The Ravener's Ghat

A worn stone staircase, without rail or parapet, descends the basalt stone cliffside. A waterfall cascades alongside it, feeding the Upper Well (Area 19) visible below.

• Gate to Area 2: The stairs end at a humble, red-painted wooden gate, still bound shut by an ancient bundle of twine. The twine can easily be cut.

A covered entryway. Overlooks the Upper Well (Area 19), through pillars carved with supplicants gathering water. Well-worn floor. An alcove with a water pump and a shallow stone basin carved like a tiger’s maw.

• Operating the pump: If operated by a Lawful character, produces 1d4 measures of holy water once per day.

Grand stone temple hall with elaborately carved colonnades and 20’ high ceiling. Worn stairways ascend to Areas 5 and 6.

• Examining the carvings: Depictions of monks supplicating to the torrential rains of a Monsoon, their plea answered by a horned king who cleaves the clouds and brings back the sun. The carvings are framed with 120 jade, jet, and amethyst gems (100gp each), impossible to extract without touching the carvings.
• Touching the carvings: Any who run their hands over the carvings will be attacked by 8 falsehoods (hp: 13, 13, 12, 11, 9, 9, 7, 6) of the supplicating monks.

Cut into the cliff; dank and damp. Carved in the rear wall is an ancient votive face, 3’ high, smoothed by generations of worshiper’s hands. Ossified offerings of ghee are slathered over its mouth. 2 mummified pujari (hp: 30, 27) sit beside it in deathless meditation, holding fly-whisks and cups of bright turmeric dye.

• Addressing the pujari: If communicated with respectfully they stir, quietly relating the story of the Ravener’s Ghat.
• Desecration: The pujari awaken and attack any who disrespect or desecrate the votive face or themselves.

Overlooks the Ghat to the south and west, surrounded by a stone parapet. 20 elevated baboons eating fruit, lounging among rubble and their own filth in a mock court. Murals on the east wall depict a powerful divine figure, human but with predatory features, sitting in meditation and swallowing the monsoon.

• Approaching: The baboons ignore adventurers unless treated with courtly etiquette. If addressed appropriately, they warn about the dangers of the hypnotic waters in the Lower Well (see Area 14).
• Searching the rubble: Hidden beneath is the baboons’ hoard: 2,000gp, 1 emerald (1,000gp), 1 star ruby (1,000gp), 1 jacinth (5,000gp), 12 moonstones (50gp each).

An oppressive cavern shrine, reeking of incense. Walls covered in carved reliefs depicting the Ravener and his pujaris genuflecting before the Monsoon God. 6 mummified pujari (hp: 34, 31, 27, 25, 21, 16— stats on p.53) sit in agonized repose, their left hands removed at the wrist, dripping with ichorous blood.

• Secret door to Area 7: The reliefs swing back if pushed.
• Opening the secret door: Awakens the pujari. They attack any who attempt to pass through the door without their permission.
• Speaking with the pujari: They state that the PCs may only pass through the door if they accept a holy quest (per the spell) to take the evil artifact that lies beyond—the Hand of the Ravener—to the Temple of the Sun God where it can be destroyed. .

Chamber delved into the cliff, unnaturally cold and humid. Carved from the rock of the north wall are a dozen life-sized tigers, shoulder-to-shoulder, crouching and snarling. A flat altar slab lies across their backs. Atop the altar sits the Hand of the Ravener.

• Taking the Hand: The rakshasa warriors in Area 10 sense the Hand’s presence and ambush PCs in Area 3, hiding behind the columns.

Brutal, artless carvings depict the Ravener as a horned divinity coveting the sun’s light with outstretched hand. 2-in-6 chance of hearing the gruff voices of the rakshasas in Area 10.

• Touching the carvings: Living flesh blackens and withers, causing 2d4 damage (save versus spells to resist). Lost hp can only be cured by bless or remove curse.

A stone quay beside the Ghat, where 10 elevated crocodiles (hp: 22, 18, 18, 17, 14, 14, 11, 10, 9, 6) bask in the rain. The steps down to the water are covered in black mold and ooze. A make-shift rope bridge (constructed by the treasure hunters in Area 17) spans to Area 15.

• Approaching: The crocodiles attempt to trick PCs into providing them baboons (from Area 5) to eat, promising to dredge up treasures from the Upper Well (Area 19; a lie—there are none).
• Crossing the bridge: Encumbered characters (e.g. wearing heavy armor) have a 1-in-6 chance of collapsing the bridge: save versus death or plunge into the Lower Well (Area 20).

A grand hall lined with 12 statues of rakshasa warriors bowing before a malevolently grinning statue of the Ravener on the east wall. 8 rakshasa warriors (hp: 18, 17, 15, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9) are camped here, arguing loudly over the whereabouts of the stolen Hand of the Ravener (Area 7).

• Approaching: The warriors demand strangers swear fealty to the Ravener before his statue, promising “true power”. Those who refuse are attacked.
• Swearing fealty to the Ravener: Those who do so change alignment to Chaotic and gain immunity to charm effects. They immediately join the rakshasas’ quest for the Hand.
• Treasure: One of the rakshasas wears a silver necklace with inlaid amethysts (1,200gp). On their persons, in total they hold an additional 400gp and 1,000sp.

Cliff-face walkway overlooking the Lower Well (Area 20) and the roof of Area 10. Four statues, badly weathered, depict the Ravener as a guardian, learned scholar, warrior, and horned divinity.

• Examining the statues: The left hand of the horned divinity statue contains a hidden niche of 20 golden bangles each affixed with azure gemstone bells (175gp each).
• Door to 12: A stone door in the cliff-face, overgrown with vines. Takes 1 turn to clear.

A hierophant’s personal quarters, once resplendent; now permeated by a miasmic slurry of mold and rot. The mummified pujari Abbot (hp: 35—stats on p.53), his body desiccated, but immaculate, sits beside a towering shelf of mold-covered tomes. He wears a set of azure prayer beads (2,000gp; grants immunity to the paralyzing attacks of rakshasa warriors.)

• Crossing the room: Mold spores erupt, causing 2d8 damage to all within 10’ (save versus breath to avoid).
• Speaking with the Abbot: The mummified Abbot stirs, pleading for those “pure of heart, bearing the favor of the Divine” to fully drain the wells into the lands below (see Area 18) and finally slay the Ravener. He warns (falsely) that any treasures stolen from the Ghat will be cursed.
• Tomes: 54 eldritch tomes, replete with embossed covers, can be rescued from the mold. They contain ornately illustrated folios, ancient rituals, and elucidations of the doings of extra-worldly powers. The right seeker of such knowledge may pay 500gp for each, for a total of 27,000gp.

A broad stone staircase, without rail or parapet, carved into the basalt stone cliffside. The reeking stench of stagnant water and acrid guano wafts up from the platforms and Ghat below.

A stone quay, slathered in guano, overlooking the vile waters of the Lower Well (Area 20). Immediately below the quay edge, the waters swirl eerily. 16 giant bats (hp: 10, 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 2, 2) roost in the cliffs above and may swoop to attack, if disturbed.

• Examining the guano: Footprints in the guano bespeak of passersby stepping or leaping into the water.
• Peering into the swirling water: The character must save versus spells or be compelled to leap into the water. A PC bearing the Hand of the Ravener (Area 7) saves at –2. See Area 20 for effects of falling into the Lower Well.

A stone quay beside the Ghat, formed of a single, cyclopean stone carved with worn 30’ depictions of tigers. The steps down to the D12 water are covered in black mold and ooze. 8, AL A makeshift rope bridge (constructed by the treasure hunters in Area 17) spans to Area 9.

• Crossing the bridge: Encumbered characters (e.g. wearing heavy armor) have a 1-in-6 chance of collapsing the bridge: save versus death or plunge into the Lower Well (Area 20).

A votive shrine cut into the cliff-side, floors carved with worn depictions of tigers. An idol depicts the Ravener as a horned divinity. Strewn with long-abandoned offerings: coins (350gp, 520sp, 500cp), desiccated floral garlands, and two jars of ghee (act as potions of delusion).

• Entering: 5 falsehoods (hp: 14, 14, 14, 10, 9, 5—stats on p.51) in the form of distorted tigers manifest from the carvings and spring to attack.
• Touching the idol: Save versus spells or suffer 1d4 cold damage. Victims witness a vision of the Ravener being cast down from the sky, grasping for the heavens, crashing into the Lower Well (Area 20).

A camp of rain-drenched tents and lean-tos. Makeshift barricades of wood and reed mats ring the edge of the Ghat. 10 treasure hunters (hp: 6, 6, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1 ) live in the shadow of the temple.

• Camp services: The treasure hunters will sell standard adventuring gear at twice the normal price.
• Knowledge: If bribed, the treasure hunters may reveal details about the temple. They have entered Areas 3, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, and 18. They are aware of the hypnotic swirl in Area 14.
• Treasures: The treasure hunters have recovered a meager hoard of coins (60gp, 200sp) and 12 gold incense burners (150gp each), stolen from Areas 4 and 8.

A huge bronze crank attaches to the easternmost of 12 enormous interlocking stone wheels. The wheels connect to the hinges of a wide, rusting floodgate holding in the waters of the Ghat. The Ghat’s overflow cascades over the gate as a waterfall, down to the flooded valley below. Mosaics depict the Monsoon God bestowing a blessing upon the Ravener, who operates the gate to control the monsoons.

• Turning the wheels: Requires a combined STR of 30+ and a bless spell. Causes the Ghat to empty entirely with a violent rush into the lands below, sweeping away the elevated crocodiles from Area 19 and revealing the Ravener shackled in Area 20. He immediately calls out to the PCs, cloaking his form as he does so (see The Ravener, p.63).

30’ deep, full to the brim with murky water. Stepped sides slick with algae. 6 elevated crocodiles (hp: 25, 23, 19, 15, 14, 13—stats on p.55) make merry in the waters, disregarding any peace or courtesy offered to PCs by their kin in Area 9.

• Entering the water: The crocodiles attack, seeking to drag an unfortunate swimmer down to the Lower Well (Area 20), offering them to the Ravener in exchange for his corrupting blessing.

50’ deep, but appears as a bottomless abyss, filled with water as thick as blood, swirling and viscous. Stepped sides slick with noisome black sludge. Invisible from the surface, the Ravener is shackled at the bottom of the Ghat, amid a mire of sediment

• Entering the water: Save versus spells or panic, thrashing wildly for 1d4 rounds, which draws 1d4 crocodiles from Area 19.
• Swimming: Visibility is only 5’ in the thick, swirling waters.
• Speaking with the Ravener: Anyone who descends to the bottom of the Ghat may speak with the Ravener. He is conscious, eternally raging against the treachery of the Divine, but shackled with chains of holy silver, unable to ascend or leave the Ghat. He attempts to charm mortals to retrieve his hand and help him escape his unjust bondage.
• Giving the Ravener the Hand: If the Hand of the Ravener (see Area 7) enters the water, or if is given to the Ravener after draining the Ghat, the Ravener seizes and reattaches it. He breaks his shackles, bursts from the Ghat in a roaring torrent, and proceeds to butcher any who fail to offer their fealty.
• Defeating the Ravener: The unending rains immediately cease and the sun emerges. The pujari, freed of their mission, crumble to dust. Clean waters gradually sweep the Ghat of corruption, and the Temple is holy again.
• Searching the sediment: See The Ravener's Hoard