Word of the assault on Rayhan’s villa spreads quickly, even if the PCs don’t raise the alarm or contact the authorities. Within a few minutes of the battle’s resolution, an armed group of Zephyr Guards arrives at the villa to determine what occurred. Accompanying them is Kazim, the same cleric who attended the dinner party the previous night.
She does not waste any time on pleasantries, going so far as to break down Rayhan’s front door if the party refuses to answer.
Kazim suggests that the party have a conversation in Rayhan’s common room, where she gestures toward the seats. As soon as the PCs are seated, she sits herself, and begins to speak.
“Greetings. I apologize for my abrupt arrival, but there is a matter we must discuss. Know that I am here on both the authority of the church and that of the Pactmasters—and I bring word of their displeasure. Both have been troubled recently by your arrival in our city. They had hoped your claim was false, or that if it were true, you would conduct your business swiftly and be gone. The traffic of powerful artifacts is welcome in Katapesh, but it also causes the worst of men’s natures to rise. What we have seen here tonight is proof of that.
“While the city respects the value of an individual’s property, and theft violates the highest laws of the land, inciting riots and disrupting trade is equally offensive to our codes, and you currently walk a fine line in that regard.
“Know that several parties have come to the Pactmasters and demanded that the city force you to relinquish control of the Scroll of Kakishon to the highest bidder. Specifically, the One Source Merchants’ Guild is threatening a trade embargo if they are not allowed the opportunity to bid for the map. Though you are the rightful owner and cannot be forced to sell, they therefore ask you to choose a buyer within the next day or else leave the city. It is one thing to hold out on a trade for the best price, but another to hold out so long that our merchants lose sight of their civility.
“You have but one other option. If you can find out who perpetrated this crime against you and the master of this house, and if you can bring me proof that the situation has been resolved before the time limit elapses, both the church and the Pactmasters will be appreciative of your efforts and turn deaf ears to the complaints of a few jealous merchants.”
Although this sounds an awful lot like an ultimatum, it is in fact the Pactmasters’ subtle way to solve a situation that’s been growing for some time. The One Source Merchants’ Guild has overstepped their bounds this time, and Father Jackal has tested the patience of the Pactmasters for the last time. Yet it would be unseemly to simply disband the One Source and arrest Father Jackal, as the man has been careful to cover his tracks, using agents like Tamir who cannot be officially tied to him, and maintaining all of his proper payments to the government. The process of officially arresting and dissolving such a well-established guild is complex and time-consuming—but the process of cleaning up after a victimized group takes righteous revenge on its oppressor is much less so.
Essentially, Kazim is giving the PCs a time limit to resolve the situation on their own before the Pactmasters force her to take action. No matter the results of the dinner party, she was entertained and impressed by they way they presented themselves, and believes secretly that they should be given the chance to keep what is rightfully theirs, or to decide when and where to sell on their own volition. Yet in order for this to happen, they need to do a favor for the Pactmasters—and removing Father Jackal from the scene would be just such a favor. She can’t outright say that this is the case, but a Level 5 Sense Motive check can confirm the suspicion if a PC voices it.
Kazim is willing to entertain a few questions, but there are certain things she will address, and other things she will not. If the PCs ask about the Pactmasters of Katapesh, she simply tells them that information is unnecessary in solving the PCs’ current problem. If the PCs suggest that they might just leave the city, she assures them that this is an option, though those who wish to obtain the map would like that very much because it would allow them to strike at the party openly. Within the city, there is order and the rule of law, which makes it why very few attacks are carried out here.
If the PCs ask (or if they make a Level 5 Knowledge [local] check), Kazim confirms that the law in Katapesh is indeed relatively laissez faire—in fact, many visitors to Katapesh from other cities find the place to be almost anarchic.
The Pactmasters are interested first and foremost in the business of trade, and less so in standard laws and policing the streets. City guards do patrol the markets, but they are there primarily as a deterrent—if one merchant wrongs another, it is encouraged for the wronged merchant to solve his own problem in such a way that trade in the city is not disrupted. That criminals who operate within the strictures of the system can get away with murder may seem unfair, but it is the way things have always been in Katapesh.
In brief—while the PCs can expect to find little aid from the city watch in handling the problem with Father Jackal and the One Source Merchants’ Guild, they can also rest assured that, as long as they don’t let their fighting spill out into the street, the city won’t step in to defend the One Source from what many believe is a comeuppance long since overdue.
On the Trail of Father Jackal Once the PCs know that they have an enemy in the city, they’ll need to start piecing together the clues as to who’s after them. This adventure assumes that the primary motivation for the PCs to confront Father Jackal is to rescue Rayhan, but they could have other reasons—recovering the stolen Scroll of Kakishon, rescuing another abducted PC or NPC, or simply revenge for the attack on the villa or the PCs themselves.
Father Jackal has done little to obscure from the PCs the fact that he is their enemy, going so far as to sign his ransom note. In part, this is his attempt to lure the PCs into his lair where he is confident that he and his minions can destroy them and pluck from their remains the artifact he seeks.
Listed below are the various clues the PCs can use that eventually point them toward the One Source Merchants’ Guild as their enemy.
Interrogating the Enemy: If the PCs catch any of Tamir’s thugs alive and can adjust their hostile attitude to at least friendly, the thugs can confirm that they work for Father Jackal. If made helpful, they also confirm that Father Jackal is the leader of the One Source Merchants’ Guild.
The Rubies: All of those who serve Father Jackal seem to carry rubies. A Level 4 Gather Information check or Knowledge (local) check confirms that the rubies come from a mysterious merchant known only as the Captain of the Sunset Ship. While the Sunset Ship hasn’t been in port for weeks, this check confirms that they’ve been doing the vast majority of their business of late with the One Source Merchants’ Guild.
Following Known Associates: If the PCs know someone who works for Father Jackal (such as Radi, Tamir, or one of the thugs), they can trail that person to the One Source Merchants’ Guild if they’re stealthy enough. A captured thug could be “allowed” to escape captivity—such thugs make a beeline for the safety of the One Source Warehouse, inadvertently leading anyone following directly to the lair.
Tamir: Tamir admits working for the One Source Merchants’ Guild when he first meets the PCs; if the PCs realize he’s part of the assault on the villa, this is evidence enough that should lead them to the warehouse.
Father Jackal: A Level 4 Gather Information or Knowledge (local) check is enough to confirm that Father Jackal is a minor but well-known slaver and merchant who operates at times in the Nightstalls. His reputation for violence is well known, and only the most desperate or powerful merchants willingly do business with him—many suspect that he uses a front to handle most of his less-important business. It’s a Level 6 Gather Information or Knowledge (local) check to know that this front is, in fact, the One Source Merchants’ Guild.
Following the Scroll: The PCs can go along with Father Jackal’s request and deliver the Scroll of Kakishon (or a forgery) as requested by throwing the scroll into the sea at the next sunset. Father Jackal charges his cleric ally Khair al Din to lead the retrieval of the scroll. The cleric casts water breathing on himself and, accompanied by two sahuagin, is waiting underwater below the villa that evening; the water there is 20 feet deep, and once the glowing box containing the scroll is hurled into the sea, Khair al Din can find the glowing box swiftly. When he recovers it, he places the box in a sack to douse the glow and then returns to the caverns under the One Source Merchants’ Guild via the submerged caves. Canny PCs can follow the cleric and his sahuagin allies right back to the Jackal’s lair. Less canny PCs can use the handoff as an ambush, and if they can capture Khair al Din and shift his attitude from hostile to helpful (or use speak with dead or other magical methods), they can extract the location of the Jackal’s lair that way. At the very least, asking around about where a man matching Khair al Din’s description lives and works reveals the One Source Warehouse with a successful Level 6 Gather Information check.
The One Source Warehouse is owned and operated by Father Jackal, although he doesn’t advertise the fact that he is the true owner. On paper and in public, the owner is a half-elf woman named Maysam Fajr. The merchants who go out among the people to conduct trade are members of the cult, while the guild officials rank slightly higher within the cult, but are by no means leaders. Father Jackal involves himself in the operations of the guild to a very limited extent. He typically checks into the office every 2 or 3 days to ensure that the balance sheets are in the positive and that there aren’t any major dealings within the city that would bring undue attention to their organization. Aside from that, he leaves the operations to Maysam.
The warehouse lies within the docks district—a singlestory building constructed from wood. It is in reasonably good repair, with several large doors in the main portion of the warehouse that open to the outside. The external doors are locked at night (Open Lock Level 7), but unlocked during daylight hours. Lanterns that hang from iron pegs driven into the support timbers light the warehouse interior (aboveground and below).
Several of the doors in the Jackal’s Lair are locked with a variant of arcane lock that allows for the passage of creatures other than the caster (Tamir) by speaking a password.
These passwords can be learned from the denizens of the den who know them, or by making a Level 7 Search check of the door, as the password must be carved into the doors in hidden areas and in tiny letters—the phrases are all written in Halfling.
This massive room is over a hundred feet or more in length and width, but the towering stacks of crates and containers make it difficult to discern exact dimensions. The building’s floor is of hard-packed sand over stone. Some areas are completely open, while others are veritible mazes of crates stacked all the way up to the ceiling twenty feet above. The crates themselves are of wood, and no single crate is larger than five feet square, making it possible to clamber up and around on them with a little work.
The trade goods (silks, clothing, pottery, furniture, and grains) housed here are mundane, and comprise the vast bulk of business that goes through the One Source Merchants’ Guild. Horse- and camel-drawn wagons load and unload crates here during all hours of the day, aided by a workforce of 20 slaves (all 1st-level human commoners). The slaves constantly climb up the massive shelving to retrieve items, which are then brought to the carts below and sent out with the merchants. At night, they sleep in their only belongings—ratty bedrolls they’re allowed to unroll anywhere there’s floor space.
Creatures: The slaves are overseen, fed, and periodically punished by a group of six One Source thugs during the day. At night, a different shift of six guards patrols the main room, ready to raise the alarm if anything untoward attracts their attention. The guards have been alerted that characters bearing the PCs’ descriptions are not welcome, and if the PCs disregard the warnings to get out, the thugs attack. If the PCs are disguised, they can win an escort to speak with Maysam Fajr in area B2 with a successful Level 4 Diplomacy check (or a successful Bluff check).
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: 4 points
Armor: 1
Languages Common, Osiriani
Movement: Short
Modification: Stealth as level 4.
Combat: Thugs prefer ambushes, making ranged attacks from hiding if possible. Whenever they attack a surprised target or when the target has been previously attacked the attack is a level 4 attack and does 1 extra point of damage.
Loot: Sap, Short sword, studded leather armor, crossbow with 10 bolts, thieves’ tools, two small flawed rubies worth 250 gp each.
Ad Hoc Experience Award: The slaves are thankful if released, but as this is Katapesh they have little hope of freedom since their ownership reverts to the city unless the PCs pay a government fine of 50 gp per slave. If this fine is paid, the fate of the slaves is up to the PCs; if they grant the slaves their freedom, award the PCs experience as if they had defeated a CR 5 creature.
A large desk stands in the center of the room. A pair of leather chairs sits to the east, while to the west is a long table. The room is lit with lamps, but remains dim.
This room is kept fairly dark, though it is intended to appear as comfortable as possible. Customers whose business requires Maysam’s attention meet with the half-elf here to work out new deals, payment schedules, or grievances. If the PCs manage to secure a meeting with Maysam, they’re sent here to wait—Maysam arrives 1d4 minutes later, her pet cockatrices in tow, and asks them their business. If she suspects the PCs are the adventurers that Father Jackal warned the guild about, she tries not to let her recognition show, concludes the business, and then escorts the PCs out into area B1, where she commands the guards there to attack. She joins in the attack as well, but flees to area B6 if she takes more than 5 points of damage.
Several large, padded mats sit on the floor of this otherwise empty room.
The One Source Merchants’ Guild offers this room to the guards who serve in area B1 as a place to stay, although most of the guards instead prefer to spend their off hours at taverns or brothels, sleeping where they can find a bed and staggering back here only if there’s no other option.
There’s a 25% chance that 1d4 off-duty guards are resting here when the PCs arrive.
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: 4 points
Armor: 1
Languages Common, Osiriani
Movement: Short
Modification: Stealth as level 4.
Combat: Thugs prefer ambushes, making ranged attacks from hiding if possible. Whenever they attack a surprised target or when the target has been previously attacked the attack is a level 4 attack and does 1 extra point of damage.
Loot: Sap, Short sword, studded leather armor, crossbow with 10 bolts, thieves’ tools, two small flawed rubies worth 250 gp each.
The door to this room is locked with a Level 5 Arcane Lock spell; it can be opened with the password “jackals protect us.”
This room is filled with riches and finery, all awaiting the proper customer. Casks of rare alcohols, bejeweled statuettes of long-forgotten fertility goddesses, stacks of elegant tapestries, and cases of unusual weapons are among the items stored here. The most immediately notable item stands against the middle of the south wall—an ancient sarcophagus bearing the raised silhouette of a noble of ancient Osirion.
Treasure: This is where the guild keeps its finer trade stock. In all, there is approximately 10,000 gp in jewelry, expensive weapons, fine alcohol, and other trade goods kept here—most of which is confiscated by the city if the PCs don’t find a way to subtly make off with the loot. The bulky size of the goods stored here makes the logistics of claiming it without arousing the suspicion of the Pactmasters a somewhat difficult task, especially if the PCs brag about where they managed to find 50 pounds of imported Qadiran silk, for example.
The sarcophagus can be identified as once belonging to Nubkaura Inyotef VIII with a Level 7 Knowledge (history) check—a minor lord of ancient Osirion nonetheless notable for his habit of drinking the blood of his favored concubines, using the awaken spell to grant animal sacrifices sentience just long enough for them to comprehend the terror of being offered up to Rovagug, and murdering his father on the day he ascended to adulthood in order to take over the family’s wealth and lands.
Although a grim piece of history, there is nothing particularly interesting or valuable about the mummy within. He is simply a wrapped and preserved carcass, now ravaged by regular degradations over a period of years. He is kept here solely because he continues to be despised by the undead mummy Nubkaura Inyotef VII, his murdered father, who has served Father Jackal as an advisor for many years. Part of this servitude’s payment required Father Jackal to raid the mummy’s tomb so that the undead father could gloat in having forever deprived his son of a peaceful afterlife. Characters who open the sarcophagus are greeted by a tangle of bones and violated remains mixed with camel dung and dead flies—all that remains of the once brutal child-lord.
Each side of the room contains three heavy desks made from polished wood, each heaped high with documents, books, and ledgers.
This room is where Maysam handles all of the legitimate bookkeeping for the One Source guild. Although the PCs might hope to find something incriminating, the ledgers and accounts are all by the book and legitimate—there is nothing of interest here.
Treasure: A shelf above the eastern desk contains a narrow wooden coffer with the message “In Case of Accidental Petrification” burnt into the lid. Inside are two pottery jars, each containing a dose of stone salve. Maysam keeps these handy in the event of an unintended accident involving her dangerous pets.
This well-apointed office features a sturdy oak desk and several intricate tapestries hanging from the walls. To the southeast sits a large fur rug on which several blankets and pillows have been stacked. Two iron rungs are driven into the wall to the southwest—the ground underneath spattered with white, chalky bird droppings.
Hidden under the bedroll is a trapdoor; PCs who don’t specifically look under the bedroll can find the trapdoor by examining the area and making a Level 3 Search check.
The trapdoor is locked via a Level 5 arcane lock spell; the password to open the door is “the jackal povides.” All of the members of the guild know this password, and if made helpful are more than willing to give out the information to an interrogator. The stairs lead down to a passageway that runs south for about 100 feet before reaching the main complex of Father Jackal’s lair
Creature: This room serves as both office and bedchamber for Maysam Fajr, an attractive half-elven woman who has served Father Jackal as the face of the One Source Merchants’ Guild (and periodically as a lover) ever since the jackalwere seized control of the guild many years ago. Maysam, ever the amoral mercenary, offered to keep the public face of the Guild in return for her life (after she witnessed the jackalwere murder and eat her previous employer), and Father Jackal accepted.
Maysam Fajr entertains guests by invitation only, and such invitations are typically made weeks in advance. She does not tolerate intrusions and orders her personal guards to attack the party the moment they enter the room uninvited.
Maysam Fajr keeps two dangerous pets—a pair of cockatrices she purchased years ago. She keeps both creatures loyal with weekly charm monster spells; they are fiercely protective of her as a result. When at rest, they roost on the iron rungs to the southwest. Maysam sometimes uses the cockatrices as a way to dispose of enemies; after they petrify her foe, she enjoys selling the resulting statue to various shady collectors at a small profit.
Health: 19
Damage Inflicted: 5 points
Armor: 1
Movement: Short
Languages Common, Elven, Kelish, Osiriani
Modifications: Lore, music, oration, persuasion, stealth, and Speed defense as level 7
Combat: During Combat Maysam orders her cockatrices to attack, bolstering them with inspire courage and then joining them by casting spells or using her rapier. She’s fond of using suggestion to force foes to adopt dramatic poses and remain motionless so that when they’re petrified, the resulting statues are worth more.
Morale If brought below 5 health, Maysam uses a cypher to turn gaseous and attempts to escape down through the trapdoor to area B10, where she alerts Khair al Din to the situation.
Combat Rapier, chain shirt, cloak, and gaseous form cypher.
Health: 11
Damage Inflicted: 3 points + petrification
Movement: Immediate; Short when flying
Size: Small
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5
Combat: The cockatrice attack anyone that attacks Maysam. Each time they bite a creature, the creature must make a Might check or fall down the health track and any physical action they take has a disadvantage as they are slowly petrified. Their bite will not kill but petrify their target. The target can use their recovery roll to recover from petrification. Once they fail their 10-hour recovery they are petrified in stone forever.
This room contains six rickety looking cots, a table with a deck of playing cards spread out over it, and a weapon rack that holds several weapons.
Creatures: This room serves as the barracks for the six guards who patrol areas B7–B14. The guards normally remain in their armor when not asleep, but extra weapons are stored here in case some are lost in battle. The weapons include seven short swords, four hand crossbows, and a case of 300 hand crossbow bolts.
If the complex is on alert, these guards have all relocated to area B13, otherwise 1d6 of the guards are here when the PCs arrive. The remaining guards are on patrol elsewhere (determine their position randomly among areas B8–B14, with guards at area B8 and B10 standing in front of the entrance to the room rather than within).
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: 4 points
Armor: 1
Modification: Stealth as level 4.
Combat: Thugs prefer ambushes, making ranged attacks from hiding if possible. Whenever they attack a surprised target or when the target has been previously attacked the attack is a level 4 attack and does 1 extra point of damage.
Loot: Sap, Short sword, studded leather armor, crossbow with 10 bolts, thieves’ tools, two small flawed rubies worth 250 gp each.
This room is decorated with lavish silk wall hangings, a circular multi-colored carpet, and numerous incense burners. A goldplated sarcophagus decorated with numerous hieroglyphs sits in the center of the room.
Creature: Father Jackal came into the ownership of this gold-plated sarcophagus many years ago, and to his delight and surprise, when he broke the wards that kept the sarcophagus sealed, he found the mummy within to be animate. This mummy is a minor lord of ancient Osirion known as Nubkaura Inyotef VII, the Faithful Father—a somewhat mocking title applied post-mortem after he was murdered by his own son. Nubkaura Inyotef VII has pledged his services as an advisor and guardian to Father Jackal not so much out of reverence for their shared patron, but more because Father Jackal agreed to rob his son’s tomb and bring the traitor’s body back for the father to despoil. The mummy has stored the mummified remains of his son in the coffers above, and takes great pleasure in the belief that possessing the corpse prevents him from peacefully entering the afterlife.
It is not unusual for him to have the corpse brought to him so he can defile it before sending it back into storage. Nubkaura Inyotef VII otherwise spends much of his time “sleeping” in his sarcophagus, patiently waiting for his physical body to pass into the afterlife he still hopes someday to achieve. In the meantime, he periodically advises Father Jackal on locations where his agents might dig to find ancient artifacts to sell and upon other matters. In life, Nubkaura Inyotef VII traded often with the ageless Captain of the Sunset Ship, and it was in large part due to the mummy’s support and advice that Father Jackal managed to secure such a flexible arrangement with the denizens of Leng regarding the delivery of the Scroll of Kakishon and the Rough Seed.
Nubkaura is content to rest within his sarcophagus, but if the PCs tamper with it, he rises immediately to wreak vengeance on them. If the complex is on alert, Father Jackal awakens the mummy himself and asks him to remain at his side in area B21, in which case this room is empty when the PCs arrive.
Health: 24
Damage Inflicted: 7 points + mummy rot
Armor: 2
Movement: Immediate
Modifications: ancient history, ancient religion, climbing, and stealth as level 8;
Combat: All creatures within short range that see a mummy must make a Level 6 Intellect Defense or be paralyzed by fear for 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same mummy’s despair ability for 24 hours.
When a mummy strikes a target there is a chance to infect the creature with mummy rot curse. The target must make a Might Defense check or drop one a step in the damage track each day. Once they die they turn to dust. While curse they are unable to heal. The curse must be removed for the target to be able to heal and stop making daily checks to see if they drop down the damage track.
Loot: Jewel-encrusted golden headdress worth 750 gp.
Morale: Fight to the death.
This room contains several statues that depict an odd arrangement of characters. The largest stands in one corner of the room and is a man with the face of a spider. His arms are outstretched, palms up, and each hand cradles a spider nearly the size of the hand itself. Prostrate before it are three more statues, these depicting devil-like, winged creatures with horns and tails. In addition to these strange statues, a few crates and chests sit against the edges of the room.
This room is used to store overflow from the warehouse above, and to store trade goods and items that are too “hot” to reintroduce into the marketplace. Father Jackal often takes in goods from dubious sources (caravan raiders and pirates being a favorite), and such goods are usually left here for months to cool down before being moved upstairs.
Currently, there is nothing of any real interest kept here save for the room’s guardians.
Creatures: The three demonic statues are in fact gargoyles smuggled into the room by Father Jackal years ago and kept as guardians. Their loyalty is maintained by charm monster spells and regular offerings of living, frightened food harvested from the homeless on the streets of Katapesh above. The gargoyles maintain their prostrate position using their freeze ability, hoping to strike at intruders after they’ve turned their attention away from the statues. They fight to the death.
Seemingly carved from a dark weathered gray stone, this sinister crouching humanoid resembles a horned, winged demon.
Health: 12
Armor: 5
Damage: 5 damage
Movement: Short, Long if flying
Modification: Level 7 (21) Stealth, Level 5 (15) on fly and stealth
Languages: Common, Terran
Combat: The gargoyles maintain their prostrate position using their freeze ability, hoping to strike at intruders after they’ve turned their attention away from the statues.
Abilities:
Freeze: A gargoyle can hold itself so still it appears to be a statue. A gargoyle that uses freeze can hide in plain sight as a stone statue. Action to initiate.
Equipment: 1 cypher (magical stone) or gem worth 1d100x10 gp.
Morale: Gargoyles fight to the death.
The door to this room is kept locked and requires a DC 30 Open Lock check to open.
This room appears to be the bedroom and main chamber for an important individual. A large bed with a chest at its foot sits against one wall, while against the opposite wall stands a small altar. Shelves carved into the walls contain books, tiny statuettes of spiders and scorpions, and bottles of wine.
The bookshelf holds numerous reprehensible and relatively worthless texts devoted to the worship of Rovagug, and the “wine” actually consists of several bottles of nearly poisonous grog that the room’s occupant has a taste for.
Creature: This room serves as the quarters for one of Father Jackal’s more dangerous minions—a defrocked cleric of Abadar who abandoned the worship of that god for the power promised by the worship of Rovagug many years ago. After receiving visions of a jackal that vomited up a scorpion that spoke to him, Khair al Din sought out Father Jackal and offered his services. Khair al Din never learned that those “visions” were paid for by Father Jackal, who had Maysam use several scrolls of nightmare to vex and torment the man until he followed up on the visions to join the One Source Merchants’ Guild. If Khair al Din were to learn this truth today, he would likely just cackle and admit that the Rough Beast works in mysterious ways.
If caught off their guard here, the PCs are likely to find Khair al Din reading one of his books on his bed or in the act of mutilating a dog on the altar in preparation for his dinner. In either case, the half-insane cleric shrieks in anger at the disturbance and attacks at once.
Health: 25
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Armor: 3
Movement: Short
Languages: Common, Osiriani
Modifications: Perception and Intellect defense as level 7
GM intrusions: The blackguard’s weapon flares with unholy power, inflicting an additional 6 points of damage (ignores Armor). A slain blackguard rises as an undead or is possessed by a demon and continues to fight.
Combat: During Combat Khair al Din’s first act in combat is to cast divine favor and then attacks in melee. He relies on his offensive spells to fight against foes at range.
Spells: The blackguard knows several spells granted by an evil entity, typically spells that cause a foe to flee in fear for one minute, restore 10 health, sanctuary where they get 2 assets to defend from any attack as long as they are not attacking, or cast a bolt of ambient necrotic energy for 5 damage.
Unholy Aura: Defense rolls by foes within immediate distance of the blackguard are hindered.
Unholy Blessing: The blackguard’s defense rolls are eased.
Morale If brought below 7 health, Khair al Din casts sanctuary and attempts to escape to area B11, whereupon he leaps into the water and casts water breathing. While the PCs deal with the sahuagin in that room, Khair al Din lets his armor sink him to the bottom of the water, whereupon he trudges upriver to area B15 and thence to area B21 to warn Father Jackal.
Equipment: full plate, greataxe, cypher (seashell that grants water breathing for 1 hour), obsidian and gold unholy symbol worth 140 gp
Development: If Khair al Din is alerted to trouble (likely by Maysam fleeing from the PCs to this room), he relocates with the person who warned him to area B13, along with the area’s six guards, to set up a defense.
A relatively small section of worked stone floor overlooks an immense sea cave here. The roof arches to nearly twenty feet above the surging waters below.
This cave and the other to the northwest were, at one point, the only chambers in this area—Father Jackal used them as the basis for much of the surrounding complex, but decided to retain the underwater passage to the southeast that leads to Katapesh harbor at a point 25 feet below the surface at low tide. The exit into the harbor is hidden by thick growths of seaweed, and can be found from the ocean floor with a Level 6 Search check.
Creatures: This room is now the den of a small group of sahuagin that Father Jackal has hired to aid in many matters—primarily the smuggling of pirated goods from ships at sea to here for storage so he can avoid paying import tariffs to the Pactmasters. This fact alone is enough to convince the Pactmasters to look upon the PCs favorably, assuming the PCs break up the One Source Merchants’ Guild. The sahuagin primarily serve Father Jackal as underwater spies that patrol the harbor and keep an eye on things from below—and perhaps drill holes in the hulls of enemy ships now and then at Father Jackal’s request.
The sahuagin themselves are deserters from a larger city of their kin, many miles out in the Obari Ocean. They number five in all, and are led by an experienced rogue named Rhun-gah. The sahuagin absolutely hate Emabier, the strange and hideous guardian of area B14.
The sahuagin and the eye of the deep are traditional enemies in their native ocean environments, and this has translated to tensions between the two here. Neither side actively antagonizes the other, but they have exchanged heated words in the past, with the sahuagin making it known that they would hunt Emabier if they were not in these surroundings and eat his central eye raw. Likewise, Emabier has goaded them on, daring them to take action against him, amused by the fact that their greed for Father Jackal’s coin prevents them from acting according to their nature.
The sahuagin are aquatic, so they find this room comforting. They normally use the rock mounds to sit upon, particularly when receiving orders from Father Jackal, but otherwise they remain submerged in the flowing water for as much of the time as possible while they hunt the fish that regularly find their way down here.
Health: 22
Damage Inflicted: Trident and bite attack for 6 points
Armor: 3
Language: Aquan, Common, Sahuagin; speak with sharks
Movement: Short on land; long in the water
Modifications: Speed Defense as Level 6; Swims as level 7; perception as level 4
GM intrusion: The deep one produces a net and throws it over the character. The only physical action the victim can take is to try to get free, as either a Might-based or a Speed-based action.
Combat: Deep ones attack with tooth and claw most often, although occasionally one might use a weapon. They usually give no quarter, nor ask for it. Their skin is subject to drying, and they take 1 extra point of damage (ignores Armor) from any attack that deals fire or heat damage. Because of this weakness, deep ones sometimes retreat from fire and fire attacks.
During Combat Rhun-gha and his sahuagin are paid to be spies, smugglers, and saboteurs—they do not attack obvious intruders unless they enter the water. In this event, they move swiftly to surround foes. Rhun-gha activates his blood frenzy as soon as possible, and delays his actions in a round if necessary so an ally can flank a foe with him and grant him sneak attacks on all his attacks.
When fighting with other Sahuagin, Rhun-gha does 2 extra damage with his attacks against the same target and his attacks are eased.
Equipment: Leather armor and Trident
Morale: If two of the sahuagin are slain, or if Rhun-gah is reduced to less than 15 hit points, he surrenders on the condition that the party allows them to aid in the battle against the eye of the deep.
Health: 15
Damage Inflicted: Claw and bite attack for 5 points
Armor: 2
Language: Sahuagin, Aquan, sharks
Movement: Short on land; long in the water
Modifications: Swims as level 6; perception as level 3
GM intrusion: The deep one produces a net and throws it over the character. The only physical action the victim can take is to try to get free, as either a Might-based or a Speed-based action.
Combat: Deep ones attack with tooth and claw most often, although occasionally one might use a weapon. They usually give no quarter, nor ask for it. Their skin is subject to drying, and they take 1 extra point of damage (ignores Armor) from any attack that deals fire or heat damage. Because of this weakness, deep ones sometimes retreat from fire and fire attacks.
Equipment: None
Morale: Fight to the death.
A single large wooden table, surrounded by six chairs, sits in this room.
This room serves as a meeting place where matters of business and faith are discussed, often in preparation for entering room B13 for the weekly sermon devoted to Rovagug.
Development: If any of the thugs survived the assault on the villa, they are stationed here as additional guards—if Tamir survived, he instead can be encountered at Khair al Din’s side in either area B10 or B13.
The ceiling of this room arches up to a height of twenty feet, yet the thick, rotten smell in the air makes the room seem close and cramped. Three wide benches sit in the room facing a tenfoot-wide dais at the far end. The wall behind the dais depicts an immense carving of a hideous arachnid monster creeping out of a hole in the world the size of a kingdom. The smell seems to be coming from the mounds of decaying bodies heaped to the left and right of the dais, bodies in various stages of decay and caked with wax from the drippings of dozens of fat, sloppy candles wedged in among tangled limbs, empty eyesockets, and battered ribcages.
This room is where Khair al Din holds his weekly sermons on the nature of the Rough Beast and the coming end of the world. Father Jackal isn’t much of a religious creature, but he does find Khair’s stories to be entertaining and requires his other minions and guards to attend these meetings, understanding that religion and fear of god is a great way to maintain control. As long as he controls Khair al Din, he controls the guild.
The carving on the wall can be identified as a representation of Rovagug emerging from the Pit of Gormuz with a Level 5 Knowledge (religion) check. The bodies are the remains of sacrifices—mostly the homeless, but here and there a merchant that got on the wrong side of the guild.
Creature: Three of the “bodies” caked with wax are in fact ghouls that Khair al Din has commanded with his rebuke undead ability. He has ordered the ghouls to remain motionless in the pile of bodies, but to attack anyone they do not recognize as being part of the faith. The ghouls do just that when the PCs enter the room.
Health: 12
Damage Inflicted: 5 points
Movement: Short
Modifications: Religion and Stealth as level 5
Combat: Ghoul saliva contains a paralytic agent. Ghoul bites (and weapons used by ghouls) inflict damage and, on a failed Might defense roll, render the target paralyzed for one minute. A paralyzed target can attempt a Might-based task each round to regain mobility, but for the next minute, attacks, defenses, and movement tasks are hindered.
Ghouls can see in the dark. They’re blind in full daylight, but civilized ghouls who travel to the surface carry lenses that cover their eyes, allowing them to see without penalty in full sunlight.
Development: If the complex is on alert, the PCs face a far more deadly fight in this room—in addition to the ghouls, they’ll be confronted by Khair al Din, six One Source thugs, and possibly Tamir and Maysam as well. If all of these foes are present at once, the PCs face an EL 11 encounter—hopefully the PCs don’t let that many foes escape and regroup here!
As detailed on page 81, the Rough Seeds of Rovagug have strange and unnatural effects on the more aberrant and verminoid of the world’s creatures—they require contact with specific entities before they can awaken and hatch.
In the case of this particular Rough Seed, that catalyst was Emabier. The eye of the deep still doesn’t quite understand that, in a strange way, it is the mother of the creature that has since hatched from the seed, nor does it suspect that the link between it and the hatchling remains, and that if the spawn is allowed to grow to maturity, the eye of the deep’s soul will serve as the spawn’s chrysalis.
If the PCs slay the hatchling, Emabier is released from the strange pull and, if it still lives, it realizes it’s out of its element and flees back to the deep ocean. If instead the PCs slay the eye of the deep before they confront the hatchling, it immediately gains 2 negative levels and is forever doomed to remain a hatchling.
Much of this room is submerged in water. The water’s edge laps restlessly against two shores connected by a stout-looking wooden bridge. The floor of each shore is uneven, as is the ceiling, giving the room the appearance of lying at an angle.
The bridge is solid, but the planks are slippery—crossing the bridge requires a Level 3 Balance check. A GM Intrusion can be inserted here that causes the character to fall into the water. The water itself is 20 feet deep, and serves as the lair of one of Father Jackal’s most unusual guardians.
Creature: One of Father Jackal’s most recent triumphs was the enticing of a strange deep-sea predator to serve him in this room as a guardian. The creature in question is an eye of the deep—a 5-foot-wide, roughly spherical aberration with a huge central eye, two additional eyes on stalks, a large serrated mouth, and two large crab-like pincers.
The creature’s name is Emabier. Normally denizens of the deepest ocean reaches, unknowable urges sometimes seize the eyes of the deep and drive them upward to shallow shorelines. In Emabier’s case, it was the arrival of the Rough Seed in Katapesh—the eye of the deep found its way into area B11 of the Jackal’s Lair, lured by the proximity of the Rough Seed’s silent call.
There, Emabier encountered the sahuagin—some of its kind’s traditional enemies. The eye of the deep slew several of the sahuagin and left others stunned, but so powerful was the lure of the Rough Seed that it left the stunned enemies behind and continued to this cave. Upon finding the route onward barred, the eye of the deep flew into a rage. When the sahuagin alerted Father Jackal to the intrusion, the jackalwere was intrigued—he managed to make peaceful contact with Emabier (much to the sahuagin’s dismay) and in return for allowing the eye of the deep to touch and feel the Rough Seed (Father Jackal brought it into the cave), he secured Emabier’s loyalty as a guardian.
Emabier hates the sahuagin in area B11. In their natural ocean habitat, he would prey upon such weaker creatures.
The sahuagin have made threats against him in the past, and he quietly waits for the opportunity to unleash his might against those incompetent fools. If the party accepted the offer of help from the sahuagin earlier, he concentrates his attacks against the fish-men at first because he so desires to see them dead.
This creature is a 5-foot wide orb dominated by a central eye and large serrated mouth. Hundreds of small seaweed-like bristles hang from the bottom of its body. Two large crab-like pincers protrude from its body, and two long, thin eyestalks sprout from the top of its orb.
Health: 17
Armor: 2
Damage: 2 claw and 1 bite attack 5 damage + 2 eye stalk attacks.
Movement: Long
Modification: Level 7 Swim check.
Languages: Any language.
Languages Aquan, Common
Combat: Before Combat Emabier hides in the deepest part of the pool and uses minor image to create an illusion of a glowing, golden sword in the water 10 feet from the center of the bridge in an attempt to lure PCs into the pool.
During Combat If the PCs enter the water, Emabier uses its eye rays on the closest target, then moves in to engage in melee, using eye rays on foes that stay out of reach on land. Otherwise, Emabier doesn’t attack until the first PC approaches within 15 feet of area B15. If the PCs are accompanied by sahuagin, Emabier attacks them in preference to the PCs.
Constrict (Ex) An eye of the deep deals 5 damage when it constricts a grabbed target.
Eye Rays (Su) Each of Emabier’s two stalked eyes can produce a magical ray once per round as a free action. These eye rays are always its primary attacks; its claws and bites are secondary attacks. It can aim both of its eye rays in any direction. Each eye ray has a 200 foot range.
Displace Monster: Right eye—the target hit must succeed on a Intellect Defense save or become out of phase and cannot be affected or affect anything physical, except by the eye of the deep bites and claws. Each round they must make an intellect defense check to be realigned or use a power to become physical again. While displaced they are invisible to anyone except the eye of the deep and those who can see invisible or out of phase creatures.
Weakness: Left eye—the target hit must succeed on a Might Defense check or be affected as if by a ray of enfeeblement, taking 5 damage and going down the damage path by one step.
Illusion: An eye of the deep can create a minor image at will by combining the effects of its stalked eyes; it cannot use its eye rays while concentrating on this illusion.
Stun Cone: Once per round as a standard action, an eye of the deep’s central eye can produce a cone of energy that hits anyone within short range. Those in the area of effect must succeed a Might Defense check or be stunned. They must make a Might check each round to recover.
Morale Emabier fights to the death.
This door is the only entrance into the innermost reaches of Father Jackal’s den. The door itself is made of stone and decorated with a carving of a jackal-headed man holding a hatchet in one hand and a hand-sized spider in the other.
The door is arcane locked (CL 7th); the password to open it is “let jackals eat the bones of your enemies.”
Both doors to this room are locked—the locks can be picked with a Level 7 Open Lock check. Father Jackal carries the key to both doors.
This room is empty, save for three metal grates set in the floor, each locked with a thick iron chain and manacle. The odor emanating from the pits is horrid.
These prison cells are used to hold sacrifices or other prisoners Father Jackal doesn’t immediately know what to do with. It is here that Rayhan (or whomever the jackalwere abducts) is held prisoner; the lock to his cell can be opened with the key Father Jackal carries or picked with a Level 7 Open Lock check. The pit below the grating is only 4 feet deep, and caked with filth and 2 inches of seawater.
Rayhan is in sorry shape, hands bound to his feet and gagged—when the PCs release him, he’s suffering from mild hypothermia and has only 3 health.
Rayhan wants only to be led from this nightmare world below Katapesh, but understands if the PCs don’t want to leave until they’ve dealt with Father Jackal. If the PCs can cure his health, Rayhan may even be able to lend them a hand. He still has any spells he prepared the night he was abducted, although without his gear and spell components, he’s limited in the help he can provide. Rayhan’s gear is currently located in area B19.
The floor of this room is covered with a black, gold-trimmed carpet. Statues of jackal-faced men stand in the four corners of the room.
Although paranoid PCs may suspect the statues are golems, they are in fact much less dangerous guardians—they function similarly to stones of alarm. Any creature that passes into the room without holding one hand high and making a talon-shaped claw with two fingers and a thumb causes the four statues to open their stony jaws and emit loud, piercing howls—enough to alert the denizens of the nearby rooms that trouble is near. Invisibility can defeat the statues with ease—they have decrease the difficulty of perception by 2 Levels for the purposes of noticing characters that are hidden.
This room seems to be a study or lounge of some sort. The floor is covered with thick, red carpeting, and the walls hang with deep purple curtains. Strangely smokeless braziers flicker in the corners of the room, radiating a pleasant warmth. Two long benches sit against two walls, while in the opposite corner stands a small round table and a large chair.
This room is where Father Jackal meets with important visitors and entertains guests (a rare, but not unheard of event). The room’s decor stands in sharp contrast to the furnishings of his personal chambers nearby in area B19.
Creature: For the past several weeks, this room has had a single occupant—the eerily patient Captain of the Sunset Ship to whom Father Jackal owes the newly hatched emkrah and the Scroll of Kakishon. It is a credit to Father Jackal’s skills at both bargaining and groveling that, when the Sunset Ship sailed into port at the start of this adventure, its Captain didn’t take him away to parts unknown and a sickening fate to punish him for having only part of the agreed upon trade. The Captain sent his ship on to their next mysterious port of call, informing Father Jackal that they would return in a few weeks to collect what was due—be it the Scroll of Kakishon or Father Jackal himself.
To serve as a constant reminder to the ticking clock, the Captain of the Sunset Ship has moved into this chamber—insanely patient, the eerie outsider has spent the past many days quietly sitting in the leather chair. For much of the time, he appears to be asleep, eyes closed and breathing regular. In fact, while he is exploring the further corners of dream, he remains quite aware of his surroundings here. The Captain looks humanoid, but very little of his flesh is visible under his luxurious yellow robes, and the way those robes hang from his body hint at a form far less humanoid than might appear. In truth, the Captain is a denizen of Leng, and under his robes he is a malformed monstrosity with a horned head, a hideous tentacled and spidery mouth, thick clawed fingers, and crooked legs that end in hooves.
When the PCs enter the room, the Captain’s eyes open to regard them with a strange and unsettling stare. When he speaks, his voice is strangely deep. “And so you are the ones to have vexed my puppet so. Have you come to deliver the Scroll of Kakishon to him? What do you imagine the jackal would do if he were to learn that what I truly wanted was his humiliation and defeat—that I gave to him two impossible tasks so that when I returned he would be ruined with the shame? You fleshy fools are so much more useful to me when your own minds break your spirits before I tend to more… visceral pursuits.”
What the enigmatic Captain says is true—while he is delighted that Father Jackal managed to deliver on the Rough Seed and almost delivered on the Scroll of Kakishon, his true goal is the jackalwere himself—he does not divulge the exact nature of the entity that sent him to Kakishon to gather such a strange trophy, hinting that it is better for fragile minds not to look too deeply into the Dark Tapestry, lest they learn too much of what lies beyond.
In any event, the Captain has a proposition for the PCs. He produces a small vial of red liquid and holds it out for the PCs to take, informing them that it is a vial of dreams. He asks them to feed the contents of the vial to the hatchling of the Rough Seed (the Captain informs the PCs that the creature lairs in a cavern to the east, providing directions through area B17 to area B20), going on to explain that the red liquid is a stolen dream, and that feeding it to the hatchling will compel it to turn on Father Jackal and consume him. The Captain warns the PCs that until they feed the liquid to the hatchling, it will likely prove dangerous to them, but once the liquid is delivered, their troubles with Father Jackal will be near an end. A PC who decides to drink the liquid himself must make a Level 6 Intellect Defense check or be driven permanently insane (as per the spell). The Captain makes no attempt to prevent PCs from doing this if they do so in his presence. In return for this small task, the Captain tells the PCs that they may keep the Scroll of Kakishon for themselves.
If, instead, the PCs decide the strange creature is not to be trusted and attack, the Captain defends himself as detailed in his tactics—if at any point the PCs realize they may have bitten off too much, the Captain is willing to cease hostilities in return for the PCs delivering the vial to the hatchling as promised.
Health: 30 (heals 5 damage per round)
Armor: 3
Damage: Dagger Attack 4 damage + 4 ambient poison intellect damage, Claw 4 damage, and Bite 4 Speed Damage
Movement: Long
Modification: Level 7 Intellect, Might, Speed Defense, Sense Motive, Bluff, Acrobatics, Knowledge Plane; Immune to cold, electricity, poison.
Languages: Any language.
Combat: The Captain fights one foe at a time, using his great intellect to determine which PC poses the greatest threat and making full attacks against that single foe before moving on to the next threat. While outside of Leng, the Captain heals each round 5 points of damage.
Bite: The Captain's bite causes the flesh and body of the target to warp, twist and deform. This causes speed damage and a disadvantage to the targets next physical action.
Shadow Duplicates: Smoke flows from the Captain and creates 2 duplicates that act independently. When they strike they do 4 cold damage. They can take 10 damage before dissipating.
Internal Derangement: The creature is immune to minor effects from actions as well as bleeding attacks. They also do not need to breath.
Plane Shift: The captain can open a rift and jump to the Leng once every 10-hours.
Planar Fast Healing: On the Material Plane, a denizen of Leng heals 5 health a round. On the plane of Leng, it has no fast healing. Everywhere else it has fast healing 2. A denizen of Leng that is slain anywhere but on Leng dissolves into nothingness in 1d3 rounds and reforms on Leng with full health, but is barred from returning to the plane of its demise for 1 year. Equipment carried remains behind on the plane of its death.
Morale: The Captain fights to the “death,” knowing that he’ll merely awaken again in Leng if defeated. He may (or may not) seek vengeance against the PCs at some point in the future.
This filthy room reeks of decayed meat and blood. Gnawed-upon bones lie in a semi-orderly heap in one corner of the room, while in another is a large nest of ratty furs, blankets, and tattered pillows. A lopsided wicker basket with a lid sits nearby.
Father Jackal prefers to sleep in his jackal form, and this room is his den. There is little to interest the PCs here apart from the strange nature of the room’s almost kennel-like accouterments.
Treasure: The large basket by the nest contains all of Rayhan’s gear—Father Jackal hasn’t bothered to catalog and identify it yet.
This large cave is filthy with slime and ooze—thick, gelatinous sheets of the stuff cling to the floors and ceiling of the place. The floor slopes down sharply as the cave dips away into darkness to the south.
Creature: The denizen of this cave is the hatchling that emerged from the Rough Seed not long after the eye of the deep caressed it and woke it from its slumber.
The creature has eaten the remnants of its shell (as well as dozens of hapless offerings fed to it by Father Jackal), and now lurks in the southern reach of the cave, near where the jagged slope leads up into area B21. It lumbers out of the shadows to attack the PCs as soon as they enter the room.
If the PCs have the vial of dreams from the Captain of the Sunset Ship, they may attempt to feed the vial to the hatchling by either throwing it (a ranged touch attack) or pouring the liquid over the creature (a melee touch attack that provokes an attack of opportunity). The vial is tough—if they miss on a throw, it won’t break but they’ll need to get by the hungry hatchling to get to it and try feeding the beast again).
As soon as the hatchling is fed the vial, it shudders and freezes in place for a moment, then turns toward area B21. With a hideous muffled roar, the monster clambers up the ragged slope to seek out Father Jackal and consume him. At this point, the PCs can partake in the battle if they wish, or if they want to ensure that the hatchling has assistance in consuming its new target—in any event, the hatchling is no longer a menace to them.
Lashing furiously, this semi-gelatinous abomination surges forward upon a wave of tentacular legs. These artery-like legs knot into a single stalk capped by a bulbous, fleshy head dominated by a huge mouth and a yawning, empty eyesocket. The thing’s disgusting trunk and head float within a transparent body of vein-riddled ooze, like a gigantic jellyfish.
Health: 43
Armor: 4
Damage: 4 tentacle Attacks 6 damage + grab and Bite 4 damage
Movement: Short
Size: Large
Modification: Level 7 Intellect Defense, Might Checks, Perception, Initiative, Bluff, Acrobatics; immune to cold and acid attacks
Combat: Emkrah is driven to consume and destroy. When they strike with their tentacles, they attempt to grab their target and swallow them. Once inside they not only consume the physical form of the creature but also their souls, destroying them.
Doom Gaze: Each creature that meets its gaze takes 4 Intellect damage.
Acid Spittle: Target a creature within long range for 4 damage that clings to the creature, doing damage each round unless they wash or make a might check to remove.
Swallow Whole: A grabbed creature that fails to escape is swallowed. Once inside the automatically take 4 ambient acid damage per round and 2 Intellect damage.
Equipment: None
Morale: It fights to the death.
The ceiling of this enormous room rises thirty feet, and is supported by a dozen stone pillars. The chamber is empty, save for an immense stone dais to the west upon which stands a huge and horrifying statue carved of black stone. The statue resembles a spider and a scorpion, but is neither—it is something unaccountably more horrifying to look upon. Two dozen sparkling pearl eyes glare out of the monstrous statue’s face.
This immense, cathedral-like chamber is where Father Jackal spends much of his time. Although not himself a cleric, he knows the value of keeping up appearances, and spends large portions of his time in this empty hall, supposedly contemplating the majesty of the huge black basalt statue of Rovagug that is the cathedral’s centerpiece.
Creature: Father Jackal had hoped to avoid a confrontation with the PCs, and if they manage to reach him here, he knows they are dangerous foes. His initial reaction to the PCs’ arrival is somewhat craven as a result—he offers a very insincere apology for going to such lengths to acquire the map, and then apologizes for abducting Rayhan. If the PCs allow him to speak, he points out the fact that they have effectively put an end to his guild, and that he’ll be forced to abandon the city of Katapesh as a result. If they agree to just walk away with their rescued friend, he promises the PCs will never hear from him again.
This is, of course, all a ruse to put the PCs off guard, and to allow him a chance to approach close enough to them so that they are all in range of his sleep gaze. When they are, he activates the gaze and attacks. If Nubkaura Inyotef VII is here as well, the mummy stands motionless near the statue of Rovagug, moving forward to attack as soon as Father Jackal strikes.
As Father Jackal attacks, he gives a high-pitched call to the hatchling in area B20. The monstrous creature lumbers up out of the pit immediately into this room and joins the battle—unless the PCs have the vial of dreams from the Captain of the Sunset Ship, this battle may quickly go against them.
You see a bestial humanoid with the head of a jackal. His eyes seem to glow in a preternatural light.
Health: 43
Armor: 4
Damage: 7 damage and Bite 4 damage
Movement: Long
Modification: Level 7 Intellect Defense, Might Checks, Perception; Level 8 (24) on Speed Defense, Initiative, Bluff, Acrobatics
Languages: Ancient Osiriani, Aquan, Common, Osiriani, Sahuagin
Combat: Father Jackal makes good use of improved feint to make sneak attacks with greater ease, and also pulls animals from his tan bag of tricks to increase the number of allies with which he can flank before closing to melee. He’s aware of the fact that his sleep gaze might cause his animal allies to fall asleep—if one does, he pulls another from his bag to replace the sleeping animal with a frustrated snarl.
Spells:
Feint Attack: Eases his attack while sacrificing his bite attack, adds 2 damage.
Sleep Gaze: Puts anyone within short range to sleep.
Alternate Form: Father Jackal prefers his hybrid form, but if he wishes, he may change into his human form or his jackal form as a standard action. He reverts to jackal form if slain.
Equipment: cypher, tan bag of tricks; Other Gear breastplate, battleaxe, throwing axes (6), key to area B16 and the prison cells within.
Morale: Father Jackal fights to the death.
Treasure: Despite worries some PCs might have about curses or divine retribution, the statue of Rovagug is harmless. Its two dozen eyes are all large pearls worth 100 gp apiece.
Development: If the hatchling is fed the vial of dreams and then manages to swallow Father Jackal whole, the creature begins feeding on the hapless jackalwere in a hideous display, tearing him apart and expelling any non-organic matter (including all of the jackalwere’s gear) in a spattering heap on the ground. As it feeds, the Captain of the Sunset Ship steps into the room. Silently, the mysterious creature approaches the hatchling, which grows quiet and motionless as the denizen of Leng does so. When it reaches the hatchling, the Captain turns to face the PCs and speaks, holding out a red silk pouch for the PCs.
“You know not what you have done, yet still you have provided me a service. Take the contents of this pouch as your reward. You may find its contents of great value once you reach Kakishon. I have been upon its secret shores before, for I knew the way when Nex still walked them. Yet know this—what you seek in Kakishon is what you need, yet what you need is not what you seek.”
With these last enigmatic words, the denizen of Leng reaches out to touch the hatchling, and in the blink of an eye both creatures are gone—the captain has returned to Leng.
The red silk pouch contains 10,000 gp in small rubies, a larger ruby the size of a goose egg, and what appears to be a twisted tuning fork carved from a single ruby. The large egg-shaped ruby is in fact a stone of good luck. The tuning fork radiates faint abjuration magic—it has no use now (aside from being worth 15,000 gp for its material alone), but if the PCs keep it, the tuning fork will aid them greatly in their coming trip to Kakishon.