Look closer.
Quote Originally Posted by Vadim Ashguard
The Blade of Cold Ash


An indeterminate time of abuse and neglect have left this sword dull and rusted. Elaborate geometric patterns of right angles and curved parallel lines have been carved into the heavy leather hilt, though some have faded with age. The blue-gray blade is covered with a thin layer of some black, sooty substance, which resists any attempt to wipe it off. The weapon appears intended for small wielders - a halfling, a gnome, perhaps a goblin. Strange; the zombie you found carrying it around was of normal human length.

Spoiler: Appraise DC 12
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In spite of its current state, the weapon is expertly forged and deceptively sturdy: once properly cleaned and sharpened, you should be able to sell it for about a hundred and fifty gold pieces.


Spoiler: Knowledge (Religion) DC 20
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You identify the weapon's decorations as characteristic of the Cult of Iborighu. Weapons so adorned rarely see actual combat, but rather serve as ceremonial and sacrificial tools - and status symbols within the faith, of course.

Spoiler: Knowledge (Nature) 15
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The gnome-sized fey called uldra commonly serve Iborighu: could this blade have been made for one of them?


Spoiler: Search DC 30 (Rogue only)
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A seemingly innocuous hole in the leather hilt reveals itself to be part of something much more deadly: a hidden trap! Embedded in the hilt lies a subtle mechanism that will, once the sword is gripped with enough force, propel a spring-loaded needle into the hand holding the weapon. The same exit hole can also be used to apply a dose of poison to the trap.

Though hard to find, this sort of trap doesn't leave much room for sophisticated mechanisms, and disabling it shouldn't be too hard... Besides, any poison that it might once have been loaded with should be long dry by now.


Spoiler: Spot DC 20
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You turn away from the weapon and look around - startled? There's nothing here, just you and your allies. There's not much left of the zombies, but their remains are utterly still.


Spoiler: Spot DC 30
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You strain your eyes - nothing there. What are you even looking for?


Spoiler: Spot DC 40
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Something's there.


Spoiler: Spot DC 50
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You don't know how you know, you don't know how you could know, but you know.


Spoiler: Spot DC 60
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You're starting to get the feeling that this is a really bad idea. Just get out while you still can.


Spoiler: Spot DC 63
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It's right in front of you.

Spoiler: Fight
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The Ashen Haunt



CE Trap Haunt Domovoi Rogue 1 / Divine Bard 3 / Winterhaunt of Iborighu 8 / Divine Oracle 2 / Divine Bard +3

Spoiler: Build Table
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Elite array: 10 STR, 14 DEX, 8 CON, 12 INT, 13 WIS, 15 CHA
Racial: 8 STR, 18 DEX, 10 CON, 16 INT, 19 WIS, 21 CHA
ASIs at 4,8,12 HD in charisma, 16 HD in intelligence.
Trap Haunt removes Strength and Constitution, sets Intelligence to 3.
Final stats:
- STR
18 DEX
- CON
4 INT
19 WIS
24 CHA
Languages: Common, Sylvan, Ignan, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling

CR Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1 Domovoi (2 RHD) +1 +0 +3 +3 45 (9*5): Balance +5 (5), Concentration +2.5cc (2.5), Hide +5 (5), Knowledge (Arcana) +2.5cc (2.5), Knowledge (the Planes) +2.5cc (2.5), Knowledge (Religion) +2.5cc (2.5), Move Silently +5 (5), Perform (Sing) +2cc (2), Sleight of Hand +5 (5), Tumble +1 (1) Chosen of Iborighu Small Fey (Fire), +2 natural armor, Slippery, Produce Flame at-will, Pyrotechnics at-will, Flaming Sphere 3/day
2 Rogue 1 +1 +0 +5 +3 11 (8+3): Balance 5, Bluff +5 (5), Concentration 2.5, Forgery +1 (1), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 2.5, Knowledge (the Planes) +0.5cc (3), Knowledge (Religion) +0.5cc (3), Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) +3 (5), Sleight of Hand 5, Tumble 1 Piercing Cold Sneak Attack +1d6, Mimic
3 Divine Bard 1 +1 +0 +7 +5 9 (6+3): Balance 5, Bluff +1 (6), Concentration +2.5 (5), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) +2.5 (5), Knowledge (the Planes) +1 (4), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (4), Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) +1 (6), Sleight of Hand 5, Tumble 1 - Bardic Music, Lore Song, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Awe, Spellcasting
4 Divine Bard 2 +2 +0 +8 +6 9 (6+3): Balance 5, Bluff +1 (7), Concentration +2 (7), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) +2 (6), Knowledge (Religion) +2 (6), Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) +2 (8), Sleight of Hand 5, Tumble 1 - -
5 Divine Bard 3 +3 +1 +8 +6 9 (6+3): Balance 5, Bluff +2 (9), Concentration +1 (8), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) +3 (9), Knowledge (Religion) +2 (8), Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) +1 (9), Sleight of Hand 5, Tumble 1 Craft Wondrous Item, Haunting Melody Bonus feat
6 Winterhaunt of Iborighu 1 +3 +3 +8 +8 5 (2+3): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +2 (10), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft +3 (3), Tumble 1 - Cloak of Winter's Chill
7 Winterhaunt of Iborighu 2 +4 +4 +8 +9 5 (2+3): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (11), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft +4 (7), Tumble 1 - Resistance to Cold 5
8 Winterhaunt of Iborighu 3 +4 +4 +9 +9 5 (2+3): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (12), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft +4 (11), Tumble 1 Energy Substitution (Cold) Frozen Skin
10 Trap Haunt (+2 CR) +4 +4 +9 +9 - - Incorporeal Undead, cold touch, Animate Dead, Animate Trap, Chill Aura, Energy Drain, Bonded Trap, Invisibility, +4 Turn Resistance
11 Winterhaunt of Iborighu 4 +5 +5 +9 +10 1 (2-4): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (13), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 - Coldstrike +1d6
12 Winterhaunt of Iborighu 5 +5 +5 +9 +10 1 (2-4): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (14), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 - Resistance to Cold 10
13 Winterhaunt of Iborighu 6 +6 +6 +10 +11 1 (2-4): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (15), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 Skill Focus (Knowledge (Religion)) Constant Piercing Cold
14 Winterhaunt of Iborighu 7 +6 +7 +10 +11 1 (2-4): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (16), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 - Cold Subtype
15 Winterhaunt of Iborighu 8 +7 +8 +10 +12 1 (2-4): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (17), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 - Coldstrike +2d6
16 Divine Oracle 1 +7 +8 +10 +14 1 (2-4): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (18), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 Lord of the Uttercold Oracle Domain, Scry Bonus
17 Divine Oracle 2 +8 +8 +10 +15 1 (2-3): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (19), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 - Prescient Sense, Trap Sense +1
18 Divine Bard 4 +9 +8 +11 +16 3 (6-3): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (20), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) +2 (11), Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 - -
19 Divine Bard 5 +9 +8 +11 +16 3 (6-3): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (21), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) +2 (13), Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 Sudden Maximize -
20 Divine Bard 6 +10 +8 +12 +17 3 (6-3): Balance 5, Bluff 9, Concentration +1 (22), Forgery 1, Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (the Planes) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Move Silently 5, Perform (Sing) +2 (15), Sleight of Hand 5, Spellcraft 11, Tumble 1 - Suggestion


Spoiler: Spells
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Spells per Day
CR 0lvl 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
3 2 - - - - - -
4 3 2 - - - - -
5 3 3 - - - - -
6 3 4 2 - - - -
7 3 5 3 - - - -
8 3 5 4 - - - -
11 3 5 4 1 - - -
12 3 5 5 2 - - -
13 3 5 5 4 - - -
14 3 5 5 4 1 - -
15 3 5 5 5 2 - -
16 3 5 5 5 3 - -
17 3 5 5 5 3 1 -
18 4 5 5 5 4 2 -
19 4 6 5 5 4 3 -
20 4 6 6 5 4 3 1

Spells Known (CR learned):
The spells that are swapped out at caster level 8 and 11 have been struck through. The replacements has been italicized.

Cantrips: Prestidigitation (3), Mage Hand (3), Detect Magic (3), Ghostharp (3), Easy Math (5), Mending (7)
1st-level: Charm Person (4), Cheat (4), Alibi (5), Instant of Power (7), Secret Weapon (12), Obscure Object (15), Improvisation (20)
2nd-level: Ice Darts (7), Harmonize (7), Sound Burst (8), Desecrate (11)
3rd-level: Sonic Shield (11), Infernal Threnody (11), Dirge of Discord (12), Creaking Cacophony (14)
4th-level: Thunder Field (14), Dimension Door (14), Dominate Person (15), Ray Deflection (17)
5th-level: Discordant Malediction (17), Commune (17), Wail of Doom (18), Cacaphonic Burst (20)
6th-level: Irresistible Dance (20), Unhallow (20)



Spoiler: Backstory
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The long winters of the far north spawn many fireside tales: some false, some exaggerated, and some unbelievable but true. In the third category we find the stories about the domovoi; these small, soot-covered men, said to lurk in attics and beneath floorboards, feeding themselves with sticks and vermin. In some tales, they reward their hosts' piety and kindness, and keep the hearth burning even as the firewood runs out. In others, they punish sloth and selfishness. Always, they are humble and dedicated; always their greatest wish is to tend to the home's fires.

But would you take joy in such an existence? Serving humans from the shadows, watching them dine on game and wine while you must contend yourselves with leftovers and rats? Would you tolerate such a life, where your endless servitude is not even rewarded with recognition? Most Domovoi, however impossibly, do.

The young lad called Vadim Ashguard, born to a small family that inhabited a coal shed, did not. Bitterness grew and grew - against the humans for taking without giving back, against his family for letting themselves be exploited, against the fire for monopolizing their attention. And so he left for the city, determined to make something of himself, to earn through wit and scrap all that had been denied to his kind.

So great was his resentment that he even took up worship of the dark god Iborighu, god of spiteful greed and life-ending frost. All the fire, all the toil, all the things his people had given the humans without even a kind word in return - he'd take it all back, more besides - and he'd worship any god that sought to do the same!

And take he did. Known now as the Wisp, Vadim quickly made a name for himself as a petty thief and conman. But fate, and his god, had greater things for him in store...


Spoiler: CR 5
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Domovoi Rogue 1 / Divine Bard 3

At low levels, Vadim/the Wisp is a social encounter first and foremost. A solid bluff skill, great charisma, and 2/day Lore Song let him reliably roll very high on social skill checks, and spells like Charm Person pick up where mundane words won't cut it anymore. Alibi is a very fun spell that gives its target a false memory of having met you (great for a conman!) and Cheat can con some PCs out of their money in a nearly undetectable fashion.

Note that Vadim has taken the rogue ACF that grants 1/day Disguise Self - without components! Being able to run around a corner and quietly assume the appearance of a passed-out halfling drunk, or a lost child, or an innocent gnomish minstrel, is very useful to anyone trying to shake pursuers. Our language choices are taken to help enable such strategies.

The Wisp's main tactics in a fight are to not seem part of it at all. While the PCs are dealing with some common thugs, they'll suddenly find themselves plagued by wall-mounted torches spewing noxious smoke, or flaming spheres appearing from nowhere, or an unexpected blast of numbing cold (Chosen of Iborighu's gaze attack, which is actually pretty strong at low levels). All of which is coming from the disguised Wisp, who to the naked eye seems like an innocent bystander: the PCs will have to unmask him before they can fight him!

Once that happens, the ranged touch attacks offered by Produce Flame, combined with any ongoing Flaming Sphere, makes for a decent amount of fire damage per round. If allowed the chance to flank, two claw attacks that both receive sneak attack can hit surprisingly hard. Lastly, if your table allows the Inspire Awe + Haunting Melody combo (legal by RAW, but probably not intended to be), the Wisp can force a round of saves vs frightened and hopefully escape in the chaos.

Sample campaign usage: The PCs first run into the Wisp when they enter town, where they find him confronted by a guard. A break-in last night matches the Wisp's modus operandi, but the domovoi (falsely) swears up and down that he wasn't even in town yesterday. Suddenly, the party's dimmest-looking character finds themselves targeted with Alibi, ideally making them back up the domovoi's cover story while also informing your players (and the other PCs) that something strange is going on here. Nevertheless, in the confusion the rogue is either allowed to leave, or simply sneaks away, and the event can serve as a springboard for further involvement with the guards and criminals of the town.

Over the course of the next few levels, the players keep running into the never-do-well. Perhaps he's trying to pull a con, perhaps he's pickpocketing passerby or cheating at games of chance, or maybe one of the town's criminal gangs has recruited him as muscle for their shakedowns (the whole "Would be a shame if anything happened" speech gets really enhanced if you bring along a guy with innate fire powers). NPCs might call on the PCs to help in such situations, or the PCs might be his targets themselves. At any rate, even if the Wisp is sent to prison (he's careful never to commit a crime that would warrant execution or exile), his charms and criminal connections tend to get him out before long, allowing him to return and bother the party another day. Though selfish, amoral, and more than willing to employ unethical methods, Vadim is hardly a committed champion of evil at this level, but that's about to change.


Spoiler: Snuffed Out
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Four adventurers, hands and feet bound, knelt on the cold marble floor of the shrine. A tall, thin man stood before them, but he didn't spare them a glance; his pale eyes were only on the small fey kneeling before him.

"Rise, brother Wisp. Take this blade to slay the interlopers, and fulfill your duty to Iborhigu. Do this, and you shall become a true priest of the faith."

The domovoi leapt to his feet, a savage grin adorning his bearded face. With greedy hands, he grasped the hilt offered to him, turned, took a step towards the prisoners. Already he was raising the weapon, already his grip tighte-

snikt!

The sacrificial blade clattered to the ground. Uncomprehending, the domovoi stood there, staring at a small red point in the middle of his palm, at the blackening veins in his hand, and then at nothing at all. With a dull thud, he collapsed, spasmed twice, and died.

The frost-priest watched with a cruel smile, then walked over to the adventurers. The body was in his way, but a quick kick remedied that - the corpse skidded over the icy floor and came to a stop against the wall, a second kick sent the sword sliding after its victim. The priest stared at it for a second, spoke some words, his voice quiet and cold.

"Disgusting thing, really. Spawn of fire, spirit of hearth - can't believe it thought we'd allow it into the priesthood."

Then his face softened again, he turned to face his captives, hands outstretched, smiling a wall of bright white teeth.

"As for you... consider this a peace offering. I believe this particular individual has been a thorn in your side for some time? And look, whatever has made you fight us so far... I promise you we're not all bad. We've recently had a position open up, and we have our ways to ensure compliance - are you sure you'd not rather escape certain death, and join the winning team? First one to take up the offer only."

The party didn't respond. Their leader, a woman in plate armor, muttered a curse under her breath.

"Ah well, a pity; either way little of value has been lost. Guards! Put them in the dungeon - we'll see if we can get any ransom out of those would-be heroes before we sacrifice them. And while you're at it, someone clean up the refuse by the wall!"


Spoiler: CR 10
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Trap Haunt Domovoi Rogue 1 / Divine Bard 3 / Winterhaunt of Iborighu 3

Becoming undead is quite the power boost for the little fey bard. You now enjoy charisma to AC and concentration checks, traded in your two claws for cold-damage touch attacks (which get charisma to damage and drain a level each), and can be permanently invisible (you also have a cold aura, but activating it negates your invisibility and 1d6 damage isn't worth that hassle). Most importantly, anyone you kill can be animated for free as a full-round action; get a bunch of skeletons and watch them beat face while you debuff the heroes using the same spells that've been working fine for you so far. Your racial Pyrotechnics being at-will is really helpful here: just have one skeleton hang back carrying a torch, turn it into a smoke cloud every few minutes, then re-light it and repeat. If you're willing to give away that there's an invisible caster, Sound Burst is a pretty nasty AoE save-or-suck that your undead are immune to, otherwise you can just hang around invisibly and snipe AoOs.

Oh, also, you're immortal. If you get slain you return 'at full strength' 2d6 rounds later, and the only way to stop that from happening is by destroying the trap that killed you in the first place. The downside is that you (and your zombies) cannot move more than 30 feet from that spot... but who said that the trap has to be stationary? The Book of Vile Darkness includes extensive rules for working traps into armor or weapons, so Vadim happens to die to a trapped weapon that can then simply be given to a skeleton to carry around.

(if this seems cheesy: the Trap Haunt description specifically says that the trap can be moved; most traps are just too bulky for that to be a viable combat strategy)

Surviving encounters is easy with your endless revival. Even if the PCs slay every undead you got, they're unlikely to painstakingly inspect the bodies - at most they'll poke around to figure out what that weird source of smoke and fear was, find nothing, and leave, allowing you to slowly Mage Hand your weapon away until you reach a new body to kill. Alternatively, strap the weapon to a mobile undead (zombie dragon wyrmlings keep their high fly speeds and still have okay maneuverability, burrowers aren't hard to get by either) and rely on it to cart you to safety once those hordes start looking thin.

Winterhaunt offers some minor perks while we're still fleshy: +2 on all charisma-based checks is useful to Vadim's social side, cold resistance helps mitigate our fire subtype's weakness, and a +2 increase to natural armor is always welcome. Still, the real reason we're in the class is yet to come.

Sample campaign usage: The Wisp disappears for a time: once returned, he is a proper initiate of the cult of iborhigu, more ruthless and brazen than ever and ready to serve his god in any way asked of him... only for his new masters to betray him and imprison his soul. The PCs may be present for this moment, or slowly piece it together afterwards (finding Vadim's body while infiltrating a cult compound might be an effective twist if his devotion to the cult was foreshadowed beforehand, and helps emphasize the evil and threachery of the cult leaders). Do not immediately after reveal that Vadim has returned as trap haunt, but do introduce one or two fights with bands of zombies that fight without a clear controller present. If the PCs don't catch on something strange is going on, that's fine; there's plenty of time for that.



Spoiler: Cold Equations
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Boris Cryophorus, Head Priest of the Cult of Iborhigu, winced a little behind his gag. A short distance away, the four damnable adventurers that had subdued him were rifling through his minions' possessions, excitedly chattering about an enchanted mace here, a potion there. Such trifles overjoyed them: disgusting. They could at least save their excitement for the good stuff, which Boris had carefully kept to himself over the years.

But indignation wasn't the only thing on the archpriest's mind. The moment that wizard's spell had shut down his muscles and the thief had tied him up, he'd started formulating a plan. He wasn't able to cast in this predicament, but he need not be; already his many undead minions were converging on this position, called by his mental commands. All he'd need to do was stay alive for an hour or so and he'd be as good as freed again. And those same undead minions formed a perfect dead man's switch: once he shared the nature of the cult's newly acquired asset - the haunt once known as Ashguard, these 'heroes' would understand that freeing it from his control would be a terrible mistake.

Ah, that rogue was strolling over: excellent. Time, then, for their subtle game of verbal swordplay to commence, time for them to face the terrible truth that they needed him alive for now, for long enough that his escape would be assured.

"Hey buddy, how's that paralysis treating ya?"

An inane remark, a question he couldn't even answer, great. But Boris supposed that every passing second only rendered his ultimate triumph more guaranteed. These fools weren't aware of the frigid death that was, even now, rushing to meet them, ignorant of their inevitable doom. He'd reanimate their bodies, of course, maybe make them part of the temple waitstaff, it seemed like a fitt-

...the rogue had started talking again. Boris tuned in mid-sentence.

"-igure I can't exactly go and torture it outta you, right? It's just much too unreliable, and 'morally unacceptable' or whatever Alicia calls that stuff. So that leaves interrogation as the only way to figure out what you're up to. Except I'm always a bit shaky about untying casters, leaves me nervous about what they might be able to pull. We all know that you magic folk can do all sorts of things without warning, right? Probably even while tied up. They wouldn't have sent me here to stand watch if they didn't consider that possible."

Boris wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"So yeah, I really don't want to have a face-to-face talk with ya. But guess what? I don't think we need to! Priest-man knows a spell that lets him talk to corpses, and from what I can tell they speak the truth just fine. Worst case, he can't cast it until tomorrow, but someone's here gotta be the cautious one, y'know?"

Thaaaat was a knife. That little guttersnipe was brandishing a knife at him. This was bad.

"So yeah, sorry about this I guess, but in my defense you killed, like, a lot of people, so I guess this is pretty deserved actually."

No no no no n-

----------------------

"STILL can't believe you just killed him! I'm never letting you watch prisoners again!"

"You JUST told me that it's fine and we can just ask his corpse all that complicated religious stuff! Excuse me for getting a little antsy when the guy who froze off my skin starts mumbling weird stuff behind his gag!"

"Ah me lad, yer skin was a trifle ta heal, quiet yer whinin'."

"It's not about what does or doesn't make you 'antsy', Nico! It's about responsibility! It's abou-"

"Why'd you stop talking?

"Is anyone else getting chills all of a sudden?"


Spoiler: CR 15
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Trap Haunt Domovoi Rogue 1 / Divine Bard 3 / Winterhaunt of Iborighu 8

Winterhaunt gives us the Cold subtype, making us one of those (Cold, Fire) creatures that enjoys immunity to two common types of energy damage. It also gives us Coldstrike, which adds +3d6 cold damage to all our spells, spell-likes, and supernatural abilities that deal cold damage in the first place. Like, say, our two touch attacks. Or our aura of cold. Or all those spells we can energy substitute, like Sound Burst (which also stuns), or Sonic Shield (which applies every time someone hits you and pushes them away), or Thunder Field (which also knocks prone). And all those spells automatically overcome resistance to cold and are only halved by most immunities, thanks to Constant Piercing Cold.

...oh, and we can cast Cold Substituted Creaking Cacophony (Howling Hypothermia?) to no-save give everyone in a huge spread vulnerability to cold damage. That's pretty nifty too.

On the topic of non-cold spells, Dirge of Discord applies nasty debuffs and gives us yet another way to reduce dexterity, making all those clerics rue the day they decided to dump that stat, Dimension Door gives us an escape route that actually lets us take items and zombies along, Infernal Threnody boosts our caster level (and that of any divine allies we might have) and makes our undead harder to turn, and Desecrate is a free +2 HP/HD for every undead we raise plus a ton of little buffs if we can prepare the battlefield with it.

Sample campaign usage: As the cult of iborhigu comes to take up a larger and larger role in the campaign, the PCs end up slaying the local high priest. For one moment, it seems like the threat from the cult has finally been ended... until the Ashen Haunt appears, now uncontrolled by any mortal and only steered by the malicious will of Iborhigu himself. The PCs, likely low on resources from the previous fight, will be forced to flee and regroup, while the Haunt begins the process of taking over the remnants of the cult. It quickly acquires new bases of operation, corpses to rise, and doomsday rituals to pursue, unconstrained by mortal concerns like the former leadership was.

The next segment of the campaign is focused on stopping the cult's new iteration, but also on figuring out just what ghastly thing leads them now. Even if the PCs identify their adversary as a trap haunt, they'll need to square that with its apparent mobility, and they'll still have to figure out its mortal identity (which, per the variant rules on page 12 of Libris Mortis, might be able to stir the spectre's memories and briefly stop its assaults).

Combat takes a bit of a diferent form again: the Haunt will use its Disguise Self to take the form of a lich, vampire, or humanoid priest and initially fight from the back rows as a regular caster would. Once the PCs break through the line of zombies, it will simply walk into the floor or wall (thus providing proof that it's not corporeal and breaking the glamer) and switch to fighting as a skirmishing caster (with the cold aura) and finally as a sneaky invisible sneak attacker.


Spoiler: Twin Snowflakes...
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"Alright team, this is it, the final battle! We know what we're dealing with and we know how to stop it. You all know what to do: Bromnar?"

"Healin' and turnin', lass. Might smash a few undead with me hammer if the opportunity knocks."

"Exactly. Melchior?"

"I shall endeavor to locate the accursed receptacle that shackles our target's animating force and proceed to destroy its carrier with extreme prejudice. I will then ensure our procurement specialist safe passage to its remains."

"Nico?"

"Sneak around the edge of the room, then when Mel dusts the right skellie I just zip in, snatch the sword away, and... okay so you're sure that'll work, right?"

"We know these undead need to stay within thirty feet of the needle trap, and we know the trap's in the sword. Once you throw that sword across the room you'll be safer than us, because we still have to deal with a spectre while all the skeletons near you are just going to freeze up."

"Eyyyy! ...what, no pun intended?"

"...we're all set then. Kicking down the door in three, two, one..."

The heavy stone doors flew open, cracking the ice walls besides them, and revealing to the adventurers the site of their final battle; the vast and cavernous temple-room where a horrible ritual was already ongoing.

They hesitated for a brief moment.

What gave them pause, in that moment, wasn't the blast of bone-chilling cold that issued forth from the temple beyond. It wasn't the deafening wind, inexplicably howling around the subterranean chamber, drowning out all words that were not Iborighu's. It wasn't even the enormous skeletal dragons, flanking the throne of blue ice that dominated the room, or the legion of chanting zombies arranged before it, nor was it the blue-tinged apparition floating above the throne, this time wearing no shape but its true one.

No, it was the terrible sight of countless identical, indistinguishable scabbards, one strapped to every zombie's belt.


Spoiler: CR 20
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Trap Haunt Domovoi Rogue 1 / Divine Bard 6 / Winterhaunt of Iborighu 8 / Divine Oracle 2

We round the build out with more levels of Divine Bard, giving us a Suggestion ability (pretty meh compared to the domination spells we already have, but it saves us a spell slot, the DC is going to be high and it's harder to notice) and more skill ranks than we've had in a while. Divine Oracle grans us evasion, which is nice on a build forced to cluster with all its minions. Commune and Unhallow play up our divine theme, and Ray Deflection is there in case Disintegrate affects incorporeals at your table.

Lord of the Uttercold converts half of our cold damage to negative energy, further providing us with a way to get around cold immunity. A creature that'd normally expect to take nothing from a blast of frost is now taking 75%, and if we can get our hands on some cold-subtype skeletons (I recommend white dragons) they take no damage and are healed for 50% of the damage roll (we, at any rate, are always so healed). A blasting spell like Cacaphonic Burst isn't just hurting all our foes, it helps us keep ourselves and our undead healthy.

But the main combo is yet to come, and it's a doozy. At the core of it lies Discordant Malediction, a very mediocre debuff that tries to disrupt enemy casting by making its target take a bit of sonic damage every time they cast a spell with a verbal component.

Well, its target, and everyone standing within ten feet.

And it doesn't offer anyone a save.

And it lasts 24 hours.

And it can be energy substituted to cold, which we're immune to, so our concentration check becomes trivial to make.

Well, cold + negative, thanks to Uttercold, so it heals cold-subtype undead like all our blasting does.

And its effect straightforwardly counts as dealing cold damage with a spell of ours, so we add coldstrike.

And Sudden Maximize affects all variable numeric effects, doesn't matter how often they are rolled throughout the spell's duration, so that's a nice effect to put on there too.

We keep ourselves permanently under the effect of a Sudden Maximized Piercing Cold Uttercold Discordant Malediction, so every time we cast a spell with a verbal component, we blast everyone near ourselves with 3d6+12 piercing cold damage (average 22.5) while healing our skeletons. This happens twice a round: we got plenty of swift and immediate action spells to cast (I recommend Instant of Power, it's only 1st-level and gives a very nice +4 to your next save or attack roll). High-level PCs will probably have HP totals in the neighbourhood of 200 at worst, so 45 cold damage on top of your normal actions is very significant. 4d6 aura + 18d6 from a coldstrike cacophonic burst + 6d6+24 from this averages 122 damage; enough to kill full casters, leave 20th-level necropolitans with a sliver, and seriously dent even the bulkiest martial... unless they're in the area of your Creaking Cacophony, in which case the party better have a good bulk-discount resurrection plan.

Sample campaign usage: The big finisher fight. By this time, the PCs understand the nature of what they're facing and know how to put the Haunt to rest: but the clock is ticking, and if the Haunt is not stopped then [suitably apocalyptic end-game thing] will come about! In an unhallowed temple, guarded by skeletal white dragons, dominated cleric minions, and hordes of disposable zombies, the PCs must find the haunted trap, smash it, and then deal with their adversary one last time... or die in the attempt.

At this point, emphasize how much the original personality has been subsumed by Iborhigu: castings of Commune and similar spells have slowly eroded what little remained of Vadim's decision-making ability, and now the haunt is possessed by a strange sort of neurosis, aware of just how much smarter its god is and very desperate to enact its master's will adequately.


Spoiler: The Blade
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Obviously, you can go pretty crazy with the weapon that houses the trap our villain is bound to. Adamantine gives it crazy hardness, while something like blue ice is less powerful but more thematic. Augment Object is a Stronghold Builder's Guidebook spell that will double hardness and HP for days/level and takes only a 5th-level cleric or wizard to cast. Hardening is less potent but lasts permanently. Any of these are plausibly obtainable from cleric servants. Directly available from the bard list is Secret Weapon, to conceal the weapon on a zombie or skeleton rather than leave it out in the open: especially fun if you're also spreading decoys around!

That said, I recommend keeping the blade itself nonmagical - partially so that Mage Hand can be used to move it when needed, but also because the PCs are unlikely to leave nonmagical loot behind, while few parties are thorough enough to relieve NPCs of their nonmagical weapons.

Security through obscurity is your main defense - even if the party identifies Vadim as a trap haunt, they'll still have to figure out just how he isn't near an obvious trap, and where that trap ends up being located. Smashing the actual hilt is always going to be easier than figuring out that it's what they should be targeting.


Spoiler: Adaptation
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In Faerun-based campaigns, a good fit for the implied setting (bustling town in cold climate) is Neverwinter, and a long-term goal of the Cult of Iborighu could be to extinguish the volcanic source that heats the city. Auril could be a good stand-in for Iborighu if you're unwilling to introduce new deities into the cosmology.

In Eberron, few outright cold climates exist on Khorvaie, but the interconnected nature of the world make it easy to cast Vadim as a distant migrant from the northern Lhazaar islands, Sarlona, or Xen'Drik; this also allows the city to lie anywhere from Karrnath to Stormreach. Alternatively, Vadim might simply hail from a mountainous, rather than northern, climate; the Ironroot Mountains would make for a fine location. The cult of Iborighu can be reworked as an organization that seeks to control and spread manifest zones of Risia, and the climax of the campaign could deal with the threat of such a zone being created over a major population center.


Spoiler: Sources
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Race and classes:
Domovoi - Frostburn
Trap haunt - Dragon Compendium

Mimic - Exemplars of Evil
Divine Bard - Unearthed Arcana
Lore Song - Dungeonscape
Inspire Awe - Player's Handbook II
Bonus Feat Bard - Eberron Campaign Setting
Winterhaunt of Iborighu - Frostburn
Divine Oracle - Complete Divine

Feats:
Chosen of Iborighu - Frostburn
Haunting Melody - Heroes of Horror
Piercing Cold - Frostburn
Energy Substitution - Complete Arcane
Lord of the Uttercold - Complete Arcane
Sudden Maximize - Complete Arcane

Spells:
Ghostharp - Spell Compendium
Easy Math - Sound and Silence
Cheat - Spell Compendium
Alibi - Exemplars of Evil
Secret Weapon - Cityscape
Improvisation - Spell Compendium
Ice Darts - Frostburn
Harmonize - Races of Stone
Sonic Shield - Player's Handbook II
Infernal Threnody - Spell Compendium
Dirge of Discord - Spell Compendium
Ray Deflection - Spell Compendium
Wail of Doom - Spell Compendium
Cacophonic Burst - Spell Compendium
Discordant Malediction - Complete Mage
Instant of Power - The Forge of War
Creaking Cacophony - Spell Compendium
Thunder Field - PHB II