Dragon Magazine 344 Web Supplement.pdf

344

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DREADHOLD

“Dreadhold,” an Eberron article by Keith

Baker, presents a detailed island prison, home

to the most powerful, infamous, and blasphe-

mous criminals of Khorvaire. The article cov-

ers not just the prison and its wards, but also

its inhabitants (guards and prisoners alike)

and defenses (magical and mundane). This

expansion describes two additional inmates

and equipment used by the isle’s guards.

The guards of Dreadhold have revived Castal

twice in the past three centuries—the second

time, he nearly escaped. A genius, given enough

time Castal can turn any situation to his advan-

tage. Anyone who revives him takes a terrible

chance, and if Castal escapes he could prove a

danger to all of Khorvaire.

Tools of the Trade

The Kundarak dwarves were professional

guardians long before the Mark of Warding

appeared, and as such they have a long and rich

history of developing items useful—magic

and mundane—to guards and wardens.

Kotharel the Harvester

LE 30 HD radiant idol

Dreadhold was built to contain the most danger-

ous criminals on Khorvaire—mortal or otherwise.

Kotharel is a radiant idol (see Sharn: City of Towers,

page 180), a mighty angel banished from the plane

of Syrania and condemned to walk Eberron for

eternity. Kotharel claims to be a lord of death, the

right hand of the dark god known as the Keeper.

Exiled to Eberron in 710 yk, Kotharel soon estab-

lished a cult of murderers who “harvested” inno-

cent lives in its name. Kotharel’s cult survived for

23 years before the knights of Dol Arrah ﬁnally

found the renegade angel. The battle that fol-

lowed shook the foundations of Metrol, until at

last the knights brought down the radiant idol.

But death would not take the Harvester. A�er all

eﬀorts to destroy Kotharel came to naught, those

who defeated it brought the fallen angel to Dread-

hold and imprisoned it in a dead cell.

Kotharel provides characters with a chance

to talk to a powerful outsider under controlled

circumstances. Should it be released, it could

become a deadly enemy or powerful ally—

although any alliance with Kotharel likely

ends in betrayal. Kotharel uses the radiant

idol statistics provided in Sharn: City of Tow-

ers, with a few additions: Its domain is Death.

Despite possessing 30 Hit Dice, Kotharel is

Large as opposed to Huge. It adds the Keeper’s

fang property to any weapon it wields. Finally,

it cannot be killed. It possesses regeneration

5 with no vulnerabilities and immunity to all

death eﬀects. It eventually even reforms from

disintegration eﬀects. All forms of damage

become nonlethal damage.

Gloves of the Locksmith

Gloves of the locksmith allow their wearer to

create magical locks.

Description: A pair of gloves of the locksmith

are usually heavy leather gauntlets studded

with dragonshards and bearing the sigil of

House Kundarak.

Prerequisite: Gloves of the locksmith only

function for a character who possesses the

arcane lock variation of the Least Mark of

Warding.

Activation: As a standard action, the wearer

holds out her hand toward a door, concen-

trating on the gloves with her ﬁngers splayed

and hand open wide.

Eﬀect: Three times per day, the proper

wearer may cast arcane seal. In addition, she can

attach up to three separate platinum keys to the

eﬀect, as the spell. As a general rule, a Kunda-

rak locksmith provides two of these keys to the

customer, and holds one key at the Kundarak

enclave—this provides a way to gain access to a

sealed location in an emergency.

The power of the gloves can only be used a

total of three times per day, regardless of who

wears them.

Aura/Caster Level: Moderate abjuration;

CL 5th.

Construction: Cra� Wondrous Item, Least

Mark of Warding, arcane seal; 5,000 gp, 400 XP,

10 days.

Weight: —

Price: 10,000 gp.

Prominent Prisoners

These are two of Dreadhold’s most infamous

and dangerous prisoners.

Castal d’Cannith

CE male human artiﬁcer 18/Heir of Siberys 2

Castal d’Cannith is one of the most bril-

liant artiﬁcers House Cannith has ever pro-

duced—and one of the most dangerous. Born

in 645 yk, Castal became enthralled with the

Traveler and claimed to receive his inspira-

tion from the enigmatic deity. Admitted to

the Twelve at merely eleven years old, within

a few years it became clear his talent out-

stripped the senior members of the institute.

He produced constructs and items of arti-

fact quality, which others in his organization

found impossible to duplicate.

Despite his incredible abilities, his ﬁrst

love was chaos. In 662 yk, he triggered a

wave of disasters involving mind-controlled

agents, constructs scattered across Khor-

vaire, and other powerful magic items he

had made “for the beneﬁt of society.” The

Twelve and the Arcane Congress joined

forces to stop the terrors, and in 663 yk,

they brought Castal to justice. The advocates

of House Cannith convinced the others to

not kill Castal, in case they ever needed his

uncanny abilities again. Far too dangerous

to roam freely, he was committed to the

Stone Ward of Dreadhold.

Heavy Hand Manacles

These restraints are designed to prevent

arcane spellcasters from casting spells, while

DRAGON 344 Supplement

still allowing them to use their hands for

simple tasks such as eating.

At a glance, heavy hand manacles look like the

arms from a suit of plate mail: steel gauntlets

and thick sheathes for the forearm and upper

arm, bound together with chains lashed across

the front and back of the wearer’s torso. Addi-

tional chains connect the elbows and wrists,

preventing the wearer form moving his arms

more than 18 inches apart.

Heavy hands are considered to be medium

armor. They provide a +1 armor bonus to AC,

with a maximum Dex bonus of +2, an arcane

spell failure chance of 80%, and an armor

check penalty of –4 (increased to –8 for Sleight

of Hand). A wearer also takes a –3 penalty on all

attack rolls requiring the use if his hands.

A character can escape a set of heavy hand

manacles with a DC 40 Escape Artist check.

Breaking free of the restraints requires a DC

30 Strength check. The chain harness must

be bound with a lock, which is not included

in the cost of the item.

Heavy hands cost 95 gp and weigh 15

pounds.

where the vampiric lizardfolk king Saktha

and his black dragon servant Aulicus once

raised an army to war against nearby human

lands. Although the undead swamp king’s

machinations were crushed and his body

destroyed, his taint was not fully expunged

from his murky empire. Soon a�er his defeat,

Saktha’s surviving followers discovered the

bones of Aulicus and the ashes of the lizard-

folk tyrant. Entreating their dark patrons

for aid, the demon worshipers created a new

body for their fallen king, constructing it

from the bones of the black dragon and an

aged hydra, one of the most powerful deni-

zens of the great swamp. His essence chan-

neled into the amalgam body through count-

less sacriﬁces, Sakatha—or something that

claims to be Sakatha—has been reborn and

seeks to spread the infamy of his undying

legend once again.

Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reﬂexes B , Improved

Natural Attack (bite), Iron Will, Toughness,

Weapon Focus (bite)

Skills Bluﬀ +5, Hide +11, Intimidate +6,

Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (religion)

+12, Knowledge (the planes) +7, Listen +14,

Spot +14, Survival +7, Swim +28

Possessions belt of giant’s Strength +6, ring of

Charisma +4 (as cloak of Charisma +4 ), ring of

x-ray vision

Breath Weapon (Su) Sakatha’s single black

dragon head can breath a 60-foot line of acid

once per day that deals 6d8 points of damage.

A DC 19 Reﬂex save halves this damage.

Paralyzing Gaze (Su) Sakatha’s gaze can

paralyze victims within 40 feet who fail a

DC 19 Fortitude save. If the saving throw is

successful, the victim is forever immune to his

gaze. If it fails, the victim is paralyzed for 2d6

rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Paralysis (Su) Any creature struck by one of

Sakatha’s physical attacks must make a DC 19

Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 2d6 rounds.

The save DC is Charisma-based.

Invulnerability If Sakatha is slain, his spirit

immediately returns to his phylactery—a ﬁst-

sized black diamond embedded in a life-sized

golden representation of him as a lizardfolk king.

See Aurgloroasa’s stats (see page 88 of Dragon

#344) for a full description of this ability.

Sakatha the Deathless CR 17

Male half-black-dragon twelve-headed hydra

dracolich

NE Huge undead

Draconomicon 147

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 �., low-light vision,

scent; Listen +17, Spot +17

Language Abyssal, Common, Draconic,

Lizardfolk, Undercommon

AC 28, touch 9, ﬂat-footed 27

hp 153 (12 HD); fast healing 22; DR 5/

bludgeoning

Immune acid, cold, electricity, paralysis,

polymorph, sleep; undead traits

SR 16

Fort +14, Ref +9, Will +6

Spd 20 �. (6 squares), 40 �. ﬂy (average), swim

20 �.

Melee 12 bites +24 melee (2d8+13 plus 1d6 cold

plus paralysis) and

2 claws +18 melee (1d8+6 plus 1d6 cold plus

paralysis)

Space 15 �.; Reach 10 �.

Base Atk +12; Grp +26

Special Attack breath weapon (60-foot line, 6d8

acid, DC 19), control undead, paralyzing gaze

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th)

1/3 days— control undead

Abilities Str 37, Dex 12, Con –, Int 15, Wis 14,

Cha 17

SQ invulnerability

ECOLOGY OF THE

DRACOLICH

Written by Richard Pett and Greg A. Vaughn,

“The Ecology of the Dracolich” delves into the

foul mysteries of undead dragons and their ter-

rible powers. The article includes a small side-

bar about alternative dracoliches. Presented

here is an expanded version of that sidebar,

complete with an example: a hydra dracolich.

PLANAR DRAGONS

“Planar Dragons,” by Mike McArtor, presents

four all-new dragons from the Astral Plane

and three Outer Planes (from the Abyss,

Elysium, and Hades). Elysian dragons enjoy

alcohol and revelry to a ridiculous level, and

spend much of their time lazing about. They

enjoy their alcohol so much, in fact, that they

forgot to include their great wyrm stats for

the table on page 33. Silly drunk dragons. To

help DMs avoid guesswork, we present here

the missing line. D

Alternative Dracoliches

Not all dracoliches are true dragons. In fact,

any creature with the dragon type can become

one of these undead horrors, opening the door

for dracolich wyverns, dragon turtles, and all

manner of half-dragons. Surviving the process

of becoming a dracolich is an incredibly pain-

ful and trying experience for a mortal spirit,

though, and one not even all dragons survive.

Thus, while non-true dragon dracoliches do

exist, they are incredibly rare.

Example Alternative Dracolich

Deep in the Great Southern Swamp lies a

ruined temple dedicated to demonic powers

ELYSIAN DRAGONS BY AGE

Breath Frightful

Base Attack/ Fort Ref Will Weapon Presence

Age Size Hit Dice (hp) Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Grapple Attack Save Save Save (DC) DC

Great wyrm G 37d12+296 (536) 35 10 27 24 21 22 +37/+61 +45 +28 +20 +25 12d6 (36) 34

DRAGON 344 Supplement

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