When it comes time to mount the attack on Kelmarane, Nefeshti explains that she would prefer to attack Davashuum’s forces with her jann from one angle while the PCs strike as skirmishers elsewhere, hopefully confusing the enemy and forcing them to split their forces. The PCs should strike first, moving quickly to try to cripple and distract the army, allowing Nefeshti’s jann to move in and seize control of Lower Kelmarane. The final goal, Nefeshti explains, is to lay siege to the Brazen Tower—once they’ve locked Davashuum down and defeated his army, the PCs should be able to invade the Brazen Tower, slay the traitor, and quickly seize any intelligence about Jhavhul and his lair under Pale Mountain.
As fighting rages through the town, the chance for random encounters is higher than usual. Anytime the PCs are traveling between locations, or if they enter a building not detailed in the adventure, there is a 30% chance for a random encounter. A table for random encounters in regions controlled by Jhavhul’s forces appears on page 75 in this volume’s Bestiary.
A large number of jann occupy Kelmarane as part of Jhavhul’s army. The majority are rank-and-file troops whose statistics are the same as those detailed on page 116 of the MM. They are led by janni captains, each of whom has the following statistics.
Janni ranger 2/rogue 3 (MM 116)
LE Medium outsider (native)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +16, Spot +16
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 16, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +1 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 68 (11 HD; 8d8+3d6+22)
Fort +11, Ref +16, Will +8
Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +1; Resist fire 10
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft., fly 20 ft. (perfect)
Melee +1 scimitar +15/+10 (1d6+7/18–20)
Ranged +1 composite longbow +16/+11 (1d8+5/×3)
Special Attacks favored enemy (human +2), plane shift, sneak attack +2d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th)
3/day—quickened invisibility (self only), speak with animals
2/day—change size (DC 12)
1/day—create food and water (CL 7th), ethereal jaunt (for 1 hour)
TACTICS
During Combat Janni captains avoid melee for as long as possible, attacking with bows from cover. Once in melee combat, they use quickened invisibility to flank and sneak attack, and Spring Attack to stay out of reach of enemies.
Morale Janni captains fight to the death.
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 10
Base Atk +10; Grp +14
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (invisibility), Spring Attack, Track, Two-Weapon Fighting
Skills Appraise +13, Balance +21, Concentration +11, Craft (locksmith) +13, Craft (weaponsmith) +13, Escape Artist +19, Handle Animal +5, Hide +19, Listen +16, Move Silently +19, Ride +18, Sense Motive +11, Spot +16, Survival +9, Tumble +17
Languages Abyssal, Common, Ignan, Infernal, Terran; telepathy 100 ft.
SQ elemental endurance, trapfinding, wild empathy +4
Other Gear +1 composite longbow (+4 Str) with 5 +1 fire arrows and 35 arrows, +1 dagger (2), ring of protection +1, +1 studded leather, gems and art objects (looted from Kelmarane) worth 500 gp
Entrance to Kelmarane is restricted, but the town is not as closed as Davashuum would like it to be. In particular, the Lower Town has no walls or ridges to restrict entrance. Here, Davashuum relies on janni patrols to police the area and nightly curfews to control the populace. However, gnoll slavers, humanoid mercenaries seeking positions in Jhavhul’s army, or even an occasional brave human merchant or trader might be found wandering the Lower Town. A typical Lower Town janni patrol is made up of six jann led by a single janni captain. On the other hand, entrance to the Upper Town is strictly proscribed; its gates are closed and are manned by loyal janni troops or other servitors.
It should thus be relatively easy for the PCs to enter the Lower Town, but there might be some difficulty in avoiding attention. Wearing disguises or staying out of sight will keep the PCs unnoticed in the Lower Town, but once they start making their strikes against the town, the alarm goes up swiftly. Feel free to have janni patrols confront them as often as you’d like—the total number of jann occupying Kelmarane is close to a hundred, but since Nefeshti mounts her attack to seize the Lower Town as soon as the PCs strike their first target, at least twothirds of these jann will be locked in battle against her forces, leaving enough jann to form about five different patrols to strike at the PCs during the course of this part of the adventure.
The north bridge of Kelmarane guards the approach to the House of the Beast. Nefeshti points out that securing the bridge might not prevent Davashuum’s agents from alerting Jhavhul of the attack (she’s sure at least some of them can teleport or use magic to raise the alarm), but it certainly would send a message to the occupiers of Kelmarane by symbolically cutting off the route to the House of the Beast. Likewise, it would send a message of hope to the citizens of Kelmarane still hiding in the village. Even more importantly, her observation has revealed this to be the most likely central point of command among the Lower Town guards—taking it out will hopefully disrupt communication among the town’s patrols, at least for a few hours.
The river at this point is 30 feet across and about 15 feet deep, but the water is calm (Level 3 Swim check to navigate). The building across the river was once the Lower Town’s watchhouse, where a single constable lived with his family and kept an eye out on the river for smugglers and other troublemakers. A small door in the western wall next to the river dock leads into the main guardroom. A set of unlocked double doors to the south leads into the bottom of the 20-foot-diameter minaret, where a single door to the north also connects to the main guardroom. This room contains a large table, corner. Six bedrolls lie on the floor in the eastern half of the room. Wooden stairs spiral up from the entryway to a gallery 40 feet above. A large bronze bell and clapper hang from the ceiling beams.
Creatures: Five janni captains man the watchhouse, guarding the bridge and the northern approach into the Lower Town and serving as a central point in the Lower Town to coordinate patrols and other actions. One janni is on watch in the minaret, 40 feet above the ground. Give this janni a chance to spot PCs crossing the river or approaching the building, although if Nefeshti’s attack is already underway (this is the case only if this isn’t the first mission the PCs attempt), she takes a 2 Levels of difficulty to Perception checks for her distraction. If she sees the PCs, she rings the bell in the minaret, alerting the janni soldiers below, then fires upon the PCs. Once the building comes under attack, the scout flies down to join her companions in combat.
The other four jann lounge in the main guardroom of the watchhouse below. If unaware of the PCs, they are sitting around the table drinking coffee, unprepared for battle. If alerted to the PCs’ presence, they are invisible and waiting in the corners of the room to catch the PCs by surprise.
hp 68 each (see page 14)
Liberation Points: Defeating the jann stationed here earns 2 LP. Allowing the alarm to be raised costs 1 LP.
Lower Gate controls the route from the Lower Town up to the Kelmarane Heights, and represents the division between the occupying force and the captured citizens. Seizing control of it creates a significant barrier to the janni and gnoll forces in the Upper Town, striking another blow to the occupiers’ morale and strengthening that of the captured citizens.
Creatures: Jhavhul has placed a pair of immense retrievers here, creatures called from the Abyss and bound into service by Rajali, as war machines in his army. Although mindless, the retrievers possess instinctual knowledge of their own abilities and attack anyone attempting to pass through the gate. They periodically wander the region around the gate; if the PCs watch and wait, they can isolate one of the monsters on its own and gain a few precious rounds of advantage before its companion can join the battle. The retrievers can be tricked by a disguise that makes a character appear to be a janni captain, or by anyone who seems to be accompanied by an efreeti or Davashuum himself, but they immediately attack anyone else who comes within 30 feet of the lower gate.
hp 95 each (MM 46)
Treasure: The ruined warehouse to the northeast contains goods confiscated from townsfolk and traders by the janni soldiers. There are several wagons and carts here, holding a variety of mundane trade goods worth a total of 2,000 gp. A DC 20 Search check (or detect magic) turns up a small wooden box containing a book of Qadiran fairy tales. The box is actually a folding boat that is also magically impervious to fire. The boat’s command words are written on the inside cover of the book.
Liberation Points: Defeating the retrievers earns 1 LP.
To the north of the Upper Town is a small postern gate that connects to the bluffs above the city, where Davashuum has a small reserve of troops waiting. This gate has been newly rebuilt to protect the rear approach to the Upper Town.
The gate itself is set into a 20-foot-high and 5-foot-thick crenelated wall. The tower to the southwest is 30 feet high with 5-foot-thick stone walls, with 15-foot ceilings and loopholes facing north and east on both floors. The smaller building to the northeast is 20 feet high. Both buildings are capped with battlements.
Gates: The gates are 10-foot-wide double iron doors, iron-barred on the inside (Level 7). A walkway runs along the top of the gates between the stable roof to the northeast and a barred, strong wooden door (Level 6) on the southwestern tower’s second floor.
Stable: The wooden doors to this building are unlocked. Three light warhorses are stabled here, used by the jann to patrol the bluffs north of the city. Saddles and tack are hung on the wall, while fodder and hay are kept in a loft 10 feet above. A wooden ladder in the corner leads to the loft and the roof.
Tower: The southwestern tower’s first floor has a strong wooden door in the southern wall, iron-bound and locked (Level 7). There is also a wooden trap door on the roof, which the jann have neglected to lock, providing a direct means of entry into the tower. Ladders connect the tower’s two floors to the roof.
Creatures: Six janni captains led by an efreeti named Oktar are stationed here to guard the “back door” into the Upper Town. These guards are holed up on the second floor inside the southwestern tower, their attention divided between watching the northern approach and the battle to the south. Give the genies a chance to spot approaching PCs, but there is a 50% chance that one of them is looking out the eastern loopholes instead, trying to catch a glimpse of the main battle. If the PCs are spotted, all three jann open fire on the PCs from the cover of their arrow slits (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus to Reflex saves).
hp 68 each (see page 14)
Efreeti (MM 115)
hp 65
Liberation Points: Defeating the genies stationed here earns the PCs 2 LP.
The Temple of Sarenrae almost looks worse than when it was in ruins. Windows are broken, doors have been bashed open and hang loosely from hinges, and blasphemous graffiti is scrawled upon the walls in blood and excrement. Gaping holes mar the twin domes above the transepts, and oily black smoke issues from the cracks. The southeastern annex has been completely gutted by fire, its walls blackened, its dome collapsed.
Davashuum’s gnoll allies rule the western portion of the Upper Town, with the Temple of Sarenrae serving as their fortress. Nefeshti believes (correctly) that the gnolls have consecrated the temple to the worship of Rovagug, and that they hold many prisoners inside as future sacrifices.
If the PCs can liberate the temple of Sarenrae, they’ll break the morale of the gnoll forces and strike what could be a decisive victory. Since this location is so far inside enemy territory, Nefeshti recommends this as the final mission the PCs attempt; if they don’t save this one until last and they’re forced to retreat, they’ll likely face genies, retrievers, and elementals on their flight out of the area unless they teleport to safety.
There are a lot of gnolls in this area—when the battle begins, some move into the Temple of Sarenrae for safety, but the majority cluster in tight patrols surrounding the building. In all, there are nearly 100 gnolls surrounding the temple, and the PCs need to contend with them before they can call out and confront their leader. Don’t bother to run combat between the PCs and each of the gnolls they face, though—instead, you should handle the invasion of the Temple of Sarenrae in a more cinematic style. Ask the PCs what their plan of attack is and what spells and tactics they’d like to use, focusing on each player character in turn to determine each one’s role in the attack on the temple. A PC who wades in to battle the gnolls with his weapons (ranged or melee, using stealth or brute force) is a “skirmisher.” A PC who relies primarily on offensive spells to strike at the gnolls or support spells to bolster his allies is a “spellcaster.” A PC who plays a support role by healing allies is a “defender.”
When the battle begins, don’t bother rolling dozens of dice for the defending gnolls; although they vastly outnumber the PCs, they’re unlikely to pose much of a threat apart from whittling away at resources. The battle to rout the gnolls takes 4 minutes—even if the PCs do things like teleport into the temple or use potent magic like fire storm or cone of cold to slay gnolls by the dozens, the battle still takes 4 minutes to resolve.
Each minute, have each PC make a special level check by rolling 1d20 and adding his character level. He modifies this roll by adding his single highest ability score modifier. A character with favored enemy (gnoll) adds that bonus to this roll. The DC for this check is 20. This roll determines how many resources the PCs must use each round against the gnolls, depending upon their role as determined by you and the results below.
• Skirmishers: Success: The skirmisher takes 1d10–5 points of damage (minimum zero points). Failure: The skirmisher takes 4d6 points of damage.
• Spellcasters: Success: The spellcaster must cast five levels of spells—the spells cast don’t matter, but he must choose five levels of spells and cross them off his prepared list as if they had been cast. These spells can come from magic item activations (for example, a wand of fireballs charge can be used to account for three levels of spells). If the spellcaster can’t unleash five levels of spells, he automatically fails at his task. Failure: The spellcaster marks off his five levels of spells (or as many as he can if he has less than five levels available) and takes 4d6 points of damage.
• Healers: Success: The spellcaster must cast five levels of healing spells—the spells cast don’t matter, but he must choose five levels of spells and cross them off his prepared list as if they had been cast. These spells can come from magic item activations (for example, a potion of cure serious wounds can be used to account for three levels of spells). If the spellcaster can’t unleash five levels of spells, he automatically fails at his task. All PCs (healers included) are healed of 2d6 points of damage. Failure: The spellcaster marks off his five levels of spells (or as many as he can if he has less than five levels available) and takes 4d6 points of damage.
A character that’s reduced to 0 hit points during this battle can no longer make checks to continue the battle, but automatically stabilizes at –1 hit point unless he took enough damage to reduce him to –10 hit points, in which case he is slain. The loss of a PC in this cinematic battle incurs a cumulative –4 penalty on all surviving PC checks in the remaining rounds.
At the end of the 4 minutes, provided the PCs didn’t all perish or flee, the gnolls panic and rout, leaving behind their leader and a few of his more deadly guardians. At this point, the battle returns to a more classic format. Allow the PCs to explore the church as they desire—if you’d like to, you can describe how now and then as they move through the building they kill or drive off a few more pockets of gnolls, but the final enemy waits for them in the central prayer hall (area A3).
Creatures: The temple has been appropriated by a gnoll warpriest of Rovagug named Narrgok, one of Jhavhul’s more faithful followers. Narrgok has been granted three wishes from Jhavhul; he used two to aid Jhavhul’s ritual, and was allowed to use the third to gain a pair of hideous but absolutely loyal pets—a pair of enormous tarantulas that Narrgok likes to think of as children of Rovagug, despite the fact that Jhavhul granted Narrgok’s wish by polymorphing two of the gnoll’s wives into the spiders. The spiders generally cling to the walls above the fire pits in area E3, and are quick to scamper down to defend Narrgok—although mindless, they view the gnoll cleric as an ally.
Narrgok remains in hiding while the PCs fight, but once the 4 minutes pass, he emerges onto the scene wherever the PCs are currently located—due to the nature of the cinematic battle, you can simply narrate how the battle goes and have the PCs end up in area E4 when the battle ends and the confrontation with Narrgok and his two pet spiders begins.
Narrgok, Warpriest of Rovagug CR 12
Male gnoll cleric 11 of Rovagug
CE Medium humanoid (gnoll)
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +8, Spot +8
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 10, flat-footed 23 (+10 armor, +3 natural)
hp 97 (13d8+39)
Fort +13, Ref +5, Will +12
Resist fire 10
OFFENSE
Spd 20 ft.
Melee +2 greataxe +18/+13 (1d12+11/×3)
Special Attacks rebuke undead 1/day (+0; 2d6+9), smite 1/day (+4 attack, +11 damage)
Spells Prepared (CL 11th)
6th—blade barrierD (DC 19), heal
5th—quickened divine favor, flame strikeD (DC 18), quickened shield of faith
4th—air walk, baleful polymorph* (DC 17), divine powerD, greater magic weapon
3rd—bestow curse (DC 16), blindness/deafness (DC 16), contagionD (DC 16), cure serious wounds, dispel magic, magic vestment
2nd—bear’s endurance, cure moderate wounds, resist energy, shatterD (DC 15), sound burst (DC 15), summon monster II
1st—cure light wounds (3), doom (DC 14), inflict light woundsD (DC 14), protection from good, sanctuary (DC 14)
0—detect magic (2), guidance (2), resistance (2)
D domain spell; Domains Destruction, War
*As a cleric of Rovagug, Narrgok can prepare this as a 4th-level divine spell
TACTICS
Before Combat Narrgok casts magic vestment and greater magic weapon every morning. When the PCs attack his temple, he casts bear’s endurance, shield of faith, and resist energy (fire) if he has the chance.
During Combat Narrgok lets his spiders engage foes in melee so he can use spells like flame strike, baleful polymorph, blade barrier, and blindness/deafness against foes. He casts his quickened shield of faith on the first round of combat, and quickened divine favor on the first round he enters melee.
Morale Enamored with even his own destruction, Narrgok fights to the death.
STATISTICS
Str 22, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 6
Base Atk +9; Grp +15
Feats Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Martial Weapon Proficiency (greataxe), Power Attack, Quicken Spell, Weapon Focus (greataxe)
Skills Concentration +14, Knowledge (religion) +14, Listen +8, Spot +8
Languages Common, Gnoll
SQ spontaneous casting (inflict spells)
Combat Gear wand of cure moderate wounds (27 charges); Other Gear amulet of natural armor +2, masterwork full plate, +1 greataxe, belt of giant strength +4, key to area A8
Crag Tarantulas (2) CR 8
Gargantuan monstrous hunting spider
hp 104 each (MM 289)
Ad Hoc Experience: If the PCs survive the cinematic battle and aren’t forced to flee, award them experience as if they had defeated a CR 10 monster.
Liberation Points: Defeating the horde of gnoll goons earns 1 LP, while defeating Narrgok earns 2 LP. Freeing the prisoners in area A8 earns an additional 1 LP. Dispelling the unhallow effect and casting consecrate on the main altar earns a further 1 LP.
The PCs’ first mission is the signal to Nefeshti to launch her attack. Her two-dozen jann take up a defensive position in hiding to the southeast of Kelmarane, and when the battle begins, Nefeshti uses persistent image to create an illusion of a much larger host of janni soldiers, appearing as if each soldier’s invisibility spell-like ability was dismissed in unison. The sight and sound of this illusion, combined with Nefeshti’s actual army, is enough to seize the attention of Davashuum’s forces, and they swiftly mobilize an army of nearly 100 jann and more than 300 gnolls and surge south to attack, leaving the PCs relatively free to continue their more precise missions in Kelmarane.
As the PCs complete missions in town, the larger battle to the south progresses as follows.
One Mission Complete: Davashuum’s army mobilizes and moves south to confront Nefeshti.
Two Missions Complete: The truth of Nefeshti’s deception is discovered, but the battle is already joined and Davashuum’s forces are too spread out; Nefeshti’s smaller, more agile, and more organized group strikes with enough force to cause panic, forcing many gnolls to flee and the remaining army to fall back into the Lower City.
Three Missions Complete: The battle has moved to the Lower City, consisting of guerrilla warfare in the streets as countless small groups of combatants move amid the buildings in a chaotic frenzy.
Four Missions Complete: The battle moves up the slopes of Kelmarane, with Nefeshti’s jann using ethereal jaunt to bypass the road and manifest north of the Brazen Tower to continue the battle.
All Missions Complete: The battle for Kelmarane turns into a siege. The gnolls flee (or entrench in the church if the PCs fail to complete that mission’s goal), and those jann who survive either flee or retreat into the Brazen Tower to hide.
The wards on the Brazen Tower foil ethereal travel, which both prevents Nefeshti’s jann from invading easily and keeps Davashuum’s jann trapped inside. Begin Part Three.
The battle at the temple of Sarenrae can spread throughout the locations detailed on the map—the gnolls don’t stay in any one particular area, with the exception of Narrgok and his pet spiders. Brief descriptions of the areas within the Temple of Sarenrae are listed below.
A1. Entrances: These doors are flimsy and ruined, and offer no barrier against entry.
A2. Southeastern Annex: This area was accidentally set afire and destroyed by the gnolls. The entrance to the Kelmarane Crypt is buried under rubble here, 20 feet west of the southern door leading to area A3.
A3. Prayer Hall: The central dome of the temple rises 50 feet above this large chamber. The air is close and smoky, and filled with the stench of gnolls, urine, and rotting food. Various pallets and heaps of garbage are scattered throughout the room, making the floor here difficult terrain.
A4. Apse: Three wide semicircular steps lead up to the raised dais that holds the main altar beneath a smaller dome. The sunburst altar of Sarenrae has been desecrated and replaced with the fanged, multilegged maw of Rovagug. The altar to Rovagug serves as the focal point for an unhallow spell (granting both Narrgok and the gnoll goons 1 extra level of defense) and an associated invisibility purge effect to a radius of 40 feet.
A5. Sacristy: This small room held the priests’ vestments and religious paraphernalia, now ruined and despoiled or looted.
A6. High Priest’s Quarters: This room was formerly the living quarters of the high priest of Sarenrae. Narrgok has commandeered it for himself, and the once luxurious furnishings have been irreparably soiled and smashed. A small coffer under the bed (Search Level 3) contains blocks of foul-smelling incense, three vials of unholy water, and a pouch of powdered diamond (worth 600 gp).
A7. Chapel: This private chapel for the priests of Sarenrae now reeks of blood and urine, its mosaic floor ruptured with gaping cracks. A Level 7 Search of the southwest corner reveals a hidden cache behind a loose stone the gnolls overlooked—within are 7 potions of cure moderate wounds.
A8. Prisoners: The iron-bound door to this chamber is locked (Level 6). Within the room, in a pitiful state of deprivation and torture, are three acolytes of Sarenrae, all that remain of the priests of this temple.