endless armies, Dungeons and Dragons
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Endless Armies
by Jeff Grubb
Table of Contents
Introduction
...........................
.2
The Nightmare Begins
..................... .4
Maju and the Narabatun Jungle
............... .5
In Maju
............................
.6
The Narabatun Jungle
....................
.7
The Ixtzul Valley
.......................
.10
Encounters in the Valley
..................
.15
City of Ixtzul
..........................
.17
Encounters in the City of Ixtzul
..............
.25
The Summoning
...................... .27
Resolution
..........................
.29
NPC Capsule: Mirandos
.................... .30
New Monsters:
Bacar ............................ ..31
H'Calos.............................32
Credits
Design: Jeff Grubb
Editing: Karen S. Boomgarden
Cover Art: Fred Fields
Interior Art: Valerie Valusek
Cartography: Diesel
Production: Paul Hanchett
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Introduction
1000 years ago . . .
The sky bled from a great amber
wound as a piece of the sky fell into the
True World. Its passing caused the air
spirits to scream at its speed, and when
it struck the earth the ground shivered
from the House of Tezca to the coast.
Osctl Sleeping Turtle of the people of
Ixtzul Vale was the first to reach the
crater, the end-point of a long scar
through the valley. He was one of seven
minor chiefs, all seeking to gather the
people beneath their control.
The rest of his followers hung back
as Osctl moved down into the pit. A
great egg lay there, twice the size of a
temple, burned from its passage close
to the sun and blackened from its race
past the air-spirits. Osctl brushed some
of the ash from the side of the egg. A
seam split the shell beneath his hand.
Through the widening tear, Osctl
could see a great snake, coiled in sleep.
Osctl Sleeping Turtle knew not what
manner of beast this was, only that it
created an opportunity to rise among
his fellow chieftains, to establish Ixtzul
as a powerful city among the Payit.
The beast, the worm from the stars,
began to stir, and Osctl moved toward
its head, spear in one hand, hishna-
charm in the other, praying to his gods
that the creature would be
reasonable . . . .
wood. As a child, the Revered
Counselor remembered trees on the
mountainside. Now only red ravines of
eroded soil remained on the once-
wooded slopes. His people were sickly,
and already there were mutterings of
unrest among the nobles.
Across the court of stone-trees,
another labor party was laying the
great stones of another temple.
Temples and monuments would not be
enough if his people were hungry. But
they could not leave, not without
releasing a greater hunger into the
world.
Greyst returned to his own work,
directing his assistants: two artisans,
one plumaweaver and one
hishnashaper. With complete
concentration he showed them where
and how to inscribe the lines of power,
the binding forces to the great temples.
That Ixtzul would fall was beyond
questionthat was the nature of the
cycle of all life. His mission was to
provide sufficient protection for the
valley, and the True world itselfto
protect it from the citys original
guardian.
But who would guard the guardian?
Greyst furrowed his brow. His own
people would be gone, and their story
recorded only on the stone-trees. And
they were mere humans, to be
tempted by the power below.
The Revered Counselor looked at the
ground, and saw the small ants
crawling through the hard-packed dirt.
He smiled, and brought his talismans
to bear. They would make excellent
guardians. . . .
800 years ago. . .
The valley of Ixtzul was dying, and
Revered Counselor Greyst Seven Cloud
knew it. The wide valley could no
longer support the great number of
people. More and more people had
emigrated to his land, making him
powerful, but they all needed to be fed,
and the farmers stripped more and
more of the jungle for clear land and
80 years ago...
The warrior was brought into his
house babbling, and Hochtl dutifully
recorded his tale, though at times he
caught himself doubting the veracity of
the words. No. Looking at the wreckage
2
of the warriors leg, the flesh torn to
the bone itself, was enough proof of the
mans truthfulness.
The warrior had dared to enter the
cursed city of Ixtzul, in the death-vale,
and returned to say that the city was
inhabited still, though not by men.
Hochtl noted his tale, babbling and all,
about the tree-stones, the temples, the
sacrifices, and the powerful creatures
that served some forgotten lord.
At length the warrior tired, the
healing herbs took effect, and he
rested. Hochtl walked out into the
courtyard, holding his scrolls out
before the fire. He thought briefly of
burning them, of letting the tale die
with its teller, but no, it should stand as
a warning to others of the dangers of
Ixtzul.
By the morning the warrior was
gone. He left his jewelry and clothing
behind, and none saw him leave.
Hochtl knew how the warrior left, and
from that moment on, slept very
lightly.
Mirandos, stuffing Hochtls scroll
beneath her robes and leaving the
bonfire behind her . . .
The Tale of Ixtzul, the Sky
Worm, and Mirandos
Ixtzul was a long-forgotten, ruined city
in Far Payit. Ixtzuls original founders
made a pact with a great monster that
entered the fertile valley from space, a
local god known as HCalos, the Star-
Worm, as recounted in the previous
entries. As with so many cities, Ixtzul
went from insignificance to
importance to oblivion.
So it was for over seven hundred
years, until Hochtls scroll came into
the possession of the priestess
Mirandos of Helm. An agent of the
Anmite government entrusted with
examination and disposal of colonial
manuscripts (read: burning native texts
in order to establish Amnite
sovereignty), Mirandos had her own
personal agendato create her own
power base in the True World. She took
the scroll and learned its secrets, then
went rogue, seeking out her personal
empire.
Now the church wants Mirandos,
and her scroll, back. They suspect that
she has gone astray from their flock,
but they have no hard proof. For that
they need heroes willing to pursue
Mirandos into the jungles of Payit, and
"rescue her.
Except. . . they are already too late,
for Mirandos has reached the city of
Ixtzul, and controls the leaders of the
ant-people. Now she wants to control
the legendary creature that slumbers
beneath the city itself. She is looking
for heroes, too as sacrifices.
80 days ago. . .
Mirandos was overseeing the
destruction of the Maztican scrolls in
the town of Maju when one in
particular caught her eye. It was non-
magical (anything with the taint of
their strange spell-casting had been
weeded out for later research), but was
not the standard, weird, hodge-podge
record of battles and local lords. For
once it included a map of the lost city,
Ixtzul, and an idea of what lay within,
particularly its guardians.
Mirandos smiled as she read about
the guardians. Only the savage
Mazticans would think of such
creatures as sufficient guards. An
entire city of treasure, perfectly
preserved, guarded by such easily
controlled creatures.
"Easier done than said, mused
3
The Nightmare
Begins
The player characters are summoned
to the church of Helm in Ulatos (a map
of Helmsport and Ulatos is provided in
FMA1, Fires of Zatal for those
interested, but it is not needed to play
this adventure). Native-born characters
are requested to attend by their
families, while those native to Faerun
(as well as those natives which have
established legendary reputations
through their previous actions) have
been contacted individually and
politely requested to come to the
church on a matter of delicacy and
urgency. Note that the native-born
characters are asked politely, not
ordered, to attend, and hints of
monetary reward are dropped.
An acolyte greets them and ushers
them into the presence of Bishou
Devane of Helm, the highest-ranked
church official in the colony of New
Amn. The Bishou is seated at a desk
carved from Maztican oak, flanked by
censers giving off a dull red light and a
copious amount of smoke.
Servants and friends of Helm,
begins the chief Godseye of the True
World, you have been asked here to aid
the church on a matter of great
delicacy and some urgency. One of our
priests, engaged in missionary work in
the south, is missing.
We suspected foul play among the
savages, but rumors have surfaced that
she left Maju of her own volition,
perhaps seeking some lost treasure in
the hinterlands. If this is so, she is
acting without the permission of the
church, and her actions may reflect
poorly on us and our relationship with
the native population.
We need you to discover the fate of
Mirandos. If she has been slain, we
would like you to recover the body for
decent burial, if possible. If she has
gone astray, we wish you to bring her
back for ecumenical trial and
punishment.
We wish this to remain low-key, for
political purposes. Governor Cordell is
currently on a crusade against Anmites
disappearing into the hills and jungles,
searching for their own personal cities
of gold. Such activities usually serve no
purpose save stirring up the native
population against our forces and our
faith. Should one of Helms servants be
revealed to be involved in such activity,
our cause in this new land will be
weakened. We need heroes who are
both quick and discreet. Are you up to
the task?
Bishou Devane offers a reward of 500
gp for Mirandos body, 1000 gp for her
alive, and an additional 500 gp if they
can prove that Mirandos has gone
rogue. In addition, the heroes may
keep any and all magic items and
treasure that they encounter while in
performance of their duties (with a
note that a tithe to the church is always
appreciated).
The church of Helm provides a letter
from the Bishou indicating that the
characters are on "church business,
good for the next 30 days. He also
provides horses for the Faerun player
characters as far as Maju, and up to 100
gp of equipment and traveling
expenses for each member of the
party.
In Ulatos, little is known of Mirandos.
She arrived about two months ago with
a supply ship from Amn, with papers
indicating that she had been charged
by the home church to preach among
the friendly Payit tribes of the south.
She disappeared about a month ago,
and it has taken this long for word to
reach back to Ulatos, be confirmed,
and be acted on.
4
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