Overview image of The Descending Stair, from Heroscaper Flame Gryphon.[1]
"The River of Blood travels under the stair via a narrow gully and spills out into a massive lake. Few have ventured this far north."
The Descending Stair is the first battlefield in the River of Blood, an online-only campaign released for the Dungeons and Dragons portion of the continuity by Wizards of the Coast. It is followed by Room 2: The Hydra's Lair, Room 3: The Torture Chamber, and Room 4: The Transformation Circle. Each room in the campaign required a Battle for the Underdark Master Set to construct, and the scenarios required a full set of Wave D1: Champions of the Forgotten Realms.
Scenarios[]
Campaign Overview Text:[]
The Underdark. None in Valhalla knew that such an expansive world lay just below the surface of their own. Somewhere in that twisting underground maze might lay the secrets of the lost civilization that built the wellsprings. You are the leader of an adventuring party, sent into the Underdark to unravel its most recent mystery. Along one of the well-scouted passages, lies an underground lake. Recently a horrific number of mutilated corpses have been discovered floating in its waters, apparently carried there by a river that feeds into the lake. Now christened the River of Blood, it stretches back into an unexplored region of the Underdark. You have been tasked with following that river and discovering the source of the bodies that float down its current.
Campaign Master Game: River of Blood Room 1: The Descending Stair[]
As you enter the cavernous area of the underground lake, you pick up a slight smell of sulfur in the air. Kneeling down, you cup some of the lake’s water in your hands. The water burns to the touch - it is definitely the source of the smell. Something is contaminating the water. You warn the others in your party to stay clear of it.
You quickly spot the newly-named River of Blood flowing into the lake from a tunnel. Like a dark omen, just as you set your gaze on the river’s entrance, the pale dead eyes of a floating corpse meet your own, as the body drifts lazily out from the river and into the lake. You follow a narrow passage that leads over the river’s tunnel. After a time, the narrow passage opens up onto a natural stair that descends into the darkness. At its bottom your torch illuminates flashes of agile movement. There are drow here guarding the stair. You smile grimly.
“That didn’t take long,” you mutter as you draw your weapon.
Resources[]
Full scenario PDF downloads are available at Heroscapers.com.