Cav­ern of Stars

Table of con­tents

Cav­ern of Stars 2

A tran­quil mon­as­tery built into the moun­tain, into a cave of lu­min­es­cent gems. Many of those, who still the many who mourn their lives or losses travel here to med­it­ate in peace. Only those given per­mis­sion by a Plan­etar, Mydaiel, can enter into the Cav­ern of Stars.

It is staffed by Hound Arch­on’s, who act as care­takers, guards, and ad­min­is­trat­ors of the mon­as­tery. There are two guards, three care­takers, and one ad­min­is­trator.

Si­lence is ex­pec­ted in the Cav­ern of Stars, though tele­pathic com­mu­nic­a­tion and non-verbal com­mu­nic­a­tion is al­lowed. The pa­tients are likely to re­port any­body un­ex­pec­ted to the Hound Arch­ons, though this won’t be taken ser­i­ously im­me­di­ately be­cause of how un­ex­pec­ted and un­likely it is.

Any vis­it­ors who break these rules will be asked to leave by the Hound Arch­ons, though only the guards will show force, and even that will only be in the most dire of situ­ations. The Hound Arch­ons will alert su­per­i­ors if any­body break­ing the rules ap­pears.

The in­side of the Cav­ern of Stars is Hal­lowed. Ce­les­ti­als are ex­cluded from the nor­mal ef­fects. In ad­di­tion, bright light fills the area. Ma­gical dark­ness cre­ated by spells of a lower than level 8 can’t ex­tin­guish the light.

Cav­ern of Stars In­terior 2

In the deeper in­terior, the cor­ridors and rooms have the fol­low­ing de­scrip­tion

The walls and floors are the same ma­ter­ial as the outer cave but are pol­ished in­stead. Carvings with mark­ings filled with gold, and painted mur­als cover the walls de­pict­ing peace­ful vis­tas and godly fig­ures. Oc­ca­sion­ally, there is a statue of an an­gel or other an­gelic be­ing.

The Grand Door­way 2

The path is steep up the moun­tain. To your right, a steep val­ley with a river flow­ing through it; the river flows from out of a cave be­low - a light shin­ing out of it.

At the end of the path, large marble doors are built into the cliff. Two an­gelic statues stand be­side the door, hold­ing their swords over the door­way. A large garden is built around the door­way and statues, filled with small wa­ter fea­tures, benches and chairs.

Just in front of the marble doors, a single Hound Archon is stand­ing guard.

A main door is guarded by a Hound Archon, Dram­mer. He is un­der or­ders to guard the en­trance and to al­low pre-agreed people into the mon­as­tery. These must be checked with the mon­as­tery ad­min­is­trator on their ar­rival. He is a loyal guard and fol­lows these or­ders without ques­tion or hes­it­a­tion, though per­haps a little too the let­ter.

Mor­can­loth may be “rest­ing” in the gar­dens in a new dis­guise, if he reaches the Cav­ern of Stars be­fore them.

Be­hind the large doors, you can see a cor­ridor. Bright light, as if it was a bright sum­mer’s day, shines out from in­side. Deeper in­side, it glistens.

This door­way leads to the Bal­cony of Joy.

Bal­cony of Joy 2

You walk into a marble en­trance hall and out onto a huge white stone bal­cony that over­looks an im­mense cav­ern. The cav­ern’s sur­face is covered in spark­ling stones and iri­des­cent gems. Mil­lions of pin­pricks of light shine upon you from the walls - though you can’t see a light source. The cav­ern is roughly cir­cu­lar, about 100ft across in all dir­ec­tions, ex­cept to the east where it opens out through a nat­ural arch.

Straight ahead, to the north, a huge nat­ural pil­lar, shin­ing like everything else, rises from the bot­tom of the cav­ern. Around the pil­lar is a marble plat­form - an­other garden, some­body tend­ing to it. A bridge crosses from the bal­cony you’re on across to the cent­ral plat­form.

Across to the north-east there’s a smal­ler bal­cony, tables and chairs are laid out. This bal­cony is sep­ar­ate with no vis­ible path­ways to it.

To your left, the bal­cony nar­rows to a path around the edge of the cave, reach­ing a door on the far-west side of the cav­ern. An­other bridge spans from this door across to the cent­ral pil­lar.

To your right, a marble stair­way fol­lows around the edge of the cav­ern, down­wards. In the area 50ft be­low the bal­cony, a few people are spar­ring with wooden swords, spears, and staffs. To the east, be­low the huge arch­way, is a large sil­very lake, a river flows from this out of the cav­ern, be­low you, to the south, a bridge crosses it.

Im­me­di­ately to your left, in the en­trance hall, is a marble door­way.

The only sound you here is the wa­ter flow­ing and the wood weapons hit­ting each other.

If the play­ers are in sight of the door across the other side of the cav­ern:

Hid­den be­hind the cent­ral pil­lar, you can now see an ad­di­tional bridge across to an­other door on the far North side.

There are four en­trances and exits:

• the door to the west leads to the West Res­id­ency En­trance.
• the door to the north leads to the North Res­id­ency En­trance.
• the stair­way down to the right leads to Lower Cav­ern East.
• the door im­me­di­ately on the left leads to the Ad­min­is­trat­or’s Room.

Ad­min­is­trat­or’s Room 2

Or­derly scrolls and books line the shelves of marble room. Sit­ting at a desk is a Hound Archon, deep in its work.

A Hound Archon, Brammer, is the ad­min­is­trator of the Cav­ern of Stars.

If he meets the char­ac­ters, he will ask who they are and will check to see if they are al­lowed in. If not, he try to es­cort them out.

Cav­ern Pil­lar 2

Around the cent­ral pil­lar, is a beau­ti­ful garden. Trees flour­ish, the beds are full of strange and won­der­ful flowers, huge ivies drape over the edge. A dwarf, dressed in white, tends the gar­dens in si­lence. A Hound Archon dressed in robes stands with them.

The dwarf is An­den Bar­rel­back

River From a Cav­ern 2

A wide river runs out of the cave, the wa­ter runs quickly. Walk­ing through the wa­ter dir­ectly will take a DC17 strength check. Hanging on the edges will take a DC16 strength check.

This river leads into the cave, a bright light shines.

Read a mod­i­fied ver­sion of the Bal­cony of Joy if the play­ers suc­cess­fully enter this way.

Lower Cav­ern East 2

A stair­way curves up to­wards the up­per bal­cony.

Lower Cav­ern Train­ing Area 2

A large marble floor with wooden weapons. An elf, Ayas Vir­rin, and a halfling, Grifo Hope­singer, are spar­ring.

West Res­id­ency En­trance 2

This also ap­plies to the North Res­id­ency En­trance:

There are six doors here, three on each the left and the right. The middle door on the right is open. Be­side each of the doors is an in­scrip­tion (in ce­les­tial). At the end of the cor­ridor, an arch­way opens out into an­other room.

North Res­id­ency En­trance 2

See the de­scrip­tion for Cav­ern of Stars In­terior.

There are three doors:

• one to the left, to the kit­chen, where the char­ac­ters can smell food be­ing cooked
• to the right is an open door to the stor­e­room
• straight ahead is a closed door to the baths

The cor­ridor also goes off to the left and to the right, just past the nearest doors.

Go­ing left, there’s a longer cor­ridor, with five rooms on the right and four rooms on the left, and an open arch­way at the end. The closest door on the left is the lib­rary, the rest are abodes.

Go­ing right, there’s a shorter cor­ridor with an open arch­way at the end.

Gal­lery 2

Paint­ings show heroic battles between an­gels and demons, fam­ous good deeds, Mount Ce­les­tia, and mag­ni­fi­cent re­li­gious build­ings. Statues de­pict gods, the Triad and lesser gods, and an­gels.

One of these paint­ings in here shows the Temple of the Cor­rupt Orb.

Din­ing Hall 2

A large din­ing hall with or­nate tables and fine cloths.

The child, Kya, can usu­ally be found eat­ing here.

Baths 2

A shared bathing pool is carved into the cave rock, the wa­ter flow­ing over a marble wall on the far side into an­other huge cave. Des­pite the cave be­ing the same ma­ter­ial as the out­side, it’s mostly in dark­ness, some light from the bathing area re­flect­ing back. Steam­ing wa­ter tumbles out of a hole in the east wall.

A half-elf is bathing.

The half-elf is JJhaan Yel­nan.

Stor­age 2

A stor­age room full of fine meats and fruit.

Kit­chen 2

A Hound Archon is pre­par­ing food in here.

Lib­rary 2

A large lib­rary, study, and art stu­dio. It has large open arched win­dows that open out into the cav­ern.

Qia Qian can usu­ally be found here.

Abodes 2

These are the liv­ing quar­ters of the souls who in­habit the Cav­ern of Stars. Some have been here for months, oth­ers, for thou­sands of years.

Abode 1, Ayas Vir­rin 2

The door is closed. Ayas Vir­rin is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

In­side the room:

A broadsword sword hangs on the wall, an­cient runes in­scribed, the blade melted. The in­terior is simple, a bed and a desk. A suit of ar­mour is on a stand, with a sword in hand. Most of the room is taken up by a statue in the shape of a small dragon.

On the desk, is a rough draw­ing of a wo­man fight­ing a dragon.

This is the room of an elf fighter, Aras Vir­rin, who lost a battle to a young black dragon who stole her daugh­ter. She is likely to be spar­ring with Grifo Hope­singer in the train­ing area.

The dragon statue will wake if they pick up the sword (and will sleep if they put down the sword). It’s a Young Black Dragon con­struct. It has the ad­di­tional dam­age im­munit­ies of poison, psychic; bludgeon­ing, pier­cing, and slash­ing from non­ma­gical at­tacks not made with adam­antine weapons. It also has the con­di­tion im­munit­ies, charmed, ex­haus­tion, frightened, para­lysed, pet­ri­fied, poisoned. It has the pro­po­erty Im­mut­able Form. It can­not use its Acid Breath at­tack.

Abode 2, An­den Bar­rel­back 2

The door is locked. A suc­cess­ful DC 10 Dex­ter­ity Check to pick the lock, or a DC 18 Strength check to break the door down. An­den Bar­rel­back is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

The room’s walls are full of im­ages of plants and fungi. Plants are grow­ing around the room. Two small birds flut­ter around the room, and a hare bounces around.

This is the room of a dwarf ranger, An­den Bar­rel­back, who be­came lost and caused his party to die after mis­tak­ing two mush­rooms - a mis­take he never should have made. He can usu­ally be found around the cent­ral pil­lar garden.

Abode 3, Faurin 2

The door is closed. Faurin is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

His room is full of books and scrolls stacked neatly or on large shelves. A map of De­naura is on one of the walls. A simple bed is in one corner, a large desk in an­other. A fire­place and a small arm­chair closer to the en­trance.

A hu­man sits quietly at the desk, you re­cog­nise him as Faurin, the ghost that you once fought in the Tomb of the Lost Den­hari. Though still gaunt and sad, his hair is thicker and his eyes are no longer blood­shot.

This is where [Faurin][faurin] rests. He knows about Ely­dir’s old plans and her want to com­bine the pieces of the Staff of Skon­arith. He knows the loc­a­tion through the hid­den path, and the pass­word to “un­bind”.

Abode 4, Is­ad­ore of Gill­hall 2

The door is closed. Is­ad­ore of Gill­hall is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

A man dressed in finery is paint­ing a mural on the wall, tears stream­ing down his face. A Hound Archon dressed in simple whites stands be­side him.

The room is full of fine items, a large bed. Thick cur­tains cover the walls.

This is the room of a no­ble­man who died un­able to save his town from a flood after warn­ing a sign from the gods. He is usu­ally in his room.

Abode 5, Qia Qian 2

The door is open. Qia Qian is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

Holy sym­bols of many sym­bols cover the room’s walls.

A holy book is on a lectern, a pas­sage high­lighted in ce­les­tial, “Those who fail to pro­tect their people are not worthy.”

The room of a hu­man priest, Qia Qian who ques­tions his wor­thi­ness, des­pite lead­ing a self­less life. She can usu­ally be found in the Lib­rary.

Abode 6, Menna Saz 2

The door is closed. Menna Saz is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

In a simple room, a wo­man is lean­ing against a Hound Archon, weep­ing quietly.

A hu­man com­moner, Menna Saz, who’s wife was evil. She is usu­ally found in her room, mourn­ing.

Abode 7, Grifo Hope­singer 2

The door is closed. Grifo Hope­singer is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

A room full of statues of gods and an­gels, large weapons, and suits of ar­mour.

A halfling an­cient paladin knight, Grifo Hope­singer who failed to de­feat an evil in­va­sion of orcs. She can usu­ally be found train­ing with Ayas Vir­rin.

Abode 8, Zat-Kor-Zor Zojivihd 2

The door is closed. Zat-Kor-Zor Zojivihd is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

A very bare room, a simple mat­tress and a staff.

A hu­man wo­man wear­ing simple clothes sits in the middle of the room, med­it­at­ing, she will open her eyes an­grily when the play­ers enter.

A monk who never achieved en­light­en­ment. She is usu­ally med­it­at­ing in her room.

Abode 9, Kya 2

This door is ajar. Kya is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

A room filled with toys and simple books. A small bed has a stuffed bear on it.

A hu­man girl, lost and con­fused. She is usu­ally eat­ing in the din­ing area. She will be the most likely to talk to the play­ers not truly un­der­stand­ing the rules of the si­lence, but she will do so nervously. She will be­come at­tached to the most hu­man char­ac­ter, or one that shows her the most af­fec­tion.

Abode 10 2

This door is locked. A suc­cess­ful DC 12 dex­ter­ity check, or a suc­cess­ful strength strength check of 18 will open the door. Danger is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

The room is empty apart from a single flower, dark sil­ver, light sil­ver, and light purple petals.

The door to this room will auto­mat­ic­ally close if not propped open.

The flower if touched will let out a pois­on­ous gas. Any creature in the room must suc­ceed on a DC 18 Con­sti­tu­tion sav­ing throw or be para­lysed for 4 hours. If they all suc­cumb, they will be taken to the cent­ral pil­lar gar­dens.

This flower, the True An­gel’s Acon­itum, if pre­pared cor­rectly, can be used to cre­ate a Po­tion of Re­move Curse.

Abode 11, Jhaan Yel­nan 2

The door is closed. Jhaan Yel­nan is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

A room full of pot­tery, tapestries, and homely items. A fire­place is built into the corner. Simple hand-made fur­niture fills the room.

A half-elf, Jhaan Yel­nan who ac­ci­dent­ally killed in­hab­it­ants of a neigh­bour­ing vil­lage due to an ill­ness. The half-elf can usu­ally be found bathing.

Abode 12 2

The door is closed. Noth­ing is en­graved on the plaque on the door.

The room is empty.

Abode 13, As­im­ina 2

The door is closed. As­im­ina is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

Orbs and scrolls are in piles around the room.

In the centre of the room, an elf in deep red robes chants and moves her arms in com­plex man­oeuvres.

An elvish sor­cerer, As­im­ina, who tried to avoid us­ing her powers dur­ing her life­time. In a mo­ment of des­per­a­tion, she ac­ci­dent­ally des­troyed her own vil­lage and her­self in a surge of wild ma­gic, try­ing to heal her mother. She spends her time try­ing to per­fect the spells to not have a wild ma­gic surge. She killed her whole fam­ily.

If she is dis­trac­ted, this will fail. She will have a look of ter­ror across her face and scream “nooo-”. As a wild ma­gic surge, she will cast fire­ball as a 3rd-level spell centred on her­self.

Abode 14, Al­mar Tor­rie 2

The door is closed. Al­mar Tor­rie is en­graved on a plaque in Ce­les­tial on the door.

The room con­tains a bed, an easel, and lots of un­fin­ished paint­ings.

An hu­man artist, Al­mar Tor­rie, who failed to com­plete his work for the local church which was then des­troyed in an un­re­lated light­ning strike. He can usu­ally be found in the gal­lery.