WARNING -- this Quest was designed to be difficult... and ought to prove a worthy challenge to most parties, and likely spell doom to lower-level ones... still, try it out... It's not like I threw a bloodthirster around every corner, but I designed it to be an uphill battle the whole way through.

Alright... the quest's setting begins in a tavern (of course) where the party meets up with a battered warrior with a far-away look in his eyes, he goes on to explain that his expedition in the mountains nearby came to a tragic end...

"We thought... I don't know what we were thinking. Lads had gotten an old campaign map... frayed and worn, but one part had noted on it the location of an old temple that isn't on any maps today. It was deep in the high mountains, and remote enough we thought to have been totally forgotten. Said something unclears about something being buried under the temple, and we gots to talking about treasure. Well, we didn't find treasure... and what's up there... well it ain't buried, neither. Not anymore it ain't. Me and my comrades we were slaughtered... taken by surprise by a vile chaos sorcerer. Most of my friends died where they stood, and of the few of us who'd managed to back away from the carnage with our heads attached, was I who was the only one who made it back to town alive. That fiend must be stopped, and his wicked minions also put to the blade and burned."

SETUP

The Setup of the dungeon deck is done as follows. Take out the Circle of Power room card, and all of the objective rooms except the fighting pit from the deck (for this dungeon, the fighting pit is treated as a normal (if slightly larger) room in every regard... there is nothing particularly special about it, and will be shuffled into the deck normally. Now, place the fountain of light (called the blood forge), a random "normal" card, followed by the circle of power, then two more normal cards. Then place the Idol chamber card (called the herisiarch's seminary) on the deck followed by 5 random cards, then the tomb chamber (called Altar Room) with 5 random cards, then finally the firechasm (called Abyssial Gorge) then 5 more random cards. All objective rooms with the exception of the fountain of light are considered to have doorways on the opposite side of the room. These objective rooms represent "checkpoints" regarding the depth into the lair of the chaos sorceror, and each will be described below in detail.

The dungeon begins set on the level of the average player character level, However, every room after the STAIRWAY card is played, all monsters encountered are done on the monster table one level higher. It gets dangerous as you go on. Also note that all monster encounters beyond the FIRECHASM (in this scenario known as the "Abyssial Gorge" will only be chaos encounters, and the encounter tables should be truncated or re-rolls made so that only encounters envolving chaos beasts are allowed.

THE FIRST LEG OF THE JOURNEY -- Mountain Trails to the "Abyssial Gorge"

This part of the "Dungeon" represents the players moving up through the mountain ranges and valleys to arrive at the "abyssial gorge" -- a pair of yawning cliff faces joined by a bridge right at the forgotten temple's approach. Because the players have not yet reached the chaos stronghold, encounters are still rolled randomly off the encounter tables. To substantiate that it is a long and arduous journey toward the temple, treat every ONE square as requiring TWO movement points to move into... effectively halving the movement rate until the FIRECHASM card is passed, at which point this leg of the journey is resolved and movement is resolved normally.

FIRECHASM -- (ABYSSIAL GORGE) --

The travelling through the mountain paths and box canyons was time-consuming and treacherous, but as the warriors come up over the final peak they realize ever more vividly just how far they have climbed, and yet thier trials have just begun. Stretching out before them lies a rickety and ancient shod-metal bridge spanning a yawning chasm of inky blackness decending endlessly into the dark heart of the mountains. The bridge rattles like a wind chime in the updraft, as if to beckon menacingly. Beyond this walkway is a small plateau completely absent of the splendorous temple you'd envision in these dizzying heights... instead the sheer rock face is unceremoniusly bedecked with a single foreboding door... Guarded by a Gruesome host of Beastmen.

The standard rules for crossing the Chasm apply here, but it takes two turns (and two safety checks) to cross this bridge as opposed to normally only one. Monsters still cross the bridge normally. When the room is entered by a player and the description is read, look on the player's level monster table and pick the encounter on that table that has the highest valued beastman included in it... and place those monsters on the board. If there are no beastmen on that battle level table for some reason, pick the most dangerous encounter on that table including minotaurs, instead. remember that the movement rate is still halved for this room. Should the players defeat all the beastmen they will find on thier leader a Chaos Symbol which fits an indentation of the temple's entrace door... or if they refuse to touch the symbol the door can be forced open (it has armor 4 and 10 wounds).

THE SECOND LEG OF THE JOURNEY -- Into the temple depths.

This section of the "Dungeon" is the parties delving into what is essentially a crowded and fully functioning stronghold to the worship of chaos, and resistence will be strong from here on in. please keep in mind that only chaos encounters will be drawn from now on, and every board section in this leg of the adventure (until the TOMB CHAMBER card is passed) will have an event triggered on first entering it, regardless of whether it is a passage or a regular room. This part of the Quest will continue until the party discovers "The Altar Room" - -- (represented by the tomb chamber) where the party will have to make thier way deeper into the temple.

TOMB CHAMBER -- "To The Altar Room"

The party stands in the lower half of a two-level ritual chamber divided by a set of rough-hewn stairs leading up to an ancient and blood-stained altar built of stone and brazen brass. Hanging from the walls and cieling is seemingly endless miles of iron chain, which in several places dangles down to about waist level and is draped with banners of human skin, manacled skeletons, and hooks skewering hunks of rotting flesh. Blood and gore is splattered everywhere and nothing moves. Crouched and kneeling before the Altar are a good number of robed cultists, and it is only at second glance whilst preparing to fight them that you notice that they all are dead... thier arms sprawled in prayer, all the "cultists" have rusty daggers thrust into each of thier eye sockets... the human wreckage scattered about is none other than the explorers who preceeded your group, thier bodies defaced in a disgusting display for the gods of chaos.

Read the description and inform the players that there is a doorway on the far side of the chamber. When the first warrior climbs up the stairs onto the higher platform, the idols eyes flicker with a green flame and the doorway pulses with an dread-inspiring voice...

"Name the Four Powers" -- The Door insists..

Answer (Backwards in case you don't have a GM, cheater) : ( hcneezt, elgrun, hsenaals, enrohk)

If this is answered correctly, the door bellows another challenge...

"It cannot be Seen... It Cannot be felt,
 It cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
 lies behind stars and under hills,
 and many empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after,
 It ends life, and kills the laughter."

Answer (Backwards) (ssenkard)

If both these challenges are answered right, the door opens, and the next leg of the dungeon is open territory. The door cannot be opened by any other means besides fighting the monsters you face for giving a wrong answer. No amount of wailing on the door will help.

If the warriors guess any answers wrong the Altar Bellows "DEFILER!" and the door opens to reveal a chaos encounter 2 levels above the average warriors level. (Tough, but this is the danger the warriors face) ... however, if they survive they get THREE treasure cards as opposed to one they normally get, and the door will be open for them to continue.

THE THIRD LEG OF THE JOURNEY -- The Herisiarch's Seminary

This leg of the "Dungeon" represents the most private and secret recesses of the chaos cult, and the players will need to find and pass the IDOL CHAMBER (herisiarch's seminary) to pass into the fourth and final area, to confront the sorceror. Although you don't need to take an event card for passages anymore (unlike in the altar rooms section) instead of rolling for the number of monsters encountered in unexpected events and room encounters, automatically place the MAXIMUM number of enemies on the table.if they are chaos warriors or beastmen... (demons, including juggernaughts, are rolled for normally) for example... 2d6 chaos warriors in this area will automatically be 12 chaos warriors. This is to illustrate that although the inner temple is not as heavily patrolled and crowded as the outer areas, the level of resistence, when encountered, is invariably very high. This section culminates in the heart of the temple... the herisiarch's seminary, When the IDOL CHAMBER is reached.

IDOL CHAMBER -- Herisiarch's Seminary --

Pushing your way through a black marble doorway inlaid with chaos runes of pure obsidian you find yourself in a massive open chapel-style gathering chamber. On the far end, at the pulpit, is the vile chaos Sorceror Kheshul-Var... standing beneath a massive statuary depicting the struggle amoung the four chaos gods for supremacy. Hatred, Malice, and utter madness dance in his eyes as he watches you enter the chamber... and before you can take in anything else the battle is joined, the red eyes and shimmering weapons of Kheshul-Var's minions streaking forward from out of the darkness...

Keshul-Var is a Chaos Sorceror for all parties up to level 5... and beyond that he is a master chaos sorceror (to keep it challenging). when facing him in this chamber take the chaos encounter containing the monster of the highest value on that battle level table and automatically place the maxium # of those creatures on the board between Keshul-Var and the Warriors. Should the Warriors actually reduce the Chaos sorceror to zero wounds he will reduce to a thin, blood-like slime and flow underneath the doorway into the inner sanctum... the doorway beyond the idol chamber. That door can be opened without difficulty should all the monsters in this room be slain... the magics that once kept it sealed were broken when Keshul-Var was smitten. Now knowing that Keshul-Var has been weakened, but still has vile magics preserving and sustaining him, the party must travel into the deepest reaches of the mountain labyrinth, and Destroy Keshul-Var for good.

FINAL LEG OF THE JOURNEY -- "To the fountains of Blood"

This final and smaller section of the dungeon represents Keshul-Var's private chambers... and is the most dangerous part of the journey yet. All encounters are still always chaos, and automatically the maxium # of monsters possible in any given encounter will be placed to oppose your warriors (including demons). In addition to this, one additional rule applys... for every 3 power used by any of the player's warriors in this area, one pink horror is automatically placed on the board as close to the casters as possible, right after the spell effect is resolved. For example, after a level 9 spell is cast and resolved, 3 pink horrors appear automatically. or after 6 power is spent on healing spells, 2 pink horrors appear right after the spell is resolved. This is to signify how charged this area of the labyrinth is with the energy of the warp, and the use of magic can only draw demons like moths to a candle. This Area is ultimately resolved in the FOUNTAIN OF LIGHT room (called "The blood forge") but can be additionally complicated if the circle of power room is encountered first.

Circle of Power -- ("Keshul-Var's Pentacle") --

if the warriors find thier way into the circle of power room before they discover the fountian room, they will discover that the chaos sorceror has fully regained his power and health and stands behind 8 pink horrors, and two chaos champion bodyguards. Before closing into combat the sorceror will give the warriors this ultimatum:

"Your souls already belong to me, foolish mortals... but if you cease your assault and leave this dimense I will spare your worthless bodies"

(Should the warriors concede, they can keep their gold and treasure they've amassed so far and indeed leave in safety... truth be told, Keshul-Var hardly has the resources left to pursue them!)

Otherwise... the battle is joined again, and again (if defeated) the sorcerer will reduce to into a crimson slime and slide deeper into the dungeon. After this point, the sorcerer has no-where left to hide... should the warriors press forward... they will find themselves in...

THE FOUNTAIN OF LIGHT -- ("The Blood Forge")

Moving through the doorway and down a winding staircase of pure onyx veined with bloodstone you find yourself at the entrance to Keshul-Var's deepest and most secret chamber, the source of his powers of chaos undivided. Multiple Demoniac Icons and Hellish statues emboss the walls of this power-drenched room, in the center of which lies a great pool of steaming blood. Perverse magics keep it at a horrid rolling boil, through which you can see wisps of magic and gemstones flicker. The last of the sorcerer's minions put up a grim defiance to your incursion, ready to die in a last stand for thier dark master. Right before your eyes the re-constituted body of Keshul-Var rises from the bloody fountain... every inch of his body wreathed in mystic fire.

This final battle is resolved with the chaos sorcerer at full strength just as in previous encounters, and you roll on the encounter table to see what chaos creatures accompany him as his last line of defense. If the encounter rolled contains demons than the maximum possible are placed on the board, otherwise roll as normal... this is to represent his potential for abundant demonic aid, but the warriors have butchered most of his mortal entourage. In addition, because of Keshul- Var's proximity to the blood forge he gains the ability "Regenerate 2".

If the sorceror is slain yet again, his death shrieks will fill the chamber and cause the whole room to tremble. As both he and the slime in the blood forge begin to fade in a cloud of sulpherous smoke, The ceiling begins to collapse and part of the wall falls away... revealing another network of tunnels. before dashing out of the chamber each warrior can grab 1d6 x 500 gold worth of gems... and there is one objective room treasure. (not one for each warrior -- just one)

As you well know, the network of tunnels the warriors escaped into eventually leads back out to the surface... and the group can head back to a settlement for a well deserved rest...