Game level description
Under Dyrmedon city lies a series of catacombs, used for countless generations to house the city’s dead. Different sections of the catacombs include heavily guarded rooms filled with the decomposing (but richly ornamented), well-to-do dead, and forgotten rooms heaped high with the poor or suicidal.Walls are lined with grinning skulls, and some card has used skeletal hands to point to different rooms. Roofus and Meadra must enter the catacombs from the Dyrmedon cemetery. A wooden sign on the gate reads, “Forbidden!” Hash cuts around the edges of the sign – made to look like normal weathering to the uninitiated – marks this as the lair of Eidolon.
Meadra: “The rogue has chosen to hide in these catacombs. Either he is very smart and very brave, or he is a fool with more hubris than sense. See these marks? This is the lair of Eidolon, a powerful user of magicks. We must go carefully: Eidolon makes sport of souls.”
They pick the lock on the gate and enter the catacombs, the light from above quickly fading. Torches are mounted on the walls, but the further they go, the fewer there are, leaving great stretches of the tunnels in near-total darkness. They encounter a catacite, a soldier who guards the bodies (and jewels) of the dead. He is fearless and heavily armed, but he’s been left with the dead for a reason: he’s easily outwitted. Behind him on the wall is a glowlamp (a glowworm sealed in a glass ball, hanging from a chain). Having this would make travel through the catacombs a great deal easier and safer. Meadra offers him compensation for the lamp. The catacite counteroffers to kill them both quickly. Negotiations result in this: if they complete a task the catacite’s been fretting over, he’ll let them live and give them the lamp.
Roofus* can choose to fight instead, but performing the task will yield experience points. Plus, if they refrain from killing the catacite, he’ll tell them a secret: the glowlamp follows commands. “Brighten!” causes it to glow like the sun, temporarily blinding enemies but burning itself out quickly. “Extinguish!” puts it out completely; “illuminate” brings it back. It can be extinguished and relit indefinitely. “Explode!” turns the lamp into a bomb – it can be triggered even from a considerable distance.
They pass the section of Dyrmedon’s A-list dead. Grave robbers, picking over fresh bodies, fear Roofus will want a share of the plunder, and they pick a fight. The ensuing melee gets the attention of some guards. Victory does indeed mean the spoils: there are some valuable gems and magic objects here.
Even deeper into the catacombs, and there is no trace of the rogue – only vague footprints in the dust. The bodies here are older and more decomposed, except for those of guards, would-be robbers and the innocently lost who occasionally litter the path. One body clutches a leather pouch containing runes carved on knuckle bones; casting the runes gives the bearer power over the animate dead.
Another turning in the catacombs brings them to a giant, underground cathedral. Stalactites hundreds of feet long hang nearly to the ground. There is the sound of dripping water. Suddenly a congregation of giant chancel bats swoops down and surrounds them. Their leader, an enormous, heavily armored bat named Hollowtail, steps forward.
Hollowtail: “The rogue you seek is our captive. To retake what has been stolen from you, you must defeat the ancient evil whose withered wing he sought shelter under. Eidolon’s stench has crept even to our Cathedral, and he has desecrated the holiest place of all – the Genus Passage. The passage leads directly to the surface, so steep only those with wings can use it. Aeons ago, the First Ones discovered the passage and at the end of it, the Cathedral. This place, where the First Ones founded our colony, is sacred to the chancel bats. Eidolon used his dark magicks to seal the Passage, making the bats more vulnerable – with only one way in and out – and himself less so. Killing him would destroy the seal. But he has surrounded himself with the vengeful dead, and you must fight through them to get to him. In this cavern are tools and knowledge that can help you.”
One important piece is the chameleon spell which disguises the caster by making him resemble those around him. It has a fairly long duration, but it will be undone by any act of violence. It’s a good way to approach Eidolon undetected, but Roofus must be within killing distance before drawing a weapon, or Eidolon’s dead will have time to rally around their leader and protect him. The spell belongs to the gypsy hermit who lives in one of the upper chambers of the cathedral. If Roofus stole some gems from the dead rich, this would be a good time to spend them.
In another part of the Cathedral is the path to Eidolon’s lair, but the way is guarded. If Roofus has the pouch with the runes, casting them will force the guard to reveal a crucial secret: once weakened, Eidolon becomes vulnerable to light. Causing the glowworm lamp to brighten or explode will kill him – provided he’s at half-strength or weaker. Too soon, and the light will only annoy.
Once the guard is defeated, they continue to Eidolon’s lair. Eidolon himself is an ancient, withered bat. He’s gone white from centuries underground, and his eyes and ears are huge – escaping detection takes enormous stealth, spell or no. Once Roofus and Meadra draw their weapons, they must work quickly to reduce Eidolon’s strength. His army will be alerted and will join in, but hopefully the thieves can destroy Eidolon before the dead overwhelm them. Once Eidolon is gone, Hollowtail shows up to reward them. Roofus can let the rogue join them or he can kill him. In gratitude, the bats carry the thieves to the surface through the newly re-opened Genus Passage.
***
*Despite his job, the catacite is terribly afraid of dead bodies. Unfortunately, one of the bodies is the older brother of the Captain of the Mors Guard, the catacite’s boss. The dead brother, Gutrin, was a complete thug – the living one, Baspit, still is. Baspit wants the ring that bears the family crest (a wild boar gutting an infant prince with its tusk), but the ring is on the shrinking finger of Gutrin. Getting the ring involves sneaking past the guards of the family tomb, or failing that, fighting them. Even worse, it involves pulling the ring free from the literal death-grip Gutrin has on it. The task is dangerous and unpleasant, but there are experience points to be had. Also, Gutrin’s dead hands are crossed over a sword that is worth a great deal of gold.
*Despite his job, the catacite is terribly afraid of dead bodies. Unfortunately, one of the bodies is the older brother of the Captain of the Mors Guard, the catacite’s boss. The dead brother, Gutrin, was a complete thug – the living one, Baspit, still is. Baspit wants the ring that bears the family crest (a wild boar gutting an infant prince with its tusk), but the ring is on the shrinking finger of Gutrin. Getting the ring involves sneaking past the guards of the family tomb, or failing that, fighting them. Even worse, it involves pulling the ring free from the literal death-grip Gutrin has on it. The task is dangerous and unpleasant, but there are experience points to be had. Also, Gutrin’s dead hands are crossed over a sword that is worth a great deal of gold.
Sample dialog
Roofus: Your remaining breaths can be counted on one hand, traitor. I wouldn’t waste them on lies.Meadra: Roofus, listen to me: the Thieves’ feast tonight – your feast, to celebrate your induction – it’s a set-up. Nicholas knew I was privy to a secret that could bring down the King, and so he betrayed us. Even now the King’s men are surrounding The Beef and Bawd, ready to make gallows meat of us all.
Roofus: If this is true, why didn’t you tell us? Why kill Nicholas alone, in secret?
Meadra: There was no one in the Guild I could trust.
Roofus: You’ve trusted me with your life a hundred times, quest after quest. Why lose faith with me now?
Meadra: One life is a trifling thing, Roofus.
Roofus: If there’s no one in the Guild you can trust, why save our useless hides?
Meadra: The Thieves’ Guild is the only remaining defense against the ambitions of the King. Useless though we may be, we are yet a reminder that some are not so easily crushed beneath his boot.
Roofus: What is this secret you carry?
Meadra: That I cannot share with you. Trust me now or kill me; the rest is not mine to tell.
Branch One: Meadra lives
Roofus: The proof of your trustworthiness is leaking from Nicholas’s gut and onto my shoes, Meadra.
Meadra: I can tell you this much: the King will never be content with Dyrmedon and the silt-lands to the south. He will devour each canton until he reaches the Borderlands of Lathe, and when he starts a war with the Lathen, thousands will die. The Thieves are weak and untrained, but we have skills no warrior possesses. Even a small cut can let the poison in.
Roofus: Where is this hero who will unite the Thieves and challenge a King?
Meadra: I had meant the job for myself, but now I see a better choice: you.
Roofus: I’ll remember this when I’m hanging like ripe fruit from the gallows, Meadra. Keep your secrets for now, but when the time comes, you’ll yield them or die. Let’s go.
Branch two: Meadra dies
Roofus: That is a poor choice to offer, Meadra, since clearly you are not a thief to be trusted.
[kills her]
However, you knew something important enough to kill and die for. I have no love for this soft-handed, soft-headed King of ours. I’ll save the thieves from Nicholas’s treachery, and when in gratitude they’ve made me their leader, I will lead them – against the King!
