Island of the Fates • Odyssey of the Dragonlords

Small Island

The island before you is a bleak, rocky place. Wind and rain batter your ship and the shore alike. Sparse vegetation interrupts the monotony of the gray stone, sea and overcast sky. Rocky cliffs surround almost the entire coastline of the island, but there is a small bay where landfall might be possible. Apart from the occasional call of a sea bird, the tumultuous waves are the only sounds that reverberate through the area.

This island is surrounded by rocky cliffs, which are pitted by constant rain and wind. There is only one small bay where a ship can make anchor. There is another beach on the east side of the island, but rocks protrude from the waters around it making approaching in a large ship such as the Ultros impossible.

The island is bleak. It features little more than rocks and shallow ponds. The skies are always overcast, and rainfall is almost constant. Plant life consists mostly of moss and some stunted, twisted trees. Small lizards, frogs, and toads live in the murky pools, while sea gulls cry out ceaselessly from the cliffs.

A coven of hags makes their lair in the cave system at the center of the island. These hags are in fact the ancient beings known throughout Thylea as the Fates.

Islands of Fate Key Locations#

E1: Cove#

The waters in the cove are calm, though the crash of waves against the island’s cliffs is deafening. From the narrow beach, a canyon opens ahead. Ancient cairns line the path within, their stacked stones beckoning you inland toward the large rock outcropping that dominates the center of the island.

Anyone checking out the trail who makes a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Survival) check sees that the trail is rarely used, but that booted tracks show that someone came and went several weeks ago. There are fresher tracks, just a day old, that appear to be those of a lion. These come from the Lamia guardian named Cassandrea.

E2: The Fetid Pond#

At the center of the island is a pit with a narrow path that winds down to the bottom. At the very bottom of the pit is a fetid, shallow pond. Humanoid skeletons reach out from the pond in several places. Around the edge of the pond is a single large cave entrance, flanked by three smaller tunnels.

The largest cave leads to the Lair of the Hags. This entrance is guarded by a Lamia named Cassandrea who was once an Amazon warrior. She bargained with the Fates long ago, but she failed to fulfill her contract. As punishment, they transformed her into a monster. She greets the heroes stoically and guides them to the hags.

The Fates protect themselves through the services of cursed mortals who have broken their contracts with the coven. In addition to the lamia, the caves are watched by two other monsters. All three of these servants are vigilant and protect the Fates with their lives.

A Medusa, once a beautiful nymph named Irisa.

A Shambling Mound, once an elf explorer.

The Hideous Fates. The Fates have lived on this island for millennia, and they have always been willing to make dark deals with those willing to pay their price. They have bargained with great beings such as Sydon and Lutheria, but they have also made deals with lesser powers such as nymphs and even mortal heroes.

The coven is led by a night hag named Granny Morta. The other two members of the coven are Morta’s revolting daughters, Nona and Decima.

Granny Morta (NE Night Hag) is doting and ribald.

She cheerfully snips at the Hags’ Loom (appendix C) with a pair of rusty scissors as she speaks, cackling frequently. Nona (CE Green Hag) is resentful and angry. She

drools as she watches visitors, clearly imagining how they would taste between her wicked teeth. Decima (LE Green Hag) is dutiful and bashful. She

attends to her mother faithfully, and she flirts with the heroes as she attends to the hags’ loom.

E3: Lair of the Hags#

This expansive cave smells strongly of rotten eggs. A large pit in the center of the cave is filled with bubbling yellow ichor. Swimming around in the ichor are dozens of worm-like larvae with mortal faces. Scattered around the cave are heaps of filthy linens. In the far corner of the room, three hideous women stand around an imposing loom which seems to have been carved from the bones of a gigantic creature.

The hags are almost always found here, working on the loom or cackling to each other about the gruesome deaths of past heroes. They might also be carving up a squealing larva and eating it alive. The hags are not hostile: they will instead wait to see if the heroes have come to negotiate for some boon or magical item. If the heroes

are hostile toward the hags, then the coven will use their full power to destroy the intruders.

Horrifying Larvae. These hideous creatures are worms the size of dogs and have the faces of humans, elves, dwarves, and other mortals. They are evil souls who have been “rewarded” for their past deeds. They will be used as food for fiends—or as spell components in the hags’ dark rituals.

Loom of the Fates. The loom was crafted from the bones of a metallic dragon. This is the Hag’s Loom (appendix C), a powerful magical item. The loom currently supports a beautiful tapestry that is being woven by the hags. The tapestry’s image shows everything that has happened to the heroes over the course of the last week, including their arrival at the hags’ cave.

Granny Morta. Granny Morta uses a modified version of her Coven Magic trait.

Coven Magic. While within 30 feet of at least two hag allies Granny Morta can cast one of the following spells, requiring no Material components, using the spell’s normal casting time, and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 14): Augury, Banishment (level 7 version), Counterspell, Identify, Locate Object, Scrying, Shield . Granny Morta must finish a Long Rest before using this trait to cast that spell again.

Hag Eye. Granny Morta possesses a Hag Eye. She offers the item to the heroes, claiming it will strengthen their destinies and improve their fortunes. In truth, she will use it to spy on them from afar.

Dragon’s Egg. The hags’ most valuable item is a copper dragon egg. Lutheria gave the egg to them so that it could be corrupted and then delivered to Sydon. The hag coven has been responsible for corrupting all of the metallic dragon eggs that have come into possession of Sydon and Lutheria. Even with the magic that the hags use on the eggs, the dragons are not born evil, but they are made susceptible to evil’s influence.

Treasure. The hags have a strange collection of jewelry, artwork, and magic items. This collection includes:

A strange necklace made from the teeth of a devil that

have been dipped in gold. It is worth 2,000 GP to the right buyer. A silver wyrmling’s skull that has been coated in platinum. The eye sockets have sapphires. It is worth 5,000 GP to the right buyer. A jar of Balm of Invulnerability.

A single Golden Apple (appendix C).

Two Potions of Greater Healing.

Bargaining with the Fates. The heroes can negotiate a deal with the hag coven if they wish. The hags will assume that is the reason why the heroes have come to their island and won’t attack until they know better. The heroes can ask for something specific, or the hags can suggest some of the options listed below. Only one hero needs to make a deal with the hags.

Boons of the Fates. These are the services that the hags can provide to the heroes in exchange for tasks:

Divination. The hags can describe up to three islands in the Cerulean Gulf and the Forgotten Sea in detail, including any treasure that might interest the heroes.
Raise Dead. The hags can use the spell Raise Dead to bring any number of corpses back to life.
Bestow Experience. The hags can make the heroes stronger. They narrate one of the Myths of Thylea, and every hero immediately gains 5,000 XP.
Loom Crafting. The hags can use their loom to craft a magic item. They require the necessary ingredients. The Oracle is also able to use the Hag’s Loom (appendix C) to make magic items, but the hags will not reveal this. Tasks of the Fates. These are the tasks that the hags will demand in exchange for their services. These tasks always come with a time limit, and they count as evil deeds that stain the reputation of the party when carried out. Kill the Oracle within two weeks. Bring a baby girl to the coven within one week. Bring a living nymph to the coven within one week. The hags hate the Oracle and have always wished her dead. The baby girl would be twisted and corrupted to create a new hag. The nymph would be tortured and devoured as a delectable snack. Breaking the Deal. The hags will afflict those who break the deal with the Curse of the Medusa (refer to appendix D in The Great Labors).

Tunnels to the Underworld. The other three tunnels that flank the main cave entrance lead deep beneath the earth. It takes explorers 1d4 hours to traverse more than a mile down one of the tunnels in order to discover anything.

First Tunnel. The first tunnel leads to the Underdark, and it is beyond the scope of this adventure. The party might encounter giant mushroom forests, dark elf raiders, or some other strange denizen of that place.
Second Tunnel. The second tunnel breaks through the ceiling above the Nether Sea. The sea is a half-mile drop from the ceiling, and a fall from this height causes 70 (20d6) falling damage. The Nether Sea is deadly without a ship. Refer to the Nether Sea chapter for details.
Third Tunnel. The third and final tunnel also continues for a mile before opening onto a blasted wasteland: this is the plane of Hades. Three Barbed Devils watch over this portal between worlds and are currently raising two Young Cerberus (appendix B) for the hag coven. The hags sometimes come down here to check on the hounds’ progress or to bargain with the fiends for more larvae. The fiends and the cerberus will attack anyone other than a hag who emerges from the tunnel.

E4: Cave of Manticores#

This cave is at the highest point on the island.

High up, near the top of the mountain, you come across a cave. Bones, animal and humanoid, litter the ground near the cave mouth. Most are cracked or shattered into pieces, lining the path into the dark with a sort of macabre gravel. Although the cave is cloaked in shadow, there is a glint of light shining inside.

Treasure#

The cave is the den for a family of manticores. This mated pair and their offspring have served the hags for decades and are well fed and groomed. Each is a Thylean Manticore (appendix B, The Great Labors) and thus larger than typical manticores.

They have a brood of four smaller Manticores. These siblings hate each other and only return to the cave occasionally. You can add them to the encounter if you wish to increase the danger and tension.

Treasure. Over the years the manticores have gathered treasure from passing ships. Scattered amongst the bones are 1,100 SP, 650 GP, two matched platinum goblets worth 400 GP each, and a necklace of sapphires worth 1,500 GP.

E5: Ruined Tower#

This crumbling tower is built to a scale far larger than normal human proportions. The civilization that built it must have been giants. The skeletal remains of the former inhabitants are scattered throughout the ruins. In addition to their great size, these skeletons all have skulls with a single central eye socket and six arms.

This ruin was once a lighthouse and fort for the Gygan Empire, and it was brought down by the Dragonlords five centuries ago. The skeletons of six-armed cyclopes can be found around and within the ruins of the tower itself.

Treasure. Inside the tower is a bronze chest that has been broken open. It has obviously been looted at some point in the past, but it still contains a number of large scroll cases. The scrolls detail the history of the war between the Dragonlords and the Gygan Empire. This account paints the Dragonlords as brutal oppressors who wiped out the Gygans without a shred of mercy.

Epic Backgrounds#

The following describes how the Fates will interact with heroes who have the following backgrounds: the Doomed One, the Haunted One, and the Dragonslayer.

The three hags cackle in unison. “The child whose blood was promised,” one hisses. “The only one whose parents defied the goddess,” croons another. “She made a game of your agony,” the third adds, eyes glinting. They describe how, at your birth, Lutheria demanded a mass sacrifice—and your family alone refused. In rage, she slaughtered them and unleashed her horrors to torment you. “A jest, she called it. But you … you are the punchline yet to land.”

If the Doomed One asks if the Fates can help defeat Lutheria, then read the following:

The hags turn to look at the massive bone loom. “This loom,” one rasps, “can weave more than fate.” Another leans close, breath thick with rot. “We could craft a charm. Protection. Something Lutheria cannot laugh away.” The third extends a gnarled finger. “But such power is not free. You must bargain.”

The hags will demand a task similar to one of the tasks that they demand in recompense for their Boons.

“You,” the hags whisper, “were never meant to be remembered.” One plucks a larva from the pit and strokes its face. “There was a prophecy that you would break death itself.” The second hag spits in the ichor. “Lutheria hunted you. She found your family. Slaughtered them. But she missed her prize.” The third hag smiles, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. “The goddess, Mytros, intervened. She erased you from memory; even from the gods. A mercy … or a curse.” They hiss and mutter amongst themselves. “Your family’s souls are trapped in Lutheria’s crystal scythe. They cry out with each soul she reaps.” All three lean close, their voices one: “Break the scythe … and all will remember who you are.”

One hag smiles. “Your vengeance burns bright, child of war.” Another raises a skeletal hand toward the cavern’s ceiling. “Seek the chariot in the sky. When the stars align, the Sun God will speak.” The third hag croons softly, “He knows your pain. He knows the beast that took all from you.”