Dead Gods

Greyhawk Source

Dead Gods
Covver art of Dead Gods]], by rk post (1997).
Type:	Adventure
Code/Abbreviation:	TSR 2631
Edition:	second edition
Author(s):	Monte Cook
Editor(s):	Ray Vallese, Michele Carter
Cover Artist(s):	rk post
Interior Artist(s):	rk post, Adam Rex, Josh Timbrook
Series:	The Great Modron March, Dead Gods
Publisher:	TSR
First Published:	1997
Pages:	176
ISBN:	0-78689-0711-8
Class:	officially published content

Dead Gods is an adventure for the second edition AD&De. The book was published in 1997, and was written by Monte Cook, with cover art by rk post and interior art by rk post, Adam Rex, and Josh Timbrook.

The adventure was a loose sequel to The Great Modron March by Colin McComb and Monte Cook, and carries over characters and themes from The Throne of Bloodstone by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson and Vault of the Drow by Gary Gygax.

Plot

Dead Gods involves an attempt by the demon lord Orcus, reduced to an undead, sub-divine status after being murdered by the demigoddess Kiaransalee some years before, to regain his former life, realm, and divinity and achieve vengeance for his loss.

Chapter VI of the adventure takes place in the city of Erelhei-Cinlu on Oerth, and the conflict set up in Dead Gods became a crucial part of the city's history going forward.

The book also contains a second, smaller adventure, "Into the Light," which is unrelated to the main plot or the world of Oerth.

Dead Gods is composed of two adventures which revolve around the theme of death and resurrection of a god: "Out of the Darkness" and "Into the Light". Each adventure can be played separately, although the two plots can be woven together by the Dungeon Master.

"Out of the Darkness" consists of nine chapters. Long ago, Orcus the tanar'ri lord of the undead had grown fat and inattentive towards his realm in the Abyss. The minor demipower Kiaransalee, drow goddess of vengeance, conspired against Orcus and slew him, supplanting his realm and position and even banishing his name across the planes. Orcus’ corpse lay dead on the Astral Plane for some time, until he began to stir in the not-so-distant past. His form changed to become thin, small and shadowy, but rather than being truly restored to life he had become an undead god much less powerful than before. Orcus eventually disappeared from the Astral and chose a new name for himself: Tenebrous. He sought to gain revenge on everyone in the multiverse, and raised his former demonic servants as undead called visages to gather information to aid in his vengeance. He returned to an old base of his, a fortress on the Negative Energy Plane, and on the plane of Arborea he found a magical force called the Last Word which was potent enough to slay even a god. Kiaransalee had sent two of her drow followers to bury his powerful artifact, the Wand of Orcus, in an unreachable vault of stone on the plane of Pandemonium. In his search for his Wand, Tenebrous used the Last Word to slay Primus, the lord of the modrons, and using Primus's form he began using the modrons to search for his Wand. When the modrons discovered the two drow who had buried the Wand, Tenebrous began making preparations to take back the Abyss. The player characters must follow the clues to discover Tenebrous's scheme and keep the Wand away from him long enough for the power of the Last Word to consume him; if they succeed, the characters must then stop one of Orcus's followers from reviving his corpse on the Astral Plane yet again, to conclude the adventure.

"Into the Light" consists of three parts, and takes place in the city of Sigil. Many years ago, the last worshippers of a dead god brought the pieces of his body from the Astral Plane to Sigil and used the body to construct a monument of five standing stones. Some time later, when the significance of the monument had been forgotten, adherents of another religion built a temple around the standing stones; in time, this religion died out and was forgotten too. This church stood vacant for centuries until bought by a wealthy man named Cruigh Manathas, who ordered his workmen to tear it down. The workmen disappeared one day – unknown to all, they had been absorbed into the standing stones, as were those who came to investigate what happened to the workmen. Secretly, a fighter named Argesh Fiord has been in control of the situation and is using it in an attempt to foment a war between some of the city's factions in revenge for the death of his wife. The player characters must uncover Fiord's plot in order to resolve the matter and prevent the war.

Publication history

Dead Gods was published in 1997, and was written by Monte Cook, with cover art by rk post and interior art by rk post, Adam Rex, and Josh Timbrook.

Dating

Dead Gods takes place in 589 CY, in Oerth's Common Year calendar, or the year 129 in the administration of Factol Hashkar of Sigil.

The adventure states that Orcus died "long ago," (page 6) "years long past" (page 8), and "centuries ago" (page 66). Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss, page 128, also states that Orcus was killed centuries in the past. However, Dead Gods also states that after killing Orcus, Kiaransalee gave his wand to two of her living drow followers, Kestod and Erehe, to dispose of in the fourth layer of Pandemonium. This must have only happened recently, since Erehe only became a follower of Kiaransalee in exchange for his mistress Verdaeth's alliance with Kiaransalee's church after the Greyhawk Wars.

Orcus's death presumably occurred shortly after he was weakened by the theft of his wand following the events of Throne of Bloodstone (which was referred to on page 58 of Dead Gods as a past event). Throne of Bloodstone was dated 1147 in that adventure and, presuming this was in the DaleReckoning calendar of the Forgotten Realms setting, this equates to 367 CY on Oerth, which is certainly centuries ago. This would give Orcus's wand time to regenerate (said to take a century in Throne of Bloodstone, page 82), so Kiaransalee could have it hidden away by Kestod and Erehe later on.

This dating is undermined by the Forgotten Realms setting later placing the events of Throne of Bloodstone in 1359 DR (for example, in Dragons of Faerûn, page 9, among many other sources), which is equivalent to 579 CY on Oerth. This would make the time Orcus spent dead and inert, with Kiaransalee ruling his layer of Thanatos in his place, much shorter.

Connections with Return to the Tomb of Horrors

Dead Gods has several connections to the contemporary adventure Return to the Tomb of Horrors by Bruce R. Cordell. On page 6 of Dead Gods, Acererak's meddling with the Negative Energy Plane is said to be one of the reasons for Orcus rising as an undead god. On page 52, the adventurers have the opportunity to visit the dead world of Ranais, the planet from which the lost city of Moil, Acererak's current stronghold, was torn by Orcus long ago.

Reception

Dead Gods was ranked the 14th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.

Reviews

• Shadis (Issue 44—Jan 1998)
• http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_2746.html

External links

Disclaimer:Any lore presented through the following links does not necessarily adhere to established officially published content, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki.

• Dead Gods on Wikipedia.

References

Bibliography

• Cook, Monte. Dead Gods. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1997. TSR2631
• Boyd, Eric L. and Eytan Bernstein. Dragons of Faerûn. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2006.
• Cordell, Bruce. Return to the Tomb of Horrors. Renton, WA: TSR, 1998.
• Dobson, Michael, and Douglas Niles. The Throne of Bloodstone. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1988.
• Gygax, Gary. Vault of the Drow. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1978.
• Mona, Erik, James Jacobs, et al. "The 30 Greatest D&D Adventures of All Time." Dungeon #116. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2004.
• Stark, Ed, James Jacobs, and Erik Mona. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2006.
• Weining, Frederick. "The Vault of the Drow." Dragon #298. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2002.

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