On Nabu - Part Four

4146 Village of Echoes: The adventurers stumble upon a small, abandoned village. The village is surrounded by a picket of sharpened stakes and tangled thorn bushes. It also has a wooden gate that has been left open. Keen eyes might note a partial human skeleton buried in the ground in front of the gate.

Although the adventurers cannot see anyone, the village is inhabited by echoes. The echoes are all that remains of the villagers after being cursed. Some years before, a dying wizard came before the gates of the village, begging for assistance. The greedy villagers lifted not one finger to help the man and so he cursed them with his dying breath. They were shunted into a space between dimensions, their only anchor to the material world being their voices, which could only echo the voices of others.

The only way to communicate with the villagers now is through the use of drums and call-response style songs. The call-response songs are the only way the cursed villagers can answer questions. Using this method, curious adventurers may learn of the village’s curse.

The curse can only be broken by carrying the wizard’s bones into the village and throwing them a great feast. Unfortunately, the skeleton is not complete. The skull is in the possession of Bonolo [7744]. The skeleton’s right arm was carried away by a lion, and now resides two hexes to the southwest [3947]. A locate object spell will lead adventurers to these bones.

Once the curse is broken, the villagers will return to the material world none the worse for wear. Unfortunately, they are as greedy as ever, and their rescuers will be hailed by a chorus of complaints: “Where are our animals? What will we eat?” While it may be possible to hire some of the villagers as bearers or even men-at-arms, they will prove to be quarrelsome and disloyal.

4426 Boiling Springs: Amidst the sandy dunes there is a small meadow of dry grasses, in the midst of which there are boiling hot springs. The springs themselves are surrounded by a caldera of sorts composed of mineral deposits. Shamans from the surrounding area trek to this place to gather minerals, and there is a 1 in 6 chance that a druid and his acolytes are present. Not far away from the springs is a half-finished shrine built of large sandstone blocks. The shrine was meant to be dedicated to Selchis, but was never finished. Various rare earths can be taken from the site by an alchemist, and water from the springs has medicinal qualities (+1 save vs. disease).

4447 Castle of Bones: A small limestone castle lies in this hex, abandoned save for a terrible multitude of bleached bones. The walls of the castle rise 30 feet from the ground and are crenelated. Each corner of the walls boasts a square tower 40 feet tall. The northeast tower has collapsed and the others will soon join it. Presently, they show the signs of a terrible fire. Two fifty foot tall towers flank the castle gate, which is shut by a portcullis of rusty wrought iron. Through the portcullis, one can see that the courtyard beyond is covered with humanoid bones, with some “drifts” being 3 or 4 feet deep. The castle’s keep is fifty feet tall with a base 80 feet square. Within the keep there is a fairly common layout; great hall and kitchen on the ground floor, barracks and storage on the second floor, living chambers on the third and an armory and treasure room on the top level. All of these rooms are similarly piled with bones, which seem to catch on clothes and get under feet while one passes through. The castle holds no treasure. The bones are an illusion created ages ago by a godling in revenge for the blasphemies committed by the inhabitants, who long ago left the morbid place to rot.

4648 Abbey of Melkarth: Adrubal, a patriarch of Melkarth has constructed an abbey in this hex. The abbey consists of a 30-ft tall central keep flanked by four lower structures lined with pillars. The abbey is constructed of limestone clad in reddish marble. The main doors, looking east, are wood clad in bronze bas-relief. The keep has a dozen arrow slits facing in each direction. The smaller structures of the abbey comprise an eating hall, kitchen, living chambers (small cells stacked atop one another and accessible by ladders for the brothers, a larger chamber for the abbot) and a training room. All of these structures are connected by narrow passages. The central keep houses the great idol of Melkarth. While the exterior of the keep is square, the interior is octagonal. In the middle of the room there is a 25-ft tall idol of Melkarth. Each corner in the room has a bronze brazier, with incense kept burning throughout the day. Ladders lead up to wooden platforms that allow the brothers to use the aforementioned arrow slits. The abbey is surrounded by walled gardens (cooking and medicinal) and several quince trees.

Below the keep and accessible from the living quarters, is what the brothers call the Well of Souls. The well is located in a natural, limestone cavern clad in coral. In the middle of the cavern there is a natural well that contains cloudy, reddish water. The floor of the cavern has been worked to create an octagonal pool with steps leading to the central well. The brothers have also carved out storage and meditation alcoves around the pool area. Non-lawful creatures stepping into the pool with cause it to freeze over; a saving throw (with a penalty based on how deep one goes) is required to avoid being frozen in place and suffering 1d6 damage each round until freed.

The abbey’s treasure, located behind a secret door in one of the aforementioned alcoves, consists of 10800 cp, 10920 sp, a sardonyx worth 500 gp, a gnomish cloak (10 gp, +1 to hide) and a cursed scroll that kills its reader with a rotting disease in 2d4 turns. Adrubal keeps a stuffed crocodile (90 gp), a papyrus scroll on art & music (30 lb) and a masterwork longspear (100 gp, +1 to hit) in his living quarters. He wears a copper toe ring set with a citrine (500 gp) and an ivory locket (40 gp) and carries a pale yellow potion of fire resistance with an earthy taste in a conical bottle and a masterwork heavy flail (150 gp). The brothers have ring armor, shields, maces and pellet bows (fire stones, like slings, same damage but short bow range).

• Acolytes (20): HD 1; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 weapon (1d6); Move 9; Save 16; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Turn undead.
• Adrubal, Cleric Lvl 10: HP 69; AC 4 [15]; Save 5; Special: Spells (5th), +1 to hit with heavy flail; Heavy flail, chainmail, potion of fire resistance.

4838 Roasting Crater: The ground rises here to form the walls of a great crater one-half mile in diameter. The floor of the crater is solid glass and capable of roasting people alive during the day (3d6 damage per round).

5350 Abbey of Medusa: A small rise of jagged stone there stands a small fortress. Built of sandstone, the fortress is inhabited by a convent of twelve nuns dedicated to the worship of Medusa. The nuns draw their members from the ranks of women wronged by men. They are normal humans from many walks of life, but fight as berserkers against men using sickle-swords and daggers. The nuns are led by Mother Betresh and her adepts, Henna and Maia.

The fortress is twenty feet tall and consists of two stories. The roof is vaulted and made of stone. The roof has a cistern for collecting water (connected to the kitchen via a clay pipe) and a chimney (also to the kitchen) blocked by an iron grate. To enter the fortress, one must first negotiate the jagged outcropping it is built upon. One must climb 15’ to get to the entry, and risks falling and cutting themselves to do so. There is a small ledge before the entryway, which is flanked by two statues of women in Egyptian garb, facing away from the door. The door itself is constructed of iron and always kept locked. A sliding panel on the door allows the nuns to spy on their visitors.

The bottom floor of the temple consists of a small entry hall decorated with very fine statuary, much of it weathered and cracked from age and the elements. From the entry hall there are three wooden doors heading north, east and west.

The north door leads to a dining hall for the nuns. It features a long table set with earthenware bowls, spoons and goblets. There are twenty chairs along the table, including a chair carved from marble and set with precious stones of green and yellow (1,000 gp total, gems worth 200 gp if removed) at the head of the table. Bas-reliefs of dancing women along the walls are designed to hold candles. A door in the eastern wall leads to the kitchen.

The eastern door from the entry chamber leads to a storage room. It is piled high with bolts of green cloth (used to make robes), barrels of hard cheese, jars of pickled olives and fish and three amphorae of white wine (worth 10 gp each). There are hundreds of mushrooms and strips of fungus hung in nets to dry and a dozen baskets that appear to be used to collect them. A door in the northern wall of the storage chamber leads to the kitchen.

The kitchen consists of a couple tables, a fireplace and a wash basin (connected to the cistern on the roof). A cauldron hangs in the fireplace and bowls, plates and knives are scattered on the tables. A few stools allow the nuns to sit while working.

The western door in the entry hall leads to a stairwell. The stairs are made of stone with wrought iron railings. They spiral up to the second floor. Along the western wall several stone masks representing faces twisted in horror, misery or agony hang on hooks on the wall. Removing a mask will reveal wire tied to the back, allowing them to be worn over the face (though without the benefit of seeing). In each corner of this room there are sculptures of warriors in archaic armor shielding their eyes. It is readily apparent to anyone who examines them that their upraised arms can be rotated. The statue in the northwest corner is a trigger that causes the stairwell to sink into the ground, leaving a hole in the ceiling but allowing access to the caverns beneath the nunnery. The other three statues have glyphs of warding carved into their horrified faces. The northeast statue has a blast glyph that deals 7d4 points of acid damage. The southwest and southeast statues have spell glyphs; blindness and cause disease respectively. All glyphs were cast by a 7th level evil cleric.

When ascending the stairs to the second story, one finds themselves in a chapel dedicated to Medusa. The chapel contains a small marble altar supported by statues of two small children and a headless idol of Medusa herself. Chains on one wall suggest that sacrifices are performed here; the chisels and hammers on the wall, all of ornate design, reinforce this suggestion. A single door to the east allows access to a hallway. The hallways allows access to several living cells to the south. To the north, a door gives access to the abbess’ study (filled with religious objects and a writing desk, in which there is a map showing an entrance to the underground queendom of the medusas beneath the Carnelian Coast), which in turn allows access to her simple living chamber (bed, wardrobe, Egyptian-style plate armor and a gorgon-visaged helm on a stand, three maces on a rack, the first silver, the second masterwork, the third carrying a +2 enchantment and the ability to cast flesh to stone once per day when the command word “Justice” is uttered). A locked chest trapped with a poisoned needle (permanent paralysis) contains the nuns’ treasure: 997 gp, delicate electrum clasp in shape of a coiled basilisk (2,000 gp), etched crystal ring (1,500 gp) and brass dinnerware (60 gp).

The caverns beneath the nunnery are not extensive. The nuns believe that the outcropping and its little underworld were created when drops of blood from Medusa’s severed head touched the ground here in ancient times. The stairwell leads to a cramped cavern decorated with carvings of dancing priestesses. A small chute leads downward from this room, large enough to allow a fully armored human to crawl their way through. Those trying to crawl through the chute without first disarming its trap (by rotating all of the eyes of the dancing priestesses to make them look closed) are likely to be impaled by iron spears set with springs. The spears fire and then pull back, meaning that each person moving through the chute will suffer 1d6 attacks from a 3 HD “creature”.

At the bottom of the chute there is a larger cavern with a vaulted roof. A fountain in the shape of Neptunus spits water into a carved basin in the center of the room. The statue’s head is turned to face east while his trident points to the west. The entire room is quite damp, and hundreds of edible mushrooms are being cultivated on the floor and walls. There are three exits from the cavern, all of them low, narrow passages cut from the stone.

The water in the fountain has one magical property: If applied to the eyes of the masks (from the stairwell above), they become transparent, allowing the wearer to see but still be impervious to gaze attacks. When the water dries, the effect ends (assume it lasts 2 turns in the damp caves). Only the water from this fountain has this effect.

The eastern passage winds its way in a curve to the western passage. The western passage is blocked by an iron portcullis that is locked down and thus cannot be lifted. Ten feet into the eastern passage, adventurers will come upon an alcove filled with bas-relief sculpture showing a beautiful woman surrounded by courtiers. After another 10’ there is a second alcove filled with a sculpture of Neptunus embracing the woman. A third alcove ten feet further on shows, again in bas-relief, the goddess Athena hovering over the woman who now bears the face of a medusa. At this point, anyone wearing a mask who does not express sympathy with Medusa (by word or tear) will be cursed, their face taking on the appearance of the mask they wear and giving them an effective charisma of 5.

The western portcullis is 10 feet away from the third alcove and contains a lever on one wall that releases the lock and allows the portcullis to be lifted.

The northern passage leads to a vertical shaft. The shaft is set with iron rungs and descends twenty feet into the earth. When adventurers are half-way down the shaft they will trip the trap therein unless they are lucky enough to skip the iron rung that triggers the trap. The trap causes spring-loaded blocks of stone to fire, trapping those already in the shaft against the opposite wall of the shaft. The bludgeoning deals 1d6 damage and the pressure forces them to hold their breath until the trap can be disarmed. A secret door in the floor of the passageway allows access to a gear that winds the springs back. Turning the gear requires strength saving throws, made once each round. Tally the amount by which each save is beaten; when a total of 20 is reached, the stone blocks recede and allow those trapped to breath and continue downward.

The vertical shaft ends in a large cavern filled with statuary. It is home to a greater medusa called Caelia (40 hp). Caelia’s treasure consists of 1,500 gp, a delicate crystal sculpture of a cat (80 gp), a masterwork short sword with a pommel bearing the visage of a boar (90 gp, +1 to hit), a delicate brass bracelet (8 gp), a lotus-shaped clasp of ebony (10 gp) and a massive, ostentatious gold ring (500 gp).

• Betresh, Cleric Lvl 7: HP 39; AC 1 [18]; Save 8; Special: Spells (3rd), petrifying gaze (1/day), snake poison (paralysis for 1d6 rounds), immune to medusa gaze, command earth creatures; Plate mail, mace (petrifies), holy symbol.
• Henna & Maia, Cleric Lvl 2: HP 15; AC 3 [16]; Save 13; Special: Command earth creatures.
• Caelia, Greater Medusa: HD 8; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 snakes (1d4 + paralyze), 1 weapon (1d6); Move 12; Save 8; CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Petrify, poison, poisonous blood (1d6 strength).

5826 Dry Seabed: This hex and all of those adjacent to it were at the bottom of an ancient sea. Walking into this area, adventurers (especially dwarves and gnomes) will recognize that they are heading down a gentle slope. The temperature will grow hotter as they descend to [Hex 5826]. The entire area is home to hundreds of giant crab exoskeletons (2 in 6 chance to encounter 1d4 per day in the Dead Sea, per hour in this hex).

At the center of the Dead Sea an irregular block of greenish-grey stone rises from the sands. The crab exoskeletons will not approach within 20’ of this stone.
There is a portal in the stone that heads downward into the sands. The passage will lead downward at a 20-degree slope for about 200 feet and then turn right, continuing along the same slope. The passage will continue its descent in 200’ increments until they have descended 300’ into the earth (10 sections).

At this point, the passage will enter a flat gallery. The air here is cold and dead and clammy; the walls and floor are damp and a bit slimy. The walls are lined with ten sarcophagi (give on each side) carved in monstrous, hideous shapes, like a combination of fish and men with bulging eyes and wide, toothy mouths. Each sarcophagus holds an alien mummy. The sarcophagi can be opened with a total 24 points of strength. If opened, the mummies will not attack unless attacked. The mummies (50 hp) attack with giant swords (2d6 damage) that can infect their targets with mummy rot.

At the end of the 100’ long gallery there is a stairway spiraling 30’ downward. At three points along the stairway the steps are trapped to generate walls of force 6’ behind the intruders. These walls are invisible and make no sound, and will likely not be noticed unless the party is large enough that some members are cut off by the walls.

At the bottom of the stairway there is a small antechamber and a large door. The adamantine door bears the image of Tsathoggua in bas-relief and a symbol of death inscribed by a 12th level high priest. The door can be moved with 60 points of strength. If the door is touched, the mummies in the chamber above will awaken and shamble toward the intruders.

Beyond the door there is a domed chamber. The floor and walls are covered by a layer of brown mold. In the center of the chamber there is a large crystal vessel containing a black, viscous liquid. Approaching within 5 ft of the vessel will activate magic mouths on the wall that will warn the intruders away in several archaic languages (those of the fish men, serpent men, dragons and yithians). The crystal vessel is secured with molten adamantine. Several explosive runes (6d6 damage) have been worked into the adamantine. Inside the vessel there is a black pudding. As soon as it is released, it will begin consuming everything in its path and growing.

6143 Animal Trail: Even a non-ranger can pick out an obvious trail here used by migrating herd animals. It moves from east to west, meandering slightly, across the hex. Umbrella thorn trees proliferate along the trail.

6244 Fomu Village: The Fomu are a tribe of 50 families who herd goats with large, double sets of horns and grow emmer wheat with the help of six giant cisterns and a network of irrigation canals. The cisterns, constructed of limestone blocks, are connected by a wall of earth 40 feet tall and 20 feet thick with gates to the east and west. The Dawn Gate is constructed of granite and decorated with brass nails. The Dusk Gate is decorated with iron nails. A road of adobe bricks joins the two gates, which are approximately 1 mile apart. The road is lined with grass huts, an adobe granary, a limestone temple dedicated to Nomkhumbulwane, goddess of farming, rain, rainbows and beer. The temple is five feet above the ground and consists of a large chamber containing the goddesses idol, carved from green marble and decorated with ostrich feathers and painted gourds. Just beyond the temple there is a long limestone building inhabited by the temple’s eight brewer-acolytes. The remainder of the building houses six large, wooden vats used for brewing beer. The largest hut in the village belongs to Hudarr, an elf ranger and village chieftain. Aside from the priests and chief, the village also boasts a chariot maker (the warriors ride two to an ass-drawn chariot, one man driving, the other hurling bronze-tipped javelins) and a bowyer who crafts pellet bows (short bows that cast stones for 1d4 damage) made of goat horns and the aforementioned javelins.

The village treasure, kept in locked wooden chests in Hudarr’s hut, consists of 9,600 cp, 1,900 sp, 5,200 ep, 50 gp, 20 pp, a terracotta figurine of a charioteer (4 gp) and 6 porcelain dishes (180 gp).

• Hudarr, Elf Ranger Lvl 9: HP 55; AC 4 [15]; Save 7; Special: Ranger abilities; Ring armor, shield, 6 javelins, spear, gold disk earrings (40 gp), gauntlets of ogre strength.

6247 Elephant Graveyard: A depression in the grasslands obscures an elephant graveyard. Those poking about for a few hours can collect 1d12 tusks worth 200 gp each. Living beneath the graveyard in narrow tunnels dug into the black soil are a tribe of barrow wights that look like tribesmen with flaky, gray skin and clawed hands and feet that are attached backwards. The wights feed on the dying elephants, but never disturb their bones or tusks. The wight tunnels can be entered through several holes obscured by piles of bones. The tunnels seem to weave randomly, but often end in small, man-made caverns. These caverns invariably hold one or more large, terracotta vessels that are either turned over or burst apart. The bottom of these vessels contain treasure amounting to 1,800 cp, 400 sp, 500 ep, 10 gp and a potion of water breathing that is thick and opaque, with blue, red and yellow swirls. The potion tastes like lime juice and is kept in a crystal vial. Encounters in the tunnels occur on the roll of 1-3 on 1d6 and always involve 2d6 wights, with a total of 20 wights living beneath the graveyard.

• Wight: HD 3; AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 claw (1 hp + level drain); Move 9; Save 14; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Drain 1 level with hit, hit only by silver or magical weapons.

6449 Stone Fort: Atop a rocky hill there is a simple fort built of stacked stones. A single watchtower built of stone rises from the midst of this encampment. The inhabitants are a tribe of 46 intelligent skeletons. They are harassed every night by 30 hell hounds. The skeletons are not chaotic, but they are not particularly friendly either. They know the secret of creating more of their kind, and will likely find visiting adventurers of more value as their own kind than as potential foes.

Most of the skeletons (31) conform to the normal statistics for skeletons. These warriors wear scraps of armor and carry spears, shields and short bows. There are also eight exploding bones, two blazing bones and one black skeleton (54 hp) the others call “The Black Prince”.

The skeletons do not know where they came from or why they are here; many consider their lives as something akin to a nightmare and seriously doubt the reality of the situation. Until they wake up, they spend their days strengthening their defenses and their nights fighting off the hounds of hell.

• Skeletons (31): HD 1; AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 weapon (1d6+1); Move 12; Save 17; CL/XP 1/15; Special: None.
• Exploding Bones (8): HD 2; AC 8 [11]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 12; Save 16; CL/XP 3/60; Special: Explode for 1d6 damage when killed.
• Blazing Bones (2): HD 8; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (2d6); Move 9; Save 8; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Immune cold & fire, half damage from piercing weapons, heat aura (as heat metal, 20’ radius).
• Black Skeleton: HD 6 (48 hp); AC 0 [19]; Atk 2 claws (1d4) or 2 weapons (1d8); Move 15; Save 11; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Only harmed by magic weapons, frightful, half damage from slashing and piercing weapons, strength damage.
• Hell Hounds (30): HD 4; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 bite (1d6); Move 12; Save 13; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Breathe fire (8 hp).

6543 Dromo’s Village: Dromo is an elf thief who rules a village of 30 bandits and their families. The village was originally built as a prison. It is surrounded by earthworks 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide. The village is entered through a stone tunnel in the wall that is barred by two steel grates. Within the village, the earthen walls are studded from top to bottom by thousands of wooden spikes that stick a mere two inches beyond the surface of the wall.

The wall encloses approximately 3 acres of land. Within, there are four long houses with flat roofs. The houses are constructed of adobe brick and have barred doors and no windows. These prison barracks are now occupied by the bandits and their wives and children. Each one is equipped with several straw mattresses and a smattering of stools and small tables. Fire pits are located just outside the front doors, and all are topped by tripods and cauldrons.

In the middle of the barracks there is a squat, square tower constructed of adobe bricks and topped by a stone cupola that holds as many as four crossbowmen at a time. The ground floor of the tower is a mess hall with a 15-ft high vaulted ceiling, an long, uneven table, two benches and a tall chair that has seen better days. This is where Dromo and his sergeant, Kabil, take their meals, served by the prettier wives of the ville with wooden trenchers and pewter goblets (2 gp). An iron cage hangs suspended from the ceiling. A brick staircase leads both up and down.

Below the ground floor there has been dug a crude dungeon, held up by thick timbers of mouldering wood and a scattering of flagstones. The little cells are iron boxes.

The second story of the tower is an armory filled with seven crossbows, 250 quarrels, two dozen spears and eight short swords. It also contains 60 weeks of iron rations, a barrel of salt (30 lb) and a barrel of pickled fish (20 lb). A straw mattress here is used by Kabil and contains his treasure of 200 cp, 600 sp and 40 gp. Kabil wears a mail shirt and carries a shield and masterwork broadsword.

The third floor, also reached by brick stairs, is Dromo’s chamber. It contains a feather mattress, an iron strongbox (locked and trapped with a poisoned needle), a long bench and a wooden chest that contains a change of clothes, a spare set of thieves’ picks and tools, a jar of soot (used to blacken one’s face and weapons), an oilskin cloak (8 gp) and charts of the coast from Ophir to Kirikersa (23 gp). Dromo’s longbox contains 760 sp, 120 ep, a stone tablet on medicine written in hieroglyphics (380 gp), a rose quartz (65 gp) and a platinum belt (1,200 gp).

Some distance away from the barracks and tower there is a prison graveyard marked by a boundary of white stones (chalk) that bar chaotic beings from entering. The graveyard is hallowed and the bandits avoid it, choosing to bury their own dead on the savanna well away from their village. In the middle of the graveyard there is an old shrine built of clay and straw in the shape of a beehive. Inside the shrine there is a mahogany idol (now cracked from the heat, for it has not been anointed with oil for decades) of Anubis, along with a bronze brazier and a stone case that holds a scroll of Anubian proverbs.

• Bandits (30): HD 1 (5 hp); AC 7 [12]; Atk 1 weapon (1d6); Move 12; Save 17; CL/XP 1/15; Special: None.
• Kabil, Sergeant: HD 3 (16 hp); AC 5 [14]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 12; Save 15; CL/XP 3/60; Special: None.
• Dromo, Elf Thief Lvl 5: HP 11; AC 3 [16]; Save 10; Special: Back stab for triple damage; Leather armor, shield, scimitar, longbow, 12 arrows, 3 silver arrows.

6548 Wasp Lair: A hive of 30 giant wasps dwells here inside a tower of dried mud. The tower is 60 feet tall with a diameter of 30 feet. It can be entered from a single opening near the top, which leads to a spiral tunnel that branches many times into tiny cells. At the bottom of the tower there is a 10’ diameter chamber in which dwells the queen and is kept the hive’s treasure, 700 cp, 2,000 sp and 2,300 ep. Wasp encounters occur in this hex on a roll of 1-3 on 1d6, and are usually followed up each day until the intruders have traveled 21 miles.

• Giant Wasps (30): HD 4 (24 hp); AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 sting (1d4 + poison), bite (1d8); Move 1 (Fly 20); Save 13; CL/XP 6/400; Special: Paralyzing poison, larva.

6646 Brick Road: A narrow road of adobe bricks built three to four feet above the level of the savanna cuts across this hex from southeast to northwest. At every mile a diamond-shaped limestone brick is set into the road and decorated with a religious saying in the triangular alphabet of Pwenet. The road is built between the villages in [6543] and [7149].

6728 Magic Gateway: A band of twelve druids, led by an archdruid named Ganur, maintain and protect a magic gateway. The gateway is constructed three miles east of the River of Death . It consists of deep, glassy pool in the midst of a garden. The garden and pool are surrounded by a sandstone wall 20 feet tall and 5 feet wide. The exterior of the wall is studded with shards of yellow glass. Planted around the inside perimeter of the wall are dozens of tangle weeds. The remainder of the garden consists of aromatic trees (acacia, myrrh), brilliantly colored bulbs, and wild roses, all planted with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Small cells constructed in the inner wall serve as living quarters for the brotherhood of druids that protects and nurtures this place. The brotherhood are all men. They are completely shaven, from head to toe, and wear wide-brimmed leather hats and simple loin cloths. Each brother bears a ruby stud in his nose and carries a staff or myrrh which maximizes the effects of their spells.

The pool itself is surrounded by hallucinatory terrain depicting tall, thick reeds of papyrus. These reeds seem to thwart all attempts at cutting through them until one disbelieves in the illusion. At that point, the reeds seem to part, allowing access to the pool. The pool is completely natural, and should one dive into it, they would not be able to find a bottom. The water in the pool is cool and clear. If one drinks from the pool, they will swoon and awaken to find themselves on the jungle planet of Venus.

• Druid , Lvl 6 (12): HD 6d6+6; AC 9 [10]; Atk 1 staff (1d4); Move 12; Save 9; CL/XP 8/800; Special: Spells (3rd), change into lions.
• Ganur, Druid Lvl 12: HP 56; AC 7 [12]; Save 4; Special: Spells (6th), druid abilities; Papyrus scroll (wall of wind), ring of freedom of movement, staff, leather armor.