The Tower of Pizentios

This spire lies on the eastern shores of Sahu, as described in the Tales of Captain Omar (see the introduction to Chapters 7 and 8, and the NPC sheet for Pizentios). The mushroom-shaped metal tower, similar to the spires of Ereshkigal, cannot be seen from shore, but there is a small collection of wooden buildings in a sheltered lagoon that serves as a supply base for a pirate ship of necromancers, the Scrofula (see the NPC sheet for Sarzec).

Normally well-camouflaged by palm trees, the wooden supply sheds might have been temporarily uncovered in a recent storm, making them visible from a ship at sea. Otherwise, a party might stumble across the lagoon by chance, with or without the Scrofula at port.

The supply sheds are guarded by a squad of twelve zombies (maximum hit points). The zombies will not attack if the party leaves the supply sheds alone. If the undead are defeated, the storerooms will be found to contain spare sails, spars, rigging, and planking—everything one might need to equip a ship, except food and water.

The palm groves near the sheds are the home to four newly made shadows, recent victims of Pizentios’s shadowblade. These creatures only emerge from the grove at night. Of course, any sounds of battle at the lagoon or supply sheds will undoubtedly attract Pizentios, who will appear with his infernal familiar Ifrit to exact vengeance (and perhaps gain more zombies).

If the party leaves the sheds alone and explores inland, they are quickly spotted by the invisible Ifrit, who warns his master of their approach. The evil necromancer will attempt to dupe the party using the same ruse he employed on Captain Omar, but he will have telepathically summoned his zombies and shadows just in case the stratagem fails. He has learned from his past mistakes and is determined not to let history repeat itself.

The DM should place only a moderate amount of treasure in Pizentios’s tower, since Omar’s raid already stole most of the finer pieces in the necromancer’s hoard. Should the party manage to defeat Pizentios, he will attempt to flee through a massive bronze door in the basement, leading to the Underdark beneath Sahu and, eventually, to the Garden of Eternity. The DM might allow a resourceful party to follow him there, only to be driven back by the Bone Legion after the PCs have briefly glimpsed the Garden.

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