Faarlung's Algorithm

A professional 'acquisitionist' was given a simple job: retrieve an item and deliver it to the wizard who hired him. But the item turned out to be an artifact that was also sought by both a group of cultists who hope to use it to resurrect their dead god and an army of slaads which are drawn to its chaotic energy. Now the mercenary lies strapped to a bed and raving like a lunatic, cultists are prowling the streets at night, slaads are rampaging across the countryside ... and still no one knows what this mysterious object is or does. Faarlung's Algorithm is an adventure for 16th-level characters.

In the small cloth bag is an ornately decorated metal sphere. Its surface gleams like gold, save where intricately etched symbols and arcane geometric patterns have been inscribed. Several of the glyphs and patterns do not line up properly, as if the surface of the device can be manipulated in some way and is currently misaligned. When its surface is touched, an electric tingle is felt in one’s fingers.