Wolfran Manor uses the map for Foxglove manor in Pathfinder issue 2, with a few alterations. The only real change is that the map is rotated 180 degrees so that North is South.
Map of Wolfran Manor
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Table of Contents
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The following is a room by room walkthrough of the manor.
Wolfran Manor
Main Floor
B1 - Ruined Servants quarters
It’s impossible to tell how many floors the outbuilding that stood here once had, for all that remains are the crumbling stones of its foundation. The stones still bear scorches and cracks from the fire that destroyed the building long ago. To the east, a four-foot-wide stone well sits, partially collapsed, in the corner of the ruins.
The well drops 100 feet into a 50-foot-deep pool of rainwater. Just above the level of the water, a passageway leads southwest into area B32. An overhang makes it difficult to notice this opening from above—if the PCs can see this far into the darkness, it’s a DC 25 Spot check to notice the passage from the surface (this DC accounts for distance modifiers).
Creatures: The first time the PCs pass by this area, a few sickly looking ravens are perched atop the foundation stones; they fly clumsily away once approached. As the PC's sit investigate they notice more and more birds approaching until hundreds upon thousands of ravens sit quietly in this area, covering every square foot of the ruins. These ravens are disturbingly silent and still, watching as one as the PCs approach. As soon as anyone comes within 30 feet, the ravens take to the air and swoop to attack, only then revealing their true natures. These ravens are, in fact, three swarms of undead birds known as carrionstorms, created when carrion birds feed upon ghoul-tainted flesh. The carrionstorms can sense Wolfran's influence in the area, and although the evil spirit cannot control them directly, the birds do their best to kill anyone attempting to enter the manor. They pursue foes as far as the road back down the hillside.
Carrionstorms (5) CR 1
hp 13 each; see page 83 of Pathfinder 2
B2 - Entrance Hall
The sound of the house straining and creaking gives this long, highceilinged room an additional sense of age and decay. The place smells damp, the unpleasant tinge of mold lacing the air as surely as it stains the wooden floor, walls, and furniture in pallid patches. A curving flight of stairs to the south winds up to the upper floor, while a pair of large stone fireplaces brood to the north and south. Heavy dark-blue curtains hang over the windows, and the frames above each of the two doors are carved with dancing gargoyles and skeletons. Trophies hang on the wall to the northeast: a boar, a bear, a firepelt cougar, and a stag, their glassy eyes staring from fur crusted with mold and cobwebs, yet they pale in comparison to the monster on display in the center of the room. Here crouches a twelve-foot-long creature with the body of a lion, a scorpion’s tail fitted with dozens of razor barbs, huge bat-like wings, and a deformed humanoid face. The stuffed beast’s poorly maintained fur has fallen away in places, allowing the sawdust filling it to sift out into tiny mounds on the platform below.
Nothing major occurs the first time the PCs enter this room, although you should allow the PCs a DC 20 Listen check—success indicates that they hear what sounds like a brief set of sobs coming from somewhere upstairs. These noises come from Iesha in area B24—feel free to ask the PCs to make additional Listen checks now and then to catch a brief snatch of her sobbing as they explore the manor.
Haunt: The first time the PCs enter this area, the PC haunted by burning catches a momentary whiff of burning hair and flesh.
The second time the PCs pass through this area, the haunting manifests in a much more dramatic manner, as the manticore (killed and preserved by Traver Wolfran) lurches to sudden life, its face shifting to resemble that of Derick Wolfran and its fur erupting into flame. Its tail strikes forward against the victim in an attempt to burn him, then returns to normal.
Burning Manticore CR 3
Type burning
Notice Spot DC 20; Effective HD 6
Eff ects
Trigger proximity; Reset automatic (24 hours)
Effect Atk +8 touch (burning stinger against one target in area B2, 4d6 fire damage); Reflex DC 15 to avoid catching on fire (these flames burn only the haunted target, and cannot spread to other creatures or objects)
B3. The Spiral Stain
A rather gruesome antique—what appears to be a mummified monkey head—hangs on the northern wall here. A bellpull extends from the monkey’s gaping mouth. A ratty throw rug partially obscures a foul stain of dark-colored dried blood on the floor.
The stain under the rug is about ten feet across, a swirling pattern of seemingly dried black blood that stains the floor. If examined closely with a DC 20 Search check, it looks almost like an image of a spiraling staircase descending downward, with each step littered with skulls and bones. The stain itself is a harmless reminder of Lady Wolfran's death. The spiraling staircase hints at the secret of Lord Wolfran's dead wife in the basement, below the spot, a secret the two brothers shared.
Treasure: The monkey head is actually a minor wondrous item called the hungry decapitant. When the attached rope is pulled, the head gives out a shrill simian shriek akin to an alarm spell. The strange curio, one of the few remaining from Traver’s time in the house, was used to signal the start of dinner. It can be removed from the wall easily, and continues to function thereafter. It’s worth 500 gp.
B4. Dining Room
A large mahogany table surrounded by high-backed chairs sits in this room. The table is covered by a moldy white cloth, and a cobweb-choked chandelier hangs from the ceiling above. Twin fireplaces loom to the east, while to the west, a bank of stained glass windows obscures what could have been a breathtaking view of the Thunder Sea. Sitting at the table, which is set as if for a meal, are two soulbound dolls resembling twin 5 year old children.
The soulbound dolls are not hostile at first, and will even interact with the party, but they are CE by nature and will eventually seek a way to gain the upper hand and attack the party armed with kitchen knives unawares. The dolls go by the name of Thomas and Treja, and were fashioned with a piece of Wolfran's soul.
B5. Lounge (EL 4)
This dusty room features a long couch, its cushions caked with white sheets of wispy fungus. The couch faces a stone fireplace with capering imps and birds carved along its mantel. Eddies of dust skitter along the warped floorboards as if caught up by a slight breeze, yet no wind is noticeable in the air.
Haunt: Any character who examines the dust closely and makes a DC 20 Spot check notices that the dust seems to be being disturbed, as if an invisible person were pacing violently back and forth before the fireplace—footprints even manifest momentarily in the dust with each step before fading from view.
A character who attempts to pass through the path of the unseen pacer exposes himself to a brief flash of memory—a woman’s memory filled with worry about what her husband might be doing on those late nights spent in the basement. An instant later, the character is suddenly convinced that one of the other PCs is his child, and develops a powerful urge to escape the house with that PC before something horrible happens.
Worried Wife CR 3
Type universal
Notice Listen DC 18 (to hear a woman’s voice whisper, “Lorey”—this was the name of Iesha and Wolfran's daughter) Effective HD 8
Eff ects
Trigger proximity; Reset automatic (24 hours)
Effect spell effect (suggestion to drag another PC out of the house to area B1, likely into the gathering mass of carrionstorms; Will DC 13 resists; CL 8th)
B6. Washroom (CR 1/3)
This is a simple washroom. An ancient metal washtub stands to the west, a ring of mildew crusting its inner surface. A strange, furtive scratching comes from inside the tub.
Creature: Rats have always been a problem in Wolfran Manor, especially now. The creatures nest in the walls and caverns below, and most of them have been exposed to the dangerous mold growing in area B37. The few cats which were owned by the Wolfran's preyed on those very rats and are now paying the diseased consequences. A sickly cat has fallen into the tub and cannot escape. The creature is a horrific and pitiful sight, a cat whose face and back are a dripping, pulsing mass of raw tumors and sores. The cat is blind; the tumors have grown over its eyes, but it can still use scent to locate anyone nearby—if it does so, it begins shrieking and squeaking in a frenzy, making a DC 25 Climb check each round in a desperate attempt to clamber out of the tub and feed on anyone it smells.
B7. Research Library (EL 3) (CHANGE)
This room is in the south-east corner of the mansion. A double-door leads outside to a second path in. The door is thick glass and metal, and rusted shut. The inside of the room is cluttered with arcane and psionic junk and books scattered over an assortment of tables and shelves. Various crystals hang in the windows, and energy thrums in the air. A scrabbling in the corner draws your attention to the pitiful starving monkey in a small cage. The monkey has a green crystal embedded in it's forehead, and sitting on a chair next to the cage is a matching crystal embedded in a leather headband laced with copper wire.
This room is the public research library for Lord Wolfran. He spent quite a few nights in here poring over arcane formulas and psionic artifacts, as well as experimenting with psionic control, hence the headband apparatus. The monkey is at 0hp, and 3 constitution. It is extremely hungry and will attempt to bite anything edible that comes near it's mouth. If it is given anything to eat it will bring it's mood to indifferent with it's feeder and then any further tending will bring it up to friendly. The headband, if worn, will help control the monkey as per the suggestion spell, with a minor difference, it requires a dc10 concentration check each round to maintain the suggestion effect. With a successful psicraft 15 check to understand the subtle nuances of the psionic matrix, the concentration check is reduced to 5.
In a crate next to the monkey are the following; A potion of cure light wounds, a potion of cure poison, a vial of crushed Striped Toadstool (Wisdom reducing ingested poison), and a healer's kit.
On the table there are a few books regarding elemental binding and the history of Dal Quor. The crystals in the windows are largely worthless, except for one particularly finely cut pink one which could fetch 20gp for it's craftsmanship. Among the writings is a thin journal detailing the process by which to reverse the memory burial on Traven. The journal is bound in dark leather and stamped with the seal of Lord Wolfran, which glitters with a diamond dust. The seal is actually a glyph of warding, set to detonate into 3d8 electric damage if anyone tries to open the journal without saying the word “Blood”. The journal is only 16 pages, but is so full of runes and arcane/psionic jargon that it takes a successful dc 18 decipher script check to read it, (Any ranks in knowledge Arcana/Psionics reduces the dc by 2, and knowing draconic also lowers the dc by 2), which takes 15 minutes. May take 10 on the check and take 2 ½ hours to read it. The last page with the critical instructions, namely the command word, is encoded. It takes a decipher script 15, and 1 hour to decode it. The correct command word gleaned is “Iesha”, and if the check fails by 5 or more then the PC's erroneously believe they correctly deduced the word to be “Jasper”, which will in fact detonate a gem bomb inside Traven's skull, dealing 6d6 dmg to all within 30 feet.
A ring is also on the desk, this was Wolfran's personal protection ring for experimenting with Elementals, it will resist the first 10 points of an attack of it's chosen energy type, chosen once per day, for a total of 20 points of damage a day. To select the energy it resists, the wearer must name the color of the chromatic dragon which it corresponds to; White, Red, Black, Blue.
B8. Drawing Room
This cozy-looking drawing room is marred by the unnatural dampness and the thick sheets of mold that cling to the curtains closed over the southern window.
A character who opens the curtains sees a brief glimpse of a forlorn woman’s face reflected in the window beyond—Iesha’s. The reflection vanishes an instant later and does not remanifest.
B9. Library (EL 5)
This library features a pair of chairs, one of which lies on its side, set before a stone fireplace. Every available inch of wall space features floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with books, their spines riddled with mold. A hunting bow, which radiates a faint magical aura, leans against the fallen chair. A brightly colored scarf, its reds and golds contrasting sharply with the drab, moldy palette of the room, is draped over the side of the fallen chair. A single book, open and face-down, sits on the floor between the chairs. A stone bookend, carved to look like a praying angel with butterfly wings, lies on its side in the fireplace itself.
An investigation of this room reveals some disturbing clues. A splash of dried blood stains the back of the northernmost chair, and an examination of the bookend reveals more blood, clots of hair, and bits of skull and flesh—in addition, part of one wing has been broken off and is missing. An adequate search also reveals a mwk minorly magical dagger (Deals 1 point of cold dmg) with dried blood on it's tip kicked underneath a bookshelf.
Haunt: This room was where Derick murdered his brother only a few short months ago. When he was explaining the process to making the airship his brother ridiculed it's plausibility. In a rage Derick began fighting with him, choking him with Iesha's long forgotten scarf. Traver slipped a dagger from his belt and stabbed his brother in the leg, and Lord Wolfran screamed in pain, smacking the knife away and then snatching a bookend from the shelf. He brained the young hunter/wizard apprentice with the bookend, knocking him senseless, then dropped the bookend when he realized what he had done.
This room’s haunt activates as soon as the PC haunted by vengeance approaches within 5 feet of the fallen chair.
Traven's Vengeance CR 4
Type vengeful
Notice Spot DC 15 (to notice the scarf moving on its own); Effective HD 8
Eff ects
Trigger proximity; Reset automatic (24 hours)
Effect When Iesha’s scarf unerringly wraps around the haunted character’s throat, he must make a DC 16 Will save to avoid being paralyzed with fear as a ghostly image of Derick manifests before him and appears to be using the scarf to choke him to death; at the same moment, the haunted character loses sense of himself and believes he has become Traver. He must then make a DC 15 Fortitude save—success indicates he merely takes 2d6 points of nonlethal damage, but failure indicates he is immediately reduced to –5 hit points and is dying.
Treasure: Once the haunt is over, Iesha’s scarf settles to the ground, lifeless. It is a work of art worth 100 gp, and can be used to influence Traven's memories.
Upper Floor
B10. Stairwell
As PCs traverse this flight of stairs, their footsteps echo back at them a round later, as though an invisible person were following them. Although this might seem like a supernatural haunting, the effect is purely natural—the noise is simply the floorboards settling back after they are walked upon.
B11. Traven's Bedroom (EL 3)
This bedroom features a double bed, fireplace, wardrobe and a small chest. Cracked windows peer out into the northern water. Above the fireplace there is a painting of Traven, very much alive, standing on the prow of a yacht as it rocks in the water, tied to a dock, the brass placard reads “Ever yearning to set sail”
This was Traven's old room. He didn't stay here much, only when he wanted to take a break from his adventuring to visit his brother and their family. In the wardrobe are several sets of fine clothing including; A Noble's Outfit (All forest greens with tiny emeralds and sapphires, an extravagant hat tops it off), 2 different explorer's outfits, a sailing outfit (rugged leather boots, a heavy cotton shirt, grey leather pants and a red bandana), and a cold weather outfit (Heavy wool coat and a heavy fur cap). In amongst this is a fine set of leather boots which grant a +2 to profession(Sailor) checks, and a quiver of minor magic arrows, each arrow does 1 extra point of it's specified energy damage. There are 2 each of Fire,Cold,Electricity,Acid,Sonic, as well as 2 Silver, 2 Cold Iron, 2 Byeshk and 1 Adamantine.
In the chest is a masterworked mini-harp, Traven's favored instrument, and a set of fingerless gloves which grant a +2 bonus to Perform (String Instrument) checks. Also a wand of Animate Rope with 8 charges.
The painting can assist in restoring Traven's memories if shown to him.
B12. Musicians’ Gallery
This large room features two padded chairs and a long couch facing a wide alcove lined with stained-glass windows. Several music stands lean against the southern wall next to a violin, two flutes, and a large harp; all three instruments are in poor condition.
This used to be where the four Wolfrans would come and play music together. Traven on the Harp, Wolfran and Iesha on the flutes and Lorey on the Violin. When a character goes near any one of the instruments they come alive and begin slowly playing a mournful tune. It is then that Iesha's ghost appears, sitting on the windowsill, asking to be rid of her hateful husband. If a character begins to play one of their own instruments, Iesha joins in playing all four simultaneously and then at the end of the performance thanks the musician, and pulls forth a key from a secret compartment in the windowsill. The compartment can otherwise be found with a detect secret doors spell or effect, or a search dc 25. The key is to the lockbox in the office, B18.
B13. Lorey's Bedroom
This bedroom is small, with a childsized bed, which has a heavy dent in it from Lorey's catatonic stay. It is otherwise bare, and unkempt, smelling of mold and decay.
Frightened Child CR 3
Type obsessed
Notice Listen DC 15 (to hear the sound of a child sobbing); Effective HD 6
Eff ects
Trigger proximity; Reset automatic (24 hours)
Effect The haunted character suddenly becomes convinced that his father is out to kill them. He has visions of his father chasing his mother through the house, catching up to her on a few occasions to lay a blow on her before she escapes again, before catching up to her in the main bedroom and kicking in the door to strangle her with her own scarf. The character who has this vision must make a dc 15 will save or take 1d4 wis damage from the psychic afterlash and the nagging fear that their father is coming to kill them any minute.
B14. Upstairs Washroom (EL 1)
An iron tub sits in the middle of this room, the floorboards around it sagging with the tub’s weight.
Trap: The floor in this room has grown unstable recently—any Medium or larger creature that enters the room triggers a collapse that drops him down into area B6.
Collapsing Floor CR 1
Type mechanical
Search DC 20; Disable Device DC 25
Eff ects
Trigger location; Reset repair
Effect 10-foot fall (1d6); multiple targets (all creatures in area B14);
DC 15 Reflex save avoids.
B15. Master Bedroom (EL 3)
This once-fine chamber has been destroyed. The bed is smashed, mattress torn apart, walls gouged as if by knives, chairs hacked apart, and paintings on the walls torn to pieces—with one exception. A portrait hanging on the northwest wall seems to be untouched, although it hangs backward, its unseen subject facing the wall.
The master bedroom was destroyed by Aldern after he hid Iesha’s body in the caves, although in his fit of rage he couldn’t bear to destroy the portrait of his wife he’d commissioned a few months before. If turned around, the portrait reveals a beautiful dark-haired woman in a thoughtful pose.
Upon seeing the portrait, a PC haunted by obsession experiences a sudden wave of sadness, and a PC haunted by vengeance a sudden wave of fear. These emotions pass quickly without any real game effect.
B16. Stairwell
These stairs lead up to the attic. The door to this stairwell is locked but can be picked with a DC 25 Open Lock check or smashed down with a DC 24 Strength check—the key to the lock is long lost.
B17. Gallery (EL 3)
A stone fireplace sits in the southeastern portion of this chamber. Paintings hang on the walls to the north and south, each covered over with a thick sheet of dusty cobwebs that obscures its subject from view.
Wiping away the dusty cobwebs over the paintings reveals them to be portraits of the previous tenants of Foxglove Manor. The three to the north depict Derik and Iesha Wolfran and their daughter Lorey. Derick is a tall, middle-aged man with long dark hair, a clean-shaven face, and dark blue noble’s clothes, while Iesha is a stern-faced brunette woman with long brown hair hair and a flowing blue dress. A painting to the south indicate Each painting bears a plaque that identifies those pictured within.
Haunt: As soon as all of the portraits have their cobwebs cleared away, the temperature in the room drops dramatically. Breath frosts in the air and fingers of rime slither across the walls. The figures depicted in the portraits suddenly shift from paintings of living people to those of dead folk. Traven grows pale as a large hole opens in his head and blood washes down over his face. Lorey grows emaciated and skeletal until her mouth hangs open, eyes unseeing. Iesha's face whitens as a red laceration grows over her throat as her lips turn blue and eyes bulge grossly. Derick
B18. Business Office
The furniture in this office is dusty and unused. A circular object hangs on the south wall with a black shroud atop it, when the shroud is removed it is revealed to be a finely wrought mirror with a golden frame, which is cracked. A desk is on the the south wall, with a jagged piece of the corner broken off it, and a fireplace mirrors it on the opposite side.
The mirror is a sophisticated communications device, allowing it to communicate with it's sister mirrors. It cannot be removed from the wall, without destroying the mirror and disrupting the magic. A sturdy Iron lockbox is bolted to the floor, which contains the deed to the Island/Manor, Iesha's Travelling Papers clearing her for travel to Karrnath, and a 1500gp kundarak letter of credit. It can be opened with the key given by Iesha's Ghost, or the lock picked with an open lock dc 30.
Iesha once attempted suicide in this room out of desperation to get away from her husband, but Traven found her near death and healed her. That spirit of suicidal impulse remains in this office.
Suicide Compulsion CR 4
Type insane (The Psion)
Notice Spot DC 20 (to notice the appearance of a dagger on the desk that, an instant before, was not there);
Effective HD 8
Eff ects
Trigger proximity; Reset automatic (24 hours)
Effect The haunted character must make a DC 15 Will save. Failure indicates he moves over to the desk sobbing uncontrollably and attempts a coup de grace action on himself with the jagged length of wood, dealing 2d4 (plus twice his Strength modifer) points of damage on himself. He must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the damage dealt) to avoid being slain by this suicide attempt. If anyone tries to prevent the attempt, the haunted character makes a single attack against that person with the “dagger.” If he hits, the supernaturally guided strike automatically scores a critical hit. After this attack, the “dagger” turns back into wood.
B19. Workroom
A large number of planks of wood, rope, and other repair supplies are stored here. The ceiling above sags noticeably; in several areas patches of the sky above are visible. Dozens of ceramic urns and metal pots sit on the floor below to catch leaks.
This room was partially repaired by Wolfran's servants before his insanity peaked and he had them turned into skeletons to work down in the mines.
B20. Storerooms
Each of these rooms is stacked with old furniture, sheets and linens, boxes and crates, and other bits. Nothing of value can be found here.
B21. Loft
The ceiling of this room angles down steeply, leaving only four feet of headroom to the southeast. A low cot and a dresser are the room’s only furnishings.
This loft was once the home of the manor’s head butler, but hasn’t been lived in since Iesha “left”. The butler had the honor of being the first turned into a skeleton guard to watch over her body. The butler was a religious man, and in the top drawer of the dresser is a holy symbol of the Silver Flame, as well as some holy water.
As the PCs round the corner in the hallway beyond the entrance to this door, a sudden and unmistakable shriek of pain echoes through the attic. The sound obviously comes from the door to area B24.
B22. Observatory (EL 4)
A desk and a chair sit in the middle of this drafty room. Chimneys rise to the west, while to the east, two intricate stained-glass windows are set into the wall. The northern window depicts Kol Korran, the god of wealth, as a magnificent white dragon while the South Window Small is a Shadow Dragon rearing it's head. Common to both windows is a Snakelike Wyrm, representing the Fury, which snakes between them, making it appear as if the two windows are a matched pair. A battered and ruined telescope lies on its side near the desk and a large trapdoor in the roof has been tied shut by several lengths of rope.
The trapdoor in the roof could once be raised and lowered, exposing a slice of the sky for observation, but the pulley system has long since fallen apart. The trap door can now be opened only with a DC 24 Strength check. The broken telescope on the floor was once a magnificent piece of equipment but is now beyond repair.
Final Showdown: This is where the final showdown between Wolfran and the PC's will take place. When Zarnax destroys the elemental in his personal fight, the Khyber Shard shoots up through the house to this room, where it hovers gathering the energy of the storm. Once the shard is in here the room fills with crackling lightning as he attempts to reconstitute himself. The PC's have 24 hrs from the time of Wolfran's defeat in the cellar until he is back together.
If the players want to try and destroy the shard they have to make their way through the lightning, to the Shard in the middle of the floor, 15 ft in. The Dragonshard has hardness 8 and 20hp. The lightning will make an attack against anyone in the room, or within visual range of the shard, once per round, taking the closest person first. It is as the spell lightning bolt, making a 120 ft line, and sets fire to any combustibles in it's path. The bolt deals 4d6 electric damage per strike, reflex dc 16 for half. Once the dragonshard is destroyed a great blast of energy issues, knocking anyone near it back 20 ft from it, and if they strike a wall they take 1d6 damage. The far wall and roof are blown out as a result.
If Wolfran reconstitutes the wall and roof are blown out when the players arrive to confront him as he explodes with his thunder and lightning, and then it is a life or death struggle in the attic. Wolfran will chase fleeing PC's through the house, destroying anything that gets in his way without any pause.
Either way, once the battle is resolved, and the shard destroyed, Wolfran is dead.
B23. Private Study (EL 3)
Although this chamber is cluttered, it seems to have remained undamaged, avoiding the decay and vandalism present in other rooms. Shelves of books line the walls, interspaced with curious objects such as skulls fitted with stubs of candles, tribal fetishes, and decorative scroll cases. An empty birdcage lies near the southern wall beside a small desk and a fine leather chair. Statues and sculptures grin outward from all corners of the room.
Traven often spent time here, poring over old accounts of safaris, expeditions, and the odd excerpt from the Wayfinder Chronicles. Between this room and the observatory, Traven rarely visited other parts of the house in the last few months before his death at his brother's hand.
Haunt: When the PC haunted by insanity enters this room, dozens of memories of expeditions, sea voyages, and travels to exotic locales race through his mind, remnants of Traven Wolfran's journeys before he came back here to help his brother. As the memories build momentum, they become increasingly infused with a sense of bitter disappointment and regret, and the character becomes increasingly aware that he is now receiving memories that never were, memories of fantastic discoveries he could have made had he not chosen to come back and help out his insane brother, who ultimately betrayed him.
Unfulfilled Glories CR 3
Type insane
Notice Listen DC 20 (to hear the sound of pages rustling, as if a book were being read rapidly);
Effective HD 6
Effects
Trigger proximity; Reset automatic (24 hours)
Effect Once the memories grow bitter and culminate in an overwhelming sense of depression and loss, the haunted PC must make a DC 14 Will save to resist taking 1d6 points of Wisdom damage.
Treasure: The oddments include several dozen curious fetishes and masks, but the most impressive piece is an old painting of a bullfight. The painting bears a plaque that reads “Throwdown in Swynetown,” and in the painting, vast crowds leer and cheer the bullfighter on, the huge bull aurochs towering over him, its cruel forward-jutting horns each the length of a spear. Dozens of bodies lie in the streets—the aurochs has clearly rampaged through them already, and although a score of brightly colored spears jut from the creature’s flanks and back, it still rages on. This painting is, in fact, an original work by renowned Sharn artist Andosalu, worth 600 gp.
The books are mostly on tribal cultures and history (most of it relating to the Xen'drik drow tribes, and the giants), along with numerous maps of mysterious realms and ship charts. None of the books are particularly valuable. The scroll cases contain more maps, along with two arcane scrolls—lightning bolt and keen edge.
B24. Storeroom
This room is cold and damp; a few crates sit near the north wall. The ceiling slopes down to only four feet high to the northeast, leaving little room for a small window, while to the southeast, a mold-encrusted pillar of brick marks the passage of a chimney. A full-size mirror in a dark wooden frame of coiling roses leans against these bricks, angled toward the tiny window.
Nothing of real importance is in the crates, except for a box of Drow War Paints brought back from Xen'Drik. These can be applied to the face to give a +3 bonus to hide and move silently for 2 hrs after applying. There is enough there for 5 applications.
Basement
B25. Kitchen (EL 5)
A large oak table, its surface covered with moldy stains and rat droppings, sits in the center of this large kitchen. Shelves line the walls, and an oversized fireplace dominates the northeast portion of the room. The shelves in the southwest wall are in a much greater state of disarray, and two one-foot-wide cracks in the wall near the floor lead south into the earth beyond the basement walls.
The two cracks in the walls are short tunnels that lead over to area B27, fissures that allow the rat swarms in there to move in and out of the place as they please. Several of the tunnels wind up and provide access into the wooden walls of the manor above as well.
Creatures: Any substantial noise in this room is enough to attract the attention of the two diseased rat swarms in area B27. The rapidly growing susurrus of oily diseased rat bodies slithering through tight confines, combined with the rising wave of rodent squeaks, gives the PCs 1d3 rounds to prepare for the onslaught before the swarms pour out into area B25, one after the other.
Rat Swarm (2) CR 3
hp 13 each (MM 239)
AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10
Tactics
During Combat Once enraged, the swarms continue to pursue intruders throughout the house. They do not follow prey outside.
Special Abiliti es
Blind (Ex) The rat swarm is blind, and while this makes it immune to sight-based attacks, it also takes a–2 penalty to its AC, loses its Dexterity bonus to AC, moves at half-speed, and takes a –4 penalty on Search checks and most Strength and Dexterity-based skill checks. Its scent ability negates concealment for its foes.
Disease (Su) ___ —bite, Fortitude DC 10, incubation period
-Details-
Treasure: In a cupboard near the oven sits a very plain looking blue clay mug with a golden band about the middle. Anyone who understands dwarven recognizes the runes on the bands as such. The mug is in fact the anymug. DC 15 Search check discovers a small clay urn hidden in a nook behind a loose brick on the chimney. The urn is stuffed with some dried pine cones and three small violet garnets worth 100 gp each.
B26. Kitchen Staff’s Quarters
Two bunks stand in this room, their sheets relatively free of dust and mold. A single chair lies on its side between them.
This room was where the kitchen staff lived back before the craziness happened. It is empty now.
B27. Pantry
Although once a pantry, this room has become a filthy, reeking lair of what must be hundreds, if not thousands, of rats. Swaths of fur cling to everything, and mounds of rat droppings cover the floor. Numerous cracks in the walls doubtlessly allow the rats that live here access to a wide network of tiny tunnels beyond the basement walls.
Development: If the PCs haven’t already disturbed the rat swarms and fought them in area B25, they are encountered here.
B28. Wine Cellar
Two wine racks line the walls here, their shelves empty and dusty. Mounds of broken glass bottles clutter the floor.
Treasure: A DC 20 Search check of the top shelf of the western rack reveals a hinged and hidden compartment at the back. Beyond is a narrow nook in which are hidden eight fine vintages of wine from a famed Bluevine vineyard in distant Aundair. Each bottle is worth 100 gp.
B29. Vorel’s Workshop (EL 3)
The door to this room is locked and made of iron, and while patches of rust mar its face, it remains quite stout. It’s a DC 30 Open Lock check to pick the lock, or a DC 28 Strength check to break it down. The key was on Wolfran's body in the woods.
This room looks to have once been some sort of arcane workshop, although little remains but broken glassware, shattered jars of pottery that contain dust and mold, and several rusty instruments and tools. A row of soggy books sits on the northern end of a workbench along the western wall. At the other end of the workbench, what looks like three iron birdcages sit, two of which contain a dead rat, the third contains a skeletal rat which occasional shifts position to regard the intruders.
The stained-glass windows look out over the water; although the basement itself is underground, the curved eastern wall of this room extends beyond the side of the cliff face. The books are in sorry shape, but a look through them reveals that they all cover various arts of necromancy and the creation of undeath. Worm-eaten and crumbling, they won’t stand up to much investigation, but a character who looks through them and makes note of where the previous owner had glossed the text with marks and observations can make a DC 25 Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) to realize that whomever studied these books was curious about the creation of intelligent but completely subservient undead.
B30. The Pit (EL 4)
Piles of broken stone, dirt, and a few ruined pickaxes line the edges of this room. The floor in the middle of the room has been torn up to reveal an ancient set of stone spiral stairs, obviously of much older construction than the surrounding basement, winding deep into the bedrock below. A foul stink, like that of rotten meat, wafts up on a cold breeze from the darkness.
These stairs existed before Wolfran Manor, once leading down into an ancient complex devoted to the worship of Dagon, minor sea god of destruction. The complex has partially flooded and eroded into what looks like little more than a series of caves today. Wolfran knew about the complex and incorporated the stairs into his design, but he kept their existence secret from his wife. It was only later that he discovered some deposits of khyber shards within.
Three skeletons stand on guard at the top of these stairs.
B31. Landing
The stairs end in a limestone cavern. The walls drip with moisture, and swaths of black and dark blue mold grow in spiraling, tangled patterns on the floor, ceiling, and walls. Bits of rubble and broken bones clutter the floor, and a rhythmic sound—as of the breathing of some immense creature—echoes through the cave from three tunnels, one to the north and two to the east. Of the two eastern tunnels, the northernmost one seems to be a relatively new creation. A rumble like that of thunder, and the smell of burnt ozone are to the south.
The tunnel leading to area B32 is only a few months old—observing the wall’s cracks and crumbling sandstone, Wolfran had his skeletons use pickaxes to create a second entrance to the tunnels. The breathing sound is nothing more than the sounds of the surf echoing strangely through various other fissures that connect area B32 and B36 to the cliffs overlooking the Varisian Gulf.
Development: Characters who make excessive noise or light here quickly attract the attention of the ghouls in area B34 and B30, who come to investigate.
B32. Feeding Cave (EL 5)
This long cave stinks of rotten meat. The source of the horrific smell is readily apparent in the swath of carcasses strewn about the floor of this place. Most seem to be of small animals and fish, but at least three humanoid bodies and one partially eaten horse lie in the mess as well.
Creature: A single dire bat took residence in this cavern in the time after Wolfran lost his mind.
Treasure: Two of the three dead humans among the bat’s victims are long-dead villagers with nothing of much value on their remains. The third, however, is the corpse of notorious bandit Shaz “Redshiv” Bilger, suspected of organizing the robbery of nearly two dozen House Orien merchant convoys outside of Sharn. His half- eaten remains can be identified with a DC 20 Knowledge (local) check. Proof of his demise presented to the law at Sharn is worth a 500 gp reward.
Of more immediate monetary gratification, though, is his surviving gear, which consists of a pearl ring worth 300 gp, an adamantine dagger, a hat of disguise, and a scattering of 56 gp.
B33. Mining area
Several pickaxes have been tossed into the corner of the room—one of them looks particularly well-made.
After widening the tunnel to area B32, the skeletons abandoned their digging tools here.
Treasure: Of the six picks abandoned here, five are ruined from the mold and the damp. The sixth, however, happens to be a Mwk heavy pick that has weathered the conditions rather well.
B34. Ghoulish Guardians (EL 3)
Creatures: This otherwise nondescript cave is always watched over by three skeletons, stationed here and commanded to act as guardians by Wolfran. The undead hide in the shadows: one in the nook to the north, one in the shadows of the southeast entrance, and one in the shadows of the western entrance. If they’re spotted, they attack at once. Sounds of combat here draw the attention of the ghouls in area B30, but not the denizen of area B36; the additional ghouls from area B30 arrive in 2 rounds.
B35. The Dig Site
There are scattered picks about here along with cracked shards of Khyber Shards. They are so small as to be worthless, but are a good indication of some more that could be found. Unfortunately it's also a good indication of a
Ghouls (4) CR 1
hp 13 each (MM 118)
B36. The Vent (EL 6)
The cramped tunnel opens into a vertiginous gulf here, a cathedrallike cavern with a roof arching thirty feet overhead and dropping into a sloshing pool of foamy seawater fifty feet below. A steep stone ledge winds down to these surging depths, its slope glistening with moisture and mold. Narrow fissures wind into the rock face to the northwest, rivulets of water dripping down from them across the sloping ledge into the pool below. A stone door stands in the southernwall about halfway down the slope.
The sloping ledge is difficult to navigate; a character who doesn’t climb along its surface (doing so is a DC 5 Climb check) must make a DC 12 Balance check each round. Failure by 5 or more sends the character sliding down the ramp all the way to the bottom, taking 1d6 points of damage per 20 feet slid until he plunges into the cold waters at the bottom.
The pool at the bottom is one hundred feet deep. At its bed, it opens into a large cavern that eventually connects to the sea via several underground tunnels that wind for nearly a half mile to the south. The sound of the water surging and sloshing is the source of the strange “breathing” sound heard throughout these caves. It’s a DC 15 Swim check to navigate the pool’s waters due to the churning currents. The stone door leading to area B37 is unlocked and untrapped.
Creatures: Lord Wolfran rages within this cavern, until the PC's encounter him.
B37. Gravesite
This is where Wolfran buried the bodies of his wife and daughter along with several of their possessions. A soiled portrait of Iesha, as well as a few dolls belonging to Lorey.
Treasure: If cleaned, the portrait of Iesha is worth 200 gp.
A small silver key ring worth 10 gp sits on the floor inside with two keys on the ring.
The larger of these two is a tarnished iron key set with a round opal worth 100 gp—this is the key to Wolfran's Office in Sharn. The smaller key is made of bronze and has an unusually long tang ending in a set of three notched blades. The head of this key resembles a howling wolf. This key opens the door to B29.
Appendix D: Creatures and Stat Blocks
Wolfran/Elemental CR 5
Medium Storm Elemental (Page 48-49 of MM3)
HD 4d8 +8 (35/35 HP)
Init +5, Speed 30 ft, Fly 60ft (perfect)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Saves: Fort 3, Ref 5, Will 3
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 14, Cha 12
Skills: Listen +7, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative
AC 15 (+1Dex, +4NA), Touch 11, FF 14
Attack: Slam +5 Melee, (1d6 +2 plus 1d6 Electricity)
Special Attacks: Shock, Thunder and Lightning, Ego Whip
Shock (Su): Once per round as a free action, a storm elemental can deliver an electrical shock to a single opponent within 10 feet. This attack deals nonlethal electricity damage 2d4 to living opponents (Fortitude 14 half). The save DC is Constitution-based.
Thunder and Lightning (Su): Once per minute as a full round action, a storm elemental can emit a blast of thunder coupled with a bolt of lightning. The thunder deals sonic damage (2d6) to all creatures within 60 feet of the storm elemental. A Fortitude save halves this damage.
The lightning is a 120-foot-long line that deals electricity damage (4d6). A Reflex save halves this damage.
The save DCs are Constitution-based.
Ego Whip (Psi) : Manifests a whip of psionic energy which lashes out and drains confidence, 1d4 cha dmg, ½ on willsave dc 14, range 140 ft. Takes 3 pp. For every 4 additional PP cha damage increases 1 die, and save dc +2. Wolfran has 14 PP.
Special Qualities: Air Mastery, DarkVision, Elemental Traits, Electrical and Sonic Healing (Ex): Storm elementals take no damage from electricity and sonic attacks. Instead, any electricity attack (such as shocking grasp or lightning bolt) or sonic attack (such as sound burst) used against a storm elemental heals 1 point of damage for every 3 points of damage the attack would otherwise deal. The storm elemental can’t heal hit points by attacking itself.
Wolfran is now 8 ft tall, but being made of living storm he weighs just 8 lbs. He resembles a dark storm cloud, rumbling with thunder and lightning. An occasional flash of psionic energy flits through his cloudy body, circling around his core, a glowing Khyber Shard. If you look real closely you can see the ghostly outline of a man inside the raging clouds. As it turns to face you an unearthly cry issues forth, screaming into the air, and into your head simultaneously, “Who dares set foot on MY island! Who interrupts my WORK!” Then the air begins to smell of crackling ozone…
COMBAT
Storm elementals are very hearty, yet they prefer to fight on wild, broken terrain where they can avoid obstacles by flying. They stay airborne when possible, remaining out of the reach of enemies. Their thunder and lightning special ability gives them a ranged attack that most other elementals lack. Wolfran takes advantage of this when he can, but retains enough of his own personality to remember the most basic of his studied psionic abilities, the ego whip, and he uses it against the leaders of the group.
