TEXT: Copyright © 2015 Michael Prescott - cbna  - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ - Find more adventure locations at http://blog.trilemma.com
  v1.0 pg. 1/2
  The SiTuaTion
  The greatest Seree magics relied on 
  spell engines—vast devices built to collect, 
  harness, and broadcast magical energies for 
  sorcerers to use many miles away.
  Spell engines were always built in secret 
  vaults to protect them from theft, war, or 
  destruction.
  But now, erosion has cracked open the 
  vault of the full-dark stone.
  Rainwater filtering through the complex 
  has been causing strange magical effects 
  downstream, and skeletal vault servants 
  are venturing out.
  RumoRS foR neaRby PlaceS
  • Skull-headed knights have been seen 
  gathering herbs along the river.
  • Mournful piping has been heard echoing 
  for miles, its source unknown.
  • It’s said that upriver, the fish fly.
  • The river folk sell chips of black stone 
  that stay warm to the touch.
  a. enTRance hall
  A massive piece of cliff face has fallen 
  away, leaving this hidden chamber 
  open to the air. Level with the 
  tree-tops, this 30’ diameter 
  room is the nesting place for a 
  pair of fierce, gray owls.
  The alcove’s engravings 
  show visitors presenting gems 
  to a crystal-headed, robed figure.
  The center of the room is 
  a shallow sand pit, originally a 
  teleportation target. The sand conceals a 
  pair of ornate gold buckles intermingled 
  with fragments of leather and various, small 
  (foot) bones.
  b. The loweR hallS
  Remnants of sodden, rotted furniture 
  float in shin-deep water. Scum lines on the 
  walls reveal that the water level can rise as 
  high as 6’ (during storms).
  Storm seal minnows wriggle through the 
  water, fleeing any light.
  The silty muck on the floor hides a few 
  bits and bobs—brass nibs and styli, ink pots, 
  leatherworking tools, waterlogged lamps, 
  and countless rusted nails.
  The lowest hall, down a 6’ stair, is flooded 
  7’ deep. In a locked, warped chest are 11 
  silver plates and a gold candelabra.
  c. The ShoRn STaiR
  A hundred years ago, 
  the observation tower 
  finally 
  fell 
  from 
  the 
  crumbling 
  mountainside. 
  (It lies in a deep 
  ravine, smashed to 
  bits.) A quirk of the 
  mountainside’s shape 
  funnels 
  rainwater 
  into the stairway, 
  flooding the lower 
  halls.
  During 
  rainstorms, 
  the 
  flow 
  is 
  enough 
  to make the stairs and 
  the nearest part of the catwalk 
  treacherous, as it sluices off the side 
  and down into the lower halls.
  D. The woRkShoP
  A fire crackles in the forge; a half-eaten 
  meal (fried minnows) sits on a silver plate.
  The workshop is large, but crammed with 
  wooden frames, benches, iron smithy tools, 
  and variously sized sheets of copper.
  Two brass skull collars sit on the central 
  work table, as well as a huge, crude copy of 
  one, nearly 4’ in diameter.
  If not yet encountered, there is a 50% 
  chance that Korm is here. He will sweep the 
  collars from sight at the first opportunity.
  e. The full-DaRk STone
  This huge chamber is filled almost 
  completely by a massive, night-black stone, 
  40’ high, 40’ wide, and 50’ long. It seems 
  featureless, absorbing all light.
  If touched, the stone is 
  revealed to be an aggregate 
  of many smaller stones.
  Four 
  circular 
  stairs 
  support 
  a 
  limestone 
  catwalk.
  Huge copper 
  plates hang beneath the catwalk; 
  some have fallen, some are missing.
  At the top of each stair is a metal 
  post bearing a wizard flower encased in a 
  solid glass orb. Each radiates calmness.
  The stone naturally draws magical 
  energy from the environment, but reached 
  capacity long ago. The copper plates, walls, 
  and stairs are all pitted and blackened by 
  sudden discharges of bolts of magic.
  A swarm of storm seal pups flits about.
  Atop the stone, at the end of a makeshift 
  walkway of planks, is the massive Skull of 
  Orlug, dragged for endless miles and placed 
  here by Korm as part of his mad project.
  In the back corner of the room is a fish 
  skeleton, dry and dust-covered, 5’ long—
  normal, except its skull is that of a gnome.
  f. hall of meDiTaTion
  This chamber is empty save for a raised 
  granite platform and marble alchemical 
  basin. Engravings explain the ritual of 
  Vitrum Aquae, but not its purpose.
  G. The SaPPhiRe mineS
  These cramped tunnels are scraped 
  clean of all but tiny fragments of 
  sapphire.
  In the furthest chamber, Korm 
  has stacked all fifteen jackal skulls 
  for emergency use, along with a cache 
  of weapon-arm attachments 
  for the vault servants.
  koRm The aDePT
  Korm, the last 
  apprentice of the 
  long-dead Orlug 
  Broadstaff, toils 
  day and night.
  He is 8’ tall, stocky, 
  and ram’s horns jut 
  from his massive head.
  He has learned the purpose of 
  the vault, and the design of the 
  vault servants has inspired 
  him to carry out a mad project: 
  to bind his former master’s skull to the 
  full-dark stone.
  Korm is an unremarkable wizard, but a 
  determined experimenter, and wants only 
  peace and quiet to carry out his work. He 
  considers adventurers a major disturbance 
  and will drive them off if he can. Though 
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  an Adventure Location by Michael Prescott
  THE FULL-DARK STONE
  
  Copyright © 2015 Michael Prescott - cbna  - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ - Find more adventure locations at http://blog.trilemma.com
  v1.0 pg. 2/2
  strong enough to twist off a head, he 
  considers himself neither warrior nor wizard 
  enough to fight if outnumbered, and instead 
  he works subtly to repel intruders.
  He hides his talents, claiming that he is 
  here merely as a student to study the “tomb.”
  He will do everything he can to play up 
  the mystery of the stone. He marvels aloud 
  that at times it seems alive, and suspects 
  that its “calls” are an attempt to commune 
  with other stones, hidden far away.
  He claims that the storm seals are a 
  great menace to him, and he begs for help in 
  removing them.
  If threatened, he’ll make a pathetic, 
  theatrical show of handing over a small 
  quantity of gold, silver, and gem fragments 
  stashed in a small coffer in the workshop.
  Whenever 
  he 
  can 
  act 
  unobserved, 
  however, he will retrieve a few jackal skulls 
  from his cache in the mines, bind them to 
  vault servant bodies, then set them loose.
  Korm is made of stern stuff, and unless he 
  is hacked apart and burned, his enchanted 
  blood will eventually heal him.
  He is badly infested with dire fleas 
  (which he picked up years ago), enough for 
  one to hatch every six hours. He apologizes 
  each time anyone else is bitten.
  RanDom encounTeRS
  Roll hourly while in or near the vault:
   1-2: d3 vault servants, toiling
   3: d12 storm seal pups (only once)
   4: d2 adolescent storm seals (only once)
   5: Korm
   6: the full-dark stone emits a deafening, 
  mournful piping tone for d3 minutes
  bolTS of maGic
  Every d12 minutes, the full-dark stone 
  emits a crackle of unfocused magic, lighting 
  the chamber with a blue glow.
  Roll d6 to determine what it strikes:
   1-2: a copper plate, deflecting the bolt back 
  into the stone
   3-4: a wall or staircase
   5: a seal pup flying past the stone
   6: someone with a direct line of sight to 
  the stone
  The effect is random, roll d6:
   1: bolt of lightning
   2: invisible for d6 minutes
   3: teleported to the entrance hall
   4: teleported ten minutes into the future
   5: polymorph d6 x 10% of target’s body 
  into random animal/monstrous form
   6: mind transferred into a vault guardian 
  for d6 hours
  ViTRum aquae
  The Seree wizards who built this place 
  mastered the ritual of Vitrum Aquae. They 
  would drink alchemically liquified gemstones 
  while meditating on spells in order to 
  crystallize (literally) the impossibly complex 
  thoughts. Once mastered in these controlled 
  conditions, the spell could be drawn on 
  almost instinctively, making difficult spells 
  easy to cast very rapidly.
  This came at the cost of rigid, erratic 
  personalities and mental illness, as flexible 
  brain function was displaced by more and 
  more spells. (To say nothing of the tragedy  
  of failed meditations!)
  wizaRD floweRS
  After 
  death 
  (whether 
  natural 
  or 
  hastened), wizard brains were boiled  away  
  by their successors in order to extract the 
  “wizard flower,” the hardened gemstone, 
  now a cauliflower-like structure—a magical 
  thought 
  in 
  physical 
  form, 
  useful 
  for 
  constructing enchanted items of all sorts.
  VaulT SeRVanTS
  Adepts that lacked the talent for powerful 
  magic were still useful for drudgery.
  Force-fed low-grade topaz solutions, after 
  death their skulls housed crystal flowers, 
  too, but instead of spells, they stored the 
  habits of endless servitude.
  The skulls were preserved with the 
  flowers still inside, labelled according to 
  their habitual duty. With a replacement 
  body they could continue their work, serving 
  their masters eternally.
  Arise! Toil! Rejoice!
  a boDy of wooD anD Sinew
  Vault servant bodies are carved from 
  wood and brass. They are 7’ tall and strong 
  enough for hard labour.
  A skull collar (an enchanted brass sleeve 
  with a central post) affixes the skull to the 
  body, passing on the impulses from the 
  crystal flower.
  Vault servants wander the area cleaning, 
  repairing masonry, repairing copper plates 
  in the workshop, or venturing to the river to 
  collect herbs and fish.
  Occasionally, life-like secondary habits 
  emerge for a few brief seconds: scratching, 
  nose-picking, stretching, and slouching.
  There are thirty servants within the 
  vault, and replacement parts for 5.
  Jackal SkullS
  The Seree also maintained a store of 
  crystal-infused skulls for defensive purposes, 
  made from starved jackals.
  Vault servants topped by jackal skulls 
  hunt in packs of up to 8, sneak carefully, 
  attack from ambush, and stop only when 
  their victims are torn limb from limb.
  Korm knows a ward that keeps him safe.
  SToRm SealS
  These magical creatures normally dwell 
  within thunderclouds, but their young are 
  being drawn here by the stone’s charge.
  The minnows are aquatic, but the mouse-
  sized pups take to the air in wingless, flying 
  swarms, keeping down the gnats and dire 
  fleas.
  Adolescents are the size of large dogs, and 
  are large enough to hunt. They are cruel, 
  playful, and opportunistic. Adults are a full 
  12’ long, large enough to lift a struggling 
  horse up to meet death.
  DiRe fleaS
  As big as a locust, dire fleas are parasitic 
  vermin. Their bite is numbing and injects d3 
  larvae, which burrow deep into the body.
  The larvae emerge explosively as full-
  grown fleas 2d6 days later, leap to a new 
  target, and begin the cycle again.
  Anyone caught bringing them into town 
  will most likely be carted off and burnt.
  The Skull of oRluG bRoaDSTaff
  Centuries ago, Orlug, an ogre-blooded 
  hack-mage, learned the ritual of Vitrum 
  Aquae from Seree tablets he found in the 
  Blightlands. He made himself mad by 
  crystallizing his collection of third-rate spells 
  using impure minerals, then succumbed to 
  dementia.
  His 8’ tall skull, battered and dirt-stained 
  from its long journey to the vault, contains 
  a massive, 30-lb wizard flower of quartz, 
  agate, and emerald.
  If Korm finishes the massive collar and 
  binds the skull to the full-dark stone, skull 
  and stone vanish: the stone’s mighty reserve 
  of power becomes Orlug’s “body,” propelling 
  his broken, fragmentary mind into godhood.
  Writing & Illustration - Michael Prescott 
  Editing - Andrew Young
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Trilemma Adventures/Trilemma 18 Full-Dark Stone.pdf