Boss Encounter: King Daraghne Some dead kings have a problem with staying dead. Some get resurrected to save their nation from the brink of destruction. And then there's King Daraghne of the long-gone nation of Ar-Dial. Who has been ripped from his eternal slumber to do the bidding of Tealach Midinvaerne and the cult of the red coin. Paranoid Puppet. A few centuries ago King Daraghne was a human king, ruling over his nation in a time of strife between humans and elves. His subjects demanded swift punishment against the bands of the elves who dared raid the caravans of the humans in broad daylight as they passed from the city state of Benia through the valley of the elves which is now modern Rhivany. Daraghne was never known to be a wise ruler, but rather a genius of military prowess, for spurned by his advisors who sought more lands of their own and his own paranoia, he set out with an army to fight the elves on his own terms. King of Conquerers. The armies of Ar-Dial crushed the inexperienced volunteers of the elves and drove them into the mountains of the land, but as soon as the humans rejoiced in their victory, they were wiped out by a magical force. Grieving the loss of their mighty king, the humans of Ar-Dial burried him with his troops in the catacombs of their great nation. A tomb of massive proportions and filled to the brim with tales of yonder, sealed for centuries until the cult of the red coin opened it, lead by Tealach. Unholy Sorcery. The experiments of the cult were frutitious and after the first Affront were finished, the cult set out to plan their actual ritual. The holy sword of the Elven King should finally be his, and who better to deliver it than the very king who struck him down all those centuries ago? He will tear open the exits to the catacombs and reign chaos on the surface with the holy weapon, as the city of Senkant lies on top of the enormous grave. Fueled by vile energy, Daraghne and the sword have grown to an enormous size. Undying, Unyielding. Daraghne does not die due to wounds or spells, for he is fueled by vile magic and blood of humans, lending him an otherworldly might with which to obey the commands of the cult leader. In order to stop his impending rampage, brave adventurers have to step forth and attempt to stop the ritual before it's completion. But does murdering the cult actually achieve progress? The blood of the fallen seems to gather in groves worked into the stone of the large throneroom before rising up as red mist that soon fills large, metallic urns. These four urns at the each corner of the tomb soon propel a concentrated energy from their openings, tethered to Daraghne, enhancing his power further while driving him mad. In order to stop him, they need to be ready to face the overwhelming might of Daraghne while simultaneously destroying the urns to quell the constant flow of magical energy. About this Encounter King Daraghne is a Boss Encounter focused on playing around a secondary objective while trying to keep the actual threat contained. The goal of this encounter is not meant to be glory or a show of strength, but pure survival in a race against time. The statblock for Daraghne is listed on the next page. The recommended level for a party of four adventurers is around level 8 You can make this encounter more difficult by increasing the amount of minions, or by assigning more hit points to the urns of the second phase.

King Daraghne Huge Undead, unaligned Armor Class 17 (splint)

17 (splint) Hit Points ∞

∞ Speed 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 22 (+6) 16 (+3) 24 (+7) 6 (-2) 8 (-1) 10 (+0) Saving Throws Str +10, Dex +7, Con +11

Str +10, Dex +7, Con +11 Condition Immunities charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned

charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned Senses truesight 120 ft., passive perception 13

truesight 120 ft., passive perception 13 Languages —

— Challenge 11 (7200 XP) Enchained. Daraghne starts the encounter chained to his throne. Each limb is chained individually. At the start of the fourth round, Daraghne will start to break free from his bindings, starting with his right arm, followed by his left arm in the next round, before freeing his legs in the subsequent rounds. In round eight Daraghne will be freed from all his restraints and begins to move normally. Unholy Ritual. Daraghne has infinite hitpoints until the end of the combat. The ritual is stopped momentarily when all cultists within the lair have been killed or are knocked unconcious. Blood of the Fallen. Should at least half of the cultists be killed, Daraghne is revived in an enraged state, becoming tremendously more powerful until all urns have been destroyed, at which point Daraghne will keep going for 1d4+2 rounds after which he will crumble to dust. Enraged. Once enraged, Daraghne can use the attacks from the Enraged Actions section. He will use Leap Attack on the target of slam after throwing it, and his Wide Swing now targets all creatures in a 10 ft. radius sphere around him. Actions Multiattack. Daraghne can attack twice with his holy longsword, or once and then with slam. Instead of attacking twice, he can attack with Wide Swing once. Holy Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10ft., one target. Hit 16 (3d6 + 6) slashing damage Wide Swing. Daraghne makes one attack with his Holy Longsword against each target within a 10 foot cone. Enraged: The area of this effect is increased to a 10 foot radius sphere centered on Daraghne. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit 10 (1d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage The target of slam must succeed on a DC18 Strength Saving throw or become grappled. A grappled creature can make this throw again at the end of it's turns. Vampiric Crush. Daraghne targets a grappled creature and crushes it in his hand absorbing their power, dealing 13 (2d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. He then throws the target up to 40 ft. in a random direction. Enraged Actions Leap Attack. Daraghne leaps up to his movement in the direction of a target and brings down his sword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15ft. in a line, all targets, Hit: 20 (4d6 + 8) slashing damage Bossfight: The King of Ar-Dial This monster is supposed to be used as a final encounter, a bossfight, in a large dungeon. This section will give you pointers on how to proceed while your players are fighting hordes of cultists while trying to keep the king of conquerers contained to his tomb. Playing as the Cult: Playing as the Cult of the Red Coin can be a challenge, as the number of creatures in this encounter plays a large factor in how it plays. Let your players survey the map, spot threats and points of attack for future use, before starting the combat. The first few turns of the encounter will be spent by closing the distance with the members of the cult, before their numbers begin to shrink in the following turns. In the first three rounds, while Daraghne is completely enchained, make use of the actual monsters you placed throughout the area, as you don't need to micromanage them as well as Daraghne at this point.

Once Daraghne breaks free of his chains and starts moving in the 8th round of combat, consider his position and his goals. He has been revived as a mindless puppet in order to deliver the holy sword. If there are no players to stop his stride, he will make his way to the exit of the tomb, before starting to demolish it to fit to his new size. Should a player be in his path, somewhat nearby or even attack him, Daraghne should focus his attention on that character until they either move away or a bigger threat appears. Setting Up the Map: First, map a square room with a central platform and connect it to an outer path of your design. Add some verticality by adding sets of stairs that lead to additional plattforms above the outer path. These plattforms will hold the urns needed for the ritual. They are where the majority of cultists will be performing the chant. Next set up the cultists for the encounter. These cultists do not fight back, as they are engrossed in the ritual and merely have one hit point each, to allow your players to quickly dispatch them and progress with the encounter. Additionally place a cult fanatic (Monster Manual pg. 345) per group of cultists that has the normal amount of hp. They will also not retaliate if the players choose to attack them. Finally, place some weak monsters throughout the room to harass the players with. Suggested monsters are Skeletons (Monster Manual pg. 272) and Affront (See page XXX). Apply the minion rule to the weakest monsters, leaving them with one hit point each while using their original statblock. Use the Affront as listed in this compendium. Once combat starts, make sure your players understand that going for Daraghne is a pointless endeavor, as he shrugs of their attacks with ease. As soon as your players kill all the cultists, as it is unlikely that they will knock them unconcious, make Daraghne die and describe it as a puppet that got it's strings cut. Give them a brief moment to gather their bearings, loot the tomb and recover from their wounds. If they knocked out the cultists, end the encounter at this point. If your players killed a large number of cultists or monsters, go to the next section called 'Enraged and Enhanced'. Enraged and Enhanced Your players have completed the ritual to awaken Daraghne by killing at least half of the cultists, and perhaps one of them notices blood flowing in the groves of the platforms where they murdered the cultists. Describe how the blood pools together at the center of each platform before slowly rising as red mist. Give your players time to assess the situation, especially if they didn't recover any hitpoints before this moment.