The Deep Void is nearly impossible to reach, but for the mad and desperate, there are waystations. Some are nearly as deadly as the Void itself. Tenebrious is one of them.
Tenebrious, Gateway to the Deep Void
Far above the world, a small chunk of rock hovers on the edge of a portal to the Void. The dark, desolate rock is known to a few select sages as Tenebrious. A number of gates lead to the nearly airless place from many of the Ten Thousand Worlds, including the Deep Void.
There are rumored to be magical circles and gates connected to Tenebrious hidden throughout the lands of Midgard. Faint rumors and ancient elven texts hint of portals in the underground passages of Zobeck, in the glaciated dwarven ruins of the Northlands, even at the heart of Demon Mountain.
Tenebrious has very little gravity. All STR and Athletics checks are made with advantage, and all jump distances are doubled. Inversely, all DEX and Sleight of Hand checks are made with disadvantage, due to characters being unaccustomed to moving in the environment.
The air here is also dangerously thin, equivalent to being at the summit of a 4- or 5-mile-high mountain. Any breathing creature that does not have some means of producing more breathable air cannot rest and suffers one level of unrecoverable exhaustion as long as it remains on Tenebrious.
Castle Perilous
At the far north end is a small, squat fortress of black stone, known as Castle Perilous. Barely more than a pile of enormous stones, the “castle” has no gate or courtyard, but is sieved by numerous small tunnels, barely wide or tall enough for two Medium creatures to walk abreast. The tunnels are unlit and wind throughout the mound of stone, occasionally crisscrossing, often dead-ending. These tunnels sometimes plummet unexpectedly, but any resulting falls deal half normal falling damage due to the lower gravity.
Many of the tunnels end in dark chambers with large, rough stone rings made from the same black stone as the fortress itself. The upright stone rings are inert portals that lead to other locations and planes when activated by ancient arcane rituals. Thirteen ring-portals lead to otherwise inaccessible realms, such as the the Seven Heavens, the Nine Hells, the Machine Realm, and even the Deep Void itself, if a living creature were so foolish as to wish to travel there.
The fortress and the rock are sparsely populated by creatures that have come through the various portals and become trapped here: fiends and voidlings, even an angel from the Seven Heavens named Saramanthra, who has appointed itself the guardian and guide to Tenebrious and the Castle Perilous.
Legend says that Saramanthra slays any fiendish or void creature it comes across. While it provides aid to like-minded creatures who visit Tenebrious, it works to prevent anyone else from opening portals to dark or fiendish places.
It knows some of the rituals that open portals, and at least one legend says that Saramanthra is actually a fiend or void creature in disguise, luring creatures to their doom by shepherding them through gates to the Void, sacrificing them to be devoured by dark gods.
Saramanthra
The tall, shining creature approaches you with a long, languorous stride, clutching a long, flaming blade. Its visage is sheer beauty and is wreathed by a glowing halo of light. Its eyes are ablaze with a fiery celestial glow.
Celestial Warrior. An avenger and defender from the Seven Heavens, Saramanthra has assumed the mantle of the Guardian of Tenebrious, slaying creatures it deems evil, blocking passage to dark worlds, and defending and guiding creatures it deems good in nature.
Divine Countenance. Saramanthra is a scion of divine perfection. A vision of androgynous beauty, the angel is over nine feet tall with a flawless, etched beauty. The angel is cloaked in unsullied white robes and carries a mighty two-handed greatsword almost six feet in length, and wreathed in smokeless, eternal flame.
ANGEL (SARAMANTHRA) CR 11
Large Celestial
Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 169
Speed 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
Perception 17 Stealth 15
Resistant bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks
Immune Celestial Resilience | Necrotic damage
Senses Darkvision 120 ft.
Languages Celestial, Abyssal, Telepathy 120 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
| +4 | +3 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +3 |
Angelic Nature. The angel doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep. It must however, spend at least 1 hour out of each 24 hours bathed in sunlight or starlight, or it has disadvantage on all attacks and saving throws until it spends an hour in the light again.
Celestial Resilience. The angel is immune to poison damage, to exhaustion, and to the charmed, petrified, poisoned and stunned conditions.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The angel makes three Greatsword attacks per round or two Radiant Beam attacks per round.
Fiery Greatsword. Melee Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 18 (3d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 14 (3d8) fire damage. It can replace one attack with a Radiant Spray attack.
Radiant Beam. Ranged Spell Attack: +8 to hit, range 150 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d8 + 4) radiant damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 17 STR save or be pushed up to 10 feet away from the angel and knocked prone. A fiend, construct or undead creature takes double damage from the radiant beam
BONUS ACTIONS
Radiant Step. The angel teleports up to 120 feet to any area illuminated by sunlight or starlight that it can see. It cannot use this ability when shrouded in darkness.
Scourge of Holy Fire. The angel conjures a 30-foot-radius sphere of holy fire centered on any point it can see within 120 feet of it. Any creature caught in the blast must make a DC 15 CON save, taking 27 (6d6+6) fire damage on a failure, or half as much damage on a success.
REACTIONS
Radiant Shield. When the angel is targeted by an attack that it can see, it can create a shield of radiant light between it and the attacker, giving its attacker disadvantage on the attack roll.
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