Dungeon23: Sublevel 1E - Serpent Gorge

 

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Approximately a mile north of the Temple of the Snake Cult is a winding gorge of rough, forested cliffs which drop about 90 feet below.  Reaching this gorge requires a hike of approximately one hour around the small mountain on which the Temple stands (chance for a wandering monster encounter at the GM's discretion.)  The southern end of the gorge is studded with caves that can provide additional means of ingress/egress to and from the Temple.

 

Area A: Rope Bridge

 An old rope bridge extends from the northern, forested edge of the gorge towards a crevice on the mountainside that leads to the kobb-men controlled areas of Level 1.  The bridge is approximately 300 feet long and three feet wide with dry-rotted, wooden planks; some which are missing.

While the small and light kobb-men can still traverse the bridge safely, human-sized characters moving at full speed each have a 2-in-6 chance of breaking through a rotted plank and falling into the gorge below.  A successful saving throw against breath allows a character to hold on to the ropes.

Area B: Midden Cliff

 As mentioned in Level 1, Room 23, this cave opening drops precipitously into a pile of stagnant water, waste, and debris that dates back to the heyday of the Temple, and served as its midden.

Characters near the midden (within 120 feet) will begin to hear a call for help coming from its direction. The call has a sympathetic quality to it - they can "feel" its distress.

Characters who go (or fall) into the midden will run afoul of a creature whose descendants have called the foul heap their home for a long time.  It depends on frequent feedings by the oor-men, who throw their waste, offal, and even whole prisoners down here sometimes.

The midden beast is a strange combination of large cephalopod and crustacean, albeit with rubbery hide instead of a shell.  It lies under the debris with only its eye stalks surfacing to detect prey, which it will then attack with tentacles and bring victims into a hungry maw.

Midden beast (otyugh): AC 4 [15]; HD 6 (HP 33); MV 60 ft. (20 ft.); ATK 1d8/1d8/1d4+1 (2 tentacles and bite); SV fighter 6; ML 9; AL N; XP 500 (or by HD plus one special)

Tentacles: the otyugh attacks with two, spiny tentacles.  A successful hit allows it to grapple a victim and attempt to bite them every round at a +1 to hit for 1d4+1 damage.  The otygh can use one grappled victim as a shield instead of biting them (AC 3 [16],) or slam them into the ground for 2d4 damage.  Victims can attempt to free themselves with a successful Strength roll to open doors.

Disease: the otyugh's mouth is riddled with the foulness of its home.  Characters bit by the otyugh must save against poison or contract a disease.  The victim grows weak and feverish for 2d12 days, suffering a -2 to hit rolls and loses the ability to heal naturally during this time.  Worse, there is a 1-in-6 chance the disease is contagious and deadly plague.  The victims of this chancreous pox must save against death after the above time period or perish.  All characters spending more than one round within five feet of the victim must save against poison or become ill themselves.

Alert: the otyugh can sense vibrations within its waste heap and cannot be surprised.

Characters that delve deep into the midden under the (hopefully) dead beast will discover a large, bronze amphora filled with coins (6,000 sp, and 2,500 gp.)  The unfortunate who tried to abscond with this treasure when the Temple was raided ran afoul of the midden beast's ancestor.

 

Area C: Sealed Cave

A forested area at the bottom of the gorge conceals another entrance to the caverns under the Temple (Level 3.)  The baern-men use this opening to exit the area for night raids in the surrounding countryside.  The entrance is sealed by a large boulder, which the baern-men have no trouble removing.  Characters must succeed at a roll to open doors at -1 to move the rock.  Using some form of leverage allows for a normal open doors roll.

 

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.