Epitaph Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Keller, Let Us Have Faith Once the characters find their way out of Aggarath, the adventure ends. This does not, however, mean that the heroes are free of Chardath and Kartak. There are many ways in which a Dungeon Master can make use of these characters in later games. The same holds true of the wicked Maleffluent. Chardath's Revenge The Demilord of Aggarath desires nothing more than the destruction of Kartak, and the player characters could very easily be drawn into an adventure using this premise. Through magical (or other) means, they could come into contact with Chardath again without having to reenter the gemstone universe. An adventure of this sort would almost certainly take place in the Forgotten Realms, where Kartak resides in the Kuldin Peaks. The heroes would be forced to track him down, experiencing any number of minor adventures along the way. At the end of the adventure, the characters would have to capture Kartak. How they might go about taking a lich prisoner should be a subject of great debate within the party. Having accomplished that task, however, they would then have to transport their prisoner to Chardath. This is yet another near-impossible task, but just the sort of thing that makes for a good adventure. Of course, serving an insane, utterly evil master has countless disadvantages of its own. The Hand of Kartak Kartak himself is well aware that Chardath has escaped his machinations in Castle Spuizeer. He has not forgotten that the master of Aggarath very nearly caused his destruction. And like the demilord, he is not one to leave such a debt unpaid. Kartak begins his plan by manipulating events so that he can get some hold over the player characters. Once this is done, he strong-arms the heroes into tracking down the magical dagger Aggarath. The weapon has fallen into the hands of a deadly assassin who is the master of a powerful thieves' guild, so recovering it should prove challenging to even seasoned adventurers. Once the weapon is in their hands, the characters must bring it back to Kartak. The lich, stiil holding sway over them, then forces the characters back into the gemstone universe. With Kartak at their head, the party becomes entangled in a deadly battle between a powerful undead wizard and the demilord of Aggarath. The Edge of Darkness If the heroes have brought Maleffluent out of Aggarath with them, they have a major problem to deal with. That terrible weapon is as scheming and evil as any lord of Ravenloft's dark domains. Maleffluent begins by attempting to exert control over one member of the party, either directly or through subtle words of treachery. Should he ever feei in danger of being discarded or having his machinations thwarted, he attempts to turn the party against itself. An excellent adventure could detail the efforts of the heroes to rescue one of their companions from the influence of the battle axe. They might also be forced to clear the name of their ally, who has committed untold acts of evil under the domination of Maleffluent. Once their friend is rescued, they can set out to destroy the evil weapon and rid the world of its darkness. So powerful a weapon proves difficult to unmake, however.

Previous   Next

Up