jdnd/sections/5-the-carrion-bird.md

The Carrion Bird

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, the PCs arrive in the city of Sigil, where they have been tasked with finding Rennick. This turns out to be difficult: Rennick is in hiding, because he is terrified of a man named Crow, who is hunting him.

Crow is an incantifer: a member of a small sect of wizards who have mastered a vile technology. Incantifers capture a powerful individual, rip the soul out of their body, and use that soul to build an orb: a construct that allows the incantifer to wield the powers of the person from whom the orb was made.

But the real innovation is in how incantifers control these orbs: you see, the soul is connected to the body by something called the silver cord. It turns out the silver cord is a braided thing, made up of seven strands, with each strand connected to one of the body's seven chakras. Incantifers disconnect one of the seven strands from one of the chakras, and then reconnect that strand to the orb. This allows the incantifer to control the orb as if it were part of their body - using an orb is as fluid as thought. Incantifers are blazingly fast: an incantifer can cast one spell per turn per orb, in addition to whatever spell they cast with their human body. In an action-economy combat system, an incantifer is a rain of death. Crow has four orbs, and for all practical purposes, fighting Crow is like fighting five powerful mages at the same time.

However, incantifers pay a terrible price for this: the more strands of the cord are disconnected from the human body, the more paralyzed the human body becomes. The more powerful an incantifer becomes, the more their physical body becomes a handicap. Incantifers dream of the day when they can fully disconnect and discard the physical body, becoming a creature of pure magic. However, every incantifer who has attempted this has died. At least for now, incantifers are stuck with their physical body.

Crow has verified that Rennick has the ability to predict random events. Crow has concluded that Rennick is actually a powerful oracle, who has not yet fully realized the extent of his powers. Crow intends to take those powers for himself.

The PCs met Rennick near Castle Green. Shortly after Rennick parted ways with the PCs, he was captured by Crow. Fortunately, Rennick has a cautious personality, he values his safety, and he plans for contingencies. A long time ago, Rennick purchased a teleportation tattoo from Fell (see "Uncaged: Faces of Sigil" for more information about Fell and Fell's Tattoos). The tattoo was expensive, and for years, Rennick had no occasion to need it. But when Crow captured him, the tattoo saved his life.

When Crow put Rennick into a cell, he of course took away all of Rennick's magic items, but he didn't realize the tattoo was also a magic item. Rennick allowed Crow to brag about himself and his plans, and Rennick learned what Crow planned to do with him. Then, he used up the tattoo to teleport away. Of course, Crow was furious and immediately set out to recapture Rennick. Rennick knew he wasn't safe: he immediately went into hiding.

Up until this moment, there have been very few NPCs in this campaign who are unadulterated evil. Green is greedy, but not a monster, and he can be reasoned with. Orethys was pure evil, but he is a historical figure. Beshaba is evil, but she won't play a central role until later. Crow is the first genuinely horrible person that the PCs will face.

Do not tell any of this to your players. All of this will unfold gradually, as the PCs search for Rennick, and explore the city of Sigil.

Finding Rennick in the City of Sigil is a very nonlinear part of the campaign. The PCs can go in any one of several directions, and can pursue any one of several leads. The DM will have to tie all of this together into a story that flows together coherently.

Character Leveling

The PCs should be raised to Level 5 before starting this chapter.

First Sights of the City

When the PCs take the portal from Sylvania, they step out into the Bazaar of Sigil. It is a one-way portal. Behind the PCs is just more bazaar. The first sights they see are wild and disorienting. The PCs just stand and stare for several minutes, unless they consciously try to fit in. These are the most notable things they see:

• The extreme variety of races. In addition to the more common races, the PCs see a ton of people they may or may not recognize: bariaur, tabaxi, modrons, goblins, gith, tanaari, everything. When describing it, be sure to throw in some really unexpected ones: a giant, a mind flayer, a group of pixies, you name it.

• The enormous arch. Overhead, there appears to be a huge arch that spans the entire width of the city. This is actually the city itself, forming a ring. But this isn't immediately obvious to newcomers. It may take them a little time to realize it's not a giant structure, it's the city's topology.

• The gritty atmosphere. The foundry is not far, and the yellow soot hangs over the bazaar. Many of the buildings are made of steel, rusted and corroded, and blades stick out from the corners of the buildings and the door and window frames. The city somehow looks both extremely poor and extremely wealthy at the same time.

• The chaos of the bazaar. People are rushing in every direction, trying to get business done. They shove around the clueless newbies standing in the road, paying them little attention.

There is a lot of great material about the city of Sigil published by Wizards of the Coast. I highly recommend you familiarize yourself with the city before trying to run this section of the campaign. This adventure, as written, is set in a version of Sigil in which the faction war never happened. If you want to adapt this to whatever version of Sigil you prefer, that would not be difficult.

The PCs came to the city with a quest: Find Rennick!
After wandering around for a few minutes, they may start to think about their objective.

Sending to Rennick

The PCs are now at a level where they can potentially cast the spell "Sending." This is a very useful tool for finding Rennick. According to the spell, one must be "familiar" with the recipient. The PCs met Rennick at Castle Green. Whether that's enough to constitute "familiarity" depends on how the PCs interacted with Rennick. If they barely said two words to him, then no, it's not enough. But if they had a good solid conversation with him, then that's enough: he's "familiar." Your judgement call.

Do not feel obligated: if the PCs can't cast sending, they can still complete this chapter just fine.

If the PCs cast sending, then Rennick can respond with a 25-word response. Pretty much no matter what the PCs say, Rennick says:

Incantifer, Crow, plans to kill me! I'm hiding from him. He may be spying right now! Say nothing! He's listening. Cast sending again.

At this point, the PCs are likely to have tons of questions. If the PCs try asking questions, Rennick says:

Cannot explain: Crow listening. Cannot come out of hiding. If you save me from Crow, I will cooperate with you. Will you help?

If the PCs agree to help, Crow says:

DO NOT FIGHT CROW! Too deadly. Research strengths, weaknesses. Choose spells. Raid my stash, buy right equipment. Hire mercenary from Ysgard. When prepared, contact me.

With that, the PCs now understand the broad outlines of this chapter and what they have to do. However, that still leaves tons of questions unanswered:

• What is an "Incantifer?" What are Crow's powers?

• Why does Crow want to kill Rennick?

• How can the PCs find Crow?

• For that matter, how can the PCs avoid Crow until they're ready?

• "Hire mercenary from Ysgard." What mercenary from Ysgard? What are you talking about?

• "Raid my stash." What stash? Where is this stash?

• "Buy right equipment." What is the "right equipment?"

• Where is Rennick hiding?

The PCs will have to figure out the answers to these questions by themselves. Any further attempt to send messages to Rennick will result in Rennick saying:

Stop casting sending, too dangerous. May be possible to trace you. I know you are smart. Info you need is out there.

So Rennick refuses to answer any more questions. The PCs will have to investigate and learn more.

Sending to Green

Green is in Beshaba's realm, in the Abyss. Beshaba is allowing him to stay there, even providing protection. This is because she sees the Deck as bait that might lure Tymora to her realm.

If the PCs cast sending to talk to Green, Green will happily answer their questions. He doesn't have any up-to-date information about Rennick, but he knows general facts.

If the PCs ask Green about exactly what he's doing there in Beshaba's realm, or if the PCs just start asking Green more questions than you want, cut them off. Here's how: A goddess is almost omnipotent in her own realm. Beshaba can easily intervene in any sending spell cast into her realm. The PCs cast sending and ask the wrong question. They get a reply that's not from Green, it's from Beshaba:

So, Tymora's little pawns are getting information from my little pawns. I think it's time for me to put a stop to that.

The caster recognizes the voice of Beshaba. The caster ends up with a splitting headache, and two levels of exhaustion. If they're stupid enough to try again, make it even worse for them.

Rico Sparks, the Tout

As the PCs gape at the bazaar, a Tout named Rico Sparks notices that the PCs are obviously not from Sigil. He sees a business opportunity. Touts are information brokers. A large percentage of their income is selling basic information about the city to clueless visitors.

Rico is always over-the-top brash and cheerful. He uses a lot of Sigil slang, and he also like to say "hey, baby!" His favorite gesture: finger guns.

He approaches the PCs and says, "Hey, cutters! I'm your friendly neighborhood drug dealer, and the drug I sell is easy access to information! Be careful, it's addictive!"

Rico Sparks is a dwarf-human hybrid - technically, a "Mul." He is as tall as a human, but bulky, like a dwarf. Muls are entirely hairless. Rico is also plane-touched: his fingers crackle with little sparks.

Rico stands there grinning: "What do you think of the Cage? You looking for a Kip? Or you want to get some bub first?"

Rico is deliberately using slang that the PCs don't know in order to make the PCs feel disoriented. This is a business strategy that works for him, the more clueless people feel, the more they want an information broker.

If the PCs ask Rico what his race is, or why he gives off sparks, Rico grins and says, "that information costs more than you can afford, baby!"

If you ask Rico why he calls himself a drug dealer, he says, "Touts provide easy access to information, and easy access to information makes you lazy, it makes you stop trying to solve problems for yourself. Soon you'll find yourself calling me because you need me to tell you how to tie your shoes. That's my bread and butter, baby! Addicts who can’t stop calling me to tell them what to do every minute of the day.”

Rico’s price structure is simple: "it costs 5GP to have a conversation with me. First conversation’s free, baby, like any good drug dealer!"

During a conversation, Rico will gladly answer all the questions you have, as long as he knows the answer off the top of his head. "It doesn't cost any extra to ask a lot of questions, so ask everything you can think of!" Rico knows a lot about what’s going on around the city, and he has good general knowledge about many subjects, but he’s not a database of all information in the universe. If you ask something that requires research, he’s willing to do research, but he charges 10GP per hour, sometimes more, depending on the challenge level. If you ask Rico for information that might put Rico in danger, then that’s a hard no.

"If you want, you can retain my services. If you do that, I'll show up every couple of days and see if you have any questions. However, if I'm going to the trouble of making myself available, there's something I want in return: customer loyalty. You don't do business with any other tout."

"If you want to ask me a question and I'm not around, you can summon me. To do that, tell any tout that you want to talk to Rico Sparks. They'll get a message to me. Summoning me costs 10gp, because it means I have to drop everything and travel halfway across the city. If you do that, it'll take me a few hours to get there."

"You can also summon me fast. If you do that, I'll use shortcuts to get to you - portals. But that costs me a lot of money - I have to pay the owners of the portals. So summoning me fast costs 30gp, but I can usually get there in an hour."

Rico is very good at extracting money from his customers. However, he does develop a fondness for interesting customers: he is meant to become a friend to the PCs. He will always charge quite a bit for his services, but his information is reliable and he tries to make himself useful.

The PCs probably have lots of questions about Sigil for Rico. But there is one essential piece of information that you must work into the conversation: you must teach the PCs about portals and portal keys.

One way to work this into the conversation is to have Rico ask about the metal wire on the PCs' arms: he says: "You don't need those metal wires any more. That was just a portal key. You guys know about portals and portal keys?"

Rico then explains: "Supposedly, every door and window in Sigil is a portal to somewhere. Yes, interior doors too. The thing is, most of those portals will never activate, because nobody knows the right key. Key could be anything: it could be a physical object like that loop of wire, but it could also be a song, or a color, or even a mindset - you name it."

Rico is a tool for you, the DM. You can use him to feed the PCs little bits of information whenever you would like to do so. He can help keep the story moving.

The PCs should ask Rico about finding Rennick. If they don't ask their information broker for help, they're very likely not going to get anywhere with anything. So you really should encourage them to use Rico. Here is what Rico recommends:

1. Rico doesn't know who Rennick is. Hasn't heard the name.

2. Rico knows that any member of the Fraternity of Order, who works in the department of casino regulation, is going to have an office in the Courthouse. So the courthouse is a good place to start looking.

3. If the PCs ask about incantifers, Rico knows some basics: they're a sect of reclusive wizards. He knows they make these magic items called "orbs," and that the orbs allow them to rain down spells at a terrifying speed. He also knows that they have a reputation as extremely evil, but he doesn't know exactly why. He volunteers to do further research.

4. Rico suggests that maybe Rennick has coworkers who might know something. Again, the courthouse.

5. Rennick must have a house or an apartment, Rico reasons. He says, "I'm pretty sure I can find out where he lives."

Taking Care of Pig

If the PCs brought Pig to Sigil, then Pig follows them for a while, and then gets tired. He settles into an empty spot at the bazaar and starts playing his mandolin, and attracts a small crowd.

Eventually, this draws the attention of the landlord. The bazaar is spread across several dozen plots of land owned by several different landlords. Pig can play music for a few days without being noticed, but eventually a landlord will show up and ask the PCs, "does this ogre belong to you?" The PCs will have to negotiate to rent a plot of land where Pig can play his music.

Pig's artistry is good, he brings in enough money to pay for food, rent, and maybe a little more on the side. Pig is not picky about shelter, he doesn't mind sleeping outside.

Of course, the real reason Pig is tagging along is because the PCs promised healing. Sigil has many powerful priests, several of whom can cast "Greater Restoration," which is what Pig needs.

Rico Sparks can tell the PCs where to find a priest: he says that temples are not allowed in Sigil ever since the incident with the shattered temple. However, priests are allowed to gather in "healing centers," which are not allowed to hire more than one priest of a given god, in order to avoid the perception that they are a temple. Rico can point to several reputable healing centers in the bazaar.

If the PCs go to one of these, they will have to pay for the Greater Restoration spell, which is expensive, but it gets the job done. Pig doesn't heal immediately. The priest explains: "Pig is recovering now, but he has lost almost all his muscle mass. He needs lots of protein. Make sure he eats like an ogre, and over the course of the next few months, he'll get strong again."

We are deliberately timing this so that Pig cannot provide real combat assistance in this chapter, but he will be able to fight in the next one. In the meantime, Pig will play his music in the bazaar, mostly take care of himself, and he will be very grateful to the PCs because he's regaining his strength.

The PCs may decide that playing music is actually a reasonable way to make a few coins. If so, Pig is willing to join the troupe. Feel free to improvise here.

If the PCs ask Pig to fight in this chapter, Pig refuses: he's humiliated by his weakness and doesn't want anyone to see him fight in this condition. But that will change in a month or so.

Sergio and Jinn, the Xaositects

After the PCs have had a chance to wander around the bazaar a bit, have them make a perception check. They hear somebody say the name "Rennick." It turns out that two Xaositects, Sergei and Jinn, are searching for Rennick. Their strategy? Just asking people at random on the street: "We're looking for a guy named Rennick. Have you seen him?"

Sergei is a Xaositect who has learned through the grapevine that Rennick has gained the ability to predict random events. Sergei, like most Xaositects, thinks this is an abomination. He is on a mission to find an kill Rennick. If the PCs ask Sergei what he's up to, he explains, "killing Rennick is only illegal if I get caught." Fortunately for Rennick, Sergei is not very efficient.

Sergei insists that he is the president of the Xaositects. He occasionally changes his mind and decides he's the "chairman" of the Xaositects, or the "emperor", or sometimes even the "factol." No other Xaositect thinks that Sergei is any of these things.

The other Xaositect, Jinn, is enigmatic. She refuses to make any assertions about anything. She explains: " Suppose your friend tells you that there's an excellent cheese shop about two blocks north. But think about it: they could be lying. They could be telling the truth, but they may have a bad sense of direction. They may be misremembering. You may have misheard them. They might just have terrible taste in cheese. There are just so many different ways that our knowledge can be broken. We act as if our knowledge is good, but over and over it just turns out our memories, our perception, or our communication is flawed - sometimes, all three. It's safer to just assume you know nothing."

Jinn has no hostility toward Rennick, because she doesn't know anything about who Rennick is, or what he did, or... well, she doesn't know anything about anything, really.

However, Jinn has a supernatural ability to just be where she needs to be, when she needs to be there. She does what she needs to do, without knowing why she's doing it. Right now, the universe has a purpose for her, and it involves Rennick. So, she's searching for Rennick. She has no idea why.

Sergei calls Jinn "my secretary," or "my assistant," or "my servant." When he does, Jinn gets an irritated look on her face, and sometimes she replies: "I'm not your piking servant." Sergei knows how to push Jinn's buttons: "How do you know you're not?" Jinn has no answer for this.

Sergei is a male bariaur, a LV4 fighter. Jinn is a female water genasi. Her class and level are unknown - she has different skills on different days. Jinn carries around a "loot bag," which contains random items that she has no idea where she got them, but the loot bag often contains something relevant to what she needs.

The two Xaositects both come across as morons. For Sergei, that perception is entirely deserved. Jinn is knowledge-free, but also, extremely intelligent, which is a strange combination.

Each time the PCs go to another location, there's a substantial chance that Sergei and Jinn will already be there. This will happen over and over. The PCs show up, and there are Sergei and Jinn asking passers-by about Rennick.

The reason for this is Jinn's special ability to just be in the right place. But it's not the right time for her to do what she needs to do, so she's just hanging around waiting, and looking for Rennick.

In addition to asking around about Rennick, the two of them both enjoy drinking. Sometimes, when the PCs show up, Sergei may already be passed out on the floor, with Jinn just napping or sipping liquor until he wakes up.

An Appointment with Casino Regulation

The courthouse is the base of operations for the Fraternity of Order, of which Rennick is a part. The main door of the courthouse leads to a large antechamber, with a big receptionist desk. Working the desk is a tired-looking man named Timon Pherenikos.

Timon appears human, however, he is actually the son of a Human and an Oread. Timon's Oread heritage has left him with two unusual traits: he's extraordinarily patient (which is why he's the receptionist), and he smells slightly of earth.

Working with Timon is an imp named Stiz whose job is to deliver paperwork, fetch coffee, and take care of other menial tasks. The imp stays in the background unless he's needed.

When the PCs ask for Rennick, Timon says "to get an appointment with the Department of Casino Regulation, you need to be a casino representative, and you need to be requesting regulation for your casino. Here's the form." He hands over a blank CM1-228, "REQUEST BY CASINO FOR INITIAL CONSULTATION FOR ACQUISITION OF CERTIFICATE OF FAIR PLAY."

This is where the PCs next "adventure" begins: a ludicrous mini-quest in which the PCs have to actually fill out a Fraternity form. This will be the PCs' first encounter with the guvners, and it is meant to highlight how over-the-top their love of bureaucracy is. The form is full of bureaucratic jargon and impossible questions. The form can be found in appendix XYZ. Filling it out will be a challenge.

Of course, the PCs will beg Timon to just let them go talk to the Department, skipping the formality. That ain't happening: this is the Fraternity of Order. Timon says: "Rules are rules. If you want an appointment, you fill out the form."

Timon is strict, but he's actually quite kind, and patient. If the PCs want, they can try to befriend him, which works. He still won't bend the rules, but he will be as helpful as he can be within the rules.

The PCs may try charm magic. Timon is zero-level, so a simple “Charm Person” would succeed in bending him to your will. However, the Fraternity has silent alarm systems in place to detect the use of magic in the courthouse, and moments later you’ll be facing a Harmonium patrol.

If the PCs used charm magic, but were nonviolent, the patrol takes the PCs outside, and gives them a stern talking to. "I'm not going to throw you in jail, every damn clueless who comes to the city tries charming the bureaucrats. If I threw all of you in jail, there would be no room in the jail for anyone else. But don't even think about trying that again." If the PCs complain about the bureaucracy, the leader of the patrol sympathizes: "Yeah, I know, their forms are completely unreasonable. But the law's the law, and it's my job to enforce it." In the end, the PCs's best course of action is to actually just figure out a way to fill out the form.

The PCs may attempt to fill out the form with bullshit. If they do so, Timon will look at the filled out form and say, sympathetically, "If I send this upstairs, they'll just put it in the circular file. You need to fill in real information. You need to put down information from an actual, real casino. You might want to go to the hall of records and get an actual example of an actual form CM1-228 filled out by a real casino, that might help. The hall of records is the next building over."

It may occur to the PCs to go find Green's Casino, and to look there for clues about how to fill out the form. It takes Rico only an hour to locate the casino (finding entertainment venues for tourists is the bread and butter of touts everywhere.) The casino's real name is "The Golden Hoard," and it's in the market ward, not far. Rico says it's boarded up.

Another possibility is that the PCs may think themselves: Edric, the steward, has probably filled out this very form, and he's in town somewhere. Rico can find Edric too, though it's not as fast.

Edric Says: "Green's Casino is called The Golden Hoard. It gets reinspected every so often. I had to fill that form out last time. Nothing has changed, you can just get the old form from the hall of records and copy everything over. To get that, you'll need the tax ID number for the casino. I'm afraid I don't remember the tax ID number, it's been a while. There's still some old paperwork at the casino building, I imagine one of those old forms has the tax ID number somewhere."

If the PCs go to the hall of records, they end up in a room that looks like a library reading room, with a giant desk. Behind the desk are many "librarians", and a football-field sized room full of shelving units packed with filing boxes. The PCs get in line, and eventually get served.

The hall of records keeps the forms organized by:

• Date,
• Tax ID number,
• Form number.

Those are your choices. You can specify more than one of these. If you ask for anything else - literally, anything else, the librarians will just get annoyed and will explain to you that you have to give them a tax ID number, a date range, and/or a form number.

The librarians also say: "every form retrieved costs 10gp."

If the PCs say something like, "can we just see an example of a form CM1-228," the librarian says, "I can bring you all of the form CM1-228s. There are probably thousands of them, remember, they cost 10gp each."

If the PCs say, "no we just want to see one," the librarian looks increasingly annoyed and says, "No Fraternity member is going to bring you a random form CM1-228. Randomness is not how things get done, we don't do that here. You can pick a form by form number, tax ID number, or date range."

It is possible to get an example of a form CM1-228 while only paying 10gp. The trick is to use a narrow date range. "Bring me any form CM1-228 filed in the last 24 hours." The librarian will look annoyed, go into the stacks, and return saying, "none have been filed in the last 24 hours." Then, the PC can say, "OK, bring me any form CM1-228 filed in the last 48 hours." The librarian will object, saying, "this is wasting my time," to which the PC can say, "I asked for one form, and you refused to do that. Fine. I'm using your rules: I'm giving you date ranges. You made the rules, now you follow them." They can't object: they're the Fraternity. If the PCs keep this up, they'll eventually end up with the most recently-filed CM1-228.

If the PCs don't pull off this trick with the date ranges, the other real option is to go to the Golden Hoard, find the tax ID number, and come back to the hall of records. In that way, the PCs can obtain a CM1-228 from the Golden Hoard, and use it in the same way.

After the PCs obtain a CM1-228, they can copy the information over from that form to their own form, substituting their own name and signature. Then, they give it to Timon. Timon says, "well, you signed this form claiming to be the casino's authorized representative. I know you don't actually work for this casino, so that's misrepresentation."

But, if the PCs got the CM1-228 from the Golden Hoard, and if Edric gave them the go-ahead, they can legitimately claim to actually be authorized. Timon is impressed.

If not, Timon says, "It's misrepresentation, but that's a civil lawsuit, and I don't have standing, so I can't call you out on it. But, if you send this upstairs, it may come back to bite you, in the form of a lawsuit. Your call. Send it up or not?"

In reality, there's no risk of a lawsuit. Nobody is going to check up on this.

Timon gives the form to the imp, Stiz, who flies it upstairs. The imp returns a few minutes later with a note. Timon says: "your appointment is in 10 minutes. Take those stairs, three stories up, go left, all the way down the hall."

Hazel Senjen, Rennick's Boss

When the PCs enter the Department of Casino Regulation, they are met by Rennick's boss: Hazel Senjen. She is a smallish human. Unlike Rennick, she's not a researcher or a statistician: she's an administrator, she coordinates the department.

She says, "You're the ones who filled out this form?" She tosses it in the circular file. "I know this casino doesn't need a certificate, so what's this about?"

At this point, the PCs can explain their mission, that they're looking for Rennick. As soon as they say this, Hazel looks at Lada, and says, "Wait - Halfling, priestess of Tymora? Are you Lada?" Lada looks surprised and agrees. Hazel says: "Good, Rennick told me that you and your friends would probably show up, he was counting on it." Now that Hazel knows who the PCs are, she trusts them and is willing to share information.

Hazel can tell the PCs the backstory of everything that led up to this moment. Her story will fill in a lot of the missing pieces. You might want to print this whole story out, and just give it to them.

Many months ago, Rennick told me that he had discovered a new technology that allowed him to predict certain random events. Rennick told me that this would be a boon for the Fraternity of Order. I don't understand the technology, I'm not a mathematician, but Rennick was very excited.

On the same day as his breaktrhough, he found a small box by his bedside, with dice on the cover. He was very suspicious of the box, but he tried to open it anyway. It wouldn't open.

a few weeks later, he came to me looking worried. He said, "I think I've made a huge mistake. This technology is too dangerous. I wish I could put the genie back in the bottle." He also wished he hadn't told so many people about it.

I said to him, "if it's so dangerous, why don't you just burn your notes?" He said, "you know the priciple of the idea whose time has come? Even if I destroy my notes, other scientists are going to rediscover it, and soon. This technology is getting out whether I like it or not. If it does, the universe is piked. I have to do something."

He kept me posted on his progress. He was sure the box had something to do with his breakthrough, so he investigated it. Through divination, he figured out the box contained the avatar of a god of randomness. He decided he really wanted to talk to this god: he was sure a god of randomness could help him fix the situation.

He also figured out why he couldn't open the box. The Lady of Pain doesn't allow other gods in the city. It was her power keeping the box sealed tight.

So, he took the box out of Sigil, and opened it. He was really disappointed: it was a deck of many things. He wanted to talk to the god, not play cards. So he did more divination, and figured out: This god is asleep, the cards are its sleeping form. He realized he couldn't get this God's help unless he woke it up first.

He said "to wake somebody up, what do you do? You agitate the ever-living shit out of them." He says, "I can use this deck to create predictable outcomes, instead of random ones, the same way a casino makes a predictable income from games of chance. That would violate this god's core priciples, using its tool, designed to dispense randomness, to create a predictable result. That should aggravate it enough to wake it up, I hope."

I said, "Are you sure you want to deal with a pissed-off god?" He said, "I have to, this is important. I have confidence, I can handle it."

He brought in a guy named Green to help implement his plan. A few months later, he was frustrated that the God wasn't waking up. "Green can agitate anyone, but it's apparently not enough." Then, he told me he had another idea, to raise this God's anxiety level further, but he refused to let me in on that part of the plan. I think he's crazy, deliberately provoking a god, but it's Rennick. When he decides to do something, he doesn't listen to advice.

About a week later, he went to Saint Parnas to catch up with Green. He comes back two or three days later, totally in a panic. He's rushing around, saying, "a guy named Crow is trying to kill me. Capture me, barely escaped. Wants to turn me into a magic item. Going into hiding." He's telling me this, and frantically filling out forms at the same time. He says, "there's people, good people, who I think are likely to show up. Lada, halfling, curly hair, Tymora priestess. Can't remember other names. Help them. I have to run!" Then, he hands me the forms, makes me sign them, and then rushes out the door. Haven't seen him since. Been, what, a week and a half?

Those forms are over here... there you go.

The story not only fills in a lot of information about the past, it also reveals some things about Rennick.

He also thinks he can handle an angry god, which tells you something about his inflated sense of self. He also isn't good at listening to advice. He can't remember the PCs' names, only Lada - he respects her, because she's a theoretical fortunologist like Rennick. But she's the only one he bothers to remember. Overall, it paints a picture of a man who is self-important.

Hazel hands the PCs the two forms that Rennick filed in a panic: XP3-907, "REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY ABSENCE DUE TO CREDIBLE THREAT TO LIFE", and COI-441, "AUTHORIZATION TO VISIT PLACE OF BUSINESS DESPITE REGULATORY CONFLICT OF INTEREST."

The "Request for Temporary Absence" is mostly just silliness. The idea that the Fraternity would have a form to request permission to go into hiding from a psychopath is deliberately ludicrous. But the "authorization to Visit Place of Business" contains a critical clue: the place of business in question is Green's Casino, the Golden Hoard.

Why would Rennick, while fleeing from Crow, want to go to casino that's closed? What could possibly be at a closed casino that would help him deal with Crow? It doesn't make sense. The form itself says: "Show producer may have information which may pertain to my safety." Why would there be a show, and a producer, at a closed casino, and how could a show's producer protect Rennick from Crow?

If the PCs haven't visited the Golden Hoard yet, it's definitely time for them to do so.

Kekele, the Survivor

Rico arrives with news: he has located a survivor who fought Crow and survived. The survivor, an aaracokra named Kekela, is willing to meet with the PCs.

Make sure the meeting with Kekele happens before the PCs visit Rennick's house. This meeting is important because it is designed to instill sufficient fear to keep the PCs from attacking Crow before they're ready, which would result in a TPK.

Kekele lives in a boarding house near the foundry. When the PCs knock on the boarding house door, the landlord answers, and when the PCs ask for Kekele, she shouts "KEKELE! YOU HAVE VISITORS!" Kekele emerges from his room, and invites the PCs up. He tells this tale:

About five years ago, I was a member of an adventuring party, along with a wizard named Chen Lifen and a rogue named Amadou.

Chen Lifen was amazing. She was an eladrin who could cast movement spells like crazy. She knew all of them - spider climb, leap, that kind of thing - and she could cast them very quickly and easily. She also had her race's natural ability to misty step. She was just exceptional.

We were all taking some time off from adventures. Chen and Amadou were making some extra money on the side working for a circus - they had a wild acrobatic routine.

After the performance, the three of us were walking away together when Crow descended from the sky and landed in front of the three of us.

Crow was wearing a black leather trench coat. Near him were three twisting knots of magical energy. They glowed faintly, you could see ribbons of energy spooling out of them and being pulled back inside. They each hovered about fifteen feet away from Crow.

Crow walked up to Chen Lifen, and spoke. "I watched your performance today. You are exceptional, you have the skills I need. You will be coming with me."

Then, one of the orbs fired a beam of something at Chen, and stunned her. Crow then levitated her, and Crow himself began rising into the air, taking his orbs and Chen with him.

Amadou and I pounced. Amadou's attack hit and drew blood, mine missed. One of the orbs hit us with a thunderwave, knocking us back. Crow landed, dropping Chen, and he said "that was unwise."

Then, one of the orbs cast a protection spell on Crow: a transparent spherical barrier. At the time, I didn't know what it was, but I did some research after the fact, and came to the conclusion that it was "Otiluke's Resilient Sphere."

After that, chaos broke out. The three orbs started raining down death. One of them was throwing fire bolts, one was throwing magic missiles and pulse waves, and the third was hitting us with psychic attacks.

It was just overwhelming, we just didn't have time to react, they were casting so fast. I was unconscious within seconds.

Later when I regained consciousness, a bystander told me what happened: Amadou and I went down, Chen was stunned, and then Crow took Chen away. Amadou was already dead, but I had enough life left in me that a somebody was able to heal me.

Chen is gone, I assume she's dead. I've heard reports that Crow has four orbs now.

Crow captured Chen Lifen, extracted her life force, and discarded her corpse. He then spent the next three years working to transmute that life force into an orb. His new orb is now capable of casting a wide variety of movement spells.

Kekele hates Crow with a passion. Chen Lifen and Amadou were his best friends, and they're both gone. Kekele wants Crow dead, and is more than happy to help anyone who plans to fight Crow.

However, Kekele is also suffering from PTSD. He is terrified of Crow, and isn't willing to go anywhere near him. He'll gladly give information, but he won't fight.

Kekele says, "I lost both of my best friends in a single day. That's the sort of thing that happens to adventurers. I can't take that again. I'm done with the adventuring life."

Rennick's House

At some point, Rico says, "I've located Rennick's house." Don't forget that Rico always charges for conversations and for research.

By this time, Rico is fond of the PCs. If the PCs say they're going to Rennick's house, Rico says:

Okay, but really, be careful. Crow might be watching Rennick's house.

Back in Saint Parnas, you guys were big fishes in a little pond. But here in the Cage, you're not in a little pond any more. There are people walking around on these streets who are archdemons in disguise. There are wizards who are famous all over the multiverse. I really doubt you guys are strong enough to fight Crow. If you go starting fights with powerful people, you're going to put yourselves in the dead book very fast. If this Rennick is so scared of Crow, then you would have to be real leatherheads to fight him unprepared.

So go and investigate if you have to, but please, keep a low profile, and get out of there fast as you can.

Rennick has an apartment is in the clerk's ward. Appendix XYZ contains a map of the building. It is a two-story building, with one apartment on the lower floor, and Rennick's apartment on the upper floor. There is an exterior staircase that leads to the entrance of Rennick's apartment.

The front door opens into the living room. There's a sofa, a few comfortable chairs, a desk, and a fireplace. The desk contains a viking helmet, which is a portal key to a portal the PCs will encounter later. The fireplace has a place to hang a pot or a roast, so it's also a bit of kitchen. Next to the fireplace is a table for food prep. There's no full-fledged kitchen.

The living room connects to a short hallway, with three doors: a bedroom, a latrine, and a closet.

The latrine is basically an indoor outhouse with a big round pipe that drops down into the sewers. There's not much to it. Rennick is not wealthy enough to afford running water, so like most people in Sigil, he fetches water from public wells in large jugs. There are a few jugs in the latrine.

The closet is one of the most jam-packed and disorganized closets ever. It serves as storage, pantry, and place for Rennick to stick things and then forget that he has them. It's not the closet you would expect from a member of the Fraternity of Order.

The bedroom is small. It contains a bed, a dresser and a wardrobe. There's nothing of any real interest in the wardrobe. The dresser, however, contains two odd items: a tin whistle, and a pair of heavy earmuffs. The tin whistle makes an unpleasant screech. The heavy earmuffs are extremely good sound deadening - while wearing them, you can't hear much of anything.

The whistle is a portal key. If you blow it while standing in front of the chaotic closet, the closet door becomes a portal to a small cavern in Pandemonium. As soon as the portal opens, the sound of Pandemonium's horrible howling wind screams out into the hallway. If you're in the hallway and not wearing the earmuffs, you take 2D6 + 4 psychic damage.

The cavern in Pandemonium is quite small - roughly, a sphere about 15 feet in diameter. There are no tunnels going anywhere. The PCs may be surprised to find a howling wind in a fully enclosed cavern - the wind just spins in a circle around the room, tornado-like.

The cavern looks nondescript. Just a hole in the endless rock of Pandemonium. In the corner of the cavern is a pile of collapsed rock. Digging through the pile reveals a small chest: Rennick's Stash. The chest is not locked. It contains 9000gp! That's most of Rennick's life savings.

The influence of Pandemonium is why Rennick can't keep his closet organized.

Crow is still searching for Rennick. So, he bugged the front door of the apartment. Attached to the front door is an invisible magic eye, looking out over the living room. Crow can peer into a scrying device and see what's going on in here. The eye can easily be detected using "detect magic". If you cast the detect magic while still outside on the stairway landing, you can detect the eye before it detects you. The eye is vision only - no sound, no smell. If a PC is invisible, the eye can't see them.

When Crow sees somebody in the living room, he immediately sets out for Rennick's house. However, Crow is not in Sigil. To get to Rennick's house, Crow will have to cross quite some distance, take a portal to Sigil, and then cross the city. It will take him a while.

It is possible to enter the building without using the front door. Rennick's bedroom has a window, which opens out onto the back of the building. The eye cannot see anyone entering this way. There is also a window in the living room, but of course, if you enter though that window, the eye can see you.

If the PCs get spotted by the eye, then let the PCs do everything they need to do inside the building, and then let them leave. When they leave, they spot five small figures in the sky, flying toward them. This is Crow, and his four orbs.

If the PCs are smart, they will run. Crow does not follow: he does not see the PCs leaving the building.

WHAT TO DO IF THE PCS CONFRONT CROW?

The Golden Hoard Casino

Rico tells the PCs that he located Green's Casino, the Golden Hoard, in the market ward. He says it is barricaded, but he thinks the PCs can probably get inside if they're determined. There is a map of the casino in appendix XYZ.

When the PCs show up, this is what they find: it's a two story building. The lower floor is considerably larger than the upper story: the upper story is a relatively small "building" on top of the main floor.

It's obvious from looking at the building that security was a priority. The building is made of cut stone. The stone is durable: it is extremely unlikely that anyone can break through the stone itself.

The casino only has one door, the main door. When the casino is open, patrons see a large pair of wooden double doors. When the casino is closed (as it is now), a big blast door is lowered in front of the wooden door. The blast door is a steel slab that fits into grooves in the stone walls, and which can be raised up by means of a huge crank with a substantial gear ratio. When the PCs arrive, the blast door is almost completely closed, but there's a gap of about two inches at the bottom: the mechanism is a little sticky, and it's stubbornly refusing to go all the way down. Looking through the gap, you can see the wooden doors, which are closed too.

Both floors have windows. The windows have a layer of glass on the inside, and steel bars on the outside. The glass is a half-inch thick, and the steel bars are about six inches apart. The glass is tough, but it can be broken with sufficient force (make it genuinely difficult). The steel bars can also be damaged with great effort (make it extremely difficult), but it's probably easier for a PC to make himself small and squeeze between them.

The bottom floor windows are painted with translucent paint to make them look like stained glass. Without the paint, the windows would look like prison windows. The paint also serves to make it difficult for the PCs to see what's going on inside.

There is one last way to break into the casino: it is hypothetically possible to climb from the sewers up into the casino latrine. It would only be possible for a very small character with a very strong stomach.

On the second floor, there are windows looking in all four directions. In each of these windows is a fixed ballista which can rotate left and right, and pivot up and down. The mechanisms of the ballistae are designed so that the ballista is always aiming between the bars. The ballistae are a deterrent that was installed when the casino discovered they had a problem with people climbing up on the roof and trying to break into the casino from the second floor. They aren't designed to hit anyone on the ground floor, they cannot.

The rooms on the main floor are: the entrance hall, the main gambling floor, the vip room, the office of the teller, the bar, the latrine, and the stairwell. The main gambling floor is quite large, and fills the majority of the space.

On the second floor is the stairwell, a hallway, and a number of administrative offices.

When Green left the casino behind in order to start his deck-of-many-things adventure, he first locked up the casino and removed all the valuables. The large pieces of furniture were left behind, as were pieces of art that were too bulky to easily remove. There is no alcohol in the bar.

Sadly, there is no treasure in the casino. But there are two things that the PCs might need: the casino tax ID number, which can help them to fill out form CM1-228, and a portal to "The Greatest Show in Ysgard."

The tax ID number is relatively easy to find: just rifle through all the desks on the second floor. Eventually you'll find some old paperwork.

The VIP room contains lushly padded chairs, cocktail tables, and its own small bar. That's all that's in there.

Over the VIP room is a sign that says: "VIP Room / Greatest Show in Ysgard". Next to the words "Greatest Show in Ysgard" is a picture of a stereotypical viking helmet, with the two horns. (Yes, I know viking helmets didn't have horns in the real world, but they do here.) If you wear a viking helmet and walk through the doorway into the VIP room, you will find yourself in Ysgard.

There are no viking helmets in the casino: the PCs will have to obtain one elsewhere. They can ask an armorer to make some, but it's probably cheaper to find somebody in the bazaar who makes and sells costumes.

Do not tell your players that this is a portal. This is a puzzle they should figure out themselves. One clue is that the VIP room is quite small, and there is no stage. There's no room in there to put on even a small show, much less the "greatest show."

Another clue is that one of the Fraternity forms said that Rennick came to the closed casino to talk to the show producer. This sign, "Greatest Show in Ysgard," is the only mention of a show in the casino. There has to be something more hidden here.

The third clue is the mention of Ysgard, combined with Rennick's instruction: "hire the mercenary from Ysgard." They should be thinking that there's a way to get to Ysgard.

If in the end, they don't figure it out, Rico can help, but it's better if they puzzle it out themselves.

Inside the casino are eight goblin squatters. They figured out some time ago that the casino was vacant, and they somehow figured out how to break in - surprisingly, they didn't break any of the windows. See appendix XYZ for the stat blocks of the eight goblins.

The Goblins' attitude depends on how they are treated. They are squatters, and they know there's a risk of getting kicked out, so they're wary of that - they don't trust anyone until they're sure it's not "the law" come to kick them out of their home. They are broadly cynical, distrustful, and wary of anyone who isn't a goblin. They also can be just plain dickish, they often mock and taunt people who are richer than them, or who they perceive as having unfair advantages - which is most people. They are definitely a pain in the ass, but they can be dealt with. They respond well to money.

They have a leader, Grylla, whom they completely trust. They follower her commands without question and when they fight, they fight as a cohesive team. Most of the goblins are of average intelligence, except Grylla, who is very smart.

If the PCs try knocking on the front door (reaching through the small gap under the blast door), the goblins ignore them. The goblins don't want any attention, due to their illegal possession of the casino. So they just hope that visitors go away.

The PCs are likely to try smashing their way inside. If they do, they trigger a fight - the goblins just assume they're under attack (they're a little hotheaded). After the smashing begins, and the fighting is triggered, it's hard to cool things back down. If the PCs try talking, the goblins will keep fighting for a round or two before they accept a truce.

Initially, the goblins are scattered about the casino. Wherever the PCs try to enter, there are two or three goblins in the immediate vicinity. The other goblins will rush to their aid.

The goblins will use intelligent tactics. They will use doorways for cover. They will leverage the ballistae if they can do so effectively. They duck around corners if doing so is helpful.

The goblins will try very hard to keep their "family members" from dying. If things look sufficiently dire for the goblins, they will surrender and plead for mercy before they allow one of their members to die.

It is likely, given the steel bars, that much of the party will be stuck outside while only the smallest character can get inside. If just one PC gets inside, the goblins will take advantage of that. They may try to overwhelm the one character and take them hostage. If the goblins succeed in taking a PC hostage, their main objective is to obtain safety, money, and to mock the PCs.

The goblins are willing to let randos explore their home, but only for a sizeable chunk of money.

Given that there are potentially dozens of ways that this encounter could go, you will have to improvise.

Overview of Skyledge

Inside the Golden Hoard, Green's Casino, is a VIP room. If you walk into the VIP room while wearing a viking helmet, the portal activates, and you find yourself in the Skyledge resort. Skyledge is a club for absurdly wealthy elites. Most of the members are elderly people who inherited their fortunes.

The entire resort is located in Ysgard. Ysgard's geology is odd: much of the plane consists of large hovering islands. Some of the islands are huge, the size of small continents. Skyledge is built on the side of a cliff at the edge of a continent. Most of the resort is technically caverns, although it doesn't look like caverns, given that it's carved in clean, rectilinear lines, lavishly furnished, and brightly lit. Many of the caverns have huge open-air balconies that allow the patrons to look out at the sky of Ysgard. Since the resort is on the side of a cliff, looking out over the railing of the balconies is vertigo-inducing: all you see below you is cliff, and below that, big sky. Hence the name of the resort, Skyledge.

The owner of Skyledge is a man named Darius Thorne. He's a tall, thin elf dressed in a pristine white suit. Actually, all the employees at Skyledge wear white suits. Thorne is wealthy beyond measure. He has an aloof mannerism. He's diligently polite.

Skyledge hosts a show which they call "The Greatest Show in Ysgard." Three teams of contestants enter an arena in which 10 "artifacts" are hidden. Contestants search for the artifacts, then deposit them in "vaults." First team to deposit four artifacts is the winner. When a team finds an artifact, there's usually a puzzle to solve to get the artifact. When teams encounter each other, they can fight for possession of the artifacts.

The Greatest Show in Ysgard is produced by a human man named Jakarta. He is flamboyant, and wears brilliantly colored outfits. He does everything for the show - set design, game design, costume design - you name it. His only concern is that the show be dramatic, entertaining, a visual spectacle, and surprising.

Somewhere inside of Skyledge is the Mercenary from Ysgard: a beholder-kin named Sasuko-y-Saso. He is a regular in the show. Rennick wanted to hire him because there's nothing better to take out a mage like Crow, than a beholder's anti-magic cone. Rennick failed to hire him. This is the reason the PCs need to be here - to get Sasuko.

The portal from Sigil to Skyledge connects the VIP room of the "Golden Hoard" casino, to the "Golden Sword" casino which is a part of Skyledge. It's a typical resort casino: a small room, with just a few tables. But it's very lavish. Everything at Skyledge is lavish.

In summary:

• Skyledge is built on a cliff-face in Ysgard.

• The owner is Darius Thorne, a man of extreme wealth.

• The Greatest Show in Ysgard is an arena puzzle/combat show.

• The show's producer is a flamboyant man named Jakarta.

• The show employs the Mercenary from Ysgard, a beholder-kin named Sasuko-y-Saso.

• The portal from Sigil connects the "Golden Hoard Casino" to the "Golden Sword Casino."

First Impressions of Skyledge

When the PCs pop into the Golden Sword casino, there are a few obviously-rich patrons, and a handful of attendants in white. One of the attendants approaches the PCs and says, "It's been ages since anyone came through the portal! Is the Golden Hoard open again?"

No matter how the PCs respond, the attendant says "well, Mr. Thorne, our owner, will be interested in talking to you. Let me bring you to him."

The attendant brings the PCs down a long corridor, one side of which has a balcony railing. The PCs can look down and see the cliff and the sky. The attendant is not in a hurry. The attendant is happy to answer general questions about Skyledge, the Show, Jakarta, and Mr. Thorne. If the PCs want to pause to look at something, the attendant is fine with that.

At one point along the corridor the balcony widens out into a full-blown open-air ampitheater. In the middle of the ampitheater, where normally there would be an arena, is instead an open-air window. About 200 feet below the window in an arena that is much larger than the ampitheater itself. The guests in the ampitheater can see the people in the arena, but it's pretty far down. In front of the ampitheater is a huge mirror, which is a scrying device that give the guests a close-up of what is happening in the arena. The attendant is happy to explain the purpose of all this: the Greatest Show in Ysgard.

If asked to explain the details of the game, the attendant says, "you should talk to Jakarta, he's the show's producer."

The attendant brings the PCs to a small sitting room, where they have to wait. Eventually they are joined by Skyledge's owner, Mr. Darius Thorne. Mr. Thorne is a tall, thin elf in a perfectly-tailored white suit. He exudes the confident demeanor of somebody who is clearly in charge.

Mr. Thorne notices that the PCs look like a bunch of weirdo freaks (PCs always look like weirdo freaks), and Mr. Thorne knows that Jarkarta loves to put weirdo freaks in the show. Thorne explains this to the PCs, as politely as he can: "You all appear to be people of unusual backgrounds and exceptional abilities. I believe Jakarta would like to meet you." He then sends an attendant to fetch Jakarta.

Negotiating with Thorne and Jakarta

The PCs can ask Thorne anything they want, Thorne willingly answers any questions. In particular, the PCs should be asking about Rennick, for the following reasons:

• The viking helmet in Rennick's desk makes it obvious Rennick has been to skyledge.

• The form COI-441 indicates that Rennick wanted to talk to the "Show's Producer," and now the PCs are aware that there's a show here, with a producer, Jakarta.

• The fact that this is all taking place in Ysgard suggests that they should be asking about the "Mercenary from Ysgard."

Asking about any of this stuff will lead the PCs to learn the following: Rennick visited just a short time ago. Rennick tried to hire Sasuko, the beholder-kin. However, Sasuko is needed for the show, and Rennick didn't have nearly enough money to make it worthwhile. Thorne turned down Rennick's offer.

If the PCs have Rennick's stash, they know how much money Rennick had: 9000gp. If that wasn't enough to hire Sasuko, then Sasuko must be very expensive indeed.

The PCs should press Mr. Thorne until they know exactly who Sasuko-y-Saso is, what he can do, and how valuable he would be for the Crow fight.

No matter what the PCs offer Thorne, Thorne will not turn over Sasuko. He explains: "Jakarta would kill me if I let Sasuko go. We need Sasuko for the show."

When the PCs are done questioning Thorne, Jakarta shows up, and says, "oh my god they're perfect." Then, he proceeds to examine each PC one by one, trying to figure out how to bedazzle them for the show. For each one, he tries to figure out how to make the outfit more extreme and more colorful. He tries to fit each character into a theme or archetype. You will have to improvise.

Whomever in the party looks most normal, Jakarta looks at with distate, and says of their outfit: "this isn't working, we'll have to come up with a more interesting theme."

Jakarta begs the PCs: "Please, please be in my show! You're perfect, you look like complete nut jobs!" (Jakarta, unlike Thorne, is not polite.) Jakarta says to Mr. Thorne: "I have to have them. Please hire them!" Mr. Thorne says to the PCs: "are you willing to participate in Jakarta's show?"

The PCs now have leverage to get the Mercenary from Ysgard: "we'll be in your show, but in exchange, we get Sasuko for one day." This is a trade Jakarta, and therefore Mr Thorne, are willing to make.

If the PCs want to do so, they can meet Sasuko before they agree to anything. Once the deal is struck, Thorne offers the PCs a room in the resort until the show. Jakarta gives them a copy of the rules, which are in an upcoming section.

Meeting Sasuko-y-Saso

The attendants bring the PCs down a long series of hallways, deep into the basement of the resort. Eventually, they come to the lair of Sasuko - a network of natural caves.

Sasuko-y-Saso is a beholder-kin: a mutated form of beholder. Sasuko is considerably weaker than a true beholder, but he does have quite a few of the same abilities.

All beholders have a deep-seated need to believe that they are the best, most perfect beholder, and Sasuko is no exception. However, is is very aware that he is weaker than your average beholder, and it is hard for him to explain how he is "most perfect" if he is weaker.

His rationalization is this: he was created weaker as a challenge, a test from the gods. His fate is to win despite the reduced magical power. He must prove his ability to win battles with only the magic he has.

Of course, this philosophy has led him to a life where he constantly seeks to test himself in battle against miscellaneous opponents. Thorne and Jakarta have provided him with the perfect opportunity: a battle arena with an endless supply of contestants.

When the PCs enter Sasuko's lair, Sasuko emerges and says "what do you want." He is a beholder of few words. He gives short answers, and quickly agrees to fight Crow, if Thorne will allow it. He does not willing answer many questions, except about his abilities.

Sasuko-y-Saso

AC18 (natural armor)
HP: 90
Speed: Fly 20ft
Stats: Str 10 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 18 (+4), Int 18 (+4), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 16 (+3)
Saves: Str +2, Dex +5, Con +4, Int +9, Wis +7, Cha +8

Sasuko gets two actions per turn, and can also aim his antimagic cone (no action cost for aiming cone).

Antimagic Cone: Central eye creates a 60-foot cone of antimagic, with a 45-degree arc. At the end of each of his turns, the beholder-kin decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active. The antimagic cone will also neutralize sasukos's own eye rays.

Action: Bite: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 2d6 + 2 piercing damage.

Action: Eye ray: Roll randomly to decide which ray (use D6). Sasuko cannot fire same eye twice in one turn (reroll as necessary). After randomly choosing a ray, you can intelligently choose who or what to target with the ray. Range is 90ft.

1. Telekinetic Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be moved up to 30 feet in any direction. The beholder-kin can also target an object weighing up to 300 pounds that isn't being worn or carried.

2. Slow Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or have its speed halved and disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

3. Necrosis Ray. The target must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 4d8 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. Until the end of the beholder-kin's next turn, the target can't regain hit points.

4. Blinding Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be blinded for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

5. Lightning Ray. The target must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d10 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.

6. Marking Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Charisma saving throw or glow with dim light. Effect as "faerie fire."

Game of Artifacts Rules

These are the rules of the game of artifacts.

There are ten artifacts in the arena. There are three teams competing to find these artifacts. When a team finds an artifact, they must then deposit it in a vault. There are three vaults, one may deposit any artifact into any vault.

The victory condition is simple: when your team deposits its fourth artifact into a vault, your team wins.

Artifacts Rules: Self-Restraint

Force and fighting are a part of the game, but good sportsmanship and self-restraint are required.

If two teams come face-to-face and one of them possesses an artifact, then the two teams may fight for possession of the artifact. Either team may use deadly force.

If neither team possesses an artifact, then force may not be used. No fighting. You may not cast spells on each other unless the other gives permission.

If you are dangerously close to death, shout, "I'm down!" Once you do, nobody may use force against you. You must stop fighting. You must fall to your hands and knees (or otherwise lower yourself) as soon as you are physically able, to emphasize that you are down. The only things you are allowed to do when down are heal yourself, receive healing, crawl to safety, and evade or block stray attacks. Even if healed, you may not reenter the fight.

You cannot carry an artifact while down. Shouting "I'm down" while carrying an artifact will cause the artifact to fall from your grip, with all that entails.

After the fight ends, anyone who is down can get back up and rejoin their team. They are no longer down.

Using excessive violence is strongly penalized. In particular:

• Fighting when no artifact is at stake

• Attacking somebody who is down

• Fighting when you're supposedly down

Penalties include debuffs, time-outs, teleportation, or in the worst cases, disqualification.

The arena may contain monsters. You may always use violence against monsters. Monsters can be distinguished from opponents by the lack of clothing: players always have clothing or armor or both. You may not strip completely naked to make yourself look like a monster.

You may use violence against inanimate objects in the arena. You may break down doors, smash chests, topple buildings, and in general reshape the arena as you please.

Artifacts Rules: Teleportation

Teleportation is when your entire team is teleported to a random location in the arena. All team members are teleported, even if your team is scattered prior to teleportation. All team members arrive at the destination together. Teams are always teleported to a reasonably safe location.

When your team is teleported, all artifacts that your team is carrying are left behind. Such artifacts fall to the ground. Teleportation always results in the loss of all artifacts carried by the team!

The following conditions will trigger teleportation:

• If any team member loses their grip on an artifact.

• If any team member loses consciousness or appears to be dying.

• If a team member carrying an artifact shouts, "I'm down!"

• If any team member shouts, "teleport us!"

In addition, illegal use of violence may be punished by teleportation, at the referee's discretion.

Artifacts Rules: Grip

After you pick up an artifact, you must maintain your grip. If you ever lose your grip, your entire team will teleport, and all artifacts will be dropped. It is not possible to pass an artifact to a different teammate.

To deposit an artifact into a vault, lower it into a vault, then let go. When you let go, you will teleport. But the artifact will drop the rest of the way into the vault, and be counted toward your score.

There is no limit on the number of artifacts you may carry at a time. However, carrying multiple relics is very risky, if something forces you to teleport, you will drop all the artifacts.

Carriers must hold artifacts with one of the following:

• Hands.
• Feet.
• Mouth.
• Big Nose.
• Tentacles.
• Prehensile Tail.

Special dispensation may be made for contestants who do not have any of these.

You may move an artifact from your left hand to your right, or otherwise shift your grip. You must maintain a grip at all times, though.

Artifacts Rules: Dying

If it appears that one of your team members is dying, our referees will take it upon themselves to heal that team member before it is too late. If they do, an artifact will be taken from your team. To avoid this outcome, make sure to heal your team members promptly before they reach dire circumstances.

This arena is located underneath Valhalla. As such, Valhallan rules apply: if you die on the field of battle, fighting with honor, courage, and determination, you will be resurrected at the end of the battle. However, such resurrection comes at a cost, imposed by the Norse gods, not by our organization. This is beyond our control. Avoid death.

Artifacts Rules: Communication

Communication between players is explicitly allowed. You may taunt, persuade, negotiate, deceive, seduce, confuse, or in general, say or communicate anything you want to your teammates and opponents.

You may use magic or strange methods to communicate. For example, you can use translation spells, long-distance communication spells, psionic telepathy, or interpretive dance.

If your communication does more than just communicate, for example, if it charms, ensorcels, or does psychic damage, then it is counted as "force", not communication.

Offering money or out-of-game favors in exchange for advantage in the game is disallowed.

Artifacts Rules: Losing Artifacts from Vaults

For the most part, once an artifact has been deposited in a vault, that artifact is scored for your team permanently.

However, if you commit a very severe act of bad sportsmanship or excessive violence, you may lose an artifact from a vault. If you allow one of your team members to reach the brink of death, so that they need to be rescued by the referees, that too will cost you an artifact from a vault.

Artifacts removed from vaults will be re-hidden within the arena.

Artifacts Rules: Brownie Points

If you do something that shows exceptional style or panache, something that dazzles the audience, you get brownie points.

If you get enough brownie points, a brownie will be sent into the arena to assist you. You will very likely never see them, but you will often find that one of the following things has occurred:

• Your wounds are healed

• You have been magically strengthened

• You hear a whispered hint about an artifact

Please do not attack the brownies.

Artifacts Rules: Boring Behavior

If any team uses a tactic that causes the game to bog down, we reserve the right to undermine that tactic. Remember, this is a show for the entertainment of guests.

Artifacts Rules: The Ten Artifacts

All artifacts are staves, which adjust to the height of the person carrying them. Each has a powerful defensive spell. Staves have written summaries right on them.

• Protection from Energies You have resistance to acid, cold, fire, lightning, and thunder.

• Fire Shield When somebody hits you with a melee attack, they take 3D8 fire damage.

• Stoneskin You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing.

• Blinking Every round, as a bonus action, you can teleport up to 20 feet.

• Counterspell As a reaction, you may block any spell of 2nd level or lower.

• Invisibility You are invisible while you carry this staff, to all nonmagical forms of sight.

• Haste Your speed is tripled, you gain a +4 bonus to AC, you gain +4 bonus to DEX saving throws.

• Healing Every round, at the start of your turn, you gain 8 hit points, and your teammates all gain 4.

• All-Seeing You can see everything in a 500 foot radius, even if your line of sight is blocked, even if the thing is invisible. This does not allow you to see underground.

• Gigantism Your size and height are tripled. You gain temporary hit points equal to your max hit points. Your damage with strength based attacks is doubled. Your movement speed is doubled. Temporary hit points return after 1 minute of no combat.

Artifacts are enchanted to be resistant to most spells. That includes spells like "locate object."

Starting the Game

The PCs are housed in a room in the resort. Attendants take care of anything they need. They can get laundry services, good food, they can visit entertainment, and the like.

It's fun to invent a guest or two to talk to the PCs. Give them a chance to interact with the people from the resort. Invent a few stories about previous episodes of the Game of Artifacts. Let the PCs make some friends and have a little fun.

Whenever you're ready, it's time to play the game. Only the actual PCs are selected to play: NPCs like Lada and Pig must be left to watch from the ampitheater.

The PCs are taken to a ledge about eighty feet above the arena. From there, they can see the whole arena stretched out before them. They can also see two other ledges, with two other teams.

The attendants tell the PCs to smile and wave. After a few minutes, an attendant casts feather fall on the PCs, and then tells them to jump. A moment later, the PCs land in the arena and the game is on.

The Arena