The Broken Lands - Current Map

With the party pursuing the first step in their quest to retrieve The Illhiedrin Book, there won't be any additional adventure hooks for a while.

Below is the most recent version of the map for The Broken Lands. It is abstract in terms of scale and does not represent exact locations. Instead it is more about being a visual record of their adventures and exploits and serving as a visual tool to aid in decision making and a reminder of possible unfinished business or adventure hooks.

Additions to the map are made as the party shows interest in various adventure hooks. Before the very first session I roughly knew the locations for the adventure hooks I threw out at that time (Tower of Birds, Monastery of the Iron God and The Tower of Zenopus). For new hooks, I know generally where the adventure will be but don't land on it until the party actually goes there. The party hasn't been to The Hive or Vulture Hill yet, but I placed them on the map from the rumours provided.

I also follow the guideline that the area closer to the Cliffs of Leng are for lower level adventures and the further south one goes the harder the adventures get. Also, more traditional adventures are generally on the east side of the Tartarus Road while more "gonzo" adventures are generally to the west - don't know why, that's just how I'm doing it for now.

The Broken Lands Session 5

Taking it up a notch - to kill a god.

The Party:

• Comtruise the Auditor (Cleric 2)
• Elu the Elf (Elf 1 - Protection from Evil)
• Steefe the Invisible (Halfling 2)
• Jakar (Fighter 2)
• Plus retainers:
• Konill the Medium (Magic-user 1 - Light)
• Dyban the Veteran (Fighter 1)
• Fallin the Veteran (Fighter 1)
• Tallus the Acolyte (Cleric 1)

The Adventure (aka there will be spoilers below; aaka if you’re one of my players don’t snoop through this adventure):
A few backstory bits from The Illhiedrin Book. Alcastra the Fairspoken sent the party to Lassering Thay, the High Priest of Hades in the City of Jekarra. In return for his aid he requested to party to kill the god Akron. For this part I am using The Undertemple of Arkon from The Dragon Horde Zine #1 from New Big Dragon Games with a few changes (including me mispronouncing the name the first time so I just went with it).

What Happened:

• After accepting Alcastra’s Geas, upfront gold, and various magic-items, the party meets with Lassering Thay, High Priest of Hades in the City of Jekarra. He tells them he can provide aid for their quest but first he wants them to enter an ancient shrine carved into the base of the Cliffs of Leng and kill the god Akron.
• Thinking that killing a god would be pretty damn cool but possibly out of their league, the party proceeds down the Tartarus Road and follows Lassering Thay’s directions to the shrine.
• Entering the shrine, the party susses out a stair-slide trap before it causes them any issues.
• In a huge chamber, they find two deep pits - in the larger one they find three emaciated, naked, and unconscious neanderthals and in the smaller one a black panther. Fearful that the panther may jump out, they decide to proceed down one of the many passageways exiting the chamber.
• Next they find an expansive chamber with a large circular symbol painted on the floor filled with arcane markings. Being very careful not to cross into the circle, the party continues to explore the room when three small creatures of a degenerate, swarthy-skinned pygmy race carrying spears come up behind them. The party was careful not to appear threatening (and a very good reaction roll), and the wandering pygmies left them alone.
• Continuing to explore, they came across a number of rooms containing skeletons. Through the Cleric’s turning ability and combat, all of the skeletons encountered were overcome. This allowed the party to find a number of secret doors. The first lead to a small room with a bronze flask full of liquid on top of a short pedestal. Promising Tallus the retainer that he could keep the obviously magical potion in the flask (and a very good reaction roll), he took a sip and died in writhing pain.
• In another secret chamber, the party is spooked by panther shaped shadows lurking on the walls despite there being no objects that would cast such things. Suddenly, a shadow panther jumped off of the wall and attacked! However, the creature was quickly defeated. After the combat the party found a chest full of treasure.
• Thinking the panther they had found in the pit earlier may be the god they were sent to kill, the party developed a plan using the poison they had found and some of their foodstuffs. Returning to the large chamber near the entrance to the undertemple, the party poisoned the great cat. Using lots of rope (and benefiting from a lot of negative wandering monster rolls) they trussed up the panther and hauled it out of the pit and back to the temple of Hades in Jekarra.
• Lassering Thay told the party they were various forms of imbeciles for thinking they could poison a god.

The Tally:
Tallus the Acolyte dead
A poisoned panther
~ 20 skeletons
3,200 gp
A poison potion (used)

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:
I was happy with this adventure so far.
I’m still knocking the rust off my DM-ing chops. Especially around combat - keeping it interesting and dynamic. I am finding that the online platform and not being able to see everyone is hindering this a bit.

Subsequent Adventure Hooks for The Broken Lands Session 5

Having accepted the sorceress Alcastra's Geas:

Presenting the letter you received from the sorceress you are able to obtain an audience with Lassering Thay, the High Priest at the Temple of Hades:

   “Alcastra was correct when she wrote that she feared there was little I could do for you. The location of Elegrain’s tower was a well kept secret while he was alive, and those servitors with him prior to his death never revealed its location. The only person who could possibly tell you is Elegrain himself. While I am not able to tell you where the tower is located, I may be able to help you in this matter in other ways…”

He will give you a map to the Tomb of Elegrain and a clerical scroll with a version of Speak with Dead. However, before he gives you these items he wants either:

A. “Carved into the Cliffs of Leng is an entrance to an ancient shrine. I would like you to enter the shrine and kill the god Akron. Bring me proof of the god’s death and I will give you the map and scroll” or

B. “In the Broken Lands is a narrow entrance to a box canyon. In that canyon is a ruined abbey. In the darkness below that abbey is a pool where the dread Black Lotus blooms. I will give you a silver knife to harvest the Black Lotus blossoms. Bring me three blossoms and I will give you the map and scroll. However, do not touch the blossoms for their touch is death.”

Adventure Hooks for The Broken Lands Session 5

Available Adventure Hooks:

1. Continue exploring the cellars under the ruined wizard tower. What the hell are those guys with the cages on their heads? Can you get into the wizard’s tower? There are still a few unexplored passageways to the south.
2. You have met the powerful sorceress Alcastra the Fairspoken: “It has come to my attention that the wizard, Elegrain, who died many years ago possessed a book, the contents of which are beyond your comprehension. The fate of his book is unknown. Given that knowledge of the contents of such a tome would be difficult to keep secret, I assume that it remains hidden in his tower, the exact location of which remains a mystery. I offer 2,000 gp for the delivery of the book. For those willing to accept a Geas to bring this book to me I offer half of the reward upfront as well as the following aid: a weapon of the ancients (a laser pistol: +1 to-hit, 1d12 damage on a 12 the target has to save vs Death Ray or die, range 60-ft, 4 charges), the Wand of Thieves (detect traps and secret doors, 6 charges), a holy scroll (Detect Evil and Resist Fire), an elixir of giant strength (for one round after imbibing you are wracked with horrific pain during which you can’t do anything. After that it acts as a typical potion), and finally a mystical scroll (Annorax’s Black Noxious Cloud - new spell - like cloudkill but has range 60-ft). I have but two suggestions to offer to begin your search. First, the Temple of Hades is where Elegrain’s funeral rites were performed. I have dealt with the High Priest in the past. A letter of introduction from me should enable you to receive an audience and gain whatever information he may possess about the location of the tower. Second, trust no one.”
3. Heralds of the Immortal Omnithrox have made it known throughout the city that the ruler of the Ruby Throne desires adventurers to explore and clear the cellars of a ruined fort in the Broken Lands. This fort once protected the lower reaches of the Tartarus Road but was destroyed during some forgotten battle many generations ago.
4. You have acquired a treasure map. It shows a hidden valley to the east of an ancient stupa on the Tartarus Road. In the hidden valley lies a forgotten ruin. Rumour says this ruin was a stronghold of an ancient vulture cult, but is now inhabited by a degenerate, dark-skinned pygmy race. Who knows what ancient mysteries and treasures await discovery?
5. You’ve overheard a group of adventurers planning a foray into the Broken Lands. They were trying to be circumspect in their talking, however, it sounded like they were going to investigate the Hive. The Hive is west of the Dragon’s Teeth which can be seen from the Tartarus Road.

Other News/Rumours/Things to Think About:

• What were those creepy dudes with the cages on their heads?
• A group of about a dozen silent, red-robed monks passed through the Black Gate and down the Tartarus Road a few days ago.
• What exactly is the Blood Egg?

The Broken Lands Session 4

To kill a spider.

The Party:
Comtruise the Auditor (Cleric 1)
Elu (Elf 1 - Protection from Evil)
Steefe (Halfling 1)
Jakar (Fighter 1)
Plus retainers:
Father Mug (Cleric 2)
Konill the Medium (Magic-user 1 - Light)
Dyban the Veteran (Fighter 1)
Rufus the Black (NM)
Gangagor the Portly Porter (NM)

The Adventure (aka there will be spoilers below; aaka if you’re one of my players don't read these):

• Continuation of a slightly modified Tower of Zenopus.
• The Vault of the Whisperer (from Black Pudding #2) as a sub-level accessed at the end of the passage going north in the north-west part of the map. Note I excised the rat tunnels.

What Happened:

• With the larger roster of characters, the party sets off through Jekarra on their way back to the cellars and catacombs below the ruined wizard tower. On the way they encounter a merchant whose slaves are rolling barrels full of torch oil. One of the barrels got away from a slave but they were able to get it back under control before any disaster but not before earning a beating.
• With all haste, the party makes a beeline for the room with the Giant Spider. However, being a bit loose of tongue in their tactical planning and taking a bit too much liberty in their expectations of their porters’ duties Gangagor the Portly Porter fails a morale check and flees. Steefe the halfling grabs the Portly Porter's arm but then gets pulled down the hallway like water skiing behind a boat.
• Having developed their plan of attack, the party kicks open the door. Elu the Elf then abandons the plan and goes running into the room. However, the timely use of Konill’s Light spell on the Spider’s many eyes and missile attacks leads to quick victory! Searching the room they find a dagger.
• Having dealt with the spider, the party decides to investigate the passageway to the north seeing it leads to the “monster with many teeth” mentioned by Grith the Sorcerer.
• They come to a large locked stone door on which is scrawled “It whispers within”. Next to the door is a barrel. Removing the lid, the party is attacked by a Barrel Snail! Deploying many flasks of oil reduces the barrel and the creature within to a burnt heap. They find a key in the burnt wreckage.
• Passing the locked door, they find a room with two statues and a door on the opposite wall. Thoroughly searching the statues and lots of trial and error allows the party to find a secret door on the west wall.
• Proceeding down the secret passageway, the party finds a small shrine with a faded mural of a sad girl. Messing with the painting eventually leads to Father Mug being strangled to death by a pair of invisible hands.
• At the end of the secret passage, the party discovers that the dead-end wall sounds hollow. Breaking through the wall they release a poison gas which (rolling on the Death & Dismemberment table) leads to Elu being knocked unconscious for a while. In the wreckage of the wall they find a strange sword. On the other side of the newly created hole in the wall the party sees a wrecked room that makes them decide this place is just too creepy.
• Retreating back to the room with the two statues, the party decides to check out one more room (famous last words). Opening the door on the north wall, the party is attacked by five humanoids with weird cages on their heads. Deciding “one more room” was stupid, the party quickly flees the Vault of the Whisperer.

The Tally:

• Father Mug and his cure light wounds spell
• Killed a Giant Spider
• Found a weird magic sword dripping with acidic ooze and a magic dagger.

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:

• First use of a random encounter in the city. I used Matt Finch’s City Encounters and ad libbed a bit. I really thought the party would try to steal a barrel of oil.
• Given how the players were talking I did NOT expect them to head to the Vault of the Whisperer so I was caught a bit unprepared.
• The use of more retainers paid off in terms of survivability.
• The Vault of the Whisperer really creeped the players out.
• The party has asked for me to refresh some of the adventure hooks for next time.
• That’s two sessions with very little treasure.

Adventure Hooks for The Broken Lands Session #4

Available Adventure Hooks:

1. Continue exploring the cellars under the ruined wizard tower.
• Grith the Sorcerer mentioned a locked door and a monster with many teeth to the northwest. If he would pay for a tooth surely other wizards would as well.
• What is beyond the Giant Spider?
• Can you get into the wizard’s tower?
• There are still a few unexplored passageways.
2. Emmiss Sladentail has again left word that his patron, the powerful sorceress Alcastra the Fairspoken, is interested in hiring your party to recover an item from the Broken Lands. Emmiss can be found at the Scarlet Moon Inn.
3. Gallagorgon the Man-Bull, ancient and mighty progeny of the Immortal Omnithrox, desires that there be brought unto him an intact Penanggalan, a ghoul-maid of beauteous aspect and unspeakable thirsts. Those who bring the Man-Bull his prize will be granted an incredible boon -- a full day and night, dawn to next dawn, of unthinkable debauchery within his Pleasure Ziggurat. It is said that a Penanggalan, as well as other unwholesome things, haunt the Crypt of Llatai, though it goes without saying that such details are the sole concern of the boon-seeker. The Man-Bull cares not.
4. A young bravo has been asking about you, and isn’t afraid to spend a few coins to track you down. His name is Hriseit. He is affiliated with one of the Maze’s street gangs, the Knife Twisters, an ambitious young band of alleybashers and freelance thieves. The Knives are looking to expand their ranks, and will pay hard gold for talented bravos and wizardlings. The gang is led by the self-styled King Korvul.

Other News/Rumours/Things to Think About:

• A mortally wounded retainer of an adventuring party called the Company Phangasmic, was found at the foot of the Tartarus Road. He was babbling about the Company being slaughtered by a group of bandits wearing gold armour. with his final breath, the retainer told one of the guards of the Black Towers that the Company was waylaid while on their way to investigate the Hive which is to the west of the Dragon’s Teeth in the Broken Lands.
• An adventuring party was overheard at the Drunken Cockatrice bragging about overcoming a number of grey goblins and claiming vast treasures at the Monastery of the Iron God. They were drunken braggarts so the claims of seeing a massive tentacled brain in a container of glass should not be believed.
• What exactly is the Blood Egg?

The Broken Lands Session 3

Return to the cellars and crypts below a ruined wizard tower along the Road of Tombs.

The Party:

• Vanuatu the Vegan (Magic-User 2 - now with Sleep and Charm Person)
• Elu (Elf 1)
• Steefe (Halfling 1)
• Plus an NPC retainer - Father Mug (Cleric 2 - from Black Pudding #1)
• Comtruise the Auditor (Cleric 1) is added for the second trip (replacement PC)
• For the second trip into the dungeon, the party hired a decrepit porter with a pronounced limp named Ire. The party deemed him perfect for the job as his limp made him the slowest.

The Adventure (aka there will be spoilers below):
Continuation of a slightly modified Tower of Zenopus.

What Happened:

• Consulting the map, the party decides to continue exploring to the northwest, beyond the partially collapsed room where they found treasure in the sarcophagi.
• Soon they encounter 2 Fire Beetles with vicious bites. One takes Elu down to 1 hp before they are dispatched. Unfortunately, Father Mug is bitten while trying to cast Cure Light Wounds ruining his spell.
• Reorganizing their marching order to protect Elu, the party decides to push on.
• Upon entering a new room, a giant spider drops from the ceiling. Rushing to slam the door shut between them and the poisonous monster, the party loses initiative. Vanuatu (who as a level 2 Magic-user with a good Con bonus now has the highest hit point total), is now in the front and goes down to the poisonous bite of the monster.
• Retracing their steps back to the entrance, the party encounters 7 scrawny, knee high humanoids whose features combine those of an old man and a rat in the partially collapsed room (taken from the most recent Nightwick Abbey release through Evan’s Patreon - I’m using these to replace the goblins in the adventure). A favourable reaction roll had the little creatures back away carefully and allow the party to pass unmolested.
• The party returns to town to heal and add another PC.
• Going through Vanuatu’s personal effects, Elu finds the large gem (the Blood Egg) and now it is his precious.
• Returning to the dungeon, the party develops a plan to deal with the giant spider. After stalking up on torches and flasks of oil, the party studies the map and decides to approach from a different direction and try to burn it out. Unfortunately, using their rough map they didn’t realize that the distance to the room with the spider was much greater than anticipated and that another room was in between.
• Entering this unexpected room, the party encounters over a dozen of the small wrinkled rat men encountered earlier. The party flees lighting a pool of oil  behind them to discourage pursuit.
• The party then encounters Grith the Sorcerer and his bodyguard in a workroom. Parleying, Girth invites them to share any knowledge about the dungeon that they acquire. Also, he offers them a reward if they are able to bring him a large tooth from a monster located somewhere to the northwest telling them, “they will know which monster when they see it.”
• Deciding not to mess with the Sorcerer, they take their leave and continue exploring until they encounter a giant snake in what is obviously the lower level of a tower. Quickly evading a fight with another poisonous monster, the party decides to try to tackle the tower from the surface level.
• Unable to breakdown the front door, they throw a rope and hook to the roof. Elu climbs up and, through a narrow window, spies Grith the Sorcerer returned to his tower. Continuing to the roof, Elu finds a trapdoor providing access to the top floor. However, opening it produces a terribly audible squeal from the rusty hinges that alerts Grith to possible intruders. Fleeing back down the rope, Elu narrowly avoids a conical blast from a wand wielded by Grith from a second storey window as the sorcerer screams at them for being thieves. The party then flees back to Jekarra.

The Tally:

• Vanuatu the Vegan, who just became a level 2 Magic-user, is dead (3rd PC death).
• Killed 2 fire beetles and took their red-glowing glands.

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:

• While this session was not as successful from a character longevity or monetary perspective as the previous sessions, this one was a lot of fun. To me it had more of the sword & sorcery, picaresque feel. It would have been nice if Vanuatu made his saving throw vs poison.
• I love reaction rolls! A good roll with Grith the Sorcerer leads to an interesting roleplaying encounter and possible adventure hooks. And then another roll leads to a narrow escape for the party.
• I know that some people find mapping a pain. However, they make the game much more fun as an aid in decision making.
• I’ve talked to the players about hiring more retainers.

Adventure Hooks for The Broken Lands Session #3

Sent by email to the players prior to Session #3...
Available Adventure Hooks:

1. Continue exploring the cellars under the ruined wizard tower.
2. You’ve been hearing rumours of a strange event near the bottom of the Tartarus Road. About two months ago, lightning filled the skies over a monastery dedicated to the Iron God. Rumours say all the buildings of the temple were destroyed in one night by hundreds of bolts of lightning. Some say that the Iron God destroyed his own monks as a punishment for their greed; they claim that the heretical monks had been accumulating great treasures in the underground catacombs beneath the temple instead of maintaining the spartan life required by their God. So far, no one has dared to explore the catacombs, so the monks’ ill-gotten treasures must still be there, ripe for the taking. 
3. Emmiss Sladentail has again left word that his patron, the powerful sorceress Alcastra the Fairspoken, is interested in hiring your party to recover an item from the Broken Lands. Emmiss can be found at the Scarlet Moon Inn.
4. Gallagorgon the Man-Bull, ancient and mighty progeny of the Immortal Omnithrox, desires that there be brought unto him an intact Penanggalan, a ghoul-maid of beauteous aspect and unspeakable thirsts. Those who bring the Man-Bull his prize will be granted an incredible boon -- a full day and night, dawn to next dawn, of unthinkable debauchery within his Pleasure Ziggurat. It is said that a Penanggalan, as well as other unwholesome things, haunt the Crypt of Llatai, though it goes without saying that such details are the sole concern of the boon-seeker. The Man-Bull cares not.
5. A young bravo has been asking about you, and isn’t afraid to spend a few coins to track you down. His name is Hriseit. He is affiliated with one of Jekarra’s gangs...

Other News/Rumours:

• Life in Jekarra is always hard - especially for those that make the Maze their home. Unfortunately, a street corner preacher who has been at the same spot in the Maze everyday for years has recently vanished.
• An adventuring party, the Doombringers, was slaughtered by a group of bandits wearing gold armour out to the west of the Dragon’s Teeth.
• One of the Troll-Seers (you know, the ones that tell the future by reading their own intestines that they spill on the table…) ran out of the chapterhouse of The Seers, Soothsayers, Fortune Tellers, and Wainwrights Guild (SSFTW #432)  screaming about some impending doom about to befall the city and fell over dead in the middle of the street. Its guts were all over the place.

============

The Party decided to return to the cellars and crypts under the ruined wizard tower (Option #1)

The Broken Lands Session 2

The greedy adventures saw opportunity in raiding the cellars and crypts below a ruined wizard tower along the Road of Tombs.

The Party:

• Vanuatu the Vegan (Magic-User 1)
• Elu (Elf 1)
• Steefe (Halfling 1)
• Barak (Fighter 1) - I think I may have this name wrong
• Plus a retainer - Father Mug (Cleric 2 - from Black Pudding #1)

The Adventure (aka there will be spoilers below):

The Tower of Zenopus from Holmes Basic. I am: 1) making some cosmetic changes; 2) adding a sublevel accessed by the hallway going north in the top-left corner of the map; and 3) Since this is no longer located on a body of water, the sea caverns will be changed.

What Happened:

• Before adventuring, Van decides that there is no way he would be willing to sell the huge gem, the Blood Egg, that they pillaged on their last adventure. They then hire Father Mug as a retainer.
• Descending the stairs into the cellars below, the party heads south at an intersection - using the always turn left mode. They enter a chamber and quickly overcome 4 skeletons.
• They proceed through an empty room and enter a gloomy room with piles of rocks and rubbish. They defeat 3 giant rats and then find a silver dagger and a bag containing 50 ep.
• Cautiously exploring a hallway going north they are surprised by two ghouls that attack them from the rear (a wandering monster). Father Mug failed his turn attempt, but the ghouls are defeated thanks to the halfling’s low AC and the elf’s immunity to ghoul paralysis.
• Proceeding into the next room, the party finds two more ghouls gnawing on bones from smashed coffins. Again, Father Mug fails his turn attempt but the ghouls are defeated with abundant missile attacks.
• The party next explores a huge room where the northern wall has collapsed scattering stone sarcophagi into the room. Ransacking the sarcophagi, the party first deals with poison gas, an animated skeleton, and then an animated sword. They find a magic sword, a golden coronet, and jewelry.
• Deciding that this was a good haul they decided to head back to Jekarra.
• Taking the magic sword to a sage they learn that it is Bittercut - a sword forged from the tears from a forgotten goddess.

The Tally:

• Killed/overcame 4 skeletons, 3 giant rats, 4 ghouls, and an animated sword.
• Valuable jewelry
• Bittercut the magic sword (yoiked from Black Pudding #1)
• Vanuatu the Vegan advances to 2nd level!

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:

• The old school practice of map keeping is working well - one of the players is keeping a rough map. During this session it helped them modestly by planning the quickest escape route (thus limiting wandering monster checks) once they decided to head back to the city. However, in session 3 it became quite valuable for decision making.
• Wandering monsters are working well - I just used the tables on page B53. They provided uncertainty and tension. The fact that they resulted in ghouls just before a keyed room with ghouls was just a nice coincidence.
• I replaced the magic +1 sword with something that has a bit more mystery/backstory/interest (but in the hands of PC's not much of a mechanical impact. Go get Black Pudding if you haven't already!)
• I made a mistake on the conversion of types of coin to gp for experience point calculations. For some reason I couldn't find the table on page B47 at the time. We rectified it by the end, but I told the players not to revised their XP reward (I over awarded them).
• I am using reaction rolls to determine who and how many retainers can be hired at any time. However, I think that the players aren't aware of my mental process when we roll so I may have to walk them though it. This really impacts session #3.

Adventure Hooks for Broken Lands Session #2

Sent by email to the players prior to Session #2...

Available Adventure Hooks:

1. Either Elu or Vanuatu may attempt to take the Oath of Vengeance and seek to exterminate the vicious Bird-Men who so cruelly butchered your friends Buz and Twig.
2. You’ve been hearing rumours of a strange event near the bottom of the Tartarus Road. About two months ago, lightning filled the skies over a monastery dedicated to the Iron God. Rumours say all the buildings of the temple were destroyed in one night by hundreds of bolts of lightning. Some say that the Iron God destroyed his own monks as a punishment for their greed; they claim that the heretical monks had been accumulating great treasures in the underground catacombs beneath the temple instead of maintaining the spartan life required by their God. So far, no one has dared to explore the catacombs, so the monks’ ill-gotten treasures must still be there, ripe for the taking.
3. Long ago a wizard built a tower atop some barrows overlooking the Road of Tombs. Rumour has it the wizard made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower in search of ancient treasures. Fifty years ago the tower was engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower. The supernatural conflagration destroyed the tower, but rumours persist of magical treasures still hidden in the cellars.
4. Word has gotten back to you that a man named Emmiss Sladentail is looking for you with a job offer on behalf of his benefactor who is supposedly a powerful wizard. Emmiss has left word that he can be found at the Scarlet Moon Inn.
5. Gallagorgon the Man-Bull, ancient and mighty progeny of the Immortal Omnithrox, desires that there be brought unto him an intact Penanggalan, a ghoul-maid of beauteous aspect and unspeakable thirsts. Those who bring the Man-Bull his prize will be granted an incredible boon -- a full day and night, dawn to next dawn, of unthinkable debauchery within his Pleasure Ziggurat. It is said that a Penanggalan, as well as other unwholesome things, haunt the Crypt of Llatai, though it goes without saying that such details are the sole concern of the boon-seeker. The Man-Bull cares not.

Other News/Rumours:

• An adventuring party, the Doombringers, was slaughtered by a group of bandits wearing gold armour out to the west of the Dragon’s Teeth.
• One of the Troll-Seers (you know, the ones that tell the future by reading their own intestines that they spill on the table…) ran out of the chapterhouse of The Seers, Soothsayers, Fortune Tellers, and Wainwrights Guild (SSFTW #432)  screaming about some impending doom about to befall the city and fell over dead in the middle of the street. Its guts were all over the place.

========

Bonus old-school cred points to those that can tell me in which adventure Emmiss Sladentail can be found.

(without googling it)