1. Most PCs can't breathe underwater. No deus ex machina fields of magical seaweed that bestow water breathing have been written into this scenario. Some magical assistance is available, but it's not much.

2. Vision in the underwater caves is severely limited. Artificial light sources illuminate half the space underwater that they would on land. Infravision will work to normal range, but vision is blurry, imposing a -4 penalty to hit on the first attempt, -2 to hit thereafter. Enemies are allowed a +1 saving throw bonus versus direct attacks (where applicable). Note: These penalties are a house rule I devised based on the blur spell.

3. Only thrusting weapons are usable underwater. Thrown weapons, except properly weighted nets, are useless. Even then, range for a net is 1 foot per point of STR. Specially made, underwater crossbows (costing 100 gold pieces for a heavy and 70 gold pieces for a light) can be purchased. All ranges are halved underwater.

4. Surface dwellers suffer a -4 penalty to their attack rolls. They also suffer a +4 penalty to initiative in hand-to-hand combat (not for spell-casting or missile fire).

As a DM, I recommend a "no mercy" policy regarding these four points. The PCs will be facing dangerous foes in a foreign environment. A frivolous attitude and lack of preparation should be met with an insignificant drop in the adventuring population.

This adventure has been designed for 4-8 characters of 5th-8th level. The party should have access to water breathing spells. A cleric with free action would be nice, especially noting the lack of thrusting weapons typically available to clerics. At least half the party should be warriors or priests, preferably with thrusting weapons. At least one mage would be quite useful. Thieves may find they have little to do that is explicitly thiefy.

The answer to this question surfaced a week ago, when three young girls, picking flowers near the ruined fort, where attacked by dagons. Two of the lasses escaped with minor scrapes and trauma enough for years of nightmares. The third girl is missing, and the locals know she is dead, even though none of them - not even the girl's grief-struck parents - have been brave enough to search the area around the fort.

The fisherfolk of Nev-Harborton are greatly distressed and confused. There have been no raids on the village by these sea devils. Had the girls not strayed too close to the fort, who knows how long the monsters could have remained undiscovered? This seems strange behavior for dagons, who have been known to journey onto land to raid and kill, or to attack passing boats. But to move into a ruined fort? Mysterious behavior for sea devils, to say the least.

What no one in the region who isn't a dagon knows is this: A dagon priestess, Blillhup, under orders from her superiors, has been dispatched to the ruin to find a magical item reputedly lost there decades ago by a dagon baron who led a raid on Nev-Harborton at the same time a group of adventurers were passing through. The adventurers routed the raiders, chasing them towards the fort, which was recently abandoned at the time. Most of the dagon raiding party was killed in the ensuing melee and pursuit. The baron made it to the cliff and dived just as the adventuring wizard strafed him with magic missiles. Mortally wounded, the baron swam into the sea caves in the cliff, where it died. Some years passed and the raid was all but forgotten except as a tale to entertain on cold nights. A particularly bad storm led to a section of the cliff falling to the sea, blocking access to the sea caves and trapping a demon shark that had taken refuge to wait out the storm. Slowly, the demon shark starved to death.

Blillhup and her detail of dagon guards searched the cliff face, but could not find a way into the sea caves. Undaunted, she ventured onto land to investigate the ruin. In the small basement under the ruin, she used a combination of hard labor, stone shape spells, and her wand of earth and stone, over a period of several days, to form a shaft leading into the sea caves from above. Since this time, she and her guards have searched the caves and stumbled upon a small problem. The baron and the demon shark aren't quite dead. Then, again, they're not quite alive, either.

The undead sea monsters are more than Blillhup and her guards feel up to facing, so they revealed their presence to the locals by attacking some children. Now, Blillhup waits for the ubiquitous party of do-gooding adventurers to show up, investigate the situation, kill the undead, and finally fall prey to a well-planned ambush while still shaking from the battle against the baron and the demon shark.

Benbrake Bell, a tall, thin, nervous man, whose been in the service of the Duke too long to not realize that his permanently low rank is the result of the Duke's meanness rather than his own merits, tracks down the PCs as they lounge between adventures. He has a youthful messenger deliver them invitations to an exclusive auction of the estate of the Duke's late fourth cousin, who left a pile of bills and back taxes unpaid, mostly to the Duke. The invitation lists, among the various household items one would expect to find in the home of a minor, wastrel noble, certain "items of magical nature to be offered to the highest bidder."

The auction house is a solid, two-story, wood and brick building with a peaked roof and no windows on the ground floor. There are two entrances, a front door and a back door. The back door is a stout wooden portal, firmly locked and crossbarred. No amount of knocking will get anyone to open this door, although guards will angrily exit via the front and stomp around back to see what the commotion is about.

The front door is equally stout, but is standing open when the PCs arrive. Two guards, wearing scale mail and holding halberds, stand on the porch, flanking the door. They admit anyone who has an invitation. Inside the door, there is a fifteen foot square antechamber. Two stout, locked, and crossbarred (from the other side, of course) doors are to the left and right. These lead to storage rooms for auction merchandise. Directly ahead, there is another door, this one also open. The PCs can see a well-lit room beyond, in which there are three rows of six chairs each arranged in front of a podium and a table. Most of the chairs are already occupied with an assortment of people, most of them merchants.

Shortly after the PCs enter, Benbrake steps into view from behind a curtain at the far end of the room, walking over to his place behind the podium. He will conduct the auction in a quick, fair manner, and payment is expected before the merchandise will be transferred to its new owner.

The initial lots are all undetailed, as it is assumed that a party of adventurers isn't going to want to buy a bunch of furniture, clothing, costume jewelry, and tacky knick-knacks. If this is the kind of thing your players go for, make up a detailed list.

There are three items in the auction, held until the end, that adventurers might find interesting. These items and the minimum opening bid are listed below. There is also a maximum bid. This is the highest gold piece value that any of the other attendees will pay for the item in question. If the PCs want these, they'll have to outbid the competition. The items are:

1. A ring of jumping. Minimum bid is 1,000 gold. Maximum bid is 1,500 gold.

2. A pair of boots of levitation. These boots have a design flaw that the auctioneers do not know about. Each time they are commanded to function, there is a 5% cumulative chance that they act as boots of dancing instead. A remove curse will fix this problem, but only after it has evidenced itself. Minimum bid is 2,000 gold. Maximum bid is 4,500 gold. That's a lot for a cursed item, huh?

3. A potion of water breathing containing four doses (surprise!). Minimum bid is 400 gold. Maximum bid is 750 gold.

The auction house will take payment in any form, but they access a 10% penalty to purchases made with gems, jewelry, or art objects (thus, a 1,000 gold piece diamond will buy only 900 gold pieces worth of merchandise).

After the auction is over, Benbrake will approach the PCs and introduce himself as a representative of the Duke. He will ask if could speak with them privately about a matter of some urgency that Acadien has instructed him to have addressed posthaste.

Benbrake can pay the PCs 500 gold pieces and one potion of water breathing each to travel to Nev-Harborton and rid the community of the dagon menace. He will pay no more than half up front, to include the potions. If the PCs bicker about their fee, Benbrake will go as high as 750 gold each, but will not offer more than 250 up front in any case. Assuming the party agrees (and if they don't, refer to the suggestion above), Benbrake will make note of the PCs' names, parcel out monies, potions, and a writ of adventuring, which gives the PCs permission to explore the ruined fort and kill any monsters therein. Benbrake will answer whatever questions he can.

Benbrake will request that the party leave within the next day or two. Whatever sort of mundane equipment they might want can be purchased in town before they head out.

It is a four day ride north-by-northeast to Nev-Harborton along a well-traveled, well-patroled road. Random encounters are fine and dandy, though I personally feel the bog down a game with unnecessary dithering, but I haven't included any sort of table for this thing, so you're own your own.

There are no places to stay the first two nights out, unless the PCs can convince a farmer to let them stay in his barn or some such accomodations ("Okay, but don't you all be having sex with my daughter..."). A night three, about an hour before sundown, the PCs will come across a roadhouse. The sign out front depicts a bed inside a triangle formed by three turkey drumsticks. A smaller sign, hanging from the picture sign, reads "Hots & Cots."

The roadhouse is a small building, with an attached stable wherein the PCs can secure their horses themselves. There is no stablehand on duty. Inside, the staff of three serving maids, a matronly overseer, the housemaster, and a single guard tend to or watch over a band of sixteen gypsies that have stopped for the night. The gypsies are heading south to peddle their wares in town.

The staff and the gypsies are inoffensive folk who will be friendly if treated politely. None of them are well-suited to combat, especially against a group of armed, professional killers such as the PCs. Of course, one of the gypsies, a small, frail, elderly woman covered with bangles and skin the color of old wood, will offer to tell the PCs' fortunes...for a gold coin.

The fortune-teller, Ricca Bowstring, plays her role to a tee, complete with hand-waving, tongue-clucking, and mysterious yet important sounding pronouncements. All of her fortunes about what will happen to party are nonsense, except for one. Select a PC at random, assuming more than one agrees to be fleeced.

Ricca says ominously, "Ack, I zee great peril in jur foochur. I zee...a monshter! Vith clawsss and vangsss. Jes, dis I zee. I varn joo dis: Bevare, bevare the tides of March."

After you've dodged the various things hurled at you for such an awful pun, remember the PC who receives this fortune. Later, if and when the party defeats the undead baron and his demon shark and Blillhup springs her ambush, this PC will recall the gypsies words and will not be surprised by Blillhup and her guards.

I have left Nev-Harborton largely undetailed. The PCs can acquire normal sorts of equipment in town. Weapons and armor for sale are scarce. Of course, the folk have all sorts of fishing equipment, including weighted nets. The militia, such as it is, consists of seven older teens and young men, all 0th-level, led by a one-legged, 4th level fighter named Hop Faraday. There is small chapel dedicated to a local sea deity (or whatever else you feel is appropriate). The priest is a middle-aged woman with little adventuring experience, having the equivalent of 3rd level cleric abilities. She is also the de facto mayor Nev-Harborton.

The fisherfolk will be polite and helpful, but will adamantly refuse to go anywhere near the ruin. If attacked, they will try to run. If bullied, they will try to run. Persistent rude behavior might bring the militia and Hop down on the party's collective head, but who would they be kidding? If the PCs merit discipline, have Duke Acadien hire a group of 8th-11th level adventurers to hunt them down. Heh, heh, heh.

The major advantage the town offers is that it is a relatively comfortable, safe place to rest. The dagons will not venture into town to hunt down the PCs.

The exterior of the ruin is unremarkable. It was obviously once a one-story, stone block structure, surrounded by a wooden palisade. The palisade has long since been dismantled by the fisherfolk and the wood reused for other purposes. The storm that collapsed the cliff oh so many years ago did some significant damage to the fort itself as well. All in all, though, it is still a solid building, albeit a few walls of have collapsed.

There is little in the way of cover or concealment once the party is closer than 25 yards to the fort. If they approach from the front and aren't invisible, they will be spotted by the dagon guard. PCs in the lead of the group have a 1 in 10 chance to spot something duck back into the entry hall, apparently reacting to their approach. If the PCs approach from the rear or sides, they will not be spotted or heard unless they make a lot of noise or start poking in and around the rubble. There are crossletted arrow slits in every five foot section, but little is visible through these. A stealthy PC might be able to get a look at one of the guards, but the one foot wide "windows" do not offer easy ingress.

So, basically, there is one way into the ruin, which is part of Blillhup's plan. The dagon priestess has stationed three guards in the fort. They have been instructed to fight a retreating battle, leading the PCs to the spiral stairs, which in turn lead to the basement where Blillhup's magically-dug shaft is located. She wants the PCs to conclude that whatever of importance is in the fort is actually under the fort.

In all cases, the ceiling is twelve feet overhead. Doors are four feet wide, six inches thick, solid wood with bronze banding. None of the doors are locked, except for the entrance and the doorway leading into room #4, which are crossbarred. All open into the room or, if there is no room, open into the hallway. I've left most of the rooms undetailed. The ruin is quite old. Anything useful has long since been removed.

Once the party is through the door, the dagon guard will attack, firing its heavy crossbow at the first person through the door. If the party returns fire, the dagon has 50% cover, enjoying a +4 bonus to its AC and saves (where applicable). After this first round of fire is exchanged, the dagon will run around the corner and out of sight, yelling a warning in its own tongue.

It is hoped the party will pursue.

The entry hall turns west a few feet after the pit. The dagons have set up a second barricade. If Blillhup's plan is proceeding apace (meaning the PCs are following the retreating dagons like lemmings), the entry guard and the guard from room #2 will both be behind the barricade. If more than one round has passed, both will have two loaded heavy crossbows on hand. They will fire at the first PCs coming around the corner, sticking around for a second volley if the PCs don't close. Assess the dagons a +2 initiative penalty the second round for having to pick up the other crossbows. Remember that both have 50% cover against incoming missile fire. After the second shots, the dagons will take their crossbows and retreat to room #4, barring it as explained above. All three guards will then retreat to the basement and take their position behind a third barricade directly in front of Blillhup's shaft. Crossbows will be reloaded as time permits.

If the players have any sense whatsoever, they've noticed the pattern by now. Nevertheless, the dagons will fire at whoever presents herself as a target, sticking around for two rounds of missile fire at most. Then, one will switch draw its dagger and attack in hand-to-hand while the other two escape by dropping down the shaft into the water below. The evil shark god of the dagons will surely reward its suicidally devoted follower.

These dagon are armed with two heavy crossbows and a dagger each. In melee, they attack three times: dagger/claw/bite for 1-4/1-2/1-4. They have no treasure.

By the time the PCs have reached this point, they've hopefully taken some damage, burned a few spells, and used up some healing magic. Not too much, of course, because then they'd go back to town to rest up. Blillhup wants the PCs to enter the sea caves somewhat weakened, but not too much so.

Blillhup's shaft is roughly 5 feet in diameter. There is a knotted rope made of twisted seaweed hanging from a metal ring set in the wall and down into the hole in the floor. The rope is used by the dagons to climb out of the sea caves. A dwarf, gnome, any character with the mining NWP, or a Stoutish halfling can determine that the shaft is neither natural nor dug with tools. Any character who makes a spellcraft NWP check with a -2 penalty can guess that some sort of magic similar to stone shape was used to open the shaft.

It is 35 feet down to the water. The shaft itself is 20 feet of this distance. Anyone shining a light source into the shaft will see the rippling reflect of the light off of the gently undulating surface of the water. Characters who listen carefully can hear the tell-tale lapping of the water against the walls of the sea cave. Players may consider simply sealing the shaft, which they should realize would be pointless, since it was dug to begin with via magic and there's no reason to assume that whatever did this once couldn't do it twice. Blillhup will simply reopen the shaft and perhaps send a couple of dagons to make threatening noises at the villagers before retreating back to the ruin to begin the process all over again.

Neither of these monsters are terribly bright, but they are fearsome in battle. Blillhup and her guards could probably defeat them, but the body count would be high and Blillhup doesn't want to risk the loss of life, especially her own. Both undead creatures typically lurk near the cave floor behind the rock pillar. If they hear the PCs approaching (and remember sound travels well underwater if not as far), both will attempt to take the group by surprise. Neither has anything to lose by a fight to the death. No quarter will be given and none will be expected. If the PCs flee, both will pursue, but the baron will retreat back to its cave if the PCs make it past its barrier. Statistics for both of these monsters are at the end of the scenario.

The only treasure in this room is the gold and platinum medallion that the baron wears about its neck. The baron is intelligent enough to make use of this item, which is described at the end of the scenario.

In addition to Blillhup and any of the three guards from the ruin that survived, there is one guard per PC in the party. The dagons will attack in three waves after removing the concealed door. The first wave will be the two net & trident dagons. The second wave will be any of the crossbow dagons left alive. The third wave will be spear & trident dagons, which will number at least two. The difference between the number of PCs and the number of additional dagons will determine the total number of spear & dagger dagons available.

For example, the party consists of seven PCs. They only killed the one suicidal dagon in the fort. This means, in addition to Blillhup, there are two net & trident dagons, two crossbow & dagger dagons, and five spear & dagger dagons.

Remember the limits of visibility underwater. If the PCs are not close enough to see the door being opened, they will suffer a -2 penalty to their surprise rolls. Those close enough to the door will see it open and suffer no penalty to their surprise rolls. Before any of this happens, however, remind that one special PC of the old gypsies woman's warning about "the tides of March." At the least, this one PC will not be surprised.

Net & Trident dagons make one attack initially, which is to swim by and hurl their nets at two heavily armored PCs. A successful hit entangles the victim in the weighted and hooked net. A netted victim with a 16 or greater strength can try to tear their way free, requiring two consecutive, successful open doors checks, one check allowed per round. Those with small edged weapons in hand can cut their way free in two rounds with two consecutive, successful attack rolls against AC 7, one attack allowed per round. If the netted victim is being attacked, she suffers a -2 penalty to efforts to free herself.

Once the nets are thrown, this pair will swim to the far wall, ready their tridents, and return the following round, attacking characters stuck in the nets as top priority. Netted victims suffer a -2 penalty to AC. Against a netted victim, these dagons attack only once per round with their tridents. Otherwise, they make three attacks per round: trident/leg rake/leg rake for 2-7/1-4/1-4.

As the nets are being dropped, these dagons, assuming they are still alive, will both fire their heavy crossbows at any single PC that they have seen cast a spell. Otherwise, they will double team a single, random, unnetted PC. The next round, they will close to melee with any unnetted characters. In melee, they attack five times: dagger/claw/bite/leg rake/leg rank for 1-4/1-2/1-4/1-4/1-4.

After the crossbows and nets, these dagons will close for melee against unnetted targets first. They make three attacks per round: spear/leg rake/leg rake for 1-6/1-4/1-4.

1st level: cure light wounds, faerie fire, darkness, sanctuary, cause fear

2nd level: aid, sharkskin (increases AC +2), hold person, silence 15' radius, warp wood

3rd level: air breathing, locate object

Blillhup has a wand of earth and stone with 7 charges left. It does not have the transmute rock to mud (and vice versa) capability. Neither she nor her guards have any other treasure.

The first round of the ambush, Blillhup will cast air breathing and then attempt to touch the nearest PC, choosing a netted one over a non-netted one. If her attack roll is successful, the victim is allowed a saving throw versus spell to avoid having any water breathing magic negated. Blillhup will then attempt to retreat to cast more spells.

To sum up:

Round One (Surprise!):

1. Net & trident dagons drop nets as they swim past the party.

2. Crossbow & dagger dagons fire at same target.

3. Spear & dagger dagons close for melee.

4. Blillhup casts air breathing.

Round Two:

1. Net & trident dagons attack netted PCs with tridents.

2. Crossbow & dagger dagons close for melee.

3. Spear & dagger dagons continue to fight.

4. Blillhup attempts to touch nearest PC to negate water breathing.

Round Three and Beyond:

1. All dagons except Blillhup melee.

2. Blillhup attempts to retreat to cast spells.

Blillhup's guards will fight to the death. If things are going too badly, Blillhup might try to negotiate a surrender, but she does not speak any surface-dwelling language.

Appendix

Undead Baron

Climate/Terrain: sea caves near Nev-Harborton

Frequency: unique

Organization: solitary

Activity Cycle: any

Diet: nil

Intelligence: low (5-7)

Treasure: the medallion of water elemental command

Alignment: lawful evil

No. Appearing: 1

Armor Class: 1

Movement: 9, Sw 18

Hit Dice: 8+8 (48 hit points)

THAC0: 13

No. of Attacks: 5

Damage/Attack: 2-4/2-4/2-8/2-8/2-8

Special Attacks: nil

Special Defenses: see below

Magic Resistance: nil

Size: M (6 1/2' tall)

Morale: Fearless (20)

XP Value: 3,000

The undead baron appears very much like a regular dagon at first glance only. The second glance reveals that its flesh is necrose and drawn tight around its skeleton, giving it a emaciated appearance. It is pale, the color of egg whites, and its eyes glow with a feral malevolence.

Combat: The undead baron attacks with claw and fang, capable of dealing out an impressive amount of damage, as its strength has been supernaturally augmented by its unlife. While it can be struck by any sort of weapon, blunt and piercing weapons inflict only one-half damage. It is immune to sleep, charm, hold, death magic, psionics, illusions, electricity, poisons, and cold-based spells. Fire causes only half damage, assuming some way can be found to burn it with fire underwater.

Habitat/Society: The undead baron lives in the sea caves beneath the ruined fort near Nev-Harborton. If freed, it would undoubtedly become a general maritime menace, attacking ships and coastal communities. It is served by an undead demon shark, but hates and seeks to destroy all other creatures.

Ecology: What ecology? It's a zombie. The undead baron doesn't eat, breathe (water or air), or sleep.

Undead Demon Shark

Climate/Terrain: sea caves near Nev-Harborton

Frequency: unique

Organization: solitary

Activity Cycle: any

Diet: nil

Intelligence: animal (1)

Treasure: unique

Alignment: chaotic evil

No. Appearing: 1

Armor Class: 2

Movement: Sw 18

Hit Dice: 10 (60 hit points)

THAC0: 11

No. of Attacks: 1

Damage/Attack: 3-12

Special Attacks: blood drain

Special Defenses: see below

Magic Resistance: nil

Size: L (14' long)

Morale: fearless (20)

XP Value: 3,000

The undead demon shark is the pet of the undead baron. Appearing much like a normal shark, a second glance reveals its glowing yellow eyes and perhaps its long, sinewy, fang-mawed tentacle that can shoot from its mouth with blinding speed.

Combat: The undead demon shark does not attack like its mundane cousin. Instead of biting and tearing at its prey, a demon shark attacks with its mouth-tentacle, which can grow to lengths of 20 feet. A successful hit means to the tentacle hooks into the flesh of the demon shark's prey, inflicting 3-12 points of damage. The following rounds, the demon shark automatically inflicts another 2-8 points of damage from blood drain. It is too not difficult to get free from a demon shark's tentacle. A successful open doors roll will pull the appendage free, but the victim suffers another 3-12 points of damage in the process as the tentacle's claws are torn free. The tentacle can also be attacked. It has an AC of 4 and 10 hit points, which do not count against the demon shark's hit point total. If the tentacle is severed, the demon shark will retreat to heal, its tentacle regrowing in a single day. Since the undead demon shark doesn't actually eat, there is no limit to the amount of blood it can drain.

While it can be struck by any sort of weapon, blunt and piercing weapons inflict only one-half damage. It is immune to sleep, charm, hold, death magic, psionics, illusions, electricity, poisons, and cold-based spells. Fire causes only half damage, assuming some way can be found to burn it with fire underwater.

Habitat/Society: The undead demon shark lives in the sea caves under the ruin near Nev-Harborton.

Ecology: What ecology? It's a zombie.