The Tower Apart

This is a mini adventure for 13th Age, intended to last one session.

Elevator Pitch

A reverse dungeon-crawl, where you start in the innermost core of a dungeon and work your way out. You’re a bunch of convicted criminals and your sentence is to invade a tower, kill some dragons, and get out.

Conceit

You’ve all been tried and sentenced by the Court of Stars. Whether or not you are guilty of what you’ve been accused of matters little. You’re being offered a mission, overseen by a high Elven officer, Makito. Escorted to the edge of the Overworld, over the Iron Sea, and kicked over the cloud breach, with only a Rocfeather parachute and your equipment to serve you. Your target is a dragon’s nest, perched on an ancient coral tower jutting from the sea.

Inside you’ll find many trials. Your way in is secure, and in fact, unavoidable. You either land on the peak of the tower, or meet your end in the brine. Destroy the nest and make it out, and you’ll be granted clemency by the Elves. Problem is, the nearest shoreline is hundreds of miles away.

Six Main Points (For the GM)

1. Every character in the party has been found guilty by the Court of Stars. This means everyone in the party should have some reason to respect the sovereign – likely, all Elven citizens, or the friendly Human and Lizard population. Perhaps a prisoner of war.
2. The Tower Apart has long been a place of interest for powerful recluses. It’s nearly impossible to get in or out, and it’s remote enough that no one comes snooping. It’s had many tenants over the ages, from mages, devils, and dragons.
3. This party isn’t the first group sent here on behalf of the Elves. No other has succeeded, or even survived. Their notes, scratched on the walls of the tower, soon betray the party’s fate.
4. The Red Dragon Ash-Ksarasharasksha has taken roost here and made it her nest. The Three has keen interest in keeping this hidden, as nesting sites for dragons have become rare, with the draconic population dwindling since the 8th Age.
5. The tenant prior to Ksarash was a sorceror studying Living Weapons, artifact items that live in the realm of ghosts, binding to their wielders. Chuuls appear capable of creating similar living magic items, though misformed in ways. The sorceror had a labratory for researching Chuuls and their growths.
6. The Diabolist has recently been lain low. The Demon of Drowning lays in the root of the tower. Typically this would render it innavigable, but the demon is willing to make a deal to aid the party.

Set-Up

The party should be told the entire core conceit before making their characters. During planning, you should see if there are any common themes among icons, and try to make modifications to the adventure to fit the theme.

Here’s what the players will be told about their mission by their quest-giver, at the start of the first session.

The Quest

You’ve all been sentenced for your crimes against the Court of Stars by her majesty, The Elven Queen. The Court is gracious, and acknowledges your talents and the worth you may bring to the crown, and is offering you a chance at clemency. There is a tower in the sea, Utoplenna, where a Red Dragon has taken roost. It would behoove the crown if this tenant was evicted from their roost.

As such, we will be sending you all to this tower to dispatch the drake Ksarash and destroy her nest. Do so, and we will welcome you back into the court with open arms.

The Tower

Utoplenna was originally a demon’s lair, named after them. It is split into four broad sections: The peak, the foyer, the balcony, and the cellar. The party begins at the peak and makes their way to the balcony.

The tower itself is made of a reddish coral material, carved by ages of use, weathered strongly by the driving rains that persist around the Iron Sea. It can only just be reached by divers from the Overworld – if it were much further out, The Great Stormhead over the sea would completely isolate it. It leans strongly Eastward, and the balcony is on the Eastern face as well, making descent directly from the peak to the balcony difficult.

The Peak

The peak is broad enough, and currently flush with vegetation. Ksarash has figured out a commensal relationship with the living plants, which protect her eggs in return for their unnatural warmth.

See Fight 1.

The Foyer

A small reprieve after landing. Contains the previous tenant’s notes and living quarters, though in disrepair. Stairs lead deeper into the lair, and there is a gateway to the balcony, with sunlight pouring in.

It is well known that living weapons are impossible to make. The art seems to have been lost in the 2nd Age, or something about the world changed to make it impossible since. The power in such things has been kept well-hidden, but the icons of the world know well their might. See figure 47D for known instances. With the creation of this cloak, I believe I’ve made the first iota of progress in ten ages. It may be an imitation, but it’s a start. Notably, I’ve made an item that is NOT a weapon, which is counterfactual.

Figure 47D

The Balcony

This is where the dragon comes to find the players, once the players deal with the Pixie Plants. The players’ quest is to slay this dragon, so there should be intrinsic motivation to get the players out onto the balcony to start the fight.

The balcony looks Eastward, under the Great Stormhead, towards the rising sun.

See Fight 2.

The Cellar

The cellar houses a strange laboratory, containing a central lift that descends deeper into the tower. The lift starts off in a downward state – its cargo steeping in the root of the tower. The room is lined with various notes and scrawls, all from the same author.

The crustaceans, which I have come to connect with the name ‘Chuul,’ 4th Age, see codices 18 and 23, have much potential waiting to be unlocked. They seem to have been birthed in this sea, and by steeping them in the root of the tower, their unique gifts manifest more quickly. I’ve found ways to influence the form their gift takes on. It is a murky process, but if I’m correct, the next batch ought to help my escape from this forsaken tower.

There is a lever which will raise the lift. Inside is a dead Chuul, from which the party can harvest the Chuulish items “Strider Symbiote” and “Xenoteros”, see Bestiary 1 page 50.

There is a large apparatus that appears to combine an exsanguinator with a rune carving device, which has a winch attachment at the top.

The Root

Right away, descent into this layer leads to a fight, see Fight 3. During the fight, the players may notice various oddities about The Root. The sound of crashing waves is apparent, and water fills the players’ mouths over time, starting with the taste of salt.

The basement contains Utoplenna’s hideous, four-armed body, in statis. The demon will offer anyone in the party her power, in return for drowning someone.

Further, near sea-level, an array of stained-glass panels may be found, portraying various locales:

• A great vault within the mountain.
• A blue-cloaked figure descending from the moon.
• The bright golden desert aflame.

Fights

Fight 1

Note: All monsters scaled up +2 levels, so +2 to-hit and to-defense, HP and +damage 50%.

• 1 Claw Flower, B1.161
• 2 Pixie Pods, B1.161
• 15 Podlings, B1.161

The Claw Flower and each Pixie Pod protects one dragon egg each. Once they all die, the fight is over, regardless of remaining mooks.

Fight 2

• Large Red Dragon, C.222. Dragon rolls initiative once, and goes on +13 and -2 initiative. Split her attacks up accordingly. Breath attack may be used every three turns, but only targets 1d3 + 1 instead of 2d3.
• Hydra, C.236.

Fight 3

• 2 Chuul, B1.47
• 1 Chuulish Swarm, B1.47 (The Arena, always engaged with all players)
• 1 Noble Chuulish Slave, B1.51, with following traits:
  • +2 to level (+2 to-hit/defenses/init., +50% HP/damage)
  • Chitinous Plates: +2 to AC
  • Scholar’s Cloak: +2 to PD, once per battle auto-succeeds a disengage check.
  • Ablative Spelldrinker: Once per battle counterspell, -10 HP on failed save.