Juliana's Torment

Juliana is on the cusp of greatness, yet it sits just out of her grasp. The following torments haunt her on her endless voyage:

• Her compass always points her towards her next opportunity for fame and renown, yet it always manages to slip from her fingers at the last moment. Often, this is caused by interruptions from her archnemesis.
• Though she has the loyalty of her crew, she lacks their respect. They know well what she did to their captain, and they obey her orders only out of fear of the consequences of stepping out of line. But she has never once achieved anything to prove her worth to them, and for that, she suffers.
• Despite her perfect navigation, she knows well that she is a prisoner here. Those opportunities she once sought in the Astral Sea are gone, barred behind the Mists. Still, she marches on, hoping one day she might burst through the fog into the familiar sea of dreams, but deep down, she fears she will never see it again.

Roleplaying Juliana

Juliana is a self-important, narcissistic leader with no patience for insubordination or any kind of obstacle to her goals. She has a short temper, and when her fuse runs short, any nearby bystander is liable to be caught in the explosion. When her mood is good, she delights in reveling, singing her own praises, and giving rousing speeches to her crew in hopes of motivating them and eliciting her respect, with rather mixed results. These moments are as of late few and far between, and her crew is far more accustomed to her usual bouts of anger, cruelty and depression.

Personality Trait. I live for the thrill of adventure. Nothing is more exhilarating than blazing a path towards fame and riches.

Ideal. Glory and fame are the only measure of a person's worth. The unrenowned are undeserving of respect.

Bond. I am destined for greatness. The only obstacle in my path is that foul mind flayer. May it suffer all the curses the gods can muster.

Flaw. I fear being forgotten. One truly dies forever when their memory leaves this world.

Taarzenath

Taarzenath once loyally served its hive on a far-off outlander world. For reasons lost to its memory, it was exiled, and soon after, it went off into the stars, commandeering a nautiloid to carry it there alongside a small crew of its kind. At first, life without the hive was liberating, and the absence of the psychic link in its mind was refreshing, and new. It felt, for the first time in its life, like a true individual, different from its peers rather than part of a whole.

But over time, things changed. In a hive, mind flayers are aware of any and all threats to their colonies and to each other. But now, it was all alone in its head, and the silence drove it mad. It became paranoid, never sure if its crew were loyal allies or untrustworthy backstabbers. Ironically, it would be the backstabber in the end, turning on its crew "preemptively" before, as it believed, they would surely turn on it.

From that point on, the ruthless pirate relied only on thralls. At first, they were simply humanoids under its psychic control, but Taarzenath became obsessed with modifying them, implanting and grafting to them inhuman features that truly marked them as its creation. These creatures, effectively lobotomized and twisted to an unrecognizable degree, are Taarzenath's graftlings.

The mind flayer left behind a trail of destruction wherever it went, plundering ships and doing battle with those that would seek to destroy it. Taarzenath made itself an enemy of the Gith on more than one occassion, and terrorized the spelljammers of less advanced civilizations. Its ship gained a reputation among spelljamming crews. Taarzenath employed a vulture-like tactic to many of its attacks, targeting ships that were already recovering from damage by Astral monsters or other attackers. This earned its ship a rather grim nickname: the Deathblow.

But the illithid's downfall would come from a fateful encounter with the Strider. Thinking it an easy target, Taarzenath engaged the larger, more sluggish ship, and soon found itself bogged down in a difficult, drawn out battle. Taarzenath grew desperate, throwing its thralls into the line of fire in hopes of gaining any advantage, letting its entire crew die if it meant achieving victory. For a brief moment, the odds turned in its favor, but the battle was unexpectedly cut short by a mysterious Mist. When it cleared, Taarzenath was alone. The Strider was gone. And the illithid was imprisoned in a new, unfamiliar realm. Believing the unfamiliar hammership to be responsible for its fate, the illithid departed on a quest for vengeance across the Mists.

Taarzenath's Torment

Taarzenath is obsessed with defeating Juliana and subjugating her crew to add to its ranks. The following torments haunt it in all corners of the Demiplane of Dread:

• The Deathblow and Strider are, in terms of combat, a perfect pair. The Strider's armor prevents the nautiloid from making too much of a lasting impact before it has a chance to counterattack, but the hammership's lack of firepower prevents it from making much of a dent in the Deathblow's weaker defenses. This means that most battles between the two ships grind to a stalemate, infuriating the illithid to no end.
• Juliana always manages to slip out of Taarzenath's grasp at the perfect moment. She escapes the killing blow in a duel, narrowly evades the Deathblow in a chase, or just barely manages to survive the rare crash after her ship is shot down. Try as it might, Taarzenath has proven unable to kill her.
• Taarzenath is on a blind path for revenge. But in the back of its mind, it wonders: what happens when she does finally fall? Is it truly trapped here forever, or will ending the Strider be its key to escape? It almost dreads the moment that it finally wins, because that risks confirming all of its fears.

Roleplaying Taarzenath

Taarzenath believes itself to be superior to all other species, and smugly lords this over others, Unlike most mind flayers, it can speak Common, though detests doing so when not absolutely necessary. Consumed by paranoia, the illithid never rests easy, always fearful of the attack that it least expects.

Personality Trait: The freedom I once chased was exhilerating, but now I find it terrifying. The order of the hive was conforting, even if I failed to see it.

Ideal: It is only natural that I rule over others. Lesser intellects should know their place in this universe.

Bond: I will not rest until that hammership is reduced to scrap metal. They will pay for what they've done to me.

Flaw: Peace is a foreign concept to me now. I am always on edge, my mind running wild with fear and suspicion.

Adventures With the Twin Scourges

Any adventure with these two spelljammers requires encountering them first. They might be undergoing repairs in the wilderness, or finding port in town to resupply, but either way, the PCs will catch the eye of one of the captains. If they find themselves aboard (willingly or otherwise), use the following tables for inspiration.

The Crew of the Strider

Unlike the Deathblow, which fills its ranks with the unwilling peons of Taarzenath, the Strider is crewed by Captain Roscoe's handpicked pirate crew. Every member is a master of their craft, and loyal to their captain (even if they lack the respect she desires). Below are a few notable members.

Tylan Vellar (Helmsman). Tylan (human mage) is the designated helmsman of the Strider. Unless he is otherwise occupied, he operates the vessel's spelljamming helm, and thus provides it a Spelljamming Rating of 5. One of the original members of the Strider's crew, he's been with the ship since long before it entered the Mists. As a man that personally witnessed Roscoe's rise to power, he is grim and serious, but does not openly oppose his captain. Still, he dreams of a day when she finally falls.

Ellaras Raethil (Quartermaster). Ellaras (elven apprentice wizard) is in charge of all matters of managing the ship's crew and cargo. She's a no-nonsense officer, and prefers to be left to her studies whenever possible.

Vincent Rivier (First Mate). Vincent (human swashbuckler) is Juliana's second in command, and keeps the crew in line when she's otherwise distracted. Despite being one of the more laid back members of the crew, he is also one of the most feared, perfectly happy to carry out whatever grim order the captain gives him.

Ray Thorne. Ray (human bandit) is an unassuming member of the crew at first glance, but he'll be one of the first to endear himself to adventurers. Secretly, Ray holds no loyalty to Captain Roscoe, and behind the scenes has been trying to organize a mutiny for months. However, his efforts are always interrupted, usually by unexpected attacks from the Deathblow.

Kat'al. Kat'al is a thri-kreen (psionic variant), one of the few truly alien members of the crew. Nobody is very well acquainted with him, as he rarely speaks among his fellow crew mates, disliking using any language other than his own native tongue. Still, the few that do earn his trust can hold a conversation with him, speaking in Common and hearing his responses in their minds.

Rigger. Rigger is a hadozee that has lived with the Strider for most of his life. Rigger is more of a nickname the crew gave him for his tendency to climb, swing from, and operate the ship's riggings, but it might as well be his actual name, given that it's the only one he'll use. Rigger is abnormally friendly as far as the crew's members go, and can speak most common languages, including ones from around Ravenloft.

The Deathblow's Graftlings

On the Deathblow, the crew is quite different. They are Taarzenath's twisted experiments, creations formed from humanoids combined with the scavenged remains of hideous beasts from the Astral Plane. Use the following guidelines for creating a graftling to include on Taarzenath's crew.

Hadozee Characters

For hadozee characters like Rigger, use the guidelines for modifying NPCs on 282 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. First, pick a humanoid stat block, and then apply the following modifications:

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Modified Abilities. +2 DEX, +1 INT.
Speed. Climb 30 ft.
Glide. For every foot the hadozee falls, it can move up to five feet horizontally.
Careful Landing. When the hadozee would take damage from a fall, it can use a reaction to reduce the damage to 0.

Operating Spelljammers

At this point in time, we lack rules for how spelljammers are meant to function in 5e. As such, I've jury rigged something at least moderately functional for running these two specific vessels. The rules used are for the most part borrowed from "Of Ships and the Sea" in Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Use those rules and apply the following modifications for spelljamming vessels:

Spelljammer Helm

Instead of movement and control components, both properties are determined by the spelljammer helm. A creature with at least one spell slot can spend one hour (or a short rest) attuning to a spelljammer helm. Once attuned, it becomes the ship's helmsman. If a ship has multiple helmsmen simultaneously, then one is selected as the lead helmsman and makes all decisions pertaining to piloting the ship.

A spelljammer with no helmsman automatically fails Dexterity saving throws. A helmsman proficient with water vehicles can add their proficiency bonus to ability checks and saving throws they make using the spelljammer's ability scores.

Spelljamming helms come in many varieties, but only two are relevant for this document. The Strider uses a typical major helm, while the Deathblow uses an illithid-made series helm.

Major Helm. One creature may attune to the spelljamming helm, and that creature becomes the helmsman. While they are attuned, they can not expend spell slots, and the vessel's Spelljamming Rating is equal to their highest unexpended spell slot.

Series Helm. A number of creatures that possess innate spellcasting may attune to this helm. While they are attuned, the vessel's Spelljamming Rating is equal to the number of creatures attuned in this way. A series helm usually has a maximum number of helmsmen that it can support at once.

While attuned to any sort of helm, a helmsman also gains an innate connection to the vessel. The helmsman can choose to perceive any location on the spelljammer as if they were standing there in person (no action required). The helmsman also feels any damage to the hull as small flashes of pain.

A spelljamming helm is designed to be nearly impossible to destroy, and thus possesses both a high armor class and a near insurmountable damage threshold against attacks.

Spelljammer Stat Blocks

Stat blocks are included for the Strider and the Deathblow at the end of this document.

Navigating the Sea of Mists

When the Strider or Deathblow leaves a Domain of Dread, it can ignore the closed borders imposed by other darklords. Upon leaving, the vessel is engulfed in Mist, and may spend days at a time traveling through dense foggy skies. This, as Captain Roscoe calls it, is the Sea of Mists.

The Sea of Mists seems to stretch endlessly in all directions. Roscoe and Taarzenath detest spending more time there than necessary, as the Mists obscure their vision and any potential threats that might be hiding behind it.

While navigating the Sea of Mists, a spelljammer is subject to the following effects:

• The Mists encroach upon the spelljammer, stopping short at the edge of its air envelope. Everything beyond this border is considered lightly obscured, and anything more than 300 feet away from the spelljammer is heavily obscured.

• A creature that starts its turn in the Mists must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or gain 1 level of exhaustion. This exhaustion can't be removed while the creature is in the Mists.
• A creature that leaves the spelljammer's air envelope and does not return in ten minutes is swallowed by the Mists, never to be seen again. From that creature's perspective, they are lost in the Mists for 1d6 hours, and then roll on the "Wandering the Mists" table in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft to determine what happens to them.
• Any journey through the Sea of Mists takes 2d6 days, and always reaches its intended destination without issue. However, at the end of every day, the DM must roll on the following table.

Navigating the Sea of Mists

Psychic Wind. The Dark Powers manifest a twisted reflection of the Astral Sea's psychic wind as one of many obstacles for the two darklords to face. Mechanically, it works identically to how it is portrayed in the Dungeon Master's Guide. As an alternative, for results 9-10 and 17-18 on the Mental Effect table, consider imposing points of Stress instead of short or long term madness.

Astral Terrors

Astral terrors are all manner of creatures native to the Astral Plane. Occasionally, such creatures emerge from the Mists and cross paths with the darklords of the Twin Scourges. They might be real creatures plucked from the Astral Sea or mere imitations created by the Dark Powers, but regardless, to the crews of the Strider and Deathblow, they are very real indeed.

Below is a list of various Astral terrors that can be encountered in the Sea of Mists. Many of these can be found in official Wizards of the Coast books, and the source will be listed alongside them in the table. Others are brand new to this document, and their statblocks are included in the following pages. Not all Astral terrors are hostile. They can be as dangerous as Astral dreadnoughts, or as peaceful as the gentle kindori. But they all have the potential to pose a threat to the two spelljammers. See the following pages for descriptions of how they might be encountered.

Asteroid Spider

Asteroid spiders disguise themselves as nothing but simple space debris. When its prey least expects it, it strikes, latching its claws around a spelljammer and disrupting the use of its spelljamming helm.

Even when out of range of its target, an asteroid spider can quickly close the distance. Its brain functions as an SR 3 spelljamming helm, allowing it to keep pace with spelljammers that attempt to flee.

Astral Dreadnought

The dreaded Astral dreadnought is rarely seen, but feared by all who travel the infinite sea. An encounter of such proportions is best saved for a truly pivotal moment in a campaign, and not to be used lightly.

Githyanki

The githyanki were once slaves to illithid empires in the Astral Plane, and now act as militaristic "guardians" against the illithid threat to other worlds. Blending military prowess with psychic power, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Players might encounter githyanki in varying situations. The most common would be githyanki warriors and, rarely, knights. Even more rare would be a powerful gish or similar warrior of great prowess. Githyanki warriors would be encountered in groups of 1d4, riding upon star lancers. A knight or gish might be encountered riding upon a githyanki battle dragon (represented by a young sapphire dragon).

Mind Flayers

Mind flayers need no introduction. The cruel slavers of the Underdark that once held vast empires across the Astral Sea, they are masters of psionic magic and dangerous enemies to cross.

Mind flayers would be a rare sight in the Sea of Mists. They could only ever be encountered in one situation: a nautiloid, carrying 1d8+5 mind flayers, that crosses paths with the darklords. To the Strider, it might be mistaken for the Deathblow, or may be hostile regardless of allegiance. To the Deathblow, Taarzenath would assuredly see them as a threat and open fire before they had a chance to make contact.

Rarely, a nautiloid might be carrying one or two mind flayer psions. In exceptionally rare circumstances, a nautiloid might function as a small, mobile colony, and carry an elder brain within.

Stat Blocks

The following pages present the statblocks for the kindori, the neh-thalggu, the Strider, and the Deathblow. The former two are Astral terrors that have not yet been updated into 5e, and thus this is my best take on how they would work mechanically as monsters, converting them from their 2e equivalents.

The Strider and the Deathblow are spelljammers, which also have not been updated as of yet. Their stats are adapted from the Ghosts of Saltmarsh vehicle rules.

Neh-Thalggu

Large aberration, typically Chaotic Evil

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• Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
• Hit Points 95 (10d10 + 40)
• Speed 10 ft., 40 ft. fly (hover)

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STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	16 (+3)	18 (+4)	19 (+4)	14 (+2)	14 (+2)

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• Saving Throws Str +7, Con +7, Int +7, Wis +5
• Skills Arcana +10, History +10, Perception +8, Stealth +6
• Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 17
• Languages Deep Speech, Undercommon, telepathy 120 ft.
• Challenge 8 (3,900 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3

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Brain Collection. The neh-thalggu can store up to twelve brains in cavities within its own head. At the start of an encounter, all twelve cavities are filled. Whenever the neh-thalggu takes greater than 25 damage in one attack, or whenever it takes any amount of damage from a critical hit, one of its collected brains is destroyed and the cavity is left empty. For every two empty cavities, the neh-thalggu's Intelligence score is reduced by 1.

Many Minds. The neh-thalggu has advantage on Intelligence and Wisdom saving throws while it possesses eight or more collected brains.

Actions

Multiattack. The neh-thalggu makes two bite attacks, or one bite attack and one head tentacles attack.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) piercing damage and the target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is poisoned. It can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending this effect on a success.

Head Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) bludgeoning damage and 9 (2d8) necrotic damage.

Extract Brain. The neh-thalggu extracts the brain from the corpse of a humanoid that has been dead for no more than one minute. The brain is stored in one of its twelve cavities.

Innate Spellcasting. The neh-thalggu casts one spell from the following list, requiring no components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15).

At will: detect magic, dancing lights
1/day each: invisibility, dispel magic, phantasmal force, ray of enfeeblement, dimension door

Bonus Actions

Mental Surge. The neh-thalggu can consume the energy from one of its stored brains to boost its spellcasting. Upon doing so, the brain is destroyed, and the neh-thalggu regains one of its expended spells.

The Strider

Gargantuan vehicle (250 feet by 25 feet)

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• Creature Capacity 24/60 (Typically 35 crew)
• Cargo Capacity 30 tons
• Spelljamming Helm Major Helm
• Speed SR x 200 ft. Travel Pace SR x 20 miles per hour

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STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
24 (+7)	4 (-3)	18 (+4)	0 (+0)	0 (+0)	0 (+0)

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• Damage Immunities poison, psychic
• Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, stunned, unconscious

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Actions

On its turn, the Strider can take 2 actions, choosing from the options below. It can take only 1 actions if it has fewer than twenty-four crew. It can't take these actions if it has fewer than five crew.

Fire Ballista. The Strider fires its ballista. This attack requires three crew.

Fire Mangonels. The Strider fires one or both of its mangonels. Each attack requires five crew.

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Hull

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 500 (damage threshold 20)

Spelljamming Helm

Major Helm. One creature with at least one unexpended spell slot may attune. While attuned, the SR of the Strider is equal to their highest available spell slot.
Movement. At initiative count 20, the helmsman determines how far the Strider moves, and may make one 90 degree turn if desired. If the helmsman doesn't make a decision, it continues moving as it did on the previous round. The Strider may use its ram as part of this movement.

Weapons: Ballista

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 50
Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Weapons: Mangonels (2)

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 100 each
Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 200/800 ft. (can't hit targets within 60 feet of it), one target. Hit: 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage.

Weapons: Ram

Armor Class 20
Hit Points 100 (damage threshold 10)
The Strider has advantage on all saving throws relating to crashing when it crashes into a creature or an object. Any damage it takes from the crash is applied to the ram rather than to the spelljammer. These benefits don't apply if another vessel crashes into the Strider.

The Deathblow

Gargantuan vehicle (180 feet by 30 feet)

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• Creature Capacity 10/35 (Typically 25 crew)
• Cargo Capacity 17 tons
• Spelljamming Helm Series Helm
• Speed SR x 200 ft. Travel Pace SR x 20 miles per hour

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STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
20 (+5)	8 (-1)	14 (+2)	0 (+0)	0 (+0)	0 (+0)

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• Damage Immunities poison, psychic
• Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, stunned, unconscious

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Actions

On its turn, the Deathblow can take 2 actions, choosing from the options below. It can take only 1 action if it has fewer than twenty crew. It can't take these actions if it has fewer than three crew.

Fire Ballistas. The Deathblow fires any number of its ballistas. Each attack requires three crew.

Fire Mangonels. The Deathblow fires its mangonel. This attack requires five crew.

Fire Jettison. The Deathblow fires its jettison. This attack requires two crew.

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Hull

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 200 (damage threshold 15)

Spelljamming Helm

Series Helm. Up to five creatures with innate spellcasting may attune to this helm. While attuned, the SR of the Strider is equal to the total number of attuned creatures. One creature (usually Taarzenath) acts as the lead helmsman.
Movement. At initiative count 20, the lead helmsman determines how far the Strider moves, and may make one 90 degree turn if desired. If the lead helmsman doesn't make a decision, it continues moving as it did on the previous round. The Deathblow may use its piercing ram as part of this movement.

Weapons: Ballistas (4)

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 50 each
Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Weapons: Mangonel

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 100
Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 200/800 ft. (can't hit targets within 60 feet of it), one target. Hit: 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage.

Weapons: Piercing Ram

Armor Class 20
Hit Points 150 (damage threshold 10)
The Deathblow has advantage on all saving throws relating to crashing when it crashes into a creature or an object. Any damage it takes from the crash is applied to the ram rather than to the spelljammer. These benefits don't apply if another vessel crashes into the Deathblow.

Additionally, a target rammed by the Deathblow takes double the usual amount of damage, and the damage type is considered piercing rather than bludgeoning. If the Deathblow struck an object or gargantuan creature that failed its Constitution saving throw, they become locked together as the ram embeds itself in the target. While locked together, both the Deathblow and its target have their speed halved, and each drags the other with it when moving. At the start of the Deathblow's turn, the ram deals another 2d10 piercing damage to the target it is embedded in. This damage ignores the target's damage threshold.

A ship's helmsman can use an action to attempt to break free from the ram, making a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw (using the ship's stats). A rammed creature may also make this save. On a success, the Deathblow's ram is ripped free from the object or creature.

Weapons: Jettison

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 50

When activated, the jettison releases a field of debris and junk in the area immediately behind it, filling a 20 x 20 foot area. A creature or object that enters this area must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or take 5d10 piercing damage. A spelljammer takes this damage to its hull. Also on a failed save, any passengers standing on an affected spelljammer's exposed deck must make a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.

The jettison can only be fired once. If the jettison is destroyed by any means, it automatically fires.

Action Station Rules. A jettison doesn't need to be loaded or aimed, and requires 2 actions to fire.