the ground comes 
  alive. [Select the names of two PCs other than Corian] 
  scream in terror as skeletal hands claw through the 
  ground and begin to encircle the party. (Read the fol-
  lowing only if the farmer’s bodies were not buried and 
  if you are not using the “Easy” difficulty setting) The 
  corpses of the dead farmers also rise and move slowly 
  towards you. 
  
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  Vortigern: Vortigern will use his spells from a dis-
  tance, focusing first on taking out Corian, as detailed 
  in the difficulty level you selected. He uses the trees 
  on the fringe of the farm as cover, which gives him +4 
  to his AC. See his description for more details. As 
  mentioned above, Vortigern has prepared himself with 
  several spells prior to the encounter—see his stat 
  block for details. He should be nearly impossible to hit 
  from distance. If the battle goes against him, he will 
  use his dust of disappearance to escape. In addition, if 
  Talon recovers the amulet, Vortigern and Talon will 
  flee, using his dust of disappearance. See the section 
  entitled “Escape?” below. 
   
  Vortigern’s Thug(s): Vortigern’s thugs are an NPC 
  class known as Warriors, which are essentially lesser 
  fighters. Neither of Vortigern’s thugs will engage the 
  party in hand to hand combat unless directly attacked. 
  They prefer to fire their missile weapons into combat, 
  letting the summoned undead handle melee. Vortigern 
  and his thugs take advantage of the natural cover pro-
  vided by the grove of trees. If any members of the 
  party break through the ring of undead and charge 
  Vortigern’s location, the two thugs will drop their 
  bows and engage any such characters to prevent them 
  from reaching Vortigern. They will foolishly protect 
  Vortigern with their lives. He, of course, would not 
  hesitate to leave them behind to save his own skin. 
   
  The Undead: The summoned skeletons emerge from 
  the earth in a ring around the player characters, encir-
  cling them. If the party is in the process of burying the 
  farmers when Vortigern animates them, they will rise 
  as zombies and the party attack inside of the ring of 
  skeletons (unless you are running the encounter as 
  “Easy,” in which case there are no zombies. The skele-
  tons and zombies (if present) attack the characters 
  mindlessly and do not check morale. Remember that 
  the zombies will not be present if the characters buried 
  and consecrated the bodies of the farmers prior to Vor-
  tigern launching his trap. Of course, Vortigern would 
  most likely have sprung his trap before letting that 
  happen… 
   
  Talon: Vortigern will telepathically command Talon 
  to attempt to steal the amulet from Corian—or who-
  ever else obviously possesses it. If you are running the 
  encounter as “Easy” then Talon is visible, otherwise 
  he uses his invisibility. Talon must roll against a DC 
  of 16 to steal the amulet if it is exposed. Once he has 
  successfully grasped an exposed amulet he will fly 
  away with it. If the amulet is tossed to the ground or to 
  another character Talon will chase after the amulet 
  since retrieval of the amulet is his primary goal. If you 
  are running the encounter as “Difficult,” Talon will try 
  to kill Corian with his stinger if he can’t find the amu-
  let. But even at “Difficult,” if Talon sees the amulet go 
  somewhere else, he will chase after it. Aside from 
  stinging (if you are running the encounter as 
  “Difficult”) or trying to snatch the amulet, Talon will 
  not fight directly unless wounded or cornered because 
  Vortigern has commanded him not to. If frustrated in 
  his attempt to obtain the amulet and injured in combat, 
  Talon will flee to Vortigern. He does not want to risk 
  being killed—that would damage Vortigern and would 
  result in his imprisonment in Hell for 66 years before 
  he would be allowed to serve as a familiar again, and 
  he likes his current job here on the material plane. If 
  Talon does get the amulet, he will go invisible and 
  return to Vortigern. The two will flee. See the section 
  entitled “Escape?” below. 
   
  Running the Combat:  
   
  You got a taste of running combat with the leucrotta/
  stirge encounter. But now things get tricky—multiple 
  opponents, missile fire and NPC spell casters. If you 
  can run this encounter then you have definitely gradu-
  ated from the novice GM ranks. It’s our job to help 
  you do it. So here are step-by-step instructions on run-
  ning this encounter. Even experienced GMs should 
  appreciate having this encounter spelled out. 
   
  Determining Surprise: At this point, the characters 
  can make a Spot roll and a Listen roll both at DC 20 
  (includes distance, cover and other relevant modifi-
  ers). If any character makes either skill check, then 
  they may act during the Surprise Round. If this hap-
  pens, roll initiative for all combatants that are aware 
  of each other. 
   
  Surprise Round: Vortigern more than likely surprises 
  the party. He and his thugs are hiding in the trees 
  some 60 feet away from the farmhouse. They are out 
  of sight until Vortigern springs the trap. Talon is ei-
  ther flying around invisible (“Difficult” level) or is 
  outside of the trees watching the characters. Once the 
  characters are outside the farmhouse in a group, Talon 
  telepathically tells Vortigern. He motions to the thugs 
  to get into position. Vortigern then reads his scroll of 
  animate dead. This scroll, which Vortigern purloined 
  from Feriblan’s library, contains an unusual version of 
  the spell and brings 1d6 skeletons (in this case it has 
  been predetermined to be 5 skeletons) in addition to 
  animating the zombies. Vortigern and the thugs stay 
  inside the cover provided by the fringe of trees. 
   
  During the surprise round, Vortigern finishes reading 
  his scroll, and the skeletons and zombies (if appropri-
  ate) rise from the ground. The skeletons appear on 
  Vortigern’s initiative. The skeletons and zombies can-
  not attack this round as they form, nor can they make 
  attacks of opportunity at characters who try to run by 
  them this round (if any of the characters can move, 
  that is). The skeletons are flat footed until they act 
  next round. The thug(s) take one bow shot each into 
  the melee. Talon shrieks, goes invisible and flies to-
  wards Corian at double his movement. If (by some 
  miracle) a member of the party is able to act in the 
  surprise round then he or she can move out of the 
  forming ring of skeletons without provoking an attack 
  of opportunity.  
   
   
  Cover 
  Cover provides a bonus to 
  AC. See table 8-9. In this 
  case, Vortigern and the thugs 
  get the benefit of one-half 
  cover and get a +4 to AC 
  because they are firing from 
  behind trees. 
  Firing into Melee 
  Normally, if you shoot into 
  melee you do so at a –4 to 
  avoid hitting your allies. The 
  thugs don’t suffer that minus 
  because they don’t care about 
  hitting the skeletons or zom-
  bies. It’s nice not to have a 
  conscience! You may, how-
  ever, treat the skeletons as 
  partial cover for the charac-
  ters. 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 13 
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  Remember that Talon has 
  damage resistance against all 
  but silver or magic weapons. 
  Also, both Talon and Vorti-
  gern (because of Talon) re-
  generate 1 hp per round and 
  have Spell Resistance 10, 
  which even applies against 
  magic missiles. 
  Resistance and  
  Regeneration 
  Spell Resistance 
  This is handled differently 
  under the new rules. To pene-
  trate a target’s spell resis-
  tance, the spell caster must 
  make a roll of 1d20 plus 
  caster level that is equal to or 
  greater than the subject’s 
  Spell Resistance DC—its like 
  a 
  magical 
  Armor 
  Class. 
  Make it and the spell gets 
  through. Miss it and the spell 
  is wasted. 
  First Round of Combat: All persons now should be 
  aware of their opponents (unless there is some charac-
  ter inside the farmhouse). Make sure everyone who 
  hasn’t done so yet rolls initiative, including the mon-
  sters. Make the initiative list in order of initiative from 
  top to bottom. This round, Vortigern casts a magic 
  missile at Corian (unless you are using the “Easy” 
  level of difficulty, in which case he just watches). The 
  thugs reload, stay behind the trees and fire another 
  round into melee. The skeletons and zombies attack. If 
  any characters try to run past the skeletons or zombies 
  they open themselves up to attacks of opportunity, 
  even if the skeletons or zombies have already attacked! 
   
  Subsequent Rounds of Combat: Here is what the 
  combatants will do: 
   
  The Undead: The skeletons will continue to stay in a 
  circle around the characters, attacking them. They will 
  take attacks of opportunity on any that pass by them—
  always taking the first attack of opportunity. They are 
  too mindless to delay their attacks of opportunity. The 
  zombies also will continue to attack.  
   
  The Thugs: The thugs will continue to reload and fire 
  bow shots at the characters. If any character has bro-
  ken free from the circle of skeletons, they will focus 
  their shots on those characters. If a character moves 
  Initiative for Monsters 
  Don’t just make one initiative 
  roll for all the bad guys. You 
  should make one roll for each 
  group of monsters: one for 
  Vortigern, one for Talon, one 
  roll for both Thugs (since 
  they have the same modifier), 
  one roll for the skeletons and 
  one roll for the zombies. 
  Attacks of Opportunity 
  A major addition to the new 
  rules, attacks of opportunity 
  occur when a person moves 
  through the threatened area of 
  another combatant. Even if 
  the combatant has already 
  attacked, they get an attack 
  on the person moving through 
  their threatened area. How-
  ever, unless a Feat allows for 
  more (such as Combat Re-
  flexes), a combatant only gets 
  one attack of opportunity per 
  round even though several 
  persons may move through 
  their threatened area. See 
  tables 8-1, 8-3 and 8-4 and 
  the Combat chapter. 
  Vortigern and his Allies 
   
  Vortigern, Ex-Apprentice to Feriblan the Mad, 
  Male Human, Wiz3 (Wiz4 with Imp familiar): CR 
  5; SZ Medium humanoid (5 ft. 7 in. tall); HD 4d4+4; 
  hp 17; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 23 (robes, +1 ring of 
  deflection, Dex, +4 from mage armor, +4 from one-
  half cover from trees, +4 cover from shield); Atk +2 
  melee (1d4, dagger, crit x3, piercing); SQ telepathic 
  link with Talon, regeneration (1 hp/round), darkvision 
  (120 ft.); DR 10/+1 vs. arrows from protection from 
  arrows; SR 10; SV Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +5 (includes 
  +1 each from resistance, -1 each after 1 minute; also 
  includes +3 Refl from shield); AL LE; Str 10/+0, Dex 
  13/+1, Con 12/+1, Int 16/+3, Wis 10/+0, Cha 12/+1.  
  Skills: Alchemy +9, Concentration +8, Gather Infor-
  mation +3, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (Arcana) +10, 
  Listen +1, Scry +7, Search +5, Spellcraft +10, Spot 
  +2. Feats: Brew Potion, Empower Spell, Scribe Scroll, 
  Spell Mastery.  
  Wizard Spells (4/4/3): 0—resistance, daze, flare 
  (x2), 1st—mage armor, shield, magic missile (x2), 
  2nd—protection from arrows, darkness, melf’s acid 
  arrow. Vortigern cast the spells in bold on himself just 
  prior to encountering the party. 
  SQ—Telepathic Link (Su): Telepathic link to Talon 
  if he is within 1 mile. 
  SQ—Regeneration (Ex): 1 hit point/round (from 
  Talon). 
  SQ—Darkvision (Ex): 120 feet (from Talon). 
  Possessions: Robes, 2 daggers, potion of healing, 
  scroll of animate dead, a map to Rappan Athuk (a ne-
  farious dungeon set somewhere in your game world), 
  dust of disappearance (2 uses—each use renders one 
  man-sized object invisible for 30 minutes), ring of 
  deflection +1, imp familiar (disguised as a raven), 102 
  gp, 58 sp, 3-20 gp gems. 
   
  Talon, Vortigern’s Imp Familiar: CR 2; Tiny out-
  sider (devil, evil) (2 ft. tall); HD 3d8; hp 18; Init +3 
  (Dex); Spd 20 ft./fly 50 ft. (good); AC 18 (+2 size, +6 
  natural); Atk +6 melee (1d4, sting, piercing, plus poi-
  son); Face 2 ½ ft. x 2 ½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.; SA spell-like 
  abilities, poison; SQ damage reduction (5/silver or 
  +1), poison immunity, fire resistance (20), regenera-
  tion, darkvision (120 ft.), polymorph; SR 10; SV Fort 
  +3 Ref +6 Will +4; AL LE; Str 10/+0, Dex 17/+3, Con 
  10/+0, Int 10/+0, Wis 12/+1, Cha 10/+0. 
  Skills: Hide +15, Listen +5, Move Silently +5, 
  Search +4, Spellcraft +4, Spot +5. Feats: Alertness, 
  Dodge. 
  Spell-like Abilities: An imp can use the following 
  powers at will, as 6th-level sorcerers (save DCs, 
  where applicable, are 10 plus the spell level): detect 
  aura, detect magic, and invisibility. Once a day, an 
  imp can use a suggestion effect, also as a 6th-level 
  sorcerer. Once each week, an imp can cast a commune 
  effect. The imp can ask 6 questions of its patron devil. 
  Otherwise, the power works like a commune spell cast 
  by a 12th-level cleric. 
  SA—Poison (Ex): Hits from an imp’s stinger cause 
  the opponent to make a Fortitude save (DC 13) or suf-
  fer 1d4 points of temporary Dexterity damage. One 
  minute later, the opponent must make another Forti-
  tude save (DC 13) or suffer an additional 2d4 points of 
  temporary Dexterity damage. As a person’s Dex is 
  reduced, they suffer the effects of the lower Dexter-
  ity—minus to AC, minus to Dex based skills, minus to 
  ranged attacks, minus to initiative. A person reduced 
  to 0 Dexterity or lower falls into a paralytic coma. 
  SQ—Poison Immunity (Ex):  Imps are never harmed 
  by poison. 
  SQ—Fire Resistance (Ex): Imps are resistant to fire. 
  They are immune to non-magical fire. Each round that 
  they suffer damage from these attacks, they ignore the 
  first 20 points of damage inflicted upon them.  
  SQ—Regenerate (Ex): Imps regenerate one point of 
  damage each round. They suffer lethal damage from 
  acid, holy water, and blessed weapons (provided they 
  are also made of silver or enchanted). 
  SQ—Polymorph (Ex): An imp can polymorph itself 
  at will. This works like a polymorph self spell cast by 
  a 12-level sorcerer except that the imp can only as-
  sume the form of a raven or a giant rat. 
   
  Description: Imps are small, lawful evil denizens 
  of the planes of Hell. They are, on occasion, sent by 
  their arch-devil masters to the material plane to serve 
  as familiars for lawful evil wizards and priests. Imps 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 14 
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  within 30 feet of their location, they will drop their 
  bows and draw their weapons. They will remain in 
  front of Vortigern and protect him.  
   
  Vortigern: Vortigern will fire another magic missile 
  at Corian, unless he is being charged then he will cast 
  a flash at the person charging him. If a person gets 
  close enough to engage in melee with his two thugs, 
  Vortigern will step back into the woods, out of view of 
  the ring of skeletons. If things get tough, he will use 
  his dust of disappearance. He will not flee until Talon 
  recovers the amulet, Talon is injured and forced to 
  retreat or his thugs are killed. Then he will flee. See 
  the section entitled “Escape?” below. 
   
  Talon: Talon will finish his movement to Corian and 
  will try to obtain the amulet. If Corian isn’t wearing it 
  openly, Talon will use his innate ability to detect 
  magic on Corian to see if he has it. If he doesn’t find 
  the amulet on Corian he will sting him if you are play-
  ing the “Difficult” level. Otherwise, he will use his 
  detect magic ability to locate who has the magical 
  item. Of course, if another member of the party has a 
  magical item, Talon will not be able to differentiate 
  which one has the amulet in particular. He will check 
  all of the persons who are carrying magical items. 
  Talon will try to take the amulet from them if he can 
  see it. Regardless of difficulty level, if someone other 
  than Corian has the amulet and they have the amulet 
  hidden on their person so that Talon can’t get it, Talon 
  average 2 ft. in height. They have leathery, bat-like 
  wings, a barbed tail, and sharp, twisted horns. Nor-
  mally an imp’s skin is a dark red and its horns and 
  jagged teeth a gleaming white. Talon is slightly differ-
  ent. Talon was sent by Dispater, an arch-devil that 
  rules the second plane of Hell from his Iron Fortress of 
  Dis. Talon, thus, is steely-gray and his horns and teeth 
  are the color of cold iron. Talon can assume the forms 
  of a raven or a giant rat at will. The imp confers some 
  of its powers upon its master. A telepathic link con-
  nects the two whenever they are within one mile of 
  each other. This enables the master to receive all of 
  the imp’s sensory impressions, including its darkvi-
  sion. The master also gains the imp's inherent spell 
  resistance and is able to regenerate just as the imp 
  does. If the imp is within telepathic range, the master 
  acts as if he were one level higher than he actually is. 
   
  Grenag and Slaaroc, Male Half Orc Thugs, 
  War2: CR 2; SZ Medium humanoid (5 ft. 7 in. tall); 
  HD 2d8+2; hp 14, 12; Init +1 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 
  18/15 (+3 armor, Dex, +4 due to cover/with +1 shields 
  out of cover); Atk +3 ranged (1d6, short bow, crit x3, 
  range 60 ft., piercing), +5 melee (1d8+3, longsword, 
  crit 19-20, slashing) +5 melee (1d8+3 battle axe, crit 
  x3, slashing); SQ darkvision (60 ft.); SV Fort +4, Ref 
  +1, Will –1; AL CE; Str 16/+3, Dex 12/+1, Con 11/+1, 
  Int 9/-1, Wis 9/-1, Cha 8/-1. 
  Skills: Ride +3, Intimidate +2, Listen +1, Spot +1. 
  Feats: Weapon Focus (sword and axe respectively). 
  Possessions: Studded leather armor, small shields, 
  long sword/battle axe, short bows, 20 arrows, 23 gp, 
  16 sp each. 
   
  Skeletons (5): SZ Medium undead (6 ft. tall); HD 
  1d12; hp 8; Init +5 (Dex, Improved Initiative); Spd 30 
  ft.; AC 13 (+2 natural, Dex); Atk +0 melee (1d6, short 
  swords or hand axes, slashing) or +0 melee (1d4/1d4, 
  claws, slashing); SQ undead immunities; AL NE; SV 
  Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +2; Str 10/+0, Int -, Wis 10/+0, 
  Dex 12/+1, Con -, Cha 10/+0. 
  Skills: none. Feats: Improved Initiative. 
  SQ—Undead Immunities (Ex): Immune to mind-
  influencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, 
  disease, and necromantic effects; not subject to critical 
  hits, sneak attacks, ability damage, ability drain, or 
  energy drain; immune to anything requiring a Forti-
  tude save. 
  SQ—Reduced Damage (Ex): Skeletons are not dam-
  aged by piercing weapons (like arrows) and take only 
  half damage from slashing weapons (like swords). 
  They take full damage from bludgeoning weapons 
  (like maces). 
  Possessions: Small shields, short swords or hand 
  axes. 
   
  Zombies, Common (2): SZ Medium undead (6 ft. 
  tall); HD 2d12+3; hp 17, 16; Init -3 (Dex, -2 poor re-
  flexes); Spd 20 ft.; AC 11 (+2 natural, Dex); Atk +2 
  melee (1d6+1, claw, slashing); SQ undead immuni-
  ties; SQ poor reflexes; AL NE; SV Fort +0, Ref -1, 
  Will +3; Str 13/+1, Int -, Wis 10/+0, Dex 8/-1, Con -, 
  Cha -. 
  Skills: none. Feats: Toughness. 
  SQ—Undead Immunities (Ex): Immune to mind-
  influencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, 
  disease, and necromantic effects; not subject to critical 
  hits, sneak attacks, ability damage, ability drain, or 
  energy drain; immune to anything requiring a Forti-
  tude save. 
  SQ—Poor Reflexes (Ex): Zombies have very poor 
  reflexes and thus have reduced initiative. Unlike most 
  creatures, they can move or attack during their action, 
  but cannot do both. In game terms, they can only take 
  partial actions. 
  Possessions: none. 
   
  Zombies, Children (3): SZ Small undead (3 to 4 ft. 
  tall); HD 1d12+3; hp 10, 8, 7; Init –3 (Dex, poor re-
  flexes); Spd 20 ft.; AC 12 (+2 size); Atk –1 melee 
  (1d6-2, claw, slashing); SQ undead immunities; SW 
  poor reflexes; SV Fort-1 Refl-3 Will+0; AL NE; Str 
  6/-2, Dex 8/-1, Con -, Int -, Wis 8/-1, Cha -. 
  Skills: none. Feats: Toughness. 
  SQ—Undead Immunities (Ex): As above. 
  SQ—Poor Reflexes (Ex): As above. 
  Possessions: none. 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 15 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
  Escape Hatch 
  If things are really going 
  poorly for the characters, 
  consider using an “escape 
  hatch.” 
  will sting that person. This means if he detects that 
  two people have magical items hidden on their person, 
  he will sting both of them. He will then search their 
  corpse(s) to retrieve the amulet. Talon will always 
  immediately go invisible after attacking unless you are 
  playing the encounter at the “Easy” level of difficulty. 
  If he is injured, Talon will flee back to Vortigern. Vor-
  tigern is more concerned with keeping Talon alive 
  than finding the amulet at the price of Talon. 
   
  Killing Talon: Since Talon is Vortigern’s familiar, if 
  Talon is killed, Vortigern will lose 4 levels (becoming 
  0 level), and fall into a coma. Note that this is differ-
  ent from the standard Familiar rules because Talon is 
  not your normal familiar. Vortigern will also lose the 
  power of regeneration and his Spell Resistance. 
   
  Ending the Combat:  
   
  Basically, you just have to play this out until one of 
  four things happens: everyone in the party dies, all of 
  the bad guys are killed (which would be quite an ac-
  complishment), Vortigern and Talon get away with the 
  amulet or Vortigern and Talon get away without the 
  amulet. Once any of these conditions occur, go to the 
  next section entitled “Escape?” Everyone will agree 
  that the first ending (the party dies) is not very fun. So 
  how do we avoid that result without using some 
  cheesy “bolt from the blue” to save the party? Easy—
  use an “escape hatch.” 
   
  Escape Hatch: OK, so what if things are really going 
  poorly for the party? Here are a few suggestions:  
  • If it has been several rounds of combat, you could 
  have Vortigern’s animate dead spell expire (the 
  party doesn’t know this isn’t the normal spell dura-
  tion) and have the undead fall to the ground in 
  pieces—leaving just Vortigern, Talon and his thugs.  
  • You could have Vortigern’s thugs flee because they 
  are cowards at heart. After all, the hardest thing 
  about being a bad guy is that “good help is hard to 
  find.”  
  • Or you could have the skeletons and zombies start 
  to attack each other or turn to go after Vortigern and 
  the thugs. Make a die roll behind your GM screen 
  and look disappointed, as if the fact that the undead 
  might fight each other is actually some legitimate 
  part of the spell effect. 
   
  We don’t mean for you to use these escape hatches 
  just because it looks like Vortigern and Talon are 
  about to escape with the amulet—that’s OK. That just 
  leads to more adventure. Escape hatches are for situa-
  tions where it looks like the party is about to get 
  wiped out. Here is a good rule of thumb: if two or 
  more characters are dead use an escape hatch. Or, in 
  this particular adventure, if Corian dies use an escape 
  hatch. 
   
  If you do decide to use an escape hatch, whatever you 
  do—and this is a key GM skill—don’t let on that you 
  are saving the party. That’s just between us. Don’t 
  worry, everyone has done it. But remember these two 
  important rules: first, give them a full and fair oppor-
  tunity to win on their own—meaning, don’t use the 
  escape hatch too early. And second, don’t do this of-
  ten. Your players need to understand that death is a 
  consequence of adventure. You can’t let your players 
  come to expect that you will always save their bacon. 
  A dead character isn’t the end of the world. In fact, in 
  this case, a dead character is incentive for the party to 
  get to Fairhill as soon as possible…which leads right 
  to The Crucible of Freya. 
   
  Escape? 
   
  If Talon manages to snatch the amulet, read the fol-
  lowing: 
   
  If the tide of battle turns against Vortigern and Talon 
  and they have the opportunity to escape without the 
  amulet, read the following: 
   
  In either case, Talon will use his innate invisibility 
  and Vortigern will use his dust of disappearance to 
  render himself invisible. Neither will stay to harass 
  the party. They will immediately flee the area. If they 
  have the amulet, they will proceed towards Fairhill, 
  though they will not enter the village. They have aban-
  doned their henchmen, but should the thugs manage to 
  survive, Vortigern and Talon will link up with them. 
  Vortigern will have Talon use his ability to contact 
  Dispater to learn the location of Eralion’s keep. With 
  this information, they head towards the keep. If Vorti-
  gern and Talon are forced to flee without the amulet 
  they will head towards Fairhill. These events are de-
  tailed further in the Necromancer Games adventure 
  module The Crucible of Freya. Proceed to the section 
  entitled “Concluding the Night’s Adventure,” below. 
   
  If the party vanquishes Vortigern and Talon, which 
  should be a tale well worth retelling, read the follow-
  ing: 
  Vortigern’s devilish familiar seizes the amulet and 
  with a shriek flies off, becoming invisible. Vortigern, 
  too, ducks back into the surrounding woods escaping 
  from your sight. You search everywhere, but you can-
  not seem to locate the evil apprentice. Yet his laughter 
  is all around you. 
  Sensing defeat, Vortigern yells a command to Talon, 
  his devilish familiar. Leaving his henchmen to finish 
  the battle, Talon and Vortigern disappear into thin air. 
  You search everywhere, but you cannot seem to locate 
  the evil apprentice. For the time being you have pre-
  vented Vortigern from obtaining the amulet. 
  Your foes are defeated. Talon, Vortigern’s devilish 
  familiar, writhes and smokes as he dissolves into a 
  stinking mass of slime. The hired thugs, routed or 
  slain, shall trouble you no more. And the foul undead 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 16 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
   
  Obviously, your players will want to search the bodies. 
  They find all the items listed under the Equipment 
  sections of the various foes. Once they do so, proceed 
  to “Concluding the Adventure.” 
   
  Concluding the Adventure  
   
  Following the final encounter with Vortigern, regard-
  less of the ending, read the following text to your play-
  ers: 
  If any of the party was slain in the encounter with Vor-
  tigern, remind them that Fairhill is two days away. 
  Suggest that perhaps there is someone there who can 
  aid them and that possibly the party could trade some-
  thing or pledge their service in return for having their 
  friend restored to life. 
   
  Awarding Experience 
   
  Finally, after you handle any healing and any other 
  record keeping, you can determine experience for the 
  night’s session. The new edition of the rules handles 
  the computation of experience differently. It uses a 
  “Challenge Rating” system for each monster. Here is a 
  scene-by-scene breakdown of experience: 
   
  First Watch: If the party made a good camp and were 
  smart about their preparations, let them split 50 XP.  
   
  A Voice in the Darkness: If the party encountered the 
  young leucrotta and drove him off without having to 
  fight the mother, award 300 XP plus 200 XP for 
  avoiding the mother for a total of 500 XP. If the party 
  had to fight the young leucrotta and the mother, then 
  award 1200 XP (the monsters’ CRs are 1 and 3, worth 
  300 XP and 900 XP respectively) to be divided 
  equally between the party. If you had to use an escape 
  hatch, subtract 200 XP. If the party only encountered 
  the stirges, their value is 900 XP (3 stirges at 300 XP 
  each).  
   
  The Smiling Skull: Award 50 XP to be split between 
  the party for searching around the hill and finding the 
  rock with the Nystul’s magic aura.  
   
  Corian’s Tale: This award is for good roleplaying. 
  Give anyone who did a good job 25 XP. If Corian did 
  well, give him or her 50 XP.  
   
  Farmhouse: Making a roll to identify the poison is 
  worth 25 XP. Evaluating the cuts on the farmers gets 
  10 XP. Deciding to bury and sanctify the bodies gets 
  25 XP per person involved in doing so; 50 XP for a 
  good-aligned cleric.  
   
  Ambush!: Actually making your Spot roll or Listen 
  roll to avoid being ambushed is worth 25 XP to any 
  character who made the roll. Calculating experience 
  for the main combat is tricky. The thugs are a total CR 
  2. The CRs for Vortigern and Talon depend on the 
  difficulty level of the encounter. If you used the 
  “Difficult” level, then Vortigern is CR 6 and Talon is 
  CR 2. If you used the “Average” difficulty level, then 
  Vortigern is CR 5 and Talon is CR 2. If you used the 
  “Easy” difficulty level, then Vortigern is CR 4 and 
  Talon is CR 1. Note that no extra experience is given 
  for the skeletons and zombies because Vortigern sum-
  moned them and thus they are calculated in his CR 
  value. Thus, the final XP value is as follows for the 
  final encounter: Difficult—3900 XP, Average—3000 
  XP, Easy—2250 XP.  
   
  Escape? If Vortigern and Talon escape with the amu-
  let, subtract 400 total XP. If they escape without the 
  amulet, subtract 200 total XP. If you had to use an 
  escape hatch to save the party, subtract 200 XP. If the 
  party manages to kill both Vortigern and Talon, award 
  an additional 300 total XP.  
   
  A party of six characters who roleplay well (using the 
  final encounter at “Average” difficulty) should earn 
  about 3600 XP, or about 600 XP each. 
   
  With the dawn, Fairhill awaits two days march ahead. 
  What will your characters find there? What will be-
  come of the Wizard’s Amulet? What secrets lie buried 
  with Eralion? 
   
  Continuing the Story 
   
  The story line started in this adventure can be com-
  pleted in The Crucible of Freya, available from Nec-
  romancer Games. In The Crucible of Freya the char-
  acters finally arrive in Fairhill and learn rumors of 
  Eralion’s nearby ruined keep. The village of Fairhill is 
  fully described and mapped, including details of all its 
  important NPCs. The characters quickly become in-
  volved in assisting Shandril, a local priestess of Freya, 
  in recovering a stolen holy item which eventually leads 
  them to Eralion’s keep. Of course, Corian’s amulet 
  unlocks the secret to the keep. The ruined keep is 
  mapped as are the levels beneath it where Eralion re-
  Corian’s worst fear has come to pass. But now your 
  encounter with Vortigern and his minions is over. It 
  has become too dark to look for other lodging, so you 
  light the fire in the fireplace of the farmhouse and bar 
  the door. You clean the blood from your blade and 
  tend to your wounds as well as those of your 
  comrades. You set watch, and each of you says a silent 
  prayer to your respective gods that the spirits of your 
  foes find their rest and trouble you no further this 
  night. You eventually drift off to sleep, but your sleep 
  is fitful—filled with Talon’s devilish screams. You 
  wake to the sound of rain and gray skies. The sun, 
  even hidden behind the clouds, is a welcome sight. 
  conjured by Vortigern have found their final rest at the 
  end of your blade. This farmhouse, previously a scene 
  of slaughter, is now a scene of vengeance. 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 17 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
  sides—tricked by Orcus into his horrid fate. If Vorti-
  gern escaped the final encounter in this adventure, 
  The Crucible of Freya provides ideas on using Vorti-
  gern as a continuing antagonist for the party—as he 
  will travel to Fairhill himself to seek Eralion’s keep, 
  possibly running afoul of the party a second time. Un-
  like this adventure, which was tightly scripted and 
  linear to accomplish the goal of playing without much 
  preparation, The Crucible of Freya can be run either 
  as a tight story continuing this adventure or it can be 
  used as a sourcebook for GMs to run their own adven-
  tures in Fairhill. 
   
  Of course, you are free to develop the story started 
  here without following up with The Crucible of 
  Freya. Eralion’s lair can be placed in any keep or 
  tower near some small out of the way village in your 
  own campaign world. Eralion would not have set up 
  shop in a highly visible area—he sought privacy. Place 
  a secret door somewhere in the tower or keep that is 
  enchanted so that only Eralion or a person who pos-
  sesses the amulet can open it. You should detail a 
  small wizard’s lair, which is now haunted by Eralion. 
  Perhaps the rumors are wrong. Perhaps Eralion did 
  succeed in becoming a lich but is somehow trapped in 
  his lair—the limiting enchantment on the secret door 
  no longer allowing him to pass since he is no longer 
  truly Eralion, nor is he a lich. Perhaps he has some 
  task for the party. Or perhaps he wishes to undo what 
  he has done. A party of first-level characters encoun-
  tering a lich and being asked by him for aid would 
  certainly make an interesting adventure. Or maybe he 
  is some other twisted form of undead. You are free to 
  draw this up on your own. Or you can check out The 
  Crucible of Freya, where we have already done it all 
  for you (and more). And remember—this adventure 
  was FREE. Imagine what you’ll get from a product 
  you actually have to pay for. It boggles the mind. 
   
  Pre-generated Characters 
   
  Pre-generated characters can be downloaded from the 
  Necromancer Games web site. They are provided for 
  your players’ use. All the characters are male by de-
  fault, but any one can easily be changed to female, as 
  there is no statistical difference. You may notice there 
  are no Halfling Paladins or Dwarf Monks. Sure, the 
  Third Edition rules allow them, but we at Necroman-
  cer Games won’t have any of that nonsense. Remem-
  ber: “3rd Edition Rules, 1st Edition Feel.” 
   
  Credits 
   
  Initial Concept: Clark Peterson 
  Written By: Clark Peterson and Bill Webb 
  Art: John Massé 
  Page Layout: John Massé and C. J. Land 
  Adobe® Acrobat® Publishing: Clark Peterson 
  Play Testing: Bill Webb, Clark Peterson, C. J. Land, 
  David Peterson, Christopher Laurent, Karl Harden, 
  Nicolas Laurent, Ken Hommel, John Ackerman, Mike 
  Weber, Chip Schweiger, Louis Roberts, Karl Johnson, 
  Jesse Briggs, Sean Jones, Jennifer Chalfan and Betty. 
  Special Thanks to: Ryan Dancey at Wizards of the 
  Coast, Eric Rowe and Dustin Wright at the Wizard’s 
  Attic, Eric Noah for the 3E board, Susan Webb, Rolfe 
  Bergstrom at Wargames West for doing us right, Jason 
  Klank of MAG, Kyle Charon of Fiend Games, Hyrum 
  Savage of Otherworld Creations, Brad Thompson, 
  John Bacon, Alec Burkhardt, Tim Duggar and all the 
  people on the d20/OGL mailing lists. 
   
  Information About Necromancer Games 
   
  If you enjoyed this adventure, please visit our web site: 
  www.necromancergames.com. Tell us what your play-
  ers accomplished. Tell us what you plan on doing to 
  continue the story. And let us know how we can make 
  our products more useful for you as either a GM or 
  player.  
   
  In addition, check the Necromancer Games site for 
  Product Support information. We will frequently up-
  date our site with user and player comments, new en-
  counter areas, more pre-generated characters, alternate 
  endings and various other materials for you to use with 
  our products. We will also in the future provide prod-
  uct-specific chat areas. Some of these add-ons will be 
  available to everyone. Most products, though, will 
  have their own “product update password” that you 
  can use to access the chat sessions and bonus materials 
  related to those specific products. 
   
  Product Update Password for The Wizard’s Amu-
  let: Talon. 
   
  Legal Stuff 
   
  All contents ©2000 Clark Peterson and Bill Webb, 
  Necromancer Games. All rights reserved. 
   
  You are given permission to make copies of this ad-
  venture and the character sheets as needed for your 
  home game use only. 
   
  Adobe®, Acrobat® and the Acrobat logo are regis-
  tered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. 
   
  Dungeons and Dragons® and Wizards of the 
  Coast® are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, and 
  are used in accordance with the Open Game and d20 
  Licenses. 
   
  Links to the full text of both the Open Game and d20 
  licenses, when available, can be found on the Necro-
  mancer Games web site, and are hereby incorporated 
  by this reference as if fully set forth herein. Future 
  versions of this adventure will contain the entire text 
  of those licenses, once finalized. 
  Open Game Content 
  All material with a gray 
  background is Open Game 
  Content, except for the proper 
  names of NPCs, and may be 
  used pursuant to the Open 
  Game License. In addition, to 
  the extent any material is 
  derived wholly from the d20 
  SRD and/or the Dungeons 
  and 
  Dragons® 
  Player’s 
  Handbook, Third Edition, 
  such as spell names and 
  magic items, that material is 
  also designated as Open 
  Game Content. All other 
  content 
  is 
  designated 
  as 
  closed content, including but 
  not limited to: NPC and Pre-
  generated character names, 
  character background text, 
  monster descriptions and all 
  other module text not other-
  wise required to be Open 
  Game Content. 
   
  So what does all this stuff 
  mean? Don’t worry about it. 
  It has no impact on how you 
  run the adventure. The law-
  yers said we had to put this 
  stuff in, so we did. 
   
  Necromancer Games reserves 
  the right to publish addenda 
  and/or modifications to the 
  designation of Open Game 
  Content within this adventure 
  on our web site if either by 
  the unilateral action of Nec-
  romancer Games, by agree-
  ment of parties (including 
  Necromancer Games) or by 
  operation of law there is a 
  change to the designation of 
  Open Game Content. 
  
  The Wizard’s Amulet—Page 18 
  www.necromancergames.com 
   
   
   
  Corian’s Supplemental Information 
   
  You have chosen to play the character of Corian, the Sorcerer. You are 
  the motivating force behind the formation of the party. For that reason, 
  you have additional background information. Read the following infor-
  mation so that you will be better able to play your character. It is up to 
  you whether or not to reveal this information, and if so whether you 
  reveal all or only some of the information contained here.  
   
  Initially, if the other characters press you for information, rebuff them 
  by saying “We are not yet far enough from Reme,” or “There are still 
  too many ears that may hear us.” Be cryptic. At a specific time later in 
  the adventure, you will be prompted by the GM to reveal your story. 
  Again, even when that time comes, it is up to you how much to reveal 
  and whether or not to tell the truth. You should begin to think now 
  about what you will tell the group later so that you will be prepared. 
   
  Your Background: During the final days under your uncle’s tutelage, 
  you and your master traveled to the library of Feriblan the Mad in the 
  city of Reme. You were not pleased to visit Feriblan, for while there 
  you are always forced to have contact with Vortigern, Feriblan’s ap-
  prentice, and his loathsome raven familiar—Talon. Luckily for you, this 
  particular visit you managed to avoid Vortigern. While perusing mun-
  dane documents in an outer sitting room as your uncle and Feriblan 
  studied ancient scrolls, you nervously fiddled with a clasp on the back 
  of a small reading stand.  
   
  To your surprise, a secret compartment opened which contained a 
  small, bound piece of parchment and an item wrapped in a silk cloth. 
  Checking to see that your actions were unobserved, You managed to 
  slip the amulet and parchment into the folds of your robe. The parch-
  ment proved to be a letter from a person—apparently a wizard—named 
  Eralion. It appears that Eralion left this letter for Feriblan on his last to 
  visit to Reme before some “ritual” that he spoke of in the letter. The 
  letter apparently also refers to the amulet you found with the letter. A 
  copy of the letter from Eralion can be found at the end of this section. 
  You should read that letter now. 
   
  Intrigued by the letter, you returned to visit Feriblan some months later, 
  once you were freed from servitude to your uncle. Figuring the old 
  mage was addle-brained you took the risk of asking him direct ques-
  tions about Eralion. You learned that Eralion was nowhere near power-
  ful enough to make the transition into a lich. “Eralion! A  lich?!” the old 
  wizard exclaimed. “He was no apprentice, my son, but neither was he a 
  mage with the mastery of the eldritch powers necessary for such a dan-
  gerous undertaking! If you have heard such rumors, boy, I shall put 
  them to rest. The magics required for such a transition were far beyond 
  his grasp.” Once on the topic of his old friend, Feriblan spoke at 
  length—though in a disjointed fashion. He told you about Eralion’s 
  keep, which was located to the east of Reme some six days travel, near 
  the village of Fairhill. Feriblan made reference to a staff that Eralion 
  possessed which apparently had magical powers. He also mentioned 
  that Eralion had never returned several valuable magical tracts and 
  spell books. You left the old wizard determined to find this tower and 
  the items it contained—for if Eralion was not a lich, the items should 
  be there for the taking! 
   
  Readying yourself with the necessary equipment for travel to Fairhill, 
  you visited a local tavern—the Starving Stirge. There you posted a no-
  tice seeking the aid of able-bodied adventurers willing to join with you 
  in seeking out a wizard’s tower. Promising an equal division of all gold 
  recovered, you soon gathered a group of comrades-at-arms eager for 
  adventure and glory. Quite unlooked for, you were also joined by Gal-
  dar, a Cleric of St. Cuthbert, who was told in a vision from his deity to 
  seek you out and to follow wherever the amulet led. The god of retribu-
  tion and justice, it seems, has business with Eralion. 
   
  You have been reluctant to give the full story to your new friends, not 
  for lack of trust in them but rather because you have on more than one 
  occasion seen Talon, the raven familiar of Vortigern, peering into your 
  chamber door. Nevermore will you believe your theft of the amulet and 
  letter went unseen by the wicked bird, and you don’t wish to risk fur-
  ther discovery while still in Reme. Who knows what spells Feriblan or 
  Vortigern might have at their disposal to read your thoughts or hear 
  your words? You promised your new friends that you would reveal 
  more to them once you had left Reme. So you and your companions set 
  out from Reme some four days ago, with light hearts and heavy packs—
  only you harboring the nagging fear that Vortigern and his loathsome 
  bird would somehow know of your goal: Eralion’s keep and its un-
  guarded treasure. 
   
  Eralion’s Letter 
   
  My Dear Feriblan— 
   
  I must confess to you—my closest friend—that I was not entirely truth-
  ful with you at our last meeting. I feel compelled now to tell you of it, 
  as this may be the last time I write with mortal hands. Do you recall 
  our discussion some months past regarding liches and how users of the 
  arcane arts might achieve that particular state? I must admit to you 
  that the topic for me was not entirely scholarly, as I led you to believe. 
  And for that I am sorry.  
   
  I know that you, my friend, have gazed into darkness in the name of 
  knowledge. That is why I sought your learned counsel. For I too have 
  gazed into darkness. And like you, I found knowledge—knowledge be-
  yond imagining. From the demon-lord Orcus himself I have wrested the 
  secret to lichdom, and I plan to move beyond scholarly talk and bring 
  myself immortality. Imagine it, my friend! An eternity to study the arts, 
  to master arcane power! 
   
  As I pen these words I have arrayed before me unguents and phials, 
  instruments and tomes, all necessary for my transformation, save only 
  one—an arcane phylactery of elaborate design. The ingredients for that 
  item will bring me once again to your city.  By the time you read this 
  letter, I shall have retrieved the necessary items and shall be on my way 
  back to my keep.  
   
  Yet, as I begin to prepare my mind for my wondrous fate, my thoughts 
  turn to you, my oldest friend. Accompanying this missive there is a 
  small silk pouch. In that pouch is an amulet—an amulet I have created 
  for you. I know of your thirst for knowledge. With this amulet, you will 
  have access to my keep where I shall reside in immortality. If you wish 
  to learn that which I have learned, you may visit me. 
   
  Long have others of our kind called you “mad.” Perhaps it is I whom 
  they will now call mad. But I do not care for their appellations. Let 
  them say what they will. I have won something far greater than words—
  I have won immortality, and with it, power. I shall share that knowl-
  edge with you, my friend. Visit me soon. Gaze into the darkness again. 
   
  Eralion 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/3rd Edition (3.x)/3rd Party/Frog God Games/W0, The Wizard's Amulet (Lvl 1-2)/d20 - FGG - W1, The Wizards Amulet (Lvl 1-2).pdf