Page 121 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

The ledges are filled with various materials and reagents worth 60 gp, a small opal worth 150 gp, and four banded agates
necessary for the philosopher’s studies—rare earths, sands, worth 8 gp apiece.
salts, powders, and interesting natural specimens.
Grell Philosopher: hp 56; see page 109. 10. PATRIARCH’S LAIR (EL 10)
The philosopher in this room has no avenue of retreat. It A short but steep slope of damp boulders climbs up to a large
conceals itself with obscuring mist (it sees through the mist cavern fi lled with striking phosphorescent fungi. The weird,
just fine, due to its blindsight) and tries to paralyze eldritch light of the chamber illuminates a litter of

characters in the doorway so that they fall animal bones on the fl oor
onto the jagged rocks below. and tangled heaps of
The philosopher has amassed
humanoid gear—
CHAPTER 6 THE EATERS a small hoard from its ex- armor, weapons,
plorations of the surface
and clothing. At
ruins and neighbor-
the east end of the
ing lands. It keeps
room, a narrow
its treasure in the
metal coffers on crevice vanishes
into gloom.
the ledges: 265 gp,
290 sp, three mal- The patriarch
achite gemstones of the out-
worth 15 gp post chose
each, two per- this chamber
idots worth 60 as its personal
gp each, an ame- lair. It is cur-
rently evaluating
thyst worth 300 gp, the question of
and a silver bracelet
Illus. by D. Scott worth 110 gp. colony to the cav-
whether to move
the rest of its
If the patriarch in
area 10 is killed, this
philosopher takes over the
erns below Sangkon
leadership of the outpost (none of Bhet. While the upper
the other grell trust the necrophiloso- caverns could not comfortably house
pher in area 4). many more grell, the lower caverns might
The patriarch and its latest victim
serve a colony well.
9. WATERFALL CHAMBER The humanoid gear belongs to a small
(EL 5) party of traders and explorers ambushed by the patriarch’s
The roaring of water thunders in this large cavern. A swift stream scouts a few days ago. The unfortunate explorers were
runs along the far wall, disappearing over a small cascade into devoured soon after being brought to the outpost. The narrow
the lightless depths below. Strange fungi sprout among the sta- crevice at the east end of the room leads down to the river pas-

lagmites and slippery fl owstone of the cavern fl oor. sage described in area 9. While it is a tight fit for the patriarch,
the grell hopes that it could escape that way if need be.
This cavern serves as a guard post for grell assigned to defend Grell Patriarch: hp 147; see page 113.
the patriarch’s lair. Two grell lurk here, keeping watch, The patriarch is inclined to stand its ground against all
although both spend a lot of time near the stream, hoping to but the most dangerous enemies. It uses greater invisibility
spear a blind cave fish. early in the fight and attacks brazenly, seeking to overcome

Grell (2): hp 34, 30; see page 108. Both are armed with intruders with a sudden assault. If the heroes seem capable
lightning lances. of defeating its invisibility, the monster uses web or slow to
The grell are loyal to the patriarch, but hesitate to sacrifice hinder the party while picking on lone characters who are

their lives for it. The waterfall in the eastern part of the room far from help.
leads to a narrow, dank, subterranean river passage that winds The patriarch has naturally claimed the lion’s share of
for several hundred yards before emerging on the surface from the treasure discovered in and around the ruins of Sangkon
the side of a hill. If one grell is killed, the other attempts to Bhet. Its loot consists of 3,700 sp, 2,900 gp, 55 pp, a fine
escape through this passage, which includes several tight jade statuette worth 650 gp, two rubies worth 300 gp each,

squeezes that would be difficult for humans (Escape Artist and three small diamonds worth 230 gp each. The explor-
DC 15). ers’ belongings include a suit of +2 studded leather armor,
One of the grell has collected a small handful of interesting a +1 flaming short sword, a cloak of elvenkind, and a scroll of
gemstones from the nearby jungle, including a tourmaline neutralize poison.
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