OUTER WARD FIRST FLOOR 15 BARRACKS.

15 BARRACKS. The door to this large room is not locked, but it is stuck and must be forced open. Inside the floor is caked with dust. A single set of footprints leads to the center of the room, where they mysteriously disappear. The white ceiling has large red magic runes written on it. Twenty four men once lived in this area, including the gardeners. There are twenty four dusty beds, each with locked footlocker. Each footlocker contains simple uniforms, plain clothes, worthless personal items, 1 to 8 copper pieces and 0 to 3 (1d4-1) silver spanners. There are nine large plain glass windows giving a view of the mountain wall to the north.

It requires the read magic spell to understand the words on the ceiling: “An annoying insect buzzed in my ear, speak me and see it reappear!” If the words on the ceiling are spoken aloud, a man will appear in the center of the room, over the site of the footprints. He is Bargo the Wizened, a powerful magic user.

Bargo the Wizened, Chaotic Evil male human Magic-User (AC 10; MV 12”; MU18; hp 31; #AT 1; D Dagger +2; SA Spell use; S 5, I 17, W 6, D 11, C 8, Ch 4; XP 7430)

First Level Magic user Spells:

Protection From Evil, Read Magic

Third Level Magic user Spells:

Gust of Wind

Fourth Level Magic user Spells:

Fumble, Remove Curse

Bargo appears as an hunched-over man in his seventies, with a long white beard and wild eyes. He has used up all of his spells except those above. He carries a dagger +2 and wears a crimson robe and black wizard hat, having sacrificed most of his other personal possessions to an efreet (see below). He carries the following spell components: solidified milk fat sealed in a tiny jar for the fumble spell, a pouch of powdered iron for the protection from evil spell, a pouch of powdered silver for the protection from evil spell (valued at two silver spanners), a hunk of quartz for the read magic spell, and a bean for the gust of wind spell.

Bargo was here when the castle fell. He was chased into this room by a shadowy horror that he cannot and will not describe. He begged a favor of an efreet noble to rescue him from the menace, but the efreet betrayed him (as they are wont to do). Instead of saving him, it placed him in the Elemental Plane of Fire, not to be freed again until the words on the ceiling are read aloud. While only a few years have passed in the castle, time has traveled much differently for Bargo. He has experienced over two hundred and seventy years of searing pain from the burning of the elemental plane, although the efreet has made sure he was not killed (yet, anyway).

Bargo will certainly attempt to bully the party. He will demand that they escort him to his tower in the west (it was plundered years ago). He knows he is weakened, however, and will avoid a physical confrontation. He may even offer a reward if he needs to, although he has no intention of keeping his word.

As long as Bargo remains in this room, his artificially extended lifespan will continue normally. However, as soon as he steps out of the room he will combust as two hundred and seventy years of being burned alive catch up to him. All of his possessions must save vs magical fire or be destroyed and anyone standing within five feet of him must save vs dragon breath or suffer 1-6 points of damage. Bargo has no idea that this will happen to him, so he will not act differently as he approaches the doorway.