Headless Horseman

__NOTOC__
==Darklords Text==
===Confronting the Horseman===
Before the horseman comes, the night grows black and still. Clouds obscure the moon, leaving only a thin blue halo to outline its shape behind them. Mist covers the land. Then, a faint rumbling arises from the road behind, like a storm breaking in the region from which the travelers came.
The rumble turns to thunder, as if an entire cavalry unit is approaching at a frantic pace. Yet it is the sound of only one rider. Appearing, then disappearing, as it surges and pulses through the Mists, comes a single steed. It is a great black horse, with hoofs that flash with fire when they strike the ground, and eyes that are wild and white. The large ebony nostrils are flared, and they issue forth puffs of smoke. The teeth are bared in a grin, the lips pulled back by the sawing and jerking of the reins.
The rider is a large man, dressed in silver and black. His dark, high-collared cloak floats behind him. His ebony-colored boots are gleaming; his spurs and stirrups are made of, shining silver. The left arm holds the reins, drawn high and taut. His right arm, raised overhead, carries a huge, shining sickle.
The rider has no head. He thunders by at a break-neck pace, swinging his blade like a pendulum-first once, then twice, then three times at the heads of his victims. Decapitation is his goal, but strenuous efforts to avoid this attack may result in a less serious wound. If he misses his attack number by 1, a scalping or vicious slice to the neck (1d10 points of damage) may result; by 2, a brain-bruising bash to the head (1d6 points, 1d4 if helmeted); by 3, a scarring slash to the face (1d4 points). If he misses by 4 or more, the sickle hisses harmlessly past its mark.
Nothing can diminish the horseman's speed. He is immune to hold, slow, charm, and the like. He cannot be turned. As quickly as he came, he is gone, disappearing into the gloom. In his wake, if his steel found its mark, lies a twitching corpse with its head beside it.
For a while, hardly a sound can be heard. The night muffles all but the rapid breathing and steady heartbeats of those the horseman has left alive. The respite does not last, however. In moments, the silence is broken. The horseman has an entourage.
===The First to Follow===
A crowd approaches, or so it seems, coming from the Mists that brought the horseman. At first these characters cannot be seen-only heard, cackling and laughing hysterically. As the travelers soon discover, this is no ordinary crowd. It is nearly a dozen heads (1d6 +6), bouncing, floating, and rolling up the road, turning this way and that to reveal their jeering grins, bloody necks, and filthy, matted hair. They are what became of the horseman's victims. Unlike the horseman, the disembodied heads intend to stop and relish their assault.
The heads bash wildly against their hapless victims, butting with their foreheads and snapping with their teeth. When a tender piece of flesh presents itself, they latch on-especially to necks, cheeks, or lips (1 point of damage per round; automatic after the first successful hit). The teeth hold fast, like barbs, and if the disembodied head is torn away, the victim's flesh and clothing tears too (1d3 + 1 points of damage). Nothing short of destruction can sway these taunting, bloodthirsty creatures: morale does not apply. After no more than six rounds of combat, however, the jeering heads depart. (They fight for at least three rounds, with a 50% chance of continuing for another three.) Then the heads disappear into the Mists, following in the wake of the Horseman. Once again, only darkness and silence remain.
Heads (2-20): Int Low; AC 3; MV FI 24 (B); HD 2+2; hp 10; THAC0 19 #AT 1; Dmg special; MR Nil; SZ T; ML Nil; XP 65; AL CE
===The Last to Follow===
Silence (and safety) on the Horsemank road is always fleeting. The third wave s approaches out of the gray pall from whence the other horrors came. It is another crowd, this one apparently smaller. At first, only the sound of their hissing and groaning comes out of the Mists. Then five pairs of red, glowing eyes appear in the fog, three low, two high. They drift forward at speeds no man could match on foot (18). Then the entire entourage is clear: the heads of four medusae, and the head of a maeder, a medusa's humanoid mate.
The medusaen heads-those of green-skinned ladies, whose hair is a bed of swarming snakes-attempt to fix their victims in place. The powers of these heads have changed since the medusae from which they came before beheaded. They are not diminished in a way that suggests they are decaying however.
Their gaze, when met, can paralyze, but it can no longer petrify. The snakes upon their crown are still venomous-but not as venomous as usual. The head must be within one foot before its tresses can strike, but the creature can easily strike up to four (1d4) times per round, inflicting 1d10 points of damage with each attack. At the end of each combat round, a poisoned victim must roll a successful saving throw vs. poison or fall to the ground unconscious, seemingly dead. If he fails a second saving throw vs. poison, he is dead. Anyone who touches him must also roll a successful saving throw vs. poison or fall unconscious for 1d4 rounds.
The maeder is a muscular male humanoid that is the mate of a medusa. It is a rare creature native to the Forgotten Realms (a fact that gives credence to the theory that the Horseman briefly leaves Ravenloft). Now, only his bald head and brawny neck remain. The maeder's skin is gray.
The maeder groans throughout the combat, stopping occasionally to let out a low, guttural chuckle to punctuate the medusaen hissing. Petrification and paralyzation (including related spells, such as hold and slow) have no effect on this creature. In its former life, the creature had the ability to turn flesh to stone. Ravenloft has replaced that power with another: the maeder can cast any spell that the PCs cast against either the Horseman or the jeering heads in the second wave.
Neither the medusae nor the maeder is stupid, nor do they share the bloodlust of the first wave. If defeat is apparent, they flee, hissing and moaning as they fade away into the fog.
DM Note: This third wave of horror is optional; use it with mid- to high-level parties who suffered little during the first two waves.
Medusa's Heads (4): Int Very (11); AC 5; MV F 15 (C); HD 4; hp 20; THAC0 17; #AT 1-4; Dmg 1d10; MR 20%; SZ T; ML 14; XP 650; AL CE
Maeder's Head (1): Int Very (11); AC 5; MV FI 15 (C); HD 4; hp 20; THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d4; MR 20%; SZ T; ML 14; XP 420; AL LE
===The Winding Road===
One might ask why the horseman's victims do not simply flee from the road. Usually, that's to no avail. It is rumored that the road has sinkholes, which can engulf a victim up to his waist in two rounds if he attempts to flee. More importantly, the road can turn to follow its victims, branching if need be, using their footprints to guide it.
Any footfall (or handfall) leaves a print on this road that the road itself can track. As a scent draws a bloodhound, the touch of a victim draws the road. The only way to avoid the road's pursuit is to fly or levitate, or to leap by magical means. Even then, the road attempts to hold on to the character, its force reaching up to slowly drag its struggling victim back to earth (50% chance). In the meantime, the road continues to shadow its victim's movements.
Although the horseman cannot reach a character in flight, the heads are not bound to the surface of the road. They are able to fly and will follow their victims into the air.
==From the Shadows Text==
After The First to Follow vanish, the last wave arrives, called The Last to Leave. This portion of this adventure is slightly different from the Darklords entry, in which they are called The Last to Follow. Instead of medusae and maeder heads, this group is made up of three beholders of varying sizes (70 hp, 60 hp, and 50 hp). No horror check is necessary, since these are familiar monsters. However, a fear check may be in order, depending upon the condition of the party. Rather than floating along like most beholders do, they bounce and careen about at a much higher speed. They can also fly to chase flying characters.
Do not use the disintegrate ray to destroy the bodies of the characters. Their bodies must be intact for the rest of the adventure. The beholders should do their work as quickly as possible, to avoid the agony of a long, drawn-out fight.
Beholders (3): Int Exceptional; AC 0/2/7; MV FI 12 (B); HD 16/14/12; hp 70/60/50; THAC0 5/7/9; #AT 1 plus 1-4 eyes; Dmg 2d8 (bite); SA eyestalks; SD eyestalks; MR Nil; XP 14,000 each: AL LE; 15,000 XP Total
Category:Creatures
Category:Darklords Creatures
Category:From the Shadows Creatures