After a foray into the Shallows of the Underdark and having taken away their stuff, or threaten who they love, you point to a looming threat and they stumble upon the only nearby human / drow / duergar trading outpost in the gloom: the evil steading of Canker’s Canyon. A sore in the underdark’s skin. Founded on the ruins of an ancient temple and run by the ruthless Aunt Enmity, a Drow Lich (an excommunicated priestess). Canker’s Canyon gives them what they need: Dubious Sanctuary, a guide back to the surface, tyranny to defeat, simply getting their (very valuable or iconic) stuff back, the chance to free their loved ones from slavery…
Slavers from the underdark make frequent forays into the surface lands to capture new slaves for use as either labor or food - or in the unusual case of Canker’s Canyon – arcane energy. Light, heat, and Auntie’s protective wards are made possible by her ancient, duergar phylactery named the ‘Wheel’; fueled by trapped sacrificial souls. The arcarneum, which houses ‘The Wheel’ is located in the heavily warded slave pits under Canker’s Canyon and is operated by the diminutive Duergar arcanist: Master, who is carried around by his enormously strong stone giant bodyguard, Blaster.
"Master Blaster" holds an uneasy truce with Aunt Enmity for control of Canker’s Canyon. Master, however, is beginning to exploit his position with arcane "embargoes," challenging Auntie’s leadership. He wants more power and prestige. She is furious with him but cannot challenge him (yet), as Master is not only immune to her necromancy, but the only one with the arcane knowledge to use the Wheel. The leverage being that not only does the ancient artifact power Canker’s Canyon’s magical defenses but is also Auntie’s phylactery!
The controlled chaos of Canker’s Canyon is maintained by her set of inflexible laws, including one that states that no contract can be broken, for any reason. The punishment for breaking her law is equally inflexible and invoked with the simple phrase, "carp a deal, face the wheel." The ‘wheel’ is an unstable and ancient Duergar arcane device run by Master that harvests souls and acts as her phylactery.
Grim Portents
· Master Blaster increases his embargoes, demanding more luxury and control of the town. He wants to usurp Aunty and become Lord of Canker’s Rift.
· The Phylactery shudders, unstable with the lack of souls, water ceases to pump, and the arcane powered fires go out. As the Arcane shields protecting the town falter, dark things in the deep pools and ancient tunnels begin to breach the fringes of town and wreak their instinctual fear and death.
· Aunty imposes strict martial law, any who actively support MasterBlaster’s embargoes are quickly dealt with.
· The collector searches for an ‘instrument’ to remove Blaster from the equation
· Slaves plot rebellion as they witness their sacrificial doom
· The slave rebellion kills many and reduces the number of slaves and traders
· Aunty invokes a forbidden ritual and raises an army of undead from the recent dead to destroy Master Blaster Once and for All.
· Master risks everything and uses all of his arcane knowledge to taps into arcane energy of the wheel to thwart the undead army…
Impending Doom
· Armageddon engulfs Canker’s Rift as control is lost, Undead roam the streets, the arcane artefact billows magical force as it spirals toward oblivion…..
Stakes
· Why is Master immune to Aunty’s Necromancy?
· Will the players align with MasterBlaster or Aunty?
· What happens as the Wheel harvests the victim’s soul?
· What happens when Master ‘taps the wheel’?
· What nearby Underdark denizens curiously investigate the happenings at Canker’s Rift? What can the town give them as its defences drop?
Cast
Blaster, Stone Giant Solitary, Huge , Almost-Intelligent
Smash (d10+5 damage) 30 HP 3 Mismatched Arcane Armour
Reach, Forceful
Instinct: To defend Master
· Chuck rocks
· Crush someone, grinding their bones
· Fling a held creature or object
· Rend and tear asunder
Master: Duergar Sorcerer Solitary, Small, Magical, Devious, Intelligent
Choose a look: pale, gray or callous skin. Bone white, stringy or flaming hair. Bright, fevered or darkened eyes. bejeweled, singed or rusty garb. Emaciated, twisted or sinewy body
Cleverly concealed mechanical weapon (d6 damage) Close 10 HP 2 Arcane Armour
Instinct: To manipulate (literal and metaphorical)
· Intimidate with enfeebling magics
· Observe a potential foe in great detail
· Learn forbidden knowledge
· Offer a tempting solution
The Collector, Doppelganger Solitary, Devious, Intelligent
Dagger (d6 damage) Close 12 HP 0 Armour
Special Qualities: Shapeshifting
The collector’s natural form, if you ever see it, is a hideous thing. Like a creature who stopped growing part-way, before it decided it was drow or goblin or duergar. Then again, without a shape to call his own, The Collector seeks little more than a place to fit in as Aunty’s favoured minion. If you go out into the underdark, when you come back to Canker’s Rift, make sure your friends are who you think they are. They might, instead, be the Collector and your companion might be food for the Otugyh in the Gutter. Then again, depending on your friends, that might be an improvement.
Instinct: To infiltrate
· Assume the shape of a person who's flesh it's tasted
· Use another's identity to advantage
· Leave someone's reputation shattered
· Give a vision of the dark future
The Collector patrols Canker’s Rift recruiting ‘talent’ for Aunty. It is he who recommends the character’s to her.
Aunt Enmity - The Drow Lich - ex-high priestess.
Solitary, Magical, Intelligent, Cautious, Hoarder, , Terrifying
Enervate (d10+3 damage ignores armour) 25 HP 5 Armor
Near, Far
(impulse: to seek true immortality)
A powerful prayer eons ago sequestered her soul into the Arcane Wheel. This process was an ultimate act of evil, but it granted her with eternal undeath and formidable power.
Choose her name: Arareba Deathcaster, Exiaz Venomsnarl, Nakih Scarquester, Tayenrer Darklash, Zeka Ragemistress
Choose her look: Ethereal elegance, mysterious depravity, or necrotic visage. Arachnid shape, voluptuous build or ectoplasmic form. Decayed vestments, scantily clad or insidious drow armour
Choose her Ancient Deity:
Kiaransalee, goddess of undead and vengeance.
Lolth, goddess of spiders, evil, darkness, chaos and assassins.
Zinzerena, goddess of chaos and assassins, and evil activity on the surface
Her Moves
Special: Impervious to non-magical damage
The ‘Wheel’ – an Ancient, Duergar Artifact: complex, mechanical, sentient, arcane, immutable
(impulse: to find a worthy wielder)
Choose its look: Colossal, elliptical or spherical form. Fissured, smooth or meticulous casing. Humming, garrulous or enveloping output.
When you interact with the Drow Lich’s phylactery, you catch a glimpse of her former, very decadent and powerful life, roll+Wis.
On a 10+, the glimpse contains very detailed information, what might it be? take +1 Forward when acting on it.
On a 7-9, the vision attempts to pull you deeper. If you give in, the GM will give you some useful information but also a fearful vision of your impending doom.
If you resist, the vision of eldritch power is tempting beyond all belief but ultimately shallow.
On a Miss your very soul is at risk.
Canker’s Canyon
Choose its geology:
· layers of calcite crystalline material which forms and floats on the surface of still rimstone pools,
· an angular breccia vault of sediment and bone,
· Narrow eroded gorges that house numerous grottoes and lava tubes,
· Rifts where vast blocks of stone rose, sunk, or slid past one another in long-ago cataclysms, leaving tremendous chasms,
· or perhaps Canker’s Canyon is perched on an Abyssal void of unfathomable depth.
Choose Its features:
· Streams lakes & waterfalls,
· mushroom forests, tunnels, magma chambers,
· shafts,
· crystal flowers,
· gas pockets,
· stalactites/mites,
· geysers,
· cavernous geodes (hollow rocks lined with crystals)
Locations (Make a Map as you unearth them in play)
The Spiderdome: a Shadowland Gladiatorial Arena
(impulse: to corrupt or consume the living)
Dungeon Moves
The Gutter: Canker’s Rift ‘s midden containing a Otuygh.
Aunty’s Eyrie: An elevated Tower where the Drow Lich resides watching over all. The people of the Canyon use it as a clock. At midnight a soul is harvested and necromantic energy flows from the pits in a noxious glowing band up the Eyrie, taking 12 hours, before travelling down it again, going out once it reaches the base of the tower
The Bazaar: where everything may be bought…. For a price. Several “Wheel powered’ enchantments and buffers which suppress sounds, vibrations and noises are also a part of the Bazaar, the limits of which extended to everything from boot steps to merchant shouts.
The Farm: Rich fungi colonies, beds of moss and giant mushrooms tended by slaves
The Slave Pits: The ‘pits of the wheel’ are dismal places of fear, filth, blood and death