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LETTER OF CAUTION FROM SHIGMAA URASTA

Arquad—

These most recent requests have proven most challenging, and the resulting creations may prove both delicate and dangerous.

First, the members of the danse macbre are not to be trifled with. The gifts you ask of them have only been achieved by imbuing them with the essence of the Crimson Court. They harness, thus, the endless revelry of that eternal celebration, but also carry in the marrow of their bones the malefic curse of the Court’s taint.

As for the stitched zombies, their endurance and baleful death curse are all that we had hoped, and they require no special caution beyond avoiding any breaking of their skin.

—Shigmaa Urasta

LETTER FROM ALIASTER TO ARQUAD

Master Arquad—

I have need of additional brute labor capable of the utmost discretion. My sister suggested that you might be able to supply me with the perfect candidates.

Please dispatch four of your adamantine skeletons to our apartments on Crossing Street. Select those with slender phalanges, if you would. I may have need to employ them in tasks of a delicate nature.

—Aliaster of the House Vladaam

REQUEST FROM HOUSE SADAR

Arquad—

House Sadar requests one dozen skeletons be prepared to perform the danse macabre and delivered to their manse upon the 30^th in time for their celebrations.

The utmost care must be taken with their construction, for they must be capable of the most intimate interactions with the many and esteemed guests of House Sadar. Each must be capable of performing at least six dances in response to both music and vocal request — the waltz, bachata, tango, paso doble, cotillon, and gavotte. Lord Renn has also requested that they perform, upon command, a coordinated schuchplatter for the entertainment of the guests.

We have the greatest confidence in both your ability to fulfill these needs in the most exemplary of fashions, and also with the most respectful discretion. House Sadar wishes neither any untoward reumours to accrue towards them; nor do they desire that this most splendid display should be anything less than the most exquisite of surprises for the guests of their celebration.

—Majordomo of the Esteemed House of the Merchants Sadar

LETTER FROM GATHAR TO ARQUAD

A.—

Lilith offers to you a pair of great and wondrous gifts. Milady knows the craft of these Tomb Maidens of old, and these have been but recently discovered within a mausoleum in the deep vails of the Quiet. From the vast book of her memory, she speaks of a time when these beautiful maidens of iron were placed as guardians upon the great houses of the dead throughout the southern city-states. Sadly superstition and fear of the necromantic energies which course through their lithe forms led to the practice being outlawed.

Use them for your own protection or dispose of them to whatever profit or advantage you would wish. Lilith cares only that you know the value she places upon you and your work.

Regretfully, this will need to be the last shipment of consequence for at least a fortnight. My brothers among the Deathguild have grown suspicious of my activities. The correct application of additional coin may be required, but I am hopeful that a little time will serve to quiet worried minds. I certainly do not expect any lasting difficulty, but caution is never unwise.

Gathar

BILL FOR THE RATLING ARROWS

Owed: 240gp 5sp

You’re spoiling those ratlings! These arrows are too good for them.

Make sure they keep them in the sheaths we’ve prepared, lest more than your enemies come to regret our work.

The bill has been folded for delivery.
A return address is given on the outer fold:

F. Gld. — Vanguard Street
Guildsman District

Go to Part 18: Vladaam Drug Running

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This shipping facility is used to supply undead to various unsavory interests throughout Ptolus.

MARQUETTE’S TEXTILES: The front of the building masquerades as a high-class clothier. Anyone inquiring about rates, however, is politely informed that they are currently beyond capacity and are not taking on new customers.

BROTHERS ARQUAD: The operation is overseen by a pair of assassin doppelgangers. Both doppelgangers go by the name of Arquad and only Navanna Vladaam knows that there are two of them.

RATLORDS: The Brothers Arquad have hand-picked and groomed the ratlings who work with them in the undead shipping warehouse.

^* Arquad wears a ring which creates a telepathic conection with one of the ratlords in Area 3. (He uses it to summon the ratlord to escort legitimate customers into the back area.)

^** These ratlords each carry longbows and four dreadwood arrows in special sheaths. The ratlords have conditioned themselves to the dreadwood. (DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for as long as they are near dreadwood and 1d6 rounds thereafter.)

Arquad – Doppelganger Assassin: Use stat block for assassin (MM 2024, p. 22), with the following doppelganger traits:

• Cha 14
• Immunities Charmed
• Senses darkvision 60 ft.
• Read Thoughts. Arquad casts detect thoughts, requiring no spell components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 12).
• Unsettling Visage (Recharge 6). Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 15-foot emanation originating from Arquad that see Arquad. Failure: The target has the Frightened condition and repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. After 1 minute, it succeeds automatically.
• Shape-Shift. As a bonus action, Arquad shape-shifts into a Medium or Small Humanoid, or he returns to his true form. Arquad’s game statistics, other than size, are the same in each form. Any equipment Arquad is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed.

Ratlord Fighters: Use stat block for guard captain (MM 2024, p. 162), with the following ratlord traits (Ptolus, p. 592):

• Disease Carrier. Their bites transmit cackle fever.
• Fear of Light. If within 10 feet of a light at least as bright as a torch or lantern, they must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or flee for 1d3 rounds. (These ratlords have already succeeded on this saving throw for the ambient light in the Undead Warehouse.)
• Sneak Attack. Once per turn, the ratlord deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage when it hits its target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of an ally of the ratlord.
• Bite. Melee Attack Roll: +6, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) piercing damage + disease. (Can be used with Multiattack.)
• Dragon Pistol. Ranged Attack Roll: +4. Hit: 6 (1d10+1) piercing damage. (Can be used with Multiattack.)
• Equipment: potion of haste (x2), Vladaam deot ring

Guildsman District
Pitch Street – D8

AREA 1 – MARQUETTE’S TEXTILES

This area appears to be a normal textile shop.

DOOR TO AREA 2 (Steel-Cored): AC 19, 40 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

IRON COFFER: 10% chance of being present.

• 500 gp
• 40,000 sp
• 50,000 cp
• Instructions to have the Ithildin Couriers ship it to the Red Company of Goldsmiths on Gold Street (see Part 12).

AREA 2 – TRAPPED HALLWAY

Old coats hang from wooden pegs on the wall near the door to Area 1.

There are two traps hidden along this back hallway.

SPIKED PIT: Pulling one of the wooden pegs disables the pit trap for 30 seconds.

• DC 14 Wisdom (Perception), DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, 20 ft. deep (2d6 bludgeoning), pit spikes (2d10 piercing), blue whinnis poison (DC 13 Constitution saving throw or 4d10 poison damage).

WAIL OF THE BANSHEE TRAP: Triggered by anyone not wearing (or accompanied by someone wearing) a Vladaam deot ring. The trap emits a terrible scream that alerts everyone in the building and can also kill the unwary.

• DC 24 Wisdom (Perception), DC 20 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) or dispel magic (DC 14) to disable, DC 18 Constitution saving throw (7d8+30 psychic damage, half damage on successful save).

AREA 3 – UNDEAD HOLDING PENS

This large warehouse has a thirty-foot-high ceiling. It’s filled with numerous holding cells (A-J). Along the back wall two wooden towers have been constructed (Area 5 and 6), with doors leading into the towers and ladders on their sides. A catwalk extends between the tops of the two towers (Area 7).

HOLDING CELLS: The cells are stone cubes with a portcullis of iron bars on one side. The portcullises have no visible mechanism for opening them and are instead operated from levers on the catwalk above (Area 7), which cause them to magically levitate into the air.

CELL A: 12 Skeletons (MM 2024, pg. 282)

CELL B: 12 Zombies (MM 2024, pg. 346)

CELL C:

• 2 Tomb Maidens
• Ogre Zombie (MM 2024, p. 346)
• Deathlock (in an antimagic field cell) (Monsters of the Multiverse, pg. 86)

CELL D: The bars and walls of this cell block are made from ethereal metal in order to hold incorporeal undead. DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) recognizes the nature of the metal, in which case you can use the Ethereal Metals handout, below.

• 2 Shadows (MM 2024, pg.272)
• 2 Wraiths (MM 2024, p. 336)

CELL E: Beholder Zombie (in an antimagic field cell) (MM 2024, pg. 347)

CELL F: 2 Minotaur Skeletons (MM 2024, pg. 283)

CELL G: 12 Stitched Zombies

CELL H: 12 Ghouls (MM 2024, pg. 132)

CELL I: 12 Adamantine Skeletons

CELL J: 12 Skeletons (MM 2024, p. 282).

• These skeletons are dressed in formal wear of crushed, purple-black velvets. If released from the cell, they will begin to danace. (They have been specially crafted for a party to be held at House Sadar.)

Stitched Zombies: Use stat block for zombies (MM 2024, p. 346), except that their eyes, ears, and mouths have been stitched shut. They’ve been filled with spiders and when they die, a swarm of insects (MM 2024, pg. 370) emerges.

Adamantine Skeletons: Use stat block for skeletons (MM 2024, pg. 282). Adamantine skeletons have had adamantine metal plates fastened to their bones, greatly fortifying them.

• Armor Class 16
• Damage Vulnerabilities none
• Damage Immunities: Slashing damage from non-magical attacks that aren’t adamantine

ETHEREAL METALS

Ethereal metals are naturally co-existent upon both the Ethereal and Material Planes. As a result, incorporeal creatures can both use and be affected by items crafted from an ethereal metal. Ethereal metals, although expensive, are often used to construct safes and sheathe walls in order to provide a certain degree of security against incorporeal incursions.

Armor built from ethereal metal is effective against incorporeal creatures. It can also be picked up, moved, and worn by incorporeal creatures, although this prevents the incorporeal creature from passing through solid objects. Similarly, weapons crafted from ethereal metal deals damage normally against incorporeal creatures. Such weapons can also be picked up and used by incorporeal creatures at any time. (This effect is similar, but not identical, to the ghost-touch special ability. For example, ghosts can use weapons forged from ethereal metal without manifesting upon the Material Plane.)

To normal sight and an untrained eye an ethereal metal is indistinguishable from its normal equivalent, but it can be detected trivially with true seeing and similar effects.

AREA 4 – SECRET WAREHOUSE DOOR

This door is located in the back wall of the building and leads to the alley. DC 22 Wisdom (Perception) to locate it.

AREA 5 – SEWER ACCESS TOWER

This wooden tower has a lower and upper floor.

LOWER FLOOR: A trap door in the floor leads to the sewers. A ladder leads to the upper floor. A heavy, wooden trestle table with an acid-scarred surface has been shoved up against one wall and there’s a rack of shelving  nailed to the opposite wall.

• Table: On the table is a brass box and a Letter of Caution from Shigmaa Urasta (see handouts). (For more information on Shigmaa Urasta and the Crimson Court, see Ptolus, p. 113 and 110, respectively.)
• Brass Box: This small box contains 12 lesser rings of undead binding, 6 rings of undead binding, and 2 black pearls of undead control.
• Oil Racks: Racks on the wall holds zombie oil (24 vials + 4 vials of control concoction) and necromancer’s oil (10 vials). (See Addendum: Alchemical Lorebooks.)

UPPER FLOOR: The upper floor of the tower is crisscrossed with hammocks, serving as a barracks for the ratlords (who sleep in shifts).

• DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation): There are several caches hidden behind false stones in the walls.
• Caches: potion of remove paralysis, silvered longword, potion of fox’s cunning, potion of goodberry, potion of bear’s endurance, warding bond tokens (matched pair), gems (110 gp red-brown spinel, 11 gp azurite, 30 gp onyx, 40 gp peridot), 100 gp, 6,000 sp, and 23,000 cp.

AREA 6 – ARQUAD’S TOWER

This wooden tower has a lower and upper floor.

LOWER FLOOR: A work area with a desk, chair, and fireplace. A ladder leads to the upper floor.

• Desk: Among other papers, the PCs can find Letter from Aliaster to Arquad, Request from House Sadar, Letter from Gathar to Arquad, and Bill for the Ratling Arrows.

UPPER FLOOR: A simple cot used by Arquad in otherwise empty room with bare walls.

• DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation): There are two iron coffers cunningly built into the frame of the cot. (Each one is used by one of the Arquads.)
• Iron Coffer 1: 821 gp, 1 sp, 9 cp, sard gem (30 gp), rose quartz (40 gp), violet garnet (400 gp)
• Iron Coffer 2: 500 gp

AREA 7 – CATWALK

Ladders ascend the sides of Area 5 and Area 6 to a catwalk which crosses the room. The gates for the undead holding cells are operated from this area. (Twisting control dials cause the magical portcullises to levitate into the air.)

VATS OF HOLY WATER: Two large vats of holy water are positioned at either end of the catwalk. The sides of the vats have silhouette of a tree inlaid in bronze.

• DC 10 Intelligence (Religion): The symbology of the tree identifies it as Aredhel, the sacred ur-tree.
• DC 15 Intelligence (Religion): This specific depiction of Aredhel is associated with the Temple of the Great Mother, a minor cult that used to be active in Ptolus a half decade or so ago.
• GM Background: These vats were placed here to be used in case undead escape from their cells. They were taken from Part 6: The Abandoned Temple of the Great Mother.

Go to Part 17B: Undead Warehouse Handouts

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BUSINESS OF THE VLADAAM SLAVE WAREHOUSE

This collection of posted bills records recent sales and transfers of inventory through the lower warehouse. A sampling of entries include items such as:

• Elven maid, 78 years of age, permanently dominated to any compliance
• Four dwarf workers, dim-witted but strong in thew
• Female child, of island stock
• Boy of sixteen, tongue removed, docile

Most of these slaves are being shipped to an “Ennin slave market” which is apparently located in the Undercity “beneath Delver’s Square” (the slaves are being transported via the sewers). Slaves are also being shipped to three “curse dens” located around the city:

• Curse Den – Guildsman District – Nethar Street
• Curse Den – Oldtown – Yarrow Street
• Curse Den – Rivergate – Outer Ring Row

In addition to slaves, large shipments of something referred to as “liquid pain” are also being shipped to the curse dens from here.

One particular reference of note identifies a batch of slaves as being “held at the behest of the Pactlords”.  Another says that a slave is to be sent “directly to Tridam Island by command of the Pactlord”.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE APPARATUS OF LIQUID PAIN

Detailed anatomical diagrams and accompanying texts explicate the points on the human body to which various tubes, syringes, and metallic attachments are to be placed (while others are stimulated through the use of acupuncture needles, including several needles placed into the optic nerves). The goal is to create “overlapping resonances of agony”, serving as the raw catalyst for withdrawing a substance referred to as “liquid pain” or “agony”.

The full process requires the use of a complicated apparatus capable of generating a “sympathetic resonance” which can be contained within glass cylinders crafted with exact precision.

In addition, the properties of the resulting “liquid pain” are detailed, along with alchemical instructions for how it can be purified and “stabilized”.

AGONY: Also known as “liquid pain”, this thick, reddish liquid is the distilled essence of pain, captured using special spells or items. It is highly sought after by outsiders. Through an alchemical law of antagonism it creates a feeling of intense pleasure in addition to its other effects. Recreational users use small, ceremonial knives to cut themselves and deliver the drug.

A MISSIVE REGARDING SLAVES

Guildmaster Arzan tells me you have a sharp eye. I expect you to practice it now. We are conducting crucial experiments in the apartments on Crossing Street and are in need of experimental stock. We are particularly in need of those with an affinity for metamorphic compounds while also possessing the physical endurance to withstand the experimental techniques. If you observe any such during your service, flag them to my attention immediately.

LETTER TO GUILDMASTER ARZAN

To Arzan, the most illustrious Guildmaster of the Red Company of Magi—

I have recently had an item of most potent power pass into my possession.

While slipping through the Teeth of Light after sailing north towards Trollone, we were blown off course by a strange tempest of silver and black which first seemed to roil the waters beneath us before emerging – or, perhaps more accurately, whipping forth – in what could only be described as a violent evaporation.

I was not certain that the Sarathyn’s Sail would survive the strange gales which ensued, nor the strange manifestations which occurred therein. As for those of my crew who simply vanished during the storm… I pray that they were merely swept into the sea and met their fates in a watery grave, for the alternative is too disturbing to contemplate.

When the storm finally released us from its grasp, we were in ill condition. Fortunately, we found ourselves near a small island with a hospitable cove. We were able to limp our way into this and begin effecting repairs.

While these efforts were under way, I led a small band of men into the island’s interior in search of a fresh water well or spring from which we could resupply. Instead, we stumbled upon a set of cyclopean ruins. These were marked by a great number of carvings, bas reliefs, and statues depicting serpents and, within the deeper recesses of the complex, serpent-headed men.

With dusk closing about us, we returned to the ship, but I vowed to return the next day and continue our explorations. It was at this juncture that the first of my men disappeared. At the time we thought it simply misadventure, but subsequent events would prove this not to be the case.

Returning to the ruins the next day, however, we pushed further into the lower chambers. Within one of these chambers I discovered, among other treasures, a curious ring in the the shape of twin serpents, one of mithril and other of taurum, swallowing each others’ tails. We have been able to ascertain that not only is the ring itself magical, but that it has been constructed to contain some even greater magical enchantment. It is for this reason that I am sending it into your care, in the hopes that perhaps your Red Magi might be able to unlock its secrets.

As for the ruins themselves, it emerged that the serpent-men who had constructed them had not entirely abandoned them. Instead, they appear to have withdrawn into caverns even deeper beneath the island. I suspect that they return to the upper caverns only as a kind of holy pilgrimage. As for what other secrets or lost lore they might be concealing, or what cataclysm precipitated their withdrawal from the sunlit world, I can only speculate.

Yours sincerely,

Captain Crotika

LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER’S GUILD TO CAPTAIN MORSUL

Captain Morsul—

Please accept this hellsbreath rifle, so recently liberated from the Shuul, as a token of good faith from the Founder’s Guild.

You will find it to be a powerful and potent weapon, but extremely dangerous if carelessly used. When priming the gunpowder pump, great care must be taken not to over-pressurize the reservoir of alchemist’s fire. If the reservoir becomes over-pressurized there is a great risk of a back-blast being triggered which can destroy the weapon entirely (and cause great harm to the one wielding it).

Similar caution should also be used when refilling the reservoir, as there can be great risk in the moments during which the alchemist’s fire is exposed to raw air.

Master Astrek
Red Company of Founders
Brass Street

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Beneath its charming exterior, the Eye of the East is a charnel horror of death and despair.

CAPTAIN MORSUL: Captain Morsul is a minotaur vampire, infected during a voyage through the Serpent’s Teeth. Use the stats for a vampire nightbringer (MM 2024, p. 316) with the following traits:

• Strength 18 (+4)
• Languages: Common, Abyssal
• Charge. If Morsul moves at least 10 feet straight toward a target and then hits with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 10 feet away and knocked prone.
• Labyrinthine Recall. Morsul can perfectly recall any path he has traveled.
• Reckless. At the start of his turn, Morsul can gain advantage on all melee attack rolls he makes during that turn, but attack rolls against him have advantage until the start of his next turn.
• Multiattack. Captain Morsul makes one Bite attack, one Shadowstrike attack, and one Gore attack.
• Gore. Melee Attack Roll: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) piercing damage.

VAMPIRE SPAWN: There are 1d4+1 vampire spawn on the Eye of the East. (Morsul creates them from slaves and mutinous crew members, then has them periodically fight in survival-of-the-fittest deathmatches for the entertainment of the crew.)

SHIP MAP: Elven Tower’s Scorpion Ship battlemap. (Minor alterations.)

AREA 1 – MAIN DECK

A fairly typical, double-masted ship’s deck.

CARGO HATCH: A clever device allows a shutter, operable from below, to be drawn across the cargo hatches and cover the grating. (This is unusual, but can both hide the slaves in the cargo bay and protect the ship’s vampires from sunlight.)

AREA 2 – BALLISTAS

The upper deck ballistas are mounted on swivels.

SEARCH — DC 10 Wisdom (Perception): 6 of the bolts at each ballista tipped with alchemist’s fire.

ALCHEMIST’S FIRE BOLTS: 3d10 piercing damage. Target takes 1d10 fire damage at the start of each of their turns.

• GM Background: These bolts are sourced from the Alchemical Lab — Shadowworks.

AREA 3 – CREW QUARTERS

This compartment is filled with crisscrossing hammocks. Additional bed rolls are spread uncomfortably on the floor.

SECURE DOOR: The door to Area 5 is steel-cored and securely locked.

• AC 19, 40 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 4 – STORAGE & CREW

Ship’s stores are kept here. Because Area 3 is too crowded for all of the crew to sleep there, several additional hammocks are also hung high here above the stores.

AREA 5 – SECURE HOLD

This compartment is used to store high-value or sensitive cargo. The ship’s anchor is also operated from here.

AREA 6 – VLADAAM MAGE’S QUARTERS

Makena, the Vladaam Mage assigned to the ship, keeps her quarters here. Their personal belongings include their spellbook, a potion of superior healing, and a djinni’s lamp.

HADIYA THE DJINN: The djinni in the lamp is Hadiya. Makena has come to consider Hadiya her best friend and will spend hours in her quarters just chatting with her. Hadiya, however, yearns for freedom from her imprisonment.

AREA 7 – CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS

The portholes of this aft cabin are draped with thick, black velvet curtains which have been securely fastened and block out all light. An everburning lamp is built into the desk and casts long, dancing shadows around the compartment.

BED: Concealed beneath the bed is a coffin of mahogany inlaid with jet (worth 3,000 gp).

DESK: On the desk is a box of red jade containing three onyxes each painted with a dragon’s head. (The box is worth 750 gp. Each onyx is worth 75 gp.) Also on the desk is a Letter from the Founder’s Guild to Captain Morsul (see handouts).

AREA 8 – SLAVE HOLD

Dozens of shackles are attached to the walls and to long metal bars running along the floor.

AREA 9 – VAMPIRE SPAWN QUARTERS

These rooms are used by the vampire spawn. The bedclothes are soiled and smeared with blood and filth.

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Named after Myliesha, an elven goddess of the wind (Ptolus, p. 73), the Myliesh’a Sail is the smallest vessel in the Fleet of Iron Sails. It’s notable for being the only ship in the fleet not armed with cannon or ballista. The absence of ship weaponry allows the Sail to avoid inspections at certain foreign ports, making it easier for them to engage in smuggling, slave-trade, and other illicit activities.

CAPTAIN CROTIKA: Use stats for pirate captain (MM 2024, p. 242).

SHIP’S MAP: Fat Goblin Games’ Simple Ship battlemap.

AREA 1 – MAIN DECK

The deck is well-scrubbed and kept in good order. Despite this, a large, black stain extends from the cargo hatch and runs for several feet across the deck. (Anyone watching onboard activity will notice that crewmembers avoid stepping on the stain.)

STAIN: Careful inspection notes that there are small arcane runes carved into the surface of the stain. Anyone stepping on the stain is must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be affected as per bestow curse.

DC 14 Intelligence (Arcana): The stain is from a blood curse. Someone cursed their own blood and then spilt it upon the deck in order to place a curse upon the Myliesha’s Sail. (GM Note: This was a lizardman witch who was being transported as a slave.)

DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana): The arcane runes are designed to seal in the curse. This prevents it from affecting the ship, but it would still be a good idea to avoid stepping on it.

CARGO HATCH: The cargo hatch is secured with a pair of hefty padlocks.

• AC 19, 7 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 2 – THE WHEEL

The wheel is coated with dragon bile (contact poison, DC 20 Constitution saving throw, 5d6 poison damage (half on save), and disadvantage on Strength checks). Crewmembers know to wear gloves while steering the ship.

AREA 3 – CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS

TABLE: On the table is a small mahogany box containing a ring of counterspells (a serpent of mithril and a serpent of taurum, the true gold, swallowing each other’s tails) and Letter to Guildmaster Arzan (see handouts).

Ring of Counterspells (rare, requires attunement)

This ring might seem like a ring of spell storing upon first examination. However, while it allows a single spell of 1^st through 5^th level to be cast into it, that spell cannot be cast out of the ring again. Instead, should that spell ever be cast upon the wearer, the spell is immediately countered, as if per a counterspell. If a counterspell is casting into the ring, it can be used to counter any spell, as per the spell.

Once used, the spell cast within the ring is gone. A new spell (or the same one as before) may be placed in it again.

GM Background: This ring was recovered from ruins in the Serpent’s Teeth. It currently contains a gate seal spell and it’s possible the Red Magi might be able to research the spell by studying the ring. (The gate seal spell can be found in Planescape: Sigil and the Outlands.)

IRON COFFER: 465 gp, 79 pp, potion of blur

• Lock: DC 16 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 4 – SHIP SUPPLIES & ARMORY

In addition to hard tack, barrels of water, rope, and other necessary supplies, this room contains an unusual number of weapons:

• scimitars & dragon pistols (Ptolus, p. 522), enough to arm the sailors
• dragon rifles (Ptolus, p. 522) to arm the Advanced Vladaam Guards

AREA 5 – VLADAAM MAGE’S QUARTERS

The Vladaam Mage assigned to the ship keeps their quarters here. Their personal belongings include their spellbook, a potion of superior healing, and a shield of missile attraction (that they’re studying).

AREA 6 – CREW QUARTERS

This chamber is filled with crisscrossing hammocks and where most of the crew sleep.

DOOR: The door leading to the hold is steel-cored and securely locked.

• AC 19, 40 hp, DC 18 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)

AREA 7 – HOLD

Although Myliesha’s Sail transports slaves, they usually carry no more than a half load, and often much less than that.

Greater effort is made to keep the hold well maintained and cleaned (with the Vladaam Mages using prestidigitation spells, among other measures), making it easier for the ship to fulfill its role as a smuggler when the hold is used for mundane goods (or seemingly mundane goods).

Go to Vladaam Slave Ship – Eye of the East