Descent into Avernus Homebrew #3: Camp Knucklebone and the Yugoloth Camp

This is continuing the short series about some of the material I have come up with to make the published adventure Descent into Avernus: Baldur’s Gate run more smoothly.  The adventure as published is good but there are significant gaps that I feel need filling in. 

My map of Camp Knucklebone

Camp Knucklebone

One important missing item is a map of Camp Knucklebone. This is a camp in Avernus run by a night hag called Mad Maggie, who oversees a band of redcaps with a pair of kenku and a few imps. The camp and what goes on there is given decent explanation in the book but crucially there is no map, so I have decided to fix this.

I’m sure others have done neater, more professional maps than this: this was not done with this blog in mind but purely for my players who I DM for. Nonetheless it has the basics, including 

• A) Forge Wagon: This is where smithing is carried out by the redcaps and kenku. It has a trailer with a portable forge, while to one side of the wagon are a pair of anvils. Inside are various blacksmithing and metal-casting tools. 
• B) Maggie’s Wagon: This large gypsy-style covered wagon is her home and includes various books, potions, wardrobes and other personal belongings. It is motorised rather than drawn by animals. Mickey the Flesh Golem can often be found guarding this wagon, making sure that nobody else enters. 
• C) Watch Tower: typically manned by a pair of redcaps
• D) Gatehouse manned by 6 redcaps
• E) Maggie’s Happymobile, a customised Scavenger vehicle. 
• F) Infernal War Machine: There are several of these around the camp, all of them Scavengers.  
• G) Hospitality Wagon. This is where the PCs can stay. Enough visitors end up in Camp Knucklebone that it is sensible to have a wagon spare. It is quite spartan but has 6 human-sized bunks and 2 closets.  
• I) Kenku Wagon: This is where the two kenku Chukka and Clonk live. It is full of shiny and curious odds and ends the kenkus have collected. 
• J) Redcap oversized trikes. These are Devils Ride infernal war machines used by the redcaps. 
• K) Workshop Wagon: Along with the forge wagon (A) this is where much of the mechanical work takes place. 

The Yugoloth Camp

This is a short side-trek I threw together to give the PCs something to do at Camp Knucklebone. Mad Maggie, the night hag who runs Camp Knucklebone has agreed to help restore the memories of Lulu the hollyphant. I decided that as well as the ritual described in the adventure with its dream sequences, a potion of mind restoration was needed, to be brewed by Maggie and drunk by Lulu. Lulu lost her memory after being dowsed with water from the Styx, which washes away memories of all who drink or bathe in it, except for a few select creatures that have adapted to thrive in the Styx. One species that can swim in the Styx while retaining their memories are the Hydroloth - frog-like yugoloths. Maggie would like the brain of one of them to brew into this potion of mind restoration. However, they are very tough (for 7th level PCs) and I don't have the sourcebook for them (Mordenkainen's Book of Foes). So I decided that this one was already dead. But its compatriots were still alive and angry. 

Thus the Yugoloth camp is found on the banks of the Styx, a few hours drive from Camp Knucklebone. Incidentally I decided that this is when the PCs, travelling on a borrowed Scavenger war machine encountered Raggadragga the wereboar warlord and his motorised retinue. (the PCs managed to deter his band by casting Darkness on the cockpits of the pursuing vehicles). 

The camp has recently been attacked and overwhelmed by the forces of Hell.  When the PCs reach the camp, it is obvious that a battle has taken place - there are fiendish corpses littering the ground around a rough barricade of scrap iron right next to the river. One war machine is completely destroyed, while two more have crashed into the barricade. Significant encounters are indicated on the map above.

a) 2 mezzoloths, paranoid and battle crazed, attack anything not a yugoloth

b) the dead hydroloth the PCs are seeking is actually outside the barricade - it was trying to escape into the river Styx when it was cut down. Fortunately its brain case is intact, and it is a simple if sickening matter to cut its head open and remove the brain, or just take the whole head back

c) This Tormetor, an infernal war machine larger than the scavenger, was abandoned by the forces of Hell. A slain barbed devil is still slumped in the drivers seat, its head on the ground next to the vehicle. The machine is not working at the moment but it can easily be towed back to Camp Knucklebone to be repaired back to full function (which is what my PCs did). 

d) A dead nycaloth is fallen here. It carries a satchel that includes instructions from its Arcanaloth superiors and a collection of gems worth 2000gp. 

I admit there is really only one combat encounter here (the two mezzoloths) but more could be added as needed. And of course travelling to and from this camp will have its own risk of encounters (such as Raggadragga). 

The Troupe in Yellow

 

Art by Nottsuo, source

This post has been inspired by R W Chambers' story, The King in Yellow, which involves a fictional book that causes obsession and insanity in those who read it. This is my attempt to bring that idea into Mystara. 

The Troupe

Wandering around the Known World, particularly Darokin, Karameikos, Ierendi and Thyatis, there is a troupe of theatrical performers dressed in predominantly yellow costumes who call themselves the Troupe in Yellow. Although they are capable of a wide repertoire of performances, they do have one special performance, a play called The King in Yellow, that they only put on before they leave town. Those who watch the play are never the same again, and the Troupe in Yellow will pack up and leave before the authorities realise what has happened. 

The play is not just a performance - it is an incantation that places a most malevolent charm on those who watch it. Those of Lawful and Neutral alignment will suffer terrible fears and nightmares and will often go mad (save vs Spells to avoid insanity). Those of Chaotic alignment wil become fascinated, obssessed even, with the play, its characters and its meaning. They want to know more about the King in Yellow and get to know him, even serve him if they can (save vs spells, but this time to avoid a compulsion similar to a Geas spell). Thus the seeds of a cult of Chaos are planted every time the Troupe in Yellow performs this fiendish play. 

The Troupe in Yellow is currently 20 strong, with 5 performers and various followers assisting behind the scenes (what would today be called road crew). They travel in five caravans drawn by horses of bad temperment - the villagers who are visited quickly learn to leave the horses alone. The senior members are:

• Valderion: human male, 14th level cleric, align Chaotic
  Str 10, Int 16, Wis 17, Dex 10, Con 14, Cha 16
  Valderion is tall, handsome, mysterious and clearly the leader of the troupe. Though usually dead calm, there are moments when provoked when he turns into a raging maniac. 
• Camilla: human female, 11th level cleric, align Chaotic
  Str 11, Int 14, Wis 18, Dex 12, Con 10, Cha 17
  Camilla is Valderion's consort and also  the chief scribe: when not performing or practicing, she is carefully making copies of the book to pass onto willing disciples. She genuinely believes she is actually the reincarnation of the character she plays. 
• Cassilda: human female, 10th level fighter, align Chaotic
  Str 16, Int 14, Wis 12, Dex 15, Con 14, Cha 15
  Cassilda is young, blonde and apparently naive, but is actually a master manipulator and deceiver, as well as being lethal in a sword fight. 
• Castaigne: human male, 12th level mage, align Chaotic
  Str 12, Int 16, Wis 12, Dex 10, Con 15, Cha 14
  Castaigne is Valderion's understudy and personal assistant. He has various strange delusions that he usually keeps hidden from even the other performers, but he believes he is next in line to the Empire of Thyatis. 
• Mr Wilde: Male Gnome, 8th level Trickster, align Chaotic
  Str 10, Int 18, Wis 14, Dex 16, Con 13, Cha 6
  An ugly and malformed gnome, Mr Wilde is in charge of the road crew. He keeps an angry black cat that seems to attack everyone (including Mr Wilde). 

These senior members all act their parts on stage, and during the final performance of their stay it is Valderion who takes the role of the King in Yellow and thus is key to the malevolent sorcery that the performance conjures. The crew behind the stage are all capable at handling themselves (all minimum of 4th level, various character classes and races) and are all willing followers of the King in Yellow. 

The Troupe has attracted the attention of the authorities as survivors of their visits sane enough to give coherent accounts have been able to alert others of the troupe and what it is capable of. The troupe and its play is now outlawed in Karameikos, Thyatis and Ylaruam but communicating the warnings and descriptions is not easy. Thus the troupe will avoid the large cities where they may be recognised and caught and instead stick to rural areas and small villages where ignorance and isolation allows them to move freely. 

The Book of the King in Yellow

Nobody is entirely sure where the book of the King in Yellow came from or when or by whom it was written. Some say it was created by a Prince of Chaos, while others of more erudite learning say it may have come from the far north in Norwold, perhaps from the Arvorians who are twisted enough that they would enjoy that sort of play. Although the book and the play do not specifically describe or promote the worship of Chaos, it still reeks of corruption and horror. The book is as outlawed as the Troupe in Yellow

Valderion, the leader of the troupe, holds the master original of the book. This contains the play script itself as well as various essays on the background to the play. It is possible to create copies in a similar method to how mages can copy spells from one spellbook into another. It is laborious and prone to error but it has been done enough times that the troupe has sometimes given a copy to enthusiastic converts to the court of the King in Yellow. There is known to be a copy in the hands of a powerful mage in Hattias, southern Thyatis and another was believed to have travelled to Vlaad in Ierendi. An individual who reads the book will suffer the same consequences as those who have watched the Troupe in Yellow perform the play, thus even copies of the damned book will cause madness and obsession. Those who try to perform the play from a copy will be far less effective than the Troupe in Yellow but some of the dweomer can still be conjured - all the audience still suffer the same effects but with +4 bonus to their saving throws to avoid the madness and compulsion.  

In the back of the book are a series of essays that describe the lost city of Carcosa, where the play is set. It will quickly become clear from the multiple moons and dark stars (whatever those might be) that this Carcosa is far in time and distance from Mystara. And yet the writer insists they have visited it and beheld its terrifying majesty. Furthermore they say that the King in Yellow still holds court after millenia of rule. Whether the King in Yellow is a title passed down to successors or perhaps is a being that does not age as mortals do is unclear. 

One powerful cleric of the forces of Law (Juliannus of Lucinius) who read a seized copy and somehow managed to avoid the worst effects came to the conclusion that the original book was written by the King in Yellow himself as a ploy to gather followers and disrupt his foes. Juliannus also postulated that the King in Yellow is a powerful supernatural being of utter Chaos, similar to or perhaps one of the dreadful beings worshipped by the Arvorians of Norwold. Before he died after a fall from the top of his temple (some say an accident, others say suicide) Juliannus insisted that a taskforce of lawful clerics should be established to counteract this pernicious and curse-inflicting book and those who promote and recite it. He saw it as a plague, a moral infection that would incapacitate or subvert all those who came into contact with the main vectors - the Troupe in Yellow.  Only the Order of the Amethyst Rose paid any attention to Juliannus while he was still alive, and we all know what happened to them. 

The Great Waste of Sind: A Quick Overview

What is officially said

 My two main sources for the Great Waste of Sind are X4: Master of the Desert Nomads and Champions of Mystara: Explorer’s Manual. X6: Quagmire includes a bit of the Great Waste but does not really deal with it. . 

Sind in the real world is a province of India that borders on Pakistan and includes part of the Thar Desert (not to be confused with the Orcs of Thar). This may have inspired Mystaran Sind. I am also looking at Arabian desert and Gobi Desert for ideas and inspiration.

X4 is set in the Great Waste and is less of a guide to the area and more of an encounter-based adventure where the encounters are not tied to particular hexes but happen at the DM’s discretion. Nonetheless features and encounters are indicative of the rest of the Great Waste. It also has a small section set in the Salt Swamp which includes a very tricky encounter with an evil spirit called The Malakaz. 

Inhabitants of the Great Waste and Nearby

New monsters: 

• Leucrotta (borrowed from AD&D), 
• Lamara from Creature Catalogue or else replace with Lamia from AD&D.
• Desert Hobgoblins: New subrace with greyish-black skin and black hair. They are nomadic and often partake in banditry and raiding settlements. The Master of Hule and his chaotic forces have tenuous agreements with the various desert hobgoblin tribes but these are often broken. They sometimes have hyenas as hunting animals and guards, and their strongest leaders will ride hyaenodons (dire hyenas) into battle. 
• Jackalweres (borrowed from AD&D)
• Desert Worms (subrace of purple worms)

Established B/X D&D monsters:  

• Bhuts (X4 & Creature Catalogue), 
• Nagpas (X4 & Creature Catalogue) 
• Manscorpions (Rules Cyclopedia)
• Mujina (X5 & Rules Cyclopedia) 
• Blue Dragons (Basic Rules)
• Sis’thik (desert lizardmen from Creature Catalogue) 
• Desert Leviathans (borrowed from Dune and statted in Creature Catalogue). 
• Elves & gnolls are found under the surface of the Plain of Fire (the northern part of the desert). Graakhalia has 7 pages in Champions of Mystara and is home to the Gruugrakh gnolls & Sheyallia Elves. I prefer the idea of rather than a truly mixed society, they are two separate cultures that have come to an uneasy truce.  Most of the gnolls have become neutral with a druidic slant, but a few remain dangerously chaotic. The underground realm beneath the Great Waste (including Graakalia and also less civilised cavern networks) could really be a post in itself. 
• There are also gnoll tribes, some of which wander the Great Waste itself but other gnolls stay on the more hospitable borders including the Barren Plain and Konumtali Savannah, venturing into the harsher waste when a suitable target (such as a passing caravan) presents itself. They are far more closer to normal gnolls than the Gruugrakh gnolls of Graakhalia and are nearly always chaotic. They, like desert hobgoblins, sometimes strike deals with the Master of Hule and his minions. 

There is also a salt marsh, savannah, hills, oases and a river running through Sind. All of these will have their own ecologies and inhabitants. 

The Great Waste in General

Natural living things are fairly sparse - the vast majority of the Great Waste is rocky desert with outcrops, canyons and occasional hills. There are some hardy desert plants but even these are not in abundance but are found in slightly cooler shady places where sunlight is moderate not scorching, such as cliff overhangs and between boulders.  

Oases are few and far between. The Twin Oases in the southwest and Kesret Oases in the middle are the two marked on the map. 

It is tempting to try to shoehorn excuses for lots of encounters into here but maybe this is not sensible. Perhaps this is better left mostly empty. Few monsters, settlements and other encounters. This really is quite barren. The environment becomes the real challenge: Dehydration, sunburn and disorientation become the predominant threats to adventurers, not wandering monsters. 

Although such geographic areas are not given level ranges for characters in the same way that modules are, I would consider it too dangerous for low-level PCs - it is not just the monstrous encounters that mean X4 is recommended for PCs of mid level (6th-9th). Having access to the 4th level cleric spell Create Water is a game-changer and could make the caster popular with NPCs. 

Besides, Graakhalia is part of, or at least connects to, the Shadowdeep, Mystara's underdark, so there are plenty of caves to explore there. And there may be a few desert ruins - proto-Hulean outposts and settlements abandoned as the desertification of the land intensified. These ruins are much sought after by various creatures, few of them pleasant. Bhuts, Nagpas, undead such as wights & mummies and monstrous forces of Hule can all be found in these ruins. The Evil Abbey and the Buried Temple from X4 are typical ruins. 

It’s a big area. 39 hexes x 24 miles/hex = 936 miles across in the middle. There is a caravan track across, and this will have more encounters. X4 explores this, with the option of PCs joining a caravan for part of the journey. Assuming land travel at 24 miles per day, this means crossing the desert will take 39 days. The caravan trail does pass through the two oases mentioned, but even so that’s over a week without natural water between oases. Clerics who can create water will be appreciated.  Failing that, camels (who need less frequent water) are preferable to horses for this journey.  

This is between Hule and Sind, so there will be patrols and merchants from both realms. During X4 & X5 there will also be armies marching across. What about Glantri and Darokin? There could well be travellers from these and other nations further east if they have reason to travel to Hule. The Serpent Peninsula is large enough that to sail around its southern tip would take as much time as to travel the Great Waste on camel.

Cartography by Thorfinn Tait, source

https://mystara.thorfmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/champions-great-waste-24.png

All in all I think this could be a great place for mid and high level adventures and I may come back to it and its bordering regions in future posts.