Embedded into the floor of this chamber is a ten-foot-diameter granite emblem of a faded gold and white longsword. Four passages lead out of the chamber in different directions. A
DAKTANI
portcullis blocks the southern exit, and a sturdy wooden door leads west. A ladder in the southern corner of the room leads upward, and a small chest and decrepit bookshelf face one another from opposite walls.
The wooden portcullis to the southeast is currently closed (hardness 5, hp 30, lift DC 25); a lever on the wall adjacent to the portcullis raises or lowers the gate. The ladder leads to the trap door in area H2 above. With a successful DC 10 Knowledge (religion) check, a character identifies the circular seal on the f loor as a depiction of Iomedae’s holy symbol.
Creatures: Daktani is a middle-aged half-orc resident of Trunau and an accomplice of Skreed Gorewillow. Although he’s lived in town his whole life and Trunau has a reputation for welcoming his kind, Daktani has always felt the sting of prejudice more painfully than other half-orcs in town. When Skreed approached Daktani and asked him to take part in a plot that would assure the devastation of Trunau and guarantee Daktani a leadership position in Skreed’s orc tribe, the rogue was only too happy to agree.
Skreed tasked Daktani with scheduling regular meetings with the f lood trolls who serve as emissaries between Skreed’s half-orc saboteurs and the Twisted Nail orcs poised to attack Trunau to keep both groups updated on each other’s progress. The f lood troll Ghaer and her twin sister Lehi have been taking turns meeting with Daktani, causing much confusion on the half-orc’s part, but ensuring that neither f lood troll has more than half the information necessary to bring down the orcs’ raid in case one of them should be captured.
If the PCs visit the Plague House during the day, this room is empty. After sunset, however, the half-orc traitor Daktani and the f lood troll Ghaer are meeting here. Ghaer has been away from f lowing water for more than 24 hours, thereby gaining a +2 natural armor bonus to her AC. If Daktani is alerted to the PCs’ approach, such as by hearing them enter through the trap door in area H2, he and Ghaer f lee the Plague House basement as fast as possible.
DAKTANI CR 2
XP 600
Male middle-aged half-orc rogue 3 LE Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6 DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex) hp 20 (3d8+3)
Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +1
Defensive Abilities evasion, orc ferocity, trap sense +1 OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk morningstar +4 (1d8+1) or short sword +3 (1d6+1/19–20) Ranged dagger +5 (1d4+1/19–20) Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6 TACTICS
During Combat If forced to fight, Daktani tries to hinder opponents with dirty tricks and his tangleburn bag, flanking with Ghaer as much as possible to make sneak attacks. Daktani dodges around the basement and ruins above, both of which he knows quite well by now. He attempts to lead enemies into traps (using his cunning trigger rogue talent to set off the trap in area H10 if it hasn’t yet been triggered), through monster-infested areas, and anywhere else hazardous enough to shake pursuers.
points or fewer, he tries to escape with the use of his smoke pellets or potion of vanish. If escape seems unlikely, the cowardly half-orc lays down his weapons and surrenders. STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 9
Base Atk +2; CMB +3 (+5 dirty trick); CMD 16 (18 vs. dirty trick) Feats Combat Expertise, Improved Dirty TrickAPG
Skills Acrobatics +9 (+13 when moving through a threatened square or enemy’s space), Bluff +5, Climb +7, Disable Device +10, Disguise +5, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (local) +8, Perception +6, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +9
Languages Common, Giant, Hallit, Orc
SQ orc blood, rogue talents (cunning triggerAPG), trapfinding +1
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, potions of pass
without trace (2), potion of vanishAPG, smoke pelletsUE (2),
tangleburn bagUE; Other Gear leather armor, daggers (5),
mwk morningstar, short sword, belt of tumblingUE,
alchemically treated coals (see area H8), crowbar, thieves’ tools, key to area H14, garnet (worth 50 gp), 30 gp
GHAER CR 2
XP 600
Female flood troll (see page 88) hp 22
Treasure: The bookshelf holds little of value—only the mostly destroyed pages of Iomedae’s holy text, Acts
of Iomedae, and several other weathered scriptures. The
chest, however, contains much of the loot Daktani has vengefully stolen from Trunauans over the years as well as some items Skreed gave him for safekeeping, including 1 ounce of sovereign glue, 2 doses of universal solvent, 50 feet of silk rope, a disguise kit (with 6 uses remaining), a set of thieves’ tools, a noble’s outfit worth 75 gp, a signet ring worth 50 gp, and coins totaling 237 gp, 155 sp, and 55 cp.
Development: If Daktani and Ghaer get wind of the PCs and leave the Plague House before the PCs encounter them, you should endeavor to guide the PCs back to the Plague House at a later point to give them another chance to encounter the conspirators. If their meeting was interrupted by the PCs, Daktani and Ghaer meet again the following night. The traps in area H10, the corpse of the half-orc cleric Akrish in area H12, and the presence of the prisoner Othdan in area H14 all point to the Plague House’s recent occupation, and should provide enough reasons for the PCs to visit the site again in hopes of uncovering the truth behind Rodrik’s investigation and his subsequent death.
If the PCs capture either Daktani or Ghaer alive, they can learn a bevy of information about the recent goings-on in Trunau. Ghaer only speaks Giant, however, and knows only half as much as Daktani, since she shares her duties with her twin sister, Lehi. Daktani, on the other hand,
is easier to communicate with and knows much more— but even then, there are gaps in his knowledge. It doesn’t take much threatening to get the cowardly rogue to talk, though he stays cagey on details unless intimidated with physical force, and even if he intimidated, attempts to keep as many details as possible to himself.
Daktani knows that a group of half-orcs has infiltrated Trunau, and that an orc raid on the town is planned for the near future. He doesn’t know the details, or when the attack is supposed to take place—only that the half- orcs are looking for something in town first. Skreed never specified to Daktani who exactly he was working for, always cryptically referring to his other partners as “the tribe.” Daktani can give the PCs the name of his contact, Skreed Gorewillow, but since Daktani met with Skreed only while the alchemist was in his true half-orc form, and since Skreed disguises himself as a human whenever he walks about Trunau, it would be virtually impossible for the rogue to locate or point out his boss. Skreed picked Daktani as his accomplice for this very reason—since Daktani has his own residence in Trunau, Skreed could keep the rogue ignorant of the other half-orcs’ hideout in the town. As such, Daktani has no way of knowing the location of his boss or any of the other half-orc saboteurs.