Mummy, when did Daddy get back?
Rylgar, don’t be insensitive. You know your father is missing, along with the others that tried to make it over the mountain pass. How could you?
But Mummy, he spoke to me as he came in last night. He told me of the riders that knocked him into the mist. He told me he had come back for us…
Pathfinder Encounters: Death Mountain Pass CR 10
Nobody uses that Mountain Pass. The bridge is broken and on worn ropes. The crevasse falls away to an eerie mist that chills you just to look at it. Of course it is the quickest way to Radiant City but no-one has gone that way for years. It is much safer to take the low road and survive rather than disappear attempting to cross that forsaken pass.
In truth the mist of the crevasse is created by the magic of a Wish spell from many ages ago when the pass was still safe to travel. The mage that once cast it had his laboratory in the Mountains and the pass was too well traveled for his like. The magician murdered three violent mercenaries and hurled their bodies to the bottom of the crevasse. He then wished for a mist to shield their spirits forever from the harsh light of day and for their souls to be trapped as spectres for eternity. And that is exactly what happened.
The spectres have multiplied in number but it is the three mercenaries alone that rise to the bridge to challenge those that wish to cross it. The spectres are quite mad and are seeking to increase their number so they can kill the mage that murdered them. They do not know that he fell victim to a greater power many centuries ago.
As the players move out onto the bridge, a span of 100 feet the mist rises around them and the three mercenaries seek to drive them from the bridge to the crevasse below. The bridge is difficult terrain but safe enough to cross with a DC 10 acrobatics check each round. Failure requires a DC 15 Reflex save to fall prone on the bridge or the characters falls over the edge. A last grasp on the bridge can be made by falling characters with a DC 20 Reflex save to be hanging by the fingertips on the edge of the bridge. The fall is over 200 feet so the characters take 20d6 falling damage and then have to face at least another 50 spectres at the bottom. In this regard it is best to describe the grisly fall and the approaching spiritual army as there is little to no chance of survival. Of course play it out if you want as the player may surprise you.
If the three spectres at the bridge are defeated the mist dissipates and the sun shines on the spectres below destroying them or causing them to flee to darker recesses and Death Mountain Pass becomes once more safe for travel! Also, place whatever treasure you feel appropriate at the bottom of the crevasse that is littered with the skeletal remains of many adventurers.
Find the statistic block for the Spectre here! Keep rolling!