93
SECRET SHRINE. The room is lit by a dull gray glow which appears to
come from nowhere in particular. This room holds a dozen prostrate
figures, bowing to a statue near the south wall. Gold and other
treasure can be seen placed before the statue in three piles.
The
dozen figures are clad in heavy gray robes, so it is no immediately
apparent that they are zombies. Before death each was a cultist who
received the Kiss of the Worm God. Periodically the rise and then
bow again in obeisance to the statue.
12
Worm Face Zombies (AC 8; MV 6"; HD 2; hp 11, 9, 9, 5, 6, 8, 4,
12, 12, 3, 10, 9; #AT 1; D 1-8; SA Always lose initiative; SD Limited
spell immunity; XP 42, 38, 38, 30, 32, 36, 28, 44, 44, 26, 40, 38)
The
zombies have been programmed to perform homage to the statue. They
will not attack unless the statue is approached or they are
themselves attacked.
The
statue is a man-sized gray painted stone worm on a round pedestal.
It has a huge mouth full of human-like teeth but no eyes. On the
base of the statue, placed equidistantly are three carven glyphs.
These glyphs will be recognizable to any cleric if the cleric can
roll on their (intelligence score + level) X 3 or less on 1d%. For
example, a 10th level cleric with an 18 wisdom has a (10 + 18) X 3 =
84% chance of discerning each glyph separately.
The
first glyph is Yar, which stands for 'service' or 'vassalage', with
the intent being to give completely of oneself out of devotion. The
treasure in front of the Yar glyph consists of a pile 2514 gold
cylinders (each equivalent to a gold crescent in value) and two
emeralds (500 gold crescent value each). If the treasure in front of
the Yar glyph is taken or even touched, the offender must save vs
spells or be placed under the curse of Yar. They will have vivid
dreams of willingly burying themselves under the ground in order to
allow themselves to be consumed by worms. While under the influence
of the curse of Yar, no true rest occurs. They cannot relearn spells
or heal hit points naturally.
The
second glyph is Alfar, which stands for 'hunger'. The treasure in
front of the Alfar glyph consists of a labeled potion of longevity
(green, tastes of bleach) and an unlabeled potion of gaseous form
(black, tastes of licorice). If the treasure in front of this glyph
is disturbed, the offender must save vs spells or suffer the curse of
Alfar. The victim will be ravenously hungry no matter how much food
they eat. Sufferers will consume five times as much rations and must
purchase five times as much food 'in town' in order to stay alive.
Despite this they will not gain weight.
The
third glyph is Kwar, which stands for 'yearning'. The treasure in
front of the Kwar glyph consists of a javelin of lightning,
300 gold cylinders (as above for value), and a silver medallion (no
chain) decorated with worm designs (700 gold crescent value).
Touching the treasure before this glyph will require a savings throw
vs spells to avoid receiving this curse. The curse of Kwar gives the
constant distracting sensation of needing to procreate, like an
animal in heat. Even if the cursed one tries to indulge in physical
satisfaction of this need they will experience only momentary relief
of the very unpleasant sensation. While under the influence of this
curse, one cannot concentrate effectively. Attacks are at -4 to hit.
Spellcasters will have a 20% failure rate when casting spells (or
this is added to the failure rate for clerics with low wisdom). Any
other % based skill is at -20%, including thief skills.
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