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Before entering the forest with the golem, the player characters might hear rumors that the forest is haunted, or that it is home to an evil sorceress or even a succubus. Some inhabitants of the barony might even suggest that Miriath was this succubus in disguise. Soldiers might suggest the forest is not haunted at all, but the repair of some brigands. There are also rumors that an evil fey is ruling the southern part of the forest, and that she sometimes kidnaps children.

The shield guardian walks a few hours in the campaign before reaching the forest. It then continues its walk in the woods, for a total walk of ten hours. (Player characters should make a Constitution check of DC 10 the 9th hour of marching and DC 12 the 10th hour. If any check fails, the character takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from a forced march becomes fatigued. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue. See Forced March in “Chapter 9: Adventuring” in the Player’s Handbook for more details.) If the PCs stop following the golem, a Survival check (DC 10) is required to keep its track; the Track feat is not required for a DC lower than 10. Random encounters are possible, but very unlikely since the shield guardian is making a great deal of noise; near Antinua’s lair, there is no chance of random encounter, since she tolerates no competition.

First contact with Antinua

Antinua
Female half-nymph/half-black dragon: CR 9; Medium dragon (augmented fey); HD 6d8+12; hp 39; Init +3; Spd 30 ft, swim 20 ft; AC 22, touch 18, flat-footed 19 (+3 Dex, + 5 Deflection, +4 Natural Armor); BAB/Grapple +3/+7; Atk +7 melee (1d4+4, claw); Full Atk +7 melee (1d4+4, 2 claws) and +2 melee (1d6+2, bite); SA blinding beauty, spells, spell-like abilities, stunning glance, breath weapon; SQ Damage reduction 10/cold iron, low-light vision, unearthly grace, wild empathy, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to sleep and paralysis, immunity to acid; AL CE, SV Fort +9, Ref +13, Will +13; Str 18, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 17, Cha 21.
Skills and Feats: Concentration +11, Diplomacy +11, Escape Artist +12, Handle Animal +14, Heal +12, Hide +12, Listen +12, Move Silently +12, Ride +5, Sense Motive +12, Spot +12, Swim +12, Use Rope +6 (+8 with bindings); Combat Casting, Dodge, Ability Focus (Stunning Glance).
Languages: Common, Sylvan, Draconic
Blinding Beauty (Su): This ability affects all humanoids within 30 feet of Antinua. Those who look directly at her must succeed on a DC 18 Fortitude save or be blinded permanently as though by the blindness spell. Antinua can suppress or resume this ability as a free action. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Breath Weapon (Su): Line of acid 60 ft. long once a day. Damage 6d8 acid, reflex save DC 15 for half damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—dimension door. Caster level 7th.
Spells: A nymph casts divine spells as a 7th-level druid.
Typical Druid Spells Prepared (6/5/4/3/1, save DC 13 + spell level): 0th—cure minor wounds, detect magic, flare, guidance, light, resistance; 1st—charm animal, cure light wounds, entangle, faerie fire, magic fang; 2nd—bull’s strength, heat metal, hold animal, tree shape; 3rd—call lightning, cure moderate wounds, spike growth; 4th—rusting grasp.
Stunning Glance (Su): As a standard action, a Antinua can stun a creature within 30 feet with a look. The target creature must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or be stunned for 2d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Unearthly Grace (Su): Antinua adds her Charisma modifier as a bonus on all her saving throws, and as a deflection bonus to her Armor Class. (The statistics block already reflects these bonuses).
Wild Empathy (Ex): This power works like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that a nymph has a +6 racial bonus on the check.
Skills: A nymph has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. She can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. She can use the run action while swimming, provided she swims in a straight line.
Possessions: shield guardian amulet, ring of feather falling, pair of silver earrings worth 525 gp.

Assuming that the player characters are able to follow the golem through its entire trip, the following events will take place:

Between the trees, the characters can see a beautiful lake. Near the shore, a silhouette is sitting. Upon closer examination, it seems to be a feminine form, with jet black hair and skin. Vestigial wings can be seen through her long hair. Her back is turned to the characters, and she seems to be devouring a freshly killed deer. She hears the shield guardian when it is about 60 feet away from her. She turns over, and looks frightened by the large construct. If she sees the player characters, she yells for them to keep their golem away. The shield guardian continues on its way and stops ten feet from the black woman, who is now standing up and facing it. She doesn’t wear clothes, but her long hair hides most of her features.

A Spot (DC 12) check reveals that she is wearing some kind of jewel on her neck. By succeeding on a DC 16 Spot check, the PCs can learn that her face is especially skinny, almost skeletal; it’s also possible to remark that her fingers end in sharp claws. Antinua is truly frightened by the shield guardian. She slowly moves back, but stops when she realizes the golem doesn’t approach closer than 10 feet. If she hasn’t already spotted the PCs, she shouts at the forest, in a less than nice way:

“Is there anybody here? Have your dirty golem move from here, and get away from my territory! You, stop following me!” she commands the shield guardian. Obeying its mistress, the golem stops moving.

If the PCs show themselves at this moment, Antinua is willing to negotiate. She is a jealous, vain, and greedy creature. Treat her initial attitude as unfriendly; if, with Diplomacy, magic, or other skill checks, her attitude is improved to friendly, she will trade the amulet with any other jewel or art object of at least 5000 gp in value. There are two conditions that could make her stops negotiations: if through the discussion she somehow learns that the amulet could control the golem, or if, in the characters’ party, there is a female humanoid with a charisma score of 19 or higher. This last condition is enough to awaken her jealousy.

If forced to fight, or if she decides to start a fight, Antinua will cast spike growth on the terrain between herself and the player characters in order to hinder movement. If the PCs come within 30 feet of her, she will shake her hair back to reveal her body and activate her blinding beauty ability. She will also use her more potent stunning glance against the physically weaker opponents (she knows robust humanoids resist those attacks more easily). She will follow with a call lightning spell. Her next spells should be magic fang and bull’s strength, to boost her physical attack. But if the gray render is nearby, she may reserve those spells for her ally. If she has time to cast more spells, she will convert a 3rd-level spell into a summon nature’s ally III spell, and summon 1d4+1 wolves.

Each round, there is a 5% chance that she will unintentionally touch the amulet and ask some help. At this command, the shield guardian will activate its guard ability, imposing a -2 to all attacks against Antinua. This will remind her of her first meeting with the gray render, and she will suppose that the shield guardian is there to protect her.

If she is ever reduced to 12 hit points or less, she will attempt to use her dimension door ability and retreat to her lair. If this fails, she will retreat into the lake, and try to hide there.

Gray Render: see the Monster Manual, page 138, for stats.

When the player characters and the shield guardian reach the lakeshore, the gray render is roaming in the woods at some distance. Upon hearing its mistress yelling, it rushes to help her. If it sees that she is in negotiations, it will hide itself about 30 feet to her side, and wait to see if she is in danger. Whenever a fight begins, it will jump into melee and fight the closest opponent. It will stick to this opponent unless Antinua is directly threatened of grappled; in such a situation, it will move to protect her. If Antinua leaves the battle, the gray render will quit the fight and attempt to flee.

Antinua’s Lair
There is a small hill near the lakeshore: this is Antinua’s lair. The entrance is a 5 foot by 5 foot hole hidden between the roots of a huge pine (Search DC 20). A character with the Track feat will find quantities of trails let by Antinua, going in every direction; there is no way to identify which ones are coming or going to the lair. However, a Survival or Knowledge: Nature check DC 16 would reveal that the lair should be below the hill, narrowing the searching area.

The first room is where the gray render sleeps and leaves the prey it offers to Antinua. It is a round room of about 15 feet of radius, and 10 feet high. There is nothing of interest here, save some freshly killed animals. Daylight illuminates about half of this room.

At one end, there is a corridor; it is 10 feet wide, only 6 feet high, and continues back from the entry chamber for about 60 feet; daylight never reaches this point or anything further. Somewhere in the middle, there is a deep hole that Antinua covered with branches, dirt and sand.

Well-Camouflaged Pit Trap: CR 8; mechanical; location trigger; repair reset; DC 20 Reflex save avoids; 100 ft. deep (10d6, fall); Search DC 27; Disable Device DC 18. Market Price: 16,000 gp.

The pit empties into a large room about the same size as the entrance room. This room is home to a giant stag beetle, trapped there by Antinua. She regularly throws her garbage in this pit to feed the giant vermin. There is an impressive amount of bones. If the PCs are interested in finding Miriath’s remains, this is where they will be. There are also some normal melee weapons, thrown there by Antinua.

Giant Stag Beetle: see the Monster Manual, page 285, for stats.

The corridor ends in a room of about 15 feet by 20 feet. This is where Antinua usually sleeps and keeps her treasure. If she previously left the battle, this is where she is hiding, trying to heal her wounds. If she hears the pit trap setting off, she will discreetly spy on the characters; if some of them fell to the bottom, she will take advantage of the situation and attack the remaining characters. Thanks to the corridor, incoming creatures are likely to move in file; this is the best time for her to use her breath weapon.

Creatures: Antinua (see stats higher; she lacks the spells used in the battle, but she has more hit points than when she left the fight thanks to a potion of cure moderate wounds.

Treasure: In addition to Antinua’s already described possessions, the following can be found in this room: 1500 gp, 700 sp, 200 cp, an emerald (worth 1000 gp), a smoky quartz (40 gp), three amethysts (90 gp each), an onyx (50 gp), a pair of white silk gauntlets (500 gp), a carved ivory statuette of an unicorn (50 gp), a masterwork composite shortbow (375 gp), a masterwork gnome hooked hammer (Small size) (620 gp), a masterwork alchemical silver sickle (396 gp), a masterwork heavy wooden shield (160 gp) and +1 studded leather armor (1175 gp). There are also potions of delay poison, pass without traces, darkvision, and, if Antinua didn’t drink it, cure moderate wounds.

The composite shortbow and the +1 studded leather armor were Miriath’s possessions.

The Shield Guardian’s Amulet
Whenever Antinua is defeated, the PCs can recover the shield guardian’s amulet, and take some control of the golem.

Shield Guardian: CR 8; see the entry for this monster in the Monster Manual, page 223-224. Unlike the example in the Monster Manual, this shield guardian has the unique ability to recharge itself with the frostwave spell once every 24 hours. See the entry below for the frostwave spell.

While it is easy to command the golem to move, to fight, or to use its guard ability in any language, the shield other and spell storing abilities require very precise command words to activate them. Examining the amulet can provide a hint to those command words. The amulet is a beautiful wooden piece of art in the form of a snowflake, colored in many tints of blue. A text in Aquan is inscribed on it, and reads as follows:

The Guardian follows you, fights for you, and protects you. To lessen your wounds (i.e. activate shield other), say “Healing Wave!” To blast your foes (i.e. have the golem cast frostwave), say “Thou shalt be frosted!”

A Decipher Script check DC 20 can translate this text, as can a comprehend languages spell. But those means don’t allow the characters to use the command words, since they must be spoken in Aquan. The tongues spell will allow the caster to use the command words as long as the spell lasts. Read magic doesn’t help, since the inscription isn’t magical. Identify will allow the caster to learn how to pronounce both command words. Obviously, a character who already speaks Aquan doesn’t need any magical help.

New Spell:

Frostwave
Evocation [cold]
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Component: V, F, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 15 feet
Area: Cone-shaped burst
Duration: 1round/level or until removed; see text
Saving Throw: Reflex negates
Spell Resistance: Yes and no; see text

You create a wave of snow that covers every creature in a 15 foot cone; a Reflex save allows a target to completely avoid the wave. The snow sticks to the targets for one round per level (to a maximum of 6 rounds); a target can take a full-round action to remove the snow covering its body. In cold weather (below 40°F), the snow sticks twice as long to the target, while in hot environment (above 90°F), the duration is halved (round down).

Each round a target is covered with snow (starting the round you cast the spell), it takes 1d6 points of cold damage, and its speed is reduced by half. This is not countered by the haste spell; a hasted or slowed target still moves at half its modified speed, to a minimum of 5 feet. Spell resistance allows a target to resist the cold damage, but her speed is still halved due to obstruction by snow.

Material Component: A drop of water, which is frozen in snow by the spell.

Further Adventures:
Antinua could easily be a member of the Unseelie Court (see the Fey Feature articles at the Wizards of the Coast official website). Any of her jewels could be a gift from another fey, who might want to recover it when she hears about Antinua’s death.

Antinua is also the daughter of a Black Dragon, who might seek revenge for her death.

If the player characters keep the shield guardian for themselves, the young baron McKem will spend all his resources to recover it, and could become a recurrent villain.

Adjusting the Encounters:
Time and distance: There is many ways to adjust the difficulty of this Vicious Venue. The distance traveled by the shield guardian can be lengthened, so the PCs could have to walk a longer time in forced march, or be finally forced to stop following it. Even if she has little arcane knowledge, Antinua is an intelligent being. Each hour she stays with the shield guardian, she should have a cumulative 5% chance to learn that she can command the golem via the amulet. In such a situation, she will never surrender the amulet, and she will start the fight with the golem to help her.

The weather: If the characters are forced to track the golem in the woods, rain could easily complicate the situation. Also, a rainy day will make the spell Call Lightning even more deadly.

Feats: Ability Focus has been used on Antinua’s stunning glance special attack, which requires one standard action and targets only one creature. It could be used instead on her blinding beauty attack, which is a free action and targets everyone looking at her. It might also be substituted by any more potent feat.

Advancing Antinua: It is possible to give Antinua, like any intelligent creature, levels in some character class or prestige class. She already casts spells as a 7th level druid, and any druid level will improve this caster level. Alternatively, she might benefit from a Hit Dice increase to improve her special attacks.

The Gray Render: A lower-level party could encounter the gray render alone in its lair.

The Beauty, the Beast, and Their Guardian!