Page 120 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

5. THE WATERS OF DEATH (EL 6) If one of the grell in this room is killed, the other attempts
The doors leading into this chamber from area 4 are made of to flee and warn the patriarch in area 10 that the outpost
ancient bronze, cast into threatening shapes. is under attack. If only one grell is in this room (presum-
ably because the other went to investigate trouble in area
At the bottom of the stairs you fi nd a double door, green and cor- 1 and did not return), it flees when reduced to half its hit
roded with age. You can barely discern disturbing skeletal fi gures points.
cast in the ancient bronze. Grinning skulls and bony claws cover
the door. 7. CAPTIVES’ CAVE
The door leading into this chamber is secured from the
While the door is somewhat threatening, it is not dangerous. It outside.
is stuck, requiring a DC 21 Strength check to force open.
A door of thick, gray crystal fi lls this branch of the passage. The THE EATERS CHAPTER 6
The chamber beyond the ancient door is some kind of dark shrine middle panel looks like it could be folded or moved to allow entry,
or crypt. Moldy bas-reliefs carved in the stone walls glorify images but several thick rods or bars of the same crystalline substance
of gruesome death, showing skeletal fi gures sacrifi cing living hold it in place from this side.
humans on skull-covered altars. Several huge stone urns, easily 5
feet tall, stand along the walls. In the center of the room stands Removing the bars from the outside takes only a few
a pool or fountain about 10 feet across. The pool is enclosed in a moments.
knee-high masonry wall and is fi lled with black, still water. A small
stone altar stands against the east wall, and on the north wall, a A steep, slick slope of wet limestone leads down to the fl oor 15
barrier of dull gray crystal seals off another exit from the room. feet below. A still pool of water fi lls the northern end of the room.
The fl oor is littered with bones—mostly game animals, but some

The evil priests of Sangkon Bhet sacrificed prisoners to their look like they might have belonged to humanoids.
sinister deities in this room, drowning them in the ceremonial
urns. Each urn contains a human skeleton immersed in dark, The grell use this cave as a pen for captives or livestock they
foul water, and the large pool in the center of the room holds don’t intend to devour immediately. Typically, the monsters
a sinister guardian—a drowned mummy. The grell quickly simply drop their victims down into the cavern with little
learned that the undead in this room were content to leave concern about damaging them, then retrieve them when
them alone as long as they did not intrude, and so they sealed hungry.
the northern entrance and closed the western doors. Anyone trying to climb up to the door from the cavern floor

Skeleton (7): hp 6 each; Monster Manual page 225. must succeed on a DC 15 Climb check. Forcing the door open
Mummy: hp 60; Monster Manual page 190. Due to its long once it’s barred from the outside requires a DC 25 Strength

immersion, the mummy has no vulnerability to fire. check.
The undead animate and attack if any living creature handles Currently, the room holds no prisoners. This is an excellent
one of the urns, touches the waters of the pool, or approaches place to add an NPC to rescue, if the DM wants to customize
within 5 feet of the altar without performing the proper the lair.
obeisance. It takes the skeletons 1 round to clamber out of the Player characters defeated but not killed in other parts of
urns, and the mummy begins the fight lying prone (and quite the complex are likely to wake up in this chamber, disarmed

hidden) in the black water of the pool. but not yet devoured. Escaping from the room before the grell
The foul muck in the bottom of the pool is littered with decide to have their next meal poses a formidable challenge for
ancient gold coins; throwing coins into the water was part of characters weakened by a losing battle and deprived of their
the rites held here. The pool contains 740 gp, 44 pp, and a gold equipment.
circlet worth 240 gp.
8. PHILOSOPHER’S CHASM (EL 6)
6. STALAGMITE FOREST (EL 5) This cavern is more like a pit than a cave. The fl oor drops away
This large cavern is fi lled with the sound of rushing water. A shal- sharply from the crystal door, and jagged stalagmites dot the
low, swift stream fl ows along the western wall of the chamber. bottom of the shaft almost 30 feet below. Odd spots in the cham-
Large numbers of stalagmites and stalactites dominate the ber walls serve as ledges, on which small urns, sacks, and metal
room; some of them are quite striking. coffers perch precariously.

Large parts of the cavern floor are uneven, filled with stalag- This chamber is the home of the outpost’s second philosopher.

mites or the broken remnants of these formations. Two adult Negotiating the steep, sharp slopes of the chamber requires
grell use this chamber as their lair. Sounds of fighting in area a DC 20 Climb check; any creature falling from the ledge by

1 might draw one of the grell to investigate (see area 1). the door into the chasm takes 3d6 points of falling damage
Grell (2): hp 38, 27; see page 108. The larger grell carries a and takes 1d4 attacks (+8 melee, damage 1d6 points) from the
silverspear (see page 115). jagged stalagmites below.
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