Katha: The City of Potential

A city between empires full of adventure and intrigue

by Bryce K, aka AuthorDM

 Introduction
Katha is a fully built city with hundreds of NPCs, dozens of
shops, and many different factions all vying for power over
this growing city. Kahta is a growing city-state that can
expand (or regress) in any direction depending on the
choices of your group. It can easily suit any party of any size
or level. The city will grow (or shrink) and change at the
party's every move, making it a city full of potential.
The Hook
Maybe your party starts in Katha, maybe they are enticed
there by the invitation to quest for the local Lady, maybe a
warlock's patron or a cleric's god brings them there...
Katha is a city full of plot hooks and intrigue, enough to run
many sessions no matter why your group came in the first
place. But now that they are here, they need to make
choices that will affect the present and future of this
growing city.
The Plot
At its most basic, the plot of Katha is to give your players
agency to affect the present and future of this rapidly
growing city. They could help turn it into an empire and
become lords of the land, bring it to ruins, keep it small and
independent, or anything else they desire.
Provided throughout the document are a number of
adventures to keep the party busy, introduce them to the
main characters, and provide a structured story that the
DM can use in whole or abuse as idea-fodder. Very little is
set in stone here in Katha, which is half the fun.
The provided story arc provided will focus on the strong-
willed Lady of the land, the adventurer-turned-ruler Maddie
Turner, as she turns her homeland into a strong,
independent nation. She will compete with the factions
arrayed with and against her, from the well-intentioned
local merchant council to the devious cultists to the self-
centered Thieves' Guild.
For the DM
Katha is a reference book providing a fully built city,
inclusive of NPCs, shops, factions, and plots. It can be
placed into any setting with ease. It suits any party, but
particularly suits a party that is beginning to accumulate
wealth and could use a place to invest their winnings. Even
if following the provided plot, it will require the DM to be
ready to react to the party's actions. The DM should be
familiar with the key NPCs and factions, understand their
motivations, and then be able to react accordingly to new
developments. The document will lead you through
possible outcomes as best as possible, but this is the city of
potential: be prepared for anything!
Adapting Katha
Katha is a pre-built coastal with no addition
necessary. You can place it outside of one or
between two major empires in any setting. It
could also be placed into the wilderness. The plot
and character of the city depend on it being
outside of any empire, where it can thrive (or fall)
on its own, according to the actions of your
party. Katha as presented here will have several
holes in it, and the document will help you fill
them to make sure that the city can be placed in
your chosen setting without difficulty.
1
Part One: Geography,
Economy, and History
This section is highly dependent on DM discretion and
where it is placed within your setting. Change it according
to your needs, but use it as the backdrop to the city.
Geography and Economy
Katha is a natural harbor sheltered from storms by several
outlying islands that form a bay. Most of the city is built on
the mainland, but recent expansion has begun to the
outlying islands. The city itself is not on many major trade
routes, but neither is it terribly far from them.
The mainland hosts the Old City of Katha. The Old City
is the walled off coastal village that used to act as the trade
center for the region, and also a place for outlying villages
to retreat to when times got bad. It used to fit only a few
hundred people. Now, the walls have almost completely
come down, and the open areas used to pasture cows or
sheep during times of siege have been filled in by new
construction.
Refuge Island is just off the coast of the mainland, and
used to be empty 99% of the time; the 1% was during
bandit raids or attacks from neighboring countries or
kingdoms. Refuge Island is a rocky, cliff-face of an island
with only one reasonable landing spot and path up the
crags. At the top is an old fort, built out of the rock of the
hill. Villagers from Katha and beyond would seek refuge in
this generations-old fort during times of extreme need. It
has become the center of Maddie Turner's government.
Barrier Island is a long, L-shaped, sandy island that
mostly encloses the bay used by Katha. It was uninhabited
except by an old lighthouse until very recently.
Katha has long had a steady trade history, but not a rich
one. This area of the world is hard to reach by boat or foot,
making the villages in Katha's periphery mostly
independent and self-sufficient. Katha was the only hub of
trade for the region, with agricultural produce being
shipped away and general trade goods - iron for farm and
household tools for example - being imported by small-time
local merchants. Outside of agriculture and this modicum
of trade, Katha and surrounds has mostly been neglected
by trade routes, technology, and the spread of empires.
History
Katha has a long yet undistinguished history. It existed
mostly as a small village and regional trade-hub for
hundreds of years with little variation. Its proximity to trade
routes and the piracy and banditry that accompanies them
made it a frequent, secondary target for such thieves. In the
further distant past, various other empires have claimed to
hold, or did in fact hold, sway over Katha, yet none in living
memory, and none for very long. According to some oral
traditions, however, Katha was once an empire of its own
and a major site of religious pilgrimage.
More recently, earlier this generation the great hero
Testicles fought and killed the vicious Red Dragon which
lived in the area and kept vast expanses beyond the city
uninhabitable. Testicles defeated the dragon and took its
hoard with him, leaving behind more wealth than the entire
region had ever seen or could ever produce. This caused
massive deflation in the price of gold, a massive increase in
the number and size of attacks on the city and outlying
villages, and in some areas completely broke down the
social order since none could agree on the value of trade
goods. Maddie Turner was young when this happened, and
it has shaped her views on proper economic management.

Part Two: Major NPCs
Maddie Turner – Halfling female, rather young for her
importance to the place though quickly approaching
middle-age. She grew up in Katha with her single father
who did whatever odd jobs came up. She will happily tell
the story of how she decided to make Katha into something
more. This part of the world was always plagued by bandits
and pirates; when years were good people farmed, but
when they were bad they robbed their neighbors. It was a
vicious circle that kept the whole area impoverished and
out of touch with the rest of the quickly growing world.
Then when she was a young girl, Testicles came to the
area. Many had hoped that he would end some of the
permanent pirate/bandit villages and restore some safety to
the area. Instead he killed a local dragon, one which ate
their stock sometimes but was not as much of a nuisance,
and left. He left a fair portion of the dragon’s hoard spent in
Katha for services, gifts, and general aid. This totally broke
the economy though, because people had more gold than
they’d ever seen in their lifetime, and nothing to do with it,
so inflation spiraled out of control and people starved, with
gold in their pockets. Then the bandits came and took
almost all of it, killing many. It changed her view of the
world, she realized that wealth isn’t measured in gold, but in
exchange, and she vowed to get revenge on the bandits and
make something of Katha. Maddie learned the bow and
how to track, then personally exterminated many of the
bandit lairs in the area. She saved all the loot carefully and
is spending it on building Katha.
Maddie is smart as a tack, beautiful, charming, and a
more than capable governor, but she is also a ruthless killer
and is determined to have her way. She considers very few
people around her to be her equal. As such, Maddie is
pushing the creation of an aristocracy of the few she trusts
that will rule as a council, one that she clearly controls at
the moment. The wealth concentration happening in Katha
and the slow organization of religion is happening
intentionally under Maddie’s plan to create this aristocracy.
Maddie is the most influential voice in Amalgamated
Shipping and the de-facto ruler of Katha, though she holds
no official titles. She rules through sheer willpower and her
not-insignificant pile of treasure.
Amalgamated Shipping (AS)
Amalgamated Shipping, covered in more detail in Part
Three: Factions, is a trust run by a board of five, the four
below and Maddie Turner. It has a near monopoly on all
shipping related businesses as well as being a front for the
Thieves’ Guild in Katha. The company is split up into many
buildings across the town, and each member of the board
generally pays attention to their side of the business only,
but they do meet regularly in the main offices to discuss
prospects and business operations. The group generally
operates well together, but there are several divisions that
could be exploited by an insightful and enterprising party.
Rodney Byrd is a halfing male that is balding but has a
long, braided beard in a somewhat dwarven style. He is
friendly, boisterous, fond of jokes (particularly bad ones),
and under-cautious. He generally sees to the longshoreman
side of the business, which in turn provides some of the
muscle for the illegitimate side of business.
Rodney was originally from the far outlying village of
Black Hollow and escaped to come live in Katha after it
was destroyed by pirates nearly 20 years ago. He is
convinced that recovering and resettling the area would
provide a boon to trade because of the rare ironwood trees
that grow there, but nothing has been done for the area yet
and it is still used as a bandit camp. Fixing this issue would
guarantee his friendship. He lives with his partner Clarence
Monroe and does not take much part in the idle rich social
circle.
Maddie Turner
Small humanoid, lawful neutral
Armor Class 18
Hit Points 100
Speed 25ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
8 (-1) 20 (+5) 16 (+3) 10 (0) 12 (+1) 14 (+2)
Senses passive Wisdom 19
Languages Halfling, Common, more
Saves Str +3, Dex +9, Con +7
Skills Acrobatics +9, Deception +10, Insight +9,
Perception +9, Stealth +14
Lucky. Reroll 1s on ability checks, saves, or attack
rolls. You must take the result of the new roll.
Brave. Advantage on saves versus fear.
Natural Assassin. Advantage on initiative rolls. You
have advantage on attack rolls against any enemy
which has not acted in combat yet. Hits against
surprised enemies are automatically critical hits.
Supreme Sneak. Advantage on Dexterity (Sneak)
checks if you move no more than half your speed.
Sneak Attack. Once per turn with a finesse or
ranged weapon, when you have advantage on an
attack roll or an ally is within 5 ft of the target, do
an additional 5d6 damage.
Evasion. When targeted by an effect which
requires you to make a Dex save on which you
can take half damage on a success, instead take 0
on a success and half on a fail.
Actions
Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach
5ft., one target. Hit 11 (1d8 + 7)
Light Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit,
range 80/320, one target. Hit 11 (1d8 + 7)
Cunning Action. As a bonus action, use dash,
disengage, or hide.
Mark. Bonus action: range 60, concentration, one
target. Target takes an additional 1d6 damage
when you hit with a weapon attack. You may
move the mark as a bonus action when the first
target is reduced to 0 HP.
Uncanny Dodge. Reaction: when you take damage,
halve the amount taken.
2
 Jesse Yates is a male halfling and a flamboyant personality
that revels in his newfound wealth and showing off his
tastes in all things foreign, even though he has a poor
understanding of them. He often uses foreign words wrong,
or mixes up places, but gets irritable whenever anybody
corrects him on it. He runs the banking and insurance side
of the company, all of which are questionably moral and
rarely pay out what was promised.
Jesse is an easy person to ingratiate but also easy to
infuriate; his capricious nature makes him a bit of a wild
card and he can easily turn on the closest of friends for
perceived slights. Suck up to him enough and he might let
you know a legend that has been passed down through his
family about the hiding place of an ancient artifact. His
family of wife Eunice, and children Valerie and Lewis, live
in a manor that is often the center of the idle rich circle.
Hazel Foster is a female halfling and by far the most
industrious and hardworking of the board of AS. Hazel
deals with warehousing and coopers side of business, and
at the same time is also the least involved in the illegitimate
side of things, though does have to keep certain
warehouses available for purposes which cannot be written
down. She does not much like her role, and prefers a don't
ask don't tell policy on what happens illegitimately in
Katha.
Hazel is a single mother who adopted a little refugee girl,
Julia, who is having nightmares. Recently bounty hunters
from an unspecified empire came looking for the girl, so
now Hazel needs help finding somebody who knows about
the girl, and she’s heard rumors of an old hermit out by
Julia’s original home village far inland.
Caitlin Wade is a beautiful, young female halfling that
may or may not be engaged to Mannford Sheridan (M7 and
H7), though she courts him only for the business
controlling another operation might bring to AS. She
handles the more illegitimate side of things and is the chief
adversary of Yendriel and the Orange Hand. She can
usually handle herself with calm and poise, but bring up
the Yendriel and the Hand and she can lose it.
Caitlin would love nothing more than to collapse some
old cave network below Yendriel’s home, but that would
also likely cause the collapse of the Seafarers' Shrine (R3).
The Order of the Scarf somehow knows of this and
opposes it. Caitlin suspects a leak in the AS board. More so
than actually implementing her plan to spite Yendriel,
Caitlin is obsessive about finding out where information
about the board of AS is leaking from. She suspects
everyone.
Other Major NPCs
Jacob Silver is a male halfling and the son of a long line of
shamans who lived in and served the local area. While
much of the knowledge was passed on to him, he chose to
ignore the calling and went to abroad to pursue a different
sort of life, he wasn’t sure what yet but studied general
religion and history. He returned recently when he heard of
Katha’s growth and has wound up in charge of the
Seafarer’s Shrine, and has become a useful source of
information for the rulers in Katha. He has a serious crush
on Maddie Turner, and cannot keep a secret from her.
Based on his old stories inherited from his family and
some research, Jacob is familiar with a number of artifacts
from ancient times hidden around the area, items from a
bygone age when this area was a major center of activity
and a pilgrimage site. He suspects that the items are
powerful weather control devices. This will lead the
plotline outlined in Part Five: Cultists and Ancient Artifacts.
3
Jacob wants to find and bring back these artifacts as
historical pieces. Most of AS want them for the possibility
of weather control. Maddie (in addition to the practical
effects of weather control and tourism) wants them as
symbols of legitimacy. He cannot keep a secret from
Maddie because he as quite the crush on her. He wears the
pink for the Order of the Scarf on occasion, but wouldn’t be
caught dead in it whenever anybody important shows up.
Yendriel is the female human leader of the Orange Hand,
and is a charismatic, robin-hood sort of figure to many. She
is wildly popular among the poorest sections of the
populace, but hated among any of the rich rulers of Katha.
She is clever, endearing, exceptionally charismatic, and
more than a little mysterious.
Rumor has it that she was fighting for the freedom of the
serfs in the provinces of the distant empire of her birth.
This has led to her popularity among similar sections of
society. The truth, however, is that she was a prominent
member of the thieves guild in a major pirate port (under
the name Brianna) before taking the money from a major
heist all for herself and running here to Katha. She is thus
on the run from a powerful criminal organization.
While she does distribute some of the money she
brought and continues to earn through her gang activities,
sometimes supporting the Order of the Scarf and other
efforts to resist the overreach of the new government, she
is really motivated by her own wealth. However, she is a
major figure in city politics because of her control of the
Orange Hand, her popularity among the poor, and the fact
that she is perhaps the only one who associates in both
circles of the rich and the Order of the Scarf, though both
only tolerate her presence. For the right price she can open
a lot of opportunities and communication channels. Her
price usually seems fair and reasonable, but will almost
exclusively benefit the growth of her personal wealth and
fame rather than any other cause.
Clifford Preston the Fourth (halfling) is the owner of
the oldest tannery in town, a business he inherited from his
father, and his father from his father. The once small shop
is expanding into an empire, one supported outright by
Maddie and the board of AS, though he has no place on it
yet. Outside of AS, he is by far the richest member of
society and the center of the idle rich circle. He is a stuffy
grouch convinced that his own hard work and virtue has
brought him wealth. Despite his belief that he has built his
empire based on his own virtues, he has also hired two
goons (Esisso and Onraq, truly nasty sorts who enjoy the
job for the violence they get to inflict on innocents, who
should be level-appropriate challenges for your party) who
make sure new tanneries do not open up. Clifford is
married to Vergie, who can often be found in the company
of the idle partners of the other newly rich, semi-noble
families. Their children Ruth, Lola, Clifford the Fifth, and
Edward live in a nearby manor and are tutored by a gnome
wizard Emiliya Yemelyanova.
Grog is a half-orc Fighter/Warlock with a mean
reputation, which is more than well deserved. He works for
Maddie Turner as her privateer in chief -- a licensed pirate
that works for the government. He and his crew are good at
their jobs, supplying the muscle for the very young navy of
Katha. Grog, however, hides his warlock pact with an evil
deity, the same evil deity that is worshiped by the Cult of
the Storm, the central figures in the plot of Part Five. He
will end up being an important villain that will race the
party to their goals at times, or outright attack at others.
For whatever reason, Maddie trusts him; removing him can
change her approach to governing.

Part Three: Factions
Amalgamated Shipping - This near-monopoly of all
shipping related businesses is the main source of
government income. It is split into four main areas of work,
each covered by a different board member.
Maddie Turner formed the business out of the
acquisition (sometimes by buy-outs, sometimes forcible) of
many other small companies. She installed some of her
friends and some local dignitaries into positions on the
board not only to ensure their loyalty, but because they are
the only ones she trusts. The company exists to enrich the
board members and a few other chosen businesses, and
eventually elevate them to an established nobility.
The docks and longshoreman side of business run by
Rodney Byrd controls almost all of the docking and trade in
and out of Katha. If you want to dock your ship, unload or
load goods, or have any repairs done to the ship, you have
to go through this part of the company. There are plans for
the formalization of import and export taxes, but for now it
operates more like a protection racket.
Jesse Yates runs the banking and insurance section,
which is hardly more than a scam. Insurance never pays
out, and loan repayments are made to by on time by thugs.
Hazel Foster runs the only legitimate side of business
with her monopoly on warehouses and coopers - barrel and
box making for transport. The coopers are actually of very
high quality, something Hazel takes pride in.
The most illegitimate side is run by Caitlin Wade, who
collects information on other empires, monitors shipping
routes, engages with pirates, runs protection rackets
around the city, controls the drug trade, and harasses
political opponents.
The Idle Rich - Closely related to AS, but also separate
from it, is this loose grouping of those wealthy Kathans
who celebrate their new luxurious life styles. It is built by
reciprocating invitations to dinner parties, fancy teas, or
other excuses to show off their lavish wealth. Something is
going on nearly every day, in one wealthy house or another,
meaning that these people spend very little time working.
At the center of the group is Vergie Preston, who organizes
a fair share of the events and is intentionally turning the
social club into an organized force to protect their wealth
from any that might protest it.
The group is most defined, however, by the fact that its
membership is largely idle. They are the partners or
children of those business magnates that control the city
through AS or other monopoly businesses. As such, they
have ample time to socialize with each other, spend their
wealth, and think very little about their actions. Only a few
in the organization really realize that their accumulation of
wealth has come through government policy.
Order of the Scarf - Comprised of many of the
merchants and artisans that have not benefitted as much
from Maddie Turner's patronage, the Order of the Scarf is a
loose organization which advocates for better government
policy for themselves. Their following and impact is a little
larger than they know how to deal with as their symbol, a
pink scarf, has accidentally come to stand for most protests
against the government of Maddie Turner. Wearing the pink
scarf, or lately any sort of pink, is a sign of dissatisfaction
with the government, though not necessarily membership
in the group. The group itself is quite small, has no real
charter or organization yet, and has a worse reputation
among the government than it probably deserves.
Their goal, mostly, is to see government contracts
distributed more equitably and competitively, allowing all
businesses to have the chance to bid. This is particularly
important to the members who are in construction,
blacksmiths, textiles, or shipping and have to compete with
the government-created monopoly businesses. Others who
have less to gain, such as the tavern keepers or the
artisans, tend to look more radically and see that the
government is intentionally skewing wealth distribution in
their favor and protest against that. These disagreements
have led to a lack of clear leadership within the Order, one
which could be filled if a majority of members could be
convinced to one side or another.
Outsider Tieflings - Tieflings are a persecuted, pariah
race not usually welcome in many places around the world.
The Outsider Tieflings are both a religion and a gang which
recruits Tieflings with promises of rebuilding a Tiefling
empire which will save them from the hatred of the rest of
the world. Their patron god is a setting appropriate Lawful
Evil entity who stands for the subjugation of all but his
chosen people. The group is led by Master Voldinoth and
his right-hand, Kalorel the Vile. They have cells and agents
around the world, in nearly every major port, as they
attempt to recruit Tieflings to their cause and eventually
rebuild the Tiefling empire.
So far they have generally kept quiet in Katha, but are
slowly transferring all of their agents and recruits from
around the world to Katha. They engage in some petty
protection rackets to fund themselves but avoid direct
conflict with other established gangs. They only go out of
their way to attack the Sel's Wall Tieflings, who they see as
worse than heretics, as traitors to the entire race.
What they are doing in Katha, however, is working with
the Cult of the Storm. They do not necessarily believe in
anything that the Cult does, but they believe that creating a
cataclysm to wipe out the existing world order will allow
them to raise their empire more easily and punish all those
who persecute the Tieflings.
Sel’s Wall Tieflings - The Tieflings of Sel's Wall, a
village about three days walk away from Katha, found a
different solution to combating the racism against them:
get away. They have founded an independent and self-
sufficient farming community away from the gaze of the
world. Many of the Tieflings living there ran away from the
Outsider Tieflings group, but some have lived there for
generations. Some are agnostic, others worship the regular
gods, but some still worship their old god but prefer to see
him as a Lawful Neutral god which supports self-sufficiency
as the path to radical individualism and freedom.
The Tieflings
The fued between the two groups of Tieflings
plays a role in the development of the plot in Part
Five because of their connections to the Cult of
the Storm. About half of my players are Tieflings,
and I personally enjoy playing with their status as
pariahs and how they would react as a
community. Substitute in any other race for them
if appropriate to your setting, or possibly use a
religious denomination instead of a race. And if
you still don't feel like these groups fit your
setting and play style, don't use them at all.
4
 The Orange Hand – Robbery, fencing stolen goods, and
some smuggling, the Orange Hand does it all. It is run by
Yendriel, the charismatic demagogue that is a bit of a Robin
Hood figure who claims to want to create a fairer Katha
and get back at the new idle rich, but is really quite
motivated by money and trade. Yendriel lives openly in an
ostentatious mansion and sometimes invites herself to
events of the idle rich, who despise her more than even the
Order of the Scarf, but because of social norms, her
popularity, and her status as a rich foreigner, they can do
little about it. She and the Hands are respected mostly by
the fisherman and sailors, and it is through their support
that she can run any smuggling operations at all. Aside
from Yendriel’s residence (H9), where many meetings take
place, the hand’s base of operations is generally in the new
sections of city on the mainland where the poor are most
concentrated.
Any player character interested in joining or using
illegitimate goods, such as drugs or getting into the
information trade, will find that it is easiest to contact the
Orange Hand with some thieves' cant in a few of the bars
outside the Old City. However, chances to join and move up
in the organization are hard to come by. The opposite is
true of Amalgamated Shipping; it is hard to join, but do a
few favors for the right people and you can get real close to
leadership.
Yendriel and the Hands mostly rebel against the
illegitimate side of AS, making them the chief enemy of
Caitlin Wade. At times, they work with the Order of the
Scarf; at others, they promote wearing pink just to infuriate
the government and confound the Order. Yendriel may
stand only for her own self benefit, but on principle she
does not agree that the government should be running
what is essentially a thieves' guild. Many of her close
confidants and higher ranking Hands are native Kathans
and pirates/bandits from the old days, but still want to see a
better city, even if that just means returning to the lawless
times. Exposing Yendriel as a thief on the run and a self-
serving leader could shake up this entire group and shift
them decisively towards the Order of the Scarf and the
betterment of Katha, or it could turn them into a street
gang with no real ambitions or goals.
The Dwarven Community – not a gang or club so much
as it is just the loose grouping of dwarves in Katha. It is
about evenly split between dwarves who grew up in the
area or surrounds and those who have more recently
(within a generation) from other parts of the world. The
arrival of a group of refugees from the recently destroyed
‘heretic’ city state has challenged these perceptions, and
the community’s eventual acceptance of these refugees has
made some (a number which will grow steadily) consider
themselves Kathans. They are among the only races that
seem to act as a coherent unit, with some dissent here and
there naturally, but general unity. They haven’t, however,
made much of a decision on Order of the Scarf or Maddie’s
plan for Katha, and with some pushing could fall decisively
on either side.
The Dwarves
Like the Tieflings, you can substitute in any other
race religion, for the dwarves. It would make
extra sense to pick based off of a particularly
religions or race-driven character in your party.
While they are not a necessity for the plot, they
do add flavor to Katha.
5
The Cult of the Storm - The Cult of the Storm are central
to the plot presented in Part Five. Should you chose not to
use the plot in Part Five, forget these guys.
The Cult is millenarian in that they foresee the end of the
world coming (the Storm), but believe that the faithful will
be spared and rule in the new world. They aim to make the
end come faster by finding the weather control artifacts
around Katha to summon the Storm, a cataclysmic event
that will destroy civilization. This can be modified for your
setting and campaign to any other evil aim, such as raising
an undead army, summoning a demon lord, or whatever.
The Cult is a murky organization with no real leader, but
a few devotees that spread their prophesies around the
world. Where the party strikes down one, others will rise.
The Outsider Tieflings are currently working to protect
and grow the Cult because they see an opportunity for their
own group to tear down the world to allow for a new
Tiefling empire to rise, as per their goals.
Grog is also working secretly for the Cult, having been
bribed by an evil entity representing the Storm.
Grog
Medium humanoid, chaotic evil
Armor Class 19
Hit Points 174 (4d10 + 9d8 + 52)
Speed 30ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20 (+5) 8 (-1) 19 (+4) 10 (0) 12 (+1) 16 (+3)
Resistances Radiant; bludgeoning, piercing and
slashing from non-magical weapons.
Senses passive Perception 16
Languages Common, Orcish
Searing Vengeance. When you would make a death
saving throw, instead regain half your total HP,
and all hostile creatures within 30 ft. take 14
radiant damage and are blinded until the end of
your turn. You may use this once per long rest.
Relentless. Once per long rest, when you are
reduced to 0 HP but not killed, you may instead
drop to 1 HP.
Action Surge. Once per rest, take a second action
on your turn.
Second Wind. Once per rest as a bonus action,
regain 1d10+9 HP.
Spellcasting. Grog's spellcasting ability is
Charisma (DC 16).
At will: Eldritch Blast, Sacred Flame
3/rest as a 5th level spell: Armor of Agathys, Hex,
Fire Shield, Flame Strike
Actions
Multiattack. Make two attacks, critical hits on 19-
20, adding an extra weapon dice on critical hits.
Demon's Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to
hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 14 (1d12 + 8) and
you may spend up to 3 Hit Dice to add to the
damage. Reroll all 1s and 2s on the damage roll.

Part Four: Minor NPCs
and Shops
This section goes by category and provides a map location
for each business (See Appendix B for the map), providing
relevant NPC details for each.
B: Blacksmiths, Leather workers, and
Equipment
B1: Bright Forge – Agnes Bright (Halfling) is the owner of
the oldest blacksmith in the city of Katha, from when it was
still a small village, and she misses the simpler times. Her
wife was recently murdered, and she will give anything to
find out who it was. She would not be able to meet orders
for martial weapons or heavy armor as she is experienced
in village demands, not those of the growing city.
B2: Preston’s Leatherworks – See important NPCs and
H1 for more details on Clifford Preston the Fourth and his
wife Vergie.
B3: Roland’s Temper – Dagan ben Eretz (Dwarf, male)
runs the most well equipped forge in town, though he is
kept busy with orders so sees no reason to negotiate on
prices. His wife, Yekara bat Gera, runs the bakery nearby.
B4: Ancesteral Guardians – Stasima Pilus (Rare race
your pick, female) has just set up shop near the old wall
and offers the basic necessities at a good price. She is an
outspoken member of the Order of the Scarf, and she
wears the pink scarf signifying her affiliation everywhere.
Because of it she gets no business from the government.
She also devoutly prays to her ancestors for forgiveness
that she hasn’t had any children of her own yet.
B5: The Woodpecker – Calvin Berger (Halfling) lives
with all sorts of animals and is pioneering ways to make
horseshoes, saddles, bits, bags, and barding for all sorts of
animals that does not hurt them in any way. He doesn’t do
normal orders very well though. He has many contacts with
the local druidic circle.
B6: Horne and Daughters - Everett Horne (Halfling) is a
widower with three daughters, Cynthia, Jane, and Miranda,
all of who are of age and work at the smithy. He moved in
from another village not so far away rather recently. He
could use a little help getting off the ground, and if provided,
would be very grateful to whoever invested in the business.
B7: Unnamed – Charry Hancey (Halfling, male) and his
wife Elean and young son Reyny have set up a tannery and
leatherworks in one of the newer parts of town. They are
being threatened by the Prestons’ goons and might have to
give up and leave town soon for their own safety.
B8: Northern Locks – Oleg Timurovich (gnome, male)
and his massive family of three wives, one of their other
husbands, and 16 children recently came to Katha. He is a
perfectionist who makes outstanding locks; however, he is
overworked and many of the orders end up in the hands of
his still learning children. Either his eldest son or daughter
(Vadim and Frosya) generally take the orders and
cultivating a relationship with them can provide some hints
for aspiring thieves on how their father makes the locks,
making future jobs in the area that much easier.
Add Some Familiar Faces
To endear your players to the city faster, bring in
a few NPCs from the past and drop them in!
There is always room for new businesses here.
T: Inns, Taverns, and Brothels
T1: The Mighty Stag – Margaret Davenport (Halfling)
owns and operates the oldest, and formerly only, inn in
Katha. The land she is on is now worth far more to others
than to herself, but she is obstinately holding onto the old
place. Maggy, as he is better known, is a grandmotherly old
Halfling that never married and never wanted to, but that
doesn’t stop her from flirting with all the young men and
women that pass through. She is a proud member of the
Order of the Scarf and takes to wearing pink everything
these days. The Stag is a local institution, but rather small
on the whole, and offers low to mid-range fare.
T2: Eagle and Steed – Tattligat (elf, male) runs the
converted old warehouse turned tavern by the docks. It is a
rowdy place frequented by the longshoreman, and serves
as a recruitment place for underhanded side of
Amalgamated Shipping. If you ask in thieves' cant, you can
find most of the illicit purchases you might want. The place
is owned officially by someone in the Byrd arm of AS, but
nobody really takes responsibility for the place and Tattligat
runs it how he will. Tattligat wants to see a dragon.
T3: High Glade – Troy Hodges (Halfling) is the
proprietor of the highest class boutique restaurant and
winery with upscale living for short or long-term residents.
It is a sprawling complex with probably more workers than
residents to cater to the expensive tastes of those that
come here. Fare starts at 5 gp a meal and accommodation
can run from between 10 to 100 gp a night. Hodges, is in
many ways a gatekeeper for the idle rich circle; if you can
afford his services, you deserve to meet people, and Troy
can introduce you. He is rumored to have a secret
relationship with nearly every lady on the fringes of the idle
rich, but the truth is he is secretly seeing Jesse Yates.
T4: Lilac Valley – Zehava bat Herschel (dwarf, female)
named this mid-to-upper class establishment after her
home village. It is one of the few inns which is catered to
foreigners, or the tall folk in the common parlance of
Katha. You won’t find much local culture here, but it is the
best place for news from around the world. Zehava herself
is extremely devout and credits her god for personally
saving her from her near-death experience and the
earthquake that destroyed her home.
T5: Dusty Roads – Gregmam (Tiefling, male) recently
opened this tavern by the old wall. It has minimal
accommodation and awful food to go along with the
watered down beer. All that makes it a favorite lair of the
Orange Hand, or at least the people that sympathize with
them. He is an outsider Tiefling who is secretly very
devoted to the evil version of Saurumort, and he has taken
it as a personal task to not only ensure that the other
outsider tieflings follow the religion, but that the Sel’s Wall
tieflings are eliminated for their heresy.
T6: Ice Way – Marisa Saavedra (Human, female) runs
the new inn by the incoming road by the old wall. It is
nearly brand new and hasn’t established much of a
presence in town yet, and could really use a boost. She and
her husband Jorje with their two sons (one each from
previous marriages, Antonio and Alonso) escaped from
serfdom in the provinces of a distant empire.
T7: Watering Hole – Sima bat Lidi (Dwarf female),
caters to dwarven community with cheap beer and food, no
accommodation at all really. Obviously has many links to
the dwarves, this is as good a place as any to get in with
them and get to know them. A well known spot for locals as
well, has good entertainment. Sima is an important voice in
welcoming the refugees.
6
 R: Religion
R1: The Grove – this large, walled park at the center or
Katha is a very old grove of trees that had special, religious
significance to the druidic religion of the Halflings who
lived here originally. The wall is new and was built
specifically to stop further encroachment from the city, but
much has already been lost. Its protection is one of the few
things that the Order of the Scarf can agree on; the pink of
their scarves comes from the hue of a cherry tree that was
torn down earlier this year which served as the impetus to
start the order. Nobody specifically sees to the grove, but
Forrest, a Halfling druid of mysterious origin (he was a
hermit on a distant, uninhabited island for many years,
though originally a druid trained by a respected yet distant
druidic enclave), lives here nearly full time.
R2: Seafarer’s Shrine – Jacob Silver oversees this
newly built temple. While it caters to the local, unorganized
naturalist religion, the people here are starting to formalize
the religion. It is more of a curated garden and complex of
buildings, with one large meeting hall dedicated to all
creatures of the sea. Jacob isn’t much of a priest, though the
Silvers have a long shamanic tradition in the area, he
rebelled and studied abroad for a time before coming home
to catalogue the history of his people, see important NPCs.
The shrine does have two full-time, low level clerics, that
give blessings and some healing for the town; Lloyd Burton
and Susanne Hudson (halflings). Lloyd is one of Jacob’s old
friends and followed a similar path, but had been a simple
farmer beforehand and prefers the organization of other
religions; Lloyd is part of the Order of the Scarf, however,
driving a bit of a wedge between him and the others here.
Susanne is an old shaman woman who used to wander
among the villages of the inland who is quickly learning to
like the sedentary life with steady income.
R3: Human Temple – with a fair number of human
immigrants of late a small temple to their god of the sea
has been built in Katha. Salvador Pinto (human male) lives
in the priests quarters of the temple, though he works for
Katha Construction (M8) since priesting doesn’t pay the
bills. He has no formal training and but worked as a
manservant in the home of a priest and can therefore
imitate some of the religious rites. He's as close as the town
can come to a priest of this religion.
R4: Dwarven Church – is a converted home, but only
barely because it is still used as a home by a handful of
recent arrivals from a recently destroyed dwarven ‘heretic
state.' They have caused a bit of a debate among the
dwarven community, but in the end Zehava bat Herschel’s
(T4) calls for clemency won the day. While the effects are
still being seen, this acceptance of these religious ‘heretics’
has pushed the whole dwarven community away from their
roots in dwarven culture outside Katha and towards seeing
themselves as Kathans first. Also, Zehava was the one to
buy and convert the place into a church.
Katha's Religion and your Setting
Religion in Katha is defined here as carefully as
necessary to build the plot provided here, but no
more. It has been left as vague as possible so that
you can plug in any setting-appropriate gods or
philosophies to the roles set out here. Unless
you are confident in your skills in running Katha,
be careful in altering religion here too much lest
it affect the plot or society of Katha too
drastically.
7
M: Miscellaneous Shops
M1: Fancy Folks Attire – the recent rename of Leo
Coffey’s tailor shop (it was once called Shepherds' Attire,
the Shepherds' is crossed out with Fancy Folks written
below), the oldest in town, has not helped its business with
the newly rich class. Leo and his team of eight close and
distant relatives are busy outfitting the working folk and
have a government contract to provide tunics for the local
guard, but he has still set his eyes on finer products. No
matter how he tries though, his works feel a little too
traditional and homespun for the rich, which irritates him
to no end.
M2: Booktower at Katha – Thirnan (half-elf) runs the
only book shop in town where you can get works on most
topics. She is quiet and prefers her books to people, though
she opens up to anyone who spends time reading in store
rather than buying. She is a useful source of general
history, world cultures, and religions if you can cultivate a
relationship with her, but knows embarrassingly little about
Katha. She never knew her father and her mother, far away
at home, doesn’t like to talk about it. She does not go out
often, but when she does is frequently bullied by the local
kids for her half-elf heritage.
M3: Garso’s Finest – Garso Lopez (Human, male) runs
the newest, most fashionable store in town and is
frequented by all the newly rich. The clothes are actually of
poor quality and are not of the current fashion in the
fashionable foreign city he comes from, despite his claims.
His real name is Garso Amengual, and is not a noble like he
claims to be. He pays his tailors, a group of younger people
recently arrived from the villages, poorly if at all. He is a
con-man through and through, and if confronted will act
repentant and ask for clemency, claiming he is a reformed
man, but take the money and run on the first ship out of
Katha if given the opportunity.
M4: Adam’s Accessories – Adam Pittman (Halfling) ran
a cobblers’ shop not so long ago but has expanded through
marriage (the new Mrs Grace Pittman) into other
accessories such as purses, gloves, and hats. Grace arrived
from a major city recently and had built up a burgeoning
business in especially fancy gloves and hats for the newly
idle rich of Katha. The marriage, one of business more than
love gave each new markets. Both are frequently found
socializing among the circles which buy their goods, though
rarely together.
M5: Brilliant Earth – Amarel bat Agas (Dwarf, female)
runs one of the new jewelers shops in town. Her
connections to mines back home, run by friends and family,
means she offers better prices, but her shipping is
problematic so far with some shipments misplaced. She
suspects her rival jeweler at The Delicate Forge despite the
more reasonable answers and sometimes engages in petty
acts of vandalism or sabotage against it in retribution.
M6: The Delicate Forge – Natan-el ben Menachem
(Dwarf, male) is a middle aged, quiet fellow who
apprenticed as jeweler under his father, then spent years in
a dwarven military saving the money to open his own shop
since his elder brother will inherit the father’s shop. He has
seen the worst side of dwarven culture and has no faith in
the traditional religion. He displays the pink scarf of the
Order of the Scarf, but is more of a casual member. Many
of his patrons find it somewhat distasteful, but his work is
high quality. He suspects Amarel at Brilliant Earth of
sabotaging his business, which isn’t entirely unfounded.
M7: Mannford Foreman – Mannford Sheridan (Halfling)
is one of the several construction magnates in town and
employs over 100 laborers and counting. His works are
usually quick and dirty, but business is booming and few
know any better. Mannford moved to Katha to become a
cooper not long before the boom hit. He has some anxiety
in social situations and therefore is accidentally ‘engaged’
to three different girls, causing quite the row among the
idle rich.
M8: Katha Construction – Hugh Wilkins (Halfling) is
the other major construction magnate in town fewer but
better trained workers than Mannford Foreman. He and his
only son, Logan, are both transmutation mages of some
ability and use this ability in their building projects, making
the buildings more expensive but of higher quality and
desirability. Many of their workers have some basic
abilities, namely Mold Earth. Hugh has been widowed for
30 years now, his wife having died birthing Logan, and has
the reputation as quite the rake among the idle rich circles.
Logan values every chance to practice his magic and
dreams of learning magic elsewhere but is tied here
because of his father’s business.
M9: Fitted Finest – Dhysoria (Tiefling, female) runs one
of the higher quality tailors in the town but is only favored
by the middle class of folks, the rich preferring imported
fashions. She is part of the small tiefling community in
Katha and one of the few links between the division in that
community because neither side considers her one of their
own yet both want her patronage. She left the tiefling
village of Sel’s Wall due to ideological differences, and is
part of the Order of the Scarf.
M10: Unnamed Tailor – Annabelle Taylor (Halfling) just
moved in from the villages inland to seek a better life for
herself and family, who she plans to send useful items to
once a trade network is built. She is hard working and very
ambitious; with prodding she could fall in with either the
government by procuring a contract for herself, or the
Order of the Scarf with an appeal to her sense of fairness.
Either way, any amount of attention (or gold) paid to her
will eventually be repaid many times, even though she
appears very unassuming.
M11: Roland's Bakery - Yekara bat Gera (Dwarf, female)
bakes some of the hardiest sourdough breads in town.
She's not much for fancy foods like cakes and pastries, but
she will lower herself to the soft breads that lesser races, as
she refers to them, prefer to eat. She was against
welcoming the refugees since she is a devout worshiper of
the normal dwarven gods and is aghast at any heresy. She
is married to Dagan ben Eretz of Roland's Temper (B3).
M12: Of the Cloth - Camilla Gray (Halfling female) runs
this low-profit weavers shop. They specialize in sails and
ropes for ships, as opposed to anything fancy. She will pay
any orphans or refugees, or generally anyone who could
use a little cash and help, to work for her. The pay is low
but fair. Camilla herself prays to a good deity, unlike many
of the halflings of this area.
M13: Meds, Wrath and Beyond - Kostyantyn
Radchenko (gnome, male) and his partner Petro
Radchenko (gnome, male), each run one side of this store,
which is literally split down the middle with long shelves
and desks on each side, one gnome sitting on each side.
Kostyantyn is an alchemist and can provide common
potions and some rarer ones if you can find him the
ingredients. Petro sells scrolls and some magic items,
mostly common things or scrolls up to level 2. He has
contacts around the world that might be able to fill specific
requests if the buyer has the gold and doesn't mind waiting.
M14: Katha Conservatory - the only school in town at
the moment, run by the headmistress Diana Carballal (elf,
female) and employing four teachers: history, Angelica
Figueroa (elf, female); music, Kadgid (dragonborn, male);
arts, Rahmat Ergashev (gnome, male); and math, Sylvia
Haley (halfling, female). The richest of the rich prefer to
hire their own tutors for their children, but that still leaves
a fair number of well-off artisans and merchants who
choose to send their children here. It caters to children
ages 8 to 15, and has contacts to send the best students
elsewhere around the world, if their parents can afford it.
Maddie sponsored the creation of this school recently, but
like many of her projects it has been marred by some
corruption as much of the building expenses were given to
her favorite contractors who produced poor work, and the
profits of the school are being taken to repay the debt for
the work. Some investigative work here could really make a
lot of parents come around to the Order of the Scarf and
seriously embarrass the government.
S: Shipping and Navigation
S1: Amalgamated Shipping main offices - an imposing
building along the shorefront, this is where the board of AS
generally meets, though rarely works. Much of the
administration for all the various branches of the company
is housed here, though the illegitimate side all works in S3.
S2: AS Warehouses
S3: AS Warehouse: secret storage – for all intents and
purposes this looks like any other AS warehouse, but look
closely or behind some of the large boxes, and you will find
the illegitimate side of AS.
S4: AS Box and Barrel – the barrel and box factory for
AS. Foreman Amos Townsend (Halfling male) runs a large
floor of 15 workers, just about split Halfling and dwarven,
to provide the things necessary for shipping. The
containers themselves are usually well built and worth a
fair amount.
S5: AS Port Authority – is a small shack by a larger
building currently under construction. It is staffed by a
rotating group; Daniel Blake (Halfling male, 12-6am), June
Day (Halfling female, 6-12pm), Dasi ben Neriad (dwarf
male, 12-6pm) and Anafa bat Karem (dwarf female, 6pm-
12am). While the port will start assessing taxes on
incoming goods sometime in the future, for now they
assess only a small docking fee to watch the ship. The local
army, working as constabulary, helps enforce this.
H: Houses of Note
H1: Preston Residence – see B2 and important NPCs
H2: Yates Residence – see important NPCs -
Amalgamated Shipping
H3: Byrd Residence – see important NPCs -
Amalgamated Shipping
H4: Foster Residence – see important NPCs -
Amalgamated Shipping
H5: Wade Residence – see important NPCs -
Amalgamated Shipping
H6: bat Eretz Residence – see B3 and M11.
H7: Sheridan Residence – see M7
H8: Wilkins Residence – see M8
H9: Yendriel’s Residence – see Factions: Orange Hand
G: Guards and Military
G1: Watch Towers
G2: Barracks
G3: Armory
G4: Headquarters
8
 Part Five: Cultists and
Ancient Artifacts
This section is left quite vague. My main goal is to give you
a city full of complex relationships and side quests that you
can use to make your own. The secondary goal is to provide
a main quest for the city. The plot provided here will
attempt to tie in as many threads as possible while still
focusing on Maddie Turner and the future of Katha so that
your players feel like they are helping to create this city
from nothing. Should you edit or completely replace this
quest, my only advice is to tie it to the city in the same way.
First Hints and the Buried City
Hook your party somehow to come to Katha and visit Jacob
Silver, the new priest at the Seafarer's Shrine. A warlock's
patron might offer this, possibly a Cleric or Paladin's deity,
or maybe they are just old acquaintances of Jacob, or were
invited to adventure by Jacob or Maddie. How you get them
to Katha and in contact with Jacob is up to you.
Jacob Silver is very invested in Katha; he grew up in the
area but never really fit in with the rural villages. Instead he
studied abroad, and came home to help turn his homeland
into something.
As one in a long line of shamans from the area, he knows
some of the history and lore of the area. Jacob has heard
stories of the ancient, weather control artifacts that were
lost over time. Legends about these artifacts and what
Katha used to be long before the bandits and the dragon
are still common out in the villages. Jacob thinks that if
Maddie can accumulate these items, she will establish her
own legitimacy as a ruler of the land. He does not really
believe that they are powerful, or that he could use them
even if they were. Jacob just thinks that the artifacts are
symbols of the rebirth of Katha.
Jacob directs them to the village of Legge's Maw some
four days sailing along the coast to the East. Legge's Maw
is built on a dramatic looking island just off the mainland,
where the villagers keep their farms and flocks. There is a
cave network accessible in the hills on the mainland nearby
Legge's Maw, and Jacob thinks that's the best place to start
looking for lost artifacts.
Legge's Maw is a village of around 30 halflings. There is
no tavern, but Emily Gartner has a spare room that they
can stay in. The locals all avoid the caves because there are
monsters inside, but they have stories of great treasures
buried below, the ruins of an ancient city.
A map of the caves is provided in Appendix B. The caves
are split into two basic levels: level 1, the upper caves; and
level 2, the buried city. If your party is higher level and you
don't think this would challenge them, then boost some HP
and to hits and damage a little, or add an outside encounter.
Level 1 is a massive cave network where the Click-clacks
live; their stat bloc is provided. They are an intelligent race
that lives underground, their origins unknown. While
intelligent, they do not understand any languages but their
own, which is a very simplistic language which uses clicks
and chirps, not able to be imitated by humans, to convey
basic messages. They are motivated to eat and survive and
will back off if the challenge becomes too great, but will
also defend their nest to the death. They use their
burrowing speed to cut across caves and flank any
intruders, attacking quickly and running. Their Chatchka is
a triangular blade that only their strange forearms and
claws can hold; a humanoid would not be able to use it
without cutting themselves.
9
Click-Clacks
Medium insectoid, neutral
Armor Class 15
Hit Points 34 (4d8 + 16)
Speed 40 ft, burrow 20.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
12 (+1) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 7 (-2) 12 (+1) 7 (-2)
Senses passive Perception 13, darkvision
Skills Perception +3, Stealth + 5
Languages Click-clack
Challenge 3
False Appearance. the Click-clack has advantage
on stealth rolls in a cave environment
Actions
Multiattack. Make two weapon attacks.
Chatchka. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach
5ft., thrown range 30/120, one target. Hit 6 (1d6
+ 3) piercing damage.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
Hit 8 (2d6+1) piercing damage and the target
makes a Con save DC 12. On a failure, the target
is poisoned. It can reroll the save at the end of its
turn.
It may be possible to communicate with the Click-clacks,
possibly with the Tongues spell or a DC 17 Intelligence
check followed by a DC 17 Charisma (Perform) check to
attempt to convey meanings across the language barrier.
The Click-clacks only desire food, and will warn of bigger,
meaner creatures below, which they describe as not-foods.
Level 2 can be approached from two directions,
depending on how they leave level 1; the stairs, or the
Tower. The stairs are half stairway, half tunnels, half ruins
that go deep into the earth. Anyone using the stairs can roll
a Intelligence (Arcana or Nature) check DC 18 to recognize
that the tunnels are, in fact, created by a massive Purple
Worm. It eventually ends in a large, open square filled with
rubble that looks like it was once a market square. They
can see the tree towers, remaining buildings that appear to
be massive towers created by hollowing out a super-
massive tree. A druid or a character who rolls a successful
Intelligence (Nature) DC 15 check suggests that the trees
are still alive. If you want, throw in an encounter here. I
used Xorn because they explain why there are no valuable
metals here, though they can loot for some living wood art.
The tower path leads through one of these trees, as a
similar massive tunnel slides down into the ruined tree
tower. From inside, they can see clearly that the tree is still
alive, and that it was not carved; it grew this way, stairs,
furniture and everything. Going down four floors of the
intact tower, they pass through a garden out the front door
which might have once been a beautiful zen courtyard, but
is now overgrown and very alive despite the darkness.
From there they can reach the market square noted above.
From the square, they can clearly see one tree that is far
larger than the rest, though it is only 100 ft tall it must have
once been hundreds as the cave ceiling now cuts it off.
Inside the tree is a massive library. It is all open, with a
spiral staircase sloping slowly up the side to make all books
accessible. In the middle is a pillar which holds a glowing,
green orb around 3 ft radius. Any Intelligence check
suggests this is not only the thing they are looking for, but
the source of whatever is keeping all these plants alive in
the dark. There are also four small stone pedestals in the
four 'corners' of the ground floor, each with a small orb
swirling with a different elemental material. As soon as
they look to take the orb, things come to life. Use a different
boss, or tone it down, to fit your party.
Spellbook Golem
Large construct, neutral
Armor Class 17
Hit Points special, see Shells
Speed 30ft levitate.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
6 (-2) 20 (+5) 10 (0) 20 (+5) 1 (-5) 1 (-5)
Condition Immunities Blind, deaf, frightened,
grappled, poisoned, prone, stunned
Saves Dex +9, Int +9
Damage Vulnerability Fire
Damage Resistances Bludgeoning, piercing, and
slashing
Challenge 15 ish
Shells. The Spellbook Golem is made of 8 shells.
Each has its own initiative, action, bonus action,
and reaction. All move together on the 1st shell's
turn. Each has 30 HP. Damage done to one does
not carry over to another shell. As a reaction, one
shell can move in the way of an area of affect
spell and fail the save to take the damage,
shielding the other shells. When damage is done
to the Spellbook Golem, roll a 1d8 to determine
which shell is targeted. A creature can take
disadvantage on the attack roll to target a specific
shell.
Flaming Shell Explosion. When a shell is reduced
to 0 HP by fire damage, it explodes outwards. All
enemies within 15 ft of the Spellbook Golem
make a Dex save DC 17, taking 4d6 fire damage
on a fail or half on a success.
Counterspell. Each shell may cast Counterspell
once per day as a reaction.
Abjuration Shell
Spellcasting Spell save DC 17, +9 to hit.
At Will: Aid
3/day: Counterspell
1/day: Banishment
Conjuration Shell
Spellcasting Spell save DC 17, +9 to hit.
At Will: Acid Splash
3/day: Hunger of Hadar
1/day: Conjure Elemental
Divination Shell
Spellcasting Spell save DC 17, +9 to hit.
At Will: Guidance
3/day: Mark (One target within 60 ft is marked for 1
minute, it takes 1d6 extra damage when hit by another
shell's attack.
1/day: Mass Detect Thoughts (As Faerie Fire but targeting
all enemies within a 60 ft range for an Int save)
Enchantment Shell
Spellcasting Spell save DC 17, +9 to hit.
At Will: Vicious Mockery
3/day: Crown of Madness
1/day: Confusion
Evocation Shell
Spellcasting Spell save DC 17, +9 to hit.
At Will: Ray of Frost
3/day: Lightning Bolt
1/day: Bigby's Hand
Illusion Shell
Spellcasting Spell save DC 17, +9 to hit.
At Will: Color Spray
3/day: Silence
1/day: Phantasmal Killer
Necromancy Shell
Spellcasting Spell save DC 17, +9 to hit.
At Will: Chill Touch
3/day: Ray of Enfeeblement
1/day: Blight
Transmutation Shell
Spellcasting Spell save DC 17, +9 to hit.
At Will: Thron Whip
3/day: Spike Growth
1/day: Telekenisis
The four stone pedestals with elements inside also activate.
As an action, they produce a Memphit of their associate
element. The Memphit uses the Monster Manual stat block
but has only 1 HP. Instead of attack, they will fly up the wall
and begin tearing apart books to throw the pages into the
Spellbook Golem, restoring 15 HP to the weakest still
living shell. Each pillar can only maintain one memphit at a
time. The memphit spends its first turn appearing and can
only act on its second turn. Players may target the pillars as
well; the pillars are AC 15, and the player must do 15
damage in a single hit or score a critical hit to destroy the
pillar, any less and it takes no damage.
Once the Spellbook Golem is destroyed, they can take
the orb. It should be clear now that the orb is keeping the
area alive, and taking it will doom what is left of this city.
Throw in some other appropriate loot, like spell scrolls!
10
 Now your party should be well and exhausted. Don't let
them look around too long though. Any characters with
Passive Perception higher than 15 will hear a rumbling
heading their way. They may already know, but otherwise a
Intelligence (Arcana) DC 15 check suggests Purple Worm.
They see another path out from the library, a large tunnel
likely created by this worm, that appears to head more
directly out. Let them know that based on the size of the
tunnel, this is no normal Purple Worm. Even if they were
not exhausted, this would be deadly for anyone.
All of your players must have a score of 5 to leave. The
worm begins at -2, or more if their Passive Perception is
very high, and gains +1 each round. Roll on the table below
to see what they find down the tunnel each round of chase.
If they split up, calculate separately per group.
Worm Chase Chambers
1d8 Chamber
1 A large room with a gorge splitting it. DC 16 Str
check to jump, on success +1 score. Running
around scores 0 for the round
2 A long, slick tunnel with running water and slimy
moss on the floor. They can go carefully for -1
score, or slide for a +2: however, when it comes to
an abrupt end, they make a DC 18 Dex save or take
10d6 damage, half on success.
3 A wide, not jumpable gorge with no path around.
They can take -1 to turn around, or attempt to jump
across the stalagmites, two DC 14 Dex (Acrobatics)
checks to cross for a +2.
4 A wide, underground lake. Strength (Athletics) DC
19 to swim across for a +1, 14-18 for a 0, or below
14 for a -1 to score.
5 A seeming dead end, but on a quick look the wall is
soft and can be dug out. Make a Strength (Athletics)
DC 16 to dig out for a -1, on a failure -2.
6 A long, straight tunnel, probably made by the
Worm. Make a Constitution save, DC20 for a +2,
16-19 for +1, 12-15 for 0, or below 12 for a -1 to
score.
7 A proper dead end with no way out. -1 to turn
around, but -2 to score if they dither.
8 A shaking tunnel of loose debris which may
crumble soon. They can attack it and tear it down
behind them for a +1, but make an Intelligence DC
15 check or it will do 4d8 damage to them as well.
If the Worm catches them, they can attempt to distract it
for another +1, or +2 if somebody stays back to fight it and
likely sacrifice themselves. Use your discretion if you roll
too many difficult rooms and the Worm might catch up.
Otherwise, they get out at score 5; at score 4, describe the
light at the end of the next chamber.
On their return to Katha, Jacob will tell you to show the
orb to Maddie. This should be the first time the party
encounters Maddie, so read up on her. She will tell her
story to those who ask. She doesn't have much loose coin
to pay you with, building a city and all, but can offer magic
items from her personal collection or a 'gift card' for 5000
gold worth of construction from either construction
company (M7 or M8). Adjust the gold to fit your setting for
what construction costs might be; it should be significant
enough to build a reasonable building with some sort of
services, like their own tavern, without being enough to
build a palace. Maddie will ask you to keep working with
Jacob Silver to find the other ancient artifacts to help
legitimize her rule and maybe bring in tourism.
11
FML
Seriously, I said I'd make this short and vague, then give
you a two and a half page adventure with unique monsters,
a boss, and a skill challenge chase. I'll keep it smaller.
The Archaeologist
Some time later, enough to give your group some time for
rest and relaxation and maybe to see their building begin to
grow, Jacob will contact them again with a new lead. His
friend Greg Jones is another foreign trained historian and
archaeologist who is excavating out in the desert and has
found something amazing. Unfortunately, he is also being
harassed by some bandits and the guards out there are
being worn down. They won't last much longer, so Jacob
asks you to get there as soon as possible.
Make a skill challenge to get them there in time. It is over
a week away walking, which is not as soon as possible.
They can try to run, meaning lots of Constitution saves or
checks and likely exhaustion by the time they get there.
They can buy horses, but then they will need to make some
Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks to run them beyond
their endurance yet keep them alive, as well as Constitution
saves to ride overnight without crippling exhaustion. Allow
other ideas. If they pass enough checks and are quick, they
might get there in time to defend the camp from the last
bandit attack. If not, then they can still track the bandits
back and rescue (some of) the archaeology team from
captivity. Either way, draw up a camp, either to defend or to
attack, and fill it with an appropriate challenge of bandits.
The Monster Manual and Volo's Guide both have good stat
blocks for this sort of thing. Or, the bandits decided not to
take the artifact, so they could take it themselves and
abandon Greg and the rest of the group.
The artifact is a massive chalice with a rounded bottom,
like an unbalanced bowl, at least 3 ft in radius. It is
intricately carved chalice covered in all sorts of arcane
runes, almost all smaller than can be seen with the unaided
eye. The reason they did not take the thing is that any time
you touch the thing, the whole ground shakes like an
earthquake. The lightest touch creates a noticeable quake;
moving the thing can make people fall over. However, as
soon as it is removed fully and no longer touching the
ground, it has no such effect any longer.
Unfortunately, underneath the chalice is a cave. The cave
is slick and wet, leading nearly straight down, and anything
with any perception will see hundreds of eyes staring up at
them.
There should be a kobold horde to deal with. The
Monster Manual has some, Volo's has more, all immune to
fire from their Red draconic heritage. The party should be
able to outrun the kobolds and take out the ones that catch
up, then hide. I ran this as an escalating chase... first the
kobolds are after them, but then the griffons come out to
hunt both them and the kobolds, then the Red Dragon
appears to save his kobolds from the griffons and your
group. In the chaos they can get away. Or they can stand
and fight, do what sounds fun and is level appropriate.
Once they have some time to think, it should be clear that
the chalice produces a pretty steady stream of water, or did
at least, it is inactive in their possession. It likely kept a
whole ecosystem alive underground. The dragon will not be
happy about this and cause trouble down the road; your
players can choose to deal with it later if they want, it is
part of the future of Katha for you to determine. With a
dragon out there in the villages nearby, Katha will only be a
city state; without it, it could expand and become an
empire.
Seeds of Doubt
Maddie will buy the chalice off you for a similar price to the
orb, if they want to give it to her. By this time, they should
be wondering about the consequences of their actions. In
both cases, the artifacts were sustaining ecosystems and
taking them away will have repercussions, especially the
water chalice and the dragon. Maddie will rarely tell the
whole truth either, and people with insight might have
picked up on that by now. Jacob is now starting to believe
some of the legends that these might be powerful weather
control artifacts, but doesn't seem to see any problem with
handing them all over to Maddie because he trusts her
judgement entirely.
Make sure that the party encounters Grog. He will
impress upon them the fact that they are lower than dogs to
him, playing fetch for their master, while he is the real
muscle doing the important work in Katha. This is a bit of
reverse psychology to keep them at what they are doing,
since he would have to get the artifacts otherwise. He will
start trying to obtain the artifacts himself if the party stops
bringing them to Maddie at any time.
Katha should also start having some upheavals as the
plot progresses too. Options 1 and 2 from Appendix A:
Urban Random Event Table will hopefully have been
triggered by now. Even if they aren't, proceed as if they
have. There should be a protest against the government
that goes along peacefully all day. Maddie will play it off as
if she knows nothing, if you let your players have access to
her during this time. As night falls, however, the guards
watching the protest change shifts, and a different sort
come on board. Not the predominantly halfling guards of
the city, but mostly Tieflings dressed vaguely in the attire of
the city guard. They will attack and kill some of the
protesters led by the Order of the Scarf. Unless anyone
intervenes, they should kill a few of the Order, possibly
leaving businesses unstaffed and orphans to take care of.
The less attention the party pays to this, the worse it will
get. Maddie is stubborn and hard to work with; if
confronted with the deaths she finally will admit that she
trusts almost nobody, and that she is engineering this city
to put the few she does trust in charge permanently.
Everyone else is too dumb to realize their own good,
especially the Order of the Scarf or Yendriel.
As for Option 2 from the random event table, if they did
the quest they will have been spied on by some of Grog's
agents. I ran a bard masquerading as a hitchhiker that
asked for a lift and examined the package after it was
delivered; pick something appropriate for your group.
While you should do your best to not let them capture the
spy, the spy should be observed so that they know
somebody is watching them and the goings on of AS,
confirming Caitlin Wade's suspicions.
If they don't want to work for her any longer after these
seeds are planted, wherever along the line in the plot that
you choose to plant them, motivate them another way:
Grog. Make sure that they see him sailing North, away from
where any challenges might be; they also see the spy on his
ship. If that doesn't pique their interest, nothing will.
Adapting the Plot
You will have to be flexible here. My party caught
on after the chalice that not all is what it seemed,
yours might at another time. Know the basic
progress, know the characters involved, and be
ready to improvise.
The Storm up North
Up North a week's travel up the coast where the mainland
ends, there is an unending storm, a cyclone swirling
constantly and closing off passage across the top of the
mainland of Katha. I run a pirate campaign, so I made a
skill challenge to sail through and into the eye of the storm
where the artifact waited. If your players are not sailors and
just hire ships to take them around, maybe a battle with
storm monsters mixed with a skill challenge to help the
captain might work. In mine, Grog attacked them in the
middle of sailing through this storm; you might not be there
yet. The further this plot goes, the vaguer it since the plot
relies so heavily on what has happened before.
The item is guarded by a banshee, adjusted to level, as
well as continuously respawning ghouls or ghasts or
something until the banshee is taken out.
It is a chandelier made of what looks like antlers, but
unearthly ones from no clear beast, arranged in a perfectly
symmetrical dome. It feels like bone to the touch, but is
cold. As soon as it is removed from its hanging spot in the
little abandoned temple on the island, the storm dissipates.
The McGuffin
Your players may realize that this is a multi-piece
McGuffin. Let them roll an Intelligence
(Investigation) check DC 18 or so to have
realized that the pieces they have so far would fit
together perfectly. The McGuffin is, in fact, a four
part item; orb in the middle, chalice below,
chandelier above, and held together by the
chains. Given that each on its own is a major
magical device, together the power would be
truly terrifying.
Stealing the Chains
The chains are not in Katha, or anywhere too near. Jacob
tells them that he finally tracked down what happened to
them. Apparently they were in the old dragon's hoard, the
one that Testicles took with him after slaying the dragon,
and have been sold a few times since. As far as he has
found, they are currently up for auction in another city as
part of the estate sale of their previous owner.
Again, sailing skill check to get there in time. If they are
successful, they have the chance to either just buy the
chains outright, or to steal them during the once chance
that they will be in the open and easy to find. If they come
late, then they will have been bought and secured, making a
heist necessary. If they have angered Grog by this point,
Grog will have made an attempt on the chains, forcing the
authorities in the city to hold them in the most secure
facilities available. For me, this meant the emperor's
palace. I can't guess what city you will place them in and
how the authorities will respond to this. But a heist should
be full of stealth, of investigating and stakeouts to learn as
much as possible before going in, and maybe short fights
conducted as quietly as possible. Maybe even some magical
guardians protecting the vault.
Climax
Should all four pieces come together, Grog will take them
to Voldinoth, leader of the outsider Tieflings, who will
accept the supreme power thinking Grog works for him.
Unfortunately, activating the full powers will take his entire
life force, summoning the Storm. I like Kraken here, with
full regional effects, but your mileage may vary.
12
 Appendix A: Urban Random Event Table
A party that does not ask questions of everyone they meet (which in my experience is likely) will not possibly find everything
that Katha has to offer. These tables are not built to provide random combat encounters, not necessarily anyway, but to
introduce your party to the many narrative threads and plots that form a web in the city.
Roll on this table when your group, whether together or apart, is out and about in the city and not otherwise engaged on a
specific mission. Good times would be while they go out shopping for supplies or split up to explore. Use your best discretion
on whether the event is right for the moment; rerolls are allowed if nothing was resolved the first time, reroll if you do not
think that the party would respond well at the moment, if events in the city have made the event irrelevant, or ignore it entirely
if your party has enough trouble keeping track of the plots they are already chasing. You are master of Katha now.
1d20 Random Events
d Event
1 You run into a impromptu meeting of the Order of the Scarf, as Stasima (B4) is talking with Maggy (T1) here with the
proprietor about politics and the future of the Order. They are talking about the possibility of organizing a strike and
protest this upcoming holiday to have government contracts distributed more equally.
2 Maddie Turner and Caitlin Wade are walking by with their entourage, guards clearing the streets for the pair to pass.
Maddie should introduce them to Caitlin, who will ask to talk briefly. Since Maddie trusts you, she offers quite a
bounty to bring an important package to her contact in Kirkduff, a village three days walk north. They must be
absolutely secretive in their journey (the package is coated in lead and warded against any magical scrying; inside is
just rocks. Caitlin actually wants to expose the leak in the AS board and this is her ploy, she will reveal as much after
the end of the quest)
3 Thirnan (M2) is being harassed by some local kids who are throwing old produce at her and calling her derogatory
names for being a half-elf. She is miserable and on the edge of crying, but nobody does anything about it and she
can't seem to deal with it herself.
4 Dhysoria (M9) has been cornered by a group of Outsider Tieflings, who are pressuring her to pick a side (meaning
their side) in the struggle. They'll quietly disperse with a few menacing words if they are confronted. Dhysoria will
just want to get out of the area, but if you are kind to her she will explain the nature of the debate between the
Tiefling groups and tell them about her upbringing in Sel's Wall before moving here to Katha since she hopes that
more interaction with Tieflings will show people that they are not evil.
5 You pass by the Dwarven Church, where you hear chants. If the character is Dwarven or follows the same god, or if
not on a Intelligence (Religion) DC 12 check, you recognize that the chant is an old one of thanksgiving for safety.
Inside, a group of the refugee dwarves and a handful of the locals are holding a service.
6 Tattligat (T2) is talking with an old halfling here about the dragon that Testicles slayed years back. The old halfling
remembers seeing the dragon eat his sheep, but seems almost sad that it is gone. The old halfling will recount how
the dragon was a nuisance but also a deterrent and that the villages were worse off after he was gone. If you talk to
Tattligat, he will try thieves' cant and ask if they need anything they can't get elsewhere and suggest his bar.
7 You pass by a yelling match between Amarel (M5) and Naten-el (M6) who are accusing each other of sabotage from
across the road. As soon as they have attracted a small crowd they both sheepishly retreat into their respective
stores. Talking to either will produce about the same results; each believes that the other is the source of the
robberies and vandalism that each is experiencing.
8 You happen to pass by the Unnamed leather tanner (B7) and hear some crying and screams inside. If you rush in, you
will see Preston's goons, Esisso and Onraq, beating Charry Hancey to intimidate him out of town. Esisso and Onraq
should be a tough fight, especially if the whole party is not there. Charry, if saved, will just want to leave town.
9 You walk into a negging contest as two halfling women both pursuing Mannford Sheridan (M7) are politely
interacting with scathing sarcasm and blatant disdain. Mannford is awkwardly stuck there in the middle, literally.
10 In a blacksmith or similar, you bump into Kadgid (M14), the music teacher from the Katha Conservatory, who is
trying to buy something that will provide his classroom with structural support since the roof is sagging.
11 You pass by a really ridiculously clothed halfling who seems to realize how badly he/she is dressed, but is trying to
play it off. He just left Garso's Finest (M3). Anyone with a noble background will realize the deceit.
12 Forrest (R1) the druid who lives in the grove and who you have never met starts talking to you about the caves below
his grove. He comes off as slightly unhinged, particularly for how he's talking to strangers.
13 Agnes (B1) is begging a local guard for information into the investigation as to her wife's murder.
14 A drunk halfling in the bar invites everyone there to a house party, which will be attended by much of the idle rich.
15 Wandering through a seedier part of the new town, a group of the Orange Hand tries to shakedown the passer-by for
protection money. They'll be much more aggressive the fewer people there are.
16 A flier has been put up advertising a job for adventurers; clear out a bandit camp. Report to Rodney Byrd at
Amalgamated Shipping for more information.
17 You hear some muffled crying down an alleyway. A few halfling kids say that they ran from their home village when a
dragon attacked and destroyed the whole town. They are the only survivors as far as they know.
18 All five of the married adults of the Timurovich family (B8) are having a romantic meal out, drawing looks from
everyone else passing by. Oleg seems to find the attention hilarious and heckles the ones who stare.
19 You see some of the workers of Katha Construction (M8) setting the foundation for a new building with magic. If
there are any mages present, young Logan will be very curious and take a break to ask questions about everything.
13 20 Bold pirates/bandits, hangers on from the old times, attack the town!
Appendix B: Maps
I'm no artist, give me a break. Fortunately, somebody has and has made a prettier version of one of them! Thanks /u/Causa21!
Katha: Old City

14
 Buried City

Acknowledgements
Thanks first to NaturalCrit and the Homebrewery for making this pretty.
Thanks again to /u/Causa21 for his redo of the map of Katha! For those of you who did not see the original, it was bad.
Thanks to /r/DnDBehindTheScreen community of subs and users for their constant encouragement, material, and advice,
in both this and all my other D&D endeavors, published and otherwise.
15
Thanks as well to my players who play tested this and put up with me every week.