After the Murderhobos Part 1 - the Indicara

This post is a thought experiment to set the scene for the potential "Return to ..." project, in which I'll be assuming that the original expedition has been followed up by a "murderhobo" style adventuring party that has moved through the challenges and left carnage in their wake... this is more a "design notes" post for my own usage to be fair which I can expand on in the actual project. 

The Indicara in the Present Day

The descriptions below are keyed to the original Indicara map and need the original UK6 module to make sense of, detailing any significant changes as a result of the murderhobo party's passage. It's fair to say the original route I3-I4 is no longer usable and the original traces of Tikul's expedition have been erased requiring another form of guidance through to the west... such as Tikul's ghost. 

I1 White Tooth Water. 

The area is essentially unchanged, except for more non-Atem skulls... it's likely some of the skulls are from Tikul's "sword-carriers" / Hek "hirelings", Vanck the giant and his pets, the slain hydra, or one or more of the murderhobos. 

Any of the humanoid skulls in the boundary line might be useful to interrogate with speak with dead (no time limit with LotFP or later rules but if using base OSRIC or similar 1E-based rules, the party may need to be able to access a high-level cleric back in civilisation as the individuals of interest have all been dead now for well over a year).

I2 Twin Falls. 

Tikul's ornate dagger (400gp value) was already salvaged by the murderhobo party. So nothing here now except perhaps a mark in the tree which has partly grown over.

Versimilitude Note: why Tikal abandoned his dagger originally and took the trouble to cast magic mouth was a bit beyond me initially as it seems impractical - perhaps he was delirious with jungle fever? Or perhaps there is a more reasonable explanation.

I3 Valley of the Mouth. 

The magic mouth spell placed here by Tikul has expired on activation and the stone slab concealing the spiral staircase to the ledge high above has likely been wedged shut from the inside by the wary Atem in response to the murderhobos using this route to covertly access the Barrier Shrine. 

The waterfall in the box canyon is the source of the Utdoo River and provides a screen to a natural cave carved out behind the cascade that may have been used by Tikal to rest on his unsuccessful attempt to return to civilization alone. It may contain some evidence of a camp or the lost parts of his journal describing his return journey or the real events of the expedition.

I4 (Unobservant) Guards. 

Although this location is still used as a watchpoint by the Atem, the northern access along the ledge has now collapsed in a landslide and rendered useless unless characters can fly or spider climb up to it, noting it is around 400 feet above the jungle floor!

I5-I6 The Atem Village and Barrier Shrine. 

This area has changed significantly since the passage of the original party, which was quite destructive involving the use of at least one fireball spell and its subsequent spreading of fire through the wooden huts leaving a lasting memory on the tribespeople.

The village is now enclosed in a gated log stockade with a crude parapet that is constantly manned by Atem tribesmen against future attack. The Shrine has also been reinforced - the bog has been drained in the immediate area to the north of the wall and a similar stockade erected and manned to prevent an attack from the north down the gully leading to the old emergency exit.

I7 The Bog (now without the Fiend). 

The headless skeletons of the slain 7-headed hydra and one of the murderhobo half-elves rest about 20 minutes walk from the Atem stockade. Apart from a few knocked-out teeth, there is nothing of value. 

The bog is currently uninhabited and no other alpha predator has taken up residence yet as the Atem patrol the region closely but is large enough for a wandering encounter or exposure to disease. The hydra's hidden nest in its den contains a few dormant eggs that may be able to be salvaged if found.

I8 The Black Stairs. 

This area was just descriptive originally and therefore unchanged... however, I feel the area was underutilized in the original module and could be readily expanded to provide a secondary route 

Unknown to either Tikul's expedition or the murderhobos until their return, at the top of the waterfall the gully actually continues to the north, then curves to the northeast around the flank of Mt Gegesti to meet with the abandoned road that once led to the entrance of the city of Terabar. This was the path Vanck the fire giant took in his exile, following it south around from the canyon reached by following the northern tributary of the Utdoo (see later in this blog for details on the northern canyon road to Terabar and its giants). It's assumed Tikul returned via this northern route to avoid the fire giant and the then alerted Atem, and it's likely the murderhobos may have as well.

The way the map is drawn it implies the stairs rose further west before the river gully formed and there may be some sort of ruined surface exit structure on the mountain slope to the west not originally detailed although likely to be abandoned and bereft of any supplies.

I9 The Old Giant's Lair. 

The fissures and flames remain but Vanck and his pets are long-dead, slain with some difficulty by the murderhobo party years ago on their return when they dropped the pretense of being fellow fire giants. The Atem have since disposed of the skeletons and used the three skulls to help decorate the border at area I1 (see above). The fire giant one in particular makes an impressive fetish to watch over the lower Utdoo river as a warning to intruders. 

The other major change is that the tunnel leading from the cave has been blocked by the Atem stacking rocks from the gulley to prevent any further access except by vermin-sized creatures but can be cleared with sufficient effort and time, faster if aided by mining tools or magic. The cave is sometimes used by the vengeful Abu as her lair and to access the Wind Walker's Passages in secret by changing into insect or rodent form and scuttling through the rocks.