oracharacterwiththeappropriatebackground,the
characterscantranslateOldOmuanwritingonlybyusinga
comprehendlanguagesspellorsimilarmagic.
PuzzleCubes..............................................................................................................................................................................
TounlocktheTomboftheNineGods,thecharactersmustfirst
recoverninepuzzlecubesfromshrineshiddenthroughoutthe
city.TheRedWizardsarealreadysearchingforthecubes,and
RasNsidoeswhathemusttopreventtheRedWizardsorthe
charactersfromobtainingallofthem.
Apuzzlecubeisastonecube 3 inchesonasideand
engravedwithimagesofaspecifictrickstergod.Eachcube
weighshalfapound.Adetectmagicspellorsimilareffect
revealsanauraofabjurationmagicaroundeachcube.
Thepuzzlecubescan’tbedestroyedbyanymeans.If
they’rediscarded,buried,ortakenmorethanamileoutside
Omu,theyteleportbacktotheirrestingplacesinsidetheir
respectiveshrines.Ifthecharactersreturntoapreviously
clearedshrine,there’sacumulative 20 percentchanceperday
thatkoboldshaveresetitstraps.
LearningoftheShrines
Afewcluescanpointtheplayerstowardtheshrines,including
alostjournalfoundatacampsite(area 9 ).Characterscanalso
discovertheshrinesontheirownorlearnaboutthemfrom
OrvexOcrammas(area 2 ).
RaceforthePuzzleCubes
Thecharactersneednotexploreallnineshrines.TheRed
Wizardsfindatleasttwoofthepuzzlecubes,andRasNsi
alwaysstepsintoclaimthefinalcube.Thingsplayout
differentlyiftheplayersfindawaytofoiltheirenemies’
plans—bykillingthem,forexample.
Onthedaythecharactersclaimtheirfirstpuzzlecube,the
RedWizardsclearaseparateshrinewithinthecity.Whilethe
RedWizardsremainactive,there’sacumulative 25 percent
chanceperdaythattheyclaimanotherpuzzlecubefroma
randomshrine.Iftheplayersarriveataclearedshrine,they
discoverasceneofdevastation:trapssprung,monstersslain,
andthecubemissing.
Oncefivepuzzlecubeshavebeentakenfromtheirshrines,
RasNsibeginstosetambushes.Whenthecharactersarriveat
theirnextshrine,threetype 1 yuan-timalisonsandsixyuan-
tipurebloodsambushthem.Theirordersaretocapture
charactersandbringthemtotheFaneoftheNightSerpentfor
interrogation.
Onceeightpuzzlecubeshavebeenclaimed,RasNsisteals
theninthcubeforhimselfandleavesanobvioustrailleading
pursuerstothemainentranceofhisundergroundtemple(see
area 20 A).Thecharactersmustinfiltratethetempleandeither
takethepuzzlecubebyforceorconvinceRasNsitopartwith
it.Formoreinformationonthetempleanditsinhabitants,see
chapter 4.
AnUneasyAlliance
ThecharacterscouldformanalliancewiththeRedWizardsto
recoverthepuzzlecubetakenbytheyuan-ti.Ifanaccordis
reached,Zagmirarevealsthatshehasaspyintheyuan-ti
temple:ayuan-tipurebloodnamedIshmakahl(pronounced
ISH-mah-kawl).Zagmiradoesn’trevealthatthisspyisa
doppelganger.
Zagmiraencourageshumancharacterstoinfiltratethe
yuan-titempledisguisedaspurebloods,withnonhuman
charactersposingastheirslaves.Ifnohumancharactersare
present,Zagmiraiswillingtospenda 5 th-levelspellslotto
castinvisibilityonuptofourpartymembers.Ifthecharacters
recoverthepuzzlecubetakenbyRasNsi,theRedWizards
turnagainstthecharactersandtrytoclaimallthepuzzle
cubesforthemselvesoncethecharactersemergefromthe
yuan-titemple.IfArtusCimberiswiththeparty,theRed
WizardsalsotrytotaketheRingofWinterfromhim.
IftheRedWizardsobtainallninepuzzlecubes,theyuse
themtoentertheTomboftheNineGodsand,onebyone,fall
preytothetomb’sinsidioustraps.Navigation..................................................................................................................................................................................
Thecitybasinisdenselypackedwithruinedvillasand
overgrowncourtyards.BuildingsinOmuareshapedfrom
limestone.Thick,broad-leavedvinesengulfmoststructures,
whilefernsandthornybusheschokethestreets.Statues
representingthetrickstergodsleerfrommanyjunctions.
Cautiouscharacterscanmovethroughthecityatarateof
200 feetevery 5 minutes.Eveniftheythrowcautiontothe
wind,thedensityoftheundergrowthmakesittrickytomove
fasterthan 200 feetperminute.Ifthecharactersstopto
searchfortreasure,eachbuildingtakes 30 minutestoclear.
Wheneverthepartysearchesaruinedbuilding,rollpercentile
diceandconsulttheRuinInteriortabletoseewhat,ifanything,
thebuildingcontains.RuinInterior
d 100 RuinContents
01 – 40 —
41 – 50 Assassinvines
51 – 55 Collapsingfloor(androllagain)
56 – 65 Madmonkeymist(androllagain)
66 – 70 Nest
71 – 75 Plantdiscovery
76 – 85 Treasure
86 – 00 Vegepygmies
AssassinVines
Thisruinischokedwithvines,lurkingamongwhichare 1 d 3
assassinvines(seeappendixD).
CollapsingFloor
Asthecharactersexplorethisbuilding,chooseonecharacter
atrandomtomakeaDC 12 Dexteritysavingthrow.Ona
failure,thefloorcollapsesandthecharacterfalls 20 feetintoa
lowerlevel,takingdamagefromthefallasnormal.Rollagain
ontheRuinInteriortabletoseeifthere’sanythinginteresting
inthelowerlevel.
MadMonkeyMist
Athin,odorlessbluemistlingersinsidetheruin.Characters
whoenterthebuildingexposethemselvestomadmonkey
fever(see“Diseases”).RollagainontheRuinInteriortableto
seeifthere’sanythingelseinthebuilding.
Nest
Verminhavemadeanestinthebuilding.Rollad 6 andconsult
theNestOccupantstabletodeterminethenest’sinhabitants.
AnycharacterdamagedbyagiantwaspmustsucceedonaDC