Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Circlet of Gith: Author: Homepage: System: Type: Category: Requirements
The Circlet of Gith: Author: Homepage: System: Type: Category: Requirements
Long ago, the gith races broke free of the mental bonds of slavery to the mind flayers. In that time, heroes were created and wars
fought, as gith fought to free her people. The circlet of gith, a sacred and holy artifact of that time, fell into the possession of the mind
flayers and for a long time was considered lost. Now though, its location has been rediscovered and the search is on
This adventure takes place in the Planescape setting of the Outer Planes. It is designed for use with 3rd edition rules, and is suited
to a party of four 8th level characters, although it can be easily modified to suit parties of greater of lesser strength. The classical mix
of characters, the wizard, rogue, fighter and cleric, is preferable due to the flexibility it gives but is in no way necessary for
successful completion or enjoyment of the adventure.
The Circlet of Gith leads the party along the trail of a band of githyanki who search for an ancient artifact, from their base in Sigil to
the Outlands, and from there to the hiding place of the Circlet itself...
Background:
The history of the gith races has been one full of struggle and turmoil, right from the very beginning of their existence as free
peoples though some would argue that the githyankis servitude to the lich queen and the githzerais servitude to their king hardly
makes either race truly free. The greatest period of the two races was when they first broke away from their illithid masters, when
they fought as one people against the mental chains that had bonded them and won.
That was a time of heroes, legends, and mighty victories over the mind flayers - a time before the schism between the githzerai and
the githyanki, when Zerthimon and Gith fought together. Many relics and objects of that time have made their ways down the
generations, each with its own unique history. Swords wielded by ancestors, amulets touched by Zerthimon...and the Circlet of Gith.
A simple steel circlet, it is said that this was worn by Gith herself, but that during the internal war that split the gith races it was lost
for a long time. It eventually resurfaced in the hands of the githyanki, who treasured it greatly and revered it, and made use of its
incredible powers to fight both the mind flayers, against whom the item seemed to have extraordinary might, and against others too.
The progress made by the githyanki led to the illithids trying to capture it and, in a mighty battle in the astral plane, they managed it.
The Circlet was lost, and never seen again.
In fact, the illithids took the artifact and hid it in the Outlands. Originally, they had planned to destroy it for good, but it burned the
skin of any illithid who touched it and any mind-slave who took hold was instantly freed of his mental shackles and able to make use
of its destructive capabilities. In the end, they managed to get it into a small, secluded cave system, where they sealed it off and
placed guardians that the githyanki might not retake it easily.
Attempts by the githyanki to find it once more all failed, though it remained as a great legend amongst the people and often-young
githyanki would go searching for it. Slowly, knowledge of it faded and it seemed a safe bet that the Circlet would never be returned
to its original owners. Yet recent developments have changed all this
It was not long ago that a small band of githyanki slavers operating out of Sigil recovered, from the archives of the Fated, several
documents that detailed the whereabouts of the Circlet of Gith. Exactly how these documents came about being in the possession
of the Fated is unknown, but perhaps the illithids lost them to the hands of thieves, or maybe a mind flayer stored them there for
later recovery. Now, the band, led by a charismatic leader called Karyakt, is heading the renewed search for the Circlet. And this
time they could well find it.
There have been complications though. The Circlet is a legend amongst the githzerai too, and they would do anything to get their
hands on this ancient spiritual symbol and powerful object. The gith of Limbo were never able to get hold of the Circlet but once it
was lost several small orders of monks dedicated their purposes to tracking it down when the githyanki failed to recover it. Agents of
the orders insinuated themselves across the planes, yet the mind flayers had hidden it well and little progress was made. However,
when the githyanki came to the Hall of Records, one of the monks, posing as a Fated, realized what had been found and attempted
to appropriate the documents. Unfortunately, the githyanki discovered him and chased him off.
Now both the githzerai and the githyanki know the approximate whereabouts of the Circlet. The githyanki are in a much stronger
position as they have troops ready to move and an easily accessible portal to the area where the Circlet is hidden, while the
githzerai have only scattered agents in Sigil and gathering a proper force could take too long. So it is that they are instead looking
for mercenaries or adventurers, who might be willing to take the risk in retrieving the Circlet, for the right price of course
The Message:
The adventure begins with a message, written on yellowed parchment in elaborate handwriting. How this makes its way to the
attention of the characters will depend on the campaign itself they might come across it on a notice board somewhere, in a tavern
or somewhere similar. Alternatively, if the characters have made some small (or great!) fame for themselves as adventurers or
his alignment to True Neutral. He always stands somewhat aloof from the plots and intrigues of the other illithids who pass through,
and has a considerably better understanding of the Circlet and what it can do.
When the party first enter, he will not meet them with combat but rather will hold out his palms in a placatory fashion and attempt to
talk to them peacefully. If attacked he will defend himself, but if they choose to talk he will attempt to persuade them to leave the
Circlet here. He informs the characters of the artifacts potential destructive power; if either the githyanki or githzerai were to get their
hands on it, he invites them to consider the consequences. Doubtless, whoever got the Circlet would first turn it on the illithids; then
they would use it against the other gith race. And what then? Imagine the damage that the githyanki would do with such an item
without their ancestral enemies they would be unchecked and would turn their evil on someone else, probably someone innocent.
The githzerai would be no better, and he compares them as the lesser of two evils they would cause as much suffering and
destruction. Thus, he reasons, it is best to leave the Circlet here. Here it is safe from both gith races, and the mind flayers cannot
make any use of it, so it is effectively nullified.
Vress argues in a calm, reasoned tone with rational arguments, but if this fails he will simply step back and allow the characters to
set to work trying to get through the rock-fall. There are a number of ways of doing this, with a transmute rock to mud spell being the
easiest. If necessary, the characters can always try to dig through, though any weapon used to do this must make a Fortitude save
(DC 12) at the end if it fails, it has been damaged beyond repair. Digging will, however, take several hours.
If at any point the characters look as if they are going to break through successfully, Vress will attack he wont allow this to
happen. He is a normal mind flayer, but wears a cloak of charisma +4, a ring of protection +2, and two silver bracers (worth 400 gps
as a pair). He also carries 600 gps.
Through the rock-fall, there is a small cave with a pedestal in the center and on this pedestal is a simple metal band the Circlet
of Gith. Other than that, there is nothing in this dry, rocky chamber.
The Circlet is a powerful object, but most of its powers manifest only in the possession of a githzerai or githyanki. Any person who
touches it who is under the mental control of an illithid instantly has that link broken. Further, any illithid who touches it takes 3d6
damage every round of contact, as the power of the Circlet attacks them and burns their flesh. Anyone wearing the Circlet gains a
+3 resistance bonus to their saves.
In the hands of a githzerai or githyanki, it gains the following powers:
The wearer gains a +3 luck bonus on all attacks against illithids, and becomes immune to their psionic powers.
The wearer may cast the following spells once per day: Finger of Death, Circle of Death, Disintegrate, Destruction, Firestorm, Mass
Charm, Power Word: Kill, Wish, and Time Stop. DC is 18 + spell level.
The wearer gains a +4 enhancement bonus to both charisma and wisdom.
Aftermath:
The party can now return to Sigil, using the same portal they came through getting more lizard hide shouldnt be a problem, as a
few of the little creatures inhabit the area.
The party will doubtless want to go and see Akkar-Zin now, possibly to return the Circlet and doubtless to find out about why he was
lying to them. They will also need to decide what to do with the Circlet do they simply hand it over to the githzerai, and take no
heed of Vresss warnings? If they choose to give it to the monk, he will pay them the gold promised, before returning to Limbo with
the artifact. But they may choose not toif this is the case, then many more adventures can spring out of this. The githyanki will
want the Circlet and so will the githzerai, and neither will be well inclined towards the characters. Then the mind flayers might want
to retrieve it as well, leading to the party being dogged by all three groups. And if the Circlet does fall into the hands of the gith, then
will what Vress predicted occur? If it does, then the characters will have to live with knowing that they were the cause of the
destruction that follows