The Gameatory

First Look: Monastery of Ineffable Evil

Creighton Broadhurst -

Dark, brooding and fear-haunted, this grim, titan ruin—shadow-cloaked and legend-shrouded—squats atop a crumbling, vertiginous escarpment deep in the Scarred Hills. An edifice of ineffable, unspeakable evil, the monastery is known by many names—the Hideous Fane, the Chapel of Evil and the Ruin of Vile Darkness—by those who dare to speak of it at all. The folk of Solonor Isle view the deserted shell-like ruin wreathed in the moss and mould of long abandonment with unutterable loathing.

The Monastery of Ineffable Evil is one of the main adventuring sites featured in Citadel on the Wilderlands. I'm basing my general design on the classic B5 Horror on the Hill along with the modifications I made of that module for my Against the Darkness campaign which did not end well for any hero not called Brave Sir Ozloc.

Folklore, of a certain obscure evasiveness, telling of hideous acts of unspeakable blasphemies, haunts the place. Dark worship, appalling ceremonies and indescribable rites are ascribed to the adherents of the monastery’s forbidden patron. The wind wails and howls around the ruin, and macabre traditions ascribes the wailing to the innumerable souls who have died screaming on the monastery’s blood-soaked altars.

The crumbling ruin comprises a singular and peculiar composite architecture that hints at an ancient, pre-human origin. A field of tumbled, lichen-covered stones surrounds the jumble of tottering ruins clinging to the cusp of its tenuous perch. Below the ruin, a waterfall—fed by the dark, cold waters of a nameless subterranean river—bursts from its uncharted course to tumble into the frigid waters of Wraithmere.

What the Characters Know: Through personal knowledge, chatting with locals or research, the characters know something about the Monastery of Ineffable Evil.

  • Few of the local peasants willingly speak of the Monastery of Ineffable Evil, such is their hatred and fear of the crumbling ruin. They call it by many names, including the Hideous Fane, the Chapel of Evil and the Ruin of Vile Darkness.
  • The Monastery of Ineffable Evil is believed to have been the centre of a foul religion whose origins lie in the Skeleton Coast’s distant pre-human past.
  • Extensive dungeons are said to lie below the ruined monastery. Terrifying things are said to lurk in their lightless depths.

Master of the Monastery

The monastery of Ineffable Evil is a place sacred to the followers of Orcus. Raised a millennia ago to his fell glory, the fortunes of those worshipping with have waxed and waned with that of their demonic lord.

Learn More

Citadel on the Wilderlands is my love letter to B2 Keep on the Borderlands and B5 Horror on the Hill. I'm writing 500 words every weekday for a year.