CM8: The Endless Stair

CM8 "The Endless Stair" (1987) by Ed Greenwood is a D&D adventure for a party of four to six characters of levels 15 to 20.

CM8 "The Endless Stair" (1987) by Ed Greenwood.  Cover illustration by "Jack Fred" (Keith Parkinson).

The PCs get caught in the cross-fire between a deceased wizard's apprentices, as rival mages vie against one another to claim their master's inheritance.

Creative Team:

CM8 "The Endless Stair" was written by Ed Greenwood (credited as Ed "Elminster" Greenwood), and published the same year as the original Forgotten Realms boxed set.

Ah! Space contraints (this was my "learn how to write TSR modules" module) forced me to leave out a lot of the catches (like side-effects, geases, quests, etc.) tied to all that magic. Without them, it's a treasure shop giveaway, at the end…

Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 24, 2018

Development and editing was credited to Chris Christensen.

The cover illustration is by Keith Parkinson, who used "Jack Fred" as his signature, a pseudonym shared by himself and fellow artists at TSR for work they felt was not up to their usual standard (as discussed by Larry Elmore, here).

Interior black-and-white illustrations are by Graham Nolan, with cartography by Dennis Kauth.

Special thanks were extended to: Jenny, Anita Buttemer, Jim Clarke, Andrew Dewar, Ian Hunter, John Hunter, Victor Selby, and (of course) Grimwald.

The Setting:

For those campaigns set in the D&D® game world introduced in the Expert Set, it is recommended that Daelzun’s Rest be located on a road somewhere in the Principalities of Glantri, at least four days' ride from Glantni City.

CM8 "The Endless Stair" pg. 2

Greenwood refers to the Lands and Environs of the D&D Wilderness, and may have therefore envisioned Daelzun's Rest along one of the trade routes leading northwest out of the Principalities of Glantri.*

*for a discussion regarding other possible locations, see this thread on the Piazza

The module states that the area around Daelzun's Rest was ruled by a Baron Elktazar some 300 years earlier (prior to the formation of the Principalities of Glantri in 858 AC)

The Baron reigned from Moonkeep "a many-towered fortress atop a rocky crag (it is up to the DM to decide if Moonkeep has vanished entirely, is an explorable - i.e., dungeon - ruin, or still exists, perhaps under a different name, as an inhabited stronghold)."

His large realm contained "vast forests, rocky crags, and small farms, a loyal land under the Baron’s even justice in a land of many small baronies and landholdings."

Daelzun's Rest:

Illustration by Graham Nolan

Daelzun's Rest is a fully detailed roadside inn, easily repurposed for use in other settings or adventures.

The Endless Stair:

Illustration by Graham Nolan

"The Stair takes the form of an open (that is to say, with a large open space at the center) spiral of joined (seemingly fused together in one piece) marble, polished smooth and glowing with a soft, pearly white radiance, which brightens to a blue-white glow on each step whenever a living creature is touching it."

Comparisons have been drawn between the Endless Stair and the Celestial Stairway in the Avatar Trilogy (see this thread on the Piazza).

The Seat of Power:

The Seat of Power

The Seat of Power is a Lesser Artifact, as described in the Master DM's book (1986), created by the same unknown Immortal who fashioned the Endless Stair.  Ancient tomes name this Immortal as "Cheiros" and the guardian as the "Cheiromar".

Seat Powers (usable only once per round, and only one power per round): Dispel magic (R 120', EF 20' cube, X8) meteor swarm (R 240', EF 4 for 8d6 + 8d6 or 4 for 4d6 + 4d6; C26) curse (R touch, EF limited; see X14) teleport (self only, from Seat; X15) create any monster (R 90'; DR 4T, EF 40 HD; M8) reverse gravity (R 90'; EF 30' cube; C22) heal (M9; automatic healing of self only) remove curse (R touch; X14) prismatic wall (R 60'; DR 6T, EF 10' radius or 500 sq ft; M9)

R = Range in feet, DR = Duration, T = Turn; EF = Area of Effect; page and volume number of rulebooks describing magic given at end of entry.

New Spells:

Stone Bolt (3rd), Control Bats (4th), Warning Trumpet (4th), Control Gargoyle (5th), Symbol: Spell Loss, Entrap (8th)

New Magical Items:

Crystal of Death Scrying, Dart of Death, Gem of Magic Missile Protection, Diadem of Disenchantment

From AC4 "The Book of Marvelous Magic": Buttons of Blasting (pg. 21), Cabinet of Ministering (pg. 22), Table of Plenty (pg. 64)

New Monsters:

Prying Eyes, Guardian Hand,* Skullwraith, Eater-of-Magic

*similar to Ed's "Crawling Claw" from Dragon #32 (December, 1979)

Prerolled Characters:

Thondaril "The Sword", Lawful 21st level Fighter
Baerum "The Bold", Neutral 16th level Fighter
Elensyl the Maga, Lawful 17th level Magic-user
Zanzir "The Mysterious", Neutral 20th level Magic-user
Durnath the Patriarch, Lawful 19th level Cleric
Thurlan "Evilscourge", Lawful 15th level Cleric
Orskil "Sharpeye", Neutral 15th level Thief
Sparnus "The Hand", Neutral 17th level Thief