THE GROUNDS 5 THIS IS A CASTLE.

5 THIS IS A CASTLE. This small court features in its center a very small castle (less than a foot high) surrounded by a tiny moat. Near the entrance to each pathway in the hedge maze there is a signpost that reads “This is a castle.”

This castle belongs to Wandra Triskelion. Years ago she used powerful magic to turn herself into a part-plant and now she wields unusual powers. Wandra is obsessed with her own appearance and very greedy. She is always eager to welcome new people into her castle … so she can turn them into vegetable people. While she has been telling her vegetable people that she is raising an army to conquer The Grounds, she has actually been using them to make delicious juices in the dungeon level of this castle. She believes that juices and soups made from vegetable men will prolong her life span and make her more beautiful.

If the party attempts to ally with Wandra Triskelion, her response will largely be based on her reaction roll. For her part, Wandra is trying to lure more humans, demi-humans, and humanoids to her castle so she can turn them into juice. An agreement with her would likely entail the characters luring new victims into her castle. Wandra is extremely narcissistic and will see herself as the superior partner in any agreement. She will be difficult and demand new concessions regularly.

If the adventurers assault the castle and then retire before defeating Wandra, there will be relatively little change between one encounter and the next. The chaotic nature of the inhabitants leads them to somewhat lax security. Nevertheless, Wandra is personally very intelligent and will respond to a real or perceived threat by posting pea head guards at the front gate and surrounding her self with more pea heads and vegetable men.

The pea heads are not a product of her magic, but a race of plant-humanoids indigenous to The Grounds. The serve Wandra because she supplies them with vegetable men for food and occasionally leads them into The Grounds on raids to satisfy the pea heads blood lust.

The vegetable men are ignorant of their role as food and drink to Wandra and the pea heads. They believe they are citizens of the castle with the same status as the pea heads. On being transformed into plant people, most succumb to Wandra's charm power. Those few that are not, such as Gratinati at Area 3, usually flee or are captured and dragged to the dungeons. The vegetable men who inhabit the castle are forbidden to enter the dungeon area unless escorted by pea heads. Those who are led into the dungeon emerge only later as food and drink.

If the party can convince the vegetable men that they are really being exploited and turned into food and drink, they will likely revolt against Wandra and the pea heads. If shown evidence of Wandra's perfidy, such as the book in Room 5Q or the presses in Room 5U, each vegetable man will get an immediate saving throw vs spells at +4. If they succeed then they will join the adventurers. If they fail then they remain loyal.

The castle and the items in the castle are decorated with messages written in paint or carved into the structure. Each label reads “This is a _______”, with the blank part being the name of the item in question, such as “This is a door”, “This is a chair”, or “This is a sword.” The reason for this is that the vegetable people are very stupid and need to be reminded frequently what things are so they can use them properly.

If any person approaches the castle, it will appear to grow larger and larger until it is a life-size two story building. What is really happening, however, is that the castle is not growing but the characters and their belongings are shrinking. A observant person will notice that the hedges surrounding the court are expanding to gargantuan proportions around them.

When inside the structure of the castle, size stays the same. A six foot tall person is about an inch tall at the castle. With the reduction in size there is an associated effect. Anyone who falls takes no falling damage because their mass is now so small that wind resistance is a factor. Also, because the surface area to volume ration of the characters has changed so markedly, they will now be much more sensitive to small changes in temperature. This is especially noticeable when entering the dungeon portion (Rooms 5R to 5U).

THE GROUNDS 4 DRY WELL.

4 DRY WELL. The sound of loud buzzing can be heard from a covered well located in the middle of this grassy lawn. Within the well is a nest of jousting wasps.

11 Jousting Wasps (AC 5; MV 3”/15”; HD 1-4 hit points; hp 4, 2, 1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2; #AT 1 sting; D 1-2; SA Attack as 4 HD monster on first attack; XP 9, 7, 6, 6, 6, 9, 9, 8, 7, 7, 7)

There is a sack holding 543 silver spanners, 4 normal marbles, and a tiger's eye gem worth 100 gold crescents base value at the bottom of the well.

THE GROUNDS 3 BURIED ALIVE.

3 BURIED ALIVE. This small court is located within the hedge maze. The hedges are extremely dense and twelve feet tall.

In the center of the court an unusual person has been buried up to their eyeballs. This is Gratinati, a potato man transformed by Wandra Triskelion at Area 5.

Gratinati (AC 10; MV 12”; HD 1; hp 7; #AT 1; D By weapon; XP 17)

Gratinati looks like a potato with eyes, ears, and a mouth. He has arms and legs sticking out of his body at appropriate places. He is not armed and has no wealth. Unless he is armed, experience points should not be awarded for defeating him.

After being turned into a tuber, Gratinati felt the urge to plant himself. If disturbed he will cry for help and there is a 90% chance that 1d4+3 jousting wasps from Area 4 will come to investigate. If the adventurers can convince him that they mean him no harm and want to help return him to being a human (this is based on reaction roll), he will likely consent to act as a guide. He can find his way about the ground floor of the castle at Area 5 in a general fashion. He does not know the secret behind the traps or secret doors.

THE GROUNDS 2 THE RUNNING OF THE SHRUBS.

2 THE RUNNING OF THE SHRUBS. This rectangular stretch of lawn is inhabited by numerous two footed shrubs running about. One area is clearly marked off as a gaming field with white chalk.

This is the home of King Shrub and his subjects, a dozen walking shrubs. King Shrub is a very old and overgrown treant who likes watching games. His favorite game is called 'Shrub Ball' and unless he is attacked immediately he will invite adventurers to play a game “For all the marbles”.

If the adventurers agree to play a game they and a matching number of shrubs (up to 6) will line up at the start line. The idea is to race to one of three flag poles near the north end of the field, grab a flag (there is only one per flag pole), chase down a kiwi bird (the ball) and then cross the finish line with a flag and the bird.

Upon reaching a flag pole, it takes a hit vs AC 10 to grab a flag. It is possible to steal a flag or the ball from another contestant. Doing so requires the attacker to succeed on a “to hit” roll vs the defender's armor class. Then the defender still gets a chance to save vs paralyzation. If they succeed in making this saving throw they retain possession of the flag or the bird. A player can only try to steal one or the other from another contestant.

A contestant may hand off the bird or a flag to another. This takes slowing movement down to 3” by both contestants to pull off properly. Walking shrubs will not cooperate like this (because they are very competitive and want to win individually) but it is not against the rules.

Complicating factors include the walking shrubs, who will try to knock characters over, and the kiwi bird, who tends to wander.

12 Walking Shrubs (AC 6; MV 15”; HD 3; hp 10, 8, 16, 8, 13, 18, 8, 14, 11, 10, 13, 12; #AT 1 hand; D 1-8; SA Knock prone; XP 125, 117, 149 117, 137, 157, 117, 141, 129, 125, 137, 133)

Walking shrubs are chaotic good, have average intelligence, have two green hands and two green feet. They can attack with a fist, but will not do so during Shrub Ball. Instead, they will try to run into characters in order to knock them over. Characters of size S or M attacked in this way must save vs paralyzation or be knocked prone (and must spend their next round getting back up). Size L creatures are immune to this attack. Shrubs will not always try to knock over characters, they will also attempt to grab the flags and win the game. The Dungeon Master will control their movements.

Walking shrubs can move at a speed of 15”, but cannot sprint. Adventurers can move at their normal speed (removing armor to make on faster is allowed) and can sprint up to three times at twice their normal speed before being winded.

The Ball (Kiwi Bird) (AC 2; MV 12”; HD 1 hit point; hp 1; #AT 0; D Nil; XP -)

The kiwi is dressed in a sweater with the word 'ball' written on it. It will move one square (ten feet) in a random direction each round (use grenade template) but has been taught to stay within the boundaries of the field of play. In order to pick up the kiwi, an adventurer or walking shrub must move on to the same space as the bird and succeed in a “to hit” roll.

King Shrub (Treant) (AC 0; MV 12”; HD 12; hp 62; #AT 2 hands; D 4-24/4-24; SA Control trees; SD Never surprised; XP 5144)

King Shrub will fight if the shrubs or the kiwi are attacked or killed. If a player wins the game of Shrub Ball he will keep his word and give his marbles to the winner. The royal marbles include:

4 pearls (1000 gold crescent base value each)

1 scarlet and blue spherical ioun stone

15 normal marbles

If the adventurers lose, they will owe him 20 marbles. If the adventurers don't have any marbles he will ask them to retrieve some from the witch at Area 23, who stole some from him some time ago.

THE GROUNDS 1 LAWN.

1 LAWN. This is a lawn of bright green grass uniformly cut to a height of three inches. The doors to the east lead to Room 45 in the Ground Floor of the Inner Ward. The lawn is enclosed by sixteen foot tall walls, made of the same gray dressed stone as the Castle. It is possible to climb the wall, and a person could then walk along the top into the hedge maze or even to the towers at Areas 10 and 14.

The Grounds Wandering Monsters

Roll for random encounters using 1d6 once every six turns. On a 1, there is an encounter. Double the odds if the group is making a lot of noise or in similar situations.

Day Time Encounter Table

1d12	Description
1	1d4 badger (10% with giant badgers instead)
2	1d2 black bears
3	1d4 brownies
4	1d2+1 ghost spiders
5	1d3 giant bombardier beetle (50%) or 1 stag (50%)
6	Ad4 giant flamingos (50%) or 1d6+2 tree gnomes (50%)
7	1d6+2 jousting wasps (50%) or 1d4+1 spelling bees (50%)
8	1d4 keepers
9	1d4+3 sugar goblins
10	1d4 thermite workers
11	1d4+1 vegetable men
12	See Unusual Encounter Subtable

Night Time Encounter Table

1d12	Description
1	1d3+1 ghost spiders
2	2d4 giant bats
3	1d4 giant centipedes
4	1d4 giant fire beetles
5	1 giant mole (10% chance of giant brain mole)
6	1d2 giant owls
7	1d2 giant weasels
8	1d6+1 halfling thieves
9	1d2 ogres
10	1d4+1 stirge
11	1d4+2 sugar goblins
12	See Unusual Encounter Subtable

Unusual Encounter Subtable

1d8	Description
1	Downpour
2	Fog
3	Hobgoblins
4	Iron egg
5	Knight
6	1d4+1 pixies
7	1 rust monster
8	1d4 +1 wood elves

Day and Night Time Encounters

Badger

Badger (AC 4; MV 6”(3”); HD 1+2; #AT 2 claws and 1 bite; D 1-2/1-2/1-3; XP 20 + 2/hp)

Giant Badger

Giant Badger (AC 4; MV 6”(3”); HD 3; #AT 2 claws and 1 bite; D 1-3/1-3/1-6; XP 35 + 3/hp)

Black Bear

Black Bear (AC 7; MV 12”; HD 3+3; #AT 2 claws and 1 bite; D 1-3/1-3/1-6; SA Hugs: 2-8; XP 85 + 4/hp)

Brownie

Brownie (AC 3; MV 12”; HD 1-4 hit points; #AT 1; D Small sword for 1-3; SA Spell use; SD Save as 9th level cleric, never surprised; XP 65 + 1/hp)

Ghost Spider

Ghost Spider (AC 5; MV 15” + 9” hop; HD 3+3; #AT 1 bite; D 2-5; SA Jump, spit acid; XP 125 + 4/hp)

Giant Bat

Giant Bat (AC 8; MV 3”/18”; HD 1; #AT 1 bite; D 1-4; SA Disease; XP 10 + 1/hp)

Giant Bombardier Beetle

Giant Bombardier Beetle (AC 4; MV 9”; HD 2+2; #AT 1 bite; D 2-12; SA Acid cloud; SD Firing cloud; XP 105 + 3/hp)

Giant Centipede

Giant Centipede (AC 9; MV 15"; HD 1-2 hit points; #AT 1 bite; D Nil; SA Poison; XP 30 + 1/hp)

Giant Fire Beetle

Giant Fire Beetle (AC 4; MV 12”; HD 1+2; #AT 1 bite; D 2-8; XP 20 + 2/hp)

Giant Flamingo

Giant Flamingo (AC 7; MV 6"//18"; HD 2; #AT 1 peck; D 1-4; MR 50%; XP 65+2/hp)

Giant Brain Mole

Giant Brain Mole (AC 7; MV 3”(8”); HD 2+2; hp ; #AT 1 bite; D 1-6; SA Paralysis, mind thrust; XP 145 + 3/hp)

Giant Mole

Giant Mole (AC 7; MV 3”(8”); HD 2+2; #AT 1 bite; D 1-6; SA Paralysis; XP 90 + 3/hp)

Giant Owl

Giant Owl (AC 6; MV 3”/18”; HD 4; #AT 2 talons and 1 beak; D 2-8/2-8/2-5; SA Surprise on a 1-5; XP 150 + 4/hp)

Giant Weasel

Giant Weasel (AC 6; MV 15”; HD 3+3; #AT 1 bite; D 2-12; SA Drain blood; XP 125 + 4/hp)

Halfling

Neutral Evil Halfling Thieves (AC 10; MV 9”; T1; #AT 1; D Short sword or sling; SA +3 with bow or sling; XP 28 + 2/hp)

Thief skills: PP 35%, OL 30% F/RT 25% MS 25% HS 25% HN 15% CW 70% RL –

Each halfling will have 3-18 (3d6) silver spanners and 5-10 (1d6+4) sling stones. They will each be armed with both a sling and a sword. There is a 60% chance they will have 1d4+3 trained giant rats.

Giant Rat (AC 7; MV 12"//6"; HD 1-4 hit points; #AT 1 bite; D 1-3; SA Disease; XP 7 + 1/hp)

Jousting Wasp

Jousting Wasp (AC 5; MV 3”/15”; HD 1-4 hit points; #AT 1 sting; D 1-2; SA Attack as 4 HD monster on first attack; XP 5 +1/hp)

Keeper

Keepers (AC 6; MV 12"; hp 5 each; #AT 1 fist; D 1-4; SA Possession; XP 15 each)

Ogre

Ogre (AC 5; MV 9”; HD 4+1; #AT 1; D By weapon type +2 to damage due to strength; XP 90+5/hp)

Ogres will be carrying oversize crude spears or clubs (1d8 damage). Each will have a sack or pouch holding 10-60 each of gold crescents, silver spanners, and copper pieces as well as odds and ends such as bones, cheese, hard tack, and favorite rocks.

Spelling Bee

Spelling Bee (AC 5; MV 3”/15”; HD 1+1; #AT 1 sting; D 1-6; SA Spell use; XP 65 + 2/hp)

Stag

Stag (AC 7; MV 24”; HD 3; #AT 1 antlers or 2 forehooves; D 2-8 or 1-3/1-3 ; XP 35 + 3/hp)

Stirge

Stirge (AC 8; MV 3”/18”; HD 1+1; #AT 1 bite; D 1-3; SA Drain blood, attack as 4 hit dice monster; XP 36 + 2/hp)

Sugar Goblin

Sugar Goblin (AC 9; MV 6"; HD 1-1; #AT 1; D Short sword; SD Half damage from weapons; XP 14 + 1/hp)

The sugar goblins are on an errand for their mistress at Area 23. They will be armed with sword canes (treat as short sword) painted up to look like candy canes. There is a 40% chance the group will be carrying a bag of 20-80 (20d4) gold crescents for trade or bribe.

Tree Gnome

Tree Gnome (AC 7; MV 6”@12”; HD 1; #AT 1; D Dagger or short bow; SD Save at 4 levels higher; XP 10 + 1/hp)

This group will be a well-equipped scouting party. Each gnome will have a dagger, a wooden shield, a short bow, and 1d10+10 arrows. They will have 3d6 silver spanners in total to assist in trade. They will happily invite interested adventurers to Area 26 if they think there is the possibility that they can obtain metal goods and other items that they are unable to manufacture.

Thermite

Thermite Worker (AC 4; MV 15”; HD 2+2; #AT 1 bite; D 1-6; SA +4 to hit with blistering spittle for 2-8; XP 50+3/hp)

There is a 25% chance they will be accompanied by 1d2 Warriors

Thermite Warrior (AC 3; MV 15”; HD 3+3; #AT 1 bite; D 1-8; SA +4 to hit with blistering spittle for 3-12; XP 85+4/hp)

Vegetable Man

Vegetable Men (AC 10; MV 12”; HD 1; #AT 1; D Short sword; XP 10 + 1/hp)

The type of vegetable man is determined by random roll. Roll once on the following table for each vegetable man in the group.

Roll 1d8	Vegetable Man
1	Apple
2	Asparagus
3	Broccoli
4	Carrot
5	Potato
6	Spinach
7	Turnip
8	Tomato

There is a 40% chance they will be accompanied by 1-4 Pea Heads as task masters and overseers.

Pea Heads (AC 5; MV 9”; HD 1+1; #AT 1; D Broad sword; SA Vomit; XP 28 + 2/hp)

Each pea head has 2-8 gold crescents.

Unusual Encounters

Downpour

There is a brief period of heavy rain (1d3 turns), followed by a resumption of typical weather.

Fog

A fof bank moves in, reducing visibility to 20 feet. It will last for 1d4 hours.

Hobgoblin

A group of hobgoblins is in the area. These are members of Vicenne's group from the Inner Ward, looking to expand trading opportunities or perhaps out to bust some heads.

1d6+2 Hobgoblins (AC 5; MV 9”; HD 1+1; #AT 1; D Black iron broad sword or black iron dagger ; XP 20+2/hp)

1 Hobgoblin Sergeant (AC 5; MV 9”; HD 1+1; hp 9; #AT 1; D Black iron bastard sword or black iron dagger; XP 38)

Each hobgoblin will have 0-9 (1d10-1) gold crescents, 0-14 (2d8-2) silver spanners, and 0-19 (1d20-1) copper pieces. The sergeant will have double wealth. Each will carry a sword and a dagger.

There is a 60% chance that they will have 1d4+3 goblin laborers who will be carrying bags holding 100-400 gold pieces worth a goods.

Goblins (AC 6; MV 6”; HD 1-1; #AT 1; D Short sword; XP 10+1/hp)

Each goblin will have 0-9 (1d10-1) silver spanners and 0-11 (1d12-1) copper pieces.

Iron Egg

The party sees an iron egg (the size of a hen's egg) lying on the ground (90%) or one falls from the Magic Coud Castle with a high pitched 'woooooo' sound (10%). If it falls from the sky, it has a 10% chance per character in the party of striking a random person. The character can roll a dodge (save vs petrification) to see if he or she got out of the way in time. If it hits it does 1d8+2 damage.

Knight

A knight from the Perilous Forest has entered the Grounds on a quest or perhaps he or she is lost. The knight is mounted on a warhorse and will have a squire 90% of the time. If there is no squire, that means that the squire has died and the knight may be looking for a replacement. Determine the knight's alignment as follows:

Roll d%	Alignment
01-48	Lawful Good
49-57	Neutral Good
58-60	Chaotic Good
61-76	Lawful Neutral
77-79	True Neutral
80	Chaotic Neutral
81-96	Lawful Evil
97-99	Neutral Evil
100	Chaotic Evil

Knight (AC 3; MV 6"; F8; #AT 3/2; D By weapon; XP 600 + 12/hp)

Heavy War Horse (AC 7; MV 15”; HD 3+3; #AT 2 hoof thrusts and 1 bite; D 1-8/1-8/1-3; XP 60 + 4/hp)

Squire (AC 8; MV 12"; F2; #AT 1; D By weapon; XP 35 + 3/hp)

Squire's Light War Horse (AC 7; MV 24”; HD 2; #AT 2 hoof thrusts; D 1-4/1-4; XP 20 + 2/hp)

The knight will be wearing plate armor and carrying a lance, a dagger, and either a bastard sword (70%) or a morning star (30%). The squire will have a dagger and either a hand axe (30%) or a spear (70%). The squire will be carrying the wealth (1d100 each of gold crescents, silver spanners, and copper pieces) as the knight will be above such. In addition they will have such items (bed rolls, flint and tinder, food) as is needed for outdoor adventuring.

If you wish, you may substitute one of the knights found in the Perilous Forest Random Encounters table or keyed encounter area.

Pixie

Pixie (AC 5; MV 6"/12"; HD 1-4 hit points; #AT 1; D By weapon; SA Special arrows, spell use, magic; SD Invisibility; MR 25%; XP 105 + 1/hp)

Rust Monster

This creature is devouring iron eggs it finds lying about.

Rust Monster (AC 2; MV 18”; HD 5; #AT 2 antennae; D Nil; SA Destroys metal; SA Hit on monster destroys metal; XP 185 + 4/hp)

Wood Elf

Wood Elf (AC 6; MV 12”; HD 1+1; hp ; #AT 1; D By weapon; SA +1 to hit with bow or sword; SD 90% resistant to sleep and charm; XP 28 + 2/hp)

The elves will be 75% likely to seek to avoid an encounter. They wear studded leather armor and each has a 1d4 platinum sirastars, 1d6 gold vinimes, and 1d8 silver tamos. Half will have long bows (with ad10+10 arrows) and each will also carry either a spear or a long sword (50%b chance of either).

Encounter Key: The Grounds

The Grounds is an outdoor area that lies between the Inner Ward of the main castle and the Forest Perilous. The near portion consists of well-manicured lawns and a hedge maze. Farther on, there is a small lake and numerous buildings in a lightly wooded landscape extending to the forest line. The Grounds is under heavy cloud cover 40% of the time, because a Magic Cloud Castle hovers over it. If the characters have means to fly it is possible for them to reach the Cloud Castle.

The Hedge Maze: This is the maze marked in light gray on Map 1. It includes Areas 3 to 14 and 17 to 19. The hedges are extremely dense and twelve feet tall. If adventurers want to try to go through the hedges, their movement rate will be ½”. The hedges are attended by the keepers (see Area 14), are very hard, and fast-growing, and are repaired at an extremely accelerated rate. If they are damaged, they will have returned to their previous state within 6 hours.

There are numerous competing factions in The Grounds. Each is at the others throats and they each seek to do away with their rivals.

Wandra Triskelion: At Area 5, there is a tiny castle that is the home of Wandra Triskelion, a powerful sorceress and leader of a band of vegetable people. Wandra is determined to turn strangers into vegetable people.

Ghost Spiders: A colony of ghost spiders inhabits the tunnels at Area 9. They seek to bring delicious morsels to their queen.

Giant Shoe House: Area 15. Saddled with so many mouths to feed, the old woman who lives in the shoe is at a loss as to how to provide for her dependents. The halflings who prey upon the affections of the old woman have been known to ambush Wandra's vegetable men for food.

Gingerbread House: A candy mansion can be found at Area 23. Here a witch and her sugar goblin servants conduct raids on the surrounding groups for they adore freshly baked meat pies.

Tree Gnomes: At Area 26, a clan of tree gnomes can be found. They would love to be rid of the other predatory groups in The Grounds and have an appetite for worked objects that are beyond the craft they can attain with their arboreal lifestyle.

The Grounds directly connects to the First Floor of the Inner Ward, Level 1 of the Upper Dungeons, the Magic Cloud Castle, and the Forest Perilous.

NEW MAGIC ITEM: BOW OF FEATHERED SERPENTS.

Arrows sent from this magic long bow become feathered serpents in flight. They are able to adjust their flight path somewhat, making them +4 to hit. Upon striking a target they do 1d6 damage and before turning back to wood they sink their fangs into the victim for an additional 1d4+1 venom damage if a saving throw vs poison is failed. Such is their potency that they can strike even creatures that normally require magic weapons of +3 or greater to hit them.

XP VALUE: 1,500

GP VALUE: 7,500

LOST WORM TEMPLE 7 PROGENY OF THE WORM GOD.

7 PROGENY OF THE WORM GOD. Three beautiful maidens sit on a splendid couch near the north portion of the room. Each is dressed in silks and chained to the couch at the ankle. The couch is surrounded by stout wooden chests and other treasures and the floor is front of the couch is strewn with gold coins. The room is well lit by tripods containing fiery globes that do not seem to require fuel and the ceiling is rounded, its apex reaching greater than forty feet above the floor.

Three large statues are here. They represent three of the aspects of the Worm God:

• Northwest statue - has the torso of a man and the lower portion of a worm. It's head has three mouths and the torso has three arms
• Central statue - man-like in shape but with a long neck that ends bluntly, like the body of a worm. The hands are clasped together, as if praying.
• Northeast statue - a large muscular man with his face showing the 'Kiss of the Worm God'.

The maidens are not actually comely humans, but are really foul spawn of the Worm God who have used spectral force to cover their true forms. They will cry out for help to be released from their bonds and taken from the temple. They will claim that they are being kept here for the pleasure of a huge worm faced monster who is certain to return at any moment.

3 Daughters of the Worm God (AC 4; MV 6”; HD 8; hp 41, 39, 35; #AT 1 bite; D 3d4; SA Magic use; SD Magic weapon to hit, see below; XP 2192, 2168, 2120)

Their true forms are fat gray worms the size of men. They are not actually chained to the couch and they do not even possess ankles, this is just a part of the spectral force illusion. Though their parent is most certainly hermaphroditic in nature, these three sister-spawn are female, even obscenely possessing the gender characteristics of mammalian females.

These creatures can do any one of the following at will, once per melee round, as applicable: breathe a blast of frigid air that smells of the grave for 2d4 damage (range 2”, save vs dragon breath for half), detect magic, detect invisible, darkness 10' radius, or spectral force. They can cast fear (as the wand) once per day and can attempt to charm (requiring a touch) up to three times per day. This charm is monstrous in nature, similar to that of a vampire, dryad, or nixie. They are immune to spells of first or second level and cannot be damaged by cold.

The three sisters will prefer to use their charm ability on any persons who willingly get close to them. If they succeed in charming they will use their new allies to fight anyone not fooled by their act. They prefer to use their spell-like abilities but will bite if necessary with their horrible fanged mouths.

The fabric of the temple is linked to the health of the three sisters. When they take damage, the very walls of the temple will shake and pieces of the ceiling will come crashing to the floor. As one after one they are eliminated, the fiery glow of the tripods will dim and extinguish and when the last one is killed the whole temple will start to collapse.

At this point, even the most dim-witted of adventurers will realize that they will soon be buried beneath a mountain of rubble. Unless they have been carrying out treasure during the battle, the adventurers must make quick decisions about what to grab before high-tailing it out of the temple. The entire compound is affected, not just Room 7. Assuming the adventurers do not dally, they should dramatically just be able to make it to the entrance before the temple has completed its self-destruction.

The following riches are here, offerings by generations of cultists in the centuries before the temple was lost:

14765 Jalluxian gold dragon coins scattered about the feet of the couch.

A bow and quiver of arrows. The bow is a bow of feathered serpents. The quiver is encrusted with lapis lazuli and worked with gold. It is worth 1500 gold crescents and holds nineteen normal arrows.

An ancient Jalluxian rug, rolled up and bound with silver threaded rope. The rug is worth 3000 gold crescents and the rope is worth 245 gold crescents.

A silver tray (310 gold crescent value) holding two golden chalices, each decorated with eight huge gemstones. The chalices are each worth 6000 gold crescents.

A chest of blue painted wood holding 1464 Jalluxian platinum imperials.

A locked box holding six unlabeled potions in corked metal containers: hill giant control, frost giant strength, growth, invulnerability, oil of etherealness, extra-healing.

An iron chest holding eight silver pieces of jewelry ornamented with semi-precious stones (three necklaces, two armbands, two rings, and one tiara, roll separately for value: 1,000 to 6,000 gold crescent value each).

Three javelins +2 in a special case made of owlbear leather and silver worth 400 gold crescents.

A chest of green painted wood trapped with a poison needle (save or die). It holds 154 gems (135 base 10 gold crescents, 40 base 100 gold crescents, 24 base 500 gold crescents, 2 base 1000 gold crescents, 1 base 5000 gold crescents)

A chest of red painted wood with 3789 Jalluxian copper galleon coins. There is a secret opening worked into the lid holding three scrolls. The first scroll is marked by explosive runes which will detonate unless detected for 6d4+6 damage. The second scroll holds the magic-user spell polymorph (other) but can only be used to polymorph the target into a giant gray worm with the same statistics as a giant constrictor snake. The third scroll is an illusionist scroll of the spells audible glamer, continual darkness, shadow door, and mass suggestion.

Any persons under the quest of the statue in Room 2 will be freed of the spell with the destruction of the sisters. The oozes and worms in Rooms 3 and 5 will flee by their own methods of egress and will not harass adventurers escaping from the place.