Pathfinder city of locusts pdf download

This book written by Mike Selinker and published by Paizo, Incorporated which was released on 03 November with total pages Join over The Final Crusade! Having returned from the Abyss with Iomedae's blessing, you're ready to permanently close the Worldwound. This deck also includes new loot cards and six new scenarios that make up the complete City of Locusts adventure, including an epic final Boss battle.

Price Includes VAT. Download or read online Wrath of the Righteous Base Set written by Anonim, published by Unknown which was released on As they return from their last foray into the Abyss, however, they find that their enemies are no longer just sending minions after. Designed to complement and enhance play of the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, the three huge poster maps in this map folio are an invaluable aid for any campaign set in the treacherous Worldwound and beyond.

Included in this folio are a map of the city of Kenabres the. The rise of the Runelords adventure path concludes. Karzoug's minions join the Runelord of greed and the evil wizard. There could be an even more evil darkness waiting to emerge. The battle continues to try to stop the Rise of the Runelords. Hidden category: Articles with first-edition content. ISBN Pathfinder Adventure Path 78 Wrath of the Righteous 6 of 6. Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth. Artwork from City of Locusts.

The Last Crusade! Such an action is fraught with terrible dangers, for the wound can be healed only at its source, and that source is wreathed in the secret mists of the wound itself, a barrier beyond the power of any spells to penetrate.

The wound is a madness, a land that sheds its skin like a snake, a place where what is seen cannot be trusted, and where the line between Golarion and the Abyss is at its thinnest. As the vision fades, the PC knows that solution lies in the pages of the Lexicon of Paradox. Iomedae also grants this vision to the leader of the crusade, Queen Galfrey. Galfrey knows what must be done, and at some point soon after the vision occurs, she teleports into the PCs' proximity, wearing a grave and exhausted look on her face.

Yet she bears good news, for the method to seal the Worldwound forever has finally been found in the pages oft he Lexicon ofParadox! The PCs and Queen Galfrey have already utilized a lesser version ofthis ritual to close a minor portal between the Abyss and the Material Plane back in "The Midnight Isles," but she informs the PCs that the task ahead of them in closing the Worldwound at its source within the tower known as Threshold is a much more dangerous and involved task.

The PCs are, of course, free to assault Threshold at once ifthey wish, but Galfrey warns them that to do so without preparation would be suicide, even for a group as powerful as theirs.

Furthermore, to shut down the Worldwound, the PCs will need to place several dimensional locks within the prison tower of Threshold, on both sides of the Worldwound-these dimensional locks are akin to planting explosive charges in key architectural locations.

They'll resonate with the ritual itself and magnify it as needed to finish the j ob. Unfortunately, no mere casting of a symbol ofsealin.! J will do-this casting must be made with the use ofa special focus-the Nahyndrian chisel used by the Storm King to destroy the Kenabres wardstone.

Once these tasks have been accomplished, the external defenses that could protect Threshold will be thrown into disarray. The PCs will still face great challenges within the prison tower, but they will not need to simultaneously contend with wave after wave of reinforcements from elsewhere in the Worldwound.

Fortunately, she says, all three of these missions can be accomplished in close proximity to the other. Unfortunately, that proximity lies within the heart of the greatest of the fallen cities ofSarkoris-Iz. If the PCs ask Galfrey for details on how this will work, see the start of Part 3 on page 37 for details.

Secure the Chisel: Divinations have revealed that the Nahyndrian chisel is now kept as a bauble by the high priest of Deskari's faith-a woman known among the faithful as Mistress Anemora. Very little is known of this mysterious figure, for the church of Deskari is very decentralized organization-cults exist in discrete cells that have little contact with each other.

The cult believes that the Nahyndrian chisel's use has passed, and its leader keeps it now as nothing more than a sacred relic. All of these cult cells eventually report to Mistress Anemora. In addition to securing the chisel, if the PCs can assassinate Mistress Anemora, the church of Deskari will fall to internal bickering and strife for several weeks, perhaps months-more than enough time for the PCs to finish the task of closing the Worldwound without the cult being able to move against them.

Mistress Anemora dwells somewhere within the walls of an old Sarkorian brothel called the Yearning House, but what sort of horrors the demons have turned this place into, no spy can say. Nevertheless, Galfrey's spies suggest that of the two sites in Iz the PCs need to visit, the Yearning House is slightly less dangerous than the Soul Foundry.

Learn about the Suture: At the Soul Foundry, lead is alloyed with captured souls to create an unusual and unstable material known as soul-lead, one of many vile materials used in the creation of Abyssal constructs like retrievers, warmonger wasps, and devastators.

The Soul Foundry's foreman, a half-babau dwarfknown as the Filleted Man, is also called "the Suture's keeper. Assassinate the Storm King: Challenging Khorramzadeh in his palace in the heart oflz would be foolish.

Not only is this sprawling structure immense and well guarded, but it's unknown whether Khorramzadeh is even there-attempts to scry upon the Storm King or otherwise discern his location have been consistently failing oflate, perhaps because he is being protected by Deskari himself But if the PCs manage to accomplish the above two tasks, Galfrey is confident that Khorramzadeh will not be able to stay away; he will be forced to step in and do what his minions could not-personally defeat the PCs-or suffer Deskari's wrath.

The PCs should be ready to face Khorramzadeh within seconds ofaccomplishing the second ofthe above two goals.

The PCs have only days to complete this adventure if they wish to stop the apocalypse Deskari has engineered. Use the following schedule of events to spur the PCs on. If they are unable to close the Worldwound in time, the resulting devastation will be great indeed. Day 1: Areelu Vorlesh begins the final stage of the ritual to tear the Worldwound wide open; Deskari focuses energies from the core of the Rasping Rifts from the portal's far side.

The skies above the Worldwound grow more oppressive and overcast. At this point, the energies to build enough to result in the apocalypse on the fifth day-even the death of Areelu or Deskari's defeat cannot stop this inevitability. Only closing the Worldwound before this event occurs can stop it. Day z: Abyssal influence extends out ofthe Worldwound.

All of Threshold is now affected by the Rasping Rifts planar traits. The sky above the Worldwound turns black, with eerie ribbons of red light and strange flickering stars; lighting is now treated as perpetually night. Day 3: Abyssal influence extends farther, covering much of the Wounded Lands.

All oflz is now under the effects of the Rasping Rifts planar traits. Tremors begin to affect the Worldwound, wracking the landscape id4 times per hour at random intervals.

The timing of when tremors occur is left to you to decide, but they should have an unnerving knack for occurring during battles when things otherwise seem to be going well for the PCs. Day 4: The entire Worldwound becomes infused with the Rasping Rift's planar traits. Abyssal upheavals see page 38 now occur throughout the Worldwound, not just within Threshold. All demons and worshipers of Deskari in the region gain fast healing 10 and are treated as if under the effects of haste.

Day 5: The Worldwound tears open! The temporary bonuses granted from days end as the Abyss absorbs the Worldwound and the rift begins growing outward to consume Avistan. See Concluding the Adventure and the "Beyond the Campaign" article for repercussions. The silence of the city streets is unnerving, yet the screams and shrieks and sounds of metal scraping on stone that periodically pierce the silence are worse. A sickness hangs about the city, a pallid smog that dances with the dark shadows ofthe Abyss, an otherworldly cancer caressing this world with terrible j agged rifts.

Even the sky seems to bleed. During the height ofSarkoris, the grand city oflz was the only city in the nation that could be considered a metropolis, but even in those days it was underpopulated for its size.

Today the city is all but abandoned, and serves as little more than a trophy for the Worldwound as its districts slowly crumble away into the Worldwound's steadily approaching canyons. Only a third of the city remains, and most of its ruined buildings lie empty, or at most are infested with demonic vermin. Many of its larger or key structures have been claimed by powerful demons or minions of Deskari-the Yearning House and the Soul Foundry being two such examples.

The streets oflz are largely empty now. The settlement is known today as the City ofLocusts, for the skies above constantly buzz with carnivorous swarms of these pests, drawn to the region by Deskari's growing influence. The swarms pay no attention to creatures who move about on the ground below, only attempting to feed on those who dare fly higher than 1 0 0 feet above.

This adventure does not cover the j ourney to Iz, nor much in the way of exploring the largely empty ruined city-the PCs don't have time for distractions, after all, and they know exactly where they're going. Galfrey can provide precise directions to the Yearning House or the Soul Foundry, enough to allow the PCs to use lJreater teleport to arrive on site but not within the buildings themselves. If the PCs use other methods to reach these sites, feel free to have them attacked along the way by powerful foes, but take care not to distract the players with too much extraneous fighting.

They'll need all their resources to handle the challenges this adventure has planned for them! The Yearning House and the Soul Foundry are two such locations, but ofthe two, only the Yearning House accepts visitors from beyond the city's crumbling walls. Run by the drider Anemora, Deskari's high priest, the Yearning House is outwardly a brothel and drug den, but it's actual purpose is to gather souls for use as trade or raw materials.

The Yearning House's occupants are mythic succubi, and while they do serve as companions for fiends and powerful cultists and other Worldwound allies, their primary function in the building is to drain souls, store them in gemstones, and send them on to where they may be needed.

Visitors to the Yearning House pay not in gold or magic, but in living offerings of mortals whom the succubi, known as the Pleasers, can drain oflife. The Yearning House is a large, garish establishment where clientele range from the obscene to the horrific, and trouble is a wrong glance away. It resembles a dark fairyland brothel; its air is thick with strange drugs and scents, and its clientele slump amid cushions and furs or in private rooms while acts come and go atop a large central stage.

The following encounters present the Yearning House as it is when the PCs first arrive, its visitors and staff arranged throughout the building. The method by which the PCs seek out Mistress Anemora and claim the Nahyndrian chisel is left to them-they can go in with weapons drawn to clean the place out, or they can opt for a stealthier method of disguise and intrigue.

Both tactics present their own specialized dangers, and both can easily result in failure ifthe PCs don't take care! You know your players' comfort levels, so you should adjust the site as appropriate in your game; the encounters as set up here are relatively tame but can go either direction if you wish.

The Yearning House presents another challenge as well, for the PCs will face simulacra ofthemselves therein. These aren't intended to be significant challenges, but rather to serve as disturbing and unsettling elements. Excluding the PC simulacra doesn't affect the challenge of the adventure much at all. If you do choose to include the simulacra, you'll need to borrow your PCs' character sheets b e fore the session to stat them up; we can't provide these statistics for you.

D on't worry overmuch about getting the numbers exactly right; remember that as half- strength copies of the PCs, these things won't last long in a fight anyway. C o u rtyard C R 1 8 This d ry cou rtya rd conta ins d u st, c h u n ks of jagged r u b b l e, a few lonely bra m b l es, a n d two long reflecting pools fi l l e d with brackish water.

It's surrounded by a ten -foot- h i g h stone curtain wa l l. Two twenty-foot- h i g h watchtowers sta nd to the south, while a soot-ca ked stone b u i l d i n g with a centra l dome sits to the north. Creatures: The Yearning House courtyard is guarded by a group of particularly deformed ash giants and four unusual constructs built originally to serve as companions for visitors.

These marble constructs, shapely humanoid creatures called soulbound shells, have been demoted to guardians now that the Pleasers serve in this capacity. The ash giants patrol the courtyard itself, while the soulbound shells walk the curtain wall. Their reaction to the PCs depends on whether the PCs are disguised or not-if the PCs arrive without bothering to conceal their identities, the ash giants chuckle lecherously while the soulbound shells greet the PCs, speaking in tandem in melodious tones, "Welcome to the Yearning House, heroes.

Please enjoy your stay! If the PCs arrive in disguise, the giants and soulbound shells move to confront them, demanding invitations and names.

A successful Bluff check can secure passage-otherwise they attack. They also attack if the PCs seem intent on doing violence to those within the building to the north.

The giants hurl blocks ofrubble or step up to engage in melee while the soulbound shells remain on the catwalks and use their magic. All eight fight to the end. Entrance C R 1 2 The south a n d east w alls of this twenty-foot-sq u a re room a re ca rved with depictions of h u m a n s a n d demons i n a sca n d a l o u s carnal ta n g l e. A r e d s i l ken curtain hangs to the n o r t h , the fabric g l ittering with sparkling gems.

A single mahogany desk sits to the east before a l a rg e c h a i r. The only object atop the desk is a ledger b o un d i n fl esh. Creature: A lone coloxus demon named Mazillgarub is posted here. As the PCs enter, he speaks in a soft, unsettlingly pleasing voice. The only currency accepted is souls, of course, but these souls need not be "pre-captured. In any event, Mazillgarub swiftly alerts the Pleasers via telepathy of the PCs' arrival, and Sister Perversion learns of them via the Pleasers' telepathy soon thereafter.

Treasure: The curtain is silk and replete with gemstones-it is worth 6,ooo gp in total. The ledger on the desk keeps track of the visitors to the Yearning House over the years, yet these visitors invariably use obviously false names. The PCs may be disturbed to find names like "Galfrey" or even "Aroden" scrawled here and there in the pages, but finding their own names used in more recent entries might be even more disturbing. Apart from the statues, this parlor is relatively bare.

The stairs to the north lead up to area D1. Trap: The salacious statues that guard the southern part of the parlor are the components of an insidious trap meant to capture, humiliate, and destroy intruders. The trap is semi-aware, infused with a magical intelligence that lets the trap not only observe and examine intruders, but also be influenced by the telepathic commands of the demons who run the place.

If the PCs are expected, Sister Perversion telepathically commands the trap to let them pass-likewise, if the PCs manage to bluff their way into the Yearning House, the trap lets them pass. Otherwise, the trap waits until as many targets as possible that are not chaotic evil are in its area of effect before triggering-it can affect everyone in this room. When triggered, a tangle of animated wires and metal tendrils lashes out from the statues, attempting to entrap a single target.

If the mesh is successful, the wires pull the victim into a painful embrace against the statue, which sprouts blades and hooks and begins to squirm and writhe against the victim, swiftly reducing the victim to shreds. The magic of this attack carries with it a potent SU[j[j estion effect as well, similar to that produced by a succubus's energy drain-each round a creature is entrapped, it must resist this SU[j[j estion or interpret the agonizing pain inflicted as overwhelming pleasure and be unable to take any action on its own to resist or escape.

The Debauchery C R 1 8 The cei l i n g of this l a rge room rises to a d o m e some SO feet a bove a centra l pool fi lled with u n natu ra l l y b l u e, smoking water. Murals o n the wa l l s and cei l i n g above p rovide a n o rgy of g a rish color, depicting all manner of obscene acts depicted i n frightful rea l ism i n o i l s by a master a rtist.

A wide ba lcony rings the room at a height of twenty feet a bove the floor, which is strewn with b l a n kets, bottles of fluid, cushio ns, fu rs, hooka h s, smoking braziers, a n d other d evices. The a i r is thick a n d hazy a n d warm, reeking of sweat, i n cense, a n d tangy exotic drugs.

This room, known as the Debauchery, is the primary entertainment chamber of the Yearning House along with the balcony above. Here, visitors can socialize, relax, and engage in all manner of distraction, ranging from the ample amounts of drugs and alcohol to pursuits of a carnal nature. The pool in the middle of the room radiates strong conjuration teleportahon magic, as it is a portal that connects the Yearning House to the Silk Embrace, a small cavern bisected by one ofthe Rasping Rifts in the Abyss see areas DD The pool is only 3 feet deep.

To activate it, a creature needs only to dip its head into the waters and inhale-doing so instantly transports the user to area Dn of the Silk Embrace.

Note that unless the traveling creature can breathe water or doesn't have to breathe at all , it must spend that first round after arriving coughing out the water or it immediately begins to drown. The nature and function of the pool, as well as how to activate it, can be determined with a successful DC 35 Spellcraft check-a successful DC 3 0 Use Magic Device check to activate the pool can also transport a creature without the need to inhale the waters.

Creatures: This room is normally occupied, and the first time the PCs visit should be no exception. The Yearning House is staffed by six mythic succubi known collectively as the Pleasers, and many of them will be present here, entertaining and attending to their guests. The Pleasers are aided by a number of custom-built simulacra they've created; the mythic succubi often switch between different simulacra, but presently their assistants are built from the legendary PCs themselves!

There should be one simulacrum of each PC present in this room, but feel free to add a few more based on significant NPCs that the PCs might be particularly fond of These simulacra are used for menial tasks, humiliating entertainments, and even torture or sacrifice-after all, when one breaks, it's easy enough for a Pleaser to create a replacement.

In addition to the Pleasers and the simulacra, numerous visitors are present when the PCs arrive. There are four visitors in all-when the PCs arrive, two of these visitors Lady Blemish and the Tall Stranger are each occupied with a Pleaser up in one of the private rooms above, and are detailed in that area area D8 -the other two visitors can be found here, lounging and relaxing.

The large number of creatures in the room make an encounter here complex, so make sure to study each of the individual creatures detailed below before running this encounter. Maligntra's original purpose upon being assigned to the Yearning House was to serve as Deskari's ears and eyes-a spy, essentially, tasked with listening and watching who comes and goes. Yet in that time, Maligntra has grown obsessed with the House's madam, the seraphs demon known only as Sister Perversion, and today the vrolikai sees himself as something of the seraptis's personal bodyguard.

Sister Perversion was a first delighted by the attention, but she's long since grown tired of it and has regulated Maligntr a to this outer chamber, where he spends the bulk of his time crouched in a mound of cushions in the northeast portion of the room, silently watching and observing while sipping strange liqueurs.

The vrolikai immediately begins to communicate with Sister Perversion when he spies the PCs, intending to keep her updated, but swiftly comes to realize that something strange is going on with the seraphs and teleports up to area D10 to investigate i round after any combat begins in this area. The demon's swift death and resulting shriek send chills down the spines even of the Pleasers.

Since it's exceedingly unlikely that Maligntra becomes involved in a fight with the PCs as a result, this adventure does not assume the PCs earn XP for defeating him. Yethyarr is caught offguard ifcombat breaks out in the Debauchery, and hangs back for the first few rounds of a fight that takes place here, only entering combat if he is first attacked himself If the PCs are looking like they're losing the fight, the tataka rakshasa steps in to aid the Pleasers, hoping to curry a bit of favor from the house for helping.

He wants little to do with a fair fight, though, and teleports away via dimension door as soon as it becomes apparent the PCs are winning the fight.

They guard this information with their lives, and do what they can to maintain the appearance that the building is nothing more than a particularly exotic house of deviance.

The six Pleasers all appear as beautiful succubi in their natural forms, but each has adopted her own favored "working" form to use while on duty in the Yearning House.

They tend to remain in these forms even when in combat and as such, all six forms retain claws for use in battle and wings for flight. Although they all seem eager to serve, their primary purpose here is to harvest souls-either taken from payments provided by customers in the form of living sacrifices, or from customers whose payments are deemed not good enough. Each Pleaser possesses a specific specialty, appearance, and key bit of information she might use to try to tempt a player character into sinning or providing a soul for in payment or to bargain for her life with, if she's captured.

All of the Pleasers know how to activate the portal to the Silk Embrace, and each has her own knowledge specialty. Pleaser Ammon geonraphy : Dark-skinned Ammon prefers a male form and has a sadistic, abusive personality.

He has taken a particular interest in the way Iz crumbles into ruins, and can accurately predict what sections ofthe Soul Foundry will go next if a collapse occurs see page Ammon is currently located in area D8b. Pleaser Eudora planes : Towering and heavily tattooed Eudora claims to be one of Areelu Vorlesh's mentors.

She is the most arrogant ofthe Pleasers, and fancies herselfto be the group's leader-the others suffer her for the sake of house politics. She also knows that Areelu keeps one of her greatest enemies, the God Caller Opon, as a sort ofdisembodied spiritual "pet" in Threshold, trapped within a magical brazier.

Pleaser Ismarelda relil ion : Dusky Ismarelda is a contortionist who uses her incredibly long blonde hair to cover her nudity-she enjoys receiving pain as much as Mahulda enjoys inflicting it, and she wears both of her severed and mummified pinky fingers on a necklace. She is the most religious of the Pleasers, and is the only one who knows Mistress Anemora is a drider. She also knows that Mistress Anemora keeps the Nahyndrian chisel, along with several other treasures, hidden in her lair in a portable hole tucked into a scrimshawed angel's skull.

Although her appearance seems quite feminine, she is in fact a hermaphrodite. She knows that the bond between Areelu and her quasit familiar Gimcrak is so strong that the familiar's death will significantly weaken the mythic witch, but hasn't decided on how best to use this information for her own personal gain.

She is currently in area D8f. Pleaser Micajah en13ineerinn : Slender Micajah has a voice like an angel, has crimson skin and dark feathered wings, and is completely androgynous in appearance.

She alone of the succubi has no interest in sex, preferring to seduce purely via intellectual conversation. She knows that scales shed from Terendelev while the dragon still lived can cause the ravener great pain.

Pleaser Preshea nature : Obese Preshea specializes in administering drugs and creating exotic food and alcohol. She knows that the masters of the Soul Foundry have been using tainted ambrosia to keep someone or something that's imprisoned in the building docile. Pleasers a re fond of t u r n i n g such victims to sto n e via flesh to stone. In com bat, they use m i n d control to p revent enemies from coord i nating defense so they can focus o n fewer targ ets at o n ce i n melee, much preferri n g to fla n k foes o r feint to get in m o re snea k attacks.

Morale A Pleaser attem pts to fl ee combat if reduced below 40 h i t poi nts, offering her profa ne g ift or h e r specific information as a bribe o r payment for freedom if captured. A successfu l DC 27 W i l l save n egates this effect. If the creatu re being ta rgeted was s l a i n by the myth ic succubus's e nergy dra in atta ck, it receives no savi ng t h row to resist this effect. The door to the south is chained tightly shut. The key to the locks on the chains that bar the door to the south of this room is kept by Sister Perversion-until the chains are removed, a successful DC 3 4 Strength check is needed to smash the door down.

Treasure: Among the crates are stored exotic drugs and rare alcohol, along with other tools of the Yearning House's trade, worth 5 , 5 0 0 gp in total. One crate contains 3 doses of ambrosiaMA, but all ofthese doses are tainted by the Abyss.

Anyone who consumes this cursed ambrosia must succeed at a DC 2 5 Fortitude save or become staggered by its overwhelming foulness for 2 4 hours. The Cornucopia C R 1 2 The g roa n i n g shelves of this bustl i n g kitchen a re crammed with barrels of sa lted meats, cases of brandy a n d pesh, a n d h u n d reds of other luxuries. The overworked but completely loyal demon is in charge of providing all of the exotic foods and refined drugs needed by visitors to the house.

The coloxus is a wretched coward, and if attacked, he immediately teleports away, leaving the simpering quasits to their fates.

If prevented from fleeing, the coloxus can provide the PCs with a detailed map ofthe Yearning House and can list all ofthe building's current occupants in return for a promise of mercy. To the north, the ba lcony widens j ust before it ends-here, a tangle of s p i ky i ron cages lean outwa rd, suspended at a n angle by chains. The stairs lead down to area D3. Most mortals don't last long here, so Sister Perversion greatly prefers imprisoning good outsiders within. Currently, a hound archon whimpers and writhes within each cage, their bodies pierced and impaled by j agged iron spikes.

These cages function as dimensional shackles on any creature locked within, and they actively suppress the archons' healing. While the archons are locked in the cages, anyone attempting to heal damage to an archon must succeed at a DC 35 caster level check. At your discretion, other methods of rescuing the hound archon, such as casting disinte11rate on a cage, could work as well.

For the purposes of dispel ma11ic and other level-dependent effects, the cages function at CL i8th. The decor exudes an overt sexuality, and despite their cleanliness, the rooms have a tangible seediness about them. The Pleasers use these private chambers to entertain guests-at this time, areas D8b and D8f are in use.

The Yearning House is her favorite place to relax between missions and unload crusaders she's captured alive. The demodand's vice of choice is sex-she is currently spending some time with her favorite Pleaser, Ammon. Lady Blemish is strangely protective ofthe Yearning House, and if combat begins, she loudly and brazenly steps in to protect the Pleasers and the establishment, hoping to earn a few free nights as a reward for her aid.

The Pleasers are, of course, only too delighted to let her take the brunt of the initial damage in a fight. Ifthe slimy demodand is reduced to 50 or fewer hit points, her bravery crumbles and she flees. The Tall Stranger is the agent of a hidden society of devil worshipers from Ustalav-a group known as the Harlequin Society. This group, having read the writing on the wall, fears that the demons of the Worldwound are nearing a full-scale invasion of Ustalav, and has sent the Tall Stranger north on several diplomatic missions to attempt to organize an arrangement with the Storm King such that when Ustalav falls, the Harlequin Society will be allowed to continue to exist.

The Tall Stranger has heard ofthe PCs, but didn't put much stock in these stories. If the PCs attack, though, he watches the battle silently from the balcony. If the PCs win the fight, he aids them in finishing off the last of the Pleasers before introducing himself as a "servant of an interested party to the south, one eager to see the Worldwound fall.

You can use him to inform the PCs about anything you feel they should have learned already but through poor luck or chance, did not. In particular, the Tall Stranger knows that the Soul Foundry hides a unique and apparently immortal demon called the Suture whose existence is fundamentally tied to the Worldwound-he suspects that the Suture may be the transformed remains of the first demon to step through the portal, and that in his supernatural flesh might lie a key to closing the Worldwound-if only the Suture could be brought to the actual original portal within Threshold.

Alas, the Tall Stranger knows little more-finding out as much as he has about the Suture has been something of a miracle, he confides. Before he departs, the Tall Stranger wishes the PCs luck, admitting that for once, the rumors ofheroes have turned out to be most impressive facts.

Storeroom Treasure: This cramped area is used to store various devices and components required in the day-to- day operation of the Yearning House. A search of the room uncovers a scattering of valuables, including a potion of delay poison, a potion of meld into stone, a potion of displacement, an elixir of fire breath, 3 doses of tears of death, and a periapt of proof a13ainst poison.

The wa lls a re pai nted with horrific scenes of suicide, carnal excess, and all m a n n e r of shocki n g devia n ce. The soft sounds of m o a n i n g-both from pleasure and pai n-whisper t h ro u g h the roo m. The decor i n this room i s not only upsetting and vile, but also infused with Abyssal energies that cause the furniture to groan and moan and periodically twitch. Any nonevil characters who enters the room must make a successful DC 28 Will save to avoid being sickened by the display for as long as they remain in the room.

Creature: This hideous boudoir is the domain of Sister Perversion, a powerful seraptis demon and the madam of the Yearning House. She reports directly to Mistress Anemora most often via her magical mirror-see Treasure, below , but by and large she is left to run the building as she sees fit. Sister Perversion prefers to spend her time either observing her Pleasers doing their work via her magic mirror, or enj oying herselfwith victims. She is particularly fond of skinning her partners alive and using the flesh as a snack for one of the many mouths on her arms or to decorate her boudoir, but once a partner dies, she loses interest and has a Pleaser dispose ofthe remains.

The seraptis has served many demon lords during her long career, with Deskari being but the latest, but as the PCs arrive, Sister Perversion is seized by one of her previous patrons, Nocticula, who wishes to speak once more to the heroes who recently impressed her so on the Midnight Isles.

She uses the mirror of mental prowess to observe events in the Yearning House, waiting until after the PCs have defeated its guardians before she approaches them. As Nocticula greets the PCs, her shadowy image flickers around the seraptis's body. The m i stress of Deska r i 's cult keeps it for h e rself i n her own l a i r deep in the Rasp i n g Rifts, but I know how you can get t h e re.

Some likely questions and possible answers are given on page Nocticula can tell the PCs how to use the pool in area D4, or barring that how to use the mirror ofmental prowess to view Mistress Anemora's lair. The priest carries the chisel on her person as a relic ofher faith. What is the Suture? Nocticula can explain to the PCs about the Suture's nature, how he came to be what he is today, and how he can aid in closing the Worldwound see area E12 for details. How long will it be before the Worldwound opens?

The demon lord can tell the PCs how many days they have left, but can also advise the PCs on methods to slow down or even turn back the advancing doomsday clock. Why are you helping us now? She smiles coyly, saying only that she has her reasons for seeing Deskari laid low. She says she's helping the PCs now, no strings attached, to show her respect for their convictions, even hinting that she might be able to learn something from the PCs.

Will you help us more? Nocticula tells the PCs that ifthey wish her aid in facing Deskari, they have but to offer a prayer to her and she will do what she can to help them, but for now she is eager to see what the PCs can accomplish on their own.

Once you feel enough time has passed or the PCs run out of questions, Nocticula wishes the PCs luck in their quest, hints that she'll be watching from afar, and vanishes. Sister Perversion is stunned for a round after this, giving the PCs a round to try to defeat the seraptis before she recovers-she has a full memory of what just happened, and is desperate to slay the PCs before they can move forward with their quest. During Combat Once released from Nocticula's control, Sister Perversion is stunned for the fi rst round of combat.

After this, she immediately teleports elsewhere i n lz to prepa re for combat by casting fly and invisibility, then uses demand to contact a PC to suggest that PC should undress and cast aside all of his or her equipment. Sister Perversion then casts mythic invisibility on herself and returns to attack, starting the fight with dominate person and mythic confusion and switching to melee attacks once her foes a re scattered and distracted by her mind-controlling magic or sooner if it becomes apparent her enemies a re resistant or immune to these tactics.

Morale Sister Perversion fig hts to the death rather than face punishment for fa i l u re from Mistress Anemora.