Logos Location #12: Berresford’s Ruined Tower

Based on original cartography by Dyson Logos; source

Introduction and Background

Thanks to Dyson Logos' generosity, he has made a large number of his high quality maps available for use. I have decided (with his approval) to incorporate these into locations within Mystara. This is a B/X D&D adventure for a party of  characters of levels 2-4 set in Norwold. It is a place that the PCs may look for after finding clues in the Ruined Arvorian Outpost, particularly if they rescue Berresford.   

This tower was built on a rocky outcrop on the west bank of a small river (too small to show on the campaign map) by early Alphatian settlers as a military outpost called Ironspire Tower, keeping an eye on creatures threatening the settlements on the shores of the Great Bay of Norwold. About 40 years ago (961 AC) the Alphatians were exploring around the area when they stumbled on a lair of Arvorians (perhaps Iseldek’s Drop?) and a battle ensued. The Alphatians retreated back to this tower, but the Arvorians followed them. All the Alphatians were slain and the Arvorians adopted it as their own, placing a squad of their junior members there and also recruiting local humanoids to bolster their forces.   

About a month ago a human trapper called Berresford rediscovered this tower that had been forgotten about. Thanks to great luck and skill he sneaked into the ground floor and found an amulet with a glowing gemstone inside, and then fled before the inhabitants could catch him. On his way back to Barathmir  he encountered a hunting party of the Alvini pack of lupins and mentioned the tower and the gemstone. He also encountered a wandering trader called Maevig Trostober, and he sold the amulet with the gemstone to her, with the promise he would find more from where that came from. Unfortunately this time the inhabitants of the tower were more alert: Berresford was captured and taken to the Ruined Arvorian Outpost for further interrogation where he is currently held until the PCs rescue him. 

Based on original cartography by Dyson Logos; source

As usual commonly used monster stat blocks are given at the end of the dungeon room descriptions. 

Ground Floor

1) 4 shield orcs + 3 crossbow orcs stand guard here, under orders to attack any non-orc, non-arvorian creatures that try to enter. The crossbows are already loaded so the crossbow orcs will shoot first then close in for melee. 

2) 5 shield orcs + 1 orc veteran warrior guard the stairwell. 

Orc Veteran Warrior: AC 5, Mv 90ft, HD 2 (10hp), THAC0 18, Att 1 battleaxe for 1d8+1, Save F2, Ml 8, Align C, 20 XP, equipment: Chain mail, Battleaxe, 25gp, 33sp

Upper Floor

3) This room has the stairwell going down as well as a round table with 7 stools. There are 4 crossbow orcs here, all with light crossbows, 10 quarrels and shortswords. The crossbows are already loaded so the orcs will try to shoot them before closing for melee with shortswords. 

4) This room has an orc subchief here with 2 shield orcs as henchmen. He is the leader of all the orcs in this building though he still answers to the Arvorians. This room also has a table with two large benches, as well as barrels of foodstuffs here. On the north wall is a ladder leading up to the top floor. Under the subchief’s bed there is a leather sack containing the orcs treasure: 1200sp, 400gp and 4 aquamarine gems worth 100gp each. 

Orc Subchief: AC 5, Mv 90ft, HD 3 (15hp) THAC0 16, Att 1 Sword +1 for 1d8+2, Save F3, Ml 10, Align C, 35 XP, equipment: Sword +1, Chain mail, dagger   

Top Floor

5) This is the observation post of the tower, with battlements around the walls and a flimsy wooden roof overhead that only keeps some of the rain and snow off. There are 6 crossbow orcs with light crossbows, 10 quarrels and hand axes. The crossbows are already loaded so the orcs will try to shoot them before closing for melee with hand axes.

6) This area has battlements along the wall and is open to the sky. There are no monsters here although a giant hawk has been known to roam the area, picking prey off when clearly above the trees. 

Based on original cartography by Dyson Logos; source

Upper Dungeon

7) Here are 7 skeletons, all with hand weapons. They have been instructed to kill any humans, elves or lupins. This means they will initially ignore any dwarves, halflings and gnomes though if attacked they will retaliate. 

8) 4 skeletons stand guard here with an Arvorian Junior Priest (Eldritch Crusader 3rd level) who commands them and the skeletons in room 7. She will command the skeletons to attack any intruders - she has encountered Berresford and other humans and decided she doesn’t like them. She is second in command here, answering only to the Arvorian leader in #14

Junior Priest: AC 3, Mv 60ft, HD C3 (12 hp), THAC0 18, Att 1 mace for 1d6+1 or by spell, Save C3, Ml 9, Align C, 50 XP, equipment: Banded armour, shield, mace, unholy symbol, amulet of undead command, 30gp, 15pp, Spells: Cure Light Wounds, Darkness

9) Stairs down to the lower dungeon. This is guarded by 2 zombie wolves, commanded by the Arvorian in room 8. 
Zombie Wolf: AC 6, Mv 90ft, HD 3+2 (hp 17, 14), THAC0 16, Att 1 bite for 1d6+1, Save F2, Ml 12, Align C, 50 XP, Spec Quality: undead - immune to poison, disease & mind-affecting spells, turned by clerics as ghouls. 

10) The Armoury. This has no creatures but boxes and barrels of supplies including shields, crossbows, hand axes and leather armour for orcs, and maces and scale mail for the Arvorians. 

Lower Dungeon

11) 4 Arvorian Acolytes (Eldritch Crusader 1st level) who will attack any strangers

12) Empty apart from beds for Arvorians

13) 3 Arvorian Acolytes (Eldritch Crusader 1st level) + 2 giant shrew the Arvorians have trained as a pet. The arvorians know about the secret door to #15 but are unlikely to use it. 
Giant Shrew: AC 4, Mv 180ft, HD 1, hp 3, 7, THAC0 19, Att 2 bites for 1d6/1d6, Save F1, Ml 10, Align N, 10 XP. Giant shrews get +1 to initiative rolls. 

14) Arvorian Leaders Quarters. An Arvorian Eldritch Crusader (4th level) dwells here and he commands all the Arvorians and orcs in the ruined tower. As well as his bed and a chest of clothes there is a table with a drawer. Inside are 400gp, 320pp, a peridot gem worth 400gp and a trio of small (coin-sized) softly glowing green crystals  that are actually eldritch crystals (no fixed monetary value but desired by the Arvorians). There is also a crude map that shows the location of this and several other Arvorian bases in the northern Great Bay area, including the ruined Arvorian Outpost and Iseldek's Drop. 

Arvorian Leader: AC 3, Mv 60ft, HD C4, 14 hp, THAC0 17, Att 1 Mace +1 for 1d6+1 or by spell, Save C4, Ml 10, Align C, 125 XP, equipment: banded armour, shield, Mace +1, unholy symbol, Spells: Hold Person, Cure Light Wounds, Darkness

15) Secret Compartment sits between two secret doors, one leading to #13, the other to #16. 

16) Empty apart from some fungi and mushrooms though the toads (16a) may occasionally climb out of the water here. 

16a) 2 giant toads lurk in this pool. If they fail a morale check they will try to swim along the submerged passage (#17) to escape. 

Giant Toad: AC 7, Mv 90ft/Swim 90ft, HD 2+2, hp 7, 10, THAC0 17, Att 1 tongue (see below) or 1 bite for 1d4+1, Save F1, Ml 6, Align N, 25 XP

Spec ability: tongue: 15ft range, no damage but drags small-sized target to toad for automatic bite Swallow small targets whole on natural 20, causing 1d6 damage per round

The submerged section: Areas 17, 18 & 19 are entirely submerged with no air to breathe. Navigating this without drowning will probably take magical aid. The Arvorians have left this section alone as two of their members have drowned trying to explore these places. It is quite understandable if PCs also completely leave this part of the dungeon alone, particularly if they realise the very real risk of drowning while fighting underwater and in the dark. The length completely underwater from 16a (the toad pool) to 20 (the watery cave with the crayfish) is about 170ft and in complete darkness.  And there is no telling if anyone trying to swim this length will take a wrong turn and end up face to face with an aquatic ghoul while running out of oxygen….

17) The submerged passage. The water goes all the way up to the ceiling. 

18) Lair of the Lacedon. A single aquatic ghoul dwells here. It feeds mostly on creatures in the river. The Arvorians are aware a ghoul is sometimes seen in the river at night but do not realise it has made its lair here. 

Ghoul: AC 6, Mv 90ft/Swim 90ft, HD 2*, 10 hp, THAC0 18, Att 2 claws/1 bite for 1d3/1d3/1d3 + paralysis, Save F2, Ml 12, Align C, 25 XP. Paralysis: each hit requires the target to save vs paralysis or be paralysed for 2d4 turns

19) More submerged passage. No fixed encounters here though the lacedon (#18) and giant toads (#16a) occasionally pass through here.

20) The watery cave: 1 giant crayfish (borrowed from AD&D) lurks here, feeding on any creatures that wander into the cave from the river. In the water there is a sunken rowing boat that still holds the skeletons of 2 humans who tried to escape when the Arvorians attacked. They tried to make off with 3500sp & 430gp but didn't get far. The loose coins are now scattered over the waterlogged boat wreck. The southern end connects to #19 the submerged passage.  
Giant Crayfish: AC 4, Mv 60ft/Swim 180ft, HD 4+4, 20hp, THAC0 15, Att 2 claws for 2d6/2d6, Save F2, Ml 10, Align N, 125 XP

21) 5 stirges roost here among the bones of various creatures. Scattered among the bones are some incidental treasure: 250sp, 33gp and a non-magical ring of silver and clear quartz worth 100gp

Stirge: AC 7, Mv 30ft/Fly 150ft, HD 1*, hp 5, 4, 3, 6, 2, THAC0 17 first attack, 19 thereafter, Att 1 proboscis for 1d3+ drain (automatic 1d3 damage per round thereafter), Save F1, Ml 9, Align N, 13 XP

22) Cave Mouth: This opens up on the river bank underneath the surface tower as noted on the ground floor map. 

Commonly used monster stat blocks

Arvorian Acolyte: AC 5, Mv 90ft HD C1, 4 hp each, THAC0 19, Att 1 mace for 1d6, Save C1, Ml 8, Align C, 10 XP, equipment: Scale mail, shield, mace, 20sp 

Shield Orc: AC 6, HD 1, Mv 90ft, HD 1, hp 5 each, THAC0 19, Att 1 hand axe for 1d6, Save F1, Ml 7, Align C, 10 XP, equipment: leather armour, shield, hand axe, 10sp 

Crossbow Orc: AC 7, Mv 90ft, HD 1, hp 4 each, THAC0 19, Att 1 crossbow bolt (range 80/160/240) for 1d6 or hand axe (melee) for 1d6, Save F1, Ml 7, Align C, 10 XP, equipment: leather armour, light crossbow, 10 bolts, hand axe, 10sp

Skeleton: AC 7, Mv 60ft, HD 1, hp 5 each, THAC0 19, Att 1 weapon for 1d6, Save F1, Ml 12, Align C, 10 XP, undead (immune to sleep, charm & mind affecting spells, immune to poison & disease)

Beyond this adventure

Although intended as a side-quest in case PCs follow up on Berresford’s account of where he found the eldritch crystal, this could be part of a longer chain of scenarios. The most obvious pointer for further adventures is the map found in the table of the Arvorian Leader in room #14. This map is loosely based on this one but not nearly as detailed. As well as the locations mentioned, the map could also indicate where to find more Arvorian bases created by the DM, or, if the adventurers are more interested in money, where treasure troves may be found.