The Night of Open Jars
One-Shot · 6 Players · Level 12 · ~3–3.5 Hours · 2 Acts · Halloween Haunt · Greek Mythology
📜 Session Summary
| Style Halloween Haunt · Festival Games, a Rescue Fight, a Trapped Descent & One Big Fight |
| Win Condition Save the festival, follow the dead home, and close the Jar — Pandora need not die |
| Players 6 × Level 12 |
| Est. Duration 3–3.5 hours |
| Structure 2 Acts — Act I: The Feast of the Dead (games, then a Hard rescue fight) · Act II: The Way Down (clues, traps, the Door That Asks) and The Open Jar (Deadly boss; four win paths) |
| Signature Mechanic The Lamp-Count — six clay grin-lamps, one per PC, lit at the festival gate. Fear, traps and the hungry dead snuff them; kindness, honesty and the Lantern of Elpis relight them. Every lamp still burning in the sanctum is a point of Hope |
| Setting Elpida, a hill town on the Isle of Anemos, on the last night of Anthesteria (when the jars are opened and the dead are fed); the ash grove above the town; the buried temple of the Jar; the cold sanctum where the Jar stands open |
| Atmosphere A harvest fair that turns into a ghost story. Torches, masks, honey-cakes and swings, and then the town's own dead come to the feast hungry. Spooky, not gory — the dread is that the dark is sad, and it knows your name |
| Miniatures Act I — 4 water elementals (Keres), 2 spectres + 1 ghost (Unfed Wraiths), 8 ghosts (Hungry Shades), 4 zombies or skeletons (Graveyard Ghouls), villager tokens. Act II — minotaur skeleton (Kyros), 2 spectres (the Twin Sorrows), 4 haunted armors (Hollow Heroes), 1 humanoid (Pandora), ghosts for Shadows and Specters, water elementals for Keres, any Huge figure for the Jar-Wyrm |
| Materials Six tea lights (one per player — paper cups or little pumpkins make fine lamp-shades); a lighter; a cup and a d6 for the festival games; a small lantern or phone-torch prop for the Lantern of Elpis; index cards for the invitation, the Lantern note and the Warding Rhyme |
| Tone A ghost story told around a few small flames. Let the table go quiet when a lamp goes out. The best moment is a player telling a true story to bring a friend's light back |
Description
Every spring the town of Elpida keeps Anthesteria, the Athenian festival of the opened jars. On the first day the wine jars are unsealed; on the second there are drinking contests and swings and a masked procession; and on the third, the Day of Pots, the town cooks seed-porridge and honey-cakes for its dead, who come down from the hill to eat and then go home. At the end of the night everyone shouts the old words at the threshold: "Out, Keres! It is no longer Anthesteria!" It has worked for four hundred years.
This year Archon Kleio has invited the party as honoured guests. At the gate a stocky, grey-bearded lamplighter named Dios lights a clay grin-lamp for each of them and says they should keep it lit all night. The games are good. The ghost story by the hearth, told by the blind storyteller Phaedon, is better. And at midnight the dead arrive — not polite and grey, as they have always been, but starving, with things walking among them that nobody in Elpida has ever seen.
The dead are hungry because the Jar is open. Up the hill, under an ash grove kept by the nymph Acantha, is the buried temple where Pandora's pithos has stood open for two thousand years. Tonight the first evils it ever let out, Old Age and Sickness, have come back to the door. Pandora herself is not the villain; she is the oldest ghost story on the island and the saddest. The party's tools are small and human: a handful of lamps, a jug of holy wine, a few kind words, and the one thing that stayed in the jar.
DM Notes — why it plays spooky: Keep the lamps physical (a real tea light per player). When one goes out, blow it out and describe the cold. Let the festival be warm and loud first, so the haunting lands. The Keres are patient and polite and always a little closer. Rewards go to players who do something kind or honest, not just to those who roll well.
DM Notes — pacing: Festival 30–40 min · the Haunting 30–40 min · finding the Jar and the descent 30–40 min · the Open Jar 60–75 min. If time is short, run two games instead of four and use only two traps.
"Hope was the last light in the jar. Keep it burning through the dark. At the source, say the old words: Out, Keres."
Key NPCs
Archon Kleio — Host & Patron
Elpida's chief magistrate: sixty, sharp, ivy wreath askew, a ledger under one arm even at a feast. She invites the party, and after the haunting she hires them (1,500 gp now, 3,000 gp on success, +50% if they saved 18 or more villagers) and hands over the Jug of First Wine. Secret: she saw her drowned brother among the Hungry Shades.
Roleplay: Brisk, practical, quietly frightened. "Every year we feed them and they go home. This year they came hungry. I want to know why, and I want it stopped before the children have to see it again." DC 16 Insight notices her watching one of the shades go.
Zeus / "Dios" — the Lamplighter
A stocky, grey-bearded lamplighter with calm grey eyes, a pole-lamp over one shoulder, and a faint smell of ozone. Lights a grin-lamp for each guest at the gate; after the games he gives the Lantern of Elpis to the kindest guest and is gone. Secret: DC 16 WIS (Perception or Insight) reveals an eagle birthmark on his left forearm. He is Zeus. Divine law forbids him to intervene, and he is ashamed of what the gods did to Pandora. He arranged the invitation.
Roleplay: Gentle, evasive, tired. If pressed: "I have done everything I can do. The rest is yours." If the Jar is closed with mercy or cunning (Paths A, B or C), he reveals himself at the end.
Phaedon — Blind Storyteller
A white-haired elder with milky eyes who tells the old story at the festival hearth every year. Placed by Apollo. Cannot be fooled by illusions, masks or shapechangers. He teaches the Closing Words to anyone who asks and knows the Jar is under the hill. Secret: he has walked the way down in visions for years, trying to reach Pandora from a distance.
Roleplay: Warm in a dry way; unafraid of the dark because he has never seen anything else. He will not fight. A DC 14 WIS (Insight) shows that he is genuinely grieving for her.
Acantha — Keeper of the Ash Grove
An ash nymph bound to the hill by the curse of the open Jar. Pale, quiet, with the grey undertone of old bark. Her grove has grown over the buried temple; she has watched every hero who went down. She gives the Warding Gift (buckthorn and pitch) and the Sprig of Asphodel. Secret: sealing the Jar will free her. She will never ask.
Roleplay: Efficient, not warm, but she responds to honesty. DC 15 CHA (Persuasion) or a sincere personal question unlocks: "If the Jar closes — I can leave." She does not go below the temple door.
Session Rewards
Keepable prizes earned by completing (or excelling at) this session. One character claims each reward unless noted. Full cards are under Reward Cards.
| Reward | Description | Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Shard of Elpis | Golden lamp shard that banishes one fear and steadies a save. | Close the Jar by returning the flame of the Lantern of Elpis (or by an equivalent sealing path). |
| Blessing Cord of Elpis | Eagle-thread cord Zeus ties after mercy; one perfect save of hope. | Resolve Pandora peacefully — persuade her to close the Jar herself (Win Path C). |
Creature / Enemy List
| Creature | E | M | H | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hungry Shade | 6 | 8 | 10 | I · take villagers |
| Unfed Wraith | 2 | 3 | 3 | I · snuffs lamps |
| Ker | 2 | 4 | 4+ | I–II · haunting, Jar |
| Graveyard Ghoul | 2 | 4 | 6 | I · round 3 backup |
| Kyros | 1 | 1 | 1 | II · the Door |
| Geras & Nosos | 1 | 2 | 2 | II · Twin Sorrows |
| Hollow Hero | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4 | II · haunted armor |
| Shadow / Specter | — | 2+ | 4+ | II · Pandora's summons |
| Jar-Wyrm | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | II · Jar roll of 12 |
| Pandora | 1 | 1 | 1 | II · boss; need not die |
Major Beats
- The invitation. Archon Kleio invites the party to the last night of Anthesteria. At the gate "Dios" lights a grin-lamp for each guest.
- Act I — The Festival: the silent drinking contest, the swings, the masked procession, feeding the dead. Phaedon tells the story of the Jar by the hearth and teaches the Closing Words. Dios gives the Lantern of Elpis to the kindest guest.
- The Haunting: at midnight the dead come to the feast starving — Hungry Shades, Unfed Wraiths, Keres, and on round 3, ghouls from the old cemetery. Protect twenty villagers and drive the dead off.
- The Archon's Offer: Kleio pays the party to end it and gives them the Jug of First Wine: anointed steel can hurt what is usually immune to it.
- Act II — The Way Down: clues lead up the hill to Acantha's ash grove and the buried temple. A trapped descent: the Weeping Stair, the Breathing Jars, the Hall of Bronze Faces, and the Door That Asks, where the ghost of Kyros wants a riddle answered, a gift or a show.
- The Open Jar: Pandora, the Twin Sorrows Geras and Nosos, and four armored statues — the Hollow Heroes who came before. Each lamp still lit is a point of Hope. Every round she lifts the lid and the d12 decides what comes out — a free short rest on a 1, a dracolich on a 12. Seal the Circles, return the flame, or reach her through her grief.
- Dawn. The Jar closes and the Keres drain away. Every lamp in Elpida flares once. Acantha laughs. Zeus reveals himself. The festival is over.
Encounter 1 — Act I: The Feast of the Dead
Overview
Act I is a party that goes wrong. The PCs arrive as honoured guests, play the festival games, hear the story of the Jar, and are given their lamps and the Lantern. At midnight the town's dead come to the feast starving and bring worse things with them. The fight is about saving villagers, not just killing ghosts. Afterwards the Archon hires the party and gives them the means to hurt what is coming in Act II. Open the session by handing each player a tea light and lighting it from the Lantern prop.
- Style: Festival games (skill checks) · story by the hearth · crowd-rescue combat · a patron's offer
- Win Condition: Drive off the hungry dead with as many of Elpida's twenty villagers alive as possible
Creatures (the Haunting)
- 8× Hungry Shade — CR 1 (200 XP each)
- 3× Unfed Wraith — CR 5 (1,800 XP each)
- 4× Ker — CR 4 (1,100 XP each)
- Round 3: 4× Graveyard Ghoul — CR 1 (200 XP each)
- Total ≈ 12,200 XP — Hard for six level 12 PCs, before the crowd
What the Party Gains
- Six grin-lamps (the Lamp-Count) from Dios at the gate
- The Lantern of Elpis after the games
- The Closing Words and True Stories from Phaedon
- 1,500 gp and the Jug of First Wine from Archon Kleio
🗺 Terrain & Features
The agora of Elpida at night — 80×80 ft, torches and festival lamps (dim light everywhere, bright light within 20 ft of the hearth fire).
- The Hearth (centre): a great bonfire in a stone ring. Bright light 20 ft. Hungry Shades will not enter its bright light unless a villager is inside it.
- Wine stalls (west): trestles and stacked jars; half cover. A smashed row of jars makes a 10×20-ft patch of difficult terrain.
- The swings (north): the Aiora, hung from three old plane trees. A creature can swing 20 ft over difficult terrain as part of its move (DC 12 Acrobatics).
- The procession cart (east): Dionysus's ship on wheels, 10 ft high. Three-quarters cover inside; Large creatures cannot get in.
- Temple of Dionysus (south): stone steps and bronze doors, pitch-marked by the priest at dusk. No dead can cross the doors. Villagers inside are safe.
- The cemetery gate (north-east corner): where the Graveyard Ghouls come in on round 3, and where they drag what they catch.
Harder: 10 Hungry Shades, 3 Unfed Wraiths, 4 Keres; 6 ghouls on round 3; the Unfed Wraiths' Breath of the Grave recharges on 4–6.
The Lamp-Count
At the festival gate, Dios lights a clay grin-lamp for each guest: "For the dead to see you by. Keep it lit all night." Give each player a physical tea light. With 5 PCs, the sixth hangs from Phaedon's staff; with 7, the seventh shares with the Lantern-bearer. The Lamp-Count is the number of lit lamps. Keep a running tally in plain view. It runs through both acts.
The Lantern of Elpis is not one of the six: it never goes out except by its bearer's choice.
| Lamp-Count | State | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| 6 – 4 | Quiet | The night is only cold. No Omens. |
| 3 – 2 | Hush | The voices grow bolder. Roll on the Omen table at the start of each scene and each time a lamp goes out. |
| 1 | Haunting | On the way down (Act II), the Keres come. See The Dark Between the Lamps. |
| 0 | Dark | As above, plus 2 more Keres. The sanctum fight starts with 0 Hope and everything awake. |
Unlit PCs
- A PC whose lamp is out is Unlit: disadvantage on saves against being Frightened, and undead have advantage on attack rolls against them. An Unlit PC contributes no Hope in the sanctum.
- The dead always prefer an Unlit target. If you need to choose, choose the dark one.
🕯 A lamp is snuffed when…
- A PC fails a save against an Unfed Wraith's Breath of the Grave, or fails a Ker's Dirge-Cry by 5 or more.
- A PC is reduced to 0 HP.
- A whole villager group is taken (Act I).
- A trap catches a PC badly (Act II; see each trap).
- The Lantern is out of the party's hands at the end of a round, or a bad Omen says so.
🔥 A lamp is relit when…
- The Lantern-bearer touches the Lantern to it (action; no limit).
- Its owner tells a True Story aloud (once per PC per Act).
- The party leaves an offering for the dead (panspermia, honey, a keepsake — once per scene).
- The party saves 18 or more villagers, or a good Omen says so.
| d8 | Omen |
|---|---|
| 1 | A voice behind you. A loved voice calls a random PC by name. DC 15 WIS save or Frightened until the end of their next turn; on a success, their lamp burns higher. |
| 2 | Cold breath. Every lamp bends toward the hill. Each PC makes a DC 14 CON save or takes 11 (2d10) cold damage. The Lantern is unaffected. |
| 3 | Wrong shadows. The shadows lengthen toward the Unlit PCs and away from the lit ones. No mechanical effect: let the table notice who is being watched. |
| 4 | A pale child holds out empty hands. Any offering (food, a coin, a kind word with a DC 14 Insight) relights one lamp and the child is gone. Ignoring it does nothing — but a lamp gutters out. |
| 5 | Corpse-candles. Pale lights bob up and follow the party at walking pace. DC 16 Stealth (group) to lose them, or the next fight starts with no surprise for the party. |
| 6 | An open jar on the path, a lid beside it. Peering in shows the PC their own face. Sealing it with pitch (one mark) is a good omen: relight one lamp. Leaving it open snuffs one. |
| 7 | Silence. All sound stops for a full round. A lit lamp grins wider; the DM relights one lamp. If none are out, the Lantern's light spreads 10 ft wider for the rest of the scene. |
| 8 | Hungry guest. A Ker's shape sits on the path ahead. It is only looking at you. Go around it by 30 ft and nothing happens; speak to it and it speaks back (one sentence, in a voice they know). |
Arrival — the Last Night of Anthesteria
The invitation reaches the party a week before the festival (hand over the index card). Elpida sits on a terraced hill on the Isle of Anemos: whitewashed houses, an agora with a bonfire, a temple of Dionysus, and above it all a dark crown of ash trees where nobody goes. By dusk on the third day every door in town is daubed with pitch, every child is chewing buckthorn leaves, and every street smells of honey and boiled seeds.
Archon Kleio meets the party in the agora with wine in one hand and her ledger in the other: "Guests! Good. Eat. Play. Don't eat the porridge in the black pots — that's for the dead." At the gate a stocky, grey-bearded lamplighter, Dios, lights a grin-lamp for each guest from his pole-lamp and hands it over without a word, except: "Keep it lit all night." He smells faintly of ozone (DC 16 Perception or Insight: an eagle birthmark on his forearm).
Run as many as the table enjoys (two is fine; four is a feast). Each game takes about five minutes. A PC may enter any number of games. Each winner gains Heroic Inspiration plus the prize listed.
Games
- DC 12 / 15 / 18 The Choes — the silent drinking contest. Everyone drinks a full jug in silence; speaking or laughing disqualifies you. Three rounds of CON saves (DC 12, 15, 18). Each round, one rival tries to make you laugh: DC 13 WIS save, or let the players try to make each other break. Last one standing wins an ivy crown. A PC who fails a CON save by 5+ is Poisoned (drunk) until midnight — the cold sobers everyone up.
- DC 15 The Aiora — the swings. Swing highest from the plane trees: Athletics or Acrobatics, contested by the town champion (+6). At the top of the arc the swinger sees over the wall: DC 16 Perception spots a line of pale lights coming down the hill from the ash grove, hours early. Spotting it means the party cannot be surprised at midnight and has one free round to move villagers.
- DC 15 The Masked Procession. Dionysus's ship-cart rolls through the agora with masked revellers behind it. Best mask or best performance (Performance or Deception) wins the Mask of the Revel: advantage on one CHA check before dawn. DC 15 Insight notices one masked walker who is not breathing — a Ker, come early. Noticed, it slips away uphill.
- DC 14 Feeding the Dead. Help the old women stir the chytroi, the black pots of seed-porridge (panspermia) for Hermes of the Underworld and the dead: Religion, or Survival to cook it right. Success: the party is given a pot of panspermia (6 portions). In the Haunting, a portion offered to a Hungry Shade (action) makes it eat instead of feed; in Act II a portion left as an offering relights a lamp. A failure means a PC tastes it — roll an Omen.
After the games Dios finds the party again. He gives the Lantern of Elpis and its note not to the best player but to the kindest guest — the one who gave away a prize, helped a child onto a swing, or tasted the dead's porridge so an old woman didn't have to. If nobody stood out, he gives it to whoever asked him a question about himself. "It is the last light that was in the jar. When you stand where the first jar stands, say the old words." Then he is gone into the crowd.
- True Stories: Phaedon ends with "A lamp is just a thing that holds a little light. What you tell it decides what kind." Any player may tell a true story about their character — a person they lost, a promise they kept, a fear, a small kindness — in one to three sentences, aloud. That PC's lamp is relit (once per PC per Act; the Lantern-bearer's story relights two). Do not demand quality; demand honesty.
- Closing Words: if anyone asks how a jar is closed, Phaedon teaches them: "Out, Keres! It is no longer Anthesteria!" They work only at the Jar (Win Path B). Said anywhere else, nothing happens, and the dead turn to look at the speaker.
The Haunting — the Dead Come Hungry
At midnight the town goes quiet to let the dead in, as it always does. The bonfire leans. A cold comes down the hill like water. Then they come through the gates and over the walls: the Hungry Shades, grey and thin, who are the town's own dead — somebody's grandmother, somebody's son — but with their mouths open and their eyes on the living, not the porridge. Behind them glide the Unfed Wraiths, the oldest unburied dead on the island, and the Keres, who have never come to Elpida before. Someone screams. The children are on the swings.
- Four groups of five: at the Wine Stalls, the Swings, the Hearth, and the Procession Cart. Use a token per group and track numbers. Villagers have no turns; they cower.
- The dead feed: at the end of each round, each Hungry Shade adjacent to a group takes one villager. An Unfed Wraith or Ker that chooses to Life Drain or claw a villager instead of a PC takes one. Each Graveyard Ghoul grabs one villager and drags it 15 ft toward the cemetery gate each turn; at the gate, that villager is taken.
- Taken villagers fall grey and cold. Any magical healing before the fight ends brings one back (counts as saved).
- Rally (action, within 30 ft): DC 14 Persuasion or Intimidation. The group moves up to 30 ft where the PC points, immediately. A group that reaches the temple doors is safe.
- Guard: a group with a PC adjacent cannot lose a villager to a Hungry Shade that round.
- Feed: a portion of panspermia, a honey-cake or a cup of wine offered to a Hungry Shade (action) makes it eat instead; it does nothing else that turn.
- Lose a whole group and one lamp is snuffed.
- Round 1: the 8 Hungry Shades go for the four groups (two each). The 3 Unfed Wraiths drift in behind them, urging them on (Lord of the Unfed), and aim Breath of the Grave at clumps of PCs. The 4 Keres circle the lit lamps and hunt the Lantern-bearer.
- Round 3: 4 Graveyard Ghouls claw up through the cemetery gate and go for the nearest villagers.
- Steel and spirits: the Hungry Shades, Unfed Wraiths and Keres resist nonmagical weapons. That is the point: it is why the Archon will give the party the Jug.
- Light: Hungry Shades, Shadows and Keres have disadvantage on attack rolls in the Lantern's bright light, and a Ker in it cannot use Dirge-Cry.
- It ends when all three Unfed Wraiths are destroyed, or at the end of round 6, when the temple bell tolls the turn of the night. Either way the remaining dead pour back uphill toward the ash trees — carrying what they took. Let the party see where they go.
| Villagers saved | Result |
|---|---|
| 18 – 20 | Elpida cheers itself hoarse. Kleio adds +50% to the fee and the town's thanks relights one lamp. |
| 12 – 17 | The fee as offered. A few doors stay shut and dark tonight. |
| 0 – 11 | The grief is loud. One lamp is snuffed. Kleio's offer stands; she makes it with wet eyes. |
The Archon's Offer
In the wreck of the feast, Archon Kleio counts the dead and the living in her ledger, then shuts it. "Every year we feed them and they go home. This year they came hungry. Something up that hill has changed. I'll pay you to go and find it, and stop it, before the children have to see this again."
- Payment: 1,500 gp now from the festival chest; 3,000 gp when it ends (+50% if 18 or more villagers were saved). DC 16 Persuasion raises the second payment by 1,000 gp: she has nothing more to give, so she gives her own.
- The Jug of First Wine: the first jar opened at this year's Pithoigia, sacred to Dionysus, who went into the Underworld and came back. Six anointings: an anointed weapon is magical until dawn and ignores resistance and immunity to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing. "Steel didn't touch them. This will."
- Rest: the party may take a short rest in the temple of Dionysus while the town barricades itself.
- Secret: DC 16 Insight — Kleio watched one Hungry Shade the whole fight, and let it go. It was her drowned brother. If asked kindly, she says so; that is a True Story told to the party, and relights one lamp.
Creature Cards
Hungry Shade
Medium Undead (Unfed Dead), Neutral Evil · CR 1 (200 XP)
AC 12 | HP 33 (6d8+6) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 30 ft. (hover)
Resistances: Cold; nonmagical B/P/S | Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10 | Languages: understands Ancient Greek
The Unfed. One of the town's own dead, come for the honey-cakes and panspermia every Anthesteria — and this year the Jar is open, so they came hungry. At the end of each round, a Hungry Shade adjacent to a villager group takes one villager (see Act I: The Crowd). Offered food (an action), it eats instead and does nothing else that turn.
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Starving Touch. +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) necrotic, and the target can't regain HP until the start of the shade's next turn.
Unfed Wraith
Medium Undead, Neutral Evil · CR 5 (1,800 XP)
AC 13 | HP 67 (9d8+27) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 60 ft. (hover)
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 12 | Languages: Ancient Greek
Lord of the Unfed. The town's oldest unburied dead. Hungry Shades within 30 ft. of it have advantage on attack rolls.
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Sunlight Sensitivity. Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks in sunlight.
Life Drain. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 21 (4d8+3) necrotic. The target makes a DC 14 CON save or its HP max is reduced by the damage taken until it finishes a long rest.
Breath of the Grave (Recharge 5–6). 15-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 14 CON save, taking 18 (4d8) necrotic damage on a failure (half on a success). A PC who fails has their grin-lamp snuffed.
Ker
Medium Undead (Fate-Spirit), Chaotic Evil · CR 4 (1,100 XP)
AC 15 | HP 104 (16d8+32) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 50 ft. (hover)
Skills: Perception +4, Stealth +6
Vulnerabilities: Radiant | Resistances: Cold, Necrotic; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14 | Languages: understands Ancient Greek, cannot speak
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Suppressed while the Circle of Strife is sealed.
Light-Shy. While in the bright light of the Lantern of Elpis, the Ker has disadvantage on attack rolls and cannot use Dirge-Cry.
Scent of Ending. Advantage on attack rolls against creatures that are Frightened or at half their HP or fewer.
Bound to the Jar. When the Jar is sealed, or the Closing Words are spoken at the Jar, every Ker within 120 ft. vanishes.
Multiattack. Makes two Rending Claws attacks.
Rending Claws. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) slashing plus 3 (1d6) necrotic.
Dirge-Cry (Recharge 5–6). 20-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 14 WIS save, taking 10 (3d6) psychic damage and becoming Frightened until the end of the Ker's next turn on a failure, or half damage and no Frightened on a success.
Graveyard Ghoul
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil · CR 1 (200 XP)
AC 12 | HP 22 (5d8) | Speed 30 ft.
Immunities: Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10 | Languages: Ancient Greek
Backup Wave. Clawing up out of the old cemetery at the edge of the festival from round 3. They go for the villagers first.
Multiattack. One Bite and one Claw.
Bite. +2 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) piercing.
Claw. +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (2d4+2) slashing. A creature other than an undead makes a DC 10 CON save or is paralyzed for 1 minute, repeating the save at the end of each of its turns.
Encounter 2 — Act II: The Way Down
Overview
The dead went uphill. The party works out where they went, meets the keeper of the ash grove, and goes down into the buried temple of the Jar. The descent is three traps and a guarded door. Every trap and every bad choice can cost a lamp, and the lamps left burning at the bottom decide how hard the sanctum is.
- Style: Clue gathering · social scene · trap traversal · riddle, gift or show (combat optional)
- Win Condition: Reach the sanctum with as many lamps lit as possible
Creatures (if it comes to a fight)
- The Door: Kyros, the Hollow Warden — CR 8 (3,900 XP), with 2× Unfed Wraith hiding behind him if any survived Act I
- The Dark Between the Lamps (Lamp-Count 1): 2× Ker + 1× Unfed Wraith + 2× Shadow
Ways Through
- Two clues lead to the grove
- Each trap has a check, a save, and a clever bypass (often a pitch mark or a True Story)
- The Door: a riddle, a gift, a show, the lit Lantern, or the Sprig
Harder: trap DCs +1; every PC who fails a trap save loses their lamp, not just those who fail by 5; the Dark Between the Lamps begins at Lamp-Count 2.
Finding the Jar
Nobody in Elpida goes up to the ash grove. Nobody can quite say why. The party needs two clues to know where the dead went and what is waiting there. Each clue beyond the second gives advantage on one check in the descent.
Clues
- DC 15 Survival or Perception — Follow the dead. Their trail is frost on the grass and dropped honey-cakes, straight up the hill to the ash trees. (Automatic if a PC spotted the procession from the swings.)
- Ask Phaedon — "The first jar is under the hill. They built a temple over it and then they buried the temple. The ash trees grew over the roof."
- DC 15 Religion, or Speak with Dead — Question a Hungry Shade that was fed and not destroyed: "The door at the top of the hill is open. The jar that never closes is breathing. We are so hungry."
- DC 16 Investigation — The Archon's archive: a four-hundred-year-old entry about a scholar named Kyros who went into the temple under the ash grove to close "the Jar", and did not come back.
- DC 14 Arcana — Watch the Lantern. Its flame leans toward the hill, always, like a compass needle.
With fewer than two clues the party still finds the grove, but it takes an hour of wandering in the cold: roll an Omen and the Lamp-Count cannot rise before the grove.
The Ash Grove — Acantha
The ash trees on the crown of the hill are older than the town. Their roots have broken through the roof of something stone: there are column-drums in the leaf-litter and a black stairwell between two roots. A thin figure stands by it with a long taper. Acantha looks at the party's small flames and says, almost too quietly to hear: "You brought your own." She has watched every hero who went down. None came up.
- The grove is a lull: Acantha's wards hold for one hour. The Lamp-Count cannot drop here and a short rest is possible.
- What she knows: the stair, the jars that breathe, the faces in the bronze, and the door with the minotaur. "Old Age and Sickness came back up the stair three nights ago. They were the first out of the Jar. They want to be first back in, and they want it to stay open."
- Her secret (DC 15 Persuasion, or a sincere personal question): "If the Jar closes — I can leave."
She gives each PC one buckthorn leaf, and the party one small pot of pitch (3 marks), and teaches the old rhyme (hand the players the index card):
Out with the Keres — come no more.
Honey for the hungry dead,
Light for the road, and home to bed." — The Warding Rhyme
- Buckthorn leaf (bonus action, chewed): for 10 minutes the PC has resistance to necrotic damage and advantage on saves against being Frightened.
- Pitch mark (action): paint a doorway, a line up to 10 ft long, a trap, or a Sealing Circle. For 1 hour no Ker, Shadow, Specter or Hungry Shade can cross a pitched line. Only 3 marks; spend them wisely.
- The Sprig of Asphodel: if the party is warm to her, or a True Story makes her look away, she gives the Sprig of Asphodel: "There is a door below that asks for something. Give it something."
The Descent — Three Traps
The temple was built to keep people out, and then it was buried. What is left of its defences still works. Each trap below lists how to notice it, what it does, and how to bypass it. A PC who fails a trap's save by 5 or more loses their lamp.
Two hundred steps spiral down into the dark, wet with water that runs upward along the treads, like tears running back into eyes.
- Notice: DC 16 Perception or Investigation — halfway down, the treads are hinged.
- Trap: when the first creature reaches the hinged section, the treads fold flat into a slide. Each creature on the stair makes a DC 16 DEX save. Fail: slides 60 ft to the landing, taking 22 (4d10) bludgeoning and landing prone. Success: catches a tread.
- Bypass: rope and spikes (DC 14 Athletics to rig once noticed); flying or Spider Climb; or a pitch mark on the hinge — the pitch glues the treads in place.
A 100-ft corridor lined with tall jars in niches, every one open, every one breathing — a slow in, a slow out, the sound of a sickroom at night. They wake to noise.
- Notice: automatic (you can hear them). DC 15 Medicine or Nature: the breath is the Jar's sickness, and noise wakes it.
- Trap: group DC 16 Stealth (half the party must succeed). On a failure the jars exhale together: each creature in the corridor makes a DC 16 CON save, taking 22 (5d8) necrotic damage and becoming Poisoned for 1 hour on a failure, or half damage on a success.
- Bypass: chewing buckthorn gives advantage on the save; Silence makes the Stealth check automatic; a pitch mark seals a 30-ft stretch of jars; a Gust of Wind or similar blows the breath back down the hall (advantage on the save).
Polished bronze plates line both walls. In each one, the viewer sees the face of someone they lost, mouthing their name. Between the plates, the floor is an illusion over a 40-ft shaft.
- Notice: DC 17 Investigation, Truesight, or Phaedon (if he came) reveals the false floor.
- Trap: each PC crossing makes a DC 17 WIS save or is Charmed by the face and walks toward it — and through the false floor: 14 (4d6) bludgeoning from the fall, and a DC 15 Athletics climb back up.
- Bypass: a PC who speaks to the face — a True Story, or simply saying goodbye — automatically succeeds and relights their lamp. Blindfolded PCs are immune but must be led (DC 12 Athletics per blind PC).
When the Lamp-Count falls to 1 at any time on the way down, the remaining flame leans one way, then the other, like someone deciding. Keres, an Unfed Wraith and Shadows step out of the dark between the lamps.
- Creatures: 2× Ker + 1× Unfed Wraith + 2× Shadow (4,200 XP). At Lamp-Count 0, add 2 more Keres.
- Ends when the Lamp-Count is back to 3 or more, or every creature is destroyed. Once per Act unless the Lamp-Count first returns to 2+ and falls again.
- Counterplay: the Lantern-bearer relights a lamp with an action; a True Story told during combat (bonus action, one sentence) relights that PC's lamp; a pitch line stops the Keres crossing. The Closing Words do nothing here.
The Door That Asks
At the bottom of the hall stands a door of black, pitch-soaked oak, so tall the lamps cannot reach its top, with an old inscription on its lintel. Kyros stands before it: a scholar cursed into the body of a minotaur, who came down to close the Jar four centuries ago, died at this door and never stopped guarding it. The lamps shine through his ribs. His greataxe rests on the flagstones. On the night of the opened jars a guest must bring something to the door: a gift, a riddle answered, or a good show. He says so as a kindness. "I have not been spoken to by the living in four hundred years. Please. Don't make me do the other thing."
The lintel inscription (DC 10 History to read the Ancient Greek): "Born from a god's first gift to humanity, carried by the first woman, containing all suffering and one salvation — what am I?"
Correct answer: Pandora's Jar (the Pithos) — or any reasonable equivalent ("the gift," "the vessel," "the jar").
Ways Through the Door
- DC 15 History, Arcana or Religion — Identify the answer. Advantage if Phaedon's story was heard.
- Gift A true offering — something that costs the giver: a portion of panspermia, a keepsake, an ivy crown, a story. Kyros accepts and steps aside. The offering relights one lamp. If the gift is worthless to the giver, DC 15 Persuasion to make it count.
- DC 16 Performance (CHA) — A show: Kyros has had no audience in four hundred years and no one to be an audience for. A real scene, song or recital; if it makes him laugh or weep he opens the door, rubbing his eyes. Advantage if the players actually perform.
- DC 16 Persuasion (CHA) — Convince him the party is here to close the Jar, not loot it. Advantage with the Mask of the Revel.
- Auto Show the lit Lantern of Elpis — "Only those sent with Hope dare enter." He steps aside.
- Auto Present the Sprig of Asphodel — divine passage granted.
- DC 17 Deception (CHA) — Risky; Kyros has +6 Insight. On a failure he attacks with advantage on the first round and a lamp is snuffed.
- Kyros opens with a Charge, then Gore and two Greataxe swings. Intercept protects any Unfed Wraith sheltering behind him.
- Below 40 HP he bellows "Answer the riddle and I yield!" The correct answer ends combat at once.
- Defeated: his bones fold up and fall into grave dust with a long, relieved sigh. The Amulet lies on the flagstones. No hint.
- Passed peacefully: Kyros gives the Amulet of the Labyrinth to the nearest PC: "The jar holds worse than any maze. This will steady you." And: "Three wards glow in the deep room. Old Age and Sickness stand beside her; while their wards burn they cannot stay dead. Steel will not touch them unless a god's wine is on it."
- The party may take a short rest on the landing if they passed peacefully and no Haunting is running.
Start of the Sanctum — the Lamp-Count Becomes Hope
| Lit Lamps | Hope | Pandora's Opening Forces |
|---|---|---|
| 6 – 5 | 5–6 | Pandora + the Twin Sorrows (Geras and Nosos). All four Hollow Heroes stay statues. |
| 4 – 3 | 3–4 | + 1 Hollow Hero wakes + 1 Shadow. |
| 2 – 1 | 1–2 | + 2 Hollow Heroes wake + 2 Shadows. |
| 0 | 0 | + all 4 Hollow Heroes + 2 Shadows + 2 Keres already at the Jar. |
An Unlit PC contributes no Hope. Put all four Hollow Hero minis (haunted armor) on the map either way — the ones that have not woken are statues until something wakes them. The two spectre minis are the Twin Sorrows.
Creature Cards
Kyros, the Hollow Warden
Large Undead (Cursed Revenant), Lawful Neutral · CR 8 (3,900 XP)
AC 17 (Natural Armor) | HP 161 (17d10+68) | Speed 40 ft.
Saves: CON +7, WIS +6 | Skills: History +4, Insight +6, Perception +6
Resistances: Necrotic | Immunities: Poison; Exhaustion, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 16 | Languages: Common, Ancient Greek
Hollow. A scholar cursed into a minotaur's body, who went down to close the Jar four hundred years ago, died at its door and kept standing. Lamplight shows through his ribs; his own bones hang on him like armour, and his voice comes from somewhere behind them.
Charge. If Kyros moves 10+ ft. straight toward a target and hits with a Gore attack, the target takes an extra 13 (3d8) piercing and must succeed on a DC 17 STR save or be pushed 10 ft. and knocked prone.
Guardian's Challenge. On first contact, Kyros asks for a riddle answered, a gift, or a show rather than attacking. The lit Lantern of Elpis or the Sprig of Asphodel also makes him stand aside. If reduced below 40 HP, he offers the riddle again.
Unquiet (1/day). When reduced to 0 HP, Kyros makes a DC 10 CON save. On a success, his bones pull themselves back together and he drops to 1 HP instead.
Multiattack. Makes one Gore attack and two Greataxe attacks.
Gore. +9 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) piercing.
Greataxe. +9 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 18 (2d12+5) slashing.
Intercept. When an ally within 10 ft. of Kyros is targeted by an attack, he moves up to 10 ft. (no opportunity attacks) to interpose himself, becoming the target instead.
Unfed Wraith
Medium Undead, Neutral Evil · CR 5 (1,800 XP)
AC 13 | HP 67 (9d8+27) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 60 ft. (hover)
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 12 | Languages: Ancient Greek
Lord of the Unfed. The town's oldest unburied dead. Hungry Shades within 30 ft. of it have advantage on attack rolls.
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Sunlight Sensitivity. Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks in sunlight.
Life Drain. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 21 (4d8+3) necrotic. The target makes a DC 14 CON save or its HP max is reduced by the damage taken until it finishes a long rest.
Breath of the Grave (Recharge 5–6). 15-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 14 CON save, taking 18 (4d8) necrotic damage on a failure (half on a success). A PC who fails has their grin-lamp snuffed.
Ker
Medium Undead (Fate-Spirit), Chaotic Evil · CR 4 (1,100 XP)
AC 15 | HP 104 (16d8+32) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 50 ft. (hover)
Skills: Perception +4, Stealth +6
Vulnerabilities: Radiant | Resistances: Cold, Necrotic; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14 | Languages: understands Ancient Greek, cannot speak
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Suppressed while the Circle of Strife is sealed.
Light-Shy. While in the bright light of the Lantern of Elpis, the Ker has disadvantage on attack rolls and cannot use Dirge-Cry.
Scent of Ending. Advantage on attack rolls against creatures that are Frightened or at half their HP or fewer.
Bound to the Jar. When the Jar is sealed, or the Closing Words are spoken at the Jar, every Ker within 120 ft. vanishes.
Multiattack. Makes two Rending Claws attacks.
Rending Claws. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) slashing plus 3 (1d6) necrotic.
Dirge-Cry (Recharge 5–6). 20-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 14 WIS save, taking 10 (3d6) psychic damage and becoming Frightened until the end of the Ker's next turn on a failure, or half damage and no Frightened on a success.
Shadow
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil · CR 1/2 (100 XP)
AC 12 | HP 16 (3d8+3) | Speed 40 ft.
Skills: Stealth +4 | Vulnerabilities: Radiant
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Amorphous. Moves through spaces as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing.
Shadow Stealth. In dim light or darkness, takes the Hide action as a Bonus Action.
Sunlight Weakness. Disadvantage on attacks, ability checks, and saves in sunlight.
Strength Drain. +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) necrotic; the target's STR is reduced by 1d4. STR 0 = death. The reduction lasts until a short or long rest. Humanoids slain rise as new Shadows at next dusk. (Disadvantage on attack rolls while the Circle of Pestilence is sealed.)
Encounter 3 — Act II: The Open Jar (Boss)
Overview
Behind Kyros's door the passage goes down farther than it should, and the lamps burn small. At the bottom, the sanctum is a round room carved from the island's dark root. Its walls are lined from floor to ceiling with jars: thousands of them, in niches, each one empty, each one open, each one turned very slightly toward the door. The only light comes from the pithos at the room's centre: a pale glow the colour of an old bruise, bleeding from its open lip. Three rune-circles pulse on the floor around it — Pestilence in sickly green, Despair in deep blue, Strife in burning red. The air tastes of cold stone and of someone crying who has been crying for a very long time.
Pandora is at the far wall in robes of shadow-silk, her back to the party, her feet not quite touching the floor and her hair drifting as if she were underwater. She is pacing — three steps left, three steps right, the movement of someone who stopped being able to be still centuries ago. When she turns, her eyes are hollow, not absent but carved out by time and what lives in the room with her; in the jars behind her, her reflection is a skeleton. Beside the Jar stand two thin grey figures that the party will know from the story: Geras, Old Age, stooped and familiar, and Nosos, Sickness, sweating and coughing — the first evils out of the Jar, come home to keep it open. The door seals behind the party with a sound like stone on stone. She does not choose to attack. The evils bleeding from the Jar compel her the way pain compels a flinch. If any player addresses her instead of drawing a weapon, her first words are "Go away." She means it. She will say it twice more before she stops meaning it.
- Style: Boss fight with a layered environmental puzzle and a ghost-story clock
- Primary Win Condition: Close the Jar by any means — Circles, the Closing Words, persuasion, or force
- Preferred Resolution: Pandora relents and closes the Jar herself
Creatures
- 1× Pandora — CR 13 (10,000 XP) · 190 HP · 3 legendary action points
- The Twin Sorrows: Geras and Nosos — CR 8 (3,900 XP each) · immune to unanointed steel · return to the Jar until their Circles are sealed
- Opening forces by lit lamps (see the table at the end of Encounter 2); plus a Ker (1,100 XP) each time she uses The Jar Exhales, max 2 on the field
- Up to 4× Hollow Hero (CR 5, 1,800 XP each) — haunted armor standing as statues; the lamp count and the d12 wake them
- Shadows and Specters from Vessel of Sorrows
- Whatever the d12 lets out each round — on a 12, the Jar-Wyrm (CR 14, 11,500 XP)
Win Paths
- A. Seal all 3 Circles — the Jar's lid rises
- B. Return the Flame: the Lantern + the Closing Words
- C. Three appeals to Pandora (the grief path)
- D. Reduce Pandora to 0 HP (last resort)
- Each lamp still lit when the party enters the sanctum is 1 Hope (maximum 6). Write the total where the table can see it.
- Spend 1 Hope (no action; once per round): a PC within 30 ft of the lit Lantern rerolls one failed d20 Test and takes the new result.
- Regain 1 Hope each time a PC's appeal to Pandora succeeds, and each time a PC tells her a True Story (see Win Path C). A PC whose lamp is out may relight it by touching the Lantern (action) — +1 Hope.
- Hope 0: the Lantern flame shrinks to a pinprick (bright light 5 ft, dim 5 ft). Closing Words still work, but only if the bearer has first regained 1 Hope.
🗺 Terrain & Features
Underground sanctum — 60 ft diameter circle, dim light only
- The Jar (central pedestal): AC 13, 25 HP. If destroyed, every summon is dismissed at once, but a burst of grief deals 33 (6d10) psychic damage to every creature within 30 ft. (DC 18 CON for half) — and the Jar can no longer be sealed (Path D only).
- Three Sealing Circles (NE · NW · S): 5-ft rune circles; a PC must be on or adjacent to activate (1 action each).
- Six stone pillars around the perimeter: half cover. Shadows can Hide behind a pillar as a bonus action (Stealth +4 in dim light).
- Four Hollow Heroes stand in niches around the wall at the four points of the compass, spears grounded: the heroes who came to close the Jar before the party, and failed. Statues until they wake. A woken one can be talked down with a True Story; a destroyed one tries to possess the nearest armoured PC (see its card).
- The wall of jars: thousands of empty open jars. Each time a PC rolls a 1 on a d20 Test, a jar whispers in a voice they know; the DM may say one sentence. No mechanical effect, but Pandora's eyes follow the PC.
- The door seals at the start of combat and opens automatically when any win condition is achieved.
- Dim light throughout: Shadows have advantage on Stealth; creatures without darkvision have disadvantage on Perception checks. Lit lamps shed dim light 10 ft; the Lantern sheds bright light 20 ft.
Harder: Start as if the Lamp-Count were 2 regardless; Circle DCs 18; Persuasion needs 4 successes; the Twin Sorrows' cones recharge on 4–6; The Jar Exhales may be used twice per round (still max 2 Keres at once); use Curiosity's Price as well as the start-of-turn roll.
What Comes Out of the Jar (d12)
Pandora cannot stop lifting the lid. At the start of each of her turns while the Jar is open (her The Lid Lifts trait), roll a d12 in the open where the table can see it and apply the result. Effects last until the start of her next turn unless noted. Low rolls are mercy; high rolls are the things that have been waiting longest.
- Seal the Circles to shrink the die: one sealed Circle → d10; two → d8; three → d6 (and by then the lid is rising anyway). Sealing takes the worst results off the table.
- Spend 2 Hope (once per round, no action) to make Pandora roll again; use the second result.
- If Pandora skips her turn (Win Path C's second success), the lid stays shut that round. Nothing comes out once the Jar is closed.
| d12 | What Comes Out |
|---|---|
| 1 | Elpis — Hope Escapes. One warm gold mote drifts out and the room stops. Every PC and ally takes a free short rest in a moment that lasts an hour for them and no time at all for anyone else: spend Hit Dice, regain short-rest features. Relight every lamp (+1 Hope each, max 6). Pandora watches the light go by with her hand half-raised. Once per encounter; a later 1 gives +1 Hope instead. |
| 2 | Feast of the Dead. The room smells of honey and funeral bread, and for a moment the dead share their meal. Each PC regains 22 (4d8+4) HP and is no longer Frightened. |
| 3 | The Lid Slips. Grey hands reach out of the wall-jars and pull at the lid; Pandora nearly drops it. She cannot use Vessel of Sorrows or legendary actions until the start of her next turn. |
| 4 | Long Shadows. Every shadow in the room stands up and stretches toward the ceiling, dragging its owner up with it. Every creature in the sanctum, Pandora and her summons included, is enlarged (as Enlarge/Reduce): one size larger, +1d4 weapon damage, advantage on STR checks and saves. The Jar-Wyrm, if present, is already as big as the room allows. |
| 5 | Silence of the Tomb. The air goes still and stale, like a sealed grave. As the Silence spell, a 20-ft-radius sphere centred on the Jar. No verbal spells, no appeals and no Closing Words inside it. |
| 6 | The Jar Breathes Black. Magical darkness fills a 15-ft radius around the Jar. Where the Lantern's bright light overlaps it, the darkness is suppressed. |
| 7 | Whispers. Every jar on the wall speaks at once, each in a voice someone lost. Each PC makes a DC 17 WIS save or is Frightened of the Jar (it can't willingly move closer to it). |
| 8 | A Hollow Hero Steps Down. One Hollow Hero still standing as a statue turns its helmet toward the party and wakes; it acts right after Pandora. If all four are already awake, two Shadows rise beside the Jar instead. |
| 9 | Grave-Rot. A green, charnel-smelling mist rolls out. Each creature that breathes within 30 ft. of the Jar makes a DC 17 CON save or takes 21 (6d6) poison damage and is Poisoned until the end of its next turn. |
| 10 | Possession. A ghost slips out of the Jar and into the nearest warm body. Each PC makes a DC 17 WIS save. On a failure it immediately uses its reaction to make one attack (or cast a cantrip) against the nearest other creature — ally or not. |
| 11 | The Keres Ride. Two Keres rise from the Jar, ignoring the two-Ker limit, and act right after Pandora. |
| 12 | The Oldest Thing in the Jar. A skeletal claw the size of a door grips the Jar's lip. At the start of Pandora's next turn the Jar-Wyrm, a dracolich, hauls itself out within 10 ft. of the Jar and acts right after her every round. If the Jar is closed or the Closing Words are spoken before then, it never comes out. If it is already out, it recharges Grave Breath instead; if it has collapsed, it rises again with half its HP. |
Variant — Curiosity's Price (the players roll)
- Instead of Pandora rolling at the start of her turn, the first creature each round that attacks Pandora, or targets her with a harmful spell, rolls the d12 itself, and the result happens right after that attack. The player opens the box.
- Appeals, healing and Circle work never trigger it: mercy does not lift the lid. If nobody attacks her in a round, nothing comes out.
- Full chaos: make every attack against her roll. Expect the Jar-Wyrm by round 3. Use only with a table that wants it.
Mechanics
Old Age and Sickness were the first evils out of the Jar. They came home three nights ago, and they want it open. Each one guards its own Circle: Geras hovers over the Circle of Despair, Nosos over the Circle of Pestilence. Both act right after Pandora.
- Immune to unanointed steel: bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from attacks that are neither magical nor anointed with the Jug of First Wine do nothing. Spells work normally.
- They come back: a destroyed Sorrow re-forms beside the Jar at the start of Pandora's next turn with half its HP — until its own Circle is sealed. Killing them buys a round; sealing their Circle ends them.
- Guarding: a Sorrow stays within 10 ft. of its Circle and makes the PC working that Circle its first target. It will leave the Circle only to chase the Lantern-bearer toward the Jar.
- Geras halves all healing within 15 ft. and hands out Exhaustion; Years upon Years slows a whole cone. Keep healers out of its reach.
- Nosos blocks healing with Fever Touch and spreads poison through a packed line (Contagion). Spread out around it.
- Path B (Return the Flame) pulls both back into the Jar at once. Path C (Pandora relents) does the same.
Three rune-circles on the floor correspond to the first evils that escaped the Jar. Each is an independent puzzle action requiring a PC to stand on or adjacent to the circle.
- Circle of Pestilence (green, NE): DC 16 Medicine (1 action). Sealed: every Shadow in the sanctum has disadvantage on attack rolls, and Nosos no longer returns when destroyed.
- Circle of Despair (blue, NW): DC 16 Arcana (1 action). Sealed: Pandora cannot use the Shade legendary action, The Jar Exhales is unavailable, and Geras no longer returns when destroyed.
- Circle of Strife (red, S): DC 16 Athletics — force the marker rune into place (1 action). Sealed: Specters and Keres lose Incorporeal Movement while in the sanctum.
- Pitch the Circle: Spending one remaining pitch mark on a Circle seals it automatically. (The pitch keeps the Keres out of the room's old runes.)
- All 3 sealed: Pandora's Vessel of Sorrows trait is suppressed immediately; she enters her Lamentation Phase regardless of HP; Persuasion DC drops to 14. The Jar's lid rises from the base of the pedestal. A PC adjacent to the Jar sets it with an action (DC 16 Athletics, or automatic with a pitch mark). Pandora wails as it falls, then sits.
- The bearer must be within 30 ft of the Jar, holding the lit Lantern of Elpis, with at least 1 Hope, and able to speak (not Silenced, Stunned, or Incapacitated).
- As an action the bearer opens the shutter and speaks the Closing Words: "Out, Keres! It is no longer Anthesteria!" The flame leaps from the Lantern into the Jar.
- Every Ker within 120 ft vanishes. Every summoned Shadow and Specter is dismissed, and the Twin Sorrows are pulled back into the Jar. The Jar's lid grinds shut at the last word.
- Pandora makes a DC 18 WIS save. Fail: Stunned 1 round, then non-hostile; Persuasion DC drops to 14. Success: Lamentation Phase begins; Vessel of Sorrows suppressed.
- The Lantern goes cold and stays cold (single use). The words do nothing anywhere but here.
- A PC may spend their action to address Pandora (roleplayed or rolled).
- 1st success (DC 17 Persuasion): Pandora falters — she skips her legendary actions this round.
- 2nd success (DC 17): Pandora pauses — she does not take her turn this round.
- 3rd success (DC 17, or DC 14 in the Lamentation Phase): Pandora relents and closes the Jar herself. The encounter ends.
- Every success regains 1 Hope. A failed check costs the speaker their lamp and triggers Jar's Ward or a legendary action against them.
- A True Story told to Pandora directly (the PC's own, honest, 1–3 sentences) grants advantage on that PC's appeal (once per PC) and relights their lamp.
- Phaedon (if present) grants advantage on one appeal per encounter by retelling the myth of the Jar to her.
Triggered when Pandora first drops to 40 HP or fewer, when all three Circles are sealed, or when the Closing Words are spoken. She stops attacking directly.
- Pandora no longer uses her action to attack, but may still use the Vessel of Sorrows bonus action unless it is suppressed.
- The Persuasion DC is 14 for the rest of the encounter.
- If a PC answers her: "Hope is not enough." with a True Story, treat it as an automatic success for that appeal.
Reading the Pedestal
- DC 17 History — Reads the pedestal base: "First to leave were Pestilence and Pain. Last to remain was Hope. The jar closes when hope returns." Points to the Circles and to the Lantern.
- Auto Phaedon (if present) — Reads it aloud as a free action on any PC's turn.
Resolution
- Blessing of Elpis (Paths A/B/C): each PC gains advantage on one saving throw of their choice (declared before rolling), usable within 24 hours. Zeus may additionally offer a divine boon at the DM's discretion.
- Divine Favour (Path D only): each PC gains advantage on one attack roll, declared before rolling, usable within 24 hours.
- Amulet of the Labyrinth — if not already awarded at the Door, found on Pandora's person.
- Archon Kleio's fee: 3,000 gp (+50% if 18 or more villagers were saved), paid at dawn.
- The sealed Jar: non-magical after closing. Worth 500 gp to a collector.
- Clean seal (A/B/C): Zeus appears and acknowledges the party. The lamplighter "Dios" is referenced with a knowing smile. In Elpida the taken villagers wake up cold and hungry and very much alive.
- Phaedon says "I have seen enough now," and for one moment his sight returns — he sees the party clearly — before he goes blind again, peacefully.
- Acantha is free. She may walk down to the festival with the party if invited.
- Pandora is not punished. She may be taken to Olympus, remain with Acantha on the island, or stay with the closed Jar; the DM decides, or the table does.
Creature Cards
Pandora, the Opened One
Medium Humanoid (Divinely Crafted, Haunted), Chaotic Neutral · CR 13 (10,000 XP)
AC 17 (Veil of Sorrows) | HP 190 (20d8+100) | Speed 30 ft.
Saves: CON +10, WIS +7, CHA +11
Skills: Arcana +8, History +8, Insight +7, Persuasion +11
Resistances: Psychic | Immunities (cond.): Charmed, Frightened (while the Jar is open within 30 ft.)
Senses: Truesight 30 ft., Passive Perception 12 | Languages: All
Two Thousand Years in the Dark. She is not dead; she has only forgotten how to be alive. Her feet do not quite touch the floor, her hair drifts as if under water, and in the wall of jars her reflection is a skeleton.
Vessel of Sorrows. While the Jar of Pandora is open and within 30 ft., Pandora can use her Bonus Action to summon one Shadow or Specter in an unoccupied space within 30 ft. Suppressed if all three Sealing Circles are sealed.
Sorrow's Embrace. Pandora has advantage on saving throws while she can see at least one summoned creature or Twin Sorrow within 30 ft.
Relentless Grief. When first reduced to 40 HP or fewer, Pandora enters her Lamentation Phase: she pleads aloud each turn but may still summon; the Persuasion DC drops from 17 to 14.
The Lid Lifts. At the start of each of her turns while the Jar is open, Pandora lifts its lid (no action) and the DM rolls on the What Comes Out of the Jar d12 table (Act II). Each sealed Circle steps the die down (d10, d8, d6). If she skips her turn, the lid stays shut that round.
Multiattack. Makes two Lament Bolt attacks, or one Lament Bolt and casts one spell of 3rd level or lower.
Lament Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack +11 to hit, range 90 ft. Hit: 22 (4d8+4) psychic. The target makes a DC 18 WIS save or is Frightened until the end of their next turn.
Spellcasting (CHA, DC 18, +11 to hit). Cantrips: Toll the Dead (3d12 vs. wounded), Vicious Mockery (3d6 + disadv.). 1st (4 slots): Charm Person, Inflict Wounds. 2nd (3): Hold Person, Misty Step. 3rd (3): Bestow Curse, Counterspell, Dispel Magic. 4th (3): Banishment, Compulsion. 5th (1): Hold Monster.
Vessel of Sorrows. Summons one Shadow or Specter in an unoccupied space within 30 ft. (see Trait; suppressed by all three Circles).
Jar's Ward. When targeted by an attack or spell, if Pandora has a summoned creature or Twin Sorrow within 5 ft., she redirects the attack to that creature, which becomes the new target.
Lament (Cost 1). Makes one Lament Bolt attack.
Shade (Cost 1). Summons one Shadow in an unoccupied space within 30 ft. Only available while Vessel of Sorrows is active; unavailable if the Circle of Despair is sealed.
Wail of Ages (Cost 2). All creatures within 30 ft. make a DC 18 CON save. Fail: 14 (4d6) psychic damage and disadvantage on saving throws until the end of their next turn.
The Jar Exhales (Cost 2). A Ker rises from the Jar in an unoccupied space within 10 ft of it. No more than two Keres can exist at once. Only available while Vessel of Sorrows is active; unavailable if the Circle of Despair is sealed.
Geras, Old Age (Twin Sorrow)
Medium Undead (Evil of the Jar), Neutral Evil · CR 8 (3,900 XP)
AC 15 | HP 136 (16d8+64) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 40 ft. (hover)
Saves: Con +8, Wis +7 | Skills: Perception +7
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from attacks not anointed or magical; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 17 | Languages: understands all, speaks in the voice of whoever the listener lost
First Out of the Jar. One of the evils Pandora let out, the shape of every old age that ever came too soon — a stooped grey figure whose face is always a little familiar.
Returns to the Jar. While the Jar is open, Geras re-forms beside it at the start of Pandora's next turn with half its HP after being destroyed — unless the Circle of Despair is sealed.
Weight of Years. Creatures within 15 ft. of Geras regain only half as many HP from any healing.
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Multiattack. Two Withering Touch attacks.
Withering Touch. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 18 (4d8) necrotic. The target makes a DC 16 CON save or gains 1 level of Exhaustion as its hair greys and its hands spot.
Years upon Years (Recharge 5–6). 30-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 16 CON save, taking 36 (8d8) necrotic damage on a failure (half on a success). On a failure its speed is halved and it has disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity checks and saves until the end of its next turn.
Nosos, Sickness (Twin Sorrow)
Medium Undead (Evil of the Jar), Neutral Evil · CR 8 (3,900 XP)
AC 15 | HP 136 (16d8+64) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 40 ft. (hover)
Saves: Con +8, Wis +7 | Skills: Perception +7
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from attacks not anointed or magical; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 17 | Languages: understands all, speaks in the voice of whoever the listener lost
First Out of the Jar. The other evil that left first: every fever and plague the world has known, a sweating, coughing shape that smells of a sickroom.
Returns to the Jar. While the Jar is open, Nosos re-forms beside it at the start of Pandora's next turn with half its HP after being destroyed — unless the Circle of Pestilence is sealed.
Contagion. A creature poisoned by Nosos that ends its turn within 5 ft. of an ally makes that ally roll a DC 16 CON save; on a failure the ally is poisoned too (same duration).
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Multiattack. Two Fever Touch attacks.
Fever Touch. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 13 (3d8) poison plus 9 (2d8) necrotic. The target makes a DC 16 CON save or is poisoned until the end of its next turn; while poisoned this way it can't regain HP.
Plague Breath (Recharge 5–6). 20-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 16 CON save, taking 36 (8d8) poison damage and becoming poisoned for 1 minute on a failure (save again at the end of each of its turns), or half damage on a success.
Hollow Hero
Medium Undead (Haunted Armor), Lawful Neutral · CR 5 (1,800 XP)
AC 18 (bronze panoply) | HP 93 (11d8+44) | Speed 30 ft.
Resistances: Necrotic; nonmagical B/P/S | Immunities: Poison, Psychic; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond), Passive Perception 11 | Languages: understands Ancient Greek, cannot speak
Those Who Came Before. The empty panoply of a hero who came to close the Jar and failed. Four of them stand around the sanctum walls. Until one moves it is indistinguishable from a statue; a DC 15 Perception check catches lamplight moving behind the eye-holes of its helmet.
Possessor. When it drops to 0 HP, its spirit leaps into the nearest PC within 15 ft. who wears medium or heavy armor (or the nearest PC, if none does). That PC makes a DC 15 WIS save or is possessed until the end of its next turn: on that turn it attacks the nearest ally with its weapon. An ally who tells the possessed PC a True Story (action) ends it.
Stand Down. A PC within 10 ft. who tells it a True Story (an action; one to three honest sentences) reaches whoever is left inside: the Hollow Hero lowers its spear and kneels, and takes no actions until someone attacks it. Pandora watches every time.
Laid to Rest. When the Jar closes, every Hollow Hero kneels and falls apart into dull bronze.
Multiattack. Makes two Rusted Spear attacks.
Rusted Spear. +7 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) piercing plus 7 (2d6) necrotic.
Shield Wall. When it is hit by an attack while another Hollow Hero is within 5 ft. of it, it adds 3 to its AC against that attack, possibly causing it to miss.
Shadow
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil · CR 1/2 (100 XP)
AC 12 | HP 16 (3d8+3) | Speed 40 ft.
Skills: Stealth +4 | Vulnerabilities: Radiant
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Amorphous. Moves through spaces as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing.
Shadow Stealth. In dim light or darkness, takes the Hide action as a Bonus Action.
Sunlight Weakness. Disadvantage on attacks, ability checks, and saves in sunlight.
Strength Drain. +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) necrotic; the target's STR is reduced by 1d4. STR 0 = death. The reduction lasts until a short or long rest. Humanoids slain rise as new Shadows at next dusk. (Disadvantage on attack rolls while the Circle of Pestilence is sealed.)
Specter
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil · CR 1 (200 XP)
AC 12 | HP 22 (5d8) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 50 ft. (hover)
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Suppressed while the Circle of Strife is sealed.
Sunlight Sensitivity. Disadvantage on attack rolls and sight-based checks in sunlight.
Life Drain. Melee Spell Attack +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 10 (3d6) necrotic. The target makes a DC 10 CON save or its max HP is reduced by the damage dealt until a long rest. It dies if its max HP reaches 0.
Ker
Medium Undead (Fate-Spirit), Chaotic Evil · CR 4 (1,100 XP)
AC 15 | HP 104 (16d8+32) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 50 ft. (hover)
Skills: Perception +4, Stealth +6
Vulnerabilities: Radiant | Resistances: Cold, Necrotic; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14 | Languages: understands Ancient Greek, cannot speak
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Suppressed while the Circle of Strife is sealed.
Light-Shy. While in the bright light of the Lantern of Elpis, the Ker has disadvantage on attack rolls and cannot use Dirge-Cry.
Scent of Ending. Advantage on attack rolls against creatures that are Frightened or at half their HP or fewer.
Bound to the Jar. When the Jar is sealed, or the Closing Words are spoken at the Jar, every Ker within 120 ft. vanishes.
Multiattack. Makes two Rending Claws attacks.
Rending Claws. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) slashing plus 3 (1d6) necrotic.
Dirge-Cry (Recharge 5–6). 20-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 14 WIS save, taking 10 (3d6) psychic damage and becoming Frightened until the end of the Ker's next turn on a failure, or half damage and no Frightened on a success.
The Jar-Wyrm (Dracolich)
Huge Undead (Dragon), Chaotic Evil · CR 14 (11,500 XP)
AC 18 (Natural Armor) | HP 225 (18d12+108) | Speed 40 ft., Fly 60 ft.
Saves: DEX +5, CON +11, WIS +7, CHA +9 | Skills: Perception +12, Stealth +5
Resistances: Necrotic | Immunities: Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft., Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 22 | Languages: Ancient Greek, Draconic
The Oldest Thing in the Jar. A dragon that crawled into the Jar to die before the first woman was made. It appears only on a roll of 12 on the What Comes Out of the Jar table, climbing out at the start of Pandora's next turn.
Bound to the Jar. It cannot leave the sanctum. When the Jar closes, or the Closing Words are spoken at the Jar, it collapses into bone dust.
Undying While Open. If reduced to 0 HP while the Jar is open, it falls apart into bones. On a later roll of 12 it rises again from those bones with half its HP instead of a new one coming out.
Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If it fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Burned by Hope. When it takes radiant damage, or starts its turn in the Lantern of Elpis's bright light, it cannot use Grave Breath until the end of its next turn.
Multiattack. Uses Frightful Presence if available, then makes one Bite and two Claw attacks.
Bite. +12 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 18 (2d10+7) piercing plus 14 (4d6) necrotic.
Claw. +12 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 14 (2d6+7) slashing.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of its choice within 120 ft. that can see it makes a DC 17 WIS save or is Frightened for 1 minute, repeating the save at the end of each of its turns. A creature that succeeds is immune for 24 hours.
Grave Breath (Recharge 5–6). 60-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 19 CON save, taking 63 (14d8) necrotic damage on a failure or half as much on a success. If any PC fails, the party loses 1 Hope.
Tail Lash. When a creature it can see moves within 15 ft. of it: +12 to hit, reach 15 ft. Hit: 16 (2d8+7) bludgeoning, and the target makes a DC 20 STR save or is knocked Prone.
⚖️ Difficulty Scaling
As Written ★ — 6 Players, Average Level 12
- Baseline for this guide. The Haunting is Hard; the Open Jar is Deadly for six PCs at average level 12.
- XP budgets (6×L12 thresholds): Hard ≈ 14,400 · Deadly ≈ 22,800. The Haunting is about 12,200 XP before the crowd puts the party on the back foot. The Door, if fought, is about 7,500. The Open Jar is 17,800 XP with six lamps lit (Pandora and the Twin Sorrows), about 21,600 at one or two lamps (two Hollow Heroes and two Shadows wake), and about 27,400 in the dark. The Sorrows' return, Vessel of Sorrows summons, legendary actions and the d12 make it play Deadly.
- The d12 Jar table swings both ways: a 1 is a free short rest; a 12 adds the Jar-Wyrm (CR 14, 11,500 XP), which pushes the fight far past Deadly. That is deliberate. The way out is closing the Jar, not fighting the wyrm.
Library Standard — 6 Players, Average Level 8
- Act I: 6 Hungry Shades, 2 Unfed Wraiths, 2 Keres, 2 ghouls on round 3; Breath of the Grave recharges on a 6 only.
- Way Down: trap DCs −2 and damage halved; Kyros has 120 HP and +7 to hit, and fights alone.
- Open Jar: Pandora 140 HP, save DCs 16, Lament Bolt 3d8+4; only one Twin Sorrow (Nosos, 90 HP, DC 14); one fewer Hollow Hero wakes at each lamp count; Circles DC 14; Persuasion 15 (12 in Lamentation); The Jar Exhales once per round.
- Jar table: on a 12 the Jar-Wyrm emerges with half its HP (112) and Grave Breath recharges on a 6 only; result 11 brings one Ker, not two.
Easier
- APL 10: Pandora 160 HP; Twin Sorrows 100 HP each and DC 15; Hollow Heroes 75 HP; all DCs −1; one fewer Unfed Wraith in the Haunting; start the sanctum with a minimum of 2 Hope.
- APL 8–9: use the Library Standard box, then roll the Jar on a d10 and start the sanctum with a minimum of 3 Hope.
Harder
- APL 13–14: Pandora HP +20%; the Twin Sorrows' cones recharge on 4–6; +1 Unfed Wraith in the Haunting and +1 Ker in the sanctum; Circle DCs 18; start the sanctum with Hope capped at 4; roll the Jar both at the start of Pandora's turn and on the first attack against her each round (Curiosity's Price).
📋 Appendix — Cards
Full stat blocks for every creature, NPC, and item referenced in this session.
Creature Cards
Hungry Shade
Medium Undead (Unfed Dead), Neutral Evil · CR 1 (200 XP)
AC 12 | HP 33 (6d8+6) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 30 ft. (hover)
Resistances: Cold; nonmagical B/P/S | Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10 | Languages: understands Ancient Greek
The Unfed. One of the town's own dead, come for the honey-cakes and panspermia every Anthesteria — and this year the Jar is open, so they came hungry. At the end of each round, a Hungry Shade adjacent to a villager group takes one villager (see Act I: The Crowd). Offered food (an action), it eats instead and does nothing else that turn.
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Starving Touch. +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) necrotic, and the target can't regain HP until the start of the shade's next turn.
Unfed Wraith
Medium Undead, Neutral Evil · CR 5 (1,800 XP)
AC 13 | HP 67 (9d8+27) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 60 ft. (hover)
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 12 | Languages: Ancient Greek
Lord of the Unfed. The town's oldest unburied dead. Hungry Shades within 30 ft. of it have advantage on attack rolls.
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Sunlight Sensitivity. Disadvantage on attack rolls and Perception checks in sunlight.
Life Drain. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 21 (4d8+3) necrotic. The target makes a DC 14 CON save or its HP max is reduced by the damage taken until it finishes a long rest.
Breath of the Grave (Recharge 5–6). 15-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 14 CON save, taking 18 (4d8) necrotic damage on a failure (half on a success). A PC who fails has their grin-lamp snuffed.
Graveyard Ghoul
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil · CR 1 (200 XP)
AC 12 | HP 22 (5d8) | Speed 30 ft.
Immunities: Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10 | Languages: Ancient Greek
Backup Wave. Clawing up out of the old cemetery at the edge of the festival from round 3. They go for the villagers first.
Multiattack. One Bite and one Claw.
Bite. +2 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) piercing.
Claw. +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (2d4+2) slashing. A creature other than an undead makes a DC 10 CON save or is paralyzed for 1 minute, repeating the save at the end of each of its turns.
Ker
Medium Undead (Fate-Spirit), Chaotic Evil · CR 4 (1,100 XP)
AC 15 | HP 104 (16d8+32) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 50 ft. (hover)
Skills: Perception +4, Stealth +6
Vulnerabilities: Radiant | Resistances: Cold, Necrotic; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14 | Languages: understands Ancient Greek, cannot speak
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Suppressed while the Circle of Strife is sealed.
Light-Shy. While in the bright light of the Lantern of Elpis, the Ker has disadvantage on attack rolls and cannot use Dirge-Cry.
Scent of Ending. Advantage on attack rolls against creatures that are Frightened or at half their HP or fewer.
Bound to the Jar. When the Jar is sealed, or the Closing Words are spoken at the Jar, every Ker within 120 ft. vanishes.
Multiattack. Makes two Rending Claws attacks.
Rending Claws. +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) slashing plus 3 (1d6) necrotic.
Dirge-Cry (Recharge 5–6). 20-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 14 WIS save, taking 10 (3d6) psychic damage and becoming Frightened until the end of the Ker's next turn on a failure, or half damage and no Frightened on a success.
Kyros, the Hollow Warden
Large Undead (Cursed Revenant), Lawful Neutral · CR 8 (3,900 XP)
AC 17 (Natural Armor) | HP 161 (17d10+68) | Speed 40 ft.
Saves: CON +7, WIS +6 | Skills: History +4, Insight +6, Perception +6
Resistances: Necrotic | Immunities: Poison; Exhaustion, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 16 | Languages: Common, Ancient Greek
Hollow. A scholar cursed into a minotaur's body, who went down to close the Jar four hundred years ago, died at its door and kept standing. Lamplight shows through his ribs; his own bones hang on him like armour, and his voice comes from somewhere behind them.
Charge. If Kyros moves 10+ ft. straight toward a target and hits with a Gore attack, the target takes an extra 13 (3d8) piercing and must succeed on a DC 17 STR save or be pushed 10 ft. and knocked prone.
Guardian's Challenge. On first contact, Kyros asks for a riddle answered, a gift, or a show rather than attacking. The lit Lantern of Elpis or the Sprig of Asphodel also makes him stand aside. If reduced below 40 HP, he offers the riddle again.
Unquiet (1/day). When reduced to 0 HP, Kyros makes a DC 10 CON save. On a success, his bones pull themselves back together and he drops to 1 HP instead.
Multiattack. Makes one Gore attack and two Greataxe attacks.
Gore. +9 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 14 (2d8+5) piercing.
Greataxe. +9 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 18 (2d12+5) slashing.
Intercept. When an ally within 10 ft. of Kyros is targeted by an attack, he moves up to 10 ft. (no opportunity attacks) to interpose himself, becoming the target instead.
Geras, Old Age (Twin Sorrow)
Medium Undead (Evil of the Jar), Neutral Evil · CR 8 (3,900 XP)
AC 15 | HP 136 (16d8+64) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 40 ft. (hover)
Saves: Con +8, Wis +7 | Skills: Perception +7
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from attacks not anointed or magical; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 17 | Languages: understands all, speaks in the voice of whoever the listener lost
First Out of the Jar. One of the evils Pandora let out, the shape of every old age that ever came too soon — a stooped grey figure whose face is always a little familiar.
Returns to the Jar. While the Jar is open, Geras re-forms beside it at the start of Pandora's next turn with half its HP after being destroyed — unless the Circle of Despair is sealed.
Weight of Years. Creatures within 15 ft. of Geras regain only half as many HP from any healing.
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Multiattack. Two Withering Touch attacks.
Withering Touch. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 18 (4d8) necrotic. The target makes a DC 16 CON save or gains 1 level of Exhaustion as its hair greys and its hands spot.
Years upon Years (Recharge 5–6). 30-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 16 CON save, taking 36 (8d8) necrotic damage on a failure (half on a success). On a failure its speed is halved and it has disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity checks and saves until the end of its next turn.
Nosos, Sickness (Twin Sorrow)
Medium Undead (Evil of the Jar), Neutral Evil · CR 8 (3,900 XP)
AC 15 | HP 136 (16d8+64) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 40 ft. (hover)
Saves: Con +8, Wis +7 | Skills: Perception +7
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from attacks not anointed or magical; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 17 | Languages: understands all, speaks in the voice of whoever the listener lost
First Out of the Jar. The other evil that left first: every fever and plague the world has known, a sweating, coughing shape that smells of a sickroom.
Returns to the Jar. While the Jar is open, Nosos re-forms beside it at the start of Pandora's next turn with half its HP after being destroyed — unless the Circle of Pestilence is sealed.
Contagion. A creature poisoned by Nosos that ends its turn within 5 ft. of an ally makes that ally roll a DC 16 CON save; on a failure the ally is poisoned too (same duration).
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Multiattack. Two Fever Touch attacks.
Fever Touch. +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 13 (3d8) poison plus 9 (2d8) necrotic. The target makes a DC 16 CON save or is poisoned until the end of its next turn; while poisoned this way it can't regain HP.
Plague Breath (Recharge 5–6). 20-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 16 CON save, taking 36 (8d8) poison damage and becoming poisoned for 1 minute on a failure (save again at the end of each of its turns), or half damage on a success.
Pandora, the Opened One
Medium Humanoid (Divinely Crafted, Haunted), Chaotic Neutral · CR 13 (10,000 XP)
AC 17 (Veil of Sorrows) | HP 190 (20d8+100) | Speed 30 ft.
Saves: CON +10, WIS +7, CHA +11
Skills: Arcana +8, History +8, Insight +7, Persuasion +11
Resistances: Psychic | Immunities (cond.): Charmed, Frightened (while the Jar is open within 30 ft.)
Senses: Truesight 30 ft., Passive Perception 12 | Languages: All
Two Thousand Years in the Dark. She is not dead; she has only forgotten how to be alive. Her feet do not quite touch the floor, her hair drifts as if under water, and in the wall of jars her reflection is a skeleton.
Vessel of Sorrows. While the Jar of Pandora is open and within 30 ft., Pandora can use her Bonus Action to summon one Shadow or Specter in an unoccupied space within 30 ft. Suppressed if all three Sealing Circles are sealed.
Sorrow's Embrace. Pandora has advantage on saving throws while she can see at least one summoned creature or Twin Sorrow within 30 ft.
Relentless Grief. When first reduced to 40 HP or fewer, Pandora enters her Lamentation Phase: she pleads aloud each turn but may still summon; the Persuasion DC drops from 17 to 14.
The Lid Lifts. At the start of each of her turns while the Jar is open, Pandora lifts its lid (no action) and the DM rolls on the What Comes Out of the Jar d12 table (Act II). Each sealed Circle steps the die down (d10, d8, d6). If she skips her turn, the lid stays shut that round.
Multiattack. Makes two Lament Bolt attacks, or one Lament Bolt and casts one spell of 3rd level or lower.
Lament Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack +11 to hit, range 90 ft. Hit: 22 (4d8+4) psychic. The target makes a DC 18 WIS save or is Frightened until the end of their next turn.
Spellcasting (CHA, DC 18, +11 to hit). Cantrips: Toll the Dead (3d12 vs. wounded), Vicious Mockery (3d6 + disadv.). 1st (4 slots): Charm Person, Inflict Wounds. 2nd (3): Hold Person, Misty Step. 3rd (3): Bestow Curse, Counterspell, Dispel Magic. 4th (3): Banishment, Compulsion. 5th (1): Hold Monster.
Vessel of Sorrows. Summons one Shadow or Specter in an unoccupied space within 30 ft. (see Trait; suppressed by all three Circles).
Jar's Ward. When targeted by an attack or spell, if Pandora has a summoned creature or Twin Sorrow within 5 ft., she redirects the attack to that creature, which becomes the new target.
Lament (Cost 1). Makes one Lament Bolt attack.
Shade (Cost 1). Summons one Shadow in an unoccupied space within 30 ft. Only available while Vessel of Sorrows is active; unavailable if the Circle of Despair is sealed.
Wail of Ages (Cost 2). All creatures within 30 ft. make a DC 18 CON save. Fail: 14 (4d6) psychic damage and disadvantage on saving throws until the end of their next turn.
The Jar Exhales (Cost 2). A Ker rises from the Jar in an unoccupied space within 10 ft of it. No more than two Keres can exist at once. Only available while Vessel of Sorrows is active; unavailable if the Circle of Despair is sealed.
Hollow Hero
Medium Undead (Haunted Armor), Lawful Neutral · CR 5 (1,800 XP)
AC 18 (bronze panoply) | HP 93 (11d8+44) | Speed 30 ft.
Resistances: Necrotic; nonmagical B/P/S | Immunities: Poison, Psychic; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond), Passive Perception 11 | Languages: understands Ancient Greek, cannot speak
Those Who Came Before. The empty panoply of a hero who came to close the Jar and failed. Four of them stand around the sanctum walls. Until one moves it is indistinguishable from a statue; a DC 15 Perception check catches lamplight moving behind the eye-holes of its helmet.
Possessor. When it drops to 0 HP, its spirit leaps into the nearest PC within 15 ft. who wears medium or heavy armor (or the nearest PC, if none does). That PC makes a DC 15 WIS save or is possessed until the end of its next turn: on that turn it attacks the nearest ally with its weapon. An ally who tells the possessed PC a True Story (action) ends it.
Stand Down. A PC within 10 ft. who tells it a True Story (an action; one to three honest sentences) reaches whoever is left inside: the Hollow Hero lowers its spear and kneels, and takes no actions until someone attacks it. Pandora watches every time.
Laid to Rest. When the Jar closes, every Hollow Hero kneels and falls apart into dull bronze.
Multiattack. Makes two Rusted Spear attacks.
Rusted Spear. +7 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 9 (1d10+4) piercing plus 7 (2d6) necrotic.
Shield Wall. When it is hit by an attack while another Hollow Hero is within 5 ft. of it, it adds 3 to its AC against that attack, possibly causing it to miss.
Shadow
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil · CR 1/2 (100 XP)
AC 12 | HP 16 (3d8+3) | Speed 40 ft.
Skills: Stealth +4 | Vulnerabilities: Radiant
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Amorphous. Moves through spaces as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing.
Shadow Stealth. In dim light or darkness, takes the Hide action as a Bonus Action.
Sunlight Weakness. Disadvantage on attacks, ability checks, and saves in sunlight.
Strength Drain. +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) necrotic; the target's STR is reduced by 1d4. STR 0 = death. The reduction lasts until a short or long rest. Humanoids slain rise as new Shadows at next dusk. (Disadvantage on attack rolls while the Circle of Pestilence is sealed.)
Specter
Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil · CR 1 (200 XP)
AC 12 | HP 22 (5d8) | Speed 0 ft., Fly 50 ft. (hover)
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; nonmagical B/P/S
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Prone, Restrained
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Incorporeal Movement. Moves through creatures and objects as difficult terrain; takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object. Suppressed while the Circle of Strife is sealed.
Sunlight Sensitivity. Disadvantage on attack rolls and sight-based checks in sunlight.
Life Drain. Melee Spell Attack +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 10 (3d6) necrotic. The target makes a DC 10 CON save or its max HP is reduced by the damage dealt until a long rest. It dies if its max HP reaches 0.
The Jar-Wyrm (Dracolich)
Huge Undead (Dragon), Chaotic Evil · CR 14 (11,500 XP)
AC 18 (Natural Armor) | HP 225 (18d12+108) | Speed 40 ft., Fly 60 ft.
Saves: DEX +5, CON +11, WIS +7, CHA +9 | Skills: Perception +12, Stealth +5
Resistances: Necrotic | Immunities: Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft., Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 22 | Languages: Ancient Greek, Draconic
The Oldest Thing in the Jar. A dragon that crawled into the Jar to die before the first woman was made. It appears only on a roll of 12 on the What Comes Out of the Jar table, climbing out at the start of Pandora's next turn.
Bound to the Jar. It cannot leave the sanctum. When the Jar closes, or the Closing Words are spoken at the Jar, it collapses into bone dust.
Undying While Open. If reduced to 0 HP while the Jar is open, it falls apart into bones. On a later roll of 12 it rises again from those bones with half its HP instead of a new one coming out.
Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If it fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Burned by Hope. When it takes radiant damage, or starts its turn in the Lantern of Elpis's bright light, it cannot use Grave Breath until the end of its next turn.
Multiattack. Uses Frightful Presence if available, then makes one Bite and two Claw attacks.
Bite. +12 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 18 (2d10+7) piercing plus 14 (4d6) necrotic.
Claw. +12 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 14 (2d6+7) slashing.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of its choice within 120 ft. that can see it makes a DC 17 WIS save or is Frightened for 1 minute, repeating the save at the end of each of its turns. A creature that succeeds is immune for 24 hours.
Grave Breath (Recharge 5–6). 60-ft cone. Each creature makes a DC 19 CON save, taking 63 (14d8) necrotic damage on a failure or half as much on a success. If any PC fails, the party loses 1 Hope.
Tail Lash. When a creature it can see moves within 15 ft. of it: +12 to hit, reach 15 ft. Hit: 16 (2d8+7) bludgeoning, and the target makes a DC 20 STR save or is knocked Prone.
NPC Cards
Archon Kleio of Elpida
Medium Humanoid (Human), Lawful Good · Patron · Non-combatant
Appearance: sixty, sharp, ivy wreath askew, a ledger under one arm even at a feast
Role. Elpida's chief magistrate and the festival's host. She invites the party as honored guests, and after the haunting she hires them: 1,500 gp now, 3,000 gp when it ends (+50% if 18 or more villagers were saved).
Gift. Hands over the Jug of First Wine — the first jar opened at the Pithoigia, sacred to Dionysus — so that steel can bite the dead.
Secret. She saw her drowned brother among the Hungry Shades. She does not say so; Insight DC 16 notices her watching one of them go.
Motivation. "Every year we feed them and they go home. This year they came hungry. I want to know why, and I want it stopped before the children have to see it again."
Acantha, the Ash Nymph
Small Fey, Neutral Good · CR 1 (200 XP) · Ally
AC 11 | HP 22 (4d6+8) | Speed 30 ft.
Skills: Nature +4, Perception +4, Stealth +3
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14 | Languages: Common, Sylvan, Elvish
Last Lamp-Keeper. Acantha keeps the ash grove that has grown over the old temple of the Jar. She cannot willingly leave the island while the Jar is open; sealing it frees her. She will never ask. A DC 15 Persuasion check (or a sincere personal question) gets it out of her: "If the Jar closes — I can leave."
Soothing Presence. Friendly creatures within 10 ft. have advantage on WIS saves against charm and fear effects.
Warding Gift. At the grove she gives each PC one buckthorn leaf and the party one small pot of pitch (3 marks). See Act II: The Descent.
Gift of the Grove (1/day). Presents the Sprig of Asphodel; the recipient is recognised as divinely sanctioned by the island's guardians until the next sunrise. Counts as an automatic bypass of Kyros's Guardian's Challenge.
Vine Lash. +3 to hit, reach 10 ft. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) slashing.
Entangle (1/day). As the spell; DC 12 STR save.
Phaedon, the Blind Seer
Medium Humanoid (Human), Lawful Neutral · Non-combatant
AC 10 | HP 4 | Speed 25 ft. (uses a gnarled staff)
Skills: History +7, Insight +6, Religion +5 | Languages: All (reads Ancient Greek fluently)
Apollo's Sight. Phaedon cannot be deceived by illusions or shapechangers; he perceives all things as they truly are, but can only describe them in cryptic metaphor.
The Festival Storyteller. Every Anthesteria he tells the old story at the hearth. Tonight he tells it to the party — and teaches the Closing Words to anyone who asks: "Out, Keres! It is no longer Anthesteria!" They work only at the Jar.
Prophecy (1/day). Speaks cryptically about the current act; the DM reveals one hidden DC, mechanic, or NPC secret to the party.
Ancient Script. Reads any ancient inscription as a Free Action, including the Jar pedestal in Act II. No History check required.
Seer's Vouching. Grants advantage on the party's check against Kyros's riddle if he speaks for them, and on one Persuasion check against Pandora (once per encounter).
Zeus / "Dios"
Medium Celestial (God in Disguise), Lawful Good · Quest Giver
See the full profile: Zeus, Gods & Immortals
Disguise: A stocky, grey-bearded lamplighter in plain linen with a pole-lamp over one shoulder; calm grey eyes; a faint smell of ozone
Tell: Eagle birthmark on his left forearm — DC 16 WIS (Perception or Insight) to notice and recognise it
Role. The festival's lamplighter. He lights a grin-lamp for each honored guest at the gate and hands the Lantern of Elpis, with its note, to the guest who won the most games (or the kindest), then is gone before anyone can ask. He cannot intervene directly (divine law), but he arranged for the party to be invited.
Reveal. If the Jar is sealed by mercy or cunning (Win Paths A/B/C), Zeus reveals himself at the end — in full golden form, or as a voice and a descending eagle. He thanks each PC by name and may offer a divine boon at the DM's discretion.
Secret. He treats Pandora's plight as a matter of cosmic shame — the gods crafted her, gave her curiosity, and never warned her. He owes her a resolution he cannot personally deliver.
Item Cards
Jug of First Wine
Wondrous Item, Consumable · Given by Archon Kleio
Appearance: A squat black-figure jug sealed with pitch, Dionysus and his panther on its belly; the wine inside is dark as a bruise and smells of ivy and smoke
Six Anointings. As a bonus action, pour a little over one weapon (or over the hands, for unarmed strikes and natural weapons). Until dawn, attacks with it are magical and ignore resistance and immunity to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. The jug holds six anointings — one per PC, meant for those who fight with steel.
Why It Works. The first jar opened at the Pithoigia belongs to Dionysus, who has been to the Underworld and back. The dead know his wine.
Act II. Essential against the Twin Sorrows, which are immune to unanointed steel.
Lantern of Elpis
Wondrous Item (Maguffin), Divine Artifact · Given by "Dios"
Appearance: A palm-sized clay lamp shaped like a tiny jar, its handle a twist of gold wire and its face carved in a gentle grin. A hooded gold flame burns inside without oil. Warm to the touch; smells of beeswax and ozone.
Handout (23 words). "Hope was the last light in the jar. Keep it burning through the dark. At the source, say the old words: Out, Keres."
Light. Bright light in a 20-ft. radius and dim light for another 20 ft. Wind and water cannot snuff it; only its bearer can, by choice. Shadows, Specters, Keres and Hungry Shades have disadvantage on attack rolls while in its bright light.
Relight. As an action, touch the Lantern to a snuffed grin-lamp: that PC's lamp is lit again (+1 lit lamp, max 6). If the Lantern is out of the party's hands at the end of a round, a lamp is snuffed.
Door Shortcut. Showing the lit Lantern to Kyros counts as a correct answer: "Only those sent with Hope dare enter."
Return the Flame (Act II). Win Path B. As an action within 30 ft. of the Jar, the bearer opens the shutter and speaks the Closing Words. The flame leaps into the Jar and the Lantern goes cold (single use). See Act II.
Flare (emergency). As an action, open the shutter fully: all creatures within 30 ft. end the Frightened condition and have advantage on WIS saves for 1 minute. The flame is spent — Path B is lost.
Sprig of Asphodel
Wondrous Item (Single Use) · Given by Acantha
Appearance: A pale-flowered sprig of asphodel — the flower of the dead and of divine passage through the underworld's borders
Use. Present the sprig to any guardian, undead creature, or oath-bound entity. That creature recognises the bearer as travelling with divine passage. In this session: it counts as a correct answer to Kyros's riddle. Once used, the sprig wilts and crumbles.
Passive Benefit. While carried (before use), the bearer has advantage on saving throws against being Charmed by undead.
Amulet of the Labyrinth
Wondrous Item (Requires Attunement) · Given by Kyros
Appearance: A worn bronze disc; a labyrinth etched on one face, a minotaur on the other; hung on a braided leather cord
Awarded: Given by Kyros when the riddle is answered peacefully; found on the ground if he is defeated in combat
Properties. While attuned: advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Never Lost (1/day, dawn reset). For 1 hour, the wearer cannot become lost and always knows the general direction to any named location or exit within 1 mile.
Reward Cards
Post-session keepables. Reward is the first tag. Mechanics below are for ongoing use after this oneshot.
Shard of Elpis
Reward · Wondrous · 1/Long Rest
Mechanics. Once per long rest, as a bonus action, you or an ally within 30 feet who can see the shard ends the Frightened condition and gains advantage on Wisdom saving throws until the end of your next turn. Once per short rest, when you fail a Wisdom saving throw, you can reroll it and must use the new roll.
Appearance. A palm-sized shard of a clay lamp, glazed gold on the inside, one edge carved with half a grin, still smelling faintly of beeswax and ozone.
Lore. The Lantern of Elpis spent itself at the Jar; this fragment remembers the light that went last into it.
Quote. "Hope was the last light in the jar. Keep it burning through the dark." — Note on the Lantern of Elpis
Earn when: Close the Jar by returning the flame of the Lantern of Elpis (or by an equivalent sealing path).
Blessing Cord of Elpis
Reward · Wondrous · Consumable
Mechanics. When Zeus thanks the party for mercy, each PC may take a short gold-and-wool cord. Once, before making a saving throw, you may snap the cord to gain advantage on that save. If the save is against being frightened, charmed, or despairing divine compulsion, you instead automatically succeed. The cord is then gone.
Appearance. A thin cord of white wool wrapped in a single golden eagle-feather filament.
Lore. Zeus's true form left these cords when Pandora chose hope over endless war with her own guilt.
Quote. "Hope is not enough. Hope was never enough." — Pandora, before choosing anyway
Earn when: Resolve Pandora peacefully — persuade her to close the Jar herself (Win Path C).