Editing Mirrors of the Abyss (section)

==Story==
The module begins with the party reaching the fortified mountain inn of Castle Iverstone, only to find once they have all stepped through the front gate that it has been overrun by a mass of demons. They are confronted by [[Eshebala]], the fiend-goddess having gone quite, quite mad over centuries of isolation. After a bit of mad ranting, she explains that she has decided to "play" with the adventurers, as punishment for her own status of having been judged and forgotten. Declaring that the last survivor who manages to make it to her at the heart of her castle in Vulgarea shall be granted the gift of life and returned to the mortal world, she promptly dumps them all on the 197th layer of the Abyss. With no access to [[Plane Shift]] themselves, the party has no choice but to try and survive their way through Castle Vulgarea's ruins.

...Yeah, this is definitely some old-school [[railroading]] bullshit right here.

Regardless of how the rest of the castle's layout is generated, the party begins their play in "The Fossil Ossuary", a hidden den containing the skeletons of three enormous dire arctic foxes. This is basically Eshebala's pet cemetery, and the skeletons were her three favored foxes before one killed the other two and she killed him for it. Looking at the walls, the party is presented with their first puzzle, in the form of this riddle:
::''Iko ~ You were dear and sweet. Too sweet for Faustus not to eat. I took your tail and will wear it forever.''
::''Ephryta ~ I remember your gentle gaze in the gloom but the last thing you saw before this tomb was his gnashing teeth.''
::''Faustus ~ Ornery, but longest-lived. For each sister you took, I knocked your head.''
::''I shall not leave until I remember to pat my favored one''

A DC 19 Nature check will reveal that the 1st skeleton is missing its tail and has a damaged eye socket, the 2nd skeleton is missing its tail and has damaged neck vertebrae, and the 3rd one has an absolutely obliterated skull. To escape the ossuary, the party must pet the right skeleton - stroking the wrong one causes a partial cave-in, damaging the party due to being pelted with falling rocks, but not killing them outright. 

SPOILERS:
The skeletons are, in order, Ephryta, Iko, and Faustus; the players need to pet Iko's skeleton in the middle. Also, take Iko's paw; it is one of the treasures that can be used to disarm Eshebala.

Once outside, they are trapped in the Purgatory Grove, a bounded demiplane in the form of an Abyssal forest, and presented with two identical men; Romulus and Remus Iverstone. One of these is the real surviving heir to the family who ran the castle-inn where this whole mess began, the other is a fiendish duplicant. The party has to kill one of these two (which one doesn't matter) in order to progress to Vulgarea proper, otherwise they're stuck here until they starve to death. And no, magic can't be used to breach the demiplane. Exactly which twin is the fiend, and what his mission is, the DM randomly generates... and even if you do let the true Iverstone live, he's been placed under a subtle enchantment to betray the party at a later date, unless they preemptively subject him to a Dispel Magic, Remove Curse, or similar magic. Presuming you don't get the result where both Iverstones are fakes!

Oh, and for added "fun", the Purgatory Grove also contains super-deadly poisonous-to-the-touch mushrooms and an enchanted stream that compels anyone who gets to near to make an "Arcana Saving Throw" (DC17) or take a drink... which, depending on the d6 result, could inflict 6d6 Necrotic damage, force the victim to drink again and again without stopping (save each round to stop, cumulative -1 penalty per drink) until dead, render them incapable of holding anything for 1d4+1 turns, be Frightened until they make a save, become convinced their reflection is a doppelganger and attack it, or... heal 1d6+10 HP AND gain a +2 bonus to their next save or check.

Yeah, the bullshit is strong in this one.