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Estimated Duration: 4 hours
Suggested Music: "Obscura" by ASKII
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The Lost Castle of Dreams is situated deep in the forest, far
from the nearest town. Currently, it is infested by chickens. It
is rumored that countless treasures of gold are stored here.
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This side trek is designed for three to seven 5th- to 10th-
level characters and is optimized for five characters with an
average party level (APL) of 9.
This unusual encounter can be placed as a side quest or at
the end of a major quest. While set in the world of Omeria by
default, it can easily be placed in any campaign setting that fits
the description (dark forest, far from town, etc.)
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The Chicken Lich was once a powerful spellcaster named
Zeek. Zeek intended to have his soul stored in a decorative
golden egg. Unfortunately, the egg went missing the day of the
immortality ceremony and one of Zeek's henchmen
substituted a normal chicken egg. The ritual went awry and
three weeks later, Zeek hatched as a newborn chick. Zeek still
had his memories and spellcasting abilities but was much
shorter and covered in feathers. Needless to say, Zeek
immediately disintegrated the henchman who caused the
mishap. The rest of Zeek's disciples and henchmen were then
turned into chickens to share in Zeek's misery.
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Unless stated otherwise in the individual room descriptions,
the chicken lich's lair has the following features:
  Dimensions & Terrain. The Chicken Lich's lair is a cellar
where the top layers have long since been swallowed by a
primordial forest. Creeper vines run down the walls and onto
the cracked pavers in the ancient floors. Inside the cellar, the
ceilings are roughly 15 feet high and braced with ancient,
rotten timbers. Old, moldy tapestries of some long-forgotten
royal family still hang from the walls.
Doors. What few doors there are have been left open,
granting access to Zeek's henchchickens. In some locations,
however, the doors are protected with traps, as noted in the
individual areas.
Lights. With the exception of area 1, continual light spells
have been cast all around the establishment.
Sounds & Smells The place reeks. Mold coupled with
chicken feces attacks the nose immediately upon entry. Then
there's the sound of clucking throughout.
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Finding the actual entrance into the Lost Castle might prove
difficult for the characters as they travel through the forest.
However, the telltale sign of chicken prints might give away its
location.
Stairs Out. The stairs leading into the castle's old cellar are
terribly overgrown and count as difficult terrain.
Trap: Hold Person Glyph. At the bottom of the stairs, Zeek
has set a glyph of warding trap. Any creature that steps onto
the bottom step without disarming the trap automatically
triggers it. The glyph targets the creature that triggered it with
a hold person spell (DC 17). Noticing the glyph requires a
successful DC 17 Intelligence (Arcana) check, then a second
successful DC 17 Intelligence (Arcana) check to disarm it.
Creatures that are no proficient in the Arcana skill cannot find
or disarm the trap.
1

Of Chickens and Men
The Chicken Lich's lair is ruled by Zeek and his
henchchickens.
Zeek, The Chicken Lich uses the archmage stat
block with the changes described for chickens
below.
Zeek's chicken disciples use the mage stat block
with the changes described for chickens below.
Zeek's chicken guardians use the rat stat block
and a swarm of Zeek's guardians uses the swarm of
rats stat block. Either way, the guardians have
Intelligence scores of 10 and can speak Common.
In addition to their own stat blocks, the
chickens have the following changes:
The creature's size is Tiny, its type is beast, and
its alignment is Lawful Evil.
The creature's Strength score is 2 (-4).
The creature does not have a melee or ranged
weapon attack that it can use.
What Does Zeek Want? Ultimately, Zeek wants to
be left alone to his own devices. Sometimes, his
needs cause trouble—for example, he may require
the blood of a virgin to complete a spell. And he's
been known to accidentally open doors to the
Other here and there. This events draw attention to
adventurers.
What Does Zeek's Henchchickens Want? Overall,
most of Zeek's henchchickens are okay with their
current predicament. After all, the work is good and
there's plenty of seeds to go around. However,
some do long to become human again.
The trap also alerts the chicken disciple and shield guardian
from area 4. The pair arrive 1 round after the glyph is
triggered.
Stoneshape Door. The entrance to area 2 is blocked by a
wall created by the stone shape spell. It is clear that there was
once a door there that has since been bricked up.
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Zeek keeps those who've wronged him or those he finds
important here. Roll randomly or choose one of the following
NPCs from the Zeek's Prisoner table to determine the identity
of the prisoner.
Zeek's Prisoner
d6 Prisoner
1 A lawful good mage.
2 A chicken guardian who turned on Zeek.
A rogue (spy) who tried to break into the cellar,
3
looking for Zeek's treasure.
4 A commoner Zeke needs for a sacrifice.
5 A vampire spawn whose blood Zeke needs.
6 A goblin named Boop.
2
  Stoneshape Door. The door leading back to area 2 is
blocked by a wall created by the stone shape spell (the same
one described in area 1). It is clear that there was once a door
there that has since been bricked up.
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Stagnant water pools in the majority of this room.
Cell Bars. Old, rusted bars give anyone standing in area 5 a
clear view of this area.
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One of Zeek's chicken disciples stands guard here. The
chicken disciple has a large amulet around its neck which it
uses to control the shield guardian that is also present. The
shield guardian has a stored slow spell within it (DC 17).
Double Door Riddle. A creature that steps in front of the
set of double doors is stopped by a magic mouth that appears
on the wall over the door. The mouth looks like a chicken's
beak. It asks the following riddle:
"To proceed, answer this riddle correctly. To perish, answer this
riddle incorrectly.
"I have ten or more daughters. I have less than ten daughters.
I have at least one daughter. If only one of these statements is
true, how many daughters do I have?"
If the mouth has any daughters, there will always be two
statements which are true. Therefore, the correct answer is
"no daughters."
Failure to answer the riddle correctly causes the mouth to
cast a power word kill spell on the answerer. Then, the door
arcanely locks and will not open for another 24 hours, at
which point it asks the question again. While locked, the door
requires a DC 25 Strength check to break open or a DC 25
Dexterity check using proficiency in thieves' tools to unlock.
The doors have AC 20, 50 hp, threshold 10, and immunity to
poison, psychic and as well as bludgeoning, piercing, and
slashing from nonmagical attacks.
If the prisoner saved from area 4 is the mage or the chicken
henchmen, it will automatically know the right answer.
Treasure. The belongings of the prisoner kept in area 4 are
in this room. To determine the nature of the belongings, refer
to the Prisoner's Belongings table below using the identity of
the Prisoner as determined by Zeek's Prisoner table (see area
2).
Prisoner's Belongings
Prisoner Belongings
a spellbook containing all the spells
mage
from the mage spell list
chicken guardian —
spy all of the spy's normal equipment
commoner a pouch with 10 sp
vampire spawn +1 longsword, chainmail
goblin short bow, scimitar, dungeoneer's pack
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Two chicken disciples and three swarms of chicken
guardians are in this area. They can see into area 3, therefore,
if an intruder enters that area without being careful, the entire
complex will be on high alert.
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Zeek, The Chicken Lich is in this area. If alerted to the
presence of the characters, he is ready for battle. He's cast a
globe of invulnerability on himself. Meanwhile, he uses his
two shield guardian amulets to call forth his two shield
guardians. While the shield guardians distract the characters,
he retreats to area 8 to prepare his belongings and escape.
The shield guardians each have a stored slow spell (DC 17)
which they can use to slow down faster characters (such as
rogues or monks).
He keeps his time stop spell handy in case he needs to flee
to area 8, which he can defend with a wall of force long
enough to gather the most valuable treasure and teleport
away.
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This area is where Zeek sleeps. The floor is covered in hay.
Unlike the other chickens who reside in the Lost Castle of
Dreams, Zeek keeps his regular areas free of his own
droppings.
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All of Zeek's treasure is in this room contained in a stone
sarcophagus measuring 10 feet by 4 feet.  If Zeek must flee to
this room to escape intruders, he can easily teleport away with
this sarcophagus.
Treasure. The sarcophagus holds the following treasure:
13,500 gp and 1,500 pp in linen bags, 10 gems worth 1,000 gp
each, +1 chain mail, +2 wand of the war mage, and a sword of
vengeance. The wand of the war mage is cursed. Any creature
that attunes to the wand permanently polymorphed into a
chicken. While a chicken, the creature's size becomes tiny, its
Strength score becomes 2 (-4) and it can't wear or carry
anything. To change back into a chicken, a greater restoration
spell must be cast upon the character.
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Zeek is over a hundred years old and plans to see his 200th
birthday. He will try to escape if he feels that the odds are
against him and failing that, he'll try to cut a deal with the
adventurers. If he does escape, he won't take the setback
lightly. Almost immediately, The Chicken Lich will learn
everything it can about those who raided his Lost Castle and
use that information to seek vengeance. A devious chicken,
Zeek isn't above capturing loved ones, framing the characters,
ruining the characters' reputation, or destroying whatever else
is important to them.