Tip of the

Tongue
A Fifth Edition adventure for
four to five 7th–8th level PCs
◀◁⸺◆⸺▷▶

PART TWO

irsli Aptal embodies the

H finest qualities of Bellek, the

city of scholars—disciplined, studi-

ous, and dedicated to the pursuit

of knowledge. Lately however, her

perfect memory (itself a product

of the alchemy she practices) is

proving to be elusive at times and

unreliable at others.

After months of researching the phenom-

enon, debating with her fellow noble scientists,
and several failed attempts to get to the bottom
of the enigma, she’s posted a sizable reward for writing Mike Myler
anyone able to determine what is happening to Christopher Kugler
both her and the other nobility in Bellek. Will editing Christopher Kugler
the adventurers be able to get to the bottom of color art Gennifer Bone
this mystery and, if so, survive the dangerous 5e conversion Mike Myler
knowledge they’re destined to awaken? layout Eric Life-Putnam

EN World EN5ider
 Chapter 2: The Tomb of
Ipo Aisun-aiji
Ipo Aisun-Aiji was a companion of Queen Pami-
etac, and remained so until meeting his end. He
was one of the qfirst mnemonics, a sect of warriors
that gain mastery over the mind by perfecting their
physical bodies. Unbeknownst to the Aptals of to-
day, the monarchy and nearby temple of cerebral
soldiers were great allies and aided one another
in an event forgotten in time, only remembered
by the mnemonics and held as a sacred event: the
Great Supposition. In a ritual that ultimately ended
his life, Ipo Aisun-Aiji destroyed both himself and
the very idea of a monstrous force from beyond—
or so they thought.
Mitk’, an entity that only exists as thought, is the
pernicious nemesis that the mnemonic contained
with his dying breath. Over the centuries how-
ever it has eroded the seals that separate it from
the Material Plane, slowly seeping into the realm
and infecting any so unwise as to seek forbidden
knowledge—Kit Mha (see the Index for his sta-
tistics) was one such foolish individual. The elf’s
original name is as lost as his sanity, and he has
been acting on Mitk’s behalf for several centuries,
carefully sowing the seeds of the conscious idea’s
plots. Hirsli Aptal is indeed quite brilliant but
without the subtle clues placed by the mad oracle
she never would have broken the deranged cipher
of the Kitabu Mitk’. Once Kurtaric stole the book
and hid it within the tomb of his great ancestor, Kit
Mha (aided by his patron in the nether) infiltrated
the crypt, modifying the ancient markings with-
in and using rituals to summon forth dangerous
beasts that further indemnify the mnemonics to
ensure that Mitk’s grand plans play out as intended.
Mitk’s Motivations
The otherwordly entity has intricate plans in place
that are only now coming to fruition centuries after
its last appearance. Mitk’ is aware of the mnemonics,
the search for its history by Hirsli Aptal, and most
of all the doings of Kurtaric Kahraman. Its proxy Kit
Mha acts to counterbalance the mind warrior’s influ-
ence on events by embroiling the PCs in the ongoing
conflicts that will raise his patron. By leaving his mas-
ter’s tome in a tomb of the mnemonics, he puts the
means to unleash Mitk’ into the protective security of
the adventurers while simultaneously casting a dark
shadow onto the legacy left by Ipo Aisun-Aiji that fur-
ther isolates the order.
Entrance to the Crypt
The crypt’s entrance's unwelcoming appearance is
meant to dissuade troublemakers and thieves.
After descending rough-hewn stone stairs for several
miles, you see the baleful red glow of unnatural torches
in the darkness far below. The flickering light reveals
crude markings scraped along the walls the nearer you
get to the illuminated doorway at the bottom of the
steps. Each of the depictions are of some type of hu-
manoid striking other creatures and drawing something
away—it isn’t easy to tell, but it looks as though all of
them aggregate toward the unnaturally dark archway
where an imposing and vicious maw leers down on any-
one that dares enter.
The crypt is not rigged with traps but it does have
its own inherent dangers exacerbated by the

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creatures summoned by Kit Mha: yithians await
anyone they can swap bodies with, and colonies
of caulborn wander through the confusing cor-
ridors. During their journey to the tomb of Ipo
Aisun-Aiji each was briefly touched by Mitk’ and
are not better for it—their alignments are now
chaotic evil, and they are disposed to malevolence.
Having already lost some of their members to the
yithians, the caulborn avoid them (and likewise as
the outsiders proved too difficult to kill easily) and
are now driven mad from hunger.
Simply navigating through the identical, non-
descript rooms within the tomb can prove to be
dangerous. Traveling through the corridors in the
wrong order brings a creature back to the entrance
to the crypt. Every three times a creature has been
inexplicably transported back to the first room in
the dungeon, it must make a DC 14 Intelligence
saving throw. On a failure, its Intelligence score is
reduced by 1d4. The creature dies if this reduces
its Intelligence to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts
until the target finishes a short or long rest.
Secondly, each time a creature first enters into
a chamber roll 1d100. On a 1–10 a yithian is wait-
ing for them, on a 11–20 a group of 1d4+2 caulborn
are waiting for them, on a 21–95 the room is empty,
and on a 96 or higher they walk into a pitched bat-
tle between the two!
,
Mnemonic s Maze
To correctly navigate through the tomb of Ipo
Aisun-Aiji the adventurers must follow this route
exactly: north, west, west, west, west, north,
west, west, south. When a creature travels in an
incorrect direction, it can only realize this after
completely entering the next room and succeeding
on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check or DC
17 Wisdom (Perception) check.
Each doorway (including the entrance to the
maze) is completely and totally enveloped by
20-foot long hallways of void that is not just the ab-
sence of light (darkness) but nothing at all, totally
blocking all types of vision and sensory organs. If
EN World EN5ider |  Tip of the Tongue, Part Two
Get Me Out of This Crazy Thing!
The inherent properties of the dungeon make it dif-
ficult to track an explorer’s progress, but every maze
architect leaves failsafes of some kind to navigate
their labyrinths. PCs that make a DC 18 Intelligence
(Investigation) check or DC 20 Wisdom (Perception)
check notices faint markings in the corners of some
of the chambers (sometimes multiple corners) that
reveal to the skilled where they should go next. In-
terpreting the symbolic importance of the markings
requires a DC 14 Intelligence ability check using a dif-
ferent skill depending on the room—1st, 4th, and 7th
room: Religion, 2nd, 5th, and 8th room: Nature, 3rd
and 6th room—Arcana. There is no clue for how to
exit from the last chamber into the tomb.
an item (such as a rope) is stretched between two
barriers, it is perfectly cut in half once it connects
two rooms. Any items left in the hallways that
are smaller than 15 feet in length are automati-
cally thrown into the next chamber once the last
person to have touched them passes through the
threshold.
You step through the darkness and enter into an unre-
markable stone chamber 30 feet across and wide—there
are doorways in each cardinal direction and more of the
ominous red torches, but little else to speak of.
Magical markings made in these rooms are au-
tomatically erased when the occupants leave the
area, and any objects left within them are auto-
matically transported to the final chamber of the
maze (as are the corpses of slain creatures). Clever
adventurers may think to use chalk, ink, paint, or
another mundane substance to mark their trail,
which works for a time, but after 1d4 – 1 minutes
(minimum 1 minute) the marking either changes
direction to confuse them or disappears entirely.
Marring the walls or chipping away at the floor is
also fruitless, and any damage to the labyrinth au-
tomatically repairs itself 1d6 + 10 rounds after the
room’s occupants leave.
 ,
Ipo Aisun-Aiji s
Sepulcher
When the adventurers eventually find the tomb
of the long dead warrior they recover the Kitabu
Mitk’ as well as a corked urn filled with a concoc-
tion of unknown origin or purpose. The GM may
roll secret DC 18 Wisdom (Medicine) checks, and
on a success reveal that it contains the ancient ash
of some kind of dead spirit (Ipo Aisun-Aiji, stolen
from the mnemonic stronghold by Kit Mha and
placed here with the accursed tome). There are
also the treasures of dead explorers (3 uncom-
mon magic items and 1 rare magic item) alongside
whatever the party can recover from the corpses
of any of the creature’s they’ve slain thus far in the
dungeon. No magic, despite how powerful it may
be, functions on the book—only a DC 26 Intelli-
gence check allows a creature to read it. This last
exit back into the maze does not incur any kind of
damage to ability scores and deposits the adven-
turers back at the entrance of the crypt.
As you pass through the darkened hallway once again,
the room you enter into is finally a distinct one—an
ancient urn sits on a raised plinth in the center of the
circular chamber, with a pedestal between it and the
Tip of the Tongue, Part Two  |  EN World EN5ider
Intentional Illiteracy
Some adventurers are going to be mad about not
being able to read the Kitabu Mitk’ past its cover, es-
pecially since it seems that anyone who looks upon
the tome can decipher its name and they may have
certain features that let them do precisely that. This is
an intentional ploy of Mitk’—the otherworldly antici-
pates the name of the indecipherable book will travel
far greater distances more quickly if its contents are
so mysterious and hard to translate. The writing
within it appears to be a variation on the Voynich
manuscript, but only the book’s name is readily
known. Anyone that makes a DC 25 Intelligence (Ar-
cana) check knows that whatever is within the book
must be dangerous knowledge indeed, but literacy of
the unique cover makes it difficult to determine what
the hazard is.
An adventurer with the Eyes of the Rune Keeper
eldritch pact has advantage on checks made to deci-
pher the Kitabu Mitk’.
far wall. On the stand sits an ancient tome written in
an indecipherable language, but on the cover the title
“Kitabu Mitk’” is prominently displayed in recognizable
letters from across the realm.
Beneath the plinth is a sarcophagus with bas-relief
carvings along the sides. One length depicts people
being assaulted from an amorphous evil in the sky as
they clutch their heads in pain. The next panel shows a
man battling the abstract sky-demon, relieving some of
the pained figures from the previous carving. In the last
two carvings, the same robed figure performs a ritual of
some kind and is then worshiped by those he’s saved.
Dead bodies litter the floor. Some are the corpses of
the creatures you’ve felled already, but others are too
old to recognize—the remains of graverobbers that
found their way in but not back out.
Once Hirsli sees the book something begins to
stir in her memory, but she can’t be sure of what.
Over the course of a few hours she tests and re-
tests the contents of the mysterious urn recovered
from Ipo Aisun-Aiji’s tomb. The alchemist distills,
mixes, decants, and centrifuges samples of the
stuff numerous times before giving it to one of her
amnesiac relatives in the hopes of restoring their
memory—and it works. In short order, Hirsli doles
out enough of the curious liquid to her fellow no-
bles to return each of them to their normal selves
(along with another 2d4 + 2 doses). The adventurers
Chapter 3:
Assassinated Aptals
The adventurers are welcomed into Aptal Manor,
given luxurious guest rooms, and treated to a
sumptuous feast, night of carousing, and whatever
minor boons they ask of King Halfviti or his reti-
nue of nobles. Minor figures from the region are in
attendance and make sure to interact with the PCs,
getting a measure of the city’s recent heroes—Lord
Percival Budalist (an assassin), Duke Girman Kai,
and Baroness Tenvi Sahasika. All have a need for
a group of adventurers from time to time, and each
is eager to trade stories of epic journeys across the
realm from their days exploring the land (before
retirement in the regions around Bellek).
With the memories of the nobles restored King Halfviti
calls for a grand banquet and the lords of the nearby
towns make all haste to be in attendance for the grand
event—and grand it is. The halls of Aptal Manor are filled
with beautiful music from across the ages and realm,
exotic drinks, and perfectly prepared foods of delicacies
both familiar and new. The revelry is far more raucous
than one would expect for the City of Scholars, and the
wine flows late into the evening well after most of the
nobles of Bellek retire.
The next morning, to the horror of King Halfviti
and the remainder of the Aptals, the body of Gor-
sal is found lifeless and inert in his room.
A piercing scream erupts from the southwestern corri-
dors of the castle!
EN World EN5ider |  Tip of the Tongue, Part Two
are hailed as heroes and awarded their 15,000
gp—with a bonus 2,000 gp for returning the book,
though it is clear that their benefactor isn’t sure
that it is truly the end of her problems (and she’s
right).
Entering the room from whence it came you find the
limp body of Gorsal Aptal, his skull brutally caved in.
King Halfviti is in a fit as High Mage Apdomat attempts to
calm him and the Master of the Guard surveys the scene.
Everyone in the room looks about with some amount
of paranoia, and the guards on patrol are standing dis-
armed in the corner, answering a barrage of questions
from their superiors with flustered, exasperated replies.
No one knows how someone could have entered
Gorsal’s room and no one is above suspicion—
though it remains uncertain of how exactly it
could have been done. Anyone that makes a DC 13
Wisdom (Medicine) check confirms that his time
of death was about 7 hours before the body was
discovered. When questioned, the guards nearby
can't remember anything suspicious happening—
because Kurtaric ripped the event of his arrival
from their minds. The guards know a blue-robed
figure spoke to them and that Gorsal was mur-
dered in his sleep with a brutal strike; otherwise
they can’t offer any useful information.
The mnemonic has learned that the Aptals hired
adventurers and have somehow cured themselves
of amnesia. With no recourse he begins to sys-
tematically assassinate the Aptals, two each night
after the first. There are seven Aptals living in the
manor (including King Halfviti), and Kahraman
is no longer taking any chances. If nobody inter-
venes, the Aptal line will end much sooner than
anyone expected.

Hirsli Aptal pleads with the adventurers, im-
ploring them to root out the assassin and truly
bring an end to the troubles of Bellek. Kahraman
is no fool however and doesn’t make himself eas-
ily caught—the PCs have to ambush him, playing
a deadly “cup game” with the lives of the remain-
ing Aptals to lure the mnemonic into a combat of
the party’s choosing. The adventurers make DC 14
Intelligence or DC 16 Wisdom checks to determine
which of the nobles is likely to be targeted next. On
a success, the GM reveals one of the two rooms
most likely to be targeted next. Note that the party
can still use divination magic to predict the next
victim.
When they finally catch up with Kurtaric, read
the following:
The shadows of the night slowly seep away from them-
selves to reveal a bald old man wrapped in deep blue
robes and covered in geometric tattoos on his hands,
neck, and face. He creeps toward the sleeping form of
the Aptal, his callused fists wrapped together and raised
Tip of the Tongue, Part Two  |  EN World EN5ider
high as he judges how best to cave in the sleeping no-
ble’s skull with movements evident of decades devoted
to unarmed combat—those of a trained assassin.
When ambushed or found Kurtaric throws down a
packet that explodes with smoke (as the fog cloud
spell) and disappears, taking as many rounds as
possible to study the tactics and abilities of the ad-
venturers. If they go out of their way to block the
exits from the room he attacks a spellcaster with
thought strikes, stealing away teleportation and in-
visibility spells (or their nearest equivalents) and
briefly engaging the party before fleeing.
Above all else, Kurtaric Kahraman preserves
his own life—accepting death now would doom
the world and the mnemonic is keen to stop that
catastrophe. Once the fight is over each adventurer
can make a retroactive DC 13 Intelligence (Investi-
gation) check or DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check,
on a success realizing that throughout the entire
battle he was carefully studying their movements
like a tactician at a game board. When asked about
the assassin directly, King Halfviti recalls the man
who they are speaking of and identifies him as
Kurtaric Kahraman, though he notes it’s strange
they have seen him. His father knew the mysteri-
ous warrior but he hasn’t been seen since Halfviti
was but a child and should have died of old age
some time ago.
During the intervening days Hirsli has been
obsessively studying the Kitabu Mitk’ and finally
reaches a breakthrough. While she hasn’t com-
pletely decoded it, the book warns several times
of the coming of a great and terrible threat from
beyond, an entity that defies description and por-
tends ill-comings for the entire world—it is known
only as Mitk’.
That night before resting (and before the party
can act on this new information) messengers
come in from Duke Kai, Baroness Sahasika, and
Lord Budalist. Utterly inexplicable, definitively
otherworldly creatures have been seen in the re-
gion around Bellek. The retired adventurers know
a danger when they see one and if their tried in-
stincts are true, these sorties are exploratory
forces for a military force that definitely threatens
the settlement. Without much of a recourse, King
Halfviti (still paranoid about his own well-being)
asks the PCs to seek out each of the three minor
rulers, investigate the recent appearances of the
Chapter 4: Banding
Behind Bellek
The threat of the invaders is quite real—bands of
vergeten warriors wander through the realms and
there’s a 30% chance during every day of travel that
the adventurers run into a patrol of them (1d4+2
vergeten soldiers and 1 vergeten commander).
They fight to the death and use precision tactics,
focusing their attacks on the weakest target after
the second round of combat. If the vergeten notice
the PCs first, they stalk them for a while and at-
tempt to ambush the party as they rest.
Each of the three settlements—Budal, Sahasi,
and Zakai—is about 30 miles from Bellek. They are
all ruled over by one of the nobles previously met
by the party, adventurers from that region that
have retired and now manage towns that support
the City of Scholars.
As the party travels through the smaller towns,
Kurtaric Kahraman attempts to isolate PCs or
ambush them as they sleep, trying to strip away
their memories of Mitk’ and contain the dam-
age the adventurers are inadvertently causing. If
combat ensues he retreats at the first opportunity,
disappearing into the settlement’s citizenry like
a walking ghost. Furthermore, the likelihood of
encountering vergeten while travelling between
towns increases by 10% for every one of the three
they visit (to a maximum of 60%).
EN World EN5ider |  Tip of the Tongue, Part Two
curious creatures, and, if necessary, raise armies
to defend his realm. In the meanwhile he triples
the guard and restricts his family—all save Hirsli—
to a small corner of Aptal Manor until the troubles
are resolved.
Trained Citizens
A vast majority of the denizens of Bellek’s satellite
settlements are proficient in combat or professions
that grant them class levels and—if the need arises
and they can be swayed to do battle—can be mobi-
lized into an army.
Settlements
Bellek and the settlements near it play a large role
in Tip of the Tongue, and to make them easier for
GMs to use they each follow the same basic rules.
For example, Bellek is a city that is Aging, Friendly,
Historical, Scholarly and Wealthy. Ability checks
made that the GM deems relevant to one of those
five words gain a +3 bonus or take a –3 penalty
(based on whether or not that quality of the city
has a positive or negative effect on the task, if it
has any effect at all).
Marketplace. Settlements that are without a
hedge wizard, particularly wealthy merchant, or
magic item shop may still have a few unique items
of value owned by retired adventurers or kept as
treasured family heirlooms. In these instances it
may require more than gold for a PC to acquire a
magic item but it gives a general measure of how
likely the party is to find one in a gritty campaign
setting. For a standard campaign setting double
the amount of items listed in this column and for
a populous campaign setting triple them instead.
 Settlement Size. Note that depending on the
size of the campaign setting this adventure is
being played in, the given populations on Table:
Settlements might be doubled, tripled, or multi-
plied even higher.
Signifier Words and Modifier. These are what
make one settlement unique from another. The
GM should choose no more signifier words for a
settlement than listed on the Settlements table,
but they need not select the maximum amount
either. Signifier words are chosen from the follow-
ing list (although the GM may use any they deem
fit): Aging, Angling, Arctic, Ardent, Aristocratic, Ar-
tistic, Blessed, Bureaucratic, Canals, Capital, Chaotic,
Coastal, Competitive, Content, Cramped, Criminal,
Crossroads, Defensible, Defensive, Disorganized, Dis-
persed, Elevated, Enchanted, Free, Friendly, Generous,
Gourmet, Hardworking, Heavenly, Historical, Holy,
Humble, Idyllic, Industrious, Insular, Isolated, Labor-
ing, Lakeside, Landmark, Lawful, Leering, Luxurious,
Militaristic, Mountainous, Mountainside, Natural,
Nature, Naval, Neutral, New, Odorous, Old, Old Fash-
ioned, Orderly, Pious, Political, Populous, Productive,
Progressive, Remote, Resilient, Resort, Resource-
ful, Respected, Resplendent, Responsive, Riverside,
Rumor-Mongering, Salt of the Earth, Scholarly, Sea-
port, Seaside, Sleek, Sprawling, Spread Out, Storied,
Structured, Subterranean, Technological, Towered,
Towering, Tradehub, Unusual, Urban, Waystation,
Wealthy, Weathered.
Whenever the GM feels that a PC (or NPC) is
making an ability check where a signifier word
would apply, the Signifier Modifier (in part or in
whole) is added as a bonus or subtracted as a pen-
alty (depending on whether the task is aligned
with or against the Signifier Word).

Table: Settlements
Size Words Modifier Gritty Standard Populous Marketplace
Hamlet 1 +1 6–12 10–19 25–49 —
Outpost 2 +1 13–24 20–49 50–99 1d4 common potions
Village 3 +2 25–49 50–79 100–249 2d4 common potions, 1 common magic
item
Town 4 +2 50–99 80–149 250–499 2d4 common potions, 1d4 common
magic items
City 5 +3 100–299 150–499 500–1,499 Various common potions, 2d6 common
magic items, 1d4 uncommon magic
items
Metropolis 6 +4 300+ 500+ 1,500+ Various common potions, 3d8 common
magic items, 2d6 uncommon magic
items, 1d4 rare magic items

Tip of the Tongue, Part Two  |  EN World EN5ider

Budal, Port of
Profiteers
Town (Chaotic, Dispersed, Rumor-Mongering,
Seaport)
Notable NPCs: Lord Percival Budalist, Priva-
teers (bandit captains), Shiphands (bandits)
No matter which direction Budal is approached
from or what time it is, the sound of raucous ca-
rousing, smashed bottles of liquor, and the painful
cries of the recently bludgeoned fill the air. The
settlement is like a madhouse—it’s a bit of a miracle
it even exists at all—and the citizens all carry the
look of men and women that have experienced the
rougher trials of life. The Port of Profiteers always
has a dozen or so ships docked at it, though few if
any fly colors designating their point of origin.
Very few things keep Percival Budalist’s atten-
tion—so long as the ships keep coming in, coin
trades hands, and the booze keeps on flowing he
considers his retirement from adventuring to be a
stellar success. With the value of the port city, he
knows that should it come down to it there are oth-
er allies he can call upon to resist any imminent
doom (threats he clearly does not appreciate the
gravity of). Without anything to sweeten the pot
the PCs can earn the aid of his Shiphands to fight
off the invasion.
However, he’s always prepared to make a deal,
and something has been troubling him recently:
some type of sea monster has been destroying the
occasional ship and trade is beginning to suffer. If
the party can slay it and prove the deed, putting
to rest any rumors that traveling to Budal is dan-
gerous, they’ll earn the aid of Privateers in the
upcoming battle as well. The creature is actually
two enormous dinosaurs (see the Titanohydrosau-
rus in the Appendix) that attempt to flee when
reduced to 20 hit points or less.
EN World EN5ider |  Tip of the Tongue, Part Two
Sahasi, the Thorned
Town
Town (Defensible, Insular, Humble, Nature)
Notable NPCs: Baroness Tenvi Sahasika, Guard-
ians (veterans), Wardens (druids)
Nestled several miles into the forest, the Thorned
Town lives up to its name—Sahasi’s buildings and
houses are built right against trees, all overgrown
with thick green vines that bear plenty of thorns.
The inhabitants here have eschewed many of the
trappings of modern civilization for a more natu-
ral and holistic life, granting a definite sense of
calm from the air deep in the woods.
Tenvi Sahasika spent decades on the high seas
and earned reputations in far off coasts as a ruth-
less and cunning individual. The entire time the
halfling missed her homelands dearly however,
and after a particularly lucrative year she finally
retired and bought the rights to a large forest near
the City of Scholars (for the sale of both exotic,
rare items and a princely sum of gold). Since then
she’s taken on a far less malevolent disposition
and has become at one with the world around her,
spending most of her time making sure the town’s
fervent devotion to nature continues unabated.
The Warden of the Woods is reluctant to involve
her settlement and its forces in a battle, sure that
in the forests they can sufficiently defend their
homelands. Near the coast however is an elusive
dragon named Verspathiel. King Halfviti hasn’t
been willing to help track down and slay the beast
(which lives two miles away from Sahasi in a sea-
side cove) and it is up to the adventurers to kill the
creature; if they can do it, Baroness Sahisaka dis-
penses both her Wardens and Guardians to aid the
defense of Bellek and if not, they will only have the
help of the former. The dragon is actually a dragon
disciple named Corwin the Balewind. Corwin and
Tenvi Sahasika have a long history, though the hal-
fling ranger wouldn’t remember killing Balewind’s
teacher—early in her career she inadvertently
ended the ethically-questionable tutor’s life, and
Corwin has decided that terrorizing Tenvi’s home-
town is the sweetest revenge, making swift assaults
on the settlement in his draconic form
Zakai, Town of Shades
Town (Criminal, Friendly, Resplendent, Urban)
Notable NPCs: Duke Girman Kai (an assassin),
Brutes (berserkers), Thieves (assassins)
All of the houses in Zakai are of fine make—the
wood of every homestead along the main boule-
vard is sanded down and polished to a fine luster,
but even the less wealthy quarters of the town are
filled with sturdy homes. Citizens wave politely
when passing by and on the surface it seems as
though this is a perfect, quiet settlement—yet in
the shadows there are eyes on travelers pockets
and more than one tough-looking fellow gazing
intently on a new mark from the safety offered by
one of the resplendent buildings.
To anyone visiting the prosperous town of Zakai
its Duke Girman Kai is highly respected and laud-
ed as a brilliant politician, statesman, and man of
esteem. In truth he’s a duplicitous sort, running a
thieves’ guild with a ruthless efficiency and bru-
tal hand that ensures the “government” runs like
a well-oiled machine. He knows that if the need
arises he can pack up a handsome sum before es-
caping to obscurity elsewhere. There’s still money
to be made in Zakai though, so he’ll dispense forc-
es of Brutes to assist against the vergeten invasion.
Girman Kai desperately wants King Halfviti’s
necklace of sparkling constellations (a treasured
bit of jewelry passed down through generations).
In exchange for his help in the coming battle he
commissions the PCs to acquire the necklace. The
adventurers can convince the king to part with it
by making a DC 23 Charisma (Persuasion) check,
though it is difficult as any magical attempts to
augment it are undone by Apdomat Aptal (an
archmage).
Every night when he retires for the evening,
Halfviti gives the enchanted necklace to High
Mage Apdomat, who in turn takes it to the vault
under the escort of 3 elite soldiers (gladiators).
Every night after the assassinations begin, 4 elite
soldiers watch over the vault, and there is a 20%
chance that Sambhavana is checking the patrols
when the party scopes out the treasury. Making
Tip of the Tongue, Part Two  |  EN World EN5ider
An Early Death
While unlikely, the PCs may be the true source of
Kurtaric’s end and slay him in battle. His psychic es-
sence resonates the dialogue below, but otherwise
the order of events changes little: the aliens still at-
tack the city and his spirit still returns later on in the
adventure. The spear that strikes him is a singularly
unique item, crafted by Mitk’ itself and treated like an
arrow of slaying keyed specifically for Kurtaric. If the
adventurers somehow compromise Kurtaric or cap-
ture him during Chapter 3, Kit Mha acquires potions
of levitate and invisibility, enough for a strike force of
6 vergeten soldiers and a vergeten commander to
sneak into the palace to kill the mnemonic at the first
opportunity.
a DC 22 Dexterity (thieves’ tools check) over the
course of 1d4+1 rounds gets the door open, though
it’s trapped with an alarm spell keyed to Apdomat
only noticed with a DC 23 Intelligence (Investi-
gation) check. Giving Girman Kai the necklace of
netted stars earns the assistance of every combat-
ant he can muster and the party adds Thieves to
their armed forces.
Back to Bellek
Once the party has returned to Bellek (with armies
in tow) Kurtaric attempts to confront them about
what is going on directly and explain that they
must stop the spreading of even the entity’s name.
Unfortunately he barely finishes his second sen-
tence before an otherworldly spear strikes him
down and a squad of the aliens (6 vergeten sol-
diers, 2 vergeten commanders, and a vergeten
scion) assault the adventurers!
Reality seems to ripple slightly and break like water on
a stone, but rather than a rock appearing from nothing,
the bald old man from Bellek steps out of nowhere and
holds up his hands in a gesture of peace. “Please,” he
pleads, “you do not understand what you are doing. The
fate of the world hangs in the balance, and your spre–!”
The old man is suddenly cut short as a strange spear
pulsating with magenta energy slams into his skull, killing
him instantly as a booming laughter echoes against the
walls of the city. A fusillade of force blasts from the
ground he stood on, obliterating his corpse and send-
ing his robes, weapons, and a scroll case flying as half a
dozen of the huge alien warriors charge into the street!
Within the scroll case are the rituals required to
lock away the knowledge of Mitk’ with Kurtaric’s
soul, a months-long process that the mnemonic
was unable to complete. Anyone that makes a DC
18 Intelligence (Arcana) check recognizes some of
the techniques involved in the ritual Kurtaric did
not complete, binding acts that completely sever
information from the living world. When he dies,
those dangerous thoughts locked away from the
Aptals spread freely on the winds, further sun-
dering the veil between realities and allowing the
entity’s invasion to begin in earnest—led by ver-
geten ground troops that appear within a mile of
Bellek! They begin their march to bring low the
City of Scholars as the PCs rally their own recently
arrived forces and the War for Ideas begins.

Chapter 5: A War for

Ideas
The enemies are literally and quite suddenly at the
gates of Bellek! With their normal leaders (Lord
Budal, Duke Kai, and Baroness Sahasika) days
away, the martial forces of the City of Scholars
look to the adventurers for command—assign one
army to each member of the party (preferably as
close in theme to the PC as possible) and prepare
the party for mass combat. Rules for mass combat
and the party’s armies are located in the Appendix.
The fortifications of Bellek’s walls are not ex-
ceptional and only provide a minor defensive
bonus (already factored into the armies’ statistics),
though adventurers with sufficient spellcasting
abilities can easily supplement them. A number
of vergeten armies appear equal to the number
of armies the PCs have at their command, though
there is always a vergeten soldier army, a ver-
geten commander army, and a vergeten scion
army—the types of the remainder are entirely at
the discretion of the GM.

The vista of the setting sun is broken by first one gigantic

astral tear, then another and another. They expand into
huge portals and hundreds of the bizarre aliens spill out

EN World EN5ider |  Tip of the Tongue, Part Two

of them, covering the hillsides around Bellek in waves
of otherworldy warriors that all chant one name as they
march on the City of Scholars—Mitk’!
After the tide of the battle turns to favor the forces
of Bellek the adventurers locate Kit Mha—Mitk’s
oracle and one of the true enemies of the realm—
directing the vergeten invaders. The opportunity
to end the battle decisively has come and the PCs
can break the opposing forces by descending on
the deranged elf, denying the vergeten their com-
manders. He is not alone however, and the party
will have to contend with 1d4+2 vergeten soldiers,
2 vergeten commanders, and a vergeten scion as
well!
Amidst the chaos of the enormous battle one figure
directs the alien forces—a deranged elf surrounded
by swirling spirits gestures wildly at the otherworldly
armies, sometimes casting spells to hamper the defend-
ers or outright strip the leading warriors of their lives.
In turn the elf notices you as well and yells at his sub-
ordinates, commanding them in a harsh alien language
that no mortal native’s tongue should utter. Over the
din of battle you can hear him scream in Common how-
ever as he points at you aggressively in a voice tinged by
madness, screaming, “you unwitting fools! You are the
architects of your own destruction!”
Once the party has successfully routed the armies
of vergeten it seems the day has been won—but
only briefly. Mitk’, being an infectious idea, need-
ed only to spread knowledge of itself to manifest
in the realms material. By gathering together
armies to oppose him (and killing Kurtaric Kah-
raman) the PCs have created a huge resonance for
the strange creature to occupy, bringing it into the
Material Plane and down onto the City of Scholars!
As the last of the aliens fall beneath the blades of the
defenders and cry out their death throes the sun finally
sets and all seems well—but then dark, roiling clouds ap-
pear from out of nowhere and blot out the center of the
battlefield. The very seams of reality break apart in a rift
miles long as streams of ethereal energy rise from the
Tip of the Tongue, Part Two  |  EN World EN5ider
Survivors of the Conflict
Make sure to keep track of how much damage each
army takes; not only is it important now (read be-
low!), it becomes pivotal in the aftermath of Tip of the
Tongue. When the adventure finally comes to a close,
survivors of the battle will be left roaming throughout
the region; if left unchecked, they quickly give rise to
a second coming of Mitk’ as tales of the conflict cir-
culate. Divide the final number of hit points for each
army (aside from the Alchemists or City Guard) by 5—
these are the number of survivors the PCs must hunt
down and either kill or strip of their memories with
the mirrored weapons of Kurtaric Kahraman (see the
Kurtaric Weapon sidebar), not including anyone else
they’ve told since!
foreheads of all the warriors still standing on battlefield,
coalescing as a terrifying, howling laugh booms off of
the mountainside and a gargantuan face appears above
Bellek. Scores of warriors are swatted away as the red-
dish energy expands to enormous size and it becomes
clear that the War for Ideas has not yet ended.
After one or two rounds of combat with the god-
like entity the spirit of the mnemonic appears and
disperses itself, placing Kurtaric weapons into the
hands of each of the PCs (of the type they normally
use in melee or ranged combat) and fully restor-
ing the party’s hit points (though not spell slots,
or uses of any class features). Each is capable of
draining intellect, a property essential for undo-
ing Mitk’ or its presence within any creature that
knows of it.
Attacks against Mitk’ using a Kurtaric weapon are
made with advantage and score a critical hit on a
roll of 18–20. Mitk’ is otherwise immune to spells
and effects that reduce a creature’s Intelligence
score. Each successful hit against Mitk’ consumes
1 charge from the Kurtaric weapon.
As the armies of Bellek engage the alien force, a swirl of
cyan energy erupts from the City of Scholars and gathers
across the battlefield from Mitk’. The face of the old man
assassinated by the aliens briefly forms before breaking
apart into millions of reflective shards. Weapons form
out of the mirrored dust as they float toward you, taking Read the following when the PCs strike the kill-
the shape of familiar blades as the creature lets loose ing blow against Mitk’:
another cacophonous booming laugh.
As the armies of Bellek finally begin to break against the
With the weaponized remains of Kurtaric Kahra- enormous alien’s ghostly blows, the face starts to split
man in hand the adventurers must lead a second, apart. Yet another cacophonous scream bounds off the
far more desperate struggle against the entity now mountain behind the City of Scholars, rebounding in
known to all present as Mitk’. your skull before a gusting wind overcomes it. High in
While the PCs are busy engaging the creature in the clouds a pinpoint of kaleidoscopic energy appears
combat scenario, the armies they led in the pre- and begins to draw the energy of Mitk’’s body into it. The
vious battle are also fighting Mitk’—use the Mitk’s otherworldly thing fights the and claws at the air out-
Presence statistics block in the Army Index and side of it as less and less of its body can be seen. It nearly
grant the now leaderless forces of Bellek a morale succeeds—but then with a loud popping noise it disap-
bonus or penalty depending on how well the party’s pears entirely, replaced only by the stars of the night sky.
battle with the otherworldly’s central conscious-
ness is going. The nature of the otherworldy entity A few minutes after the battle comes to an end—
defies normal defenses, and the armies of the city once the party has enjoyed a brief moment of
of scholars gain no bonus from its fortifications. respite and their surviving armies are patting
themselves on the back—read the following:
New Magic Item
Kurtaric Weapon
Weapon (varies), very rare
This magical cold iron weapon appears as though it
were made of an extremely reflective substance not
unlike a mirror.
You have a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls
made with this weapon. The weapon begins with 52
charges. Each time the weapon’s property to cast a
spell or reduce a creature’s Intelligence is used, it los-
es 1 charge. For every 13 charges lost by the weapon,
its bonus to attack damage rolls is reduced by 1 until
it has no charges left and becomes a nonmagical cold
iron weapon.
Whenever you hit a creature with this weapon, in
addition to dealing damage you can expend a charge
to either strike at its intellect or its mind.
Strike Intellect. The target’s Intelligence score
is reduced by 1d4. The target dies if this reduces its
Intelligence to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts until
the target finishes a short or long rest.
Strike Mind. The target makes a DC 20 Intelligence
saving throw or is affected by the modify memory
spell, though you are only able to erase memories
of your choosing and can remove any memory from
within the last 10 years.

EN World EN5ider |  Tip of the Tongue, Part Two

A cry of dismay erupts from some of the surviving sol-
diers as they frantically point toward the sky. Peering
into the darkness you can see a broiling black cloud ex-
pand outward rapidly, blotting out the stars again. For a
moment everyone seems to hold their breath—but the
cloud dissipates and blows away on the wind.
The victorious adventurers are greeted as heroes
in Bellek though celebrations are short; when they
arrive in the throne room of Aptal Manor, King
Halfviti and Hirsli are talking very solemnly with
several robed individuals dressed in exactly the
same manner as Kurtaric Kahraman. The mysteri-
ous mnemonics have made their presence known
because the conflict with Mitk’ is not yet over.
Aftermath: The
Forbidden Inquisition
The mnemonics are quite sure they will be able to
once again wipe the memories of Mitk’ from the
minds of the populace (as their ancestors had to
centuries ago) but only for the citizens of Bellek.
The soldiers from the armies of the satellite cit-
ies are another matter entirely and though orders
were issued swiftly, half the survivors have already
disbanded. The cerebral warriors are unable to de-
vote any attention to the memories of these soldiers
and it is up to the PCs to track down and strip the
thoughts of Mitk’ from their minds (or kill them).
Every member of the party is given an ancient
elixir that insulates them from the invasive en-
tity, and they should have enough charges in their
Kurtaric weapons to see the deed done. Many of the
survivors are otherwise destined to turn insane
but there are always a few that survive to spread
the knowledge of the creature, and should it ap-
pear again so soon and without any army prepared
to fight it—nevermind the spirit of a powerful an-
cient protector—the world is surely doomed.
Tip of the Tongue, Part Two  |  EN World EN5ider
All the boulevards of the City of Scholars are thronged
with cheering citizens as you walk through Bellek, lau-
rels of mountain flowers thrown upon you as songs play
to celebrate the victory over the strange invading aliens.
The applause peter out as you enter into Aptal Manor
and die entirely as you are led into the throne room.
King Halfviti stands in counsel with several robed
figures—all bear the same strange tattoos as the bald
old warrior. The only one not solemn is Hirsli Aptal, who
vividly argues with them all about the importance and
value of knowledge. The king raises his hand and brings
silence to the room as you enter and the cold, calculat-
ing gaze of the sage warriors of the mind pierce your
soul—it is clear that the danger is not yet over.
Conclusion
Like all good things Tip of the Tongue must come to
an end somewhere—this is it. That doesn’t mean
the adventure has to conclude though, and this is
a great opportunity for GMs to seed a plethora of
new plots!
Tracking down all the survivors from the battle
shouldn’t become a true focus unless the party
strongly engages with it. Instead allow these en-
counters to be fewer in number and a means to
advance the PCs to a larger story or the next ad-
venture! Between the myriad different NPCs to be
tracked down and the Spire of Knowledge nearby,
the adventurers have both the motivation and
means to research potential quests and locales of
both the realms nearby and beyond, leading the
party to anywhere in the known world—and may-
be farther. e