UPPER DUNGEONS LEVEL THREE 88 ROOM OF PARADISE.

88 ROOM OF PARADISE. Upon entering this room, a warm stifling heat and the overpowering stench of fresh and old blood, feces, and urine will wash over the adventurers. Within are dozens of corpses, gnawed to the bone, but more disturbing are the approximately twenty still living men and women being eaten alive by fifty fat two foot long gray slagworms that are crawling about their bodies. The still-living sacrifices don't seem to mind, however, as they are laughing and giggling while their muscle, skin, intestines, and other soft parts are being consumed. There are four attendants, cultists in gray loincloths armed with tridents and possessing the 'kiss of the worm god' stigmata.

4 Dedicated Worm Face Cultists (AC 10; MV 12"; F4; hp 17, 22, 23, 19; #AT 1; D Trident; SD Only surprised on a 1, see invisible; XP 175, 200, 205, 185)

These four cultists are the sacred protectors of the worms, and are not embroiled in the power struggle between Grollgrang and Blaftox. Instead they act independently to care for the larval worms consuming the bodies of men and women. Each wears a silver choker (150 gold crescent value) made to resemble worms wrapping about their necks.

50 Gray Slagworms (AC 10; MV 3”; HD 1 hit point; hp 1 each; #AT 1 bite; D 1-2; XP 6 each)

The larval worms are called gray slagworms and will mature into the great gray constrictor worms, or if fed unholy water and the flesh of strange beasts they may develop in other ways. As the worms eat the cultist sacrifices, they inject powerful opioid neuropeptides into the body, causing the meal to experience intense pleasure and completely overriding pain sensors. In this way the sacrifices are in a powerful 'reward' sensation loop that continues until they die. The slagworms leave the essential parts of the host's body (such as heart, lung, and brain) for last so that they can get as much fresh nourishment as possible.

The slagworms are busy eating and will not attack, even if the cultists are attacked and killed. The slagworms never attack the attendants or any one else who is marked by their worm face mark. If they are attacked, however, they will fight even worm faces with a nasty little bite, which is painless due to their anesthetic secretions.

More horrible are the living men and women, who will fight to keep the worms on their bodies and continue to experience the intense pleasure that they have now become used to. The sacrifices vary greatly in appearance. Some resemble skeletons with eyes and a few organs. Other are nearly whole, but are missing important parts such as legs or having an exposed chest cavity.

The room is kept very warm by a series of charcoal braziers which provide an awful lurid red light. This keeps the sacrifices alive despite their loss of heat through their lack of skin. Similarly, the attendants have seven great barrels of water, which they ladle out to the sacrifices to keep them alive as long as possible.