The Dark Den of Dagon

This adventure is designed for a group of 4-6 characters of levels 5-7 playing the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. While functional as a standalone module, this adventure is designed to be the first adventure in a series exploring the workings and reasons of a deity of the Lost Lands referred to as the Nameless One and her most faithful servant, “the Walking Stick Man” as they try to recover ancient words of power and stir forces lost and forgotten. This adventure starts in the settlement of Chesmire, though can be moved around with little difficulty and placed in any campaign world with only minor changes, namely the addition or use of an ancient lost or near lost pantheon. The reason for the placement in this area is easy access to the adventure “Sorcerer’s Citadel” from Quests of Doom, which should be played following the events of the second adventure in this series as a return to the feelings of normalcy while still maintaining references to the ancient pantheon on which these adventures are focused via the statue of Mocham.

Adventure Summary

Long ago, the neolithic pantheon was the primary pantheon and Dagon was not yet a demon lord. This was a time of great power, when gods still spoke the Language Eternal freely and rewrote reality as they saw fit. Dagon had many coastal temples, such as this one, that over the millennia have sank beneath the surface taking their priesthood with them. As Dagon fell, so did the priests that still venerated him in these sunken temples. Those devout enough received blessings on sacred relics within the temples to adapt them to their new home. The blessing to do such at this temple was twofold as Dagon bestowed upon the Eye of Dagon, a 5,000 gp diamond that was kept on display in this temple, the ability for them to survive underwater and upon the temple walls itself he granted the power to SUSTAIN. The temple has been found a few times over the years, most notably by a Xill seeking a safe nest and a Xorn who arrived drawn to and seeking to devour the Eye of Dagon, but it has remained untouched by human hands since Dagon, and the temple, fell.

A few weeks ago, a shopkeeper named Tryn was expanding her underground storerooms on the edge of town and broke into this ancient temple beneath the town. The laborers she hired vanished with screams as the passage opened, leaving Tryn to report the incident to Elder l Sabratha who sent for adventurers from Port Manden and placed militia to prevent anyone or anything from entering or leaving the business.

After arriving in town, the characters are intercepted by an older man who appears blind with a walking stick before they get to Elder Sabratha. He requests they retrieve an ancient tablet from the dungeon that they are headed to and offers some odd items in return. Elder Sabratha arranges payment with the characters for clearing and securing the area but does not know the walking stick man if asked.

Inside the tunnels, warnings are scrawled on the walls despite no one entering. As the characters plunge farther in, they face off against aberrations and find objects unseen for centuries that are being activated in ways unused by modern society. Upon returning to the surface, the walking stick man is waiting in the house for them to retrieve the tablet and make good on his offers. The guards do not recall anyone entering other than the party if asked. Elder Sabratha is ready with payment in town and offers the party to stay the night with her to recover before setting out again. In the morning, Tryn offers a 10% discount on all items in her shop for the next week to the characters, if nothing was stolen from her of course.