So far, the players should have left the Kalanos Marshes far behind with the thief Kaelig, visited the vaullian historian named Lesoth. Between Lesoth and Kaelig, the party has learned all about the fate of Shidar, Death's Door, the Scourge, the antidote and the three parts of the Key.
Lesoth has told them about Saramuthak, his tower, etc. According to the information that Lesoth looked up, Saramuthak was imprisoned over a year ago in the main prison of the town of Soleth.
Saramuthak is a very powerful necromancer. One of the most powerful wizards in eastern Aggradar. A little over a year ago, Saramuthak was captured and imprisoned. (He had a long history of run-ins with the Church of the Theocracy). He was cast into the deepest dungeon, walled up and forgotten. It was a lead lined cell (to prevent magical escape). They did not execute him because they feared he would arise as an unstoppable undead revenant. So, instead, they just entombed him alive. In actuality, he put himself into a stassis sphere (a small magical glass sphere of his own making into which objects or people can be placed, frozen in time, indefinitely). It was the only way to survive with any hope of escape.
No encounters.
The road starts to parallel the coast.
You can see the Wall before you see the city. It is immense. This is the first time the characters have seen the Wall. They see it stretch from horizon to horizon.
City gates are guarded.
You notice that the guards here are very heavily armed, and appear to be elite professionals. They look very experienced. Most of them have several scars.
One tall thin guard. One very fat guard with garlic on his breath.
The Town of Soleth is large, clean, organized and well run. You notice several small buildings with huge chimneys. Stacks of coal and firewood are stacked outside. Also, hundreds of pounds of rubble sit in great piles. And thousands of bricks, neatly stacked and arranged, sit around. Wagons are loaded with finished bricks. Smoke pours out of every chimney.
The heart of this town is the Garrison. It is the military headquarters for the entire region and the wall. This massive building is five stories tall and 300 rooms. It houses about 1,200 soldiers year around and about 4,000 during Horde season. The building is heavily fortified and every entrance can be sealed with iron plating. (Designed to withstand a Horde attack).
I have no notes from this session regarding the prison interior. So, feel free to design the actual prison to suit your tastes. Besides LOTS of guards, it has strong walls, iron doors and good, strong locks, etc. The military has a few mages employed and the town has several priestesses from the local church.
Give the players enough obstacles and challenges to make it interesting. Saramuthak was imprisoned in a heavy duty lead lined cell at the end of the main cell block. It should be easy to find. However, it's a serious iron door which is locked and then bricked over. Getting into that cell will require some powerful magic or possible explosives.
One advantage is that the players have surprise. No one is expecting a rescue attempt and a rescue attempt from THAT cell, to free Saramuthak, is the last thing the town and the guards will expect. So, the players definitely have the element of surprise on their side.
Saramuthak actually IS still in that cell, alive and well in stasis, inside the stasis sphere. It's a small glass bauble in the corner of the room, covered in dust. The players will have an easy time finding it. The city militia walled him up in here and never opened it up again, so the cell has never been searched.
The party mage should be able to figure out a way to activate the stasis sphere (with a little research) and free Saramuthak.
The first thing that Saramuthak will ask is "What day is it? What year?"
He will, of course, be very thankful and will agree to help the players in their quest.
This website was last updated March 31, 2026. Copyright 1990-2026 David M. Roomes.