Beyond the Crimson Veil

Beyond the Crimson Veil

A fiendish adventure for LEVEL 14 heroes.

Tip! Use the monster builder charts to adjust the difficulty to be appropriate for any level!

Secrets: What’s Going On?

• The Crimson Veil, a great wall of blood-red fog that blankets much of the Shadowblight, is spreading. Every day, its borders reach further, like clawing hands.
• As many prophets have feared, Azriel, the Lord of Pain & Flame, has taken command over the Veil. He aims to blanket the world in the Veil’s mist.
• Azriel is using Infernal Blood Engines to create the mist; destroying them will end the plague.
• Azriel has imprisoned the eldritch being Mrtav, The Dead One Dying, in a great engine. Freeing Mrtav would cause an even greater calamity.

Quest Hooks

• The Golden Company. Paladins seek heroes willing to risk death (or worse) by venturing into the Crimson Veil and putting a stop to its spread before it consumes neighboring regions.
• The Tower. The mages know it is the fiend Azriel that has taken hold of the Veil and wish for the characters to strike a bargain with him on their behalf. They believe that they can join forces with him against a common enemy.
• Elukka the Ravager. A fiend bested by Azriel centuries ago. Seeks powerful individuals who can best his old adversary.

Trueflame. The quest giver also gives an obsidian torch lit with Trueflame: The bearer has advantage on all attacks against fiends, but fiends tend to harbor extra animosity toward them.

Traveling Encounters

• Poison Vent. A crack forms in the earth, spewing toxic fumes all around (STR save or take 1/2 LVL Poison damage and become Poisoned for the next 2 traveling encounters). Bearer of Trueflame has advantage.
• Bodies. The remnants of a past expedition into the Shadowblight. The corpses are being picked clean by a pack of preoccupied Spiny Fiends (3/hero). The corpse of the wizard bears a staff (blackwood) and spellbook (contains 1 Utility Spell and 1 spell scroll).
• Spire of Filth. A horrid spire of filth, capped with a burning iris of green flame. Unless they quickly hide from it, heroes suffer 30 psychic damage. If they attempt to hide, reduce this damage by an amount equal to their Stealth roll. Trueflame bearers have disadvantage on the roll.
• Profane Idol. A crumbling shrine to the eldritch being, Mrtav the Dead One Dying. It tells (in Primordial) of Mrtav’s terrible power and the grave risk to the world if he should be freed. It has recently been defiled with Azriel’s mark.

Adventure Locations

Traversing the Veil. Heroes moving between locations in the Veil risk becoming lost (DC 16 Naturecraft check or stumble into clearing where fiends attack, roll with advantage if the party bears Trueflame).

Duel Before the Veil. A wall of scarlet fog that reaches to the sky above. A host of fiends emerge.

• Glabrezus (1/2 hero) and Stench Fiends (3/hero)
• I am Uldraz, Champion of Pain. You have come to serve Azriel, yes? Send forth your strongest champion to face me—one-on-one. Prove your worth and we will let you pass.
• The Duel: if accepted, the other fiends can cheer/jeer twice (granting/forcing 1 reroll). The heroes may do whatever they like to aid their ally in the fight, but if they deal damage, the rest of the fiends will attack.
• Victory: If the hero bloodies Uldraz: "You have earned your passage, mortals. Go before I change my mind."
• Loss: If the hero drops to 0 HP, Uldraz: "Weak, as I suspected. Now you all shall fall!" They attack.

The Black Gate. An onyx door blocked by magic. Its surface reads "By fire or blood."

• The door can be opened by spilling blood here: total of LVL damage for each hero (divided as they choose).
• Alternatively, touching Trueflame to the door opens it, extinguishing the flame. Once open, the door provides access to "Captives" without Traversing the Veil.

South Blood Engine. A nightmarish machine that churns with captive creatures, processing their blood into crimson mist.

• A group of stench fiends turns the cranks and levers on the Blood Engine, being whipped and cajoled by taskmasters (2/hero, use the below statblock).