Black Dragon

Black dragons are evil-tempered, cunning, and malevolent, characteristics that are reflected in their crafty, sinister faces. Black dragons are sometimes known as skull dragons because of their skeletal faces. Adding to the skeletal impression is the gradual deterioration of the hide around the base of the horn and the cheekbones. This deterioration increases with age and does not harm the dragon. On hatching, a black dragon's scales are thin, small, and glossy. As the dragon ages, they become larger, thicker, and duller, helping it camouflage itself in swamps and marshes.

Stirge

Stirges are batlike creatures that feed on the blood of living things. While just one poses little danger to most adventurers, multiple stirges can be a formidable threat. A stirge's coloration ranges from rust-red to reddish-brown, with a dirty yellow underside. The proboscic is pink at the tip, fading to gray at its base. A stirge's body is about 1 foot long, with a wingspan of about 2 feet. It weighs about 1 pound.

A stirge attacks by landing on a victim, finding a vulnerable spot, and plunging its proboscis into the flesh. This is a touch attack that can target only Small or larger creatures. If a stirge hits with a touch attack, it uses its eight pincers to latch onto the opponent's body. An attached stirge is effectively grappling its prey. An attached stirge can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached stirge through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the stirge.

A stirge drains blood when it begins its turn attached to a victim. Once it has had enough, it detaches and flies off to digest the meal. If its victim dies before the stirge's appetite has been sated, the stirge detaches and seeks a new target.

Monstrous Centipede

Monstrous centipedes tend to attack anything that resembles food, biting with their jaws and injecting their poison.

A monstrous centipede has a poisonous bite. The details vary by the centipede's size, but always affect the victim's Dexterity.

Monkey

Colobus or capuchin are arboreal monkeys that are no bigger than a housecat.

Monkeys generally flee into the safety of the trees, but if cornered can fight ferociously.

THE LOTUS AND THE DRAGON (days 20-21)

After the Tropic Thunder escaped from Parrot Island, it wasn't too long before they heard the latest news that was tearing through Sasserine - namely, that old Keltar Islaran, the harbormaster of Sasserine, had been murdered! Details of how the deed was done vary wildly - the only thing that the rumor mill seemed to agree on was that he was killed in his bed late the previous night and that the body was left in an especially gruesome state of evisceration.

Lavinia greeted the Tropic Thunder with relief, accompanied by Cyq, an old family acquaintance whom she had hired to find out what happened to them. She gladly payed for a potion of lesser restoration to fix Grunk up. She reacted with shock and despair when the Tropic Thunder showed her Penkus' note and told her that Vanthus was the one who sealed them into the caves, yet quickly steeled her emotions. She was not willing to admit that Vanthus is beyond redemption, and asked the heroes to capture him alive. Cyq joined the Thunder in this endeavor, since he has a personal interest in seeing Vanthus come to justice alive. If Vanthus made this impossible, though...Lavinia only asked that his death be merciful and quick.

Although the Lotus Dragons haven't yet publicly declared their power, word of them has already spread through Sasserine. The Tropic Thunder gathered the following information on them.

Vicros learned form the Seekers that the Lotus Dragons are a new guild of thieves - they seem to be a lot more organized than the other fly-by-night guilds that have been popping up over the past few years.

Graim and Harold hear that they have more than people working for them; they've got ties to animal smugglers, and keep the worst of the lot in their guildhall as guardians.

From Penkus' note, the Tropic Thunder sought out the Taxidermist's Guildhall, which Lavinia pointed out to them. A relatively modest building, there are two entrances - the front door into the showroom opens into Water Street and a locked service entrance from Dead Dog Alley that opens into the workshop.

The Taxidermist's Guild is ran by a lanky, middle-aged man with a gold tooth and a penchant for looking down his nose at customers.He is a pleasant enough fellow as long as he suspects visitors are here to buy, but quick to anger otherwise. He spends most of his time in his workshop - his current project is a partially completed jaguar.

When the Tropic Thunder entered the showroom, they were confronted with dozens of expertly stuffed and preserved animals, ranging from parrots, monkeys, and bats to more exotic creatures like a monstrous centipede, a stirge, and even a black dragon wyrmling. A bell near the door bears a short sign - "Ring for Service".

When the taxidermist met the Tropic Thunder in the showroom, he tried to ascertain their interests quickly and bluntly - all of the stuffed creatures on display are for sale, with prices ranging from 5 gp for a bat up to 500 gp for the stuffed dragon. As soon as he realized that the heroes weren't really there to buy or commission his work, he asked them to leave, saying he was a busy man, who had no time for solicitors.

The first time the Tropic Thunder came to the Lotus Dragons' attention (probably as a result of gathering information or a visit to the Taxidermist's Guildhall), a single Lotus Dragon approached Cyq on a bar and slipped him a note, threatening him with bodily harm if they continued to investigate them. Cyq spotted the thief planting the note, who tried to flee. Cyq managed to incapacitate him and accused him of pickpocketing, which got the thief arrested.

The same night, the Tropic Thunder broke into the Taxidermist's Guildhall. None of the doors in the guildhall were locked, yet neither do any of the rooms held anything suspicious that might tie the taxidermist to the Lotus Dragons. When he discovered the heroes snooping, he flew into a rage and demanded they leave at once. He did not attack until threatened by Pillboxer.

The taxidermist was sure of his skills and confident in his magic, at least until he suffered any damage. His first action in combat was to cast invisibility. On the following round, he cast an illusion to make it appear that all the stuffed animals in the room were coming to life, hoping to trick the Tropic Thunder into wasting resources. He maintained the illusion as long as it was working, after which he cast another illusion of himself running away, hoping to trick the heroes into leaving. When found out by Pillboxer, he cast defensive spells as best he could before he was defeated by the Thunder.

Elemental Gem

This gem contains a conjuration spell attuned to a specific Elemental Plane (Air, Earth, Fire, or Water). When the gem is crushed, smashed, or broken (a standard action), a Large elemental appears as if summoned by a summon nature's ally spell. The elemental is under the control of the creature that broke the gem.

The coloration of the gem varies with the type of elemental it summons. Air elemental gems are transparent, earth elemental gems are light brown, fire elemental gems are reddish orange, and water elemental gems are blue-green.

Moderate conjuration; CL 11th; Craft Wondrous Item, summon nature's ally V; Price 2,250 gp.

Elixir of Swimming

This elixir bestows swimming ability. An almost imperceptible magic sheath surrounds the drinker, allowing him to glide through the water easily (+10 competence bonus on Swim checks for 1 hour).

Faint illusion; CL 2nd; Craft Wondrous Item, creator must have 5 ranks on the Swim skill; Price 250 gp.

Wands

A wand is a thin baton that contains a single spell of 4th level or lower. Each wand has 50 charges when created, and each charge expended allows the user to use the wand's spell one time. A wand that runs out of charges is just a stick.

Physical Description: A typical wand is 6 inches to 12 inches long and about 1/4 inch thick, and often weighs no more than 1 ounce. Most wands are wood, but some are bone. A rare few are metal, glass, or even ceramic, but these are quite exotic. Occasionally, a wand has a gem or some device at its tip, and most are decorated with carvings or runes. A typical wand has AC 7, 5 hit points, hardness 5, and a break DC of 16.

Activation: Wands use the spell trigger activation method, so casting a spell from a wand is usually a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. (If the spell being cast, however, has a longer casting time than 1 action, it takes that long to cast a spell from a wand.) To activate a wand, a character must hold it in hand (or whatever passes for a hand, for non-humanoid creatures) and point it in the general direction of the target or area. A wand may be used while grappling or while swallowed whole.

Spell trigger activation needs no gestures or spell finishing, just a special knowledge of spellcasting that an appropriate character would know, and a single word that must be spoken. Specifically, anyone with a spell on his or her spell list knows how to use a spell trigger item that stores that spell. (This is the case even for a character who can't actually cast spells.) The user must still determine what spell is stored in the item before she can activate it.

Wand Descriptions

All wands are simply storage devices for spells and thus have no special descriptions. Refer to the spell descriptions for all pertinent details.

Potions and Oils

A potion is a magic liquid that produces its effect when imbibed. Magic oils are similar to potions, except that oils are applied externally rather than imbibed. A potion or oil can be used only once. It can duplicate the effect of a spell of up to 3rd level that has a casting time of less than 1 minute.

Potions are like spells cast upon the imbiber. The character taking the potion doesn't get to make any decisions about the effect - the caster who brew the potion has already done so. The drinker of a potion is both the effective target and the caster of the effect (though the potion indicates the caster level, the drinker still controls the effect).

The person applying an oil is the effective caster, but the object is the target.

Physical Description: A potion or oil consists of 1 ounce of liquid held in a ceramic or glass vial fitted with a tight stopper. The stoppered container is usually no more than 1 inch wide and 2 inches high. The vial has AC 13, 1 hit point, hardness 1, and a break DC of 12. Vials hold 1 ounce of liquid.

Identifying Potions: In addition to the standard methods of identification, PCs can sample from each container they find to attempt to determine the nature of the liquid inside. An experienced character learns to identify potions by memory.

Activation: Drinking a potion or applying an oil requires no special skill. The user merely removes the stopper and swallows the potion or smears on the oil. The following rules govern potion and oil use.

Drinking a potion or using an oil on an item of gear is a standard action. The potion or oil takes effect immediately. Using a potion or oil provokes attacks of opportunity. A successful attack (including grappling attacks) against the character forces a Concentration check (as for casting a spell). If the character fails this check, she cannot drink the potion. An enemy may direct an attack of opportunity against the potion or oil container rather than against the character. A successful attack of this sort can destroy the container.

A creature must be able to swallow a potion or smear on an oil. Because of this, incorporeal creatures cannot use potions or oils.

Any corporeal creature can imbibe a potion. The potion must be swallowed. Any corporeal creature can use an oil.

A character can carefully administer a potion to an unconscious character as a full-round action, trickling the liquid down the creature's throat. Likewise, it takes a full-round action to apply an oil to an unconscious creature.

Potion Descriptions

Because standard potions are simply spells in liquid form, refer to the spell description for all pertinent details.The caster level for a standard potion is the minimum caster level needed to cast the spell (unless otherwise specified).

The Sea Caves (day 20)

A humanoid skeleton wrapped in corroded armor is the last undead encountered.

The Tropic Thunder found a few more supplies like a barrel of drinkable (but nasty-tasting) water, a few torches, some rope, and the like.

The sloshing sound they heard in the smuggling chamber comes from the churning waters of a sea cave. Fueled by what must be powerful submerged currents, the water laps and splashes against the walls of the twisted natural cavern that leads to the west. A sandy slope descends from the door down to the edge of the subterranean tide. Dozens of purple and red sea urchins glisten in shallow divots along the ground and lower walls here, their spines glittering with water.

The shallow water was about a foot deep and the deep water ten feet deep, with the transition between the two zones being a sudden drop off. It was difficult to move through shallow water - further, Grunk had difficulty standing up from the surging current.

Grunk slipped and fell on the shallow water and landed on a patch of sea urchins a few times. He took some damage from the spines and felt nauseated from the urchin's poison for a minute, after which his strength was sapped.

A large pool of water sloshes in the western portion of the caves - this pool is twelve feet deep at its deepest point. A five-foot-wide tunnel leads north at the base of this pool; this submerged tunnel travels on a twisting course to the northwest before emerging from the seabed in the harbor between Parrot Island and the gate that separates Shadowshore from Cudgel District; from there, it's a few dozen feet swim to the surface and a few more swim to shore. The currents in the tunnel are strong but not overwhelming. The tunnel entrance is difficult to see even underwater. From above the water surface, it is even more difficult.

Once the Tropic Thunder found the underwater tunnel, their method of escape was to have Grunk swim to safety through the underwater tunnel from the sea caves to the harbor. Then he cleared the boulders and opened the trap door for the rest of them.

There is a door at the end of the sea caves, which doesn't have a lock, but the Thunder bashed it down as normal.

The smell in this chamber is horrific, a cloying stink of rotten meat rising from the bloated, seeping body slumped in the middle of the floor. The corpse' dark, almost black flesh bulges against its armor, ready to burst at the slightest touch. An intricate tattoo of a dragon clutching a flower is barely visible on his shoulder against the diseased flesh, and clutched in one hand is a crumpled scroll.

This body was once Penkus. When Vanthus locked him and his companions in these tunnels, Penkus made it all the way to the sea caves before one of the undead caught up to him. Penkus took at least one blow from the undead before he made it through the pool in the chamber the Tropic Thunder found his body. Yet even after he locked himself in this ancient guardroom, he didn't actually escape the undead menace, for he had contracted a disease. As the days wore on he grew more and more sickly. When he realized he was going to die, he hastily scribbled a note condemning his "friend", hopefully providing anyone who found his body all the information they need to avenge his death.

Penkus' suit of masterwork studded leather armor is still serviceable, although it needs to be cleaned before it is used. He wore a gold ring on a bloated finger, and a masterwork dagger was hidden in a boot.

There was a secret chamber next to the previous one, and the air in it is stale, yet unlike the other chambers in the complex the place seems quite dry - even dusty. Cobwebs hang in thick sheets from the ceiling, and against the northern wall sat three large sea chests.

All three sea chests were locked and the keys are long-lost; but Graim got them open.

The first chest was filled with copper and silver coins.

The second chest contained a dozen bags, 10 of which contained gold coins. The remaining two each contained a small handful of assorted gems.

The third chest contained eight ceramic or glass vials fitted with a tight stopper. The stoppered containers are no more than 1 inch high and 2 inches wide, and Graim identified them as some kind of potions. The chest also held a thin wood baton 6 inches long and about 1/4 inch thick, which weighs no more than 1 ounce. It is decorated with runes, and Graim recognized it as some kind of a wand. Inside the chest was also a small jade coffer. Inside of this coffer, resting on a tiny velvet cushion, is a light brown gemstone. This is an earth elemental gem, identified as such by a strip of paper tucked under the cushion.

Silver, Alchemical

A complex process involving metallurgy and alchemy can bond silver to a weapon made of steel so that it bypasses the damage reduction of certain creatures.

On a successful attack with a silvered weapon, the wielder takes a -1 penalty on the damage roll (with the usual minimum of 1 point of damage). The alchemical silvering process can't be applied to nonmetal items, and it doesn't work on rare metals such as adamantine, cold iron, and mithral.

Alchemical silver has 10 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 8.

Type of Alchemical Silver Item	Item Cost Modifier
Ammunition	+2 gp
Light Weapon	+20 gp
One-handed weapon, or one head of a double weapon	+90 gp
Two-handed weapon, or both heads of a double weapon	+180 gp

Special Materials

In addition to magic items created with spells, some substances have innate special properties. If you make a suit of armor or weapon out of more than one special material, you get the benefit of only the most prevalent material. However, you can build a double weapon with each head made of a different special material.

Smuggling Chamber (days 12-19)

The crab-eaten, soggy body in the pool has nothing of value on it, but a search of the pool by Haerold and Vicros reveals his masterwork silver dagger.

When all of the Tropic Thunder were awake and healthy they scavenged more of the tunnels for a few torches and flint and steel.

The Tropic Thunder fight eight more walking corpses that prowl the tunnels in groups of up to three.They throw themselves at the heroes after they open doors or turn a corner in a hall during exploration of the smuggler's tunnels. Once the first group is encountered and defeated, the remaining corpses mobilize - their dreadful moans and the sound of their gnashing teeth echo throughout the tunnels, making it difficult to estimate how many remain, or even from what direction they are approaching.

Monstrous Crab

Monstrous crabs range in size from small to colossal. They are voracious scavengers that will eat anything, living or dead, they come across.

A monstrous crab can deal extra damage on a successful grapple check. They have the scent special ability.

PERIL UNDER PARROT ISLAND (days 11-12)

After the Tropic Thunder had spent a day or two fruitlessly searching for Vanthus, a nervous-looking half-elf with messy black hair, a ragged suit of leather armor, and dirty hands approached Haerold. Glancing about, the man introduced himself in a quiet voice to Haerold as Shefton, and asked him if he's looking for Vanthus. Haerold was, and if he payed him 5 gp, Shefton claimed to know where Vanthus was hiding out.

Shefton informed Haerold that Vanthus had been living for the past few days in an abandoned complex of smuggler's tunnels below Parrot Island. For an additional 5 gp, Shefton agreed to lead the Tropic Thunder to the hidden trap door on the isle that Vanthus had been using to enter and exit the complex below.

Shefton seemed extremely nervous, causing the Thunder to become suspicious of him. When Haerold started asking difficult questions (such as, how does he know so much about Vanthus anyway?), Shefton claimed that Vanthus approached him a few weeks ago to set up a smuggling operation in the old tunnels below Parrot Island.

Aboveground, the island is little more than a rocky outcropping surrounded by high cliffs save from the eastern end, where a narrow beach affords an easier approach. The isle is thickly vegetated, the trees above serving as the roost for hundreds of noisy, brightly colored parrots. Shefton led the Tropic Thunder up a partially overgrown trail leading up from the beach to a small clearing at the center of the island.

Hidden at the southern end of the clearing was a stone trap door. Shefton pointed it out to the Tropic Thunder easily. Once it was open, a narrow shaft leading down into the darkness below was revealed. A rope hung from a hook in the wall, providing a relatively safe method of descent. The shaft itself is deep, and opened into an empty room below.

This square room seems empty. A shaft leads up through the ceiling on the northeast corner, and a brick-lined tunnel with a curved roof leads to the west.

Vatnhus waited hidden nearby, and once the last Thunder descended into the tunnels, he emerged. The Tropic Thunder heard Shefton's exclamation of surprise as Vanthus approached and stabbed him in the back. A few moments later, Vanthus pushed Shefton's bleeding body into the shaft - the half-elf took enough damage to die upon impact. Vanthus' next act was to cut loose the rope; it came slithering down the shaft shortly after Shefton's fall. Vanthus took a while to taunt any Tropic Thunder he saw looking back up at him, calling them thugs and shouting things like, serves them right for messing around with his sister.He answered any questions the Tropic Thunder sent up at him with mocking laughter - when he grew bored (and as soon as Graim and Mary Rose tried to attack him) he dropped the trap door back in place and rolled several large boulders over on top of it, the grinding sound of which was dreadfully obvious to those trapped below.

Although the walls are made of brick, they're also slippery and slimy with moisture. When Vanthus closed the trap door above, its iron-plated underside is quite difficult to batter through.

For the majority of this part, the Tropic Thunder must make do with what limited resources they brought with them to survive. The tunnels consist of several rooms once used as barracks, storage, and meeting areas by the smugglers. Desperate adventurers who scavenged these rooms found a few supplies like a few old, worn-out torches. There was no illumination in the brick-lined tunnels. Doors in the complex are of soggy wood, and some were swollen shut. Some double doors hung ajar.

As the Tropic Thunder explored the tunnels, they quickly realized they've been abandoned for some time. Yet the tunnels are far from safe.

A group of three walking corpses throw themselves at the Tropic Thunder after they open a door. When they attack, the fanged maws of these horrific corpses open wider than they should, revealing row upon row of jagged teeth. This fight spilled out to the next room in the complex.

Four great wooden pillars rise up to support the ceiling, which sags dangerously in places and is thick with hanging strands of fungus. Several doors line the walls - one to the west (from which comes a muffled sloshing sound), two to the north (the western of which is badly damaged and hangs askew on its one remaining hinge), and two to the east. To the south, the ceiling has collapsed, leaving the southern part of the room choked in debris. A rippling pool of water reaches halfway into the room from this wall of stone and rubble. It seems that a wooden pier once extended into this pool, but all that remains now are several rotting wooden pilings protruding from the water. A man's body floats face down among them.

Further complicating the fight with the corpses, five foul-tempered dark brown kelp crabs lived within the pool. Each of these crabs measured nearly two feet in diameter, with pincers the size of daggers. Fiercely territorial, they surged out of the pool to attack anything that approached the shore. Most of the Thunder succumbed to the crabs, except Haerold, who was the only one unaffected and standing by the end of the fight.