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Fairgoers have made complaints about a foul stench emanating from this pond (see book 1, page 72). The PCs might have also noticed during the patrol on their first day at Edgewatch or at some point later while investigating. One visitor has even seen a ghastly arm emerge for a moment before sinking back into the water.
The truth is Snowdew Pond was built over a haunted sank school, which explains the ghostly sightings but not the smell. The smell is due to an ofalth that was attracted to the location because of all the bodies that were dug up and rubish that was produced when the remains of the school were sealed up during the preparations for the Radiant Festival. The ofalth unsucessfully chased some otyughs and then set sight on an even better meal: the constant barrage of body parts produced by the Skinner.
Which means the smell at the pond will go away on its own but the danger it represents will still be lurking under the city and eventually reach the Catacombs under the Ascendent Court (where the PCs will eventually find it if they don't intervene in the meantime).
To represent this, assume the ofalth's initial location when the festival starts is area 2. Precipice necropolis. It will move through the shortest possible path towards the final area 12. Arodenite catacombs at a pace of 1 area every 3-4 days, so it will reach the destination in a little over a month.
The DC to Track the smell, discerning if an exit from an area leads closer to the ofalth, is 5 times the number of areas between the ofalth and the party. So it's DC 5 if it's an adjacent area, DC 10 if two areas over, DC 15 if it's three areas over and so on.
The first hurdle is tracking the smell to the precise location of a tightly screwed storm drain on the northern side of the pond. It takes a DC 25 to Force Open or more likely waiting a week of bureaucracy to get a crew to open it if they ask Edgewatch for official permission to investigate.
If the PCs reach the ofalth before they are at a level they stand a chance, make sure to telegraph its power, perhaps by letting them witness the strength of its Stench Aura ability or stealing a glance of its disgusting form from a safe distance. The ofalth will ignore the PCs thinking they are small fry until they get extremely close or attack.
Here is the map showing the pointcrawl areas.
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(Level 1-2)
The once renowned school of Tri-Towers Yard sank in the sewer waters beneath it during the 4698 AR earthquake. Most of the students perished and their ghostly remnants haunt this place.
Cavernous space with derelict ruined buildings that once comprised the school. No light except for the ghostly presences.
PCs who go back to investigate what this school is about might find their way to Lady Dacilane who tells them the story of her daughter who was at the school, went missing and presumed dead but was eventually found and returned unharmed by the Pathfinders.
Check old PFS scenario Black Waters for more info and inspiration.
Exits:
- • Long ladder back to the surface next to Snowdew pond
- 2. Precipice necropolis: Dried up pool. Α severed human arm tightly gripping a metal handle connected to a heavy iron plug is blocking a hole in the ground, which leads to a series of slippery handholds.
Encounters:
- • A fence of black iron pikes. The padlocked gate that once was the sole entrance to the school grounds lies flat on the ground.
- • Backpack with appropriate minor art object. This was a school for rich children after all.
- • 1d4 ghost students. Curious and kinda friendly. They may try to possess you to piggyback a way out of here if interacted with. Figure out what they wanted to be when they grew up to help them move on to the afterlife.
- • Poltergeist. The area near this classroom gets noticeably colder and foreboding. A restless and naughty spirit of a student inhabits it. Throws rocks, loose bricks and school supplies at intruders. Strictly bound to this classroom where the kid met his demise.
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(Level 2-3)
A network of once ornate chambers, murals fading, stones crumbling, water seeping through the walls making puddles out of floor cracks. Wet unlit holders for torches, doors of stone -that could once be locked- left ajar. Alcoves filled with skeletal remains. It's quiet down here except for the drip drip drip of water and the occasional undead monstrocity.
Check old PFS scenario Black Waters for more info and inspiration.
Exits:
- 1. Drownyard: Climb handholds leading to dry pool.
- 3. Winding tunnels: Staircase leading down to a tunnel
- 4. Docks sewer: Wall weathered down from eons of humidity, breaking through causes a torrent of sewer water to be released.
Encounters:
- • 1d6 ghouls and a ghast gnawing on old bones excited for living prey
- • Draugr (still has a lesser sea touch elixir on his belt, if only he had managed to reach it in time when he was alive!), 2 skeleton guards and a constantly shifting magical tide making water rise and fall. Treat the tide as a hazard; init + 0; routine: 1 action each turn alternating area between high tide (Balance DC 15) and low tide (Balance DC 5).
- • Cairn Wight playing dead in sarcophagus filled with gold (150gp) holding a sword with glowing runes (vitalizing, ghost touch); will rise and attack looters until every last coin is returned
- • 1d4 ghost children sitting in a circle pantomiming ghost stories to each other, they think they're still taking refuge from the collapsed school.
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(Level 2-3)
Winding maze-like passages, not man-made but a cave system (probably). The water reaches your knees if you're Medium-sized and you gotta bend awkwardly because the ceiling is so low.
Exits:
- 2. Precipice necropolis: Back to the city of the dead after a climb of that slippery staircase.
- 4. Docks sewer: One passage progressively widening, walls and floors show more and more signs of regularity, until it opens up to a sewer system.
- • Azarketi cave: Another passage leads to a cave that an underwater Azarketi community, the Seafoam Conclave, calls home. You can keep going to reach the surface of the water beneath the creaky boardwalks of the Docks district. If the Azarketi perceive you as honoured guests they might even show you the way from there to 8. Gilltown.
Encounters:
- • A shadow forms inside the shadow of whoever is holding any source of light. Needs it to be nice and dark again so it can whisper its sweet maddening limericks to passersby.
- • Fortune eater starts following the PCs. Comprised of Pathfinders, it will not shut up about defying sewer dragons, looting graves and finding a little girl alive and unaged 10 years after the earthquake hit.
- • The water level reaches the ceiling in this part. Gotta swim or find a way to drain it.
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(Level 3-4)
Part of an ancient sewer network that is still in use. There is a narrow sidewalk of sorts at the sides of the cylindrical corridors while the middle is filled with flowing raw sewage.
Exits:
- • Manholes or storm drains leading to Docks District at regular intervals.
- 2. Precipice necropolis: That weak -and possibly collapsed- wall behind which is the city of the dead.
- 3. Winding tunnels: Passage progressively narrowing, walls looking more and more like a cave.
- 5. Coins Sewer: Not an exit per se but this is where you end up if you keep going through the main tunnel.
- 6. Docks drainage: Squeezing through a slippery pipe that is intermittently gushing muddy water gets you to the drainage network of the district.
Encounters:
- • 1d4 sewer oozes in the way; 1d4 rat swarms gush out of old pipes if the PCs make a loud noise.
- • rust ooze + spraying foul water hazard (because the ooze ate through some pipes)
- • 1d6 chokers attempt to stalk the PCs, if succesful they will attack when the PCs are occupied and distracted.
- • 1d4 slurks huddling together upside-down in a manhole shaft, lazily competing for what feels to them like a prized hunting spot.
- • 1 otyugh strangler called King of Dirt, was left behind while his comrades led the Ofalth away. Not interested in a fight (unless provoked) he might attempt to impress friendly PCs by spitting out a Skinsaw Mask he's been unsuccessfully chewing for a few days now. Never has he faced such an inedible gummy delicacy!
- • Sewer gas, lasting until the next exit/encounter. Might throw them off the ofalth smell trail (+5 to Track DC). Will also explode (dealing 4d6 environmental fire damage) if exposed to a source of flame.
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(Level 4-5)
Inconspicuous change, the scenery is mostly the same (practically a continuation of the same sewer network as 4. Docks sewer) except the decor is slightly different (more chances to find signs of intelligent life).
Exits:
- • Manholes or storm drains leading to Coins District at regular intervals.
- • Temple of Lost Coins basement: Secret door hidden inside a comically oversized treasure chest that is made to look like an incompetently disguised mimic. A series of increasingly harder locked doors and non-lethal traps lead to the base of operations of the Forthright, the "honorable thieves" of Absalom. The PCs are welcomed with open arms and invited to join if they pass the aforementioned test chambers.
- • Band of the Palm basement: Secret door (permanent illusonary wall) leads to a heavily guarded labyrinthine complex of rooms and traps, traversing them to eventually reach the Bloody Barbers HQ is an adventure in itself, even the Bloody Barbers don't travel here alone, they have a special unit of albino chokers trained to guide them through this gods-forsaken place.
- 4. Docks sewer: Visually indistinguishable, you end up there if you follow the main tunnel.
- 7. Buried city ruins: Decrepit manhole without handholds and a stuck rusty cover on top. It's been unused for its original purpose for thousands of years. Instead of hearing the bustle of the city or seeing light from the cracks, there's darkness and silence.
- 10. Cursed slave holds: Part of the wall used to form a secret door for a slave smuggler tunnel but the hinges have corroded in the past few years so the passage is now comically obvious.
Encounters:
- • 2d4 [Bloody Barber ruffians](https://www.pf2easy.com/index.php?id=23391) making sure there are no nosy trespassers in their territory
- • 1d4 [Bloody Barber thieves](https://www.pf2easy.com/index.php?id=23392) returning after difficult heist with 1d6 x 10% HP each. They are carrying 100 gp worth of art objects, gems and coins each. Not looking for a fight but also not willing to give up the loot that easily. (If you decide they are members of the Forthright, they instead immediately agree to return the loot to their rightful owners if confronted about it)
- • 1d4 Forthright charlatans and burglars returning after a heist. They too are carrying 100 gp worth of art objects, gems and coins each. They will attempt to lie and feign innocence but if confronted forcefully they immediately agree to return the loot, but only to the rightful owners. If arrested they ask to be delivered to the Token Guard where they can easily buy their freedom with a token fee.
- • Drug stash behind loose brick (DC 20). Contents: Critical failure = didn't even notice it; Failure = 20 doses of qat; Success = 50 doses of grit; Critical success = 5 doses of either demon dust or succumbus kiss
- • Mutated Sewer Ooze and Wizard Sponge. Escaped experiments from the Gallery of Innovation. Not very aggressive but their normal behaviour poses a danger to everyone around them. They kinda stick together instictively but they are not really consciously allied.
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(Level 3-4)
Similar environment to 4. Docks sewer except it is narrower, closer to the surface (the noise and bustle of the Docks above can be often heard, and the grates are only 5 feet above the flow). Also no raised paths along the walls, you will have to get your feet wet. The water is also cleaner since this network is meant to drain excess water from the rain or the sea until it later joins the sewage.
Exits:
- 4. Docks sewer: A slippery pipe allows the muddy water outflow to join the sewer network. It's tight enough to be considered greater difficult terrain but not so tight it would require a skill check to Squeeze.
- 7. Buried city ruins: Following the drainage system to the east leads to an old rusty storm drain, part of a street that has been unused and buried for centuries. Very silent, dark and dry compared to a normal current-era storm drain.
- • Eventually following the drainage system to the west leads all the way to the Groundwater Tunnel (see book 3 for more info). But some of the openings between here and there might be too narrow for most people. It might be possible proceed by breaking through the walls or squeezing through the pipes or magically shrinking down.
• Azarketi cave: Another passage leads to a cave that an underwater Azarketi community, the Seafoam Conclave, calls home. You can keep going to reach the surface of the water beneath the creaky boardwalks of the Docks district. If the Azarketi perceive you as honoured guests they might even show you the way from there to 8. Gilltown.
Encounters:
- • Very narrow passage. Squeeze DC 15.
- • Diobel sweeper tough or washboard dog tough. Will warn any transpassers to get out of their gang's territory. Might have to demonstrate the point and toughen someone up (no killing of course!). Might ask 1d6x10gp as a toll.
- • 1d12 Dockside Dozen urchins. Their small bodies can fit through some very narrow water pipes; perfect for evading the law and other gangs.
- • Jossie Slimfin, azarketi junk merchant
- • Cecaelia Trapper washed through the pipes from the sea and lost his way. Extremely xenophobic and wary of land-dwellers.
- • Emergency watery wave floods the whole tunnel, pushing PCs in one direction unless they Grab an Edge (Reflex DC 20). Failure could mean the PCs are separated, they have to re-tread some way or even get some bruises or hit their heads somewhere.
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(Level 4-5)
Disused part of the city that has caved into the ground. Actually this general area includes remnants of buildings from different epochs that have been pressured together from eons of newer construction built on top of each other into a sort of labyrinthine amalgamation.
Exits:
- 5. Coins sewer: Decrepit manhole, DC 20 Force Open to get it unstuck.
- 6. Docks drainage: Rusty storm drain. Perception DC 20 to notice it's in use.
- 8. Gilltown: Underwater tunnel, the entrance hidden behind carefully nurtured seaweed. Must hold breath at least for 10 minutes (Survival DC 25 to not waste extra time lost in the circuitous passages) to fully explore. And then you have to deal with Azarketis who might not appreciate you finding their secret home base.
- 9. Mother Venom lair: Ancient outhouse in collapsed building (DC 30 to Squeeze through the cracks) leading to the Eastgate sewer network.
- • House of Planes back door: One of the passages leads to an area of olds buildings that are currently inhabited by members of the Hookclaw kobold clan. Further down this way you eventually reach area D6 from book 1. From there you can visit the House of Planes or just exit through the Raptor's Rest graveyard to the surface in Eastgate.
- • Dark dark cave leading to the Darklands.
Encounters:
- • Kekker & Gref, ratfolk drug smugglers.
- • 1d6 Vargouilles. They want to turn you into one of them.
- • 1d4 Poltergeists. Restless echoes of citizens of old, confused their home lies in pieces.
- • 1 caligni caller and 2 caligni stalkers on an unholy quest to find owbs here in the ruins of long ago.
- • Owb. It has come to bargain. With caligni or others. If it won't get a good price, it is not above issuing threats, curses, ultra-violence or strange omens (in that order).
- Unlooted ruins of aristocrat's mansion. Perception DC 20: Critical failure: didn't even notice; Failure: 1d4 lesser art objects; Success: 1d6 moderate art objects; Critical Success: 1 greater art object.
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A network of mostly submerged caves where azarketis privately live, worship and trade among themselves. Few outsiders are permitted. Exploring here is beyond the scope of this write-up.
For more info, check out the Absalom book, page 141.
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(Level 10-15)
If the ooze-dripping ceilings and walls or the oozemorphic passage-blocking clots of this part of the sewer network don't dissuade PCs, describe the sense of foreboding and terror they feel as they catch a glimpse of one of the children of venom going about their business. If they insist you should probably tell them this area is too high-level for them or let them be kidnapped and turned into children of venom themselves.
For more info, see book 5.
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(Level 5-6)
This area consists of narrow man-made tunnels, passages and cells spread beneath Misery Row, the former slave pits of Absalom. They were used to hold slaves in awful conditions or to smuggle them to nobles in other areas (the law allowed buying and selling slaves only within three-quarters of a mile of the sea). While slavery is outlawed now, slaver activity even in this obvious place has not completely ceased. And the legacy of past sins still echoes in the dark, metaphorically or literally.
Exits:
- 5. Coins sewer: Through that not-so-inconspicuous secret door.
- 11. Ascended Court ancient sewer mainline:Finding your way through all the passages without going in circles is a challenge in itself (Survival DC 23) but eventually you might reach another secret door (Perception DC 23) which leads to the oldest sewer network of the city.
- • Grand Bazaar sewer: Another possibility is going west, eventually you get to yet another secret door that leads to the sewers below the Grand Bazaar, and from there to the Foreign Quarter sewers.
- • Ascending the pits will get you out through Misery Row, now turned into homes for the poor, empty lots and low-cost staffing agencies that are like slavery with extra steps.
Encounters:
- • 1d4 morlock engineers and 1d4 morlock cultists looking to abduct slaves or other stranglers and bring them back to Delirium's Tangle (a mind-bending labyrinth of chambers and tunnels) deep beneath the Ivy district.
- • The Stitchlip Man, who creeps at night to stitch shut the mouths of anyone who speaks ill of thieves and steal away their voices. Actually it's an act performed by a masked member of the Family Dogs gang (use elite copper hand rogue statblock) to scare people into paying them protection money. 10% chance it's the gang leader himself (Dras, level 9 fetchling rogue) reprising the role.
- • Denizen of Leng. Here to take in the sights and breath in the energy of the place.
- • Animate Dream made up of all the nightmares of the people enslaved here over time.
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(Level 6-7)
This is the most ancient part of Absalom's sewer network, built in the time of Aroden. It's still in use although not by design; several more modern parts of the sewer network have collapsed or become blocked and through an emergent process the excess sewage from there ends up here.
Exits:
- 10. Cursed slave holds: Secret door that leads back to the pits and passages below Misery Row.
- 12. Arodenite catacombs (chasm entrance): There is a small hole that leads to the Starstone Cathedral chasm. From there you can sort of see another window a few hundred feet further. Climb DC 25 to get there. That puts you in area D2 of the catacombs.
- 12. Arodenite catacombs: Following the mainline sewer all the way circling the starstone chasm eventually leads you to a large opening in a naturally-formed cavern. That is area D25 of the catacombs. If you don't exit here, you can keep going north to the Wise Quarter sewers.
- Ivy District sewers: Branching of the mainline is a smaller newer sewer that eventually leads below Ivy District.
Encounters:
- • 1d4 skinstitches, the Skinsaws send them here to ward off guards and other people who could track them down.
- • 1d4 skinsaw murderers on their way to look for more victims to skin. Lucky for them they found you, saves them the trouble.
- • 1d4 shamblers usually survive with scraps that end up in the sewer. They are hidden among other normal vegetation that has overgrown and taken over this part of the sewer.
- • Mohrg, used to be part of the skinsaw cult until there was a scuffle with another member and he ended up left for dead in the sewer.
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(Level 8-9)
These halls served as the final resting place of a niche sect of Aroden worshipers called the Fellowship of Prospectus. This is the final destination for the ofalth. It sets camp in area D25 and feeds off a steady diet of corpses provided by the Skinsaw cult.
For more details see book 2, page 30.