THE CuLTIsts LaIrR A DunGEon ADVENTURE FOR LEVEL 4-6 PLAYERS IncLupes an Iytricate Hanp-Drawn Map A SHORT DUNGEON BASED ADVENTURE WHERE YOUR PLAYERS UCIT AZ ANTICO Cer MUTTON Cer BPI ee TRB Le ORC STUUR EES ACER U PDE ERUCT EU UN TOE SOL AUCUNM NM GIN] DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coat, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Payers Handboo prance So eee eee ree ee ese es cee ree teeta ee err Tyee ee eT See er en SessionTue Cuttists Lair HIS ADVENTURE IS INTENDED FOR A PARTY (OF 4TH OTH LEVEL BUT IS STILL IN DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES, IT 19 KEPT FAIRLY SIMPLE STORY WISE SO AS TO BE EASILY INTERGRATED INTO 4 CAMPAIGN WITHOUT, MUCH TROUBLE. IT 11S OPTIONS FOR TY BIGGER STORY ARC AND Is ENOUGH TO LATCH ON TO AN E NTO INTENDED To SIMPLE STING STORYL WITHOUT Too MUCH DIFFICULTY. ITIS A FAIRLY DANGEROUS ADVENTURE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE EARLY LAVA-RooM, So IT IS uP To You THE DM How HARD. GIVE TO THE PARTY TO HELP THEM AVOLD DEADLY ‘TRAPS. I PERSONALLY THINK A TRAP ENCOUNTERED BUT JUST AVOIDED 1S THE HEST WAY TO INCREASE TENSION WITHOUT OUTRIGHT KILLING YOUR PLAYERS WITHOUT. SO MUCH AS AF JHTING CHANCE KEEP THE MOOD DARK AND DANGEROUS AND THE ENCOUNTERS FIERCE AND FIERY AND ENJov THE Curmists Lar! ENTRANCE A long thin tunnel stretches out before you. The walls and floor are made from large stone bricks. Ther is light and heat coming from the end of the tunnel, along with the smell of burning sulfa. In the warm orange light the walls seem riddled with small carvings and cracks. If players investigate the cracks andcarvings they appear to be runic designs. If players can read abyssal they recognize some of the signs and symbols here and there: “Fire”, “Vengeance”, “Awakening” and “Secrecy” If the characters choose to investigate the symbols allow them to make an investigation DC 15 to find the passage. After returning from Room A allow them to have advantage on this check. AA set of runic carvings in the stones share a common threading pattern and following them around the door ‘reveals a door-sized arch, the wall section here seems almost transparent and on investigation objects seem to pass freely through it At. Secret Hatuway Passing through the wall you find yourself in a thin ipassage only wide enough for one person abreast. It leads around the comer through the darkness until you find a similar transparent wall to the one you just passed through. A. Lava Firtep CHAMBER: |As you approach the room ahead of you the air gets thicker with a smokey haze and heat that makes it almost stifling to breath You hear a strange high pitched chittering and the scuttling of tiny claws on stone from the room ahead of you. Inside this room scattered around the place are three Quasit’s (p63 MM). They appear to be pulling pranks on each other, sneaking up on one another and biting the others tails or picking the creacks in the stones for bugs to eat. They ate not aware of the party until they enter the room. They will attack the party on sight. Ao. Lava To the west side of the room is a bubbling pit of lava which appears to have destroyed much of the stone floor. There are a few scattered stone surfaces ‘standing about one foot above the surface of the lava. The heat comming off the surface of the lava is To attempt to jump between each stone surface a character must succeed on a DC 10 Acrobatics check or take 9410 fire damage. Ifthe characters have encountered lava before or make DC 15 Perception check reveal this information: |The lava although immensely hot seems cooler than me might expeet. Heat trails leading upwards off of the surface of the lava trail into small glowing sigils (on the ceiling. by Players who are proffecient in Arcana or make a DC 10 arcana check think that the heat seems to be siphoning into the runes and transported perhaps to another part in the dungeon ruins.B. Winpinc Hateway The hallway ahead is winding and dark, the smell of brimstone is still strong but it now mixes with a kind of mildew of deep, dark, ancient pla Ac the marker B there is a pressure plate which trigger a poison dart trap. It can be found and avoided with a DC 15 perception or investigation roll. The trap can be disarmed and the three darts removed by a thieves tools DC 15. A fialed attempt to disarm the trap will fire it. Each dart deals 1d6 poison damage on hit with a chance to poison. Poison Datt Trap. Make a DC 10 dexterity saving throw or take 346 poison damage. On a hit make a DC 15 constitution saving throw or continue to take 2 (14) poison damage every minute until cured Cr. SEaLeD Door You see a lange wooden door with orate metal binding and a large ornamental iron dragons head in the middle. The door is covered with runic markings and sigils. The door is locked with powerful magical protections, it can only be opened from the outside with the cultist leaders password. The door cannot be unlocked with thieves tools, brocken down or magically opened with a knock spell Ifa player touches the door without the password being spoken they immediately take 346 fire damage as the door becomes searing hot. This door ena be easily opened by anyone from the other side, Co. Sprrat STAIRCASE A stone staircase in the middle of this room spirals down into the dark out of sight, The stairs here travel between C2 and C3 and are about 20 feet vertically. The door on the lower level to ¢3 isa simple unlocked wooden door. D. Arcurp PittaR Room Before arriving at the room players who make a perception check or have a passive perception of DC 10 hear the low grunting sounds of three Dretches in the room ahead, In this room are four Dretches (p60 MM) who are stationed as guards and are trudgin slow circles between the pillars of the rom while grunting, slurping and sniffing. If the party walk in unsuspecting the Dretches, they will attempt a sneak attack marked by their aggressive hoots and hollers. E. Dracon Statur. \As you step out into this ten foot wide thoroughly blackened stone corridor you see a large gold dragon statue, poised as if to strike or breath fire. The floor pressure plates which trigger the Dragon Statue trap can be observed with a DC 15 perception check but it is set off.as soon as any character steps into the hallway itself, When this happens read aloud The ground beneath you very slightly depresses as \you step out and you hear a loud rushing sound like air billowing through a metal chamer. You see a small \glowing red sigil begin to light up in the mouth of the ldragon statue. What do you do? The trap has a6 second “warm up’ period before it shouts a cone of fire down the length of the hallway. Your players have a chance to complete one combat round worth of actions before the trap is fired. Players who remain in this 35 foot long cone must make a DC 18 dexterity or athletics check to sprint out of the way or take 15 (2d12+6) fire damage. Players who manage to move around a corner before the time do not suffur any damage.Fi. Door The door hereseems to be made of household quality ‘wood and is locked. Unlocking the door reequires a thieves tools DC 10. Bashing the door in recquires a strength DC 15 or 12 points of equivilant damage. F. Treasure Room The room in front of you glitters with a huge pile of ‘gold coins and three large oak chests. The gold could be an assumed 50,000 coins in size and the chests bare large iron locks. All of the items in this room are an illusion made over large rune covered stones. To touch any of the contents of this room burns a character, dealing 246 fire damage and lights the character on fire, dealing, an additional 5 damage (1d10) per turn until someone takes an action to douse the flame. The illusion can be percieved by a perception DC 25 ‘ora detect magic spell G. PREPERATION CHAMBER. In this room are four crimson robed figures, each carries a dagger clasped as if in prayer between their hands. The figure standing closest to the west door speaks in a loud ritualistic voice to the other three who look on intently. In this room are four humans in robes, they are deep in conversation for a few moments before one of them leads the rest into the room to the west before closing the door. If the party remains hidden long enough to hear the speech the leader says: “Now, young embers, with our souls in our hands let us enter the chamber of awakening, So it shall be done by the will of our Demon Lords!” ‘The robed figures know that any non-demon, or unrobed characters must be intruders and they will quickly attack. The leader of the group is a cult fanatic (p342 MM) and the three followers are acolytes (p342 MM), H. Riruat CuaMBer In this room there are initially nine Cult Fanatic’s (p345 MM) and three acolytes (p342 MM). If the party observed the event in room G they recognize the three new initiates standing around H2 but otherwise there are noew three new acolytes that the plyaers do not recognize. In front of you is a large chamber with long benches and a raised platform with stairs to the sound end. In the middle of this platform are intricates runes and sigils marked with blood, forming a cirele. Three crimson robed figures with youthful faces stand poised around the circle with daggers pointing towards themselves and helf aloft ‘The benches are filled with standing hooded figures wearing the same crimson robes and chanting in a discordant hum. They all seem completely entranced by the ritual The cultists will not notice the party until they are attacked or the ritual completed In6 seconds or one combat round the three new cultists aroud the circle with sacrifice themselves on the sigil. If three characters die in this way it summons the Hellfire Demon. If any of the intended sacrifices are killed before reaching the circle another cone will rush to offer themselves “To the Demon Lords!” and the others will snap out of their trance in order to protect the new sacrificesHELLFIRE DEMON Large fiend, Chaotic Evil ‘Armor Class 14 Hit Points 102 (12410 + 36) Speed 50f. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (#2) 15 (42) 16 (+3) 6-2) 10 (40) 7(-2) Resistance Bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons Damage Immunities fie, poison Condition Immunities exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, Festrained, unconscious Senses darkvision 60 ft, passive Perception 10, ages Ignan, Abyssal lenge 5 (1,800 XP) Radiating Hellfire & creature who begins its turn within a5 ft radius of the Hellfire Demon makes a dexterity saving through, on a failed save the) take 5 (1410) fre damage and are on fire (aking an additional 5 (1410) fire damage each turn) until someone takes an action to douse the fire. On a succesful save the creature lakes hall damage and is not on fire. Actions “Muliattack Melee Weapon Attack'+8 to hit, reach Sft, one target. Hit 10 (2d6+3) fire damage. I the target is a creature or a flammable object, it ignites. Until a creature takes an action to-douse the fire, the target takes 5 (1410) fire damage atthe start of each of its turns. I. Trick Starrs The stairs here are completely illusory and hide a 20 foot drop to a spiked floor, Trick Stair damage. 2d6 falling damage + 1d12 Piereing damage. Lt. Lockep Door This plain looking door is locked with a DC 15. Lileany ee You see a large musty library with arched ceiling, the books here seem completely disorganized and placed in odd piles and stacked horizontally in places. The books here seem to be various books on the occult, demons, fire, magic and the abyss. Many of which are hand-written by the same hand, Lo. Curst To open the chest recquires a successful DC 15 thieves tools or strength check. -Scroll of Fire Shielf, One Charge. -Rod of Fly, Four Charges. -Sacrifical Dagger with abyssal lettering around the handle. -One set of Cultist Robes. Ki. Locxep Door This plain looking door is locked with a DC 15, K. PrivatE Room ‘This room seems fo be a small private study. A desk in the middle of the room bares several journal books land writing parchment, In the comers of the room are ‘ovo large wooden chests. The desk bares various journals and writings about the daily schedules of the cult ineluding food supplies, daily rituals and observations about it's members and. nearby towns, Ifyou the DM want to use this dungeon to instigate further cult-based plot lines in future adventures the final entry of the main journal marks today as the great awakening day on which this small group commits a sacrificial ritual along with several other cult branches across Faeurn to unleash the first wave of The Demon Lords powers unto this plane. ‘The two chests have a DC 18 to open and bare special treasures the local leader horded for themselves, Ka. West Cuest -Candle of Invocation: Chaotic Evil -Robes of Fire Resistance Scale Armor of Fire REsistance -One set of Cultist Robes -40 Gp K3. East Cust “Necklace of Fireballs “Tome Of Leadership and Influence -Eversmoking Bottle -One set of Cultist Robes -40 GpTHE CuLtists