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 “Pain? Pain is a mother's kiss. A soft embrace offered by life to remind you that your heart still beats. Death denied me pain, and left only hollow, aching misery pressing in from all sides. An arm plunged into a glacial river—numb, distant, alien—not even a shiver to warm a hollow chest. Eight centuries I persisted without purpose, pain, or sweet oblivion—a trophy for a rapist king, gifted by mewling cowards. And at the center of it all, the bastard lich himself: proud and preening when he cast me down. Where was that pride when he fled like a beaten dog into the darkest womb of the earth?
 “But now he hopes again. I can hear his hope in my chest like I once heard my own blood drain away, spattering on cold stone. And knowing I can take that from him—it stings like sweet, soft pain again.”
— Arazni, the Red Queen of Geb, Fallen Herald of the Last Azlanti

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This site is meant as a resource for my players and is maintained directly and manually by the GM. This site is for use with the Tyrant's Grasp adventure path.

If you haven't yet, and you're a player in this game, visit the Character Creation tab to get started! Welcome to the adventure, and may Pharasma rest your soul.

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• Home: Campaign and site details
• Character Creation: Details regarding how to create a character for this campaign.
• Heroes: Details regarding leadership, missions, player characters, campaign traits, and strange powers or occurrences affecting them.
• Resources: Details on information, magic items, and people encountered or recovered throughout the campaign.
• Journal: A running journal on the events of the adventure so-far.
• Maps: A record and map of locations visited, along with a review of the party's current location.

Campaign Details

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• Citizenship: All characters are Citizens of Lastwall, with most being either descendants of Shinning Crusaders or having settled here after serving a tour in Vigil or else immigrating from one of the bleak border nations. Lastwall has a stratified society with and entrenched nobility an aristocracy holding preeminence, mostly stemming from families with heroic ancestors, followed by those with military service and professional craftsman, with regular squires and laborers on the bottom rung. Lastwall has never had slavery since its inception, as all who stand against the Whispering Tyrant are Forever Free.
• Currency: As a Teutonic Province founded by Taldor, Lastwall uses mostly Taldan currency - copper, silver, gold, and platinum pennies, though they refer to all coins by these names and use them relatively interchangeably regardless of mint origin. While not widely circulated, Taldan Ha'Pennies (standard pennies with an iron ringed border - implying low quality) are also accepted, each worth half of its normal penny counterpart. Taldan Crowns (Rare Gold-Mithral coins embedded with rubies, worth 100gp) are also accepted though rarely ever seen, and are frequently only used by Lastwall in large government contracts with its parent state.
• Languages: With the bulk of the Shining Crusade's forces originally provided by Taldor, the Taldan Common tongue is the official language of the Lastwall. The other primary languages of the populations of Lastwall include Celestial, Dwarven, Necril, and Orc, with the Hallit and Varisian Regional Dialects being mainstays, especially among immigrant and superstitious populations. Other useful languages for this campaign include: Aklo, Abyssal, Draconic, Giant, Infernal, Undercommon, Sylvan. A few secret languages (such as druidic) and magical communication will both feature prominently, but cannot be achieved by all characters. Finally, the Elemental Languages (Aquan, Auran, Ignan, Terran) as well as both other common racial languages (such as Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Tengu, and Wayang) and regional dialects (like Ancient Osiriani, Kellish, and Osiriani) will also make an appearance, but these speakers will also speak other, more common languages, so these may not be the best choices.
• Origins: With the campaign's beginning set in a border town steadily rebuilding after an orc attack a decade ago, most player characters likely hail from Lastwall in general, if not Roslar's Coffer specifically. They may be clergy, engineers, farmers, healers, masons, town watch, or weavers, with the local industry focusing primarily on flax farming, sheep herding, reconstruction, and weaving cloth from the local flax and wool, as well as selling linseed oil and lanolin. Even though the border with Belkzen has been quiet the past few seasons, Vigil maintains a small defensive force in Roslar's Coffer made up of healers, knights, scouts, and soldiers, as well as a few academic observers who report on the reconstruction efforts. Roslar's Coffer attracts trade from Nirmathas and Ustalav, and even the occasional Varisian caravan and Razmiri refugee. The reconstruction effort attracted many souls eager for work, as well as a few opportunistic sorts who saw the local authorities handing out compensation and support to displaced locals and decided to take advantage of this generosity, though most of these have long since moved on now that the charity has dwindled to a trickle.
• Prejudice: While Lastwall was founded as a free nation by the Knights of Ozem, the settlers were predominantly human Taldans who brought their prejudices against the Kellid East and the Geniekin with them. Combined with the Fall of Aroden, the rise of Infernal Cheliax, generations of fighting cultist and undead uprisings, ceaseless orc raids from the Hold of Belkzen, goblin and drow attacks from the deep roads, and countless invasions from their neighbor nations along Lake Encarthan (making up the "Eye of Terror") have all ground down the people of Lastwall into close-knit and generally closed communities. All outsiders are typically met with mistrust until they can explain who they both know or how they're family. They are not, however, a hermit kingdom, and many travelers and crusaders often pass through, eventually earning the trust of the community over years of contact or else banding together, and there's no system to stop people from coming or going or living their life as they please - just don't expect someone who doesn't know you to treat you the same as they do their friends.

Knowledge Breakdown

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• All: Monster Identification - Most Knowledge's allow for identifying monsters. The DC's for these are DC10+CR for common creatures (typically CR9-), DC15+CR for uncommon creatures (typically CR10+), and DC20+CR for unique creatures (unique or CR20+). For every 5 points you exceed the DC, you may ask a question about the creature.


• Arcana: Identifies dragons and magical beasts. Also identifies ongoing magical effects and transmuted/conjured materials (DC20+Spell Lvl). Can also decipher arcane mysteries, magical traditions, and magical auras. Also used in phrenology and magical rituals.
• Dungeoneering: Identifies aberrations and oozes. Also identifies underground hazard's and how to bypass them (DC15+CR). Can also identify stones, metals, and minerals, identify makeup of caverns and underground tunnels, determine slope and depth underground. Also used in understanding and navigating the darklands
• Engineering: Identifies constructs. Also identifies dangerous construction and a structures style, age, or weakness (DC10-20). Can also be used in construction, demolition, and renovation. Also used in inventions and innovations.
• Geography: Does not identify creatures. Can identify a creatures' ethnicity (DC15 or 10+Disguise). Can also recognize climate, soil, and terrain features, and represents knowing the location of noteworthy sites and communities. Also used in astronomy and farming.
• History: Does not identify creatures. Can identify past events and age of documents, items, structures, and styles. Also used in archeology.
• Local: Identifies humanoids. Also identifies class levels (DC 15+lvl). Represents knowledge of local cultures, customs, folklore, legends, people, personalities, organizations, and traditions. Also used in secret organizations.
• Nature: Identifies animals, fey, monstrous humanoids, plants, and vermin. Also identifies natural hazard's and how to bypass them (DC15+CR). Can also be used to identify plants and herbs, recognize weather patterns and phenomenon, and determine if something is natural or artificial. Also used in herbology.
• Nobility: Does not identify creatures. Can recognize correct and proper etiquette, heraldry, lineages, nobility, and succession. Also used in interpreting rank and relationship in a court, social rounds, and social combat.
• Planes: Identifies outsiders. Can also recognize planes, identify planar features, and identify planar magic. Also used in navigating teleportation magic.
• Religion: Identifies undead. Also identifies haunts and how to lay them to rest (DC15+CR for general method, DC15+2xCR for exact method). Can also recognize deities by their holy symbols, recognize domains, recognize cults and worshippers, recognize burial rights and procedures, and recognize religious tenets. Also used in divine interventions and deific boons.

The 10 Commandments of Tomb Raiding

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• Scout Ahead: (Recommended Skill - Linguistics) Before opening doors or rounding corners, gather as much information as you can. Deciphering ancient writings or maps can provide a massive advantage. Using magic to create maps, scry, or see through walls is incredible, but even listening at a door, using a mirror to look around a corner, peering through a crack in the wall, or (dangerously) sneaking ahead to take a peek, can all gather useful information about who to fight, what to prepare, when to move, or where to stand.
• Use Diplomacy: (Recommended Skill - Diplomacy) There are more ways to deal with a monster than dangerous combat. Diplomacy can turn a dangerous encounter into an unexpected ally, and even unreasonable monsters might be persuaded (or tricked) with food, gold, magic items, or spells. Encounters bypassed are encounters overcome, and resources saved now are resources for later.
• Understand the Environment: (Recommended Skill - Knowledge) Many dungeons have their own hazards, curses, terrain, or even political dynamics. Understanding who to negotiate with, what creatures lurk below, when to delve, where to find the treasure, how to avoid falling, or why you shouldn't touch the water can all be lifesaving.
• Break Down Doors: (Recommended Skill - Initiative) While there is a time for quiet in a dungeon, there is also a time for action. When loot is identified or creatures are heard on the other side of a door, acting quickly can often end a fight before it even starts. When it comes to combat, hesitation is a character trait that is rarely rewarded.
• Search for Secrets: (Recommended Skill - Perception) It often pays to be thorough, especially in ancient or powerful places. Small trinkets may hide powerful magic, secret passages may bypass danger, and treasures are often hidden away, buried by rubble, or disguised as something mundane (like furniture). Watch for tell-tale signs of monster activity which may give insight into the dungeon environment ahead.
• Check for Traps: (Recommended Skill - Disable Device) Monster lairs and ancient tombs are often warded with traps and curses. A keen eye, particularly on doors and chests, as well as the occasional use of spells like Detect Magic will often feel unrewarded, but occasionally prevent a horrible death. Watch for monsters disguising their undead or monstrous features while feigning innocence in an effort to lure you closer.
• Be Prepared: (Recommended Skill - Climb/Swim) Rope, pitons, tools, torches, mirrors, waterproof bags, ten-foot poles. Detect Magic, Dimension Door, Light, Levitation, Summon Monster, Silent Image, Unseen Servant. Whether you need a way up, down, or out, or you just need some fodder to distract a monster while you run, entering a dungeon unprepared is a way to die alone in the dark.
• Set Traps: (Recommended Skill - Craft) Never forget to set traps of your own as you try to create a safe place. Ball bearings, strings, nets, oil, and more provide all the basics for building a safe place to fall back on, and clever crafters and powerful conjurers can do far more to prepare a place for combat. Just as its easy to be led into a trap, only the most intelligent of monsters will even suspect a trap, meaning traps are a reliable way to gain an advantage.
• Stay Stealthy: (Recommended Skill - Stealth) Staying stealthy can lead to gaining information, bypassing danger, and surprising an enemy in combat. Do not explore more than one room at once, and do not break line of sight for too long - if ever - but even pushing forward safely one-by-one can make a huge difference.
• Never Split the Party: (Recommended Skill - Survival) It is dangerous to go alone. Don't leave line-of-sight or communication for long - if ever - and don't scout physically ahead without a plan of when they will come looking for you. Only rest in safe places, avoiding places out in the open or cornered with only a single way out, and keep someone on watch - preferably multiple someone's - at all times.

The 7 Things Everyone Knows about Undead

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• UN-Dead: Most undead were once living. Knowing details about the creatures former life and manner of death are often invaluable in determining its motives.
• Unholy: Animated by Unholy power, Holy weapons and Holy Water damages undead as though they were acid and are often instrumental in permanently laying the creatures to rest.
• Evil: Undead are invariably evil, as are the means to create such beings. No good deity will aid in the creation of undead, and those who create undead are invariably corrupted.
• Negative Polarity: Unlike the living, undead are healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy. The powerful spells that may restore people to life typically do not work on undead, though they may destroy them.
• Immunity: Undead are immune to numerous magical effects, including spells that only affect the living, mind-affecting effects, and abilities that affect a creatures physical constitution (unless it also affects objects).
• Sleepless: Undead do not need to breathe, eat, or sleep, though they may be compelled to feed or may lay motionless until disturbed, making them hard to notice. When harmed, they remain conscious and continue fighting until destroyed.
• Weaknesses: Most undead have specific weaknesses, anathema to their method of creation. Many undead have a special weaknesses to mundane things like garlic, mirrors, running water, salt, and objects from their life, in addition to more obvious things like fire, positive energy, or having their head chopped off.

Be On the Look-Out!

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• Cultists: Whispering Way Cultists' primary goal is to free the Whispering Tyrant from his eternal prison. Skilled infiltrators, watch for tattoos or items marked with their symbol and people wearing heavy cloaks with long sleeves and deep pockets, especially in hot weather.
• Disguised Dead: Some undead attempt to pass themselves off as the living until they get close to their victims. Watch for discolored skin, reluctant or disorganized speech, highly localized cold-snaps, rotten smells, lack of footprints, and a refusal to show their face.
• Ghosts: These incorporeal dead are readily recognizable on sight but are highly dangerous, as they can only be harmed with special equipment and return even if banished. Do not approach, and report any location suspected of containing a ghost.
• Plague: Orcs, Rats, and Undead are known plague bearers, so vigilance against the spread of the disease is critical. Watch for people covered in spots or boils, wandering with a delirium, or itching and sneezing uncontrollably, and do not touch them. Remember to wash your hands before eating and after working burial or re-dead details.
• Possession: Some undead forcibly take control of the living. Watch for people without basic knowledge of the area, the year, or their families, as well as a general lack of basic self-care such as bathing, eating, and sleeping.
• Raiders: Orc raiding parties move quickly and strike hard. Any group of 4 or more orcs should be presumed scouts and questioned or watched. If the sound of thunder on a clear day is heard, take shelter immediately, barricade the doors, and stay away from windows. Do not draw attention by attempting to bribe them to leave - this will only encourage them.
• Vampires: Similar to the Disguised Dead BOLO, vampires have some particulars of note. Additionally watch for people dressed in last-century fashion, a lack of reflections, and an unwillingness to enter a building without an express verbal invitation.

Undead Classes & Hierarchies

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• Motility via Necromancy: While not well understood by the common folk, with the finer points still heavily debated amongst scholars, a creature is given life and motility through quintessence. In living creatures, this quintessence is the soul, which upon the creatures death travels the river of souls to the great beyond or returns to life via divine or positive energy. In non-life, such as with constructs, magic is instead used to conjure quintessence, typically with limited effect. But in undead, necromancy or negative energy syphon quintessence by corrupting the river of souls' normal flow.
• Mindless Undead: Ex Skeletons & Zombies - The most basic of undead creatures, mindless undead are easily recognizable for their decayed flesh and lack of emotion or intelligence. These bodies are animated by necromantic power in much the same way as constructs, usually with reduced motility and strength, similar weaknesses, and few resistances which are often easily overcome.
• Primitive Undead: Ex Bodaks, Devourers, & Mohrgs - This class of undead, contains its own intelligence and may act independently, often by binding the soul of the deceased to the mortal world. These undead are often unable to overcome their urges and operate mostly on instinct, similar to animals or beasts. Typically driven by a single purpose, these powerful monsters' particular nature often creates specific weaknesses and can be out-manuevered by cleverly exploiting their ecology.
• Spectral Undead: Ex Alips, Banshes, Ghosts, Shadows, & Wraiths - Opposite to the mindless undead, these beings of pure emotion and thought are disconnected from the living yet refuse to move on, existing as bodiless spirits. Typically created by physical or emotional trauma related to their death or an unfinished cause, with no known specter created purposefully, the afterlife of these individuals are stagnant - often uncaring for the passage of time and limited to the knowledge and abilities it had in life, with even memories of their death and current undead state being blurred and insubstantial. While not always hostile, their disconnection with reality makes them often uncaring and devoted to a singular purpose for being, which coupled with resistances to non-magical means of disruption and a deadly touch makes these powerful beings very dangerous and usually difficult to destroy. While most seek eternal rest and resolution, unless the specific cause binding them to the mortal world is resolved, most rejuvenate given enough time.
• Haunts - Similar to spectral undead, these are not so much restless spirits as they are items or regions cursed with unquiet spirits, often being created by the traumatic suffering and simultaneous death of many creatures. The relative power of the source of the trauma is irrelevant, but instead the magnitude of the suffering and the collective will of the fallen determines its effects on the living. Just as individual specters, these are always unique and often difficult to permanently lay to rest, with an understanding of the cause of their death and haunting usually being vital. Just as the spectral undead are not always malevolent, a rare number of places or items are sanctified by the mass death, often due to willing sacrifice or a sense of duty, which may manifest in magical items or regions benevolent to the living.
• Lesser Nobility: Ex Ghouls, Graveknights, & Wights - This class of undead is similar to the primitive undead, except that they often have mastery over their instincts and motivations, enabling them to work to further their own goals and more complex schemes. Often ruthless and sometimes cunning, in addition to grouping together these creatures have the capacity to lead other, lesser undead, and are often free to roam according to their desires as well as build and decorate their own lairs, making them relatively unpredictable and far more dangerous. These creatures often have powerful resistances and devastating abilities, with often unique weaknesses that may be difficult to exploit, making encounters with these monsters dangerous for all but the most powerful, well educated, and well prepared.
• Blood Lords: Ex Liches, Mummies, & Vampires - The highest tier of undead society, are the most intelligent, self-aware, and magically gifted of all the undead types, and wherever they are found they are invariably lord of fiefdoms of their own. Every one of these creatures are unique and difficult to destroy, especially permanently, with abilities, motivations, and even generic weaknesses not being constant between creatures.
• Liches - Through mysterious means unique to each individual, the most powerful spellcasters can halt the effects of death on their bodies and minds and achieve undead immortality. The transformation into a lich is always a deliberate and calculated process, never a result of chance or accident, resulting in a formidable creature of ultimate will and design. Though their mind is preserved and possess a timeless and patient mindset few mortals can understand, the ceaseless march of time tends to drive these beings towards specific ambitions, paranoia, and obsession, who care ever-less for the lives and mortal cares of those around them. Impossible to destroy without first finding and destroying their phylactery, these beings often build protective towers or fortresses filled with traps to keep out those who would do them harm, though they may freely travel and test themselves in the most dangerous and exotic pursuits, sure in the knowledge of their immortality.
• Mummies - The preserved bodies of ancient and respected individuals who zealously guard their burial places, these beings protect their resting place with powerful curses. Typically bound by covetousness, their wrath on the living is usually deserved as they only return to life to punish desecrators - indeed, unlike most undead, many are actually fully laid to rest, becoming undead only in response to the trespass or harm to their place of burial or physical remains. While the mummies of Osirion are the most easily recognized, mummies can spawn anywhere, especially among cultures with great respect for their dead or elaborate burial rites. Once awakened, these beings possess the memories and motivations they had in life, often with the awareness and frustration of an individual out of time. No mummy can accept the loss of what they formerly had, instead existing as powerful and deluded immortal fanatics, making an understanding of their former life, rather than method of death, essential for understanding and combating these creatures.
• Vampires - The topic of vampire is fraught with centuries of legends, folklore, and contradictions. In reality, there is no such thing as a common vampire, and no two vampires are exactly alike. It is uncommon to find an individual who is not at least vaguely familiar with the vampiric cycle of predation and rejuvenation, but the unique nature of each vampire frustrates even the generalizations of the fireside tales. Often created through a specific necromantic ritual - such as a bite - these beings utilize the blood of their victims to revitalize their flesh, and a vampire who has access to appropriate feeding grounds can stay physically and mentally healthy forever, often accompanied by an endless cadre of servants bent to their powerful immortal minds. Frustratingly, each vampire is keenly aware of their own weaknesses, and while similarities can be found, there are exceptions to every rule, especially across the vastness of time and the differences between each necromantic curse, meaning a research of each vampiric blood lore is required to be able to slay them with any surety that they wont return.