#55 : The Mouth of the Dying God | A Cosmic Horror on The Astral Sea

You were hired to find a missing son. You found him preaching inside a dead god's mouth.

The Astral Sea is full of dead gods. Their petrified corpses drift through the silver void between planes, mountain-sized and silent. One of them has begun to decay. Its jaw is closing. And inside its open mouth — on the tongue, between the teeth, in a fortified citadel carved into the rear molars — lives a cult that worships the dying remnant. They are preparing for the closing. They have been preparing for years.

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Forty years ago, a young man named Corwin Vesh portaled to the Astral Plane on a religious pilgrimage and was never seen again. Now his dying father has paid a wizard to bring him home so the family fortune can pass before the old man dies. The wizard subcontracted the job to your party. He gave you a single portal vial. He gave you the coordinates. He did not tell you what was inside the body. Inside, Corwin is not a captive. He is the cult's leader. He has a wife. He has a young son. The wife wants the boy saved. The husband does not. Your portal vial opens once. It stays open for fifteen seconds. You decide who walks out.

A 5e-compatible cosmic horror one-shot for 2–3 players at level 2–3, designed for a single 2–3 hour evening. No prep required. Ready to run.

What's Inside:

• Complete adventure across four acts, fully written read-aloud text throughout
• Six battle maps including a top-down overview of the dead god's mouth and a side-view of the rear approach to the Citadel
• Three custom creatures fully statted (Festerlings, Bristlestalker, Pit-Sworn) plus standard cult tiers
• Eight named NPCs with motivations, behaviour notes, and dialogue cues
• Four pre-generated characters at level 2 with full sheets and personal hooks into the mission
• Six campaign opening hooks and six closing hooks for continuing the story past the one-shot
• Player-creativity guide covering nine common ways parties depart from expected structure
• Three distinct endings tied to player choice, each with full aftermath text
• DM challenge dial for tables that want a harder climax
• Estimated play time: 2–3 hours, single session

What Makes This Adventure Different:

The setting is genuinely unlike any other planar adventure on the market. The party walks across an actual tongue, climbs an actual molar, and stands beneath an actual closing jaw. The cult is not the villain — they are sincere believers preparing willingly for the rite. Combat is sparse and meaningful. The climax is a moral choice the party did not see coming when they signed the contract. There are no clean endings. Every outcome costs something.

Perfect For:

• Small groups of 2–3 players who want a complete one-shot tonight
• Dungeon Masters running duet or trio campaigns
• Tables that prefer moral weight over monster-of-the-week combat
• Busy DMs who want a session-ready adventure with zero prep
• Players who enjoy cosmic horror, planar settings, and difficult choices
• Anyone who has ever wanted to run a dungeon set inside an actual dead god

Content Warnings:

This adventure deals with religious zealotry, ritual death, body horror, parental separation, and morally ambiguous outcomes. Full content warnings are provided in the introduction. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

Anvil N Ink Publishing specialises in zero-prep one-shots for small groups. Our Ready Adventure Series is designed for the dungeon master who has two hours to plan and a Saturday night to fill. Visit anvilnink.com for the full catalog.

Open the vial. Walk into the mouth. Decide who walks out.