d20 Rusttown Press The Azure Rose.pdf

The Azure Rose

Character Portraits:

History

When the world was still young, a great battle raged

across the valleys and mountains of all the realms. Before

the seasons were set in stone, the masters of ice and wind

clashed with the forces of the sun and rain, each striving

for dominance over newly created land. Many of these

conﬂicts were fought to a standstill, but there is one whose

eﬀects are still felt to this day.

he Spring Goddess, aligned with the sun and rain,

had gathered great inﬂuence amongst the green courts of

the forests. With inﬂuence comes rivalry, however, and

rivalry is especially dangerous in the hands of a God of

Winter. In the depths of night, the Winter God staged

his attack, catching the Spring Goddess unawares and

killing her – her frozen body tumbled to the ground and

laid to rest as a great mountain. But in the chaos of the

attack, her rose garland tumbled from her brow, and was

spirited away by two of her servants. Since that time, it has

remained hidden from the forces of the frozen god, who

wish to bring all the world beneath the sway of an eternal

winter. Only the presence of the garland, wound with a

single half-frozen rose, staves oﬀ this icy fate. he garland

came to be called the Azure Rose, and the descendents

and disciples of the Spring Goddess’s followers are tasked

to defend it.

meeting place. he Azure Rose is only ever revealed as a

bluish form in the center of the ﬂame during the night of

the vernal equinox. his is the single time it can be seized

and taken.

Organizational Structure

Members of the Azure Rose operate quite

independently of one another, only meeting during the

solstices and equinoxes of the year - unless they are

summoned in an emergency. here are only a few dozen

members in total. When the senior knights (also known

as Heath knights) meet, the atmosphere isn’t as austere as

you might expect would beﬁt a bunch of powerful nature

spirits and ancient warriors. In fact, the group is highly

prone to bickering and inﬁghting, as most members are

ﬁercely independent and headstrong by nature.

he order operates as more of a concerned council

than a knightly order, with various individuals tasked to

watching for incursions from the Winter God. he entire

council of Heath Knights sits beneath the watchful eyes of

Ashme and Marados, who act as a neutral (if bemused)

judge and a ﬁrst speaker, respectively.

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Heath Knights and Werrens

Each of the dozen or so Heath knights hails from a

diﬀerent area, and has a diﬀerent group of lesser knights

(also called Werrens) under their tutelage. he Werrens

rarely ever head to Valleybough – the location of this

most sensitive and sacred ground is kept secret from all

but the highest echelons of power (except under truly dire

circumstances.) When a Heath knight begins to age to the

point that they can no longer continue their duties, they

pass the mantle on to one of their protégés, who takes over

leadership of the group. On some occasions, this can cause

brutal inﬁghting, but the transition is usually smooth. If

a senior knight is killed or dies unexpectedly, his students

perform a special ritual, called the Summerhand, to ﬁnd

out who the rightful successor should be.

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Valleybough

here is a hidden dale that one can only reach with an

invitation, locked deep in whirling mists and rains. his

is Valleybough, an entire glen kept inaccessible through a

constant spring squall at its borders. As a traveler draws

near, an otherwise sunny sky grows dark and hazy, winds

whip up, and vision fails; the blackened storm keeps

invaders at bay as surely as any army.

Game Eﬀects: Entering the border area of Valleybough

forces a DC 25 WILL save, or else the conjured storm causes

the character to lose all sense of direction and wander for

a day before ﬁnding themselves back along the path they

entered by. A character can choose to waive their WILL save

and instead make a DC 28 survival check to pass through

the storm. he storm detects as magic (strong evocation),

but is too large to suppress or dispel.

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Once inside Valleybough, a scene of impressive

natural beauty unfolds. A forest of the very oldest growth

towers all around, trunks green with moss, ground sun-

dappled and damp. Within the heart of the glen, there

is a ring of eldest ﬁr with ancient runes traced in mosses

and fungi across their bark. Rose vines twine around

the trunks and hang from trellises. In the center of it all

stands an old pavilion with a central ﬁre pit, used as a

he Azure Rose

Written by Neal Bailey

Edited by Aren Arendsen

Layout by Christopher Helton

Some artwork copyright Otherworld Creations,

used with permission.

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MARADOS (CR 13)

The Summerhand

Character Portraits:

Female Unique Fey

AL Chaotic Good

Init [+9]; Senses Spot +22, Listen +22

Languages Sylvan, Common, Elven,

AC 29 [+5 Dex, +13 natural, +1 ring], touch 15, ﬂat-

footed 24

hp 110 (13d6 hit dice +65)

Fort +13 [+4, +5 Con, +4 misc], Ref +17 [+8, +5 Dex,

+4 misc], Will +18 [+8, +6 Wis, +4 misc]

Spd 30t. (6 squares)

Atk Wooded Staﬀ +7/+2 melee (2d6+2 + poison/20

Although the chief purpose of this ritual is to select

a new Heath knight and inform him of the location

of Valleybough, the Summerhand ritual is also used

as a general auger and a way to break stalemate votes

during a summons of the Heath Knights. To perform

the ritual, a sprig of holly is taken and immersed in a

bowl of water. With a quiet chant of secret words, the

holly is removed and held over a linen cloth, while

allowing water to tumble from the leaves. he pattern

of drips on the cloth will turn a bright emerald color,

and form words in answer to the query.

Eﬀect: he Summerhand allows a character to

make a level check versus a target DC (as selected by

the GM) to be granted a single sentence answer to any

question. he ritual may only be performed once per

individual per year, and even then only during the

spring or summer time. he target DC for ﬁnding a

successor is 10.

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Base Atk +6/+1; Grp +5 [+6, -1 Str, +0 size]

Special Atk Wild Charm, Revival, Bee aﬃnity

Special Qualities Fast Healing 5, DR 10/cold iron,

low-light vision, nature sense, resist nature’s lure, trackless

step, venom immunity, wild empathy, wild shape,

woodland stride

Combat Gear Wooded staﬀ

Spells Prepared (Casts as an 11 th level Druid):

6th— Find the Path, Fire Seeds

5th— Insect Plague, Stoneskin, Treestride

4th— Air Walk, Cure Serious Wounds, Dispel Magic,

Giant Vermin

3rd— Dominate Animal, Poison (x2), Spike Growth,

Wind Wall

2nd— Barkskin, Bear’s Endurance, Owl’s Wisdom,

Resist Energy, Spider Climb, Summon Swarm

1st— Charm Animal, Cure light wounds (x2),

Entangle (x2), Pass Without Trace, Produce Flame

0— create water *2, detect magic, cure minor wounds

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Major Players

he Azure Rose has always been a small organization

of extremely powerful, partially divine caretakers – this

beﬁts their focus on secrecy combined with the dire

importance of their task. At the center of the group, the

two original servants of the Spring Goddess continue to

hold sway – their names are Marados and Ashme.

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Marados

Marados is a creature of impressive natural beauty.

Her skin is white as Alabaster, and she has ﬂowers twined

in her hair. A bee or two are never far away from her. As

an earthly manifestation of spring saplings and renewed

growth, she delights in the new and exciting. Her

exuberant nature has made her the ‘face’ of the Order of

the Azure Rose – she travels about to deal with individual

members, wearing various forms depending on where her

wanderlust takes her.

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Abilities Str 8, Dex 20, Con 16 (20), Int 20, Wis 21

(23), Cha 24

Feats [5] extend spell, improved initiative, natural

spell, greater spell focus (transmutation), spell focus

(transmutation),

Skills [176] Concentration +21, Crat +5, Diplomacy

+23, Handle Animal +23, Heal +21, Hide +21, Knowledge

(nature) +23, Listen +22, Move Silently +21, Spellcrat

+21, Spot +22, Survival +22 (+24 natural environment),

Swim -1

Possessions (66,000)

- Wooded Staﬀ (unique item, 30,000). his staﬀ

resembles a young sapling, stripped of branches, with

small buds just beginning to show from nubs on its surface.

he Wooded Staﬀ counts as a +3 magical weapon, and

any attempted strike with it envelops the target in a cloud

of sweet pollen, forcing a DC 19 WILL save. If this save is

failed, the target becomes drowsy and clumsy, taking a -4

penalty on all attack rolls and skill checks, and losing their

dexterity bonus to AC. his eﬀect persists for 5 rounds.

-Cloak of Resistance +4 (16,000)

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-Amulet of Health +4 (16,000)

-Ring of Protection +1 (2,000)

-Periapt of Wisdom +2 (2,000)

Character Portraits:

Special Qualities

-Wild Charm: Good aligned beings who witness

Marados’s true form in a natural environment must make

a WILL save with a DC equal to her Diplomacy bonus

(DC 23) or be aﬀected as per the appropriate charm spell.

his charm persists for as long as Marados is within sight,

but wears oﬀ once she leaves. When she returns, the save

must be made again. A person can only be aﬀected by

Wild Charm 1/day, however.

-Revival: 1/day, if Marados is killed, her body and

possessions disintegrate, reappearing as a sapling in a

special grove of her construction. She will grow to full

strength in 24 hours (gradually reassuming a humanoid

form), but is helpless until that point.

-Bee Aﬃnity: Marados automatically dominates

all bee and wasp-variant creatures within a 100 yard

emanation.

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In Combat

Marados uses summon swarm and insect plague

variants that summons wasps – these are identical in

function to bat and locust swarms, respectively. However,

she may use giant vermin to produce giant wasps from

these swarms, which she will frequently do. She has the

ability to use a special form of wild shape which only

allows her to transform into a huge, 13 hit die giant wasp,

or a regular bee (this is used for escape purposes).

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Dealing with Marados

Marados can be found in almost any location, and

her goodly (if erratic) personality is compounded by

an endless curiosity bordering on downright nosiness.

Marados actively interacts with the various groups of

knights, spreading messages quickly through the use

of her treestride magic. To help her get around, almost

any home or keep where a Heath Knight lives features a

specially planted ﬁr tree (oten in a courtyard) to serve

Marados as a ‘door’. (Fir trees are sacred to the order as

they remain green throughout winter. hey serve a double

purpose, as Marados may only perform a treestride on trees

that are in leaf.)

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Ashme

Ashme is much more subtle and secretive than

Marados could ever hope to be. He remains in the

shadows, and generally allows Marados to take full rein of

the Order, only intervening when he deems it necessary.

Ashme is a little bit of a control freak, however. In fact,

he intervenes quite oten, though he believes he’s being

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‘hands oﬀ’. Both immortal and quite powerful, Ashme

sees most people of the younger races as frail and childlike,

and treats them as such.

Magic Device +28

Character Portraits:

Special Qualities

-Dance of the Rose (su): As a full-round action,

Ashme can, 1/day, perform the Dance of the Rose. he

dance of the rose causes all plants aﬀected by Ashme’s

Overgrowth ability to grow bright blossoms and

poisonous spines. Anyone within the area of eﬀect takes

4d4 damage per round spent in the plants, and must make

a DC 26 Fortitude save or become intoxicated, suﬀering

1d4 wisdom damage. Dance of the Rose persists for the

duration of the encounter, aﬀecting plants that grow

subsequently to Ashme’s use of the ability.

-Ethereal Jaunt (su): his ability works like the Ethereal

jaunt spell (caster level 16 th )

-Improved Constrict (ex): Ashme deals 2d8+8

damage with a successful grapple check. He may carry

one creature of up to large size in his coils, constricting

each round as a free action, without hindering his other

actions in any way. He may not attempt to begin another

grapple when he has a target constricted.

-Improved Grab (ex): Ashme must hit a creature up

to 2 size categories larger with his bite attack. He can

then attempt to start a grapple as a free action, without

provoking an attack of opportunity. If he wins the grapple,

he has established a hold and can begin to constrict.

-Overgrowth (su): Ashme has been imbued with

power over plants due to his long association with the

Azure Rose. With a silent act of will on his part (free

action to start or stop), plant life within 100 feet of his

position begins to grow quite quickly, becoming a tangled

mass. Overgrowth penalizes the ground movement of all

people within 50 feet of Ashme by ½. It does not eﬀect

ﬂight movement, and Ashme himself (if he chooses to

remain on the ground) is unaﬀected.

-Poison (ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 20, initial damage

2d4 strength, secondary damage 4d4 strength. he save

DC is constitution based.

-Spellcasting: Ashme’s spells are a selection of

enchantment and magic related to wind and plants, cast

naturally but using charisma, as a sorcerer. he save DCs

for his spells are 18 + spell level, with an additional +2 for

enchantment school spells. All spells cast by Ashme are

considered arcane magic, and thus do not require a divine

focus.

ASHME (CR 17)

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Male Couatl (Large native outsider)

AL Lawful Good

Init [+9]; Senses Spot +22, Listen +22

Languages Sylvan, Common, Elven,

AC 29 [-1 size, +3 Dex, +17 natural], touch 12, ﬂat-

footed 26

hp 178 (17d8 hit dice +102)

Fort +18 [+10, +6 Con, +2 great fortitude], Ref +13

[+10, +3 Dex], Will +18 [+10, +6 Wis, +2 iron will]

Spd 20t. (4 squares), Fly 60 t, good (12 squares)

Atk Bite +22 melee (2d6+5 + poison/20 x2)

Full Attack Bite +22/+17/+12 melee (2d6+5 +

poison/20 x2)

Base Atk +17/+12/+7; Grp +26 [+17, +5 Str, +4 size]

Special Atk Constrict 2d8+8, improved grab, poison,

spells, dance of the rose

Special Qualities Fast Healing 5, DR 10/cold iron,

Darkvision 60 feet, ethereal jaunt, telepathy 90 feet,

overgrowth

Combat Gear none

Spells Prepared (Casts as a 17 th level Sorcerer):

(6/8/8/8/8/7/7/7/5)

8th— Demand, Whirlwind

7th— Animate Plants, Heal, Transmute Metal to

Wood

6th— Geas, Mass Suggestion, Transport Via Plants

5th— Dominate Person, Hold Monster, Mind Fog,

Wall of horns

4th— Black Tentacles, Charm Monster, Command

Plants, Cure Serious Wounds

3rd— Plant Growth, Speak with Plants, Spike Growth,

Suggestion

2nd— Barkskin, Eagle’s Splendor, Gust of Wind,

Resist Energy, Warp Wood

1st— Charm Person, Charm Animal, Cure Light

Wounds, Entangle, Faerie Fire

0— detect magic, detect poison, cure minor wounds,

dancing lights, light, mage hand, message, read magic,

resistance

Abilities Str 21, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 24, Wis 22, Cha

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Feats [6] eschew materials, great fortitude, greater

spell focus (enchantment), hover* (racial feat), iron will,

spell focus (enchantment), spell penetration

Skills [300] Concentration +26, Diplomacy +28, Jump

+27, Heal +26, Knowledge (arcana, nature, religion) +27,

Listen +26, Search +27, Sense Motive +26, Spellcrat +29

(+31 with scrolls), Spot +26, Survival +26 (+28 natural

environment and/or following tracks), Tumble +25, Use

In Combat

Ashme prefers not to enter combat if possible, but if

pressed he tends to stay in the air, perhaps swooping down

to grapple an individual. He will use spells such as black

tentacles and entangle to trap opposition in plants, hoping

to poison them with dance of the rose. He oten attempts

to dominate those who are not trapped, and transform

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their equipment into wood to help protect himself. If he

is wounded to less than half of his life total, he will ﬂee

with transport via plants .

heated disputes.

Solomon is an ex-paladin who became a druid, and

is always perfectly clean shaven. He usually wears only

simple robes, and carries no weapon. No one has ever

seen his animal companion (it’s actually a stirge with an

innate ability to turn invisible). Solomon is fairly stern and

serious by nature, and lives on his own in the hinterlands,

where he takes in groups of noble adventurers to complete

small tasks and learn the lore of the wild. If anyone can

serve as an introduction to the Order of the Azure Rose,

it would be Solomon.

Susceptible to: A well-groomed appearance and

good manners. Characters who pay extra attention to

their grooming and manner will get a good reaction out

of Solomon. his provides an eﬀective +2 bonus to all

diplomacy checks when dealing with him.

Character Portraits:

Dealing with Ashme

he strange, serpentine Ashme is a powerful magician

and relies upon enchantments in his dealings with mortals.

Although his heart his good, his hand is heavy and he sees

no problem with using magic to completely dominate

members of ‘the young races’ if he sees some beneﬁt in

it. his is a major sticking point between himself and

Marados – although Ashme is the elder of the two and is

really the ‘head’ of the organization. Ashme very rarely,

if ever, leaves Valleybough, where he serves as its chief

guardian.

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Prominent Heath Knights

here are a dozen heath knights, but four of them

stand out as the clear leaders of the pack. hese aren’t

oﬃcial positions, more advantages granted to them

through force of personality.

Geldet Masaru: (15 th Level Ranger) Geldet is a satyr,

and probably the most garrulous and hot-headed of the

knights. He is constantly propositioning Marados (much

to her annoyance), although he is (mostly) joking. Geldet

is a folk hero amongst the fey, although it’s fair to say that

the legend is a lot larger than he is. His true passions

are truﬄes and mushroom collecting, to the point of

obsession – it’s actually believed that he has a myconid

in his ‘care’. His love of all things fungal is apparent in

his home: a carved tree completely crowded over with

all manner of shelf fungi and puballs. Note: Don’t eat

anything he cooks.

Geldet is a ranger, and his most stunning feature

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Solomon Etrada: (15 th Level Druid) he youngest of

the heath knights, Solomon is still in his late ﬁties. As

one of the few humans to ever join the Order of the Azure

Rose, Solomon is considered a bit of a curiosity. Many

of the other members view him as a child. Ironically,

Solomon is one of the most level-headed and mature

of the entire group, acting as the voice of reason during

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