jdnd/sections/3-the-castle-with-the-steel-door.md

# The Castle with the Steel Door

## Chapter Summary

Omta is extremely conflicted about the PCs. On one hand, they are
deck-touched, which means they have a certain bond with Omta. On the
other hand, the PCs have agreed to work with Tymora, and Omta is
terrified of Tymora. So in this chapter, Omta erects barriers that
prevent the PCs from getting too close to the Deck, but he also makes
overtures to communicate with the PCs. He will lower the barriers when
he is confident that the PCs understand his point of view. This chapter
is all about building trust.

When the PCs arrive back at the remains of Castle Green, all that
remains is the basement. Omta has created two lines of defense: first,
he has turned the basement into a complicated labyrinth where movement
is only feasible with Omta’s permission. Second, he has walled off the
Deck behind an impenetrable steel door.

When the PCs enter the labyrinth, they find it confusing and impossible
to get anywhere. But they also feel a presence in the back of their
minds, trying to communicate with them. This is Omta’s first attempt at
communication, using the telepathic bond they share. At this stage, all
the PCs have to do is make an effort, trying to talk to Omta. It doesn’t
matter *how* they try to communicate, or how successful they are, as
long as they make an effort. Once the PCs show that they care about
establishing contact, Omta will start helping the PCs to navigate the
labyrinth: he will take them where they want to go, if they just say
where they want to go.

Once the PCs can navigate the labyrinth, they will start finding Green’s
employees scattered about the labyrinth. An important side quest is
helping Green’s employees get out of the labyrinth, one by one. It can
be quite gratifying to get everybody out safe and sound - with the sole
exception of Green and his bodyguards, who are trapped behind the steel
door.

Eventually, the PCs will reach the steel door. By this time, Omta will
be dissatisfied with his efforts at communication so far. The telepathic
bond is allowing him to send vague impressions and emotions, but it’s
bad at sending detailed information. So Omta comes up with Plan B: if
telepathic communication isn’t working, then we can try writing! He
conjures six parchment scrolls, and drops them at the PCs feet. Then, he
adds six pigeonholes to the door. After the PCs decipher a scroll, they
can put the deciphered scroll into a pigeonhole. When all six scrolls
are deciphered, the door will open.

The scrolls contain a strange form of writing: each scroll contains
several cards from the deck, arranged in little groups. The Deck is
using cards as a form of symbolism. Each card has a symbolic meaning.
The PCs have collectively drawn many cards. They automatically know the
symbolic meanings of any cards that they have drawn. But there are also
many cards on the scrolls that the PCs *didn’t* draw, and they may have
no idea what *those* cards mean.

To learn the symbolic meanings of *those* cards, the PCs will have to
talk to NPCs who drew those particular cards. This becomes the main
quest of this chapter: tracking down NPCs who drew particular cards.
Unfortunately, talking to those NPCs is not always easy. For example,
one of these NPCs has been transformed into a rampaging beast. Another
has been put into a coma. Figuring out how to get useful information
from NPCs who have been drastically warped by the deck can be a
difficult challenge.

Talking to those NPCs, the PCs will discover that many of them are in
crisis. The Deck has turned their lives upside down, for good or for
bad. Many of them need help. The PCs have the opportunity here to build
relationships that will end up paying off in later chapters, when these
NPCs may become powerful allies with deck-granted powers.

When the PCs finally know the symbolic meanings of all the cards, they
will be able to decipher all the scrolls. This allows them to open the
door, which leads to Omta’s hiding place. The PCs can then have a true
conversation with Omta for the first time. When the conversation is
over, the PCs are returned to Castle Green. There is no longer a steel
barrier preventing access to Green and the Deck. The PCs can go talk to
Green, and can negotiate to buy the Deck.

## The Market Square of St Parnas 

The PCs manage to leave the Museum of Orethys, with Joycie’s help. The
entire group plane shifts back to the outlands. They arrive in the
market square in the center of St. Parnas. The market square is full of
shops and stalls with various vendors. You can buy most anything in the
market square, or near it.

### Damage from the Chaos Storm

The first things the PCs notice when they reach the market square is
that there is merchandise scattered all over the ground, and merchants
are busy picking up the mess. The merchants will explain that items were
teleporting around. The merchants have given the phenomenon a name:
they’re calling it a “chaos storm.” The epicenter of the chaos storm
was, of course, Castle Green.

The PCs will not learn the cause of the storm for some time. However,
the DM should know the secret. When Tymora observed a spiritual link
between the PCs and the other deck-touched individuals, she speculated
that a link might also exist to the creator of the deck. She was not
wrong: Omta knows that the PCs can in fact lead Tymora to Omta. When the
PCs agreed to help Tymora with this, Omta had a panic attack.

His panic manifested as objects teleporting around randomly. The biggest
object that got teleported was the top half of Castle Green, it got
teleported all the way into the Museum of Orethys. If this seems like an
odd coincidence, it is… but Gods and Fate are like that.

Lots of medium-sized objects also teleported, chunks of masonry, wagons,
you name it. Most of these items moved 20 to 30 feet in a random
direction. Some of these movements caused real harm: when a wagon
teleports 20 feet in the air, it can really hurt somebody when it comes
crashing down. When a structural support beam of a building teleports
somewhere else, it’s not good for the building. There are many injured
people.

The damage is most severe at Castle Green itself. But the parts of town
that are close to Castle Green also got hit. Places that are farther
away mostly avoided any serious damage, but they did experience a lot of
small-object movement: wine bottles, notebooks, and the like got
scattered. There is quite a mess. In the market square, which is far
enough from Castle Green, there is minimal real damage.

Much of what happens in this chapter will be dealing with the damage and
aftermath of the chaos storm.

### Joycie Says Goodbye, Lada Stays

Shortly after arriving at the market square, Joycie says that she was
glad to have met the PCs, but she now needs to go back to her job at the
temple in Brightwater. She’s very high-level, which means her time is in
very high demand. The temple was only able to spare her for a short
time.

Lada explains that she would like to stay with the party, if they’ll
allow it. Tymora wants her to study the deck, and they both agree that
sticking with the PCs is the best way to do it.

Assuming the PCs allow Lada into the group, let the players take turns
running Lada’s character. Lada will never fight, but she will do support
activities like casting *cure* and *bless* spells. Be strict about that:
the players cannot put Lada on the front line: she is scared of combat,
and she will panic if she is targeted. Lada is always one level beneath
the PCs. The reason she’s so low-level is that she doesn’t aspire to be
a combatant: she’s a scientist, she spends her days in the lab, not on
the road.

### Magic Items in the Market Square

The PCs will notice that there are several merchants selling magic
items. That is not typical of St. Parnas, this is only a medium-sized
town. On a normal day, there would be no more than a handful of magic
items for sale in the entire city (not counting potions, which are
fairly common). But today, there are multiple merchants displaying quite
a few items. Naturally, that’s because the deck has been conjuring lots
of items, and many of them get put up for sale. The merchants try
selling them in St. Parnas first, and then if they don’t sell in St.
Parnas, they ship them to Tradegate where there’s a broader clientele.

If any PC didn’t receive anything of material value from the Deck, then
Green owes them 5000 gp. When the PCs were cast into the *donjon*, Green
assumed they would never be heard from again, so he gave the money to
the PC’s family or friends. When the players created characters, they
were instructed to invent at least one friend. If the PC talks to their
friend, the friend will have the money (unless the friend has issues.)
So again, they will have enough money to buy one serious magic item.

So none of the PCs will feel left out - everyone will have about enough
money for one serious magic item, unless they already received a magic
item directly from the deck.

When the PCs created characters, they were expected to have a reason to
draw cards from the deck. Some of the players may have given their
characters backstories that they needed to pay a debt, or to rescue a
family member. In that case, a PC may have used up their money. This may
make the player feel left out. Try to avoid that situation. For example,
if the PC used their money to rescue a family member, perhaps the family
member in their gratitude raised money to pay the PC back. Try to find
an excuse to make sure that every player still has the money they won
from the deck.

### The Ogre in the Market Square

In the corner of the market square is huge Ogre, just standing there
holding a mandolin. His name is Pig, and he is deck-touched: the PCs can
see cards over his head. A detailed description of Pig is given in the
upcoming section, “Pig: The Ogre King.” The Deck gave Pig the ability to
play the mandolin - just before the chaos storm, Pig was playing music
for a small crowd. When the chaos storm hit, Pig stopped playing and the
crowd scattered. Pig is now just standing there looking perplexed. Pig
has an INT of 6, so when he’s perplexed, he stays perplexed for quite a
while.

If the PCs approach Pig, then Pig is not that hard to have a
conversation with. Refer to Pig’s character bio to know how to play Pig.
At this time, Pig is not willing to leave the market square. Pig will
tell the PCs anything they want to know, but remember that Pig has an
INT of 6, so he can’t tell them anything that isn’t straightforward and
obvious.

## The Deck-Touched NPCs

Throughout the town, the PCs will find deck-touched NPCs: people who
drew cards from the deck. Some of these will show up early in this
chapter, others are hard to find and will not be found until the PCs
search for them. We are putting this list here, early in the chapter
description, because these NPCs will make appearances throughout the
chapter. Finding and speaking to them will become an important goal for
the PCs.

When the PCs do start searching for the deck-touched NPCs, the most
reliable way to get a lead is to pay attention to Deck Dreams. Each
dream comes from a different deck-touched NPC. The dreams contain all
kinds of clues about who these people are and where to find them.

### Pig: The Ogre King

The Ogre King is an ogre named Pig.

Pig is not a standard Ogre: he is a Ysgard Ogre. The giantish races that
live in Ysgard tend to be much larger than the giants in other parts of
the multiverse, and Pig is no exception. He stands a full 10 feet tall.
A stat block for Pig will be given later.

Pig used to be the leader of his tribe, and for good reason. He was very
strong, even by the standards of a Ysgard Ogre, and among ogres, being
the strongest makes you the leader. A few years ago, Pig contracted a
wasting disease which left him physically weak (STR: 13). He became the
target of derision and mockery by the other ogres, his mate rejected
him, and he became the laughing stock of his tribe. Desperate, he left
his home.

Somebody suggested to Pig that he might find a cure if he drew from the
Deck. This was terrible advice. If any of the PCs asks a real medical
professional about Pig and his condition, the professional will
immediately be able to identify the disease that he suffered from,
*Wasting Rot*, and they will know the standard treatment: *Greater
Restoration*. Of course, *Greater Restoration* is very expensive, but
it’s the right treatment. Drawing cards from the Deck, on the other
hand, was extremely unlikely to result in a cure. Pig was not
intelligent enough to realize that. He drew these cards:

-   *Key*: Pig gained great skill as a musician.

-   *Jester*: Nobody takes Pig seriously.

-   *Throne*: Pig is going to become the king of a nation.

That an ogre should be a musician is quite odd. At some point, Pig
picked up a mandolin from a merchant booth and started playing it,
skillfully. The merchant, rather taken by this turn of events, decided
to give him the mandolin as a gift. Pig has learned to use this as a
source of income: he plays the mandolin (quite beautifully) in the
market square, and people give him food.

The Jester card is particularly humiliating for Pig. He used to be the
object of mockery among ogres. Now he can’t even scare humans.

The Throne card says that Pig will be the king of a nation. Nobody has
the first clue how that could possibly be the case. It just seems
utterly implausible that a feeble ogre, that nobody takes seriously,
could be a king. Pig certainly *isn’t* a king: he’s a homeless musician
who panhandles for food. If you ask Pig about the throne card, Pig says,
“Throne card say me king! That’s dumb. Pig not king, Pig weakling.
Weakling can’t be king.”

The monster manual says that Ogres are evil. But for the purpose of this
campaign, we’re taking the view that Ogres are actually too close to
animal intelligence to be really “evil.” Instead, we view them as
dangerous predatory animals. Ogres have simple desires: food and mates.
Like most apex predators, they respect the biggest, strongest
individual. Their approach to problem solving boils down to fight or
flight. Because Ogres are such apex predators, it’s usually fight.

If you encounter an apex predator like a lion, and it is well-fed and
has no reason to feel threatened by you, then it will often just ignore
you. Ogres are the same. Ogres form bonds with other Ogres, and they can
be protective of their mates. If you treat an Ogre well, they can learn
to trust you.

Pig is not that hard to get along with. Like most animals, he prefers an
easy meal, and he has lots of access to easy meals: the people of St
Parnas are providing him with food. Because of this, Pig has no urge to
eat the PCs. Also, Pig knows that he is physically very weak, because of
the *Wasting Rot,* so he instinctively knows he needs to be submissive,
even to humans.

Pig is very unhappy. He’s still physically weak - the deck didn’t change
that - and now everyone laughs at him. The only bright spot in his life
right now is that he enjoys playing the mandolin. When he speaks, it is
in a melancholy, depressed tone.

The PC have the following dream, as seen through Pig’s eyes:

> You sitting in the market square. You see that you are not human, you
> have enormous legs and arms, and huge clawed hands. You are playing
> the mandolin expertly, and you are telling a sad story about how you
> became sick, and your bride left you. You are surrounded by a crowd,
> they laugh at everything you say, even though your story is sad. They
> keep coming up to you and dropping coins at your feet, and fruit, and
> meat, and they tell you what a great comedian you are. You don’t
> understand, but you like the fruit and meat.

Because Pig hangs out in the market square, which is the hub of St
Parnas, Pig is probably the first other deck-touched individual the PCs
will meet. This will probably be the first time their *Deck Awareness*
power allows them to see three cards over an NPC’s head. Pig says “You
have cards on your head! Me too.” This confirms to them that they’re
members of a community who are all experiencing some of the same things.

Pig’s *jester* card warps the perceptions of the townsfolk, making them
think that Pig is funny. But because the PCs drew their own cards, they
have a special power: *Deck Immunity*, which means they are immune to
the effects of other people’s cards. So Pig’s *jester* card cannot warp
their perceptions. They see Pig as he as: a frustrated, sad,
stressed-out Ogre.

At some point, Pig notices that the PCs aren’t laughing at everything he
says. “Why you not laugh! Everyone laugh! Why no laugh?” Pig is
extremely grateful to have somebody, anybody, who isn’t laughing at him.
This immediately ingratiates him to the PCs.

Of course, Pig also has *Deck Awareness*. If Pig sees the *jester* card
above any of the PCs’ heads, Pig immediate commiserates: “You got bad
card! Everyone laugh at you! Pig got bad card!” This makes him feel even
more connected to the PCs. If he sees the *key* card, he asks, “You get
music too?”

If the PCs ask questions, Pig will willingly answer, but remember, Pig
has an INT of 6. He cannot answer any difficult or abstract questions.
Mentally, he’s the equivalent of a toddler. Pig doesn’t know how to use
his inside voice: he yells more or less all the time.

*Asking Pig about Key:*

If you ask Pig about the Key card, he says “Key teach me music! I can do
it now! Watch! (He plays). Now music is job, I work here, play music.”
So Pig has actually mentioned several concepts: teaching, skills,
careers. This is the essence of the key card, and it should be enough.
The PCs won’t be able to get much more out of him than that.

There’s one thing that’s confusing about Pig’s explanation: it might
sound as if the deck gave him a mandolin: it didn’t. Pig was given the
mandolin by a merchant named Brunna, who we will tell you about later.
What the deck did is give Pig the necessary skill.

*Asking Pig about Jester:*

Pig says, “Card make everyone laugh. Pig not like it. You not laugh. Pig
like you.” He really can’t say anymore. Fortunately, none of Omta’s
scrolls contain the jester card.

*Asking Pig about Throne:*

Pig says: “I was big, strong, king of my tribe! Now not king, weak. Card
say I be king again. I don’t understand. Biggest strongest ogre is king!
Pig not biggest, not strongest, so not king.”

There’s a subtle distinction embedded in this explanation. When Omta
uses the throne card as symbolism, it doesn’t mean a king who rules by
authority, or by respect. It means someone who rules by raw power, by
being the biggest and toughest. Pig accurately captures that intention
when he says “Biggest strongest is king!” Pig, with his INT of 6, is not
great at explanations, but he really does grasp the meaning of the
throne card.

*Helping Pig:*

Pig suffered from *Wasting Rot*, which caused his muscles to atrophy. He
now has STR 13, which is pathetic for an Ogre. Before the disease, he
was by far the strongest, toughest Ogre in his tribe - he was the King
of his tribe. The disease has already run its course, there is no need
to get rid of the bacterium. What’s needed is to undo the damage: what
Pig needs now is *greater restoration*. That spell will cause his
muscles to return, gradually, over a few weeks. There is nobody in town
who can cast Greater Restoration. The medics in town say, “you will need
to go to a large city.” If the PCs want to cure Pig, this is something
they can do in Chapter 3, which takes place in a larger city.

Making an ally of Pig can be a big boon for the party. Pig is a heck of
a tank, if he is healed, then he can help the PCs in some big combats
later in the campaign.

However, there is a downside to restoring Pig: if the PCs do this, they
will have an oversized Ogre who is capable of killing a person with a
single blow, who has a short attention span and the intelligence of a
toddler. Disaster could result. If the PCs are going to restore Pig,
they need to have a plan to make sure that Pig is properly supervised.
If they don’t think of this, Lada mentions it.

Healing Pig’s muscles goes a long way toward making him happy. But
fixing the jester card would really make things complete. Fixing that
will take a Wish or the intervention of a god.

### Borghan: The Caged Beast

The caged beast was once a human man named Borghan. He drew cards from
the deck because of his debts. He drew these cards:

-   *Gem*: Borghan received a shower of gems. His debts are paid.

-   *Beast*: Borghan has been transformed into an oversized Grizzly bear
    > with a few humanoid characteristics.

-   *Bricklayer*: The deck has built a labyrinth for Borghan to inhabit,
    > under Castle Green.

Borghan looks like a werebear, but he does not have the curse of
lycanthropy, and he is not a shapechanger. He is permanently in half-man
half-bear form. He has animal intelligence and operates mostly on animal
instinct.

Green wasn’t sure what to do with Borghan, so he temporarily put Borghan
in a holding cell. A few hours later, Borghan bashed open the cell by
sheer strength, and quickly found his way to the labyrinth to which he
was attracted by the compulsion of the Bricklayer card.

There is no food in the labyrinth, Borghan hasn’t eaten in days. But he
can’t overcome the bricklayer card’s magical compulsion to stay in the
labyrinth. He is the “Caged Beast” because he is imprisoned in the
Labyrinth by his own compulsion. With animal intelligence, he is not
smart enough to reason his way out of the situation. If something
doesn’t change soon, he will starve to death in the labyrinth.

The PCs experience the following dream, as seen through Borghan’s eyes:

> You are ravenously hungry, but you’re in an empty corridor, there’s
> nothing to eat. You run down the corridor, turn, run some more, turn
> again, and run some more, but there’s nothing but corridors. You see a
> door, already smashed - you feel like you’ve been here before. You
> pass through the broken door, and on the other side, there’s more
> corridors. You’re so hungry, and there’s no food.

When the PCs are exploring under Castle Green, they will stumble into
Borghan’s labyrinth. They should immediately recognize the labyrinth
from Borghan’s deck dream. If they think back on the deck dream, they
will remember that in the dream, they were ravenously hungry.

Wandering through the labyrinth will eventually cause the PCs to
encounter Borghan. Borghan is ravenously hungry. When he sees the PCs,
he sees food. He will attack with the intention of eating a PC.

The PCs, for their part, will see a werebear-like creature, with three
cards hovering over its head, one of which is “Beast.” They should be
able to figure out that this is a person who has been transformed into a
beast by the Deck.

Very likely, the PCs will have to fight Borghan, unless they are very
clever and prepared. If the PCs reduce Borghan to 0 HP, he doesn’t
immediately die. Instead, like a PC, he gets death saves. If Borghan is
down, and the PCs cast *cure wounds* or the like, then Borghan’s life is
spared. In that case, Borghan will become submissive, even though he is
intensely hungry: he knows he has been beaten.

But even though he’s submissive, he’s still starving to death, and he
can’t think about anything other than food. To enable Borghan to think
about anything other than food, the PCs must sate his hunger. Borghan
will not think of anything else other than eating until he is fed. To
feed him requires a *lot* of food. A few rations from the PCs’s backpack
isn’t even going to make a dent. A whole pig or sheep would do it. If
the PCs manage to sate his appetite, he actually becomes reasonably
cooperative.

Once Borghan has eaten, the next step is to cast *Speak with Animals,*
or something else along those lines. Telepathy might work. If there’s a
druid in the party, they can probably do it. If the PCs don’t have any
way to speak to animals, remember this: the marketplace in St Parnas is
experiencing a glut of magic items because of the Deck. If the PCs look
for a useful magic item, make sure they find one - maybe even let them
rent it. Alternately, the PCs may be able to recruit an NPC helper who
can cast *Speak with Animals*. There are lots of helpful people in St
Parnas.

Once the PCs have some sort of communication channel opened up, the PCs
can try to learn about the cards that Borghan drew.

*Asking Borghan about Gem:*

It isn’t that hard to guess the meanings of the Gem card, so it probably
isn’t necessary to ask Borghan. If the PCs want to ask Borghan, then
coaxing this information out of him can be tricky. Probably the best way
is just to show him some gems. His first reaction, “Gems Beautiful!
Sparkly,” covers the concept of beauty. His second reaction relates to
the fact that he drew cards because of his debts. He says, “I wanted
gems before. I don’t remember why.” The PCs can probably figure out that
he needed money, and that gems represent money.

*Asking Borghan about Bricklayer:*

The PCs can easily guess that the Bricklayer card means “building
things.” They don’t need Borghan’s help to figure that out. What they
won’t be able to easily guess is that the bricklayer card also instills
a compulsion to be possessive and territorial about the structure that
was built. So therefore, bricklayer can also mean “possessive” and
“territorial.”

Borghan cannot explain abstract concepts, with his animal intelligence.
If the PCs ask him an abstract question like “what are the non-obvious
meanings of the bricklayer card,” Borghan will just stare blankly. But
if they ask a simpler, more concrete question like, “what did the deck
build you,” he says “Labyrinth is for me. My territory!” If the PCs ask
any other question about the labyrinth, Borghan gets agitated: “My
territory! My territory! You only allowed because you feed me! My
territory! Mine! Not yours! Mine!”

This reaction is very similar to what Alyssa Varn says about “her”
castle. Perhaps the PCs will put two and two together - both the people
who drew the bricklayer card are being very territorial and possessive.
If the card instills possessiveness and territoriality in everyone who
draws it, then perhaps the symbolic meanings of the card include
possessiveness and territoriality.

*Helping Borghan:*

Borghan is trapped in a maze with no food. He will starve to death.
There are quite a few ways that the PCs could theoretically help him.

The simplest thing they can do is hire somebody to feed him for a month
or two. Over time, the compulsion of the bricklayer card will start to
wear off, and Borghan will be able to go out into the woods and hunt for
himself. Turning Borghan back to a human is probably not feasible: it
would take a Wish or an act of a god. Another temporary solution for
Borghan is to capture him into the Museum of Orethys. This will
effectively put him on ice until later, which will keep him from
starving for now. It may also be possible to find magic items that make
Borghan a little more capable of coping with his situation. For example,
a *headband of intellect* would bring back his intelligence, which would
make it possible for him to figure out that he needs to leave the
labyrinth temporarily in order to hunt.

> Borghan
>
> *Large Monstrosity, Unaligned*
>
> Armor Class 12 (natural armor)\
> Hit Points 200 (16d10 + 112)\
> Speed 40 ft.
>
> STR 21 (+5)  DEX 10 (+0)  CON 24 (+7) INT 7 (–2)  WIS 16 (+3)  CHA 9
> (–1)
>
> Saving Throws Con +10, Wis +6\
> Skills Perception +6\
> Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 16\
> Languages understands Common and Sylvan, but cannot speak\
> Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)\
> Proficiency Bonus +3
>
> Keen Smell.\
> Borghan has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on
> smell.
>
> Multiattack: Borghan makes two claw attacks and one bite attack.
>
> Claw. *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
> *Hit:* 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.
>
> Bite. *Melee Weapon Attack:* +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
> *Hit:* 12 (2d8 + 3) piercing damage.
>
> Rage and Hunger (3/Day). Borghan lets out a blood-curdling roar and
> enters a state of primal fury. It immediately ends any of the
> following conditions on itself: charmed, frightened, paralyzed,
> stunned, and any effect causing it to be incapacitated or unconscious
> without reducing it to 0 HP. Until the end of its next turn, it has
> advantage on all attack rolls and cannot be charmed or frightened.

### Sam Link: The Chosen One

The chosen one is a elven man named Sam Link. One day, he felt compelled
to take a few hours off work. He wandered until he arrived at castle
Green. When he got there, he drew cards from the deck. He would not be
able to tell you exactly why he did this. He drew these cards:

-   *Star*: Sam has been given a ring of feather falling.

-   *Cripple*: Sam has developed serious lower-back pain.

-   *Sun*: Sam has been granted a divine spark. He is now on the path to
    > godhood.

Sam knows he now has a divine spark, and Sam is the sort of person who
believes that there’s a reason for everything that happens in the
universe. Therefore, he believes he was chosen for some purpose.
However, he has no idea what that purpose might be. He does know that
his new power can be used for healing, though he suspects there’s more
to it than that. He’s not sure what to do now that he is “chosen,” but
he figures if he was given the gift of healing, he should use it, so now
he’s out on the streets healing people.

He also doesn’t know what to do with his ring of feather falling. He
considered pawning it, but once again, he thinks there’s a reason for
everything, so he decided he better keep the ring. He is wearing it
around town, fully expecting to be thrown off a tower or something.

The PCs experience the following dream, as seen through Sam’s eyes:

> You are walking through the streets of St Parnas. You see several
> buildings with broken windows and minor damage. You see a woman on the
> ground. You run up to her and ask, “are you hurt?” She says, “my leg.”
> Looking more closely at her leg, you can see that it’s bent at a weird
> angle, and there is severe bruising. You put a hand on her leg, and
> you allow energy to flow. The leg straightens, and the bruising fades.
> She says, “thank you, cleric.” You say, “I’m not a cleric, but you’re
> welcome.”

The town of St. Parnas, where this chapter takes place, has experienced
a “chaos storm” (we’ll explain that later). There are broken windows and
injured people everywhere. In the immediate aftermath, Sam was walking
around, healing everybody he could. He does not randomly encounter the
PCs.

By the time the PCs learn about Sam’s existence, the worst of the chaos
storm is already over. At this point, Sam is searching around town
looking for anyone who still needs help. Nobody knows where Sam is,
because he’s moving around too much. The best way to find Sam is to go
somewhere where there are injured people.

One place where you can find injured people is after the basilisk fight,
later in this chapter. When the PCs arrive, several civilians have
already been petrified by the basilisk. The civilians will remain
petrified for 24 hours while the effect wears off. The PCs will fight
and probably kill the basilisk, then they’ll have to figure out what to
do with the petrified civilians. One of those civilians is severely
injured: her hand broke off at the wrist after she turned to stone. When
she turns back to flesh, she will bleed out rapidly.

Sam hears about this injured petrified person, and he goes to help. He
will sit with her for a long time while he waits for her to turn back to
flesh, so that he can heal her as soon as she does. This effectively
locks Sam in one location for quite some time (you, as DM, can decide
how long).

The PCs can learn about Sam’s location in any one of several ways: by
talking to the mayor, by talking to the guards, or by having a deck
dream. If they go to the location right away, Sam is still there with
the petrified woman.

While they sit there, Sam is willing to have a conversation with them,
on one condition: Sam will answer the PC’s questions, but only if the
PCs agree to answer Sam’s questions. He will trade question for
question: Sam asks one, then the PCs ask one, then Sam, then the PCs,
back and forth like that. That’s his condition. If the PC’s question is
about one of the cards, Sam will do his honest best to provide detailed
information about that one card - but only that one card. Before we get
to Sam’s questions, here is what Sam has to say about the cards:

*Asking Sam about Star:*

Sam tells the PCs that the star card is what gave him the ring of
feather falling. He says it always conjures a wondrous magic item. He
then explains that therefore, the card can mean *wondrous magic item*.
He also says it can just mean wonderful non-magical item, or even a
wonderful place, or the emotion of wonderment.

*Asking Sam about Cripple:*

Sam will tell them: “The cripple card gave me serious lower-back pain.”
Sam explains that it can mean any kind of infirmity: lack of strength,
lack of dexterity, lack of health, or the like. It can mean just a
physical flaw in general. If you wanted to say that a teapot is broken,
you would again use the cripple card to represent the state of being
physically broken.

*Asking Sam about Sun:*

Sam tells the PCs that the Sun card is the one that gave him a divine
spark. He explains that therefore, the Sun card can mean divine
ascension, or the state of being a god or goddess, or any variant of
that - it can mean divinity, divine, godlike, etc.

*Helping Sam:\
\
*Sam agrees to answer the PCs questions, if in exchange the PCs agree to
answer Sam’s questions. As it turns out, all of Sam’s questions are
existential questions about the purpose and meaning of life. He
absolutely insists that he won’t accept brief, thoughtless answers. He
wants insights!

Sam is the kind of person who believes strongly that the gods have a
plan, and that there must be a reason for his divine ascension. But he
is utterly baffled as to what the reason might be, or what he’s supposed
to do about it. Here are his four questions, in the order he asks them:

-   Q1: Why do you think I was chosen for divine ascension? Why me?

-   Q2: What is the proper way I should be using the gift I’ve been
    > given?

-   Q3: How can I ascend further up the ladder toward godhood? What
    > should I do?

-   Q4: What the heck is this ring of feather falling for?

In response to Sam’s questions, the PCs are likely to have a
philosophical discussion. The PCs can tell Sam their theories for why
Sam was given a spark, and they may have their own philosophies about
what Sam ought to be doing with his gift. Sam will take these theories
into serious consideration, but he won’t make any hard-and-fast
decisions just yet.\
\
There are no “right” answers to Sam’s questions, but there are wrong
answers: any answer that is glib, or that doesn’t seriously grapple with
the difficult issues, is a wrong answer. If he gets a glib answer, Sam
will refuse to move on to his turn until the PCs really tackle the
question.

In truth, the best way to help Sam is to get him to stop obsessing so
much. He is so fixated on trying to solve the puzzle of why he was
chosen, what he’s supposed to do, and the like, that he’s making himself
crazy. He needs to slow down and just let things unfold naturally.

In my version of this campaign, the PCs put Sam in a situation where he
met a fun and playful woman. That gave him something else to do other
than obsess about his role in the universe.

### Alyssa Varn: The Squatter

The squatter is a tiefling woman named Alyssa Varn. She is a gambler,
and she was deeply in debt. She was one of the first people that drew
cards from the Deck. She drew these cards:

-   *Tiger*: She gained a lot of limberness, she is now basically a
    > contortionist.

-   *Knight*: She received a staff of withering.

-   *Bricklayer*: The Deck built her a castle.

Alyssa quickly sold the staff, she is not a combatant and has no use for
a weapon. That paid off half her gambling debts. However, she did not
want to sell the castle: the bricklayer card instilled a strong
compulsion to live in the castle. Her husband told her that if she
didn’t sell the castle and pay off her debts, he would divorce her.
Under pressure, she sold the castle to Green, and it became Castle
Green.

Alyssa resents being forced to sell, her compulsion to live in the
castle is overwhelming. She has convinced herself that a contract “made
under duress” (the threat of divorce) is invalid, and so therefore, the
sale is invalid, and the castle is still hers. So she keeps sneaking
back in.

The PCs have the following dream, as seen through Alyssa’s eyes:

> It’s nighttime. You’re standing next to a sturdy stone building, which
> has a narrow vertical window, like a castle window. You try to squeeze
> yourself through the window, and you almost make it - you’re an
> unusually thin woman, and you’re really flexible, a contortionist. A
> male voice behind you says, “stop it, you’re being absolutely crazy.”
> You say, “This is my castle!” He says: “It’s not yours, you sold it!”
> You cram yourself into the window again, and this time, you actually
> succeed in getting through. The male voice says, “You’re nuts, and I’m
> done. Goodbye.”

Alyssa is currently living in the basement of castle Green. The castle
came furnished with lots of furniture. Green moved a lot of that
furniture into a storage room in the basement. Alyssa took some of the
bookcases in the storage room and improvised a small hidden “room” (with
bookcase walls) hidden behind a giant pile of furniture.

Green has a lawsuit pending against Alyssa in the courts of St Parnas,
he’s trying to have her committed to a mental institution. However, the
Mayor is slow-rolling it, mainly as retaliation for the fact that Green
and the Deck are upsetting the calm of what was once a safe little small
town. So, for now at least, Green is on his own. From time to time,
Green’s guards catch Alyssa. But Green isn’t cruel: he knows that Alyssa
is just a sad crazy woman, and that her craziness is in part Green’s
fault, so he can’t bring himself to physically harm her. So he just
kicks her out of the castle for the umpteenth time, and he hopes the
courts will take action soon.

Unfortunately for Green, that means that for now, Alyssa can pretty much
harass Green with impunity. Alyssa is a zero-level NPC, so she cannot
take on Green and his guards directly. She knows that if she gets too
close to the guards, she’s going to get kicked out again. So instead,
she harasses Green mainly using traps.

None of Alyssa’s traps are deadly - at least, not intentionally. She is
annoying and even dangerous, but not a murderer. She often will lurk in
the shadows, watching her own traps. The PCs encounter the following
traps set by Alyssa:

-   In the Armory, a tripwire. See the subsequent section on the Armory
    > for more information.

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-   In any room, she puts a bucket of yellow liquid on top of an open
    > door. Dexterity save DC 12 to dodge it. You can determine the
    > in-game effects, if any.

-   In the event that one or two characters separate from the party, and
    > end up in a room, Alyssa jams a triangular wedge into the door,
    > then she nails the door shut. It’s not specified what is required
    > to get the door back open, but make it a not-too-difficult project
    > that takes up 15 minutes of game time. Do not do this if all the
    > party members are in the room, and don’t do it if the party
    > members in the room are strong enough to simply force their way
    > out. Make it interesting, wait until a few party members who don’t
    > have the strength to break out can be trapped.

Her traps usually come with a written note: “Get out of my castle,” or
“Serves you right, trespassing in my castle!”

While the PCs are exploring the castle, they never find Alyssa: she’s
too good at hiding after months of experience. But they may find her
sleeping quarters. If they look in the storage room with the furniture,
they may notice that most of the room is covered in thick dust, but
there’s a path through the dust (perception DC 13). To follow the path
you have to be very small, or a contortionist, or ideally both. It leads
to Alyssa’s hidden room, which contains a matress and some personal
effects. There’s nothing interesting in the personal effects, but the
size of the garments reveals that Alyssa is very small. Inside the
hidden room is a stone wall with one of the stones carved out. If you’re
small, you can squeeze through.

The tiny passage through the wall emerges in Mikhail’s bedroom, into the
back of his wardrobe. She has loosened part of the back of the wardrobe,
she can take it off quickly, pass through the passage and into the
wardrobe, then out the doors of the wardrobe.

Alyssa wants her castle back. However, she has been trying for months,
and now the upper half of the castle is gone. She is losing hope. When
the PCs finally rescue all of Green’s employees from the labyrinth - not
counting Green and his entourage - they will have achieved Alyssa’s goal
for her: get rid of Green and his employees. However, by this time, the
castle is being invaded by giant ants. This causes her to lose even more
hope.

The next time the PCs visit the labyrinth after rescuing all of Green’s
employees, they find Alyssa just sitting on a sofa in the lounge,
watching the ants glumly. The PCs can see her cards using *deck
awareness*. She looks up and says:

> “Hey, you guys drew cards, didn’t you. I’ve seen that effect on
> Borghan and Balanestra (pointing at the cards over everyone’s heads).
> Wait, are you the ones I wedged in such-and-such room?”

If the PCs ask why she’s not in hiding any more, she says:

> “For a long time, I was fighting to get Green out of my castle, my
> home. Well, Green and his employees are finally leaving, but the top
> half of the castle is gone, and now the ants are moving in. It’s just
> getting more and more clear that I’m never getting my castle back. I’m
> on the brink of giving up. That’s why I’m sitting here just taking one
> last look at what remains of my home.”

If the PCs complain about the shit that Alyssa has been doing to them,
she says:

> “Sorry about the traps. I was just getting more and more angry that
> more and more people were in my castle, and I sort of overreacted. I
> guess everything I did was pointless. Sorry I took it out on you
> guys.”

If the PCs say anything to suggest that maybe Alyssa is being irrational
trying to live in a castle that she doesn’t need, when she has a
perfectly good house in town, especially given that she sold the castle,
she completely transforms into a crazed person:

> “This is my home! My territory! It’s mine, the deck built it for ME!
> Don’t be telling me it’s not mine, this is my territory, and I’m going
> to protect it! Get the fuck out of my house!”

Then, she starts screaming at the PCs and kicking and hitting (no
damage). She won’t calm down for about a half hour. This transformation
is magical: it’s the effect of the *bricklayer* card. The card instills
a powerful compulsion to live in the space, to make it your own. Notice
that Alyssa used the word “territory” twice. That’s a word that people
mostly use in reference to animals who mark their territory - that’s
intentional. The bricklayer card is strongly tied in to the concept of
animalistic territorial possession.

If the PCs leave and come back, Alyssa says:

> “Sorry about that tantrum. I don’t know what got into me. Every time
> somebody tells me to leave, I just turn into that crazy woman. I can’t
> control it.”

People who draw the bricklayer card have to make a Wisdom saving throw,
DC 15 in order to escape from the compulsion to live in the building. If
they fail, they get to try again once per month. Alyssa’s wisdom is only
8. She has failed the saving throw multiple times.

To help Alyssa, what the PCs really need to do is:

> 1\. They need to figure out that Alyssa is under a magical compulsion.
>
> 2\. They must help her to escape from that compulsion.

Once they figure out that that’s their goal, interrupt and say, “As your
DM, this is how we’re going to roleplay this. Alyssa gets one wisdom
saving throw to escape from the compulsion. Do what you can to prepare
her, then roll the saving throw for her. You get one and only one
chance.”

There are actually lots of things the PCs can do to prepare Alyssa:

-   Any spell that helps with wisdom saving throws is a good idea,
    > including *bless*, *beacon of hope*, or *resistance*. However, it
    > will be very difficult talking Alyssa into letting some strangers
    > cast spells on her.

-   If the PCs can very delicately help Alyssa to understand that she’s
    > under a magical compulsion, that will help a lot. Nobody likes to
    > be magically controlled. +4 to save.

-   If the PCs (somehow) offer Alyssa a really nice alternative home, +4
    > to save.

-   I said that they get only once chance, but I lied: if they offer
    > Alyssa an inspiration point, they can get a second roll.

-   PCs are inventive. Let them be creative here.

Regardless of whether they succeed at helping her, she will talk to the
PCs and answer their questions willingly, when she’s in a calm mood.

When it comes to answering questions about the cards, Alyssa (being a
low-wisdom individual) is not that insightful. She tells the PCs the
basics, but she may leave out details:\
\
*Asking Alyssa about Tiger:*

FILL ME IN

### Balanestra: The Wish-Keeper

The wish-keeper is an aasimar woman named Balanestra. She is a wealthy
woman who drew cards because she was profoundly dissatisfied with her
life, feeling that it was mundane and boring. She was desperate to have
a more exciting life, even if that meant great risk. She drew these
cards:

-   *Gem*: She received gems, which she didn’t need at all, being quite
    > wealthy.

-   *Skull:* She had to fight an avatar of death. The bodyguards mostly
    > did it for her.

-   *Moon*: She was granted three wishes.

She wished for the following:

-   Wish 1: To be highly skilled at plotting, manipulation, and
    > intrigue: Wish Fully Granted.

-   Wish 2: To gain the ability to magically scry on anyone: Wish Mostly
    > Granted.

The second wish gave Balanestra the ability to look into mirrors and see
the people she’s thinking about. She can do this three times per day,
for 15 minutes. However, her target gets a saving throw, WIS DC 20. All
gods can resist, as can a few powerful people.

Having made two wishes, Balanestra was supposed to make her third wish
on Green’s behalf. Instead, she said to Green, “There are powerful
people all over the multiverse who are scheming to take that Deck away
from you. Now that I have these new talents, you should hire me to be
your advisor. I can keep you one step ahead of those guys.” Green
agreed, but then Balanestra named her conditions: “My price for working
for you is this: I get to keep my third wish.” Green hesitated, but
decided to accept the offer.

Balanestra didn’t make a third wish. Instead, she decided to hold onto
her third wish for a rainy day. She thinks of it as the ultimate
emergency get-out-of-jail-free card.

There is an old trope that says that if you get three wishes, you’ll
somehow end up miserable. Balanestra is the proof that that’s just
moralizing nonsense. She’s loving her new life, she’s ecstatic.

The PC has the following dream, as seen through Balanestra’s eyes:

> Green, at his desk: “I can’t fight a goddess. What do we do if she
> attacks?”\
> Balanestra: “We teleport away, of course.”\
> Green: “Sure, but she’s a goddess. She can follow us anywhere.”\
> Balanestra: “She can follow us *almost* anywhere.”
>
> Green: “Where could I go that she can’t follow… oh, shit. No, no no no
> no!”
>
> Balanestra: “Trust me.”

Balanestra is with Green, in the basement of the castle, on the other
side of Omta’s steel door. Therefore, it is not possible to get help
from Balanestra. Fortunately, for every card that Balanestra drew, there
is no need to seek help from her:

-   *Gem*: The gem card has many complicated meanings. If none of the
    > PCs drew the gem card, they are likely to need help. Fortunately,
    > they can ask Borghan (the Caged Beast) instead.

-   *Skull:* In Omta’s scrolls, he uses the skull card several times. In
    > one case, it means “wants to kill me,” in another case it means
    > “would kill me.” If none of the PCs drew the skull card, they will
    > have to guess the meaning, but *skull=killing* is a pretty easy
    > guess.

-   *Moon*: Lada tells you that the card grants three wishes, and that
    > hasn’t changed. The symbolic meaning of the card is wishes,
    > granted wishes, desires, or fulfilled desires. The PCs will have
    > to guess that, based on what the card does.

The PCs will meet Balanestra, very briefly, at the end of Chapter 2,
after they get through the steel door. She will become an important
figure later in the campaign.

### Brunna: The Antiquarian

The Antiquarian is a Dwarven woman named Brunna. She used to make a
living selling musical instruments. She was quite successful, and lived
a comfortable life. But she wasn’t happy - he was bored and full of
malaise. However, the comfort of her life made it hard to change. She
knew she needed a push, and she thought the deck might give her that
push. She drew these cards:

-   *Vizier*: she can now ask the fates a question, once a month.

-   *Comet*: she can hold an item in her hands and know its past.

-   *Idiot:* she lost 2 points from charisma. She now looks down her
    > nose at people, purses her lips, and speaks in a know-it-all
    > manner.

She has gained two abilities that both allow her to learn about the
past. The *comet* ability lets her hold an item in her hands and know
something about its past. If that isn’t enough, she can ask the fates a
question once a month, because of the *vizier* card.

Meanwhile, her musical instrument business went bad. The charisma loss
made it much harder to land a sale. In the week after she drew cards,
she sold half as many musical instruments as normal. She realized that a
salesperson needs charisma, and she just didn’t have it any more.

She sold the music business, and went into a new line of work:
antiquarian. She figured that coming across as a know-it-all was
expected from an antiquarian, and the *comet* card made it pretty easy
to learn the history of the items she handled. So antiquarian was a
natural choice. She’s actually enjoying the new job, it’s different, a
real change of pace.

The PCs have the following dream about Brunna:

> You are holding a rusty saber, which is resting across your two palms.
> You say, “This saber was made by a dwarven man named Jorrell. It was
> one of a set of three, one of which was sold to your grandfather.”

Brunna is now running a consulting firm in the building that used to be
her music shop. The building is not far from the St. Parnas market
square. The front of the building has the faded outline of a lute on the
brickwork, where the previous sign used to be. In its place is in a new
sign that says “historical research: antique objects investigated.”
Brunna sits in a comfortable chair, with a little coffee table in front,
and a few other chairs across.

As Brunna has settled into her new job, she is starting to really like
it. She thinks it’s kind of fun explaining various facts about history
to people - she enjoys storytelling. Also, since she doesn’t actually
*know* history until she handles an item in her hands, when she tells a
story, she’s learning it herself at the same time as she tells it to her
customer. So she’s enjoying the feeling that her knowledge is expanding
all the time.

The idiot card caused her to act like a know-it-all and look down her
nose at people. She knows that people now perceive her as a know-it-all,
but she can’t understand why: this is the negative effect of the *idiot*
card, she can’t understand her own lack of charisma. Still, she feels
that it’s an acceptable sacrifice for the new job, which she thinks is a
great new direction for her life.

She has not used the *Vizier* power yet. She is excited to try it for
the first time, but she knows she can only use it once a month, so she’s
saving it for a special occasion. Maybe something the PCs ask her will
inspire her to ask her first question of the gods.

If the PCs want to ask Brunna about the cards, they will have to pay her
5 gp consulting fee.

*Asking Brunna about Vizier:*

Brunna explains that the Vizier card gave her the ability to ask one
question per month, and have it answered by the gods. She says the card
can mean, literally, a vizier or seer, or a scholar, or researcher, or
scientist. It can also mean the act of asking questions, or any other
form of investigation. It can also just mean “knowledge,” especially
secret knowledge or hidden knowledge.

*Asking Brunna about Comet:*

Brunna explains that the comet card allows her to hold an object in her
hands and learn its history. The meaning of the card is generally just
“time,” but it also encompasses all kinds of things related to time,
like “the past,” “the future,” or “waiting.” It can also be a reference
to knowledge of the past or the future, ie, history and prophecy.

*Asking Brunna about Idiot:*

Brunna explains that the idiot card somehow made her less charismatic.
She says the card can refer to lack of intelligence, lack of social
skill, lack of wisdom, or any other sort of mental incapacity. It can
also mean “making a mistake” or “a bad decision.” The card can also
mean, literally, an idiot. It can also mean somebody who is intelligent
but with some kind of mental handicap - for example, a smart person with
an alcohol addiction.

*Handing a Scroll to Brunna:*

If the PCs hand Brunna one of Omta’s scrolls, she holds it in her hand,
and she says she knows something important about its history. But she
says: “I’m willing to tell you what I know, but in exchange, you have to
help me with something. I help you with a difficult puzzle, you help me
with a difficult puzzle.” If the PCs agree, then this is what she has to
say about the scroll:

> Well, this scroll itself doesn’t have much history, it’s only a few
> days old. But the communication method that is being used in this
> scroll is very, very old. This goes back before written history.
>
> Language as we know it was invented by mortals. So how did the gods
> communicate before the gods created mortals, and mortals invented
> language? Well, gods can easily conjure little illusions, little
> images. So that’s what they did. They showed each other little
> pictures. There was no standard set of symbols. Each god would make up
> whatever images made sense to them. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of
> miscommunication. That’s why this form of communication died out when
> language as we know it was invented. The gods learned how to speak
> from mortals, and they stopped using these images.

*Helping Brunna:*

Brunna has a problem: she doesn’t have enough customers. She’s not
making enough money, the business isn’t profitable. Apparently, there
just aren’t enough people who need their family heirlooms read. She asks
the PCs for ways to improve her business.

Brunna’s core problem is that she is suffering from a failure of
imagination. Her *comet* power can be used for so much more than just
investigating heirlooms. What the PCs really need to do is work with
Brunna to brainstorm alternative ways to use her power. Here are some
options:

-   *Crime Investigation*: She can hold a murder weapon in her hands,
    > and tell you who used it.

-   *Private Investigation*: She can hold some underwear in her hands,
    > and she can tell you who slept with your spouse.

-   *Industrial Espionage*: She can hold your competitor’s product in
    > her hands, and tell you how it was manufactured.

-   *Art Authentication*: She can hold a piece of art in her hands, and
    > tell you if it is the original or a forgery.

-   *Archaeology*: She can hold a relic of a past civilization, and tell
    > you something about that civilization.

-   *General Espionage*: She can hold objects stolen from diplomats or
    > politicians, and possibly learn their secrets.

If Brunna branches out and advertises all of these services, she will
have much more business than before.

If the PCs help her brainstorm at least four new ideas for how to use
her power, then she will be grateful and she will perceive the PCs as
friends. She still charges 5 gp per item investigated, though. A
consultant has to eat, you know.

*Using Brunna as a Resource:*

Brunna is a valuable investigative resource. Once the players figure out
that Brunna can do all kinds of useful research, they will probably
visit her fairly frequently. That’s actually a good thing.

Do not let Brunna short-circuit major questlines. If there’s some
information that you don’t want her to reveal, then don’t reveal it.
Instead, reveal something else, like this:

> PC: Can this sword kill the bad guy?\
> Brunna: Here, give it to me. Hmmm. I can see that this sword was made
> by a Dwarven man named Jorell, who works in Moradin’s keep.
>
> PC: Yeah, but can it kill the bad guy?
>
> Brunna: No idea.

As the DM, you decide what Brunna knows, and what she doesn’t. If you
don’t want her to have the answer to a question, then she doesn’t have
the answer to that question. She always knows *something* about an item,
but not necessarily what the PCs want her to know.

The real value of Brunna is that you can use her to feed the PCs exactly
the clues that *you* want to feed them. Try to encourage the PCs to
visit Brunna regularly, by letting Brunna reveal little tidbits of
useful information here and there (without major spoilers.) Then, if the
players ever seem like they’re stuck, and they’re not making progress
solving the major puzzles of this chapter, then you can feed them a big
clue through Brunna.

If the PCs get in the habit of visiting Brunna frequently, and it starts
to get repetitive, then just start abbreviating the interaction:

> PC: We go ask Brunna about whether the sword can kill the bad guy.
>
> DM: OK, you go visit Brunna. She reveals that the sword was made by a
> man named Jorell at Moradin’s keep. You learn nothing else. She
> charges you 5 gp.

That way, it only eats up a few seconds of table-time.

### Asatya: The Sleepwalker

The Sleepwalker is a woman named Asatya, who used to be a gardener in
the orchards. She’s getting older and her hands are getting arthritic.
She didn’t think she could do her job much longer, and she felt she
needed a new direction in life. She drew these cards:

-   *Owl*: She gained a great deal of intelligence, she is much smarter
    > than before.

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-   *Fool*: She no longer knows how to cook, which turns out not to
    > matter very much.

-   *Void*: She fell into a deep sleep, from which she cannot awaken.

Asatya is now a patient at the local hospice. Her body is being
well-tended by the nurses there. She is completely unable to sense any
stimuli or react in any way.

While she sleeps, her spirit is sleepwalking around the city gardens.
Like a sleepwalker, she can see the real physical world - the garden
she’s walking around in. Like a sleepwalker, her thought processes are
delirious and confused. But unlike a normal sleepwalker, she has left
her body behind, and she sleepwalks through the world in the form of a
spirit.

Asatya’s strange state is a reflection of Omta’s own experience. Omta is
also asleep, and Omta also sleepwalks through the multiverse.

The PCs have the following dream about Asatya:

> You are wandering through a manicured garden. There are a few other
> people walking along the paths of the garden. You feel confused, your
> mind is foggy. You notice a weed that needs pulling. You bend over to
> pull it, but you don’t seem to be able to. In your confusion, you
> don’t know why you can’t pull the weed.

If the PCs visit Asatya’s body at the hospice, they will find that she
is breathing deeply, as if in a restful sleep. She is completely
unresponsive to any stimuli. Any attempt to contact her magically or
telepathically will yield the impression that there’s nobody in there.

One of the most surprising things about Asatya’s body is: *Deck
Awareness* doesn’t work on her, there are *not* three cards hovering
over her head! The reason is that the cards aren’t hovering over
Asatya’s body. They’re hovering over her *spirit*, and her spirit is
somewhere else: in the orchard.

If the PCs ask the nurses, the nurses can tell the PCs a little bit
about Asatya’s background, including, crucially, that she was a gardener
in the orchard. This may trigger the PCs to remember the deck dream
about a woman wandering the orchard, and trying to pick weeds.

The PCs may contact Johann, the dreaming ghost from the Museum of
Orethys, and ask him to enter Asatya’s dreams. When Johann reports back,
he says:

> Are you sure she’s in bed? Because as far as I can tell, she’s
> sleepwalking. She’s walking around in an orchard. I can tell that it’s
> a real, physical orchard in the real world, not a garden she’s
> imagining in her head. Dreams are always fuzzy and mutable, but this
> garden is real-looking. That’s why I’m very sure she’s sleepwalking.
>
> I tried to talk to her, but I have a problem with sleepwalkers. When a
> sleepwalker opens her eyes, she gains the ability to see the physical
> world, but she loses the ability to see her imaginary dream world.
> Unfortunately, her imaginary dream world includes me, Johann. So
> whereas a normal dreamer can see me and hear me, a sleepwalker can’t,
> because they’re seeing and hearing the physical world instead. So I
> couldn’t talk to her. I can never talk to sleepwalkers.

If the PCs search the orchard, they eventually find three cards just
moving around, apparently hovering over an invisible ghost. The PCs
cannot see or hear Asatya, but because the PCs can see the cards, they
can tell where Asatya’s ghost is standing, and which direction she is
facing. Using *see invisible* will reveal Asatya’s vague outline, which
can be used to confirm that, yep, it’s the same woman from the hospice.

Here is one way that it is possible to ask Asatya a question: Tell
Johann to enter Asatya’s dreams, and tell him to listen to anything she
says. Then, go to the gardens and stand directly in front of Asatya.
Face her, and ask her a question. Asatya will see and hear the PC, so
she will answer the question. The PC won’t hear the answer, because
Asatya is invisible and inaudible to the PC. But Johann can hear the
answer, and pass it to the PCs.

If the PCs ask Asatya a question in this manner, she gives answers that
are dreamy and drifty, but still basically correct.

*Asking Asatya about Owl:*

She says, “I remember his eyes, the wisdom in his eyes. He is so smart.”
The essential concepts here are intelligence and wisdom.

*Asking Asatya about Fool:*

She says, “He forgot his job… he forgot his name… then he disappeared.”
The essential concepts here are forgetting and disappearance.

*Asking Asatya about Void:*

She says, “An empty place… empty mind… so dark, so quiet.” The essential
concepts here are emptiness, darkness, and silence.

*Helping Asatya:*

After Johann helps get information from Asatya, he tells the PCs that
Asatya is the only other person he knows who is permanently asleep. He
*desperately* wants to meet her, but he can’t talk to her, because she
can’t see him. He is very frustrated.

Up until this point, Johann has been super-helpful and has done
basically anything the PCs asked of him, at no charge. Johann points
this out, and says, “I’ve been helping you. Now you help me. You’re a
resourceful bunch. Figure it out, I want to talk to this woman.”

Making this happen is shockingly easy: just tell Asatya to close her
eyes. If you do that, she stops seeing the physical world, which makes
her able to see her own internal dreamworld - which means she can see
Johann. The minute you do this, the three cards disappear: her spirit is
no longer in the orchard, it’s somewhere else, with Johann.

Another way to get Asatya’s ghost to focus inward is to cast “sleep” on
her. This will cause her to enter a more normal dream-sleep, in which
Johann can talk to her. You can cast sleep on her spirit or on her body,
either way works.

This is a difficult puzzle. If the players come up with another way to
get Asatya to focus inward, allow it, even if it only makes partial
sense. You need this to work, because the PCs will need Johann’s help
later.

Johann knows a trick: he can make you have a lucid dream. As soon as
Asatya starts talking to Johann, he uses his method to help her clear
the cobwebs. She is still asleep, but she can now focus her mind and get
a better grasp on her situation. Plus, she has a knowledgeable soul
there who knows all about being trapped in dreams. She is no longer
alone, she is no longer foggy-headed, and she has somebody who can show
her the ropes.

### Rackle: The Punching Bag

The punching bag is a man named Rackle. He developed a medical condition
that caused him constant pain. Healers were unable to improve the
situation. In desperation, he decided to draw cards:

-   *Euryale*: He is now terrified of monsters.

-   *Ruin*: Items he touches are likely to crumble to dust.

-   *Rogue*: People think he’s a fraudster and a con man, without
    > evidence.

It’s very unlikely to draw three terrible cards from the deck, but
Rackle managed to do it. His life was bad, and now it’s exponentially
worse.

After drawing cards, Rackle tried to find someplace to stay, but
everywhere he went, he was ostracised as a fraud and a con man, because
of the *rogue* card. Lacking any place to stay, he wandered around
outside the city and eventually came across an old abandoned watchtower.

The watchtower is one of a set of five posts that were built around St
Parnas 150 years ago, and abandoned about 80 years ago. They are three
stories tall, and consist of little more than a tall staircase with
landings and a platform on top. The stone parts of the building are in
good condition, but the wood parts are suffering from water damage from
lack of maintenance.

Rackle is living on the middle floor, which is basically just a landing
between the stairs that lead up, and the stairs that lead down. There’s
just enough space to lie down.

Everywhere Rackle goes, he is sure that he is surrounded by demons
lurking in the shadows. This is the effect of the *euryale* card. He has
stolen a bag of salt and he makes salt protection circles on the ground
wherever he goes, to prevent the demons from getting to him. Of course,
there are no demons. But that doesn’t stop Rackle being terrified, all
the time.

Because of his Rogue card, he can’t get an honest job - nobody trusts
him. Rackle tried stealing to make a living, but he discovered that
anything valuable he stole would often crumble to dust, the effect of
the *Ruin* card. So now he survives by stealing low-value items - bits
of food, mostly.

His medical condition persists: he is still in pain, an aching pain all
over his body, with no obvious source or cause.

Rackle’s absurd levels of misfortune have attracted the attention of
Beshaba, goddess of misfortune. She didn’t cause his bad luck: it just
happened on its own. But now that it has, Beshaba considers Rackle to be
a “saint of misfortune.” Beshaba is therefore protecting Rackle - she
has assigned a priestess named Clarissa to watch over him.

Clarissa is a strange woman. She is a human in her mid-fifties. She used
to be a sadist, that is what drew her to Beshaba. But in Beshaba’s
service, she witnessed such vast and terrible misfortunes that her own
efforts began to feel insignificant. No matter how hard she tried to
make people suffer, life did worse — arbitrarily, effortlessly. She kept
upping her game, but the universe always outdid her.

Eventually, she gave up on torturing people and turned instead to
studying the torments life produced without her help. At first, her goal
was to learn more about how to inflict pain. But over time, her study
grew more abstract, and more philosophical. Age crept in. She suffered
some things herself. She still studies suffering, but she’s not sure why
any more. Some days she feels tired. And though she’d never admit it,
she’s begun to care for a few individuals, against her better judgement.

Because of this, Beshaba has given Clarissa the responsibility of
keeping Rackle alive. Clarissa camps near the ruined watchtower where
Rackle lives, and watches from a distance. She does not interfere with
his suffering — that would defeat the purpose — but she steps in if
something threatens his life.

That turns out to be harder than expected. After a month of isolation,
pain, and fear, Rackle tried to take his own life. Clarissa found him
bleeding out and cast *Cure Wounds* just in time. It wasn't the last
time. Eventually, Rackle realized he couldn’t die by the blade — so he
stopped eating. Clarissa tried to force-feed him and nearly choked him
to death in the process. She hasn’t tried again.

Desperate, she turned to the druids of Silvanus, buying *goodberries*,
which are small enough not to cause choking. But the druids have been
growing suspicious, and they keep asking what she’s doing. She lies,
because “I’m keeping a man alive so he can suffer” isn’t a truth that
sells well. The druids are beginning to see through the lies.

The PCs have the following dream, seen through Rackle’s eyes:

> You are lying on a wooden floor, in a round stone room about 10 feet
> across. You are motionless, staring straight up at the ceiling, which
> contains some holes where the wood has rotted. In your peripheral
> vision, you can see a set of stairs leading upward. You can also see a
> woman in her fifties, in purple robes, kneeling beside you. You feel
> weak, lightheaded, and your vision is blurry. You fade out of
> consciousness.

Finding Rackle is a challenge: all you really have to go on is the
dream, which tells you that he’s in a round stone room, about 10 feet
across, with a staircase in it. A fairly easy insight roll (DC10)
reveals that he’s inside a round stone tower. If you ask the Mayor, he
has the insight that it’s probably one of the watchtowers: he says
“Homeless people camp in those all the time.” There’s no easy way to
know which one is the right one, so the PCs will probably have to make
the rounds searching them one by one.

Information about the contents of the five watchtowers can be found in
the upcoming section, “Life in St Parnas: The Old Watchtowers.”

When the PCs finally find Rackle, he is in pretty much the same
condition described in the dream above: passed out on the floor of his
tower, with Clarissa ministering to him. Clarissa has recently given him
her last *goodberry*, the druids won’t sell her any more.

When the PCs come near Rackle, the *rogue* card will attempt to warp
their perceptions to make them think that Rackle is a con-man, but the
PCs have *deck immunity*: they cannot be affected by Rackle’s *rogue*
card. So they see Rackle as he is. Clarissa is also immune, Beshaba
needs her to be clear-eyed in order to do her job properly.

Clarissa knows who the PCs are, because she has been told by Beshaba.
However, she does not reveal this. She will speak to the PCs and will
present herself as a friendly cleric who’s just trying to help. She
says, truthfully, “Hi, I’m Clarissa. This man is starving to death. I’ve
tried using cure spells, but they don’t help against starvation. I don’t
have any way to feed him, it’s not safe to just cram food in his mouth,
he would almost certainly choke. Can you guys do anything to help?”

If the PCs interrogate Clarissa, she decides that there is not much
point in lying to the PCs. She admits that she is a priestess of
Beshaba, and that she has been sent to protect Rackle because Rackle is
a saint of misfortune. She omits the part about keeping him alive to
keep him suffering, though. If the PCs don’t ask Clarissa who she is,
Lada figures it out anyway - as a priestess of Tymora, Lada can sense
the influence of Beshaba.

While talking to Clarissa, Lada gets a grim, tense look on her face and
keeps her mouth shut. Later, when out of Clarissa’s earshot, Lada says,
“That was a priestess of Beshaba. I don’t know what she’s up to, but I
guarantee she’s up to no good. I don’t care what she says, priests of
Beshaba are *never* here to help.”

If the PCs attack Clarissa, have everybody roll initiative. On her first
turn, Clarissa casts hypnotic pattern, spell save DC 16. But then, on
her second turn, she says, “You know what, I can’t do it. I don’t do
this any more.” She puts her hands in the air, and stops fighting. If
the PCs keep attacking, they kill her easily.

The PCs have two strong incentives to help Rackle: one, it would be
morally evil to let him die, and two, they need to ask Rackle questions.
There are several good-aligned temples in town that provide medical
care, for 100 gp per day. If Rackle gets proper medical care, he will
regain consciousness in two days. Clarissa doesn’t interfere, she’s out
of options for keeping Rackle alive and she’s willing to accept help,
even if doing so could reduce Rackle’s suffering.

When Rackle wakes up, he is utterly terrified: there’s no ring of salt
on the ground! The demons are going to take his soul! He won’t do
anything but freak out until somebody puts down a protective ring of
salt. The PCs can get salt inexpensively at a nearby shop.

## Life in St Parnas

This chapter will take place in two primary locales: inside Castle
Green, and in and around St. Parnas.

This section lists some of the interesting things you’ll find in St.
Parnas.

### A Summary of St Parnas

Saint Parnas is a small town in the Outlands. It sits about a day’s
journey spireward of Tradegate. It is a law-abiding, good-aligned town.
Given its proximity to Tradegate (and therefore Bytopia), the
predominant moral code in town is that a good person is a person who
works hard, is diligent, and who contributes to his community. People
look out for each other, and people have a strong sense of civic virtue.

St Parnas has a definite small-town feel. The kinds of amenities you
find in big cities aren’t available here. If you want to hire a
high-level wizard or cleric, you’re out of luck. There are a number of
one-room churches and temples to various good-aligned gods, but there
aren’t any big, showy temples. Much of the employment is small-town
employment: mainly farmwork and small craft workshops. Most of the
people of St Parnas prefer the quiet small town lifestyle, and are glad
that they aren’t in a big city.

Overt evil is not tolerated here. You will not find any temples to evil
gods. Of course, people are people, and everyone is flawed, even in a
good place like this. You will certainly find people who are selfish, or
greedy, or lazy. You might even find a few truly dark individuals hiding
in the shadows. But for the most part, this genuinely is a town full of
decent, reasonable people.

It’s the kind of town where if the PCs are not overtly destructive,
they’ll get along just fine.

### Where to Sleep in St. Parnas

The first thing the PCs will probably look for in town is someplace to
sleep. They can find lodging at an inn called “The Unnamed Inn.” Lodging
for a party of 4 is 2 gp per night, it includes two rooms and meals for
everyone.

The unnamed inn has a common room where people can relax, eat food
prepared by the innkeeper, and occasionally, listen to music. It is not
really a “tavern.” Yes, you can get a drink, but service is mainly
intended for people staying at the inn. There are eight bedrooms
upstairs. When the PCs arrive, there are a handful of randos staying at
the inn (feel free to invent some).

There is one other inn in town: the Named Inn, in the nicer part of
town. Depending on how scruffy the party looks, they may not be welcome.

Another option is that there are some unoccupied grassy fields on the
outskirts of town. If they want to, the PCs can set up tents, and nobody
will bother them.

### The Legend of St Parnas

If anyone asks where the name “Saint Parnas” comes from, any local can
tell them this story.

About 200 years ago, a party of settlers came from the Tradegate area,
looking for someplace to build farmsteads. They found a lovely clearing
where the town of St Parnas now sits, and they started to build.
Unfortunately, the entire area was inhabited by a clan of druids who
viewed the area as theirs. The druids despised the fact that the
settlers were cutting down trees, tearing up nature, and domesticating
the area.

Gradually, tensions between the settlers and the druids escalated, and
it seemed like battle might be inevitable. Into this fray came a man
named Zell Parnas, a man with a silver tongue and a decent heart.
Somehow, Parnas managed to negotiate an agreement between the settlers
and the druids.

The step that finally got the druids to back down was choosing a modest
radius beyond which the city would never expand. The settlers would be
allowed to do as they pleased inside the boundary, but they would leave
nature untrammeled outside the circle. The boundary would be marked by
an orchard that completely encircles the town. This is a huge orchard,
and building it would be expensive, Mr. Parnas financed the planting out
of his own pocket. The druids and the townsfolk are both allowed to pick
fruits from the orchard.

Because of the boundary, the village never grew beyond “small town”
status. About a hundred years after his death, Zell Parnas was declared
a saint, and the town was renamed after him.

### The Mayor, Elar Mossbrow

When the PCs start to gain some notoriety in town, the mayor may
introduce himself. You should not introduce the mayor until the PCs have
been in town a while.

The Mayor is a firbolg named Elar Mossbrow. It is unusual for a town
mostly populated by medium-sized people to have a giantish mayor, but
Elar is highly worthy of respect, and when he ran for election, he won
easily.

Most firbolg think that money is evil, so it is strange for a firbolg to
be mayor of a human town. Humans use money for everything. The reason
for this is that Elar Mossbrow is a bit of a free-thinker among firbolg,
he eventually concluded that commerce is not a force for evil, he
concluded that commerce binds people together. He uses the expression,
“the bridge to the next village is the merchant’s cart.” Because this
view is in conflict with normal firbolg culture, Mossbrow decided to
move close to tradegate, where the view that commerce is an affirmative
good is the norm.

The town has a manor for the mayor, which contains a residential quarter
and also offices. Mayor Mossbrow doesn’t fit inside the manor. He can
squeeze through the doorways and, crouching, shuffle down the hallways
if he has to, but it’s very awkward. The only time he goes inside is
when he needs to get some papers from the filing cabinets. Instead, he
built a pagoda in the back yard of the manor, which is where he lives
now. It is open air, but has a roof. He jokes: “I’m the mayor, and I
don’t fit in the mayor’s office. Heavy is the head that wears the
crown!”

Mayor Mossbrow is not happy with Green. He says, “St Parnas used to be a
quiet little town, and I liked it that way. Now we’ve got randos from
all over the multiverse overrunning the place. And now a chaos storm! I
wish this was all over.” After the chaos storm, the Mayor decided it was
time to kick Green out of town. However, Green is trapped in the
basement of the castle, so the Mayor hasn’t been able to tell him yet.

At some point, the PCs may help the town guards contain a threat. If so,
Mayor Mossbrow becomes their friend. He will help them with town records
and other things like that.

Sometimes, Mayor Mossbrow likes to clear his mind by going out to the
orchard and doing maintenance work. He says it’s a good way to get back
to the basics.

### The Orchard

The town is surrounded by an orchard. The orchard contains every
imaginable type of fruit or nut. Many of the trees are picked over (the
townsfolk and the druids use them regularly), but there’s still a bit of
ripe fruit for the taking. Anyone is allowed to pick fruit, which is why
the orchard is usually pretty picked over.

Asatya is a woman who drew the “void” card from the deck. As a result,
her spirit was banished from her body. Her spirit now wanders the
orchard. At some point, the PCs will have a deck dream about Asatya, and
they will see her standing among apple trees. That is a dead giveaway
that she’s in the orchard.

To find Asatya, the PCs should search the orchard for apple trees. That
narrows it down: only a small percentage of the orchard is dedicated to
apples. From there, it’s just a questions of brute-force search. If you
look hard enough, you will find three cards hovering over an invisible
person.

More information about Asatya can be found in the preceding section,
“Asatya: The Sleepwalker.”

### The Old Watchtowers

The easiest way to learn about the watchtowers is to ask one of the
locals about the deck dream with Rackle. “A small round tower” is pretty
much all it takes to get the locals to mention the watchtowers.
Alternately, if you’re exploring the orchard, you’ll stumble on a
watchtower.

Just inside the orchard are five old watchtowers, evenly spaced around
the town. Each one is a cylinder of stone about 10 feet in diameter.
Inside the cylinder is a spiral staircase that goes up the entire tower.
The staircase has four landings: the ground floor, the lower landing,
the upper landing, and the roof. The interior landings are only there
for safety. The point of the staircase is to get to the roof, which is
where a watchman would stand and survey the countryside.

The towers were built about 90 years ago by an overzealous mayor who
thought this was necessary for some reason. They were abandoned 60 years
ago, when that mayor retired, because everyone realized there was
nothing to watch for. Without maintenance, the stone outer structure is
still in good condition, but the wooden parts are starting to rot.

The towers are often used by homeless people and drifters as temporary
shelter. Many of them contain graffiti, and junk discarded by drifters.
Here are the specific contents of the towers. Note that “tower 1” is not
in any particular location. It’s just whichever tower the PCs explore
first.

Tower 1: *Religious Icon.* The roof has an abandoned campsite - the cold
remains of a burnt-out fire and a pile of garbage. If the PCs are
searching for Rackle, then the campsite contains a crudely carved wooden
statue of Ilmater. Ilmater instructed one of his worshippers to carve it
and leave it here. It is intended as a simple message, meaning
basically, “I am Ilmater, don’t forget I exist.” Rackle will need
Ilmater’s help.

Tower 2: *Bats*. On the upper landing is a swarm of aggressive bats.
They remain motionless until a PC pokes his head into the upper landing,
then they attack.

> Swarm Combat

-   Initial swarm size: 100 bats

-   Every round, every PC must roll two saves:

    -   DEX save DC 13 → on fail, take 10% of bats remaining as damage

    -   CON save DC 13 → on fail, take 10% of bats remaining as damage

-   AOE spells kill ⅓ as many bats as damage dealt, e.g., 30 damage → 10
    > bats dead

-   Single-target melee attacks kill 1–2 bats max (unless very clever)

-   AOE spells kill multiple bats. Typically, about ⅓ as many bats as
    > damage dealt, eg, 30 damage means 10 bats dead. However, you must
    > make a judgement call for each spell: would this particular spell
    > be more or less effective? That is up to you as a DM.

-   When swarm is reduced to 30 bats, it disperses.

> Bat Movement Rules:

-   Bats move as a single swarm — they prefer to stay clustered around
    > the party

-   If a PC moves away from the group, they can exit the swarm and avoid
    > damage

-   If all PCs leave the tower, the bats follow outside

-   If the party splits, the bats stay with the larger group

> Player Movement Rules:

-   Moving while inside the swarm = difficult terrain

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-   Climbing stairs while in the swarm: DEX save DC 12 or Prone.

-   Stairwell is narrow: single file, if somebody is prone, stairs
    > blocked.

Tower 3: *Collapsed*. This entire tower has been knocked over by an
enormous falling tree. The stone blocks are strewn where the tower fell,
and weeds are grown up among them.

Tower 4: *Rackle and Clarissa*. This tower contains Rackle, one of the
deck-touched NPCs, and the priestess of Beshaba who is protecting him.
See the section “Rackle: The Punching Bag” for more information about
him.

Tower 5: *Empty*. Aside from graffiti and garbage, there is nothing
here.

### The White Ward

The white ward is the hospital. It is a joint project between some
priests of several good-aligned gods, and also some non-magical doctors.
It was originally called the white ward because the building is covered
in white stucco, and also, because the doctors wear white. Eventually,
the name stuck and they just went with it.

\<FINISH ME\>

Asatya’s unconscious body is here. It will probably be necessary to
bring Rackle here.

### Magic Items for Sale

A small town like St Parnas would normally not have any magic items for
sale. However, because the deck has been conjuring items left and right,
it is possible to find magic items in town. The selection is extremely
*random*. Here are the items:

Envenomed Shortsword — *3,500 gp*

-   Three times per day, target takes D8 poison in addition to normal
    > damage

-   No save. If resistant to poison, no damage.

Javelin of Lightning — *3,000 gp*

-   Once per day, becomes a bolt of lightning when thrown

-   Deals 4d6 lightning damage in a line

Headband of Warning — *3,500 gp*

-   Advantage on initiative

-   Can’t be surprised while worn

-   Wearing any other hat, helmet, or headgear will prevent this item
    > from working.

Cloak of Protection — *4,000 gp*

-   +1 bonus to AC

-   +1 bonus to saving throws

Decanter of Endless Water — *2,200 gp*

-   Pours out an unlimited supply of fresh water

Key of Curious Locks — *3,000 gp*

-   Casts *Knock* once per day

-   Can tell you exactly why a door isn’t opening (e.g., rusted, barred,
    > etc.)

-   Warns about trapped doors (only trapped doors, not traps in general)

Navigator’s Compass — *2,800 gp*

-   Can point toward any landmark. A “landmark” is any point of interest
    > that is known to the locals, and that has been there for at least
    > 5 years. “Joanne’s Restaurant” is a valid landmark, for example,
    > as would be “The Nearest Temple of Lathander.”

Lens of Far Seeing — *3,000 gp*

-   See clearly up to 1 mile, even through mist or light foliage

-   Once per long rest, cast *Clairvoyance* (sight only)

Pouch of the Burrowing Familiar — *3,000 gp*

-   Contains a badger familiar

-   Can be summoned for up to 1 hour

-   Burrows through dirt or loose stone at 10 ft speed

-   Follows simple commands

-   Does not fight

Ring of Hopping — *3,500 gp*

-   Three times per long rest, cast *Jump*

-   Once per long rest, cast *Misty Step*

Lantern of the Firefly — *3,000 gp*

-   Endless Light: At will, sheds dim green light in a 100-foot radius

-   Once per long rest, cast *Faerie Fire* (DC 15) as a bonus action

Staff of the Potent Caster — *7,500 gp*

-   Functions as a quarterstaff and a spellcasting focus

-   Grants +1 to spell save DC

Wand of Silent Casting — *5,500 gp*

-   Functions as a spellcasting focus

-   Allows you to cast any spell with verbal components using only
    > somatic components

### The Collapsed Lizardman Temple

The collapsed temple is a combat event that you can bring out whenever
you think your PCs might be in the mood for a little smashy-smashy.

In the poorer part of town, a small group of lizardmen built a temple to
their god, Semuanya. The temple is ramshackle (for a temple). It was a
wooden building two stories tall. On the second story, the lizards had
an unauthorized menagerie containing dangerous reptiles. The reptiles
were smuggled into town, nobody knows they’re there except the
lizardmen.

A few days after the chaos storm, the building collapsed, and two
reptiles escaped: a basilisk, and a mirage serpent. The two beasts are
now wreaking havoc throughout the poor quarter.

The PCs are walking somewhere (anywhere) when they see two guards
running toward the poor quarter. If they’re curious, they can follow.
The will soon find some petrified people. Then, they will find the two
guards from earlier firing crossbows at the *mirage serpent*. The guards
are not very skilled: this town is too safe and nothing ever happens
here, and the guards have gotten complacent. They have not been training
as much as they should.

The mirage serpent is an electric blue snake which is capable of
projecting illusionary images of two additional snakes. The challenge in
fighting it is knowing which snake is the real snake. Shooting at an
illusory snake is just a waste of an action. When the PCs join the
fight, roll initiative. The turn order will include the PCs, the two
guards, the real snake, and the two illusory snakes.

> **Mirage Serpent**
>
> Large Monstrosity, Unaligned
>
> Challenge: 4 (1,100 XP)
>
> AC: 14
>
> HP: 68 (8d10 + 24)
>
> Speed: 30 ft., climb 10 ft., swim 30 ft.
>
> STR: 16 (+3) DEX: 14 (+2) CON: 16 (+3) INT: 4 (-3) WIS: 12 (+1) CHA: 6
> (-2)
>
> Saves: DEX +4, WIS +3
>
> Skills: Stealth +6, Perception +3
>
> Resistances: Psychic
>
> Immunities: Charmed
>
> Senses: Blindsight 10 ft., Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 13
>
> The serpent always fights alongside two illusory duplicates. The DM
> will declare that the PCs are fighting 3 serpents, and will not reveal
> that there is actually only 1 serpent and 2 illusions. The DM must
> place three serpents on the battlefield. They should be scattered
> about: for example, one might be in a tree, another on a roof, and
> another on the street. The DM must roll initiative for each of the
> three serpents, so there will be three entries for serpents in the
> turn order.
>
> The DM must keep track of which serpent is real. If a PC hits the real
> serpent with an attack, it takes damage. If a PC hits an illusory
> serpent with an attack, the attack passes right through the illusion,
> obviously not causing damage. The illusory duplicates cannot be
> damaged, and are difficult to dispel (use your judgement).
>
> When it is a serpent’s turn, regardless of whether that serpent is
> illusory or real, the serpent can choose one of two actions:
>
> **Psychic Lash.** Ranged Spell Attack: +5 to hit, range 15 ft., one
> creature per lash. Hit: 6 (1d10 + 1) psychic damage. When an illusory
> serpent uses mirage lash, the attack is actually coming from the real
> serpent, but the illusory serpent rears up in order to give the
> impression that the attack is coming from the illusion.
>
> **Shuffle.** All three serpents (the real and the two illusions) all
> teleport up to 15 feet to new visible locations. The DM reassigns
> which token is real, in secret. The illusions update their appearance
> to match the appearance of the real serpent, including any wounds the
> real serpent has taken.
>
> The serpent is tactical about choosing *psychic lash* vs *shuffle*.
> The more it shuffles, the less damage it does (because if it is
> shuffling, is isn’t lashing). So it only shuffles when it notices that
> the PCs are focusing all damage on the real serpent.

After beating the mirage serpent, the PCs will hear screaming coming
from elsewhere. If they hunt around a bit, they can find the basilisk
and the one remaining non-petrified guard who is fighting it.

This basilisk is thematically similar to the basilisk in the monster
manual, but the rules are completely different. The PCs can quickly
identify this as some subtype of basilisk by the fact that it has four
legs on each side: lizard with eight legs is a dead giveaway for
“basilisk.”

> **Basilisk (Modified)**
>
> Medium Monstrosity, Unaligned
>
> Challenge: 4 (1,100 XP)
>
> AC: 16
>
> HP: 65
>
> Speed: 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
>
> STR: 18 (+4) DEX: 10 (+0) CON: 16 (+3) INT: 2 (-4) WIS: 12 (+1) CHA: 7
> (-2)
>
> Saves: CON +5, WIS +3
>
> Skills: Perception +3
>
> Resistances: Poison
>
> Immunities: Poisoned
>
> Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 10 ft., Passive Perception 13
>
> **Bite (action).** Melee attack, +5 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target.
> Hit: 2D6 + 10 piercing damage.
>
> **Lock On (reaction, one per eye per turn).**
>
> The basilisk has two independently-pivoting eyes, like a chameleon.
> Each eye can “lock on” to a single target creature, paralyzing that
> creature.
>
> Lock-on is a reaction: when a creature is about to take its turn in
> the initiative turn order, and the basilisk sees this, the basilisk
> can use a reaction by aiming one of its two eyes at the creature. The
> creature must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw. If the save
> succeeds, the basilisk fails to establish a lock. The creature may
> continue taking its turn in the normal manner.
>
> If the creature fails the saving throw, the basilisk has locked its
> gaze onto to the creature. The creature is instantly paralyzed, and it
> loses its action. From that point forward, the creature remains
> paralyzed as long as the basilisk keeps its eye locked on. The
> creature cannot move at all, and it cannot take any actions that
> require any kind of movement, including moving one’s mouth. Though
> paralyzed, the creature is still aware. On the creature’s next turn,
> will need to resist petrification, by making another CON save DC 15.
> It takes a minimum of three turns for a creature to be petrified:
>
> Turn 1: Creature attempts an action, and the basilisk reacts by
> locking on.
>
> Turn 2: The creature attempts to resist petrification and fails,
> getting dangerously close.
>
> Turn 3: The creature attempts to resist petrification and fails again,
> and turns to stone.
>
> If the creature succeeds at the save against petrification (turn 2 or
> turn 3), the creature is not freed: the creature is still paralyzed,
> and the basilisk is still locked on. The creature just didn’t get any
> closer to turning to stone, which means that the process of
> petrification will take longer. A paralyzed creature cannot free
> itself, unless it has pure mental actions such as a spell with no
> material, somatic, or verbal components. To free the paralyzed
> creature, the companions can do anything that breaks the basilisk’s
> gaze. That would include:

-   Blocking the line of sight with smoke, darkness, a wall of fire, or
    > any other opaque obstacle.

-   Grappling the basilisk and forcing it to turn its head (strength vs
    > strength).

-   Draping a cloak over the basilisk’s head (counts as a net, with -2
    > to hit because it’s not weighted).

-   Interposing your body between the basilisk and its target, if your
    > body is large enough.

-   Using spells like “compelled duel” that force the basilisk to look
    > at something else.

-   Anything that incapacitates the basilisk, like hypnotic pattern.

-   Draping a cloak over the targeted creature’s face (no to-hit roll
    > needed).

-   There are undoubtedly other ways. Allow your PCs to be inventive.

> If anything breaks the basilisk’s gaze, the paralysis immediately
> dissipates, and the basilisk’s gaze is no longer locked-on. There is
> no recovery period, the creature can act as soon as its initiative
> turn order comes up. This is the key to beating the basilisk: just
> keep interrupting its gaze, over and over.
>
> The basilisk has two independently-pivoting eyes. DM must keep track
> of who each eye is locked on to. Each eye that isn’t already locked-on
> can use the “lock on” reaction once per turn. The DM must keep track
> of which eye has used its reaction.
>
> Interestingly, if a creature doesn’t take an action, then the basilisk
> can’t react. The basilisk’s vision is motion-sensitive, if you stand
> perfectly still, the basilisk can’t lock on to you!
>
> If a creature is petrified, it goes unconscious. It remains a statue
> for about 48 hours, after which it turns back to flesh.

After the PCs defeat the basilisk, they will probably look around and
see several petrified commoners. Other commoners are already sending for
medical help. The PCs do not have to babysit the statues.

Shortly after the reptile attacks, Sam Link hears about the chaos, and
comes running to help. This is one way the PCs can connect with Sam
Link: if they realize that Sam Link is searching for injured people,
they might be smart enough to just wait for him here.

One of the petrified commoners has had a hand broken off. When they turn
back to flesh, 48 hours later, they will bleed out very, very fast. Sam
Link can’t heal the person while they’re stone, so Sam waits with the
statue. His plan is to use his power, fast, as soon as they turn to
flesh. The statue is surrounded by Sam and by family members, who are
keeping careful watch for any sign the body is turning back to flesh.

Because Sam is trapped in one place for 48 hours, and because the Mayor
and the guards all know about this and can tell the PCs where Sam is,
this gives the PCs additional opportunities to track him down.

## Castle Green

The PCs will spend a lot of chapter 2 exploring Castle Green. Before we
get to the details of what’s in the castle, we’re going to give you some
general information about what the castle is like, and why it is the way
it is.

### How Castle Green Came to Exist

When Green was first starting out, he didn’t have a Castle. He searched
for people who might be interested in drawing cards from the Deck, then
he brought them out into an empty field to have them draw cards. One
day, one of these people - Alyssa Varn - drew the Bricklayer card. Where
once there was an empty field, suddenly there was a small castle —
technically, a “keep” for a knight. Alyssa sold the Castle to Green.

The keep consisted of a ground floor, a single basement level, and a
small tower.

The basement contained most of the functional rooms, including a
barracks for the staff, a kitchen and dining room, an armory and
sparring room, holding cells, a lounge, a laundry and latrine, a wine
cellar and a root cellar. Here is a map of the basement:

![](media/image11.png){width="5.026042213473316in"
height="3.9483333333333333in"}

The ground floor included a nice dining room for guests, a small
ballroom, an a few general purpose rooms. The tower contained an
observation room and a general-purpose room. Since the ground floor and
tower are gone, we have not provided a map.

Green and his employees used the castle for some time before the next
event: Borghan also drew the Bricklayer card, and it built the
labyrinth, underneath the basement. A trapdoor manifested in the
basement lounge: the trapdoor drops down into the Labyrinth. There is no
map of the labyrinth, it’s a confusing mess of passages, and nobody has
bothered trying to map it.

Both the castle and the labyrinth were created by magic. But neither one
is inherently magical. The castle is a normal castle. The labyrinth is
confusing, but it’s not a magic labyrinth.

The walls of the basement are entirely made of stone blocks. The walls
of the labyrinth are covered by decorative wooden paneling, with
decorative moulding, as one might see in a victorian library. By looking
at the walls, you can easily tell whether you’re in the basement or the
labyrinth.

### The Upstairs is Gone

In the chaos storm, the entire top half of the castle (ground floor and
up) was ripped away. Everything from about knee-level on up is gone.

The floors of the ground floor are still intact, as are the bottom two
feet of the walls. Walking around the ground floor of castle green is a
lot like walking around a floorplan of a castle. There’s very little
left to see on the ground floor. There is, however, a set of stairs
leading down into the basement. The stairs leading to the basement are
entirely intact.

### The Portals that Subdivide the Castle

As a defensive measure against Tymora’s agents, Omta has placed several
portals designed to make it difficult to move around the basement. The
portals all lead into the labyrinth. Look at the map: wherever you see a
red line crossing a hallway, that is a portal to the labyrinth. When a
PC stands in a hallway, looking at such a portal, the PC will see the
hall up to the portal, and the labyrinth beyond the portal. When the PC
walks through the portal, they end up in the labyrinth.

Sometimes, when you’re in the labyrinth, if Omta wants you to, you’ll
emerge from one of these portals and end up back in the basement.

![](media/image11.png){width="5.026042213473316in"
height="3.9483333333333333in"}

Now, let’s talk about how the PCs will perceive the portals. Imagine
that a PC is standing in the hallway just northwest of Mikhail’s
bedroom. (Look at the map above, lower-right corner). If the PC looks
north, they will see the door to Etienne’s bedroom. Beyond that, there’s
a red line crossing the hall: a portal to the labyrinth. When the PC
looks through the portal, they see the labyrinth.

So that means if the PC is standing outside Mikhail’s bedroom, the PC
*can’t* see the door to the furniture storage room. The furniture room
is north of the portal, and therefore, line of sight is blocked by the
portal. Likewise, if the PC walks north, they can’t reach the furniture
storage room. They will walk through the portal first, and end up in the
labyrinth.

So from the perspective of a PC standing outside Mikhail’s bedroom, it
looks like they’re standing in an L-shaped piece of corridor, both ends
of which are connected to the labyrinth. It creates the appearance that
these small sections of hallway are physically inside the labyrinth. It
looks, for all the world, as if the basement has been broken into
pieces, and the pieces randomly inserted into the labyrinth.

Note that on the map, we have drawn red lines not just where the portals
are in the hallways, but we’ve actually drawn red lines around eight
“chunks” of the castle. The PCs will perceive the castle as being made
up of these eight chunks. To move from one chunk to another, they will
have to pass through the labyrinth.

The portals in the basement are in fixed locations, indicated on the map
by red lines. The portals in the labyrinth, however, are in
ever-shifting locations. The portals are being moved around regularly by
Omta. Some of the portals in the labyrinth lead to other portals in the
labyrinth. Some of the portals in the labyrinth lead back to the portals
in the basement. All of the portals in the basement lead to the
labyrinth.

### Navigating the Portals

When the PCs first enter the labyrinth, they will get stuck in there.
They just move in circles: tunnel after tunnel. None of the passages
lead anywhere. Omta is just portaling the PCs around the labyrinth to
keep them confused. He figures: if I keep the agents of Tymora in the
labyrinth, they can’t hurt me.

In the backs of their minds, the PCs can feel the “presence in the
Labyrinth,” Omta, because of their telepathic bond. They can feel his
anxiety and fear. They can try communicating with this presence, and
they quickly realize that the presence is listening, paying attention,
because it reacts when they say things.

To get unstuck, the PCs have to do two things:

**Step 1: Reassure Omta**

When the PCs sense the presence in the labyrinth, and his fear, they
need to say something reassuring, such as “We are not here to hurt you.
We just want to talk.” If the PCs say some things like this, then Omta
will calm down a little. The PCs can feel the anxiety level drop a
little.

**Step 2. Ask for Navigation Assistance**

The following only works *after* the PCs have reassured Omta: to get
around the basement, the PCs can simply ask Omta for assistance in
navigating the labyrinth. Just speak out loud, and say something along
the lines of, “Hey, could you guide us to the Kitchen?” Then, start
walking, in any direction. Omta will rearrange the portals in order to
bring the PCs to the kitchen area. Note that the PCs won’t end up
*exactly* in the kitchen: they’ll end up at the closest basement portal,
in the correct basement region to go to the kitchen.

It’s odd that Omta is putting up portals to confuse the PCs, but then
he’s also helping the PCs to navigate the portals. Omta is asleep, and
he’s using dream logic, and his emotions are conflicted. He wants Tymora
to stay away, but he also wants a relationship with the PCs. So his left
hand doesn’t know what his right hand is doing.

So for now, Omta is both hindering and helping. Whether he can actually
bring you to any particular place depends on a number of factors:

-   In general, if you ask for a room type, like “take me to the
    > Kitchen,” or “take me to the Armory,” that works. Omta understands
    > what a kitchen or an armory is.

-   If you say “take me to the bedroom,” that’s ambiguous, because there
    > are a dozen bedrooms in the castle. In this case, Omta will take
    > you to the bedroom farthest away from the Deck.

-   If you ask for a specific employee, eg, “take me to Zimmi,” that
    > usually elicits no response, because Omta doesn’t know most human
    > names. However, Omta does know the name “Green.”

-   If the PCs ask for an employee by profession, that is more likely to
    > work. “Take me to the wizard’s bedroom” will get you to Etienne’s
    > bedroom.

-   If you ask for “take me to the woman who drew the bricklayer card,”
    > that *does* work. When Omta looks at humans, he is more likely to
    > remember their cards than their names.

-   If the PCs ask for something broad, like “Food”, Omta will do a
    > reasonable job of complying: in response to that query, he would
    > take the PCs to the kitchen. The DM may have to be creative
    > interpreting such queries.

-   If you ask to be taken to Green (who has the Deck), or to the
    > Laundry (which contains the Deck), or to the Lounge (which is
    > close to the Deck), then Omta will project an intense emotion of
    > fear, and will not take you anywhere.

Under no circumstances must you allow the PCs to reach the lounge area
or the laundry area until certain trigger events take place.

### Bypassing the Portals

On the map, there are several red dots, positioned on top of walls.
These represent holes in the walls. During the chaos storm, several of
the stone blocks teleported out of their normal positions in the walls,
and ended up scattered around the castle: as the PCs walk around, they
will occasionally find these stone blocks. A small person like a gnome
or halfling can fit through the hole, but a medium-sized person cannot
fit. The PCs could use spells like *enlarge/reduce* to get the whole
party through a hole.

Interestingly, holes in the wall circumvent the portals. It is possible
to move from one region to another through a hole in the wall, *without*
getting portaled into the labyrinth. Currently, there is only one hole
that crosses a red line. But the PCs could conceivably dig more.

If you use holes to move around the castle, the castle appears much more
mundane than if you try to walk around the halls. The halls have portals
in them, and the portals make everything confusing. But the holes in the
walls have no portals, so you just move around the castle in the normal
way.

However, if the PCs try to dig a hole into the laundry area, a steel
barrier will materialize in the hole, looking much like the main steel
barrier in the hall that leads into the laundry area. Omta really
doesn’t want anyone crossing into the laundry until Omta is ready.

### Green’s Trapped Employees

Several of Green’s employees are trapped in the basement. They are not
in immediate danger, but most of them don’t have access to food and
water, so they do need to be rescued from the castle relatively soon.

When the chaos storm hit, Green yelled “evacuate the castle!” Everyone
upstairs evacuated, however, nobody emerged from the basement,
presumably because the basement had been turned into a confusing magical
labyrinth. Green cares about his employees, he wasn’t about to just let
them rot in the basement. So he and his bodyguards went down in the
basement to round up the employees and get them out. Balanestra went
with them, because she is loving the life of adventure. They vanished
into the basement, and didn’t come back.

They didn’t come back because Omta portaled them to the laundry room
region, and then trapped them inside by building a giant steel door. The
laundry room region now contains Green, his bodyguards, and Balanestra -
and the Deck. They are annoyed and concerned about being trapped, but
are otherwise unharmed. One of the bodyguards, Harkon, is a cleric who
can conjure food and water.

The gate guards, Bran and Inya, watched as Green and his bodyguards went
into the basement. Bran and Inya are much lower-level than Green and the
bodyguards, so they assumed that they weren’t needed. But when Green and
the bodyguards didn’t emerge, Bran and Inya also went down into the
basement, in the hopes of rescuing the others. They too got trapped -
they’re in the sparring room region.

Here is an inventory of all of Green’s employees who are stuck behind
the steel door:

-   Green.

-   Mikhail, Male Half-Orc, Fighter LV8. Natural peacemaker.

-   Etienne Vireaux, Male Tiefling, Diviner LV8. Tries to help people.

-   Siduri, Female High Elf, Duelist LV8. Reserved. Graceful movement.

-   Harkon, Male Dwarf, Cleric of Helm LV8.

-   Balanestra, Female Aasimar, deck-touched.

Here is an inventory of all of Green’s employees who are trapped in the
Basement:

-   Bran, Gate Guard. Male Dwarf. Overly talkative, but helpful.

-   Inya, Gate Guard. Female Tiefling. Has learned to let Bran talk.

-   Zimmi, Cook. Female Gnome. Loud and a little pushy.

-   Edric, Steward and Bookkeeper. Male Bariaur. All business.

-   Penny, Helper. Teen Female Tiefling. Super smart, skill with
    > languages.

Here are the ones that are not in the basement: they are at the Inn in
St. Parnas:

-   Wim, Janitor. Male Kobold. Avoids eye contact.

-   Tommel, Gardener. Male Earth Genasi. Aloof.

Green and his bodyguards are trapped by the big steel barrier. The
others are not physically trapped: they can leave the areas that they’re
in, and go out into the labyrinth. But when they do, they get lost,
wander around for a while, and end up back in the areas where they
started. All of them have tried leaving, and none of them have gotten
anywhere.

To rescue the employees, the PCs will have to find them one by one. The
following section, “List of Basement Areas,” lists every region in the
basement, including which of Green’s employees are trapped in that area.

The reason that Green’s employees are stuck is because they didn’t draw
cards from the deck. Therefore, they lack the telepathic connection to
Omta which makes it possible for the PCs to communicate with Omta. The
PCs are navigating the labyrinth by asking Omta for what they need.
Green’s employees don’t have that option.

### Ants are Taking the Castle by Force

The castle was built very close to an anthill containing intelligent
giant ants.

Prior to the chaos storm, the ants were a minor nuisance at the castle.
Occasionally, a worker would enter the castle via the root cellar, take
some food from a storage room, and leave. Stealing is not actually
sanctioned by the ant queen, but some workers aren’t that bright.
Green’s employees view the ants as a relatively insignificant issue -
pretty much how you would feel if your kitchen had ants.

However, the chaos storm has upended the situation. The chaos storm has
severely damaged the complex series of tunnels in their anthill, it’s
caving in all over the place. The ant queen is angry, and she is intent
on being compensated for the damage: you castle idiots destroyed our
anthill, so we’re taking over yours! The ants are moving into the
castle.

These ants are not, by nature, hostile creatures. Construction,
maintenance, farming: those are the things they normally care about. The
ants attitude toward other ants is “be a productive member of the
community.” Their attitude toward non-ants is “live and let live.” By
that, we mean that if you are not an ant, they won’t go out of their way
to help you, but they won’t do anything to hurt you either. They will
most likely just walk right past you, too busy to talk. Overall, they
are somewhere between true neutral (to outsiders), and lawful good (to
each other). However, the queen is angry about the destruction of her
home. Even so, she is not bloodthirsty. She intends to take the castle
by force, but she is willing to let the humans go away without bloodshed
as long as the humans are willing to depart.

The ants can tell that the PCs don’t live in the castle, and that
they’re not the ones responsible for the chaos. They know that when a
person lives in a house for a long time, the odors rub off on each
other: the house begins to smell like the person, and the person begins
to smell like the house. Because of this, they can tell that the PCs
don’t live in the castle. The queen’s anger is toward the people in the
castle who caused the chaos storm, not toward the PCs. Because of this,
the ants will generally pass the PCs without aggression.

Ants do not perceive mammals or other animals as prey. The ants are
fungus farmers, they eat a fungus that they grow on a substrate of
rotting organic matter.

There are three types of ants: workers, soldiers, and the queen. Workers
are about the size of a small dog, soldiers are about the size of a
large dog, and the queen is the size of a small horse.

The ants are intelligent, and can communicate, but they do not speak
verbal languages: they communicate by waving their antennae. You will
need some tricks if you want to talk to them. Here are some potentially
relevant spells:

-   *Tongues*: This will allow full communication.

-   *Comprehend Languages*: This will allow you to understand everything
    > they say. However, it won’t enable them to understand you.

-   *Speak with Animals*: Doesn’t work. They’re too intelligent to count
    > as animals.

The queen is smart enough to be creative about communication. For
example, if you cast *comprehend languages*, she will say, “That spell
doesn’t enable *me* to understand *you*, so I’ll ask you questions, and
you can raise your right hand for yes, and left hand for no.” The
workers and soldiers are not bright enough to come up with tricks like
that, but if the PCs suggest things like that, the workers and soldiers
are smart enough to play along.

Worker and soldier mentality is extremely task-focused, and very
specialized. For example, the workers will give sophisticated
explanations of the steps necessary to cultivate food fungus, they can
go on at length about the antibiotic properties of the plants they use
to prevent biological contamination. But the workers only understand the
basics about things unrelated to their job. For example, if you ask them
what happened to their anthill: “Things were moving everywhere,
including the walls. It seemed like magic. It’s all crumbling.” No
deeper insight. Soldiers are extremely knowledgeable about tactics. In
combat, they don’t just attack mindlessly: they use their special
abilities and the environment to get the best advantage they can get.
But they really have very little to say about anything that doesn’t
involve defense or security.

Only the queen is smart enough to speak broadly on a range of topics.
She can cast a few spells, too. One of those is comprehend languages.
She can hear and understand what the PCs are saying, even if the PCs
have no way to translate. However, she can’t *talk* to the PCs without
assistance. She can, however, communicate if the PCs suggest things such
as “raise your right antenna for yes, raise your left antenna for no.”

The ants have surprisingly little trouble moving around the castle. They
are just as subject to the portals as anyone else, but they navigate
almost entirely by odor chemicals. For example, if they’re looking for
the queen, they sniff the air for the scent of the queen, and they walk
toward the scent. When the portals move, the scents move, and so they
can easily follow the scents even if the portals have moved. They do
have to go through the portals, but they’re just not as confused as a
human would be.

Another thing the ants can do is form a long line of ants. When they do
this, forming a trail of ants through the labyrinth, Omta seems hesitant
to break the line by moving a portal. He prefers to move portals when
nobody is watching, and the ants are forming a continuous line of
“watchers.” In effect, the line of ants becomes an island of stability
in the labyrinth. You can get to new places by walking alongside a trail
of ants.

The ants could break through stone walls, but it would be a very slow
process of tedious grinding. They haven’t done this yet. Instead, they
prefer to enter through existing openings. The best entrance to the
castle (for the ants) is the root cellar, which has an earthen floor.
The floor of the root cellar is full of ant-sized holes, and the wooden
door of the root cellar has an soldier-ant-sized hole chewed through it.
The queen did not go through the hole in the door: the queen is smart
enough to know how to open human doors.\
\
The ants have selected Green’s bedroom as the queen’s new chambers. They
have a large number of soldiers on both sides of the bedroom door,
blocking all access. You can enter the lounge, but no further. The queen
is their most valued asset, and they protect her aggressively. They are
incidentally blocking access to Edric’s bedroom as well, but that’s only
because the door happens to be in the same hallway as Green’s bedroom.

The ants have selected Tommel, Bran, and Wim’s bedroom as the new brood
chamber. The room is full of eggs. Again, there are soldiers on both
ends of the hallway, because this is a high-value area.

The ants have selected the Kitchen as the new fungus farm. The workers
are swarming in there, moving rotting organic matter into the kitchen.
There are a handful of soldiers in the kitchen, but they’re not blocking
access to the kitchen: the fungus farm isn’t a high-value asset. They’re
just there to protect the workers.

Here are some hallway encounters:

-   Two soldier ants come down the hall, followed by a group of workers.
    > The workers are carrying rotting plant material. The soldiers
    > approach, and move to one side of the hallway. They then look at
    > you, and wait to see what you do. (If the PCs move to the other
    > side of the hallway, the ants will simply walk past).

-   A long line of worker ants carrying eggs come down the hallway. They
    > stop, and start waving their antennae around. Then they turn
    > around, and head back in the opposite direction.

-   A group of six soldiers and four workers come down the hall. Two
    > soldiers are injured (they have been in a fight with Borghan). The
    > workers are helping the injured soldiers. They see you, and pause.
    > Then the four healthy soldiers approach. They close their
    > mandibles, and use them to shove you into a corner. Then, they
    > pass.

Feel free to improvise more.

The ants are not central to the PCs’ quest. They are there to let the
PCs know that the world is alive, and there are people everywhere who
have their own agendas and their own issues.

Although the ants are not central to the PCs quest, they can
theoretically be helpful to the PCs. For example, if the PCs figure out
how to talk to the queen, they may be able to arrange some sort of
cooperative expedition to deal with Borghan (the queen would be very
happy to have Borghan under control.) The PCs may also be able to work
with the ants to dig holes in the walls, to make it easier to navigate
the castle.

\<TODO: Add stat blocks for the Ants\>

## Sections of Castle Green

The following is a list of the areas in Castle Green, in the order that
the PCs are likely to encounter them. Each section describes what’s in
that section, and what encounters the PCs will likely have there.

### The Ground Floor

When the PCs first arrive at the castle, they can see that everything
above knee level is gone. All that’s left of the ground floor is the
floor itself, the bottom few stones of the walls, and the stairs that
lead to the basement.

Rennick is here. This might be a good time to reread Rennick’s
description in the introductory chapter. This is the first time that the
PCs will meet Rennick. He is standing at the top of the basement stairs,
shouting, “Is anybody down there?”

The PCs will probably ask Rennick about who he is. Rennick volunteers
he’s a business associate of Green’s. If the PCs probe further, here are
the facts that Rennick is open about and will easily divulge with even
the slightest prompting:

-   Rennick volunteers that he is a member of the Fraternity of Order.
    > He points out the fact that he’s wearing their logo on his lapel.

-   If asked, Rennick is happy to explain the Fraternity of Order, the
    > fact that they make most of the laws in the city of Sigil, and
    > that their real passion is learning the laws that govern the
    > universe.

-   If asked how he knows Green, Rennick says he’s a casino regulator
    > from the City of Sigil, and Green was a casino owner there.

-   If asked, he is happy to explain how casino regulation in Sigil
    > works - about how the Fraternity will sell “certificates of fair
    > play” to any casino that they can verify is legit. Rennick
    > explains that he manages a team of statisticians and undercover
    > investigators to make sure the casino is legit before he is
    > willing to sell a certificate.

-   Rennick loves to talk about his passion, luck research. It doesn’t
    > take much to get him started: for example, if Lada introduces
    > herself as a luck researcher, Rennick is excited to meet another
    > luck researcher. He volunteers that casino regulation is only his
    > day job. He explains his real passion is studying how luck,
    > randomness, and chance work.

-   If the PCs get Rennick to talk about his research, he will
    > eventually volunteer that he’s discovered a way to predict the
    > outcomes of random events, like a die roll.

Eventually, Rennick starts to feel like he’s said too much, and he
starts to clam up. He realizes he shouldn’t be talking about his ability
to predict random events. He also realizes he shouldn’t be talking about
his relationship to the deck. He starts to be much more circumspect.
Here is what he absolutely won’t tell the PCs:

-   He won’t divulge that he has anything to do with the Deck. If asked,
    > he just says, “I prefer not to say.” However, the fact that he
    > suddenly clammed up is a dead giveaway that he does have
    > *something* to do with the Deck.

-   He won’t say why he’s here. He came to St Parnas to ask Green
    > whether or not he’s noticed anything weird happening with the
    > deck. However, because he arrived during the chaos storm, he
    > already has his answer, a definitive *yes*, a chaos storm is
    > definitely weird. He won’t talk about this.

In the light of the fact that there has been a chaos storm, and that it
appeared to be centered on the castle, Rennick is worried about the
safety of Green and his employees. He’s worried that there might be
people trapped in the basement. He is right about that.

He says that earlier, he went to the bottom of the stairs. He says that
at the bottom of the stairs are a bunch of weird labyrinth passages. He
says that when he saw the labyrinth passages, he NOPED out of there: he
says he isn’t an adventurer, he doesn’t want to get lost in a
potentially dangerous dungeon. But he’s hoping somebody will go in. He
encourages the PCs to try to help Green and Green’s employees.

So now the PCs have two reasons to descend the stairs:

-   To find Green so that they can negotiate to purchase the Deck.

-   To help Green’s employees escape from the labyrinth.

### The Basement Landing

When the PCs come down the stairs from outside, they find themselves at
the bottom of the stairs, in the basement landing. There’s nothing in
the landing but a few potted plants. There are three hallways leading in
three different directions - north, west, and east. All three contain
portals, so looking down any of these hallways, you see a few feet of
stone wall, and then the hallway continues onward as wood-paneled
labyrinth walls. The appearance is surprising:

\<IMAGE HERE\>

When the PCs look at the transition, have them make an insight roll: the
transition from stone to wood doesn’t look man-made, it looks like the
artifact of a magical phenomenon of some sort.

Walking down any of the halls leads the PCs into the labyrinth.

### The Labyrinth

The labyrinth itself is a maze of passages, with the walls covered with
decorative wooden paneling (a lot like a Victorian library). The
passages don’t go anywhere except to more passages.

As the PCs walk around the labyrinth, they will unknowingly be passing
through portals that lead to other places in the labyrinth. The portals
in the labyrinth shift around randomly. As a result, it is impossible to
map the labyrinth. The effective layout is constantly changing.

The PCs will probably try strategies like marking the walls with arrows
that point back toward the entrance. If they do, they will discover that
the labyrinth seems to be shifting: they find their own arrows, but
they’re now pointing in scattered directions, even pointing at each
other. The labyrinth itself isn’t shifting, the portals are, but that
has the effect of connecting hallways that weren’t connected before, and
the labyrinth certainly *appears* to have shifted.

When the PCs stop for a bit, let them know that they are feeling a faint
sense of anxiety and dread. Have them make WIS DC15 checks to realize:
it’s not *their own* anxiety/dread: the sensation is coming from
outside, from somebody else. Of course, the sensation is coming from
Omta, but when you talk to your PCs about where the emotions are coming
from, call it “the presence in the labyrinth.”

To get unstuck, the PCs need to first reassure Omta, and then ask him
for help with navigation. See the previous section, “Navigating the
Portals,” for detailed instructions about what is necessary. Once they
do those things, Omta will probably take the PCs to the next basement
area.

The PCs may find interesting things in the hallways of the labyrinth.
Space out the following encounters semi-randomly, throwing in a random
encounter whenever things seem a little slow.

-   The PCs find scraps of Borghan’s fur scraped off on some of the
    > labyrinth woodwork.

-   They find a single stone block from one of the castle walls. This
    > just teleported out of a wall randomly during the chaos storm,
    > leaving a hole in the wall.

-   They encounter ants (see the previous section on ants).

-   With a difficult perception roll, they see an anomaly caused by a
    > portal. Show them the image below. The anomaly is hard to see, but
    > it is there. The reason for the seam in the following image is
    > that there is a portal stitching together two labyrinth hallways:

> ![](media/image10.png){width="2.932292213473316in"
> height="3.9265748031496064in"}

In the labyrinth, it is possible to encounter Borghan himself. This
should not happen until after the PCs have figured out how to move
around. Give them a chance to get their bearings before encountering a
foe. For information on how to run the Borghan encounter, refer to the
previous section, “Borghan: The Caged Beast.”

### The Sparring Room, Armory, and Cells

When Omta finally allows the PCs to leave the labyrinth tunnels, this is
where he takes them if they don’t ask for any place in particular. In
this location, you can find three holding cells. Across from the cells
are the sparring room and the armory.

All the cell doors have small windows that let you see inside. All three
rooms are empty. All three rooms are held shut by bars across the doors,
which are easily removed from the outside of the cell. Two of the cells
are dusty and clearly have not been used recently. The third has had an
occupant who managed to shatter the bar that held the door shut. The bar
is in splinters on the floor, and the occupant is gone. A search of the
smashed cell reveals bits of coarse brown fur. Of course, don’t tell
your players this, but the occupant was Borghan, the “Caged Beast.”
Borghan has been wandering the labyrinth for about a week.

The armory is full of weapon racks that are empty. This room is to equip
an army, and Green doesn’t have an army, so this room is unneeded.
Alyssa Varn has strung a piece of piano wire across the doorframe at
shin-level. The wire has been there for quite some time, nobody tripped
on it because nobody goes into the Armory. The wire is not connected to
a mechanism: it’s just there to trip and slash shins. First person to
enter the room must make a perception check DC 15 to spot the wire in
time. Failing that, take 6HP damage, dex save DC 15 for half. Stuck to
the wall inside the room, next to where the tripwire is anchored, is a
tiny note: “Get the &\^\$ out of my castle! - AV”

The sparring room is actively used by Green and his guards. It is
currently occupied by the two gate guards, Bran and Inya, who are stuck
here. They are glad that somebody has come to get them out of here. They
can explain the basic story of how Green and some of his employees ended
up in the basement-labyrinth. They can also give an accurate inventory
of who’s in the basement, though they don’t know exactly where these
individuals are in the basement.

It is important that Bran and Inya provide a complete list of all the
missing people. That gives the PCs a checklist to follow. Trying to
locate everyone on the checklist is the main mechanism by which the PCs
will find the rest of the areas in the basement.

If asked about people who drew cards, Bran says, “I’ll tell you
everything I know, but I mostly don’t know. Green doesn’t tell us what
cards people drew - privacy, you know? But, I guess I can tell you about
Borghan and Alyssa, I know about them.”

This is what they have to say about Borghan and Alyssa:

-   They know that the castle came into existence when Alyssa Varn drew
    > “bricklayer.” They know Alyssa sold the castle to Green, and they
    > know that Alyssa has “seller’s remorse” and that she’s causing no
    > end of grief for the castle inhabitants.

-   They know that the labyrinth came into existence when Borghan drew
    > “bricklayer.” They know the labyrinth was originally a separate
    > place, but it got all tangled up in the castle basement when the
    > chaos storm hit. They also know that Borghan is in the form of a
    > Grizzly bear, wandering the labyrinth.

Aside from the basic facts above, they don’t know anything else about
Alyssa or Borghan. They can’t tell you what other cards those two drew.

Bran and Inya can also tell the PCs the following tidbit: Green used to
own a Casino in Sigil, and Bran and Inya were guards at the casino. For
this whole deck of many things venture, Green mostly hired people who
used to work for his casino. Bran and Inya both agree that Green is a
decent boss.

When the PCs try to leave the sparring room area, have them make a
perception roll, DC15. If any PC succeeds, they notice a hole in the
wall that leads into the armory. There is nothing interesting on the
other side of the hole. It is just a hole that randomly appeared in the
wall during the chaos storm.

To get Bran and Inya out of the labyrinth, the PCs need to ask the
presence in the labyrinth to take them to the exit of Castle Green.

### The Kitchen, Pantry, and Dining Area

To get to the kitchen, the PCs pretty much have to ask for it
specifically. The most likely reason that they would do so is to find
Zimmi, the cook, who they know about because of Bran’s inventory of
Green’s employees.

The dining room is a longish room containing dining tables and chairs.
There are far more seats than are necessary for Green and his entourage.
It is obvious that only the dining tables closest to the kitchen have
been used recently. The walls are decorated with some colorful scenes of
the outlands. This sort of decorative art is inexpensive in the St
Parnas market square. There are also some potted plants. Despite the
decorations, the room still looks a little sparse.

The only really interesting thing in the dining room is that the wall
that separates the dining room from the hallway is missing a stone
block. This is easily visible: no perception roll necessary. If you’re
small, or very flexible, you can squeeze through. This is not at all
useful, but it does hint at the fact that there may be other similar
passages throughout the castle.

Across the hall from the dining room is the kitchen. The kitchen has
been taken over by ants. They have covered the entire floor with a
spongy bed of rotting plant matter (leaves, wood chips, etc). These are
fungus-farming ants, and this is their new fungus farm.\
\
Inside the kitchen, there are 10 worker ants and 4 soldier ants. When
the PCs open the door to the kitchen, the soldiers immediately cluster
around the door and form a barrier. They do not attack.

This is a good opportunity to get a close look at the ants. Tell the PCs
that the soldiers are considerably larger than the workers. The workers
have mandibles that act like pliers: the tips are flat and can grab onto
things. The soldiers, on the other hand, have mandibles that are sharp.

If the PCs stand and watch for a minute, they will see that the workers
are crushing up bits of food from the kitchen and are kneading it into
the organic matter on the floor. The ants know that human food makes a
good substrate for growing fungus, so they’re taking advantage of the
kitchen’s supplies.

The PCs can hear a voice: “Help! Get me out of here!” The voice is
obviously coming from the pantry, which is a walk-in closet in the back
of the kitchen. The situation is that the cook, Zimmi, has locked
herself in the pantry because she is scared of the ants. She shoved a
doorstop under the door to keep the ants from coming in. The ants, for
their part, don’t seem particularly concerned with Zimmi. They are
leaving the pantry alone: Zimmi is scared, but her life is not actually
in any danger.

If the PCs try to enter the room, a soldier will close his mandibles so
that the points are touching each other, then he will use the “flat of
the blade” of his mandibles to push the PC back toward the door. This
action is clearly designed not to cause damage, but to send a message:
you’re not invited.

One way to earn the trust of the ants is to offer them food rations. If
the PCs do this, a worker ant will scoot right past the soldiers, accept
the rations, and begin kneading the food into the floor. The soldiers,
seeing this, will get out of the way. As long as the PCs are handing
food to the workers, the soldiers will let them move around the room.
However, the soldiers will stay close to the PCs, encircling them.

If the PCs shout to Zimmi, “it’s okay, unlock the door, don’t worry,
these ants aren’t aggressive,” Zimmi will open the door. Zimmi is a
gnome wearing a chef’s apron. If Zimmi sees that the PCs are standing in
the kitchen unharmed, she will emerge. From there, the PCs can escort
her out of the kitchen without difficulty, and from there, she can be
led out of the labyrinth and to safety.

### The Root Cellar, Wine Cellar, and Furniture Storage

The most likely way to reach this area is if the PCs ask Omta about
Alyssa Varn, the woman who drew the bricklayer card. This is the area
where she lives.

The root cellar is a room with an earthen floor. Depending on their
backgrounds, the PCs may know what this is: the soil floor creates a
humid environment, which keeps turnips, parsnips, and other root
vegetables from desiccating.

The root cellar has been emptied out of any vegetables: the ants took it
all. The ground looks like it has been tilled, and there are multiple
ant-sized tunnels coming up out of the soil. This is clearly how the
ants have been getting into the basement. The door to the root cellar
has a soldier-ant sized hole in the bottom of it. It looks like they
chewed their way through.

The door to the wine cellar is open a few inches. Alyssa Varn has set up
a booby trap: she put a bucket of her urine on top of the door. The PCs
must make a perception roll DC15 to spot it before opening the door. If
one of the PCs has a keen sense of smell, they may be able to smell it
instead. If somebody pushes open the door without spotting the bucket,
they have to make a DEX save DC15 to dodge it. If they fail, the PC is
nauseated. The PC will have disadvantage on rolls until they can clean
themselves. The bucket has words written on it: “This is my Castle! Get
the \$%& Out!”

Inside the wine cellar there are several racks of wine. Most of it is
just table wine, but there are a five bottles of the good stuff. The
ants seem to have left this room alone. There is nothing else of
interest here.

The furniture storage room is jam-packed full of unused furniture. When
the castle was conjured, it was fully furnished, but the furniture
wasn’t to Green’s liking, so Green got some better furniture. The cheap
stuff has been shoved into this room. The furniture is piled to the
ceiling. There is a thick layer of dust.

Hidden in the back of the furniture is Alyssa Varn’s hideout. She has
arranged some bookshelves to make a little room within the big room.
Inside her little bookshelf-room is a sleeping bag, a nightstand with a
candle, and two changes of clothing. It is easy to tell from looking at
the clothing that Alyssa is a very petite woman, and quite thin. There
is nothing to indicate the identity of the person who is sleeping here,
but if the PCs have spoken to Bran and Inya, they can probably guess.
Alyssa is not here.

To find the hideout is challenging. The PCs must first ask some
questions along the lines of, “is there anything hidden in the
furniture,” or “does anything look like it’s been disturbed?” If they
ask something like that, have them make a perception roll, DC15. If they
succeed, they notice an area under a table that has less dust. This is
the path that Alyssa takes to get from the door to her hideout. The
dust-free path leads under a table, through a very narrow gap between a
whole bunch of dressers, and from there snakes around until it finally
reaches the hideout. To get through you either have to be small, or you
have to move the furniture (which is not difficult).

Inside of Alyssa’s hideout is another missing block in a wall. Alyssa
has concealed this passage by leaning the nightstand up against it. To
see it, you have to move the nightstand. The opening looks different
than the one in the dining room: in the dining room, the block was
cleanly extracted, and the mortar is still there. This one looks like
the mortar was carved away painstakingly with a sharp tool. To pass
through the opening, you have to be small.

On the other side of the opening is Etienne’s wardrobe - Etienne is one
of Green’s bodyguards. Alyssa has cut a hole in the back of the wardrobe
so she can sneak into it. Again, to pass through the hole, you have to
be small.

This hole in the wall is one of the very few ways that it is possible to
move from one castle region to a different region without passing
through the labyrinth. The portals to the labyrinth are all in the
*hallways*. But if you go through holes in the walls, you bypass all
that.

### The Bedrooms of the Bodyguards

The most likely way the PCs will reach this area is through the hole in
Alyssa Varn’s hiding place.

This region contains the bedrooms of all four of Green’s personal
bodyguards. Each one has his or her own bedroom, and each one has
personalized their space. From looking at the clothing in the wardrobes,
you can pretty easily tell which clothes are male or female, and which
ones are for humans, half-orcs, or dwarves. If the PCs have a good
memory, they may be able to identify which room belongs to which
bodyguard, but it’s not important that they be able to do so.

None of the bodyguards are actually present in the bedrooms, the only
person present is Alyssa Varn, who is lurking.

*Mikhail’s Room:* Mikhail is a male half-orc fighter. Bedroom contains a
wardrobe, a bed, a shelving unit full of decorative tea sets, and a
reading desk with some books about Sigil politics and factions.

*Harkon’s Room:* Harkon is a male dwarf cleric of Helm. Bedroom contains
a wardrobe, a bed, a shrine to Helm, and a writing desk.

*Siduri’s Room:* Siduri is a female high elf duelist. Bedroom contains a
wardrobe, a bed, a nightstand, and a collection of ornate curvy swords
on the wall. On the nightstand is a collection of books containing
diagrams of fencing maneuvers.

*Etienne’s Room:* Etienne is a male tiefling diviner. Bedroom contains a
wardrobe, a bed, a writing desk, and a number of books mainly about
hunting mushrooms in the outlands. The desk has an unsent letter.

Etienne’s unsent letter is as follows:

> Dear Magert,
>
> I hope you’re doing well! As for me, I’m doing fine. Living in St.
> Parnas is quite a change from Sigil: there’s not much of an art scene,
> and the restaurant options are limited. I’m looking forward to
> returning when this is all over.\
> \
> I’m writing to ask your opinions about two people who drew cards from
> the deck. One is named Asatya. She drew the “void” card, and she
> immediately fell into a coma. My divinations tell me there’s nobody in
> there - she’s not “locked in,” she’s just gone. The doctors at the
> local hospital don’t have a clue what to do.\
> \
> The other is a man named Borghan. He drew the “beast” card, which
> turned him into an oversized grizzly bear. I can talk to him using
> “speak with animals,” he’s fully animal intelligence now.
>
> Deck curses don’t respond to simple spells like “restoration.” I’m
> looking for powerful artifacts or individuals, anywhere in the planes,
> that might help these two. Are you aware of anything that might help?
>
> Your dear friend, Etienne

Alyssa Varn has a trap that she is waiting to spring if some of the
weaker party members find themselves in a room with only one exit: she
will jam a doorstop under the door, then she will nail the door shut.
Getting out should be a 10 to 15 minute project, involving finding some
way to get the nails out.

If the PCs enter Mikhail’s bedroom via the hole in the wall of the
furniture storage area, this may result in an opportunity for Alyssa to
pull her little stunt. She won’t try to trap the PCs in Mikhail’s
bedroom, because that bedroom has two exits (the door, and the hole).
Instead, she will wait until a few of the weaker party members are alone
in a room with only one door.

This hallway is a perfect place for a line of worker ants to suddenly
show up, walking through carrying eggs. They ignore the PCs.

### The Barracks of the Castle Staff

TODO: How do people reach the barracks?

There are two barracks: one for the men, one for the women.

The men’s barracks do not contain anything of any great interest. The
men who live here are Tommel, Wim, and Bran. Nobody is present in the
barracks. Feel free to invent personal effects for these men.

The women’s barracks, on the other hand, has been completely taken over
by ants: they are turning it into an incubator for their eggs.

There are many worker and soldier ants present. The worker ants are
busily creating safe little earth pockets for the eggs, and installing
the eggs inside them. The soldier ants are insistent that the PCs cannot
come inside: they will push back any PCs who try to enter.

However, there’s a female teenage tiefling here: Penny. She’s helping
the ants move the eggs around. The ants already trust her. Like Green’s
other employees, she hasn’t figured out how to get out of the labyrinth,
but she is completely safe, the ants have been providing her with food
and water. When the soldier ants try to repel the PCs, Penny raises her
arms above her head and wiggles them around in a manner similar to how
the ants move their antennae. In response to this, the ants make a path
for the PCs to approach Penny.

Penny has already learned the rudiments of ant-language, even though
she’s only been with the ants a few days. This is a clue that Penny is
exceptional at language learning: she is good at helping out with any
task that involves deciphering messages or languages. If asked about
this, Penny downplays it: “Oh, I’ve only learned a few words. I’m
basically at the ‘where is the bathroom’ stage of learning their
language.” Despite this modesty, she is indeed very good at languages.
She can translate, but it is true that she only knows a few words. She
can translate very basic things like “people not dangerous,” but
anything more complex is impossible.

When Penny sees the PCs, she is cheerful and friendly. If the PCs say
they’ve come to rescue Green’s employees, Penny is grateful: she likes
the ants, but she’s tired of being stuck in the basement. She comes with
the PCs willingly. She is a useful resource for deciphering the scrolls.

### The Lounge, and Green and Edric’s Quarters

The lounge contains Omta’s steel door. Because of that, Omta
deliberately keeps the PCs away from this area until Omta has a little
time to get used to the PCs. This is therefore the last area that the
PCs will find by traversing the labyrinth.

This area contains two large sofas, several comfy chairs, and a few
reading tables. All this furniture has been upended during the chaos
storm, and much of it is in a pile in the southeast corner of the room.
The pile is hiding something important: there is a hole in the wall to
Edric’s room. Like the other holes in the wall, it consists of one
missing stone block. To get through, you have to be small in size.

Edric is here. Edric is the bariaur steward of the castle. A “steward”
is responsible for paperwork: he keeps track of the books, he’s
responsible for ordering deliveries of food, he guards the moneybox, and
the like.\
\
To the east of the lounge is a short segment of hallway which is
jam-packed with soldier ants. They are guarding the door to Green’s
bedroom. Green’s bedroom is the largest bedroom in the basement, the ant
queen has taken it as her lair. There is nothing interesting in Green’s
bedroom other than the ant queen.

Directly across from Green’s bedroom is Edric’s bedroom and office.
Edric’s office contains unremarkable items such as a wardrobe, a bed,
and a writing table. It also contains the vault, which contains a
lockbox with 3500 in gems (conjured by the Deck), 500 gp in gold, and a
bunch of ledgers and records which are important to Edric but which
serve no purpose for anyone else. Getting into Edric’s office is
difficult because the soldier ants won’t let anyone come into the
hallway with the doorway. However, it is also possible to enter Edric’s
office through the hole in the wall in the lounge. The vault is
basically a closet with a solid wooden door with a mundane padlock
(lockpick DC 15). It can also be opened (slowly) by bashing. The lockbox
is inside, with its own lock (lockpick DC 13).

Edric isn’t willing to leave the lounge until he has the lockbox. Once
he has it, he’s glad to get out of the basement.

If the PCs steal the gems, Edric will be angry. He will make an
impassioned plea: “When you drew from the Deck, we dealt with you
fairly. We paid you the gold you were owed, and when you went to a
Donjon, we didn’t just keep your money, we made sure it went to your
next-of-kin. We were fair to you. Are you really going to steal from
us?” Doing this will earn the disapproval of all of Green’s employees.
The PCs will get no cooperation on anything if the PCs treat Edric this
way.

The lounge floor has a trapdoor that leads down into the labyrinth. This
is not a portal, it’s a plain old trapdoor, the labyrinth actually is
physically underneath the basement. The trapdoor has been here ever
since the labyrinth was conjured.

If the PCs enter Edric’s bedroom via the hole, then emerge via the door,
they will pop right out in front of the door to Green’s bedroom - the
queen’s chamber. This will annoy the ants, and they will very
aggressively push the PCs back into Edric’s bedroom. Then, they will
form a line barring passage through Edric’s door. The PCs will have to
exit via the hole.

The soldier ants in the lounge are very strict - whereas the soldiers in
other parts of the castle are assertive, but rarely aggressive, these
ones will fight if the PCs push their way into that hallway. They are
quite serious about defending the queen. The only way to get past them
is with Penny’s help: she can ask for permission to see the queen, and
the queen will grant limited access (just one PC, plus Penny). For
information about what the queen says, see the section on the ants.

To the north of the lounge is a hallway that in more normal times led to
the latrine, the laundry room, and the cistern. When Green and his
bodyguards entered the basement to rescue Green’s employees, Green was
carrying the Deck. Omta portaled this group to the laundry room, then
sealed them in by conjuring a big steel barrier in this hallway. Of
course, Omta isn’t really trying to trap these people: he really only
cares about protecting the deck. The people are collateral damage. Of
course, the group tried to escape, but Omta thwarted them.

When the PCs first arrive in the lounge, they see the steel barrier in
this hallway. Later, this barrier will turn into a steel door. See the
upcoming section, “The Steel Barrier becomes a Steel Door.”

###  The Latrine, Cistern, and Laundry

This area of the castle is inaccessible, because of the steel barrier.
We include it for completeness.\
\
The cistern is a big tank where rainwater from the roof is collected. It
is the castle’s supply of fresh water.\
\
The latrine is basically a room with some watertight boxes that you can
use to relieve yourself. When the castle was functioning normally, Zim
(the janitor) would take those boxes outside and dump them in the woods.
Now that the area is sealed, the boxes haven’t been emptied in some
time, and the odor is seeping into the surrounding areas.

The laundry room is an area containing some big steel tubs which are
used for both laundry and bathing. There is a large hearth with a pot
that can be used to heat water. There is a rack full of towels, and a
few tables for folding laundry. This is where Green and his bodyguards
are staying now that they are trapped.

## Communicating with Omta

When the PCs first enter the castle, they sense anxiety and dread (via
their telepathic link with Omta). Later, a PC will say something out
loud, and Omta will hear what the PC said and will have an emotional
reaction. For example, if the PC says, “let’s go find the deck,” the PCs
will sense a sudden uptick in the fear and anxiety coming from the
presence in the labyrinth. If the PC says something like, “we’re not
here to hurt you,” the emotion might change from anxiety to cautious
relief.

Initially, that’s the extent of the communication: the PCs say things,
the presence in the labyrinth (Omta) reacts with emotions. The fact that
the emotions make sense - the fact that they’re logical reactions to the
things that the PCs say - that tells the players that the presence in
the labyrinth actually is listening and paying attention.

The players will eventually realize that they can talk directly to Omta,
asking for things out loud. As long as those things aren’t a threat to
Omta, Omta will cooperate. For example, if they say, “we need to find
the cook,” Omta will rearrange the portals so that the PCs soon wander
into the kitchen.

This low-level communication should persist for quite a while. Let the
PCs explore the castle until they’ve accomplished quite a few things.
Make sure they’ve met at least two of the employees, and make sure
they’ve had a few interactions with ants. Ideally, they should have had
an interaction with Borghan and an interaction with Alyssa Varn as well.

After the PCs have been in the castle a while, Omta decides to
communicate with them in a more detailed way. Omta reaches out to the
PCs telepathically, and tries to send them an actual message.

### Failed Telepathic Messages

The PCs experience a strange phenomenon. Say to your players, “you feel
the presence in the labyrinth trying to send a message to you. You
receive the following: surprise, then shock, then fear, then
determination, then more surprise, then a feeling of being trapped.”
Then, a minute later, tell them: “You sense frustration.”

What’s happening here is that Omta is trying to send a message through
the telepathic link, but it’s not working. Omta’s way of reasoning is so
alien that it’s just not coming through: all the PCs are receiving are
the *emotions* associated with the story that Omta is trying to tell,
but they’re not receiving any of the *concrete details*. Omta can tell
that the PCs aren’t getting it, so he’s frustrated that his attempts at
communication aren’t getting through.

Omta will sporadically repeat these attempts, always to no avail. If the
players don’t figure it out, let them roll an insight roll to figure
out: the “presence in the labyrinth” is trying to communicate with you,
but it’s not really working.

Tell them that although they can’t figure out what the presence is
trying to say, they do sense two very clear patterns:

-   The emotions they’re receiving contain an awful lot of fear,
    > anxiety, and dread. Of course, this is because Omta is terrified
    > of Tymora.

-   The sequences of emotions always end in frustration. Of course, this
    > is because Omta is aggravated about his inability to communicate
    > with the PCs.

Make sure that Omta repeats this at least three times.

### Omta Decides to try Writing

After several failed attempts at telepathic communication, Omta comes up
with a new idea: maybe I can talk to them in writing!

This is what the PCs experience: they once again receive a sequence of
emotions, followed once again by frustration… and more frustration… and
then suddenly, inspiration! Insight! Moments later, a piece of parchment
materializes in thin air in front of one of the PCs. The scroll contains
images of cards from the deck.

The fact that the scroll is made up of symbols from the Deck is a dead
giveaway that the PCs are talking to the deck itself. Let’s take a
moment to explain why Omta is communicating using images from the deck.

Tens of thousands of years ago, Omta fled to a far corner of the
multiverse and has been hiding there ever since. He went into hiding
*before* mortals existed, and before mortals invented language. Because
of this, Omta has no idea what a “sentence” is. Back in those days, the
gods communicated with symbols, but those symbols were not arranged into
sentences. Instead, symbols were displayed in groups, associated with
each other but without any subject, verb, object relationship. This is
the only way Omta knows how to talk. He never learned how to speak a
language.

Omta likes to use cards from the deck as his preferred symbols. He
thinks the cards represent all the most important ideas, so in his mind,
they make the perfect communication symbols. Each card has multiple
meanings. For example, the gem card can mean “gems.” But it can also
mean “money”, or “wealth”, or even “precious.” It can also mean
“beautiful”, or even “sparkly.” Earlier in this book, the chapter *Cards
of the Deck* lists the symbolic meanings of the cards.

Any PC who drew a card from the deck knows, instinctively, the symbolic
meanings of that particular card. For example, if one of the PCs drew
the gem card, then that PC will know that the gem card has all the
meanings listed above. Of course, every PC drew three cards, so by
working together and sharing information, the PCs will be able to
decipher many of the symbols used by Omta.

But what about cards that the PCs didn’t draw? Nobody in the party drew
the *Sun* card, for instance. If the PCs want to know what the symbolic
meanings of the *Sun* card are, they will have to ask somebody who drew
the sun card.

### Omta Says: “Ask Me Questions, Mortals.”

The first piece of parchment that Omta gives to the PCs looks like this:

![](media/image7.png){width="5.0in" height="3.2416666666666667in"}

It means: “I want the four of you to ask me questions.”\
\
The cluster on the left represents the PCs: four people who drew the
Donjon card. The cluster on the right represents Omta: it contains his
holy symbol, a pair of dice with a sunburst. The PCs recognize the
symbol of the dice with the sunburst as the symbol that was on the box
of the Deck. The middle symbol is the Vizier card. If the PCs ask Lada
about the Vizier card, she says, “in the past, it used to grant mortals
the ability to ask questions of the gods.” As it turns out, that’s still
what it does.

Omta wants the PCs to ask him questions. He thinks that if the PCs start
by asking the right questions, then communicating with them will be
easier.

When the PCs try to interpret the scroll, they will probably say all
kinds of things that are incorrect. When the PCs say something
incorrect, they sense mild confusion from Omta via the telepathic link.
This is their clue that they’re on the wrong track.

When they say something correct, part of the scroll becomes brighter,
bolder, more colorful. For example, if somebody says, “I think this
cluster on the left represents the four of us,” then the PCs sense
excitement from Omta, and the cluster on the left becomes bolder,
brighter, clearer. This is the PCs clue that they’re on the right track.
But the fact that only the cluster on the left became bolder tells them
that they haven’t deciphered the whole scroll, only the part on the
left.

If the PCs get stuck, which is likely, they may get frustrated. In that
case, Lada says, “I think part of the problem is that we don’t know what
this vizier symbol really means. Do we know anybody who drew the vizier
card? Maybe they would know.” That’s the key to understanding *all* of
Omta’s messages: go find the people who drew the cards.

If you go find the people who drew the cards, in general, those people
will know what the cards mean. However, some of those people are very
difficult to talk to. For example, Borghan is in the form of a bear,
which makes it extremely difficult to get any kind of useful information
out of him.

Fortunately, there is a woman who drew the Vizier card: Brunna the
Antiquarian. She is not hard to talk to, and she is very helpful in
interpreting the messages.

Now that Omta has given the PCs this message, he refuses to help with
navigation any more until the PCs figure out what his message means. He
takes the PCs to the basement landing, and won’t bring them anywhere
else. If the PCs reenter the labyrinth, Omta will just bring them back
to the basement landing.

Of course, if the PCs do figure out that they’re supposed to ask
questions, they’ll probably try asking all sorts of questions. But only
three questions will elicit a response:

-   Why are you afraid?

-   What is your goal?

-   Who are you?

These questions don’t have to be phrased exactly like that. For example,
instead of asking “What is your goal,” the PCs could equivalently ask,
“What are you trying to accomplish,” “Why is the deck here,” or anything
along those lines.

Asking any question other than the three questions above will result in
no reaction. Omta won’t answer arbitrary questions, he has specific
things he wants to convey.

Sometimes, the PCs get focused on their *own* goals, and they start
asking questions like, “how can we get to where the deck is.” Omta
reacts to these questions with annoyance. If the PCs get stuck asking
questions about their own goals, Lada eventually gives them a hint: “We
should ask him about his agenda, not about how he can help us with
ours.”

If one the PCs ask one of the three key questions, Omta conjures another
scroll: the answer to the question. As soon as the PCs ask one of the
three questions, Omta will permit the PCs to traverse the basement
again.

### Asking: “Why are you Afraid?”

Omta conjures this scroll if the PCs ask the question, “Why are you
afraid:”

![](media/image3.png){width="5.0in" height="3.225in"}

The meaning of this scroll is: “I’m afraid because Tymora intends to
kill me!”\
\
The cluster on the left represents Omta. It contains Omta’s holy symbol,
the Sun card, and Euryale. In this context, the Sun card means “god,”
Omta is just letting the PCs know that he’s a god. The Euryale card
means “fear,” it represents the fact that Omta is afraid.

The cluster on the right represents Tymora. Again the Sun card means
“god,” because Tymora is a god. The gem card is there because Tymora’s
holy symbol is a coin, Gem is the closest thing in the deck to “coin.”
The skull card conjures an “avatar of death” that immediately tries to
kill you. In this context, it means “a dangerous killer.”

In reality, Omta is overly fearful. This is because in Omta’s past, his
formative experiences involved another god who was much more aggressive
and dangerous than Tymora. Now he expects all gods to be dangerous and
aggressive. Fear and anxiety are not always rational: Omta is scared.

In fairness, to Omta, Tymora is no murderer, but she is very angry, and
she won’t rule out the possibility of a fight. So Omta really is in some
danger.

### Asking: “What is Your Goal?”

Omta conjures this scroll if the PCs ask the question, “what do you
want,” or equivalently, “why are you here,” or “why is the deck sticking
around:”

![](media/image4.png){width="5.0in" height="3.2333333333333334in"}

The meaning of this scroll is: “I have to save the universe from
Rennick, before he ruins everything!”\
\
In this scroll, the upper-left cluster represents Omta. It contains his
holy symbol, and also the knight card, which means “defender,” in this
case, the defender of the universe.

The cluster on the right represents Rennick. It contains the Vizier
card, meaning (in this case) a seer or a scholar: Rennick is a
researcher. It also contains the Idiot card - Omta thinks that Rennick,
for all his knowledge, is a careless idiot. Finally, it contains the
“ruin” card, meaning that Rennick is going to destroy everything.\
\
The bottom cluster represents the entire universe. Omta frequently uses
the combination “Star-Gem” to represent the universe. Star means
“wondrous thing,” and gem means “beautiful thing.” Omta thinks the
universe is a wonderful, beautiful thing. But identifying that star-gem
is a reference to the universe is quite difficult. However, many of the
scrolls contain the star-gem combo. Other scrolls provide clues that
star-gem might be the universe.

Of course, the ruin card in the bottom cluster means that Omta is afraid
that the universe is going to be ruined.

### Asking: “Who Are You?”

Asking somebody who they are is a very open-ended question. When Omta
gets this question, he decides to tell his whole life story, in the form
of four scrolls. To make this clear to the players, Lada should say this
explicitly: “Four scrolls? Is this his entire life story?”

When you look at the four scrolls, you’ll notice that the scrolls have
page numbers: the comet cards. But the page numbering is backward from
what you might expect. The comet symbol represents time, usually the
past. So one comet means “a long time ago,” but four comets means “a
long, long, long, long time ago.”

Here are the four scrolls, in chronological order:

![](media/image5.png){width="5.0in" height="3.234880796150481in"}

Omta is trying to tell the following story:\
\
“A god created the universe. He was the original bricklayer, he was the
king of the gods. But he was a beast, and he was possessive and
controlling. The universe he created was a wondrous item, it was
beautiful, but it was flawed. It was too predictable, too boring. I was
wise, and I knew how to fix the universe. But I knew the creator was
possessive and wouldn’t want me to touch his creation. So I snuck into
the universe, making sure the creator didn’t see me, and I taught the
universe how to use *randomness*.”

That’s a lot to interpret from just a few symbols! Let me walk you
though how the symbols on the scroll tell that story.\
\
The cluster on the right represents the creator god. It contains the Sun
card, meaning “god.” It contains the bricklayer card, which of course
means creator or builder, but it also implies possessive and
controlling. The throne card means “king,” but it also implies that he
rules by sheer might. The creator is the king of the gods because he is
the most powerful god.

The cluster on the right is the best starting point. Since it contains
the king of the gods, the bricklayer, it strongly suggests that this
story is a creation myth. And if this is a myth about the creation of
the universe, well then it follows that the universe must be here on the
scroll somewhere.

Getting your players to realize this is a creation myth can be tricky,
so be attentive for when somebody says something about creation of the
universe. As soon as they do, give them positive feedback in the form of
the entire scroll getting a little bolder. Letting them know this is a
creation myth is essential to them deciphering this.

The cluster in the center represents the universe. It uses the star-gem
combo, which the Deck frequently uses to indicate the universe. Star
means “wondrous item,” gem means “beautiful item.” This is the best Omta
can do to summarize the universe.

The cluster also contains the cripple card, meaning sick or unhealthy.
But it’s not immediately obvious how the universe was sick or unhealthy
until you think about it logically: this is the Deck we’re talking to.
Its whole agenda is *randomness*. If the deck doesn’t like the universe,
it must be because the universe lacks randomness.

The cluster on the left means Omta. It contains his holy symbol, and the
owl card, meaning “wise.” Omta thinks he’s wise, because he thinks he
knows how to cure the universe. The key card means “teaching a skill.”
Omta is teaching the universe how to be random. The rogue card means,
“being sneaky.” In this case, it represents the fact that Omta knew the
creator wouldn’t want anyone messing with his stuff, so Omta knew he had
to sneak into the universe and not get caught.

You will have to give your players *many* hints. The most valuable hint
they can receive is feedback: if they say something that’s on the wrong
track, they receive annoyance from Omta. If they say something that’s on
the right track, parts of the scroll light up to show what they got
right.

Here is the second part of the story:

![](media/image9.png){width="5.0in" height="3.216266404199475in"}

This part of the story is simple:

“I fled the scene of the crime. I hid in the farthest reaches of the
void! I was terrified.”\
\
Omta knew that the creator god was controlling and possessive, and that
he wouldn’t want anybody messing with his creation. So after altering
the universe, Omta fled the scene of the crime and hid. He was terrified
that the creator would find out what he did, and kill him.

In this scroll, there is one cluster, containing Omta’s holy symbol.
Omta is all alone. The dungeon card here means imprisonment or
isolation, in this case, self-imposed. The void card means literally,
“in the farthest reaches of the void.” The rogue card means, “still
being sneaky.” And the Euryale card means, “terrified.”

Then, this happened:

![](media/image6.png){width="5.0in" height="3.234880796150481in"}

This is the story Omta is trying to tell:\
\
“I was trying to be sneaky, but Selune found me out. She saw what I did,
then she found me in the void. I’m such an idiot! I should have been
more careful! Fortunately, Selune was wise. She agreed to keep silent:
she would not tell anyone what I did, or where I was hiding, or even
that I exist.”\
\
Let’s go over that one symbol at a time. The cluster on the right is
Omta. Rogue means he’s still trying to be sneaky. Euryale means he’s
still terrified of getting caught. But Idiot means he’s failed: he’s
been caught.

The cluster on the left is Selune. Sun-Moon means “goddess of the moon,”
ie, Selune. Owl means “wise.” Void, in this case, means “silent.”\
\
Notice that Omta is calling Selune “wise.” That strongly suggests that
Selune “did the right thing” in the eyes of Omta. And obviously, “doing
the right thing” would be *not* revealing Omta to the creator, not
getting him killed. And obviously, Omta is not dead, so obviously, she
*didn’t* turn him in.

Understanding the void card in Selune’s cluster is difficult. When
somebody lists off the meanings of the void card, one of them is
“Silence.” Try to give them the feedback that silence is the right
interpretation here. But what does that mean, Silence?

To really understand, Lada needs to remind the players of the vision
with Selune. In that vision, Selune said: “A long, long time ago, I
promised to keep a secret.” Selune was specifically referring to the
incident in this scroll! She promised Omta that she would not reveal his
existence to the creator. That’s why, when the PCs talked to Selune in
that vision, she couldn’t say any more - if she revealed Omta’s
existence, that would be breaking the promise. So the void card, in this
context, means “keeping silent - keeping a secret.”

Again, you will need to provide *lots* of hints and feedback.

Here is the final page of the story:

![](media/image8.png){width="5.0in" height="3.234880796150481in"}

### Learning the Meanings of the Cards

In order to decipher Omta’s scrolls, the PCs will need to know the
symbolic meanings of all the cards. Many of the cards have some obvious
meanings, and some non-obvious meanings. For example, the Key card can
literally mean, “A Key.” That’s completely obvious. It can also mean,
“To Lock,” or “To Unlock.” That’s not as obvious, but it’s still pretty
easy to guess. But because the Key card can grant a skill, the Key card
can also mean “A Skill.” That’s non-obvious, and to learn that, you may
have to talk to somebody who drew the Key card. They will know all the
meanings.

Anyone who draws a card from the deck gains a magical awareness of what
that particular card means. Since each PC drew three cards, each PC
knows the exact meanings of three of the cards. By pooling their
knowledge, the PCs can figure out the meanings of quite a few of the
cards. However, there are still quite a few cards that the PCs will not
have drawn. To find out those meanings, the PCs will have to seek out
NPCs who drew those particular cards.

Another thing the PCs can do to learn the meanings of the cards is to
ask Lada. Lada is a researcher into Luck, and the Deck is one of her
most favorite research topics. However, all of her knowledge comes from
historical records. That’s a problem, because Omta constantly changes up
the cards and their meanings. Lada’s knowledge is just plain
out-of-date. If the PCs ask Lada the meaning of a card, you should read
the description of the card from the DM’s guide! If the card isn’t in
the DM’s guide, then Lada says she’s never heard of the card before.

Lada is crystal clear about the fact that her knowledge is not
trustworthy. She explains that her knowledge might be out-of-date, and
she explains that some of the historical records she’s using might be
entirely made up by liars. She says that her information is potentially
useful, but that it should be taken with a big grain of salt. In fact,
the descriptions in the DM’s guide *do* match the ones in this module
for some of the cards, but most cards have at least some differences.

### Help your Players Decipher the Scrolls

You will have to help the PCs decipher the scrolls. You will need to
give them *lots* of hints.

The scrolls contain symbols which have many meanings. Because of this,
interpreting a scroll is an incredibly open-ended puzzle. That’s fun,
but there’s a downside: it means that it’s very easy for the PCs to go
off on a tangents with wild misinterpretations.

The first step to keeping your players on track is to repeatedly remind
them: *talk to the NPCs who drew the cards*. You need to impress this on
your players: it’s fun to try to guess what the cards represent, but
until you talk to the people who drew the cards, you’re just guessing.

For example, some player might convince himself that he just *knows*
that the Sun card must mean fire and flame and destruction. It
absolutely doesn’t mean that at all. If the PCs spend hours trying to
make sense of a scroll, starting with the assumption that “Sun” means
fire and flame and destruction, they’re going to go down a rabbit hole.\
\
When the PCs do this, you can try to bring them back down to earth in
two ways: one, you can have NPCs speak up. Lada might say, “I am not
sure that’s what the Sun card means. That doesn’t seem consistent with
the historic effects of the Sun card, it didn’t burn or destroy
anything. Maybe we should go talk to somebody who drew the Sun card.”

You can also have Omta react, via the telepathic link. When the PC says,
“this card means fire and flame,” have Omta react with mild annoyance.

Another thing you will have to do is provide positive feedback. When the
PCs are talking about the scrolls, they will say lots of things that are
wrong, and occasionally, something that is right. When they say
something right, they should get positive reinforcement. Omta should
react with enthusiasm via the telepathic link, and the relevant portion
of the scroll should become brighter, bolder. Of course, there’s a risk
of giving too much away this way, so use your judgement about how much
you reveal, and how accurate the PCs need to be before they get positive
feedback.

During the deciphering of the scrolls, the PCs are likely to do some
twenty-questions style guessing. For example, when deciphering the
scroll “what are you afraid of,” the PCs might just start listing
everyone they can think of: “Are you afraid of Rennick? Of Green? Of
Beshaba? Of Tymora?” That last one is right, but not because the PCs had
any insight. That’s not really how we want this puzzle to be solved.
It’s up to you how to react to this. If the players do this just a
little, you might have the Tymora section of the scroll light up anyway.
If the players do it too much, Omta gets annoyed and closes the
telepathic connection for an hour or two. The PCs can sense that he’s
not listening right now, and that guessing was just annoying him.

If the PCs do solve a portion of a scroll through a wild guess, have the
relevant section of the scroll become bolder, but only barely. For
example, if somebody makes a wild guess that the cluster on the right of
the “what are you afraid of” scroll represents Tymora, have that cluster
get a little bolder, but the three cards inside do not illuminate.
Explain that to fully illuminate the cluster, the PCs will have to
decipher the specific meanings of each piece of the cluster.

The last thing you can do to help the players is to have NPCs give
hints. You should use your judgement about how many hints you want to
give: enough to get the players to make progress, but not so many that
it feels easy. You will definitely need to give some, though.

There are several NPCs who can provide hints, chief among them: Lada and
Penny. Lada is insightful about the deck because she’s researched it her
whole life. Penny is insightful because she just has a natural affinity
for languages.

You, the DM, can use Penny to give the PCs exactly the amount of hinting
that they need, and no more. When the PCs show the scrolls to Penny,
Penny should stare at them and make some basic observations (like, “So
you guys drew three of these cards, but two of them are unknowns.”)
Then, after a few basic observations, have her say something seriously
insightful.

From that point forward, dish out the insightful observations at a pace
that works for your PCs. If they need more help, give them more
observations. If they seem to be getting it on their own, give them
fewer.

Penny really enjoys studying the scrolls: she really likes foreign
languages! She’s always bright and perky, but when she’s working on the
scrolls she’s especially happy. She says: “This is fun! If you get any
more of these scrolls, please show them to me. Oh, and if you learn the
meanings of any more cards, please let me know.”

Here is a list of things the two NPCs could say:

**Observation**:

How many cards are there in the deck? Roughly 20, we think? Think about
it, if you’re writing in a language that has only 20 words, then every
word is going to have to have lots of meanings.

**Observation:\
**Look, I know a lot about languages, but that doesn’t mean that I can
tell you the meaning of a symbol without any context. Of course, some
meanings are obvious. The gem card can obviously mean, “a gem.” But does
it also mean wealth in general? Can it mean “money?” Probably, but I
won’t know for sure until we talk to somebody who actually knows.

**Observation:**

I hear you guys trying to solve these scrolls, without first leaning the
meaning of the cards. For example, this scroll has a Sun card on it, and
you haven’t spoken to anyone who drew the Sun card. So I think it’s too
early to try to solve the scroll. I wouldn’t try solving a scroll, until
you know the meanings of all the cards on it. You could make yourselves
crazy.

**Observation:\
**Penny: Imagine you’re expressing ideas with drawings. If you wanted to
say “candle,” what would you draw?

PC: A candle.\
Penny: Ok, now let’s say you wanted to say, “candlelight.” What would
you draw?

PC: Uh, I guess a candle with rays of light coming from the flame?

Penny: OK, now let’s say you wanted to say, “wax.” What would you draw?

PC: Uh, I guess a candle with some wax pooling?

Penny: If you looked at somebody else’s drawing of a candle, would you
be entirely sure which concept the artist was trying to communicate? I
guess my point is, if you see a symbol, don’t be so sure that you have
the right meaning. Every image, like candle, could have many possible
meanings.

**Observation:\
**I see that this scroll has a cluster containing “star, gem, ruin.”
That one contains a cluster containing “star, gem, cripple.” That one
contains “star, gem, tiger.” I feel like these all represent the same
thing - in this one, star-gem is sick, in this one, star-gem is healthy,
and in that one, star-gem is in danger of being ruined. So whatever
star-gem is, I bet it’s the same in all these scrolls.

**Observation:**

Using picture-based languages, it’s really hard to express abstract
concepts. If I wanted to express the concept of “love,” I might draw a
puppy, because I really love puppies. But that’s subjective. Somebody
else might use a puppy to represent the idea of “delicious.” I think
that to really fully decipher these scrolls, you’re going to have to get
to know this being a little. You’re going to have to learn what concepts
he associates to what images.

**Observation:\
**The common tongue is written left-to-right, in the order subject,
verb, object. But remember that not all languages use that order. Some
languages don’t have any order. My point is: just because something is
on the left side of the scroll, don’t assume it’s the subject. It might
not be consistent.

**Observation:**

It’s easy to get fixated on a meaning for a card. In this first scroll,
the vizier card means “asking questions.” But I think if we’re not
careful, we’ll assume it means the same thing in the next scroll too. It
might not. Don’t accidentally get locked in to a single meaning just
because it worked for you once.

**Observation:\
**I notice that on this scroll, the Ruin card appears twice. I bet one
of them is for the person who’s doing the ruining, and the other is for
the thing that’s being ruined.

**Observation:**

Never forget about the literal interpretation. In some places, the sun
card might mean, literally, “the sun.” In some places, the vizier card
might mean literally, “a vizier (a seer).” In some places, the gem card
might mean literally, “gems.”

**Observation:\
**The ogre Pig drew the throne card. But if you go ask him what the
throne card means, he probably doesn’t have the necessary intelligence
to verbalize all the possible interpretations. My point is: if you’re
asking somebody about a card, keep in mind who you’re talking to, and
bear in mind that they may not want or be able to tell you everything
there is to know.

**Observation:\
**If I wanted to represent the concept of werewolf, I might choose
“moon” and “beast.” But if you saw “moon” and “beast” together, would
you think of a werewolf? Maybe, but you might think of an owl instead. I
guess what I’m saying is, be open to the possibility that there might be
another interpretation.

### The Steel Barrier Becomes a Steel Door

The lounge area contains the steel barrier that separates the lounge
from the laundry area. Initially, the steel barrier is just a barrier.
But once the PCs receive the scrolls, it physically changes: three
hinges appear, transforming it from a barrier into a door. Six
pigeonholes appear in the surface. A brass plaque appears, bearing the
symbols: *Vizier, Key*.

The meaning of the inscription *Vizier, Key* is: “Knowledge is the Key
to opening this door.” More specifically, Omta won’t let you through the
door until you’ve read all six scrolls. He isn’t going to let the PCs
approach the Deck until they have heard Omta’s side of the story.

It’s completely obvious that to unlock the door, you have to put
something into the holes. The PCs may try jamming random objects into
the holes. If they do, the objects just pop back out. If the PCs keep
that up too long, they start to sense frustration from Omta. However,
nothing bad happens.

If the PCs try inserting a scroll into a pigeonhole, they will notice
that it fits *perfectly*. Unlike other random items inserted into the
pigeonholes, the scrolls slide back out much more slowly, making it
obvious that the players are getting closer. If none of the players
figure it out, Lada will tell them what they have to do: “Maybe we’re
supposed to read the scrolls before inserting them in the door.”

To unlock the door, the PCs must ask all three of the key questions in
order to obtain all six scrolls. Then, they must decipher all six of the
scrolls. Once a scroll is properly deciphered, it can be inserted into
the door, triggering the sound of mechanical tumblers. The scroll will
remain in the pigeonhole. When all six scrolls are deciphered and in
their pigeonholes, the door opens, and the PCs can finally meet and talk
to Omta directly.

## The Conclusion of the Chapter

### Meeting Omta

When the steel door opens, it reveals an extradimensional space, a black
emptiness. Within the space, the PCs observe a very vague humanoid form
- just a blurry outline. The form is resting on the vague outline of a
bed. It is very obviously asleep. This is Omta.

The black emptiness is the part of the void where Omta hides. The PCs
can walk out into this emptiness, and approach Omta. They’re not walking
“on” anything, there’s nothing there. But they can move around
nonetheless. Lada cannot cross the threshold - only the PCs.

As soon as the PCs cross the threshold of the door, they immediately
sense that their telepathic connection with Omta has gotten a lot
stronger. Tell them that they find it much easier to sense what Omta is
feeling and thinking.

As soon as the PCs approach, Omta speaks. Cards cards appear over his
body, in groups, just like on the scrolls. He is again communicating.
However, this time, the PCs have no trouble understanding what he’s
trying to say. They don’t need to “decipher” the cards - they just
understand. This is because of the much stronger telepathic link. Tell
your players that from this point forward, the PCs will never have
difficulty making sense of card-language again.

In card-speak, Omta introduces himself:

> I am the roll of the dice, the turn of the cards. I am
> unpredictability without chaos. I am the Deck, and the Deck is me - it
> is my avatar. It wants what I want. What I want, is for the universe
> to remain unpredictable and unknowable. I want to preserve the
> surprise and wonder.
>
> The situation is dire, and I need help. You are the only ones who have
> made any real effort to understand me. So I will ask you for your
> help.”

Omta wants two things from the PCs:

1.  Rennick cannot be allowed to destroy randomness itself. Help me stop
    > him.

2.  Don’t give my avatar, the Deck, to Tymora. She will use it to kill
    > me.

At this point, the PCs can ask anything they want to Omta. Before
answering anything, Omta demands: “Promise you won’t betray me to
Tymora. I don’t want to die.” Assuming the PCs agree, Omta will answer
any questions the PCs have to the best of his ability.

If the PCs ask why Omta is trying to take away Tymora’s worshippers,
Omta replies: “I have no interest in worshippers. I don’t need them. It
is true that some of her former worshippers are directing worship
towards me now. This is something they have done of their own
initiative, and I find it odd and confusing.”

If the PCs ask what Omta means by “I am unpredictability without chaos,”
Omta explains: “If you roll a die, it could come up 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.
It is random. But the die will not turn into a mouse and walk away,
because it is not made of Limbo’s pure chaos. Pure chaos reduces the
universe to nonsense. I harnessed chaos, chained it, and turned it into
randomness. Randomness adds unpredictability without destroying
meaning.”

If the PCs explain that the Deck’s presence and the Deck’s power are
what is attracting worshippers, Omta will say, “I sent the Deck to stop
Rennick. By its own rules, the Deck cannot vanish until its goal is
accomplished. If you want the Deck to go away, help me stop Rennick.”

If the PCs ask what Rennick has done, Omta explains that Rennick has
devised a way to predict the outcome of random events, and that if
random events can be predicted, then they’re not random at all. Omta
wants this technology gone. If the PCs suggest killing Rennick, Omta is
fine with that.

If the PCs ask why Omta hasn’t taken a more direct approach, like just
killing Rennick, Omta seems puzzled. He says, “I did act directly, I
sent the Deck, and the Deck is me. The Deck might kill Rennick, or
imprison him, or stop him in any one of a number of other ways. That is
as direct as I can be. Anything else would not be random.” Omta is tied
up by his own ideology.

Assuming the PCs ask a lot of questions (which they should), the
conversation with Omta should clear up just about everything about
what’s really been going on. The only puzzle piece that’s still missing
is Rennick’s perspective: the PCs still don’t know exactly what Rennick
has done, or why.

At the end of the conversation, Omta again pleads that the PCs not to
lead Tymora to his doorstep. He is clearly terrified of Tymora.

When the conversation with Omta is over, the PCs must exit the void
through the steel door. As soon as they do, the steel door vanishes.

### Negotiating with Green

After the steel door vanishes, all that remains is the hallway to the
laundry room. A moment later, the bodyguard Mikhail sticks his head
around the corner and then shouts, “HEY! The Barrier is GONE!” Within
moments, Green and his entire entourage is there in the hall.

Green asks, “Are my employees safe? Where is Penny? Where are Tommel and
Zim?” He won’t talk about anything else until he is reassured that
everyone who works for him has been delivered to safety. If there’s
anybody who hasn’t been saved, then Green will immediately ignore the
PCs and go searching for the missing employees.

When Green’s employees are safe, Green profusely thanks the PCs for
helping. He gladly offers them a cash reward. Green will answer any
question, but he doesn’t have any new information: he’s been trapped in
the laundry room ever since the chaos storm, along with his entourage.
They tried everything to get out, but the barrier was impenetrable.

At this point, Lada does the job she was sent to do. She makes Green the
following offer:

> “Excuse me sir, I am here as a representative of Tymora. I have been
> authorized to make you an offer for the Deck. If you sell it to
> Tymora, Tymora will grant you five wishes. Bear in mind, that’s five
> wishes from a trustworthy goddess who will do her best to make sure
> you get exactly what you truly desire.”

Balanestra, Greens’ advisor, immediately weighs in:

> “Boss, I know we’ve been trying all this time to hold on to the Deck,
> but that’s a damn good offer. The Deck has been getting more and more
> chaotic, and if you try to extract five more wishes from the Deck, who
> knows what could happen. This could be a much safer way to get wishes.
> I think you should very seriously consider it.”

Green says:

> “Huh. I’m pretty surprised. I thought Tymora was going to try to take
> the deck by force. Instead, she sends a representative to buy it fair
> and square. I guess I misjudged her. Let me think about it for a
> minute.”

Then, Green insists that people leave him alone for a bit, while he
ponders. This creates a window where the PCs can talk to each other, and
to Lada.

At this point, the PCs have a problem. It looks like Lada might soon be
successful at buying the Deck for Tymora. Remember, Lada wasn’t there in
Omta’s void-space, and she didn’t hear Omta say:

“Don’t give my avatar, the Deck, to Tymora. She will use it to kill me.”

Lada doesn’t know that the Deck is sentient, and that it doesn’t want to
be given to Tymora. So it’s up to the PCs to deal with this situation.

At this point, the PCs have to negotiate with Lada. Let the PCs do their
best to talk Lada out of buying the Deck. But, in the end, Lada has
explicit instructions from Tymora, and Lada is a loyal priestess. She is
not going to disrespect her patron. She says:

> “I cannot oppose my goddess, but we can talk to her. She has always
> been reasonable. Maybe if we talk to her, we can come up with a plan
> that works for everyone.”

This is such a reasonable request that the PCs are almost certain to
agree. Lada says, “I am going to pray now.” She bows her head, and
softly speaks: “My mistress, negotiation for the Deck has had a
complication…” \<THUNDERCLAP\> Lada doesn’t get any farther with her
prayer. Tymora appears, in person, in the room. Green shouts “oh shit,”
and vanishes, along with the Deck, his bodyguards, and Balanestra.

If the players are on the ball, they may remember Balanestra’s deck
dream:

> Green, at his desk: “I can’t fight a goddess. What do we do if she
> attacks?”
> Balanestra: “We teleport away, of course.”
> Green: “Sure, but she’s a goddess. She can follow us anywhere.”
> Balanestra: “She can follow us *almost* anywhere.”
>
> Green: “Where could I go that she can’t follow… oh, shit.
> No, no no no no!”

When Green and his entourage teleport away, Tymora looks
around, and says, “I see. They were afraid I would attack,
and they prepared a contingency some time ago. They cast a
spell so that if I got too close, they would all
automatically teleport away to my sister’s realm.”

It is possible that the PCs may have befriended some of the
deck-touched individuals, and one may have joined the party
as an NPC.  It could be messy if there are *too* many NPCs
in the party.  This group teleport is a good opportunity to
temporarily get rid of one of them, if you like: the
teleport grabs and pulls away not just Green and his
entourage, but also one of the deck-touched NPCs, leaving
Balanestra behind instead. Apparently, the wizard who cast
the contingency screwed up, and wasn't too clear about
*which* deck-touched individual should go with Green and his
bodyguards.  If you take away such an NPC, that NPC will
reappear later in the campaign, ready to help the party
again.  Meanwhile, Balanestra is friendly to the party, but
she has her own agenda: she wants to rejoin Green as fast
as she can, so she's not willing to come with the PCs.

When Green and his bodyguards vanish, Tymora says, “No
matter. I don’t need the Deck any more. I wanted the Deck
because I thought it might help me to find the God who
created it. But I had a backup plan. I asked you to
strengthen your telepathic link to this God, so that I could
trace the telepathic link. You did exactly that. Instead of
using the Deck to find him, I can use your telepathic link,
which I can see clear as day. I will now go and challenge
him.”

This should be an “Oh Shit” moment for the PCs. They
promised not to betray Omta to Tymora, and they already
*have*, unintentionally. This moment is the moment that
Selune warned the PCs about:

> “Tymora is one of my best friends, and she is as trustworthy and kind
> as a goddess can be. But she is making a mistake. I encourage you to
> work with her, but just be aware: there will come a point in time when
> you have to tell her to stop what she’s doing.
>
> Here is what I ask of you: keep your eyes open. Use your brains. If
> you see her do something that you think is going to cause harm, you
> must speak up. Tell her, or tell her priestesses. Do not be overawed
> by her divine presence. You speaking up at an appropriate moment may
> be all that stands between her and disaster.”

The PCs must ask Tymora not to pursue Omta. They should be making these
arguments:

-   Omta means you no harm.

-   He is not deliberately taking your worshippers.

-   He will go away as soon as Rennick is dealt with.

-   He is absolutely terrified of you.

-   His purpose is legitimate: he is trying to protect the universe.

-   Selune, your friend, specifically asked you not to do this.
    She couldn't explain why not, but now you understand.

If the PCs make compelling arguments, Tymora is somewhat
relieved. She isn’t warlike, she didn’t really want a fight,
and now she has an alternative path:

> “I will pause my pursuit of this God. If this God will go
> away when Rennick is dealt with, then we need to deal with
> this Rennick. I would like you to find him, question him,
> and do what is necessary. He is in the city of Sigil.”

Assuming the PCs agree, Tymora offers a boon:

> “I wish to thank all of you, you have served me honorably.
> I asked you to protect my young priestess, Lada, and to
> bring her in front of Green so that she could negotiate
> for the deck.  You did exactly as I asked.  I asked you
> to strengthen your telepathic bond to this God, so that I
> could see it.  Again, you did exactly as I asked.  In
> addition to your faithful service, you also seek to
> preserve peace.  I believe this deserves a boon. As a
> party, I would like to to make a collective request - one
> boon for all.”

One boon that the PCs might ask for is a boon of luck - after all, this
is a goddess of luck. If the PCs ask for this, they all get the “lucky”
feat, which grants advantage 3x day on almost any die roll.

Another boon they may ask for is the destruction of the Museum of
Orethys. If the PCs ask for it, Tymora says she does not have the power
to destroy the Museum itself, but she says she *can* free everyone
inside. She snaps her fingers, and then she says, “The prisoners have
been sent to my domain. My priests will help them to find new homes.”

If the PCs ask why she can’t destroy the museum itself, Tymora explains:
“The Museum represents an ideology: that ordinary people exist for the
amusement of rich and powerful men. That ideology has many followers, it
has power. So therefore, the Museum has power. It is empty now, but it
will fill again.”

Selune also has a boon for the PCs: all members of the party can now
cast the “Selune’s Light” cantrip. This differs from a regular light
cantrip in that it lasts 8 hours, is a little brighter, and looks like
moonlight.