Algollied (3.5e Elder Evil)

Algollied
"I dare not sleep, for in my dreams that song haunts my ever step. I hear it in the breath of others, in the chirping of birds, in the rustle of leaves, that damned song muttering in the background. The only way to silence it, to get some peace and quiet... is to silence... everything..."

Summary::Algollied, the Melody of Death, a sentient song whose presence drives its listeners mad. Those who hear it become unable to hear anything else, deafening them to anything but the song, and then preventing them to do anything but sing the terrible song until its victim dies of grief and exhaustion. A song born of sorrow, viral and cruel, a determined to have its creators final wish fulfilled: to let every being in existence know his sorrow.

Background
The nature of the melody of death has had many creation stories, a tale told from long ago of an artist and his sorrows. The details vary, some posing that the artist was a deity of music who had rivals within the pantheon, others say he was a mere mortal man who angered the gods, or fell through some act of hubris. Whatever the story, the basics remain the same; a bard existed whose music was the most beautiful, the most pure and wonderful music of all time, leagues ahead of its age. He had wealth, he had health, love and all the things one wished in life, and was well on his way to completing his opus magnum. But through the acts of cruel fate or some terrible rival, all he had was lost and ruined, the man hounded, and finally slain by an ineffable evil force that tore him apart. (Knowledge History DC 28)

In that moment he passed death and tasted undeath as a bodak, where he roamed the earth causing suffering as bodaks are ought to do. However during his rage, he found something that sparked a memory within him so potent, reminding him of his unfinished opus and all the loss that he suffered. At once he set out to find and finally complete his opus, changing the ending to fit an end as he had suffered, a final empathic act towards the world before the madness of undeath overtook his mind again. And so he retreated to some far corner in the deepest shadow, far away from all others, to work upon the song. (Knowledge History DC 34)

And so the opus was completed, but perhaps because he had distanced himself so, or perhaps his evil had corrupted him so, the song was distorted, beautiful yet horrifying all the same. As he sung the lyrics back to himself, it triggered something terrible. The magic of his song resonated with the sorrow in his dead heart and desire for justice, and lived, claiming the artist itself as its first victim. Since then, the song has been said many times, the original playbook and its copies performed many times, and each time those who sung or heard it came unto a terrible ruined, until the work was known as cursed and forbidden. Yet the song will not go unheard, and the universe is vast. It only needs to start with one idle note... (Knowledge History DC 40)

Goals
The song wishes to be heard, wishes to be sung, so all may know its creator's final work and that those which wished to silence the bard may fail and in doing, justice served. (Knowledge Arcana DC 28) However it is uncaring and nearly mindless in its actions, interested only in spreading and not in the survival of those it touches. (Knowledge Arcana DC 36) While it is rumored that once the entire multiverse had heard the song only then the song will stop and release its hold on the universe, its just as likely that it would seal the fate and cause the extinction of all sentient life in the universe. (Knowledge Arcana DC 40)

Algollied in the Campaign
It is uncertain the nature of the bardic magic used, but one aspect is clear. The song was tuned to the position of the stars and the rotation of the cosmic bodies above. It seems tied to the star Algol and its brightness. Every 182 years its presence grows stronger, and if the songbook had been previously lost it manifests once more upon the prime material, only to fall into the hands of a hapless mortal who will become its host and begin the cycle anew.

A possible campaign arc follows, complete with Encounter Levels so you may design adventures for the PCs and include various events that foretell the song's influence in the world.

EL 5: An up and coming bard named Omerta has gained a great deal of fame after some stunning performances, rising from nothing to superstar in short order. However it seems his fame has attracted the wrong kind of attention and "lunatics" are out to kill him. Omerta hires the PCs as bodyguards to keep him safe until the police investigate and arrest those responsible. Everything seems legitimate, and as far as can be told his opposition is just some wild cult who believes his music is evil. Once the danger is defeated Omerta thanks the PCs and retains friendly, if distant, relationships with them as his fame spreads into other planes.

EL 10 (Faint Sign): Omerta is known worldwide as a popular and famous singer, and as one might expect from there he has a following, some who seem obsessive. When word leaks of his magnum opus being developed and the song hidden somewhere obscure, it leads to several fanatical fans breaking in and stealing works from places they all suspect (unsuccessfully) where the song may be hidden, as well as rivals who wish to find his secrets and employ a similar song of their own. This leads to several incidents and small riots. Omerta publicly denounces those who would do such a thing, but even the negative publicity gives him more attention than ever. He announces a new concept, a performance that the entire multiverse can hear, matching up with the debut of his new opus.

EL 15 (Moderate Sign): Omerta's fame goes planar, and with it his friends and enemies. Noticing more and more of their troops falling victim to the "foolish warbling of a mortal", several powerful fiends begin to work their way to remove Omerta. Omerta capitalizes on the opposition, showing how his music has brought (relative) peace to the war-torn and normally heartless lower planes. In order to help spread his music and in doing so, influence more fiends into complacency he asks for the PCs aid in completing an arcane device that will project his song over a wide area evenly. The PCs aid him, while fiendish lords go to stop what they consider a weapon against their inherent vileness. Around this time, the PCs hear rumors of the same cultists from earlier, this time in a mad bid to build an "ark" to travel into the Plane of Vacuum, "the only place where it will be safe".

EL 18 (Strong Sign): Distressed over the growing fanaticism of his fanbase, Omerta enlists the PC's help as bodyguards again while he and his aids locate the ObservatoriumMotP where with his magical devices created before, he should be able to transmit sound to every plane in existence, where he certainly has an eager and willing audience waiting for him. The PCs encounter the cult again, who first offer the PCs refuge upon their ark, then are forced to try and break through in their bid to stop Omerta, who they say is false, using his unnatural fame as proof. If it fails to convince the PCs then, they will be convinced once Omerta has reached his goals, where he will force the PCs to leave him along within the moving demiplane either through diplomacy, charming, or physical force. Once successful, Omerta is safe from assault while he begins his long and dangerous song which will end the earth, using the Observatorium's inherent planeshifting powers to keep him untouchable and hidden, while he has access to the universe.

EL 20 (Overwhelming Sign): The song has begun to play, long, terrible, maddening. The PCs must find the location of the Observatium while mind-warped fanatics of Omerta try to stop them from preventing the completion of the song. The cultists who remain take off, in hope that the silence in the vacuum is enough to keep them safe until the world has died and they return to try and rebuild what has been lost.

Description
As nothing more then sentient sound, Algollied has no corporeal body to witness, but it can be felt, and it can be heard. In a sense the original playbook, which has a way of always returning even if utterly destroyed, may be its true body. Those it takes on as hosts also count as parts of its form. However, in times of duress and when directly threatened, it may transform its host into a living incarnation of the song. In such a state it is a translucent being made visible by the constant sonic distortions in its spherical body, with a core deep within it glowing with distorted red light. A barely visible swirling gray mist within its form reveals the shape of dozens of tortured singing mouths and eyes which cry its deadly song. Tentacles of sound lash out and dig into the earth, its cacophonic cries signalling death.

Sign
Sign::Memetic Song

The song is a true brown note, causing those who hear it to go mad, slowly preventing them from hearing anything but the song, haunting their thoughts, and finally causing them to sing. The song continues until they perish of exhaustion, and in extreme cases even long after they have died...

Faint: Those who hear the song begin to hear it all over, even when it is not playing. People must succeed on a DC 5 Listen check whenever spoken to or attempting to hear something actively. Failure means they heard nothing but the song playing in their head, causing them to blank out from possibly critical information.

Moderate: The mimetic song occurs more frequently, raising the Listen DC to 15. Those who fail the check are treated as being one step friendlier to the current host of Algollied for 24 hours. This is an extraordinary mind-affecting effect.

Strong: The desire to sing the song within your head becomes difficult indeed. Every time a creature vocalizes it must resist the urge to sing or hum fragments or entire sections of the song. Each week all intelligent creatures must make a DC 10 Will save or take 1 point of Wisdom drain, as exposure slowly drains their sanity. Those reduced to 0 Wisdom do nothing but sing until their bodies no longer are able to take it and they pass out or otherwise hurt themselves. The Listen DC to hear the words of other rises to DC 25, and those effected treat the host as two steps friendlier.

Overwhelming: The urge to sing becomes almost impossible to resist. At this point even the corpses of those affected continue to sing long past death, resulting in graveyards in a hellish underground chorus. To say anything at all, including spellcasting with vocal components, the creature must succeed on a Will save DC 25 simply to speak. Each creature must avoid wisdom drain each day, rather than each week, and the wisdom drain rises to 1d6. The listen DC to hear others rises to DC 35, and the charming effect of the song causes the creature to be three steps friendlier.

Malefic Properties
Anathematic Secrecy: Immune to all divine divination spells and effects.

Discord and Woe: Incite killing rage in living creatures.EE