As Descent Into Avernus begins, the city of Elturel has fallen, sending waves of desperate refugees down the Chionthar River to overwhelm the resources of beleaguered Baldur’s Gate. The true story of what happened is detailed in the adventure, but in such times of confusion and chaos it is likely that many stories — some based in a faulty understanding of the truth, others being entirely fabrication — will be flying around. You can use the following rumors to draw an air of mystery around the fall of Elturel as your campaign begins. In those early days, each time the PCs interact with someone they are likely to hear some new version or radical variation of the tale. Others will also be desperate to find out the truth and will likely quiz the PCs on what they know and what they’ve heard.

1. ELTUREL LIVES!

The Companion — Amaunator’s Gift, the shining orb which hangs as a second sun above the city of Elturel and has long protected it from the scourge of the undead — sensed that a great evil was threatening Elturel. It bathed the city in its holy rays and drew it across time and space to the Keep of the Eternal Sun, the stronghold of Amaunator, God of Sun and Time. Unfortunately, many who sought to reach the city before its ascension were unable to do so. In some versions of this rumor, when the danger has passed, the city will be returned. (Or, alternatively, this was a reward for the city’s holiness. All those within have been transformed into angels to continue their holy works upon a higher plane of existence.)

2. FIRE OF DRAGONS

A dozen ancient dragons flew out of the east and burned the city. Some report that there were riders on one of the dragons or all of the dragons (a woman in white, death knights, storm giants). The tales might say that all the dragons were of the same color (usually red or black, even though the latter would be incompatible with the dragons burning the city). Others report that the dragons were of many different colors, suggesting that Tiamat might be responsible. A few days later, the PCs might run into a morphed version of this story in which Tiamat herself was leading the dragons in their destruction of the city.

3. ARMY OF DEMONS

Thirteen planar gates opened at various points within Elturel and thirteen balors leading thirteen demon armies flooded through and laid waste to the city. When the last refugees fled, it’s said they looked back to see a citadel of obsidian being raised in the center of the city — a spire of black corruption reaching up towards the dimming light of the Companion.

4. METEOR!

It was a meteor strike! It fell from the sky and landed near the center of the city, wiping it out in a cataclysmic explosion that could be heard for miles around. (Or maybe the meteor flew straight through the Companion, causing it to explode! The meteor landed a few thousand feet or several miles away or changed direction and flew off to the west.)

5. ELTUREL BESIEGED!

Elturel has not actually fallen! It is merely besieged by a necromancer’s army of the undead / a horde of orcs / an army of devils that has ridden out of the Nine Hells to seek revenge against the Hellriders who had once ridden through a gate into Avernus itself! The Flaming Fist is refusing to ride forth and break the siege, even though Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard — who had been visiting the city on a diplomatic mission — remains trapped inside. The rumor identifies some other member of the Council of Four — Thalamra Vanthampur, Dillard Portyr, Belynne Stelmane, or a conspiracy involving all of them — as manipulating the Fist in order to see Grand Duke Ravengard dead.

6. THE EGG

The Companion was not the boon that the people of Elturel long thought! It was actually some strange, celestial egg! And now it’s hatched! Some report that a titanic humanoid figure standing several hundred feet high and glowing with a golden light now stands in the ruins of what was once Elturel, gazing towards the southwest. Others say that the egg’s hatching unleashed a swarm of hellwasps or thousands of giant, ever-burning spiders that have wreathed the city in their webs. (There might still be time to save most of the people if we act quickly! Most have only been cocooned by the spiders!) And so forth.

7. RAVENGARD’S BETRAYAL

Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard, having entered Elturel under the pretense of a diplomatic envoy, betrayed High Observer Thavus Kreeg and slaughtered the leaders of the city at a banquet held in his honor. His knights then sacked and burned the city. (In some versions of this rumor, soldiers from either Fort Morninglord or Fort Tamal, or both, rode to the city’s defense and are now counter-sieging the Grand Duke, trapping him in the ruins of the city.)

8. COMPANION’S END

The Companion — the second sun which had long hung in the sky above Elturel — exploded! The city was completely wiped out, leaving nothing but a smoking crater where it had once stood. Some claim that the devastation was due to the Sun God withdrawing his holy blessing from the city, and priests of Amaunator can be seen throughout the refugee communities in Baldur’s Gate preaching apocalyptic messages or flagellating themselves in the hope that they can regain their god’s blessing through the mortification of their own flesh. Others suggest that the Companion was sabotaged: Natives of Baldur’s Gate suggest that it must have been devils from the Nine Hells (possibly in retaliation for the Hellriders who long ago invaded Avernus; everyone knows devils have infinite patience in their schemes and that revenge is best served cold!). Many among the Elturian refugees, however, whisper that it is Baldur’s Gate itself which is responsible! It’s no coincidence that Grand Duke Ravengard was in Elturel when the explosion happened!

9. ILLITHID ATTACK

A fleet of flying, squid-shaped ships appeared suddenly out of black portals above the city. They destroyed the Companion — sucking it into some sort of black vortex or singularity — and then fell upon the city below. The ships have now erected a pulsating field of black-and-purple energy around the city. No one knows what’s happening inside now. (Later reports might describe how those touched by the writhing tentacles of the ships were turned instantly to ash, while knowledgeable sages will say that the victims were actually teleported into the illithid ships.)

10. CIVIL WAR

The soldiers of Fort Tamal, which guards the Boareskyr Bridge on the northern frontier of Elturgard, rebelled, rode south, surprised the defenses of Elturel, and have seized the city. It is said that a black knight rode before them. Some say that it is Tamal Thent — the paladin who would have become the next High Observer if Thavus Kreeg, who became High Observer in his place, had not had him assassinated — returned as a death knight. Others say that it is a Hellrider banished to Fort Tamal for heresy who has become infected with the blood of Bhaal, the dark god who was slain by Cyric at the site where the fort stands. (See Sword Coast Adventurer’s Giude, page 73.)

11. THE SECOND CITY

Elturel wasn’t the first city to be obliterated: Scornubel, the City of Caravans that lies further east along the Chionthar River, was scooped out of the ground (or pummeled by divine lightning or overthrown by a cabal of illithids within the government or any of the other rumors above) three days before the fall of Elturel.

12. THE LEGACY OF MORNINGLORD

In 1476 DR, Fort Morninglord — which guarded the border between Elturgard and Baldur’s Gate along the Chionthar River, was found abandoned. The entire garrison had vanished overnight, the stones of the fort were blackened, and every door and window had been fused shut. High Observer Thavus Kreeg of Elturgard, fearing that the fort had been contaminated by some evil, ordered it sealed and declared that anyone entering the fort would be outlawed.

Three days ago, the seals on Fort Morninglord burst and the former garrison — now riding as death knights upon fiery steeds and leading an army of devils out of the Nine Hells — rode east and sacked Elturel. Various stories suggest that after Elturel’s fall they continued riding east, and that Scornubel will fall next.

Go to the Avernus Remix

DRAGON HEIST – SESSION 21
February 21st, 2020

With my recent announcement that my Dragon Heist campaign had come to an end, I’ve had a number of people, including several of my patrons, ask me for a retrospective or post mortem of my experiences. This campaign journal describing the last session of the campaign will be the first installment of that retrospective, with additional discussions to follow.

As noted above, this was Session 21 of the campaign. We primarily ran the campaign in weekend intensives, starting with a session on Friday night and then continuing with day-long sessions on Saturday and Sunday. In the back half of the campaign our Sunday sessions were shortened due to one of the players joining a roller derby league. There was also one month that we missed entirely and another where we were only able to play a single session. In the end, and entirely by coincidence, we ended the campaign exactly one year to the day from our first session.

If you’re looking for the rest of the campaign journals… Unfortunately, they don’t exist. Nor are they likely to exist barring someone deciding to single-handedly sponsor them at great expense or a general outcry of demand from a significant number of my patrons. These journals are not particularly onerous to produce, but they are relatively time-consuming. I think you’ll find that sufficient context has been given here to understand what’s happening and to be entertained by the group’s escapades. If you would like to peek at a few other major events in the campaign, I have written about it previously in two Running the Campaign columns: A Party at Shipwright’s House and The Manshoon Heists.

WHAT’S COME BEFORE

• The Trollskulls have adopted three orphans — Nat, Squiddly, and Jenks — and have recently arranged for their education: All are to be tutored on alternating afternoons by Firedrop (a pixie philosopher) and Nalolir (a podrikev; a dwarven construct with the brain and spinal column of a kobold who escaped from Undermountain a hunded years ago).
• Jenks has been apprenticed to Amara, a baker who only recently left her own apprenticeship when the Trollskulls helped set up a new bakery in what was previously Frewn’s Brews (a competing tavern in Trollskull Alley that the Trollskulls rode out of town on a rail… although, to be fair, Frewn had hired the Shard Shunner wererat gang to attempt to ruin Trollskull Manor).
• Squiddly had been apprenticed to Master Kennadr of the Fellowship of Bowyers and Fletchers. He wanted to one day become an archer, but he would begin by learning the tools of his would-be craft.
• Nat, who could speak only through sign language, had been apprenticed to Ethlando, an elven scholar who had once been a magi, but was cursed with having his magic stripped from him.
• Squiddly and Nat would attend their apprenticeships in the mornings before coming home to be tutored with Jenks. Jenks, however, now slept late after working at the bakery with Amara overnight.
• The Trollskulls have obtained the Stone of Golorr and two of its eyes. Having briefly allied with the Gralhunds, they eventually decided their true allegiance was to the city and they informed Vajra (who had made them members of Force Grey) of all that they knew. Vajra interceded with the Gralhunds, impounded the nimblewright where they were keeping the Stone of Golorr hidden, and then turned the Stone over to the PCs. (Vajra herself, along with Renaer Neverember, are preoccupied trying to rapidly build an airtight, post facto case against Victoro Cassalanter, who the Trollskulls arrested under somewhat unorthodox circumstances, for being an Asmodean cultist.) The Trollskulls then managed to convince the Gralhunds that it couldn’t have been Vajra and must have been Jarlaxle in disguise who stole their nimblewright (and the Stone within)!
• The Trollskulls also know that the notorious crime lord Xanathar has the third eye of the Stone of Golorr. They have befriended Ott Steeltoes, Xanathar’s majordomo, and learned that the one thing Xanathar prizes more than anything else in the world is a goldfish named Sylgar. Ott must routinely replace the goldfish whenever it dies. They also learned (and did business with) the fish dealer Ott gets his Sylgars from. They know that tomorrow night — on the 5^th of Tarsakh — Xanathar will be holding a gladiatorial contest in his headquarters as part of the Goldennight festival celebrations, and they have been given a teleportal key for Xanathar’s teleporter totems that will allow them to access his lair when the time comes…

RETURN TO THE CITY OF THE DEAD

It was mid-afternoon on the 4^th of Tarsakh. Edana was waiting at Trollskull Manor for the others to return from their various errands. Embric stopped by to deliver — in an elegant, velvet-lined box — the flasks he and Avi had modified to bear the tavern’s sigil:

These were the (many) flasks that Edana had taken from Osco Salibuck during their raid on the Cassalanter Villa, and she thought they would make lovely, mismatched mementoes for the Trollskulls. As the others returned and gathered in their upstairs sitting room, she pulled them out to much admiration.

The kids came running out of their room, their afternoon tutoring complete. “Where are you going?” Edana asked.

“Swordfighting!” Squiddly called back.

“With wooden swords, right?”

“Yes!”

“If I hear metal, you’re in trouble!”

“Okay, mom!”

The kids were gone. Kittisoth couldn’t contain her glee. They’d called Edana mom! For the first time!

After a brief discussion, they confirmed their intention to hit Xanathar’s lair the next night, taking advantage of the confusion around the Goldennight fights. In the meantime, Pashar had a hunch they wanted to follow up on: In their original attempts to figure out why the Zhentarim had been interested in Renaer’s mourning locket for his mother, they had visited the Brandath Crypts with him several weeks earlier. Now they suspected that they might have missed something. They knew that Lord Dagult had hidden his gold somewhere, they knew that he had done significant construction to build his wife’s crypt, and they knew that he had hidden one of the Golorr eyes in his son’s mourning locket. Why? What was the connection?

Passing through the gardened paths of the City of the Dead, they saw any number of picnickers and the like near the north gates. A gaggle of children ran past flying kites. Further south, they were passed themselves by a procession of self-flagellant priests of Ilmater, seeking to bless the burial grounds.

The Brandath Crypts hoved into view. Outside the front gate of the crypts they saw the tall form of the treant Pal’ithil’drassar. Theren, who had actually visited him a few times since their first visit here, greeted him as a friend and they chatted amiably for a while before passing into the crypts themselves.

They passed the grand tombs of porphyry and marble and instead twisted their way into the older tombs, making their way to where Lady Alethea had been interred.

Lady Alethea’s sarcophagus, in the center of the chamber, was clearly newer than the rest of the crypt. A bouquet of wilted roses — left by Renaer when last they’d been here, or perhaps replaced since then — lay atop the sarcophagus. Looking up, Edana saw that the ceiling was covered with a faded and chipped tempura portrait of a nobleman identified, by a painted banner beneath the figure, as LORD ANRI BRANDATH. Fresh script around the perimeter of this portrait read, in four languages, “The beauty of our age, in death, is watched over by the spirits of her ancestors.”

It was clear to Kora that there were three different ages of construction: The crypt itself was the oldest. At some later date, but still quite a long time ago, the painting of Lord Anri had been added to the ceiling above. And then, quite recently, Lady Alethea’s sarcophagus and the new script had been added. (Most likely at the same time, Lord Anri’s remains — which they had previously seen in a cheap, new tomb on the far side of the Brandath Crypts – had been moved.) Kora also noticed that Lord Anri’s portrait depicted him with an alexandrite-tipped pin and holding a distinctive dwarven compass in his left hand, both of which were symbols of the Maroon Brotherhood, an obscure fraternal order that had once been active in Waterdeep but no longer existed.

Kora pulled out her wand of secrets. Standing next to the sarcophagus in the center of the room, she uttered the command word. The wand instantly jerked her hand towards the southern wall. “There,” she said.

Edana closely inspected the wall there. She found four false stones. Pushing them in, she heard bolts retracting and was then able to push open the wall, revealing a staircase heading down. Sconces for torches were placed on the walls, but there were no torches in them. The air was dry. There was a thick coating of dust, but a large amount of fairly recent traffic had disturbed it up and down the stairs.

On the top step, Edana noted scorch marks. “There was a trap here,” she said. “But someone triggered it.”

Pashar stepped closer and looked over her shoulder. “Looks like the remains of a glyph of warding.”

“That’s trouble,” Kora said. “Did someone beat us here?”

Watched over by Lady Alethea’s sarcophagus, they waited for Pashar and Kora to ritually cast comprehend languages and detect magic, respectively. (Kitti couldn’t shake the feeling that Lady Alethea was judging her relationship with Renear. “Whatever. I’m awesome.”) When the rites were done, Edana led the way down the stairs.

At the bottom, they found a twisted passage lined with niches containing ancient sarcophagi, their once-sharp features worn away into featureless lumps be immeasurable age. Coming to a corner, Edana noticed that one of the sconces had been ripped out of the wall. It was laying in the middle of the floor. The hall continued for some little distance, but then ended in a complete collapse of earth and stone.

Edana frowned. She reached down to her belt and opened her bag of holding. A small skull with jewels for eyes came flying out of it. “Mortaunto!” it cried.

Mortaunto swooped over to the broken sconce lying on the ground and telekinetically floated it into the air. “This is fascinating!” He darted back and forth examining it from every angle. “Hmm…”

“Mortaunto,” Edana asked, “do you see this collapse? From your vantage point, can you see a way through it?”

“Yes! Of course!” Mortaunto cried. “Here!” He telekinetically moved the sconce over to the mouth of Edana’s bag and jiggled it suggestively. Edana complied, opening the bag and allowing him to add the sconce to his collection within.

“Mortaunto!” Mortaunto cried and flew down the hallway… and straight through the wall.

“Oh shit,” Edana said.

Mortaunto flew back out of the wall. “It appears to be… an illusion!”

Kitti clapped. “Mortaunto! You’re so good! I love you so much!”

Edana opened her bag and Mortaunto zipped back in to continue his inspection and adoration of his new treasure. Then she led the others to the illusion. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through.

Beyond the illusion there was an archway filled with a heavy door of steel. The keystone of the arch was decorated to appear like a mountain with a purple alexandrite gemstone in the middle of it (Kora recognized this as a depiction of the dwarven god Dumathoin’s holy symbol). The voussoir around the perimeter of the arch had been carved with more symbols of the Maroon Brotherhood in alternation with dwarven runes: A dwarven compass, a serpent’s forked tongue, a scarabraeus, a brain with two tentacles (this was Ilsensine’s holy symbol, god of the illithid), and a broken arrow (holy symbol of Laduguer, god of the dark dwarves).

“This is strange,” Kora said. She couldn’t imagine what connection there would be between these three very disparate gods.

The door was obviously of much more recent construction than the arch, and its installation had actually damaged some of the ancient symbols in the arch. Edana knelt down and took a close look at the lock. “This is like a bank vault, but I’ll se what I can do.”

A few minutes into her efforts, however, she tripped something. Some sort of magical effect.

“What did it do?” Kittisoth asked.

“I’m not sure,” Edana said.

“Probably an alarm,” Kora said.

Edana sighed in frustration. “This is going to take awhile. The sun will have probably set before I can get this door open.”

They briefly discussed their options. In the end, Pashar sent Darkimedes — his familiar — to fly back to Trollskull and let Lif know that they wouldn’t be coming back tonight. Pashar would also be able to create a magical tiny hut for them to respite in, rather than venturing out into the unknown dangers of the City of the Dead at night.

And so, while the others retreated to Lady Alethea’s tomb to relax, Edana redoubled her focus on cracking the complicated lock. It took her nearly two hours, but she eventually felt the last of the interlocked tumblers release and the door swung open.

BENEATH THE CRYPT

Calling out to the others, she stood up and looked down the long, sloping hallway beyond. The others quickly gathered their things and joined her, and then they proceeded down the hallway together.

About fifteen feet past the door, the construction of the stone changed. “This lower portion is dwarven construction,” Edana said, noting the smooth, almost ageless carving. Another fifty feet down they began encountering dwarven graffiti that soon covered both walls — and even the ceiling — in a palimpsest of what turned out to be secrets. Pashar was fascinated, studying the mostly banal confessions and noting down many of them: My beard quivers for Lorlai of the stonecutters. I tasted pixy dust in the third hall. I use rotgrub paste to dye my beard. And so forth.

This continued for several hundred feet before the passage emptied out into a vaulted chamber twenty feet wide and twenty feet high. It seemed to resonate with a silent stillness, suggestive of its great age. The far wall of the chamber was dominated by a massive pair of adamantine doors bearing dwarvish runes taller than a grown man. “All that lies within belongs to the Silent Keeper.”

In the center of the floor there was a bronze bas relief of a stylized sun, six feet across. A Chondathan inscription had been carved into the floor in a circle around the bas relief. They read, “Know ye the hidden truth,” repeated three times.

“There’s magic here,” Kora said. “Ancient abjurations.”

“Placed here by Lord Dagult?” Edana asked.

“Older than that,” Kora said. “Much older.” She set to work studying the abjurations. Some great magical rite of warding linked the adamantine doors to bas relief sun on the floor. Their power was immense. “It requires some sort of rite or passphrase to open the doors. And it would take a wish to bypass these protections.”

Theoretically the Blackstaff or perhaps Laeral would be able to provide such a conjuration, but the cost would be step and probably not to be borne as long as another option remained.

“This must have been what Lord Dagult used the Stone to hide,” Edana said. “The passphrase for entering the vault.”

“So if we get the third eye, we’ll be able to use the Stone to learn the passphrase?” Theren asked. “And then use the passphrase to open the doors?”

“Maybe,” Edana said. “We don’t really understand exactly what the Stone does or how it does it.”

For the moment, at least, it seemed that they had reached an impasse. They went back up the long hall and Pashar evoked his tiny hut. He decided that it should be maroon, in honor of the Brotherhood whose signs they had found here, and they settled in for a secure night’s sleep.

To be continued…

Go to Part 1

These are the essential kaostech items that tie into the core rules for using kaostech. Other kaostech items can be found in tomes whose names are forbidden to us by strange rites. A few are described in the Laboratory of the Beast.

CHAOS SIPHON: One end of this black tube can be inserted into any kaostech device, with the other end fitting into a chaos storage cube in order to refuel the device. See the siphon chaos spell for more details. This item need never check for chaotic failure.

CHAOS STORAGE CUBE: This is the grey power battery for all kaostech devices. It has a hardness of 10, 50 hp, and Break DC 30.

(No activation; Craft DC 50; Price 20,000 gp; Weight 10 lbs.)

DEMONIC CONVERTER: This device looks like a flexible tube with a spike on one end. If a demon (or chaotically aligned undead or other extremely chaotic outsider) thrusts the spike into its flesh, inflicting 2d6 points of damage, it can connect the tube to any kaostech device. This effectively makes a non-intrinsic device into an intrinsic one. The demon’s own essence, rather than raw chaos, powers the device, so no chaotic failure can occur. However, each time the demon would have normally checked for chaotic failure with the device, it suffers 1 point of Constitution damage (or 2d6 points of damage in the case of undead). It also suffers 1d2 Constitution damage (or 2d6 points of damage in the case of undead) when it initially connects the device to the converter.

It requires a full-round action to hook up the converter to a kaostech device and thrust it into the demon’s flesh, and a full-round action to disconnect a device so that one might use it normally.

(Use activation; Craft DC 42; Price 15,000 gp; Weight 2 lbs.)

HEADCLAMP: A chaos surgeon inserts this small device in to the temple of a living creature, or otherwise near the brain. The living portions of the device instantly heal the surgical wound, then extend tiny filaments into the host’s brain while keeping a small circular opening available on the outside of the head. Numerous non-intrinsic kaostech devices have tubes or other extensions that attach to this opening and clamp into place. This connection allows a device to receive mental commands or to transfer information directly into the host’s brains.

The headclamp has no intrinsic abilities or benefits. A host can have no more than two headclamps.

Should someone attack a headclamp cord, it has AC 14 + the host’s Dexterity bonus. The DM may also grant the cord any of the host’s dodge, deflection, or other Armor Class modifiers, but not armor bonuses unless the headclamp is part of the armor. The cord has a hardness of 1 and 5 hit points. Headclamp cords are fairly easy to repair (Craft Kaostech, DC 18) but a device that requires the connection cannot function until the broken cord is repaired. One can pull a cord out of a headclamp with a Strength check (DC 8).

(Chaos Surgery DC 22; Procedure Time 1 hour; Recovery Period 1 day; Price 10,000 gp)

NUTRIENT SOLUTION/NUTRIENT SALVE: This thick liquid feeds intrinsic kaostech devices, so they do not feed off their host or so that they can survive without a host. To feed an external kaostech item, apply the salve to the item. To feed an implant or other internal item, the host must drink the solution. Once the kaostech device is sated, a Medium creature can down another dose of this solution as a (distasteful) replacement for her own week’s worth of food and water.

(Craft DC 40; Price 50 gp)

Go to Part 1

KAOSTECH AND MAGIC

In their use, many kaostech items may appear similar to magical items, but they are not. Kaostech items do not have caster levels, cannot be dispelled, and are not affected by areas of antimagic.

When a spell or ability is described as affecting spells or magic, it does not apply to kaostech. For example, a nondetection spell (which provides protection against divination spells) does not work against a bonded tracer. On the other hand, a potion from protection from acid would still provide protection against acid damage dealt by a kaostech device (since the potion does not specify protection only from magical acid) and a ring of protection still offers a bonus to AC against an attack made with a kaostech weapon.

CHAOS SPELLS

Although kaostech is not magical, some magical spells have been developed to help those who use or work with kaostech. There are also spells with interface directly with the same chaotic forces and primal laws that are tapped by kaostech.

ADVENT OF CHANGE
Transmutation [Chaotic]
Level: Clr 9
Components: V, S, M, DF
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: 10 miles/level
Area: One mile/two levels emanation
Duration: One day/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You alter the way reality works in the area, making things more random and the improbable more probable. Whenever someone makes an attack roll, saving throw, or other d20 check in the area, toss a d6 as well. On a roll of 2 on the d6, subtract 10 from the d20 roll. On a roll of 1, subtract 20 from the d20 roll. On a roll of 5, add 10 to the d20 roll. On a roll of 6, add 20.

For anything with a d% chance of taking place—such as spell failure, miss chances, random encounters, and so on—double the listed chance of the event’s happening if the chance is less than 50 percent. When it is 50 percent or greater, cut the listed chance in half. These effects are accompanied by all manner of other changes: The sky becomes red, the moon turns dark, babies are born with strange appearances, outsiders appear, fresh milk turns sour, animals die, crops wither, or any other sorts of random events the DM wishes (the caster has no effect on these changes). Many people look upon these occurrences as the beginning of the end of the world.

Material Component: A lawfully-aligned artifact. However, this material component is not needed if the spell is cast within the area of a previously cast advent of change spell. If the material component is used and the spell is cast within the area of a previously cast advent of change spell, the emanation spreads another mile for every two levels and lasts as long as the duration of the more recently cast advent of change spell.

KAOSTECH ENSLAVEMENT
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Chaotic, Mind-Affecting]
Level: Clr 5
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Close (25 feet + 5 feet/two levels)
Target: One humanoid with kaostech
Duration: 24 hours
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You draw upon the energies within the kaostech wielded by the target to make the target a slave to the Gods of Chaos. You have no particular control over the target, but the Gods of Chaos become immediately aware of her (if they were not already) and can exert control over the target as though she were affected by a dominate person spell.

The target’s actions are up to the discretion of the DM; any Gods of Chaos aware of the target can control her actions. If two Gods of Chaos attempt to control a single target for different purposes, the one with the most Hit Dice wins. (Should a tie occur, use opposed Charisma checks.) The spell can be ended prematurely if someone strips the target of all kaostech gear. However, the controlling God of Chaos will do whatever it can to prevent that from happening. The Gods of Chaos themselves frequently use this spell when they need a mortal to do something: They search for a kaostech user and cast this spell upon her. As long as no more powerful God of Chaos wrests control, the caster can exert influence from any distance thereafter, seeing and hearing everything the target does.

KAOSTECH ENSLAVEMENT, GREATER
Enchantment (Compulsion) [Chaotic, Mind-Affecting]
Level: Clr 8
Target: One creature with kaostech

As kaostech enslavement, except it affects any creature (not just humanoids).

DETECT KAOSTECH
Divination
Level: Brd 0, Clr 0, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: V, S
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: 60 feet
Area of Effect: A quarter-circle, radius 60 feet, emanating from you
Duration: Concentration, up to one minute/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You detect kaostech devices. The amount of information this spell reveals depends on how long you study a particular area or subject:

1st Round: Presence or absence of kaostech devices

2nd Round: Number of different kaostech auras and the strength of the strongest aura

3rd Round: The strength of each aura, indicating the power of the device

Note: From each round to another, a caster can turn to detect things in a new area. Detect spells can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or a yard of wood or dirt blocks them.

IDENTIFY DEVICE
Divination
Level: Brd 1, Clr 0, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S,M
Casting Time: One hour
Range: Touch
Targets: Up to one object/level
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

The spell determines the single most basic function of each nonmagical item, including but not limited to kaostech. This includes how to activate that function (if appropriate) and how many uses remain (if any). For example, a chain blade† would register as a “weapon,” while a long distance viewer would register as a “device for seeing faraway things.”

If a device has different functions that are equally basic, identify device determines the lowest-level function. If these functions are also of equal level, decide randomly which is identified.

Material Component: A small metal spring

SIPHON CHAOS
Transmutation [Chaotic]
Level: Clr 2, Sor/Wis 2
Components: V, S
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One chaos storage cube†
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You transfer raw chaos within a chaos storage cube into a kaostech device, refueling and restoring it. You safely touch both the cube and the device when you cast the spell. After the casting, the device is fully charged. The cube has a 10 percent chance of being empty, at which point it collapses into a corrosive puddle (like a pool of acid). The collapse of a cube creates a 25 percent chance of summoning a chaos beast to the spot of collapse. The beast is predisposed to be neither hostile nor friendly.

Go to Part 4: Essential Kaostech Items

Go to Part 1

USING KAOSTECH

ACTIVATION: Using a kaostech device is rarely easy or straightforward: Strange switches, levers, dials, or even more obtuse mechanisms are involved. Sometimes one lever must be positioned in precisely the right orientation before another switch will function (or even appear). Or perhaps two switches must be activated at the same time. Or a dial turned only once the device has been oriented in a particular way. There is no internal logic to it, and even two devices with the same function might have different appearances and different means of activation.

Activating a Kaostech Device: Some kaostech devices, particularly those which are worn, are simply use-activated, but many require the use of a lever or switch. Using a lever to activate a kaostech device is a standard action. Using a switch is a free action.

Some kaostech devices must be controlled (or can be controlled) through the use of a headclamp (see item descriptions).

Determining Activation: In order to figure out how to use a particular kaostech device, a character must make a Craft Kaostech check (DC 20). Success means that the character can activate the item, although they may still not know what it does (unless its function is obvious).

Intrinsic Devices: An intrinsic kaostech device must be grafted or implanted into a host before it can be used. (A non-intrinsic device, on the other hand, can be used like any other piece of equipment.) Creatures without a Constitution score cannot use intrinsic kaostech items, although a demonic converter allows corporeal undead to use them. Incorporeal creatures and constructs can never use intrinsic kaostech.

ACTIVATION METHODS

Headclamp: Some kaostech devices can be controlled through the use of a headclamp.

Lever: A lever refers to an activation device that must be positioned precisely or is otherwise complex. For example, a metal handle with multiple positions; a cord that must be pulled to a specific length; or a liquid-filled bag that one must squeeze. Activating a device with a lever is a standard action.

Switches: A switch refers to an activation device with a simple on-off position or a similarly easy-to-use mechanism. For example, a glass panel that the user taps; a rotating ball that must be spun; or a cord that must be sharply pulled. Activating a device with a switch is a free action.

Use-Activated: Some kaostech items are activated simply by wearing them or wielding them. However, this may not always be obvious. For example, a pair of clarity goggles might initially have the appearance of a small metal box which must be twisted and turned in a specific sequence in order to unfold the goggles into a wearable form.

CHAOTIC FAILURE

CHAOTIC FAILURE: It is not necessary to keep track of uses or charges when using kaostech devices. The user simply waits until it fails. Such is the unpredictable nature of chaos.

Failure Check: When a character makes a check to use a kaostech device, a natural die roll of 1 indicates that the item is drained of power and can no longer be used, not matter how many uses it has been since it was last refueled.

If a device has no roll associated with its use, roll 1d20 when activating it. If it has no set activation, or if it goes for a long time between activations, make at least one check daily to determine whether the device fails when used.

Unused items require no checks. Some item descriptions specify how often checks should be made.

Backlash or Necrosis Check: If a device suffers a chaotic failure, immediately make another check by rolling 1d20. In the case of another roll of 1, a bone of steel has suffered chaotic backlash and a betrayal of the flesh has suffered chaos necrosis (see below).

Reactivation: If a device suffers chaotic failure but does not suffer chaotic backlash or chaotic necrosis, it can be reactivated. A bone of steel can be reactivated by infusing it with raw chaos (see below). A betrayal of the flesh can be reactivated by treating it with a dose of nutrient solution (see item descriptions).

CHAOTIC BACKLASH: When a bone of steel fails, make another check by rolling 1d20. In the case of another roll of 1, the device overloads, explodes, or melts down in a dramatic and dangerous way, inflicting 3d6 points of damage to anyone within 10 feet (Reflex saving throw, DC 18, for half; no saving throw allowed for characters touching the item). The device is utterly destroyed in the case of such a backlash.

CHAOTIC NECROSIS: When a betrayal of the flesh fails, make another check by rolling 1d20. In the case of another roll of 1, the device immediately begins dying and enters a state of chaotic necrosis. A device suffering from chaotic necrosis dies after 1 hour unless they have been successfully treated by a chaos surgeon. This treatment requires 10 minutes, a successful Chaos Surgery check (DC 25), and materials worth 1/10^th the creation cost of the device.

If an intrinsic device dies for any reason, it becomes a rotting mass of cancerous flesh. Its host suffers 1 point of Constitution drain every day until the device is removed.

RAW CHAOS

Raw chaos is a viscous fluid that appears at once to be dull gray and a gleaming mass of every scintillating color that exists. Raw chaos is perhaps one of the most dangerous substances in the universe, destroying everything it touches if not handled properly.

USING RAW CHAOS: Raw chaos can only be safely stored in a chaos storage cube. These small gray boxes are about 3 feet to a side and perfectly featureless. A chaos siphon allows one to remove a splash of raw chaos from the cube (see item description).

A splash of raw chaos can be used to reactivate a kaostech device that has suffered chaotic failure. A splash of raw chaos is also required whenever a kaostech device is created.

EFFECTS AND DAMAGE: Raw chaos ignores hardness and damage reduction, treating all matter and flesh the same. A splash of raw chaos inflicts 10d6 damage on anything it touches — the matter simply burns away in a cloud of steamy vapor.

Puncturing or destroying a chaos storage cube (hardness 10, 50 hp, Break DC 30) releases the chaos in one burst, inflicting 20d6 points of damage in a 100-foot spread.

Immersion in raw chaos inflicts 20d6 points of damage per round.

Raw chaos spilled on the floor may eat through the floor. If it inflicts damage in excess of the floor’s hit points, it continues down to the level below (if any) and burns whatever is there.

Exposed raw chaos consumes even the air given enough time. Left in a perfectly sealed 10-foot cubic chamber, a small bit of raw chaos would destroy all the air in the room in about five hours, leaving nothing but vacuum.

SUSTENANCE

Because they are organic devices, betrayals of the flesh are creatures unto themselves, at least from a limited perspective, and require sustenance.

PARASITE: When an intrinsic betrayal of the flesh becomes a part of a host, it lives like a parasite, gaining its nutrition and energy from the host. Every other day, the host suffers 1d2 points of Constitution damage. (However, a nutrient salve can be used to alleviate this damage.)

If an intrinsic device dies for any reason, it becomes a rotting mass of cancerous flesh. Its host suffers 1 point of Constitution drain every day until the device is removed.

NUTRIENT SOLUTION: When not attached to a host, betrayals of the flesh must be treated with a dose of nutrient solution once per week or they die, becoming useless. (Betrayals of the flesh which need to be stored for long periods of time are often immersed in baths of nutrient solution, allowing them to consume it slowly without the need for attendants.)

TAINT OF KAOSTECH

All kaostech items are at least faintly tainted, although some kaostech items suffer from full taint, as noted in their descriptions. An area which has been used to create more than 1d6 kaostech items becomes a faintly tainted place. A faintly tainted place that has been used to create an additional 10d10 items becomes a fully tainted place.

INTRINSIC DEVICES: Each intrinsic device the character has implanted or attached to their body increases the DC of the Fortitude save required to resist the taint by 1. If any of the intrinsic devices are fully tainted objects, this increased DC stacks with the normal increase for carrying multiple tainted objects.

IDEOLOGICAL CHANGE: When a character suffers a point of taint from kaostech they must immediately make a Will save (DC 20). Failure means that the character’s alignment shifts one step towards chaos. Thus, if they are lawful, they become neutral. If they are neutral, they become chaotic. A chaotic neutral or chaotic evil creature is immune to ideological change, but a chaotic good character must continue making saving throws to avoid becoming chaotic neutral.

Go to Part 3:Kaostech and Magic