The Eye Of The Sun.pdf

The Eye of the Sun is a short D&D adventure for four

4th-level player characters (PCs). This scenario can be

incorporated into any style of campaign. It features a

temple that can be placed in any mountainous jungle

area in your campaign world.

OF THE SUN

THE EYE

PREPARATION

You (the DM) need the D&D core rulebooks, including

the Player ’s Handbook, the D UNGEON M ASTER ’s Guide, and the

Monster Manual. This adventure utilizes the v.3.5 rules, but

it can easily be used with the 3.0 rules as well.

You can place this adventure in any section of your

campaign world that features a mountainous jungle

where an isolated temple might exist. Adapt the mate-

rial given here as you see fit to make it work with your

campaign.

To get started, print out this adventure (including

the map). The Eye of the Sun uses a modified version of

the “ Temple and Surrounding Overview” map from the

Map-a-Week feature on the D&D website. The original

version of the map can be found at

<http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mapofweek/

templesurroundings_72dpi.jpg>

A Short Adventure for Four

4th-Level Player Characters

CREDITS

Design:

Eric Cagle

Editing:

Penny Williams

Typesetting:

Nancy Walker

Cartography:

Rob Lazzaretti

Web Production:

Julia Martin

Web Development:

Mark A. Jindra

Graphic Design:

Sean Glenn, Cynthia Fliege

Based on the original D UNGEONS & D RAGONS ® game by E.

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and on the new edition of the

D UNGEONS & D RAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet,

Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, and Peter Adkison.

ADVENTURE

BACKGROUND

The background for this adventure begins in the distant

past, in a time before humans became the dominant

inhabitants of the world. During this period, the lizard-

folk were a widespread and capable people, particularly

in the world’s jungles.

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marks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. The d20 logo is a trademark

owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All Wizards characters, character

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Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

This material is protected under the copyright laws of the

United States of America. Any reproduction or

unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained

herein is prohibited without the express written permission

of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

TIME OF THE SUN

In these ancient days, Ssh’rik was the mightiest lizard-

folk shaman of the Khud-Al Jungle. One day, he

received a vision from his deity, Semuanya, directing

him to raise a mighty temple. So the shaman taught his

people how to cut stone and assemble it into sturdy

walls, and together they crafted a temple worthy of

their deity. They named the structure the Ziggurat of

the Wrathful Sun.

Semuanya was pleased, and he blessed his people. The

lizardfolk’s population grew quickly, and they conquered

lands near and far to build a mighty empire that stretched

for hundreds of miles. The lizardfolk moved outward to

settle their new lands, leaving only a few of the most

devout worshipers to tend the temple of Semuanya.

The lizardfolk venerated the sun as an incarnation of

their deity, and many symbols were made in its honor.

Ssh’rik himself crafted a special representation of the

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sun in the very top of the ziggurat—a series of mirrors

and lenses that magically trapped the sun’s rays and

provided light even in the dead of night. He called this

device the eye of the sun, and its power was so great that

it could focus the energy of the sun on a distant target

and set it afire. Several of the abandoned lizardfolk

villages near the temples were accidentally destroyed in

just this manner.

Humans and other humanoids who have built

villages along the outskirts of the Khud-Al Jungle gaze

in wonder at the strange light that emanates from a hill-

top in the distance. As the power of the eye grows, so

does its destructive capability. Several buildings in the

human village of Tooj-Reh have already been set ablaze

by its mysterious rays.

TIME OF THE BLACKENED MOON

As the lizardfolk’s empire grew, so did their pride. It is

said that Semuanya grew angry at their pretensions and

withdrew the blessing of the sun from the land, plung-

ing it into unending darkness. Another temple, called

the Temple of the Blackened Moon, was constructed

beside the first, and magic items were created there to

preserve the light as the eye of the sun dimmed, then

finally darkened for good. But the efforts were for

naught. The cold-blooded lizardfolk, so dependent on

the warmth of the sun for their energy, eventually had

to withdraw into a state of torpor.

The slaves that the lizardfolk had taken from the

conquered lands rose up in rebellion and slew all of

their former masters that they could find. Ssh’rik too

fell in this revolt, but the eye of the sun remained safe,

since the primitive slaves could not figure out how to

get inside its secret room at the top of the temple to

destroy it. In short order, the empire was gone. The few

remaining lizardfolk withdrew into the forest to wait

for the return of the sun.

ADVENTURE SYNOPSIS

The people of Tooj-Reh are desperate to discover the

source of these mysterious fires, which seem to occur

when the strange light is at its brightest. They have sent

expeditions into the jungle to investigate, but none have

returned. They ask the PCs to find the source of the glow-

ing light and ensure that it destroys no more of their town.

If they accept this mission, the PCs must venture

into the jungle, win their way past lizardfolk patrols,

and find the twin ziggurats. Once there, they must

defeat the lizardfolk who guard the towers, including

K’zzal himself, and take down the eye of the sun, so that it

can menace the town of Tooj-Reh no more.

ADVENTURE HOOKS

As DM, you know best how to involve your players and

their characters in an adventure. You can use the follow-

ing adventure hooks to spur your imagination, modify-

ing them as necessary to make them appropriate for the

characters’ interests.

TIME OF THE RISING SUN

Eventually the sun did return, bringing life back to the

land. But the lizardfolk had retreated too far into

barbarism to reinstate their empire. The descendents of

those original lizardfolk now lived like animals in the

jungle, gazing with superstitious awe at the sun that

their ancestors had worshiped.

But all things move in cycles, and at last Semuanya

sent another vision—this time to a lizardfolk shaman

named K’zzal who earnestly prayed on behalf of his

people. The vision instructed K’zzal to find the

Ziggurats of Ssh’rik and restore the eye of the sun . By its

guiding light, the lizardfolk could at last reclaim some

of what they had lost.

Guided by K’zzal, a contingent of lizardfolk located

the old temple, which was now overgrown with vegeta-

tion, and set about clearing access to it. Inside the

temple, K’zzal found the eye of the sun in a secret cham-

ber. Guided by his deity, he performed the rites that

would eventually restore it to its former glory. Now, as

the eye slowly flickers to life, it occasionally casts a bril-

liant ray of light that can be seen for miles around.

• While traveling through the Khud-Al Jungle, the PCs

smell smoke. They soon encounter a forest fire and

must flee to avoid a fiery death. Their flight takes

them into the town of Tooj-Reh.

• As a favor for a friend of theirs, the PCs must deliver

a package to a shaman named Siroo in the small fron-

tier town of Tooj-Reh.

• A cleric or druid asks the PCs to investigate a series of

mysterious forest fires in the vicinity of a town called

Tooj-Reh. The petitioner should be someone the PCs

know, or perhaps someone to whom they owe a favor.

• The PCs discover an old treasure map showing the Zig-

gurats of Ssh’rik. The path to the twin temples takes

them through the small frontier town of Tooj-Reh.

BEGINNING THE

ADVENTURE

This adventure consists of two freeform encounters (one

in Tooj-Reh and one in the jungle) and four placed

encounter areas (the ziggurat complex). The freeform

encounters should be run in the order they are

presented, but the specific timing and placement is up to

you as DM. The placed encounters are keyed to the map.

• Before the fires, a woodsman said that he caught sight

of some strange buildings on a high bluff, about

where the light usually came from.

TOOJ-REH

Tooj-Reh is a rough-hewn frontier town that sits on the

edge of the Khud-Al Jungle, a wild, untamed rainforest

that stretches for hundreds of miles through hilly

terrain. A few settlements have grown up around the

edges, but its depths have never been fully explored.

When the PCs arrive in town, read or paraphrase the

following aloud.

ENCOUNTER A: FIRE!

The next time the sun is out (which could be the same

day that the adventurers arrive), read or paraphrase the

following aloud at a time when the PCs and Siroo are

away from his house.

The combination of a merciless sun and humid air

forces the inhabitants of Tooj-Reh to move slowly

during the day. Just as you are about to enter an invit-

ing doorway, Siroo excitedly points to the south.

“ There it is!” he cries. “ That strange light I told you

about.” Sure enough, a spot of light, brighter than a

daystar, shines from a distant bluff. “It’s always in the

same location,” continues Siroo, “and it looks bright-

est on sunny days. We still have no idea what it is—

most of the scouts we have sent out to investigate it

have failed to return, and no one wants to risk head-

ing into the jungle anymore because of those

humanoids that have been sighted.”

A smoky scent begins to permeate the air, and

suddenly someone cries, “Fire! Fire!” People begin

rushing to the scene, and it’s soon clear that Siroo’s

hut is ablaze. Out of the confusion, a fire brigade is

quickly organized to battle the flames.

You arrive in the town of Tooj-Reh at the end of a

sudden rainstorm of the sort that seems to be

common in jungle lands. The town sits in a small

valley beside low mountains that are blanketed

with dense jungle. From the look of it, Tooj-Reh is

a rough, bustling, frontier town filled with self-re-

liant people. Indeed, they pay little attention to

you beyond a curt nod.

If the PCs have come to deliver a package to Siroo,

they can find him easily by asking anyone in town

where he lives. Otherwise, the shaman encounters

them in town and introduces himself. After chatting

with the characters for a while, he invites them to

supper at his home.

D NPC: Siroo (Male human Adept 3, CG) lives in a

small but comfortable thatched hut at the edge of town.

He invites the PCs to stay with him as long as they are

in Tooj-Reh, since the inn recently burned down.

Siroo is a chatty sort, and he reveals the following

information to the PCs during the course of their stay.

NPCs: Siroo and several of the townsfolk attempt to

put out the fire. The PCs are welcome to join in, hauling

buckets of water, if they wish. Each character may attempt

a Wisdom check (DC 15) while the townsfolk battle the

fire. Success allows the character to notice that the light

from the hilltop is very bright and steady throughout the

process—almost like a mirror caught in the sunlight.

Development: Unless the characters have some

special means of preventing it, Siroo’s hut and another

adjacent to it both burn down. The villagers appreciate

whatever assistance the PCs offered, and Siroo, though

saddened at his losses, thanks them profusely if they

helped. Read or paraphrase the following when the fire

brigade disperses.

• Four mysterious fires have occurred in the past two

months. No one has yet managed to discover the

cause—buildings simply go up in flames for no ap-

parent reason.

• A strange light has been seen coming from a hilltop

in the jungle, many miles away. The light can appear

at any time, night or day. Sometimes it pulses; other

times it is steady, and it varies considerably in inten-

sity. The only predictable aspect of it is that it seems

to come from a fixed location.

• Hunters have spotted humanoid figures lurking in

the dense jungle. Though they have been unable to

discern the exact nature of these creatures, they

appear reptilian and very fierce. The hunters have

limited their expeditions to the very edges of the

jungle for fear of intruding on the sacred grounds of

some primitive culture.

“ That’s the fifth time this has happened!” Siroo

laments. “We’ve lost nearly a dozen buildings in the

past few weeks.” He stops for a moment and shakes

his head, then fixes his gaze on you. “Perhaps you

can help us?” he says hopefully. “Will you go out

into the jungle and find out whether that light has

anything to do with these fires? I’ve done some

divinations, and they all point to that light.”

If the PCs agree to consider the matter, Siroo leaves to

convene with the town elders. They all approve his idea

and plead with the characters to investigate the strange

light. They are willing to offer the town’s entire treasury

(800 gp) to the PCs if they can actually eliminate the

problem.

Development: If the PCs agree to investigate the

mysterious fires, the townsfolk provide them with basic

supplies, as well as a map of the jungle trails in the first

half-mile or so of the Khud-Al. Unfortunately, the map

isn’t very detailed, but it’s sufficient to guide them in the

right direction. They also recommend that the PCs buy

some insect netting from the general store for 200 gp so

that they can sleep undisturbed in the jungle.

c Tooj-Reh (Small Town): Conventional; N;

800 gp limit; Assets 2,500 gp; Population 1,300 (96%

human, 2% halfling, 1% elf, 1% other races).

From this distance, the adventurers cannot determine

the source of the light, although it does serve as a point

of reference for their travels when they can see it. Once

they enter the jungle proper, however, they can no

longer see the light except when a rare break in the tree

canopy coincides with one of its flashes (about once

every 6 hours).

Every 2 hours of travel, the character in the lead

must attempt a Survival check (DC 15). Success indi-

cates that the party is on the right path; failure sends the

characters off course (see Getting Lost in Chapter 3:

Writing Adventures in the D UNGEON M ASTER ’s Guide ).

The characters can automatically find the proper direc-

tion again the next time they see the bright light.

B. LIZARDFOLK AMBUSH (EL 4)

Sometime after their first day of travel, the PCs

encounter a patrol of lizardfolk that has been tracking

them from a distance since they entered the jungle.

Concerned that the intruders are getting too close to

the Ziggurats of Ssh’rik, the lizardfolk have circled

ahead and set an ambush.

THE KHUD-AL JUNGLE

Despite the relative proximity of the ziggurats to the

town, it still takes the PCs three days of arduous travel

to reach them. The townsfolk are loath to send anyone

along as a guide, since they have already lost several

young people to searches for the light. Thus, the PCs

must rely on their own skills (and the townspeople’s

sketchy directions) to find the Ziggurat of the

Wrathful Sun.

Early in their first day of travel, the characters catch

a glimpse of the brilliant light about once every 10

minutes, coming from the direction they are heading.

The occasional thunderstorms have shown no

sign of abating. As you trudge through the mud

and tangled undergrowth, a sudden downpour

reduces your visibility to near zero. A strange hiss-

ing noise emanates from the canopy above, and

suddenly, the air is filled with javelins, coming

from all directions!

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Terrain Features: The Khud-Al Jungle varies

from medium to dense forest, with light to heavy

undergrowth. In combat, this heavy vegetation

proves both an advantage and a hindrance, since

it provides soft cover for both the PCs and their

targets.

Creepy Crawlies: Billions of insects inhabit the

jungle. While they cause no damage, small insects

are terribly annoying because they get into clothing,

armor, food, and so on. Each night, every character

must make a successful Survival check (DC 10) to

ignore the effects of biting, crawling insects or be

fatigued the next day. A 10-foot-by-20-foot section of

insect netting (enough to fit four characters) may be

purchased in Tooj-Reh for 200 gp. (This item is one

that the townsfolk do not provide free of charge,

though they mention its utility.) Spending the night

under this netting negates the need for a Survival

check that night.

pqqqqrs

ADVENTURING IN THE JUNGLE

Moving through the dense forest and steep hills of

the Khud-Al Jungle in the oppressive heat that

reigns between thunderstorms is difficult work. The

following rules and suggestions should help you

play up the hardship of blazing a trail through the

jungle under these conditions. For more informa-

tion on terrain, see Chapter 3: Writing Adventures in

the D UNGEON M ASTER ’ S Guide ).

Overland Movement: Since no real trail exists,

movement through the jungle is reduced by to

⁄ 4

speed (see Chapter 9: Adventuring in the Player ’s

Handbook ).

Weather: This adventure takes place near the end

of the monsoon season, so thunderstorms can

occur without warning. For every 2 hours of travel,

roll on Table 3–23: Random Weather, adding +10%

to the roll. Replace any blizzard or tornado results

with downpour.

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