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The Fifth Facet
- Ambrose Bierce
This facet shows Chardath's love for his
sister and hatred of all other women. Here,
travelers see a reflection of the domain
lord's first true love, Esmerel, who scorned
him and broke his heart. The terrain resembles the
garden in which Chardath would meet his beloved.
Marble's body - or a reflection of it, at any
rate - is also here. In all this terrible land, only the
memory of Marble is innocent and pure. She lies
on a plush bed, the region around which feels
comforting and safe.
Females who travel into this land become the
victims of Chardath's attention. In his mind, only
Marble is sweet and virtuous. All other women
pale in comparison and must be destroyed.
As soon as the characters make their way into the
Fifth Facet, the Dungeon Master should read the
following text aloud:
You have found your way into the heart of a
garden teeming with flowers, shrubs, and
vines of every description. A variety of sweet
odors perfume the air, some so delicate that
they pass almost unnoticed, others cloying and
overwhelming. Tiny insects and bumming
bees move about, apparently uninterested in
you as they go about their labors.
One could easily believe that you had
found your way home again, except for the
fact that this garden stretches languidly out
beneath a blood red sky.
Mood and Atmosphere
At first, the Dungeon Master should portray this
place as an idyllic one. The flowers all smell good,
the temperature is warm and pleasant, and the
insects don't sting. The very fact that there is
nothing wrong here may well scare the average
adventurer to death.
As events progress, the garden can become
less kindly. One of the characters might prick
himself on a thorn. A little later on, the insects
might start to sting and bite, becoming truly
bothersome. In the end, when Esmerel attacks, the
plants themselves become deadly enemies.
The same holds true of the Ladies of the
Garden, young women who inhabit the garden of
Aggarath (see their complete description at the
end of this section). They begin as harmless,
sylvan beauties similar to nymphs. Their voices
are delicate and musical, their eyes bright and
attentive, their every gesture alluring and enticing.
As the hours pass, however, they grow
gradually more sinister. Although their physical
form remains unchanged, the Dungeon Master can
describe them in harsher, more stark tones. By the
time they reach the zenith of their evil, they can be
likened to hunting cats and other dangerous but
beautiful animals.
As the characters look around the garden, they
find that it seems to go on forever. As with so
many other places in this domain, it does not
really matter which way the party goes because
the facet is the same in all directions.
After the characters have explored for a few
minutes, the Dungeon Master can introduce them
to the inhabitants of this place. He should single
out one of the characters, preferably a male with
high Charisma and an eye for the ladies, and read
the following narrative aloud:
A sudden movement catches your eye. Just
ahead, through a tangle of vines spotted
with delicate indigo blossoms, you notice the
slender silhouette of a beautiful woman. The
instant that your gaze touches her slender
shadow, however, she sprints away, moving
with the swift agility of a deer through the
lush foliage.
If the hero acts quickly, he can give chase to the
young woman. The character has time to sound
an alarm, but if he pauses for more than that, the
girl escapes.
The Clearing
Assuming that the heroes pursue the woman, they
find their quarry far too fast and elusive to catch
easily. She knows the garden too well and is as
sure-footed as a cat.
After a few minutes of flight, however, she leads
the heroes to the center of the garden (insofar as a
boundless place can have a center). If the heroes
do not chase the woman, or if they decide to
abandon the pursuit, they come upon the clearing
through their wanderings.
The following narrative describes what the
characters find at this point in the chase:
The young woman darts about, seeming to
leave no trace of her passage through even
the thickest foliage. Still, your determination
appears to be paying off. You are just about
to overtake her when she plunges out of the
garden and Into a wide circular clearing.
This place is euen more beautiful than the
rest of the garden, if that is possible. At its
center stands a delicate bed carved of slender
white wood and draped with an ornate silk
canopy. All of the flowers on the plants ringing
the garden face inward here, looking like eyes
that cannot turn away from the elegant bed.
As soon as the heroes hear this description, the
girl stumbles and falls. This event gives them a
chance to catch her before she can get to her feet
and run away again.
If they were not chasing the young woman, they
come across her here. She is carefully plucking
flowers and adding them to a bouquet she carries.
Her attention is focused on her task, so the heroes
can prevent her from running off.
Should one of the characters take the time to
examine the bed, he discovers that a beautiful
woman lies on it. She is Chardath's sister, Marble,
as she appeared before her murder. The following
description can be read aloud when one of the
heroes looks beneath the canopy:
Beneath the silken folds of the canopy lies
the slender body of a lithe young woman.
Her hair is long, straight, and coal black. Her
delicate features are set carefully in an
almond-shaped face of milky skin. Her
hands rest folded across her chest, almost as
if she were lying in a coffin.
She wears an elegant white nightgown,
sewn from lace so fine that it could almost be
mistaken for spider's silk. A band of silver
encircles her brow, holding an odd-shaped
ruby upon the center of her forehead.
Conversations With the Lady
If the characters are not complete barbarians, they
eventually should be able to win the trust of the
woman they pursued. Like all the Ladies of the
Garden, she is shy but very trusting in her lawful
good phase. She eagerly spins the following tale
for the characters:
"I am sorry that I ran off," says the young lady
in a musical voice, "but you frightened me. I
thought, perhaps, that you were servants of
Esmerel. I feared that you had come to kill me
and harm the sleeping princess.
"Now that I know the truth, I will call my
sisters. We shall tend to your wounds and
make you comfortable. But you must be
careful: If Esmerel learns that you are here,
she will come for you."
In the wake of this conversation, the young lady
indeed calls for the other Ladies of the Garden.
She does so by giving a sweet bird call that carries
musically through the air. Over the course of the
next few minutes, another four women emerge.
Some are fair and some are dusky, some have
auburn hair and some are graced with strawberry
tresses. The only thing that the Ladies of the
Garden have in common with each other is that
they are all stunningly gorgeous.
Casual conversation with them reveals that they
are simple folk. They live in the garden, picking
flowers, eating the fruits that grow here, but do no
work of any sort.
The Sleeping Princess: The body of Marble,
whom the Ladies call the "sleeping princess," lies on
the bed at the center of the clearing. If the heroes
have experienced the events of the adventure Castie
Spulzeer, they should recognize her. If they have not,
they may have seen her beneath the ruby surface of
another facet (probably the first or seventh).
Marble cannot be awakened. The Ladies of the
Garden oppose any attempt to move or disturb
her. They feel it their duty to protect the sleeping
princess until she wakes up. If they must, they
attack the heroes (no matter what their alignment)
to protect their charge.
The Enchanted Ruby: The gemstone upon
Marble's brow is the enchanted ruby of this facet, a
five-sided stone. The Ladies will not allow the heroes
to take it, however, and turn on them if it is stolen.
Esmerel: If the heroes ask about Esmerel, they
hear all sorts of terrible things about her-most of
them untrue. Some of the Ladies say that she has six
arms and devours the flesh of the living. Others insist
that Esmerel is beautiful, but that her kiss is death
itself. One asserts that she can transform herself into
a giant spider and poison her enemies with a lethal
bite. The Dungeon Master can add other descriptions
to this list, but each should clearly hint at a female
monster the characters may know about (a medusa,
for example). The only type of description they should
not hear is the correct one: Esmerel is a harpy.
Another consistent aspect of the stories is that
Esmerel will come for the heroes as soon as she
knows they are in the garden. How long this might
take, none of the Ladies can say.
Time Passes: The heroes should have the
chance to spend a few hours in the company of
the Ladies. During this time, they are treated like
kings. Any wounded characters receive special
teas that heal 1d8 points of damage. At every
turn, the Ladies are helpful and sweet. If any of the
heroes seems the least bit open to a romantic
encounter, he finds no resistance from the
beautiful Ladies of the Garden.
Throughout the party's visit with the Ladies, the
Dungeon Master should describe them in terms
that will lead the players to believe they are
nymphs, dryads, or other sylvan creatures. At no
time should the heroes be given any reason to
suspect the Ladies of the Garden might be
dangerous foes. The Dungeon Master can reinforce
this facade by role-playing them as timid, shy, and
demure in all their dealings with the visitors.
If the heroes mention that they would like to find
a way out of the garden, the Ladies look confused.
They know of no way out of the garden; further,
they have given no thought to the matter of how the
heroes managed to get into the garden. Still, the
Ladies seem glad to help the adventurers search for
a way out. Nothing comes of these endeavors, but
they give the Ladies a chance to take long,
romantic walks among the flowers with the heroes.
In the event that the heroes offer to stay and
help destroy Esmerel, the Ladies of the Garden
flood them with gratitude. To be free of that
horrible woman would be the finest thing they can
imagine. They gladly assist the heroes in creating
weapons, traps, and otherwise making ready to
battle their hated enemy.
At some point during their time with the Ladies of
the Garden, the heroes receive another message
from their mysterious ally. In this particular one,
their mentor accidentally gives something of his
nature away:
"I have never understood the human interest in romance and passion, but that is the force that shaped the land in which you now travel. Beware, for a great enemy watches your every move."
After about ten hours, well after the Ladies of the
Garden have become chaotic evil, Esmerel arrives
to kill the intruders. This encounter begins with the
following narrative:
The sudden cry of a hunting bird echoes through the garden. Shril and piercing, it rings in your years long after it has ceased.
Looking to the sky, you see a horrific sky. Swooping down out of that expanse of crimson is a creature with the wings and talons of a bird and the body of a ravinshingly beautful woman. Her hungry eyes seem to lock with yours as she licks her snarling lips.
With another stirdent cry, she plunges into a dive, her talons outstretched.
The Battle Unfolds: As soon as Esmerel
releases her cry of attack, the Ladies of the Garden are revealed for what they are. They cast off
their demure natures and lash out at the adventurers - At the same time, every female character in
the party must make a saving throw vs. spell.
Those who succeed are unaffected by Esmerel's
charm ability and can act normally. Those who fail
their saving throw, however, join the Ladies of the
Garden and turn upon their male companions - For
the time being, female characters charmed by
Esmerel are assumed to be chaotic evil, although
they do not suffer the normal penalties associated
with an involuntary alignment change.
The Dungeon Master should play up the
surprise of this battle. When the Ladies turn on
their companions, they should receive a significant
bonus to their surprise roll. The Dungeon Master
may determine the extent of this bonus based
upon the details of the situation.
Should the heroes have been scattered by the
Ladies, they must fight not only to survive, but also
to link up again with the other members of the party.
If all this isn't enough to make a memorable
battle, the Dungeon Master can bring some of the
garden foliage to life. The heroes can find
themselves suddenly confronted with just about
any of the dangerous plants described in the
Monstrous Manual volume.
Game Statistics
The heroes encounter two important creatures in the
Fifth Facet: the Ladies of the Garden, and Esmerel -
the reflection of Chardath's unfaithful lover.
The Ladies of the Garden: The Ladies have
more or less the same game statistics as the
vampyres presented in the Ravenloft Monstrous
Compendium Appendices I & II.
Notes: SA - Bite victims must save vs. poison or be
charmed as if by the spell. A -1 penalty is applied to
the saving throw for every 2 points of damage (or
fraction thereof) inflicted by the bite.
When first encountered, however, they are of
lawful good alignment. As time passes, they
gradually drift until their alignment becomes
chaotic evil. The following chart shows the
progression of the Ladies' alignment change:
Esmerel: In life, Esmerel was a beautiful woman
who came to Castle Spulzeer when her parents visited the gaming halls of that place. She had a brief
summertime fling with Chardath, but threw him aside
for a more entertaining companion. In Chardath's
memory, she is reduced to the form of a harpy. It is
worth noting, however, that while most harpies are
ugly and revolting, Esmerel retains her beauty.
Notes: SA - As soon as she enters battle, Esmerel
croons a terrible song. All female characters must save
vs. spell or be charmed. Failure means the character
becomes chaotic evil and joins Esmerel's side in battle.
The character returns to normal immediately upon the
death of the harpy or the cessation of her singing.
Personality: evil and vicious.
The heroes can escape this facet only by defeating
Esmerel and the Ladies of the Garden. After the
harpy dies, any surviving Ladies collapse as well.
Their bodies melt away like water and flow into the
ground. Seconds later, a circle of light (a conduit)
appears in the spot where each body fell.
Though some of the Ladies may be slain before
Esmerel, the conduits will not open so long as
Esmerel is alive. Her death triggers the
appearance of the portals; the bodies of the Ladies
determine their locations.
The following table indicates the facets to which
these conduits lead:
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