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| Gwion Gwion |
SWALLOW THE COALS
CLUB THE SNAKE
STAB THE SNAKE
During their conquest of the Bloody Marches, the Serpentmen occupied a cave sacred to Old Man Flint. They defiled his temple with sacrifices to Yig, gleefully slaughtering the Neanderthals that once made pilgrimages to the holy site.
Unable to bear these deprivations, a warband rallied to retake the cave. The jihadists struck out their eyes and swallowed burning coals. They smote the hated ophidian, staining their teeth red with blood and the walls black with ash. They awaited the inevitable tide of reinforcements, eager to die parting scale from meat with their +1 knapped blades.
But the snakes' cowardice outweighed their greed. They sealed the cave, layered ward after ward to keep the crazed fedayeen inside. Denied death in battle, the cavemen festered for centuries. Their love for Father Flint burned away, leaving only undead husks filled with rage.
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| Matthew Abbot |
Distinct from the omnipresent smoke clouds is a pillar of steam rising from the hex's centre. This is the SACRED CAVE.
Crossing the hex is incredibly hazardous. Burning ash, exploding zombie fires and falling branches are all competing to claim your life. Roll a D6 each time you pass through:
1-2: Nothing.
3-5: Save vs Breath Weapon or take D6 DMG.
6: Ibid, but take 3D6 DMG.
If you have a Druid, Ranger etc., roll 2D6 and take the lowest result.
WILDLIFE
The hex is filled with Hellhounds (OSE). There's sixteen of these 3HD firebreathing dingos. They roam in packs of 2D4, sometimes leaving the BURNING FOREST to hunt for food.
The hex is also home to a mated pair of Tukkators (CC1), who find the pyrophoric flora delicious. If attacked, the male fends off hunters while its pregnant partner flees to the SACRED CAVE.
Opening the door at C2 allows air to circulate. This removes the steam, but not the heat.
When attacked here, the beasts begin trumpeting to summon the Ignis from C3. The stupid monster isn't loyal the Tukkators, it just responds to loud stimuli and the pair know it can't hurt them.
Mixed among piled dirt and plant matter is 4,100 SP in Ophidian Denarii, a fistful of small diamonds worth 3,000 GP and a +1 Ring of Protection.
C2: Temple Entrance
A pair of bronze double doors of Serpentman make, badly damaged and glowing red hot. It's obvious they were broken open and later resealed from the outside. The surrounding walls are covered in branching sigils, a permanent Protection from Elemental 10'.
The scorching metal is pliable enough to smash apart with a Knock spell. A sledgehammer can also do the job given D4 Turns, but this exposes the demolisher to heat exhaustion and alerts the Ignis in C3 and Hellhounds in C5.
The elemental will mindlessly attack, but the dogs just want to play. They exit from C6, barking happily at their new friends right before blasting them with their breath attacks.
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| Creature Compendium |
C3: Destroyed Tower
This watchtower's stairwell terminates 15' up. The rest of the structure was destroyed by a Neanderthal suicide bomber. The Grug's vaporised remains reconstituted into an Ignis (CC2), a mindless spirit that desires only to cook people alive.
Loud noises attract the elemental's ire; it emerges from the ruined tower and attacks relentlessly. Entering the tower require climbing or forcing open the melted door. Among the rubble is a broken oxybeles with a single bolt tangled up in it, a +1 Spear of Impact.
C4: Hot Spring
This boiling hot pool releases plumes of steam that fill the entire complex. The sounds of hissing water and screaming can be faintly heard, muffled by the thick vapour.
A Firewalker (CC1) is wading in the water, ineffectually quencing the flames raging across his body. The burning man was a Cleric of Old Man Flint, the leader of the Grug warband that retook the cave. He wears +1 Bronze Scale Mail, a +1 Flint Axe of Sharpness (breaks if it rolls maximum damage) and a +1 Bulette Shield.
The shaman screams profanities in ancient Lawful, demanding to fight the bastard snakes that ruined his life. Co-aligned characters can try to explain they're not reptiles, but fail a Reaction Roll and the holyman attacks. The Firewalker maximises damage output by spamming AOE blasts on groups of enemies, only resorting to his axe if someone proves resistant to fire damage.
If killed, the flames extinguish to reveal an eyeless Neanderthal. His melted flesh is studded with sapphires worth 2,500 GP, the remains of vaporised jewellery.
If parlayed with, the Firewalker demands a worthy end for his men. Point him towards another faction, and the jihadists march off to mutually annihilate them. The cleric can issue precise commands to the Hellhounds, but the Burning Ghouls or Ignis are too insane to control. They're blunt instruments, prone to extreme violence and collateral damage.
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| Creature Compendium |
This side chamber is filled with Serpentman skeletons, unceremoniously dumped after the fedayeen retook the sacred site. There's always a pack of 2D4 Hellhounds here, gnawing at bones.
The animals aren't malicious, descended from packs of semi-domesticated dogs kept by Neanderthals. Unfortunately, their idea of "playing" is blasting people with fire breath.
The undead don't bother the dogs and are unaffected by their playful flame blasts. The Hellhounds leave the Tukkators alone after the irritable creatures gored them.
Among the snake skeletons is 6,100 SP in red-hot coins and 1,000 GP in gemstones.
C6: Melted Tunnel
This surrounding area is filled with steam and bramble bushes. Barely visible through the vapour is a hole burned through undergrowth. Follow it through to a tunnel melted into the rockface, barely tall enough for a dwarf to stand upright.
The Hellhounds in C7 melted this hole to get in and out of the cave. Nothing's stopping the undead, but they're too self-absorbed to leave the cave without outside intervention.
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| Old School Essentials |
There was a statue of Yig here, but only the lower half remains. The top half is a pile of melted rock, atop which sits a Brazier of Fire Elemental Summoning constantly spewing out fire. Puddles of liquid silver pockmark the floor beneath the statute, the equivalent of 10,000 SP.
The walls are decorated with charcoal drawings of Father Flint, wiped away by the Serpentmen but restored by the jihadists. Due to steam condensation a mixture of water, ash and blood trickles down the god's face. The old man weeps to see what his sons have become.
Seven Flaming Ghouls (CC2) cavort around the fire. They mouth unintelligible curses as flames bubbles out of their mouths, coals still ablaze inside their stomachs. Hoping blood will quench their agony, the insane undead attack on sight.
A casting of Remove Curse on the Brazier ends the anomaly, and allows the magic item to be used. The cave will stop being superheated and though the pyrophoric plants continue to burn, travellers now roll a D3 instead of a D6.
My next batch of hexes and minidungeons are going to focus on critters worth hunting. This was the first in that series, providing 30 HD worth of magical creatures to skin for pelts (or 60 HD if you count the other Hellhounds roaming the burning forest).
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| Pierre Mignard |
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