d20 Mongoose Publishing Ruins of the Dragon Lord The Path of Archaneroth.pdf

J C ALVAREZ

Contents

Credits

Editor

Richard Ford

Box Cover Art

Vitor Ishimura & Celso Matthias

Logo & Book Cover Design

Anne Stokes

Interior Illustrations

J C Alvarez, Eric Bergeron, Marcio Fiorito, Kythera,

Rhonda Libbey, David Esbri Molinas, Danilo Moretti,

Chad Sergesketter

RPG Manager

Ian Belcher

Production Director

Alexander Fennell

Proof Reading

Ron Bedison

Playtesting

Jason Alexander, Scott Alexander, Tanya Bergen, Julie

P Blackburn, William T Blackburn, Gloria Egner,

Mark Gedak, Tammy Gedak, Ryan Kelln, Patrick

Kossmann, Brian LeTendre, Kent Little, Murray Perry,

Mary Katherine Plas, Mike Russo

Special Thanks

Greg Lynch, Salvador Serrano, Cristo Yanez

Introduction

THE UPPER DUNGEON

Area A: The Entrance Caves

Area B: The Goblin Fortress

Area C: The Lost Tunnels

Area D: Temple of the Goblin God

Area E: Drowned Mines

THE INNER MOUNTAIN

Area F: The Fire Pits

Area G: The Deep Caves

Area H: Tomb of the Athan Kings

Area I: The Resting Place

UNDER THE MOUNTAIN

Area J: The Giant Caves

Area K: The Dark Warrens

Area L: The Drow Spire

Area M: Dwergard

Area N: The Lightless Depths

THE DAMNED CITY

Area O: Archaneroth

106

Area P: Hellfast

120

License

128

Open Game Content & Copyright Information

Content of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Ruins of

the Dragon Lord is presented under the Open Game and D20 Licences. See page 128 for the text of these licences. All

text paragraphs and tables containing game mechanics and statistics derivative of Open Game Content and the System

Reference Document are considered to be Open Game Content. All other signiﬁ cant characters, names, places, items,

logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version

6.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20. The mention of or reference to any company or

product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards

of the Coast® are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries and are used with

permission. Printed in China.

INTRODUCTION

A dark mountain looms against the darker sky.

For those willing to attempt the task, there is a direct, if

meandering, road leading to and up the fearsome peak.

The trip is relatively safe, up to the point at which this

road ends at the Entrance Caves that lead inside Mount

Moru.

It seems made of wisps of shadow and faint

traces of evil fancy, like it does not quite

exist. Rather like a nightmare.

The terrain around the mountain is no better, all grown

with rocky peaks and crags like a festering disease. It is

completely devoid of colour too, as if on purpose; a sickly

rash for a sickly landscape.

Entering Mount Moru

There are three known ways to access the insides of Mount

Moru:

It rains of course. The rain, however, is not like water;

instead it looks like cold white drips of ash. White ash

falling on black soil; all of it is black and white.

The Entrance Caves

This is the safest and easiest way to enter Mount Moru. It

requires nothing more than continuing on this road until

arriving at the old mine site marking the caves’ entrance.

Reaching the entrance caves from here takes two days,

one to reach the base of Mount Moru and another to

follow the road up the mountain until reaching the caves’

mouth, near the peak.

Ghostly forms cling to the rocks and crevices, their

appearance almost human, their vaporous mouths

congealed in what appear to be screams but may also be

dreadful celebration.

This, then, is Mount Moru. It has a world around it, made

of legend and dread; it has a maze inside, inhabited by

dragons and monsters.

The Haunted Lake

Entering the haunted lake is dangerous, even when

disregarding the unproven ghost stories. The underground

currents feeding it cause strong undertows threatening

those that come near it with a watery grave. Reaching the

lower haunted lake from here takes two days of circling the

mountain; after that, a traveller must climb the treacherous

cliffs behind its waterfall to reach the upper lake, which

leads directly inside the mountain. This climb takes at

least another full day, though it may often take more.

At the base of the mountain, you can see a tiny standing

stone, roughly the size of a man. It has some undecipherable

carvings, though there is always the nagging doubt they

actually mean something. Like a warning.

A road goes up the mountain. You really should not follow

that road.

You really should not admit this mountain exists.

The Lost Pass

In olden times, the pass of Moru Road used to be a sure

way through the base of Mount Moru, allowing travellers

following Moru Road to cross the mountain roots without

having to go around it. Now the pass is mostly blocked

and the road leading to it has fallen into disuse. Should

a traveller ﬁ nd a way to surmount the precarious chasms

surrounding the pass and somehow ﬁ nd a way through the

tons of rubble blocking it, it would constitute a practical

route into the mountain. Reaching the Lost Pass from

here takes less than eight hours, though in all likelihood it

is a fruitless trip.

But here it is.

The Entrance Road

This is the road to Mount Moru.

It lies in the middle of the Morudhain lands, past

Meadowvale and the Last Shrine. Just getting here is a

bit of an adventure in itself, though what comes next is

far more dangerous and shall only become deadlier as the

road goes nearer and deeper inside the mountain. Ahead

lies an underground complex the likes of which are rarely

seen, one of the greatest, largest and deepest subterranean

realms in existence. There is a whole world inside Mount

Moru; a world inhabited mostly by monsters, traps and

labyrinthine tunnels; a world ripe for adventure but also

for peril and death. It may take months or even years for

an adventuring party to explore it fully.

Besides these, there are surely countless other ways inside

Mount Moru, though they remain mostly unaccounted for.

Perhaps a persevering explorer shall have more luck at

ﬁ nding them, most likely as an emergency exit rather than

an entrance.

INTRODUCTION

inner Mount Moru are increasingly rare, particularly at

the lowest levels which remain unknown even to the best

cartographers and explorers.

Additional dungeons

The 19 dungeon levels featured in this book do not

even cover half the area of inner Mount Moru. It is

quite reasonable to assume there are more dungeons

or even whole new mountain levels, located beside

or just above (or below) the ones featured here.

The Games Master is free to create and expand on

Mount Moru as needed.

The Three Books

Ruins of the Dragon Lord is just one of the three books

written about Mount Moru, the other two being The

Dragon Stone and Tales of Mount Moru . This book in

particular contains detailed information on Mount Moru as

an adventure and exploration site, describing most of the

encounters, traps and natural dangers likely to be found

in it. Despite the veritable wealth of detailed information

contained in these pages, however, those who wish to tell

tales based on this book should make sure to read the other

two grimoires as well; many of the encounters and stories

described in this tome depend on additional background

and information contained in the other two books.

Inside Mount Moru

Once inside Mount Moru, most travellers use keyed maps

to ﬁ nd their way. Some of the areas within the mountain

are quite difﬁ cult to ﬁ nd without the help of a map. Any

explorer entering Mount Moru should remember to use

a keyed map and follow the indications marking what is

inside each area. Keyed maps with clear descriptions of

MAP KEY

Natural Wall

Archway

Normal Wall

Barred Gate / Cell

Pit

Curtain

Door

Secret Door

Natural Stair

Stairs

1 square is equal to 10 feet on all maps other than poster maps (Area O) on which 1 square equals 5 feet.

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