e War Between Silverwater and Pine March - The year is "Keller Year 835", five years after the Keller Empire started its "Western Crusade", bringing it to the borders of Silverwater itself. Less than a year ago, a magical gateway was discovered in southern Silverwater. It is called the "Deoron Gate". The ruler of neighboring Pine March, the Marquessa Anmara, attempted to seize it for herself through intrigue and sorcery. After a series of escalating incidents, this provocation led to a war between Silverwater and Pine March. The war is now entering its second year. Silverwater has been quite successful in the field, capturing and now annexing the southwestern half of Pine March, mostly the territories near the mountains. The advance stalled however, now that Pine March's forces have been push back into their northern strongholds. Marquess Anmara, wizard and ruler of Pine March, has brought unnatural allies into battle, resulting in reverses. The Principality of Durham, ostensibly neutral, is concerned that if she is too successful, it may trigger a crusade against her. Such a crusade will inevitably bring the Ascended Keller Empire into the war and into the region. To that end, it seeks to bring the war to a swift end without being directly involved.
The Viscount Lodwic Kerthan of Udjal is a quasi-independent lord whose lands abut Pine March. He is being given covert support by the Duchy - Dwarven gold with which to pay for a mercenary army which will plunge directly into the heart of Pine March when their forces are pulled to the south. This way the leaders can say that they are remaining neutral. The plan is that the army will be assembled in Kerthan lands, Pine March will strike pre-emptively, and then once fighting breaks out Durham can intervene with its full forces.
The Truth: Selorech, the high priest of Vorokhoi, was driven from his semi-torpid state and home by Sir Kellen Blackmoor. Taking stock of his situation, and the new times, he determined that Marquess Anmara would make a suitable ally, due to her ambition, wickedness, and magical prowess. he approached her with a deal - grant him lands in the mountains, to do as he wished, and he would bring her an army that her enemies could not match.
He has recruited new goblinoid followers from the Undermountains, and set up in an abandoned Keller fortress high in the mountains called Tharnham Castle. Supplied with gold, he has hired orcs and ogres from the mountains as cannon fodder, with bugbears as his enforcers as usual. The local goblin population lives in the areas outside the castle, but avoids this sudden concentration of larger beings. As usual, Selorech is setting up in the extensive lower levels, with the only entrances guarded by his bugbears. The castle itself is largely inhabited by orcs and a few ogres, who also man the walls. A troop of hobgoblins is making its way to the castle, but will not arrive for some time.
Selorech is in the process of summoning and hatching many new "Banelings". Selorech's undead warriors are called "bane Zombies". The most terrifying part, in addition to being undead and thus tireless and with unbreakable morale, is that they are resistant to non-magical attacks. This makes them deadly when fighting normal troops. They will be armed with weapons supplied by Anmara. He has also called up four wights to serve as "captains" for his new legions.
The castle is of course located near a Vorokhoi temple complex, which is being cleared and restored to operation by the goblins. It is used as the summoning site for the creatures which join the ranks of Selorech's army, including Banelings, demon spiders, and worse. It is also the burial site of one of Vorokhoi's generals, a wraith trapped within his own bones. The PC's are hired to go into the hills, find out what is happening, and stop it if possible.
Meeting with Viscount Lodwic: The PC's are in the fortified town of Udjal, on the southern shore of Lake Udjal, along the Eisen Road. While there carousing with the mercenaries, Dimzad is recognized, and they are placed under watch by the Viscount. Hilarity and shenanigans will ensue, especially when Sir Arden is attacked by a mercenary who is possessed by the ghost of King Jotunr (veteran). Eventually, they will be taken into custody and brought to the Viscount. He will apologize for their arrest, and says he wishes to hire them for a mission that they may be perfect for. The PC's were driven out of Udjal publicly, after being allowed to equip themselves from the Viscount's stocks of potions.
Infiltration: Pine March is not as large as some places. It is only two days travel on the road to the bridge, and two more days to Nurhacz. The PC's will meet a band of travelers headed south, traders carrying a variety of goods, including gunpowder, from Durhacz to Berlexing to sell to the mercenaries gathering there. There are about fifty traders and camp followers, and twenty mercenaries acting as guards. The PC's know only that the ghoulies are coming from the mountains beyond Nurhacz, and that Anmara's allies are based at a castle in the mountains. Nurhacz will seem a natural place to start the search. They will have to part ways at the bridge across the river, and take the Nurhacz Road.
Once in Nurhacz, they will see that the city guards have built earthworks and watchtowers along the north side, rather than the side more likely to be attacked. The city military is depleted, having only a small force available to protect it. Many in Nurhacz believe that they have been sacrificed to Anmara's allies. In truth, they have. After asking around enough, the PC's will discover the existence of Vizesces Castle, a centuries old ruin along the border with the Pershamon Empire, on a road long abandoned due to downed bridges in the mountain passes. Locals can point the way, though none will willingly venture there. Witnesses will tell of wagons laden with military equipment, alcohol, armor, and supplies of various sorts heading into the woods, a convoy led by a brother of the Witch Queen herself.
Into the Wilds: The band will travel two days into the mountains along the river road, where they see villages burned or hunkered down. They will have to avoid attacks by various orcs, bandits, and stuff like that. The dead are thick on the roads, many headed north. The valley itself is thick with orcs and ogres, arriving in small groups to serve this new lord who puts out the call. As a result, game is scarce, animals are few, and many slaves are being eaten.
The castle itself is located precariously close to a waterfall - difficult to attack, it also has a useful amount of background noise from the roaring falls. This will give everyone advantage on any stealth rolls outside. The following groups have taken up residence in Vizesces Castle or the dungeon below:
Hobgoblin Warlord "Kirgot", armed with a Vorokhoi longsword (crit on 19-20)
Unit of Hobgoblins, three units of sixteen, each with one captain, and five bugbears.
Four hobgoblin rangers and their worg mounts. +3 to archery, "Alarm", "Hunter's Mark", and "Fog Cloud'
Selorach's Devil Spiders (three) and lots of babies (AC-14, HP 60, +5/1d10 bite)
Lord Urnior Loren, son of Anmara and Retinue, including his brother Manfred, an assassin
Pair of ghouls who prey on the assembled horde in the valley
Skeletons, reanimated original occupants of the castle who now serve
Vizesces Castle Above Ground:
Outer Tower has been occupied by Lord Urnior the Arcanist, come to serve Selorach as Anmara's representative. He is accompanied by a servant and a bodyguard unit of four, statted as a "veteran". He is one of Anmara's numerous children, possibly valuable as a hostage. As it had formerly been used by bandits, it is in somewhat better repair. It is basically a three story guard tower, somewhat larger than most.
Gate House was badly damaged by the last attack, and was never repaired. The hobgoblins have set up a spike barricade in front of the gate, and man it with four hobgoblins and a captain. Two ogre zombies, the remains of a pair who angered Selorach, provide fire support and obey the captain. The various orcs and ogres and other visitors come up the road, but are usually not allowed into the castle.
Lower Bailey has the well, and what used to be stables and smithy. It is currently used as a practice field for hobgoblins, and a place to torment captives. A large firepit has been dug in the center, for cooking and other uses.
The "West Tower" is home to a troop of ghouls who serve Selorach, but prey on the valley inhabitants. The tower is open, and the ghouls live on the upper floors.
The "East Tower" by the gatehouse is partially collapsed; the top story has tumbled down, blocking the entrance. Inside are three skeletons of Keller soldiers trapped within. They reanimated and now guard the interior of the tower, which is accessible only from within.
Inner Gate Tower still has a functioning portcullis, which is kept down. It is guarded by several hobgoblins and a captain. It is a simple two story structure, guard room below and portcullis and oilworks above. The tower is a standard three story affair, used as a watchpost by hobgoblins and as a home for two of the captains. It has a small basement used for storage. There is also a secret door to the keep, and another to the Outer Tower through the wall itself.
Upper Bailey The courtyard is split by a small ledge in the middle with a half-wall, but is regarded as a single area. It is home to five worgs who wander loose in the open courtyard, tended to by the unit of hobgoblin Rangers who have taken up residence in the intact Cliff Tower. They are an independent lot, and take orders grudgingly from the boss Hobgoblin, though they cheerfully serve Selorach.
Keep is a relatively humble structure. Most of the structure is used as a barracks for most of the hobgoblins, though the second floor office, open to the outside due to damage, is home to a Devil Spider released by Selorach. It is smart enough not to hunt within the castle grounds, though it does prey on Orcs.
Ground floor is inaccessible from the outside, used for storage and servant quarters.
First floor has the chapel, a kitchen, midden and garderobes, and the great hall.
Second floor has guard rooms, barracks and arsenal, and an office.
The third floor tower has the lord's quarters, where the Hobgoblin Warlord resides.
Mountain Gate is the rear entrance to the castle, a winding mountain path that is difficult to see from the valley floor, easily defended by a small number of troops. It is used as a sally port for worg-riders and messengers, and is usually manned by a small group of hobgoblins and a couple of bugbears.
Vizesces Castle Below Ground: The Keep has an extensive basement, located below the ground floor, and accessible via stairs. A well hidden access tunnel allows access to the basement of the Inner Gate Tower, with only a small room in between for turning around or resting. The basement of the keep is also the access for the dungeon level, and it is where the Bane Zombies are issued their gear prior to arriving on the surface for deployment.
The dungeon includes cells, a torture room, quarters for additional troops, and a secret door leading down a slippery tunnel to the waterfall, a secret exit to the castle. Currently there are three hobgoblins and a bugbear residing down here, along with 1d6 captives in each cell. The guards are allowed to eat one of the captives every few days, but must otherwise feed the ones they don't eat. Every now and then, a group of hobgoblins will transfer a small group of captives to where Selorach will convert them to bane zombies. In one room in the dungeon is a shrine to Kuolema, God of the Dead. This is uncommon, but a religion roll will hint that it is here as a kindness to those to be executed down here, a place for final prayers. Behind the shrine is a secret door, leading down deep into the natural caves and goblin tunnels below the ridgeline.
Caves: Some distance away from Castle Vizesces is an ancient Maryavahna holy site, originally built by goblinoids but then co-opted by the Vorokhoi. The humans built an above ground temple which was razed like most such structures during the war, but the temple below ground remained largely intact. Between the two sites is a long cave network inhabited by numerous foul beasts. To the west is a fungus grove, powered by bat guano, but inhabited by violet fungi, molds, carrion crawlers, gricks, and an ooze. To the east is the "forest of pillars", home to a roper of unusual size and its piercer offspring. Most of the northwestern end is inhabited by a tribe of kobolds who claim the whole complex... there are as many as needed. They have acquired the skull and a single egg of a red dragon (slain by Pershamon heroes, and a long story to be sure), which they worship as a god and will protect fanatically. The approaches to their lair are all trapped in excessive and exciting ways. The kobolds have planted a room full of violet fungus in the main path to their lair, which the hobgoblins approve of.
Hobgoblins escorting prisoners usually will cripple and toss a screaming captive off the trail to draw predators off of their main body, but they never transfer in groups smaller than six. The path is marked by a series of goblinoid runes indicating the path. There are two chain bridges across chasms; the one closest to the temple is guarded by two bugbears, each armed with a polearm, crossbow, and fire-oil (1d10) to discourage intruders and cave vermin. They make a game of shooting crossbows at flying and scuttling things, and will often be distracted with this.
Vorokhoi Temple Complex: Long buried and best forgotten, the surface temple of Txarra Zulo is a barren mound of stone walls, rubble, and dirt, with little growing on it but weeds. It continues to attract the undead, called to its evil. Below ground, the temple remained intact, though the stairs to the surface are jammed with debris. It sat undisturbed for a millenia till returned to service by Selorach, and shows the signs of neglect. bats, spiders, and centipedes can all be found scuttling around in the darkness, and small patches of luminescent fungus provide dim light here and there.
Right now, there are two activities going on. First, a work crew of zombies is trying to clear the rubble from the surface entrance, so the "entryway" is filled with rubble and digging tools. Second, Selorach is busily creating "Bane Zombies". Each sacrifice gets him one or two banelings, which he then must subdue and implant into one or two other humans, who must be poisoned in a specific way, and then implanted. Thus, each batch of 10 captives creates 1d4+2 "Bane Zombies", which are then taken back to the castle, armed and armored, and sent to the front in groups large enough to be effective.
Entry Way is strewn with rubble and debris from the surface shaft, and is quite noisy. There are several zombies toiling in the shaft, tossing rubble into the room. They are supervised by a single Hobgoblin, who is paying little attention to the cave entrance. There are two hundred feet of debris in the shaft, which will take weeks to clear. On the other hand, the cave entrance requires a journey of about 100ft up a set of stairs from the room at the base. No guards are posted to watch the entrance at the top.
Great Hall and Shrine - The interior of the main hallways is a spectacle of death, with leering skulls on every part of the walls and ceiling. In fact, most of these are actual skulls, many of which have vermin - spiders, bats, even a giant centipede or two living in them. Within such a place, the undead have advantage to resist turning, and many "good" spells are at disadvantage. At the end of the room is a large stone shrine, spattered with blood, to the Maryavahna. Anyone who is not a worshipper must make a DC-15 WIS save, or be "Frightened" while in sight of it. In an alcove above the doorway at the back of the room is a Flameskull that will attack anyone demonstrating hostility to the shrine and temple.
Store Rooms - One of these rooms has about eight zombies laying on the floor, waiting to be switched out in the work crew. The other room has a variety of equipment, supplies, spare weapons and armor, and so forth for the garrison.
Barracks - The two larger rooms each house eight hobgoblins and their kit, while the smaller room is used by the hobgoblin captain. There will usually only be a couple, as the rest are engaged in restoring the temple to functioning, or assisting Selorach with prisoners.
Middens - The middens are 100' deep shafts which open into the rift in the cave section. They have iron bars closing them up, so any man-sized thing falling in will only fall 10' but will have to make a DC-15 DEX save to avoid dropping anything in their hands. The bars are small enough to keep intruders and dangerous cave vermin out, but the occasional bat or stirge might be found flapping about.
Well Room - What is loosely called the "well room" is actually just a large stone basin with a "Decanter of Endless Water" mounted inside a silver skull, itself worth 200sp. Excess water drains out through a hole in the floor. The water is itself clean and clear, but the PC's will likely be wary of it. The room itself is used as a common area by the hobgoblins, who have cleared it of dangerous vermin.
Priestly Apartments - These three chambers were originally the homes of the old priests who maintained the temple and assisted the high priest. As Selorach is uninterested in these rooms, they remain neglected, home to vermin of various sorts. The endmost room is haunted by the spectre of one of the priests, which will sit inert until disturbed. After which it will assault the intruders until slain. It is yet unaware of the presence of the living beyond its door, having long ago gone catatonic. The skeleton of the dead priest is wearing 300gp worth of scary jewelry, of value mostly to collectors of Vorokhoi artifacts.
Summoning Room - Covered in glyphs on the walls, floor, and ceiling, this room reeks of blood and sulfur. A rack on the wall holds various summoning implements and ingredients, obviously placed there recently. Acid burns can be found spattered here and there. The room gives advantage to summonings and conjurations, if performed in Abyssal. On a shelf is an obsidian jar with a skull stopper. It has a bound Hezrou demon within, which can be thrown down - it will kill anything in the room, then depart.
Preparation Chamber and Crypt - This large room looks like a "mummification room", with two stone slabs, numerous iron tools, and blood and acid burns everywhere. A small alchemical lab with fresh supplies is set up on one table, with a wooden rack holding seven vials of an evil-looking black fluid... a demonic venom which kills agonizingly, then reanimates the victim as uncontrolled raging zombies which will attempt to consume the living. Fusing them with a Baneling is what produces a Bane Zombie. Each one takes several hours to produce, then must sit for several days to "mature". Selorach is preparing for the next round of summoning by resting, but in the crypt there are five that are nearly completed.
Library - The original contents of this room and its furnishings decayed away long ago, but a few sealed scrolls still remain. Some of these tubes are necromantic spells (from DnD Homebrew), one is a formula for making Vorokhoi weapons (crit on 19-20) and one is a "Tome of Side Questiness". Unfortunately, the room is coated with patches of Yellow Mold beneath the debris, so the room is dangerous - a dead hobgoblin still lays rotting in the center of the room.
High Priest's Chambers. The entrance to Selorach's chambers are constantly guarded by two hobgoblins. The chambers within are quite cold, as Selorech can be found within. Selorech's personal belongings are quite limited, with a pallet, a chest with some ornate clothing, another with various gross ritual implements, and an armor stand with a suit of chain mail +1 (Resistant to Radiant Damage), and a Vorokhoi broadsword, a "Venom Blade". These will only be worn when he is leading troops or visiting human nobles who expect him to look the part.
Adjacent to his chamber, behind a secret door is the temple vault. The door is locked, and the key is in his possession. The door itself is stone, and trapped so that the entire hallway drops the group into a 20' deep pit (2d6 falling plus 2d10 piercing, DC-15 DEX save to avoid the spikes). Two skeletons are waiting at the bottom with rusty swords, as well. A narrow crawlway leads to the rift, if the PC's feel like crawling for an hour. In the vault is Selorach's book, which has the recipe for bane zombies, the true names of about two dozen fiends, and several scary new spells. All of it is written in Abyssal. A black iron chest, poison trapped of course, has 20,000sp in Vorokhoi coinage. On an alcove sits three small cases, two with 1000gp gems that if smashed will release a Vrock or Hezrou demon, and the third holds a wax sealed jar with Selorach's heart. Inside the chamber is a small secret door with a shaft that leads out to the surface. Selorech is a unique undead, somewhat like a Mummy Lord, though with a few minor differences.