10'2~
THE SURVIVORS
A few of the abbey's clerics and guards survived the pi-
rate attack and now live a spartan life in the ruins. They
made rough accommodations in the abbey's cellars.
The abbey's vegetable garden and a few barrels of salted
pork also survived the pirate attack. The s urvivors fish
from the lowe r cliffs and raise buckets of seawate r up
the cliffs by rope. By casting purify food and water on
th e seawate r, the abbey's clerics create e nough wate r for
their drinking, cooking, washing, and gardening needs.
The survivors have no boat and no means of building
one. The island's few stunted trees and gnarled bus hes
are incapable of supplying the wood for even a c rude
canoe or raft. The survivors have no control over the
undead of the Skull Dunes and would have to fight their
way through the skeletons to launch a boat (they are un-
aware of the path made by the pirates).
The survivors keep a low profile. They stay close to
the ruins of the abbey and keep out of sight of pass-
ing boats. They do not hail s hips or light s ignal fires.
Trapped on the island since the pirate attack, they are
unaware that the pirates have been destroyed. They a re
therefore hesitant to make their presence known for
fear the pirates will return and finish them off.
Even though the survivors desperately want to leave
the island, their superiors would not approve of their
abandoning the island to the mariners. The cle rics and
the surviving guards would be severely punished (per-
haps by death) if they left. The refore, they have resolved
to capture or kill anyone coming to the island. If any of
the characters are captured, they are kept alive only if
they can be used in negotiations to extract a ransom.
Ransom demands are likely to include a boat or at least
transportation to the mainland.
The survivors' main goal is to get word to their s u-
periors while still re taining possession of the is land.
They have sent missives by means of sending and an-
imal messenger spells (us ing seagulls), but they have
received no response. Nonetheless, they still hope to be
sent reinforceme nts, laborers, and material for rebuild-
ing the abbey.
They typically keep watch on the Skull Dunes during
the day, but have grown lax in that duty as boredom and
hunge r overtake them. Therefore, there is a 50 percent
chance that th e c haracters will land unseen at the Skull
Dunes during the day. The survivors do not keep watch
at night, meaning that the party has a 100 percent
chance of landing unnoticed when it's dark.
During the day, the survivors might be above ground
getting water, fishing, or gardening, or they might be in
area 2 of the ruins. At night they stay in their rooms.
The major personalities among the survivors are de-
tailed below.OZYMANDIAS
Ozymandias (NE male human priest) barely s urvived
the battle against the pirates because he tried to rescue
important books and scrolls from t he burning a bbey,
and a collaps ing hall closed a doorway behind him. He
was forced to abandon the writte n works, and he es-
caped only after a wall collapsed and provided him with
an escape route.CH \l"l FR 5 I !SU Of rtH Alli\! YGOLDEN MEDALLION
This medallion is a golden disk inscribed with complex
geometric designs, worth 30 gp. It is not magical, but
undead of the Winding Way recognize it and a llow anyone
who possesses the medallion, p lus their companions, to
pass safely unless the undead are attacked. Only the un·
dead guardians recognize the medallion, and it cannot be
used for safe passage past traps or other guardians in the
Winding Way, or for protection from any other undead on
or off the island. The undead do not obey orders from a
character who wears the medallion.Ozymandias is now the highest-ranking cleric and the
leader of the survivors. He is a capable administrator,
but he does not inspire loyalty or trust in those unde r
him. Underlings obey him because of the hierarchical
structure of the abbey's chain of command, not because
he shows any strong leadership. if attacked, he defe nds
himself to the best of his abilities. If the characters
attempt to negotiate, Ozymandias is treacherous and un-
likely to keep any agreement (except at sword point). He
wants to get word of the abbey's destruction to the main-
land, a nd he hopes to hold the island until help arrives.
Ozymandias wears a special golden medallion (see
the sidebar) that a llows safe passage through the un-
dead guardians of the Winding Way (the tunnels below
the abbey ruin). As the highest-ranking cleric on the
is land, Ozymandias wears the medallion as a symbol of
his faith, but he doesn't know about its special prope rty
or about the dangers of the Winding Way.ODIUM
Odium (NE male human cult fanatic) was visiting the
abbey on business when the pirates attacked. He gave
a brave account of himself during the battle, though he
survived by sheer chance. He ran through the burning
building to save his spell scrolls and other valuables. As
the flames mounted, Odium was forced to retreat to the
cellars with his rescued goods.
He is a grumbler and annoys everyone with his con-
stant griping. Odium and Ozymandias dislike each other
inte nsely. If one gets into trouble, the other will do noth-
ing to help.
Odium desperately wants to leave the island and get
on with his life. If the characters do not attack Odium
immediately, they might be able to strike a deal with
him. He will draw a rough map of the abbey ruins in
return for 200 gp and safe passage off the island. (If this
occurs, you s hould provide only a rough map of the cel-
lars without including the Winding Way.) Odium refuses
to join the party in a fight against the other survivors.BAYLEAF
Bayleaf (LE male elf bard; see appendix C) is amerce-
nary who works for the highest bidder. He was hired by
the abbey as a training instructor for the guards. If the
party does not attack him immediately, negotiation is
possible. Bayleaf can be bought off for 500 gp and safe
passage off the island. He does not draw a map for the
party or help them attack his former employers, but he
does tell them there are treasure-filled tunnels beneath
the abbey. If pressed, Bayleaf admits that the treasure is
guarded (true) and claims it is worth 10,000 gp (false).