The Abandoned Mage Tower

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Requires Shadow of the Demon Lord from Schwalb Entertainment. Distributed through the Disciples of the Demon Lord Creative Community at DriveThruRPG.

The abandoned Mage Tower In which the characters have to enter the abandoned mage tower that holds some surprises.

The Dead Huntsman

Background

Leiden

The old magician Johann Straussler has been on the road for several months now and nobody knows exactly where he is going and why he left. However, he assured the inhabitants of Leiden that he would return. His mage tower has been uninhabited ever since. The Brotherhood of Shadows suspects useful clues in the old magician's laboratory and library, since he is interested in demonology and theories about time. Spies who were supposed to shadow the old magician were found as living dead. A small group of the Brotherhood of Shadows set out to enter the Mage Tower. Using the collected knowledge of the old mage, a mage of the Brotherhood of Shadows opened a portal into the Void. The beings from the portal, however, killed the mage and have ruled the mage tower ever since. The inhabitants of Leiden are not aware of this, but all who came too close to the tower heard strange noises and crazy laughter. When the first dead person was found, father Ferdinand Steinbach asked for immediate help and thus turned to the characters. The characters complete the adventure when they reach the last room of the Mage Tower and close the portal into the Void.

The village of Leiden has a well, a smithy, the inn The Black Goat, and a church of the New God. About 15 people live in the village. Most are of human ancestry, but there is also a halfling couple. The village is part of the duchy of Sonneburg, which is four days away. The village is run by father Ferdinand Steinbach. The inn is owned by Albert Lehmann and the local blacksmith is the former officer Hagen Elssler. Near Leiden there are several farms and the Lost Woods, which are said to be haunted by ghosts and will-o'-the-wisp if you go too far in. Hunters and woodcutters have set up their camps there. However, due to rumors, they only work at the edge of the forest.

Starting Characters Players should create characters using the normal rules of the game. The following are just some of the ways you can connect the characters to Leiden and the story. • Criminal Profession: The owner of the Black Goat, Albert Lehmann, is worried about his retirement and chosen hiding place in Leiden. Therefore he hires some old colleagues to send someone to check up on him and possibly take some loot from the tower. • Martial Profession: The military of the nearby duchy sends someone to check on the situation. The blacksmith in Leiden and former officer

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Hagen Elssler is named as the contact person • Academic Profession: As a (future) academic colleague of Johann Straussler, it is our honor to at least make sure that this research does not fall into the wrong hands. At the same time, one may also acquire some of these skills oneself in the process.

~Credits~ WRITING, Design, and Art Direction: RenE KRemer Layout: Rene Kremer ILLUSTRATIONs & Cartography: Kilian Cohrs Playtest: Kilian Cohrs, Christopher Patzke, Sebastian Schulz, Markus Seidler This product was created under license. Shadow of the Demon Lord is a trademark of Schwalb Entertainment, LLC. This work contains material that is copyright Schwalb Entertainment, LLC. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for the Disciples of the Demon Lord CC. All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by René Kremer and published under the Community Content Agreement for the Disciples of the Demon Lord CC. All rights reserved. Requires Shadow of the Demon Lord from

Requires Shadow of the Demon Lord from Schwalb Entertainment. Distributed through the Disciples of the Demon Lord Creative Community at DriveThruRPG.

Rumors about Leiden Players who find out something about the village of Leiden can get the following information: • Leiden is part of the duchy of Sonneburg. • The Duchy of Sonneburg is known for its long summers and winters, which can span several years. • There hasn't been a winter for over a decade, the land is overused and becomes more and more barren every year. • The citizens and native beings of the duchy of Sonneburg die mentally at the end of their lifetime, but not physically. They decay to madness or become walking dead. Burning has become a common burial tradition. • Johann Straussler is an old magician from Leiden, who has lived there longer than the oldest inhabitant of the village. His tower stands a little aside from Leiden. • Father Ferdinand Steinbach is a priest of the New God in Leiden and is the spiritual leader of the community.

The Black Goat The inn of Leiden is a moderately dirty dwelling, containing old furniture that is fragile in many places, or patched or repaired in a few places. The beer and food is surprisingly soothing, while you can smell and recognize the vomit from past nights dried up in the wood of the furniture. The owner of the inn is Albert Lehmann (as hired killer). Albert is a middle-aged man, who looks slightly ragged and has short black hair. Usually he wears an apron, long shirts, rolled up sleeves and simple cloth pants. His movements are agile, but you can see that he is getting on in years and has also developed a well-fed stomach. The first body was found by Elisabeth Schöll, the barmaid from the Black Goat. Elisabeth is a young woman at the age of 19 and has long blond hair and a slim figure. You can't see anything of her ragged clothes, which she wore some years ago when she came to the village, nowadays. As the bodies of the dead continue to serve in the duchy of Sonneburg, Elisabeth was surprised when the old hunter, Jonas Ganzfried, stormed towards her in his room. She could still lock the room and thus lock him up for now. Hagen Elssler (as veteran) and some men of the vil-

lage were called to overwhelm Jonas Ganzfried. The former officer was able to tie up the dead hunter with his small troop and hand him over to father Ferdinand Steinbach. Hagen is a man in his late thirties and enjoys the quiet life in Leiden. He is strongly built, sunburnt and lost his left eye while on duty. His clothing is that of a simple farmer. Clothing is something practical for him, although he knows from cities that some citizens try to establish a status by wearing garments.

The Funeral of Jonas Ganzfried At the cremation of Jonas Ganzfried at the latest, the characters meet Father Ferdinand Steinbach (as acolyte of the New God). Ferdinand is a man in his mid-forties with grey hair and a gaunt figure. He wears the robes of the New God and a silver holy symbol. His fingernails are well groomed, but his fingers show some deformities, as if they had been broken several times before. No one in Leiden knows that this was the case because the current priest of the new god used to have a preference for gambling, but was not very good at such games. The cremation takes place in front of the church of the New God. The small church has room for about 10 people with simple wooden benches and a small stone altar shows the sign of the new god: a ring devoured by a dragon. After some time logs are piled up and the still resisting body of Jonas Ganzfried lies on the ground. The fire is kindled and Ferdinand Steinbach begins his funeral speech. At the end of the speech the men of the village together with Hagen Elssler throw the wriggling body into the flames. As it burns, the body stops moving. The characters can get the following information here: • Johann Straussler already lived in the village at the time of the parents of many and is thus the oldest inhabitant of Leiden. • The old magician sometimes came out of his tower with wounds. • You need a key to enter his tower, which is not a key. It seems to be a stone with a symbol. The magician once lost this stone when he was drunk and still came into the tower. Maybe there is a replacement stone.

The Abandoned Mage Tower The dwelling of the old magician is about a quarter of an hour away from Leiden. The tower is a good three to four stories high. The tower is missing some stones

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in the walls in several places and the round roof of the tower is also missing a number of bricks. It even seems that the rain finds its way inside and maybe even one person could make it. The door of the tower is a simple wooden door that does not seem to age and leads into a small anteroom.

1 Entrance Hall The foyer of the tower is in a oriel. Inside, on the left and right wall, there is a banner with the coat of arms of the duchy of Sonneburg, a castle overshadowed by a sun. Windows on the walls let sunlight in, but are not visible from outside. A wardrobe with coats and other clothing can also be found here, as well as several pairs of boots. A red carpet leads to another door made of robust oak. In this door 7 runes are arranged in a semicircle. The semicircle can be rotated so that it is aligned either up or down, like a half moon. A place for an 8th rune can be found at the very left or right place, depending on the position of the semicircle. Behind the left banner, on a somewhat loose stone, there is a hollow that contains the key rune. Characters examining the left banner with a success on a Percep-

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tion challenge roll find the location of this hiding place and the rune. The roll can be made with a boon if the characters were able to find out the existence of the key rune. When the rune is inserted in the left place, a small magic portal on the ceiling opens and lets the lifeless body of a meat construct clap on the floor, distributing intestines and blood on the runner. Any character observing this must get a success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity. In any case, the key rune opens the wooden door and opens the way. Directly behind the wooden door, at eye level, a man can be seen who seems to be hung up. A meat hook is anchored in the back of the person and holds the wriggling dead person. The meat hook is attached to the ceiling. The throat of the man is cut. It is a member of the Brotherhood of Shadows. The stench of death is in the air here. Any character who observes this must get a success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity. The door leads into the Study.

2 Study The Study has windows on the left side, which were

not visible from the outside. In front of them is a desk. Obviously the workplace of Johann Straussler. A small bookshelf next to the desk contains notebooks about his experiments with herbs, but also time magic for repairing objects. The desk and also the bookshelf are rumpled and several books as well as writing utensils are scattered randomly on the floor. On the desk, however, there are still 2d6 copper pennies. Some plants in vases have been swept off shelves and are rotting away. The plants and the dead member of the Brotherhood fill the room with a disgusting stench. Opposite the desk is a door leading to the cleaning room. The door is opened a crack and could be seen if you go further into the room. Opposite the door leading to the Entrance Hall, a staircase can be seen which is magically sealed by a barrier. Two giant statues, each representing a knight, stand next to the staircase. When you approach the barrier, the two statues awaken and ask the following questions: • "What is our master's favorite drink?" — Answer: Mint tea (the locals of Leiden know this). • "What was the last thing our master found out?“ — Answer: The repair of objects using time magic (can be found in his research papers on the bookshelf ). • "How many relatives does our master have?" Answer: None (this question cannot be found out from notes or villagers). Alternatively, for each question you can try to intimidate the statues or pretend that you were sent by their master. In this case, a success on a Will or Strength challenge roll against the target number of 12 to intimidate the statues is necessary. Deceiving the knights requires a successful Intelligence challenge roll against the target number of 10. For every wrong answer or failed attempt at intimidation or deception, the statues conjure up a magic arrow on the responding creature. The arrow hits automatically and causes 1d3 + 1 damage to the target. After three attempts at answering (correct or wrong answers or successful as well as failed challenge rolls) the barrier and the magic of the statues disappears.

3 Cleaning Room In small shelves you can find rags, buckets and brooms. However, a newcomer from the portal into the Void (see the Secret Laboratory) has hidden here to kill uninvited guests, like the member of the Brotherhood of Shadows. This is a Tiny Demon (see Shadow of the Demon Lord, p. 229). If someone goes too far into the room, he jumps out of the cleaning room and attacks this person.

4 Laboratory The staircase of the Study leads into a dark room. The magical light from a corner dimly illuminates a pedestal where a magic ball seems to have fallen down. The sphere glows slightly purple and shows two magic streams that seem to swirl in a circle inside the sphere. As soon as the characters enter the room, they notice that gravity is no longer present in this room and start to float. If the ball is put back on the platform, the weightlessness ends. Next to the platform there is another staircase leading into the Bedroom. Through another light source or a character with darksight one could see that instruments, shards, a table and partially unsealed vials with liquids are floating in the air. Each turn within this space, they must get a success on a Agility challenge roll or take 1 damage. If the character cannot see in the darkness, the test must be done with bane. If the challenge roll is at least 15, the character will find a healing potion once while dodging. In this zero-gravity state, a small snake-like creature (Shrieking Eel, see Shadow of the Demon Lord, p. 254) moves around, which emits light on its forehead via its antenna. This enables the creature to navigate in the darkness. On the left side of the room a closed door leads to the Library.

5 Library The Library consists of a shelf wall that fills the entire room. Here you can find works of magic, which a magician would identify as usual editions. The books are introduction volumes to a school of magic according to the discretion of the game master.

6 Bedroom The staircase from the Laboratory leads into a small room that seems to be the Bedroom of Johann Straussler. A small drawer contains the magician's few clothes and a bed with a bedside table is the only other furniture. Opposite the drawer is a large portrait on the wall, which apparently shows Johann Straussler in his younger years. He wears a small mustache and his hair is black and short, not gray and longish as the inhabitants of Leiden would describe it. Furthermore, Johann Straussler wears in the painting splendid robes as one would expect at the court of a nobleman and not old, dirty garments. Next to this portrait is a candleholder. On closer examination the characters find out that it is movable. When the image is moved 45 degrees, it fades and gives way to another part of the floor (see Hidden Library).

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7 Hidden Library Behind the portrait in the Bedroom is the real library of Johann Straussler. A fireplace and an armchair with a small side table are the reading area of the old magician. On the side table, the severed head of another member of the Brotherhood of Shadows can be seen, while his body is motionless in the armchair. Any character who observes this get a success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity. The rest of the room is equipped with bookshelves lined up on the walls. Some books have magic chains that prevent them from being opened, while others are decorated in incomprehensible languages and with unknown magic runes. However, the characters can also find here, at the discretion of the game master, another book, each with a spell of the 0th rank and a spell of the 1st rank. Many of these books currently exceed the characters' abilities. Only that book is halfway readable by the characters. On the left side is another staircase to the last floor — the Secret Laboratory.

8 Secret Laboratory The staircase of the Hidden Library leads to the magician's main laboratory. On the left side of the room you can see a large apparatus whose gears are moving tirelessly. Small magic flashes can be seen in glass tubes. At one end of the machine a magic beam is projected onto the wall opposite the staircase. A dark portal has appeared on the wall and shows a world ruled by terror and chaos. Any character who takes a closer look at the portal and thus the dimension of emptiness must get a success on a Will challenge roll with 1 bane or gain 1 Insanity. Wall shelves are mounted above a workbench on the right side and contain hammers, pliers and other alchemical tools. On the workbench is a small pot where a steaming brew is simmering. The pot is hot at the bottom, but does not need a flame. In the middle of the room is a book stand with an open book. A pentagram can be seen on the spine of the book, but the words appear incomprehensible but legible. If someone gets too close to the device or the portal, a demon (like Tiny Demon, see Shadow of the Demon Lord, p. 229), as big as a goblin, emerges from the portal, opposing the characters and preventing the device from being turned off. The apparatus can be stopped by wedging the gears with one of the tools from the wall shelf or by speaking a magic formula from the book on the bookstand in the room. If a character does not consider these two possibilities, a character with a successful Intelligence challenge roll gets these ideas. Bringing the apparatus to a

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standstill by force is also a possibility.

Return to the Village After the characters have deactivated the apparatus and thus closed the portal into the dimension of the Void, they are celebrated by the villagers in Leiden. Father Ferdinand Steinbach solemnly presents them with 1d6 silver shillings and a healing potion for a hopefully long life. The two bodies of the members of the Brotherhood of Shadows are cremated. However, the characters receive the attention of Hagen Elssler and Albert Lehmann as well as father Ferdinand Steinbach. These three inhabitants of Leiden willingly establish contacts to train the characters for further services. An interested person could also, until the return of Johann Straussler, try his hand at the books that have been found or are still to be found in self-study.