Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast.

Another faction pulled from the Thunderspire Labyrinth module.

The Lore

Thunderspire Mountain is a famous landmark in the Vale, a lone mountain whose peak is shrouded by a permanent storm. In the Vale’s distant past, a minotaur civilization build an underground city beneath it, and named that city Saruun Khel. They thrived there until the worship of Torog began spreading among its inhabitants.

This angered their official patron, the demon lord Baphomet, who cast a curse over the whole city that made his worshipers enter a homicidal berserker rage. Saruun Khel fell in short order as its inhabitants tore each other apart.

About twenty years ago, the ruins of the city were discovered by three mages who were interested in finding a reliable route to the Underdark. They found it there and moved in, establishing their headquarters inside a building known as the Tower of Saruun.

The mages were as interested in trade and diplomacy with the Underdark as they were in its mystical secrets, so they turned Saruun Khel’s city square into a trading post known as the Seven-Pillared Hall. The hall is open to trade delegations and enclaves from both the surface and the Underdark, and is one of the few places in the world where civilizations from both of these realms have regular peaceful contact.

That doesn’t mean the place isn’t dangerous, however. Big stuff like theft and murder is forbidden, and the mages enforce that very vigorously, but there are few other hard-and-fast rules. The mages take turns playing the role of Ordinator Arcanis, a mage with a black cloak and a golden mask that teleports in to solve any disputes or rule breaches that happen here. They use powerful divination and scrying magic to quickly get to the truth of the matter, and usually blast the offending party into atoms, or sic one of Saruun Khel’s ancient minotaur-shaped bronze constructs on them.

The three original founders eventually brought in colleagues and apprentices to join their order. Then they disappeared into the Tower of Saruun and were never seen again. The cycle has repeated itself a few times since then, so the current crop of Mages is a few generations removed from those founders. No one knows what happened to those disappeared mages, and the mages themselves ain’t telling. Some claim there have only ever been three mages who keep disguising themselves as new people, others talk about a mage civil war that happened in the Tower, and some who have journeyed from the deep Underdark whisper of surface mortals who have gone down there and learned the forbidden secrets of the primordials and the deep gods.

The Numbers

The Mages of Saruun contained in this entry are at an early to mid Paragon power level, significantly stronger than the ones from Thunderspire Labyrinth. If I remember correctly, the ones you see in the adventure are all low-ranking members who are the only ones available while the more senior mages are out. These would be those senior mages.

Saruun Apprentice

Apprentices are fairly weak, so I’m guessing they only fight in self defense and are not directly involved with keeping the peace in the Seven-Pillared Hall. They’re Level 8 Minion Controllers.

Apprentices know how to use a dagger, and they can cast an at-will Ice Patch spell that knocks the target prone on a hit. The spell only does damage on a critical hit, in which case it also immobilizes the target for a turn.

Saruun Bat

The aggressive bats that make this cave system their home are often used as familiars by the Mages. These Tiny Natural Beasts are Level 10 Minion Skirmishers with a ground speed of 2 and a flight speed of 6 (hover).

Saruun Bats can See the Unseen, which act as an aura (1) that prevents enemies inside from benefiting from any concealment. They lack a basic attack, but can make at-will Shrieking Dives that let them fly their speed and make an attack at any point along the movement. On a hit, this deals thunder damage and inflicts a -2 to-hit penalty for a turn.

If an enemy damages an ally of the bat that’s in the same space or adjacent, the bat can use its Shielding Familiar encounter power as an interrupt. It makes the ally take only half damage, and drops the bat to 0 HP.

Mage of Saruun

This is a fully trained Mage of Saruun, likely one of those who currently run things in the Seven-Pillared Hall. They’re a Level 12 Controller with 116 HP. Their basic attack is a quarterstaff blow that deals physical damage on a hit and slides 1 square as an effect. They can cast Empowered Magic Missiles as basic ranged attacks, which hit automatically, deal a flat 10 force damage, and push 2 squares. They can also cast Noxious Shroud spells, which attack a Close Blast 3, deal poison damage, and create a damaging zone that lasts for a turn.

Their encounter spell is Cloying Flames, basically a fireball that also immobilizes and deals ongoing fire damage. This deals half damage on a miss and recharges when the mage is first bloodied.

The staff and magic missile attack are a little weak for the mage’s level, which is compensated by the fact that they always either hit or do something interesting. Still, you want to pair them with things that do more damage, such as those described by our next entry.

Bronze Warder

The famous construct guards of the Seven-Pillared Hall, originally build by the extinct minotaur civilization and refurbished by the Mages of Saruun. At least one of those accompanies every mage when they make a public appearance, and they’re often employed as enforcers by the Ordinator Arcanis. They look like big bronze minotaurs.

Warders are Large Natural Animates and Level 10 Elite Soldiers with 168 HP. They have a ground speed of 5 and their Ponderous gait means they can’t shift, but their Inexorable Movement allows them to enter the spaces of Medium or Small enemies.

Warders fight with Greataxes that damage and mark for a turn on a hit, and they can make Double Attacks. They can also Rampage, which lets them move 3 squares and knock down any enemy whose space they move through. At the end of the movement they make an axe attack that’s about 50% stronger.

Warders are linked to rune-covered control amulets, and consider the bearer of the amulet to be their master. When they’re within 2 squares of that master, they can use an interrupt to take half the damage of any attack directed at the master (who still takes the other half).

Saruun Underdark Adept

A mage who focuses more on those forbidden Underdark secrets than on traditional arcane magic. This is dangerous and a bit unhealthy. Adepts are Level 10 Artillery with 79 HP.

Their basic attack is a Reach 2 Shadow Whip that deals light physical damage on a hit and slides 1 square as an effect. They can cast Darkfire Bolts that do fire and necrotic damage. Unlike magic missiles, these require an attack roll but crit on a roll of 18-20, weakening the target when they do so (save ends). Their big spell is a Corrupting Ray that deals heavy necrotic damage and blinds (save ends). It does half damage on a miss and recharges when the adept is first bloodied.

They can also cast Force Shield as a minor action, becoming immune to ranged and area attacks for a turn. This recharges when they take damage from one of those attacks.

Warped Mage of Saruun

A mage who dug too greedily, and too deep. The order sees this as a fail state and is usually careful to avoid such a fate. When it does happen, they try to deal with the result, which might involve discreetly asking for outside help. Warped mages are Medium Aberrant Humanoids and Level 14 Elite Brutes with 346 HP.

Their basic attack is a Reach 3 Shadow Tentacle that deals physical damage and grabs on a hit (escape DC 21). When a creature fails to escape the grab it takes 10 damage.

They can also use at-will Tentacle Lashes to attack enemies in a Close Blast 3, damaging and knocking them prone on a hit. Once per encounter they can use a Psychic Burst to attack enemies in a Close Burst 2, dealing psychic damage and dazing on a hit (save ends). A good power for when they’re surrounded.

When a warped mage is stunned or defeated, they undergo a process of Arcane Release. The energies attack a Close Burst 2 deal damage with four types: cold, fire, lightning and thunder. They also deal half damage on a miss.

Final Impressions

As mentioned above, the mages’ damage on their at-wills is a bit on the low side, so they really need some beefy bodyguards.

Thunderspire Labyrinth has plenty of details about stories that can happen in the Seven-Pillared Hall and the subterranean complexes that link to it. The Blackfang gnolls feature prominently there as well. The mages from this entry would probably be a distant and vaguely threatening presence until the PCs reach their power level.

And of course, things would get mighty interesting around the Hall if the Hunter Spiders ever learned that it leads to a reliable route into the Underdark.