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Sunlit Room (Dungeons of Elemental Evil #310) |
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Note: This information was taken from TSR's original AD&D adventure, the Temple of Elemental Evil.
Dungeon Level Three |
For the players: As soon as you turn the bend in the passage,
you see what appears to be a sunlit
area to the northwest. The corridor is
only dimly illuminated at the bend, due
to a shimmering haze, but the light
grows brighter towards the area ahead.
Just before entering the place, you see
small dim shapes moving about. Though
the haze distorts them, they appear to be
giant rats and foxes. The area is a 20' x
30' room, the ceiling (if there is one) is
impossible to see, due to the bright light.
Blue sky and a hot sun seem to be overhead,
but the sky appears close — only 20
feet up, or thereabouts.
In each of four alcoves in the northern
portion of the chamber (two in the north
wall, one to either side, and all about ten
feet above the floor) sits a harpy, gazing
with evident pleasure at the scene below.
Centered below is a raised slab of rock,
upon which are chained a man and a
woman. Swarming around this table-like
slab are a score of jackals and twice as
many giant rats. All are attempting to
clamber up to devour the victims, but the
rock is quite smooth and evidently slippery,
for only rarely does one of the beasts
manage to leap up and attack. The chains
have sufficient slack to enable the prisoners
to defend themselves slightly; thus, when
bitten, the victim can move away or lash
out. Each prisoner has a few bites evident,
but more often than not they strike the
attacking beast off the rock.
To tantalize the captives, several items
lay atop the slab just out of their reach: a
large ring with a key in it, a dagger, a
longsword, and a rod of some sort. As
you observe this tableaux, the prisoners
notice your presence and cry out for aid!
The rats, foxes, and jackals take no
notice, but the harpies look up, notice
you, and open their mouths.
For the DM: Most of this area radiates magic. The harpies
are actually gargoyles; the prisoners are
actually jackalweres. The rats and foxes are
illusory, but the jackals and items are real.
The deceptions are from a permanent illusion,
other elements of which are the captives'
wounds and chains.
A few jackals were waiting at the bend in
the passage, and ran back when intruders
were sighted to warn their masters, the jackalweres,
of the approaching food...
The initial attack by the gargoyles is prefaced
by their squawking, slightly similar
but in no way as effective as that of real harpies.
As these monsters squawk and fly in to
attack, the normal jackals also turn to
devour intruders. While these attacks occur,
the jackalweres (still playing prisoner) add
their sleep gazes to disable intruders. If this
is noticed or if the gargoyles start losing the
fight, the jackalweres "break" their illusory
chains, grab their very real weapons, and
move in for the attack while exclaiming
their intent to aid the party. The male uses
the longsword; the female, the mace (which
appeared to be a rod) and the dagger (gaining
two attacks per round). If grappled,
they drop their weapons and shift form to
jackal-headed guise, resorting to bite
attacks.
Gargoyles (4): AC 5, MV 9"/15", HD 4 + 4,
hp 27, 25, 24, 20, #AT 4, D 1-3/1-3/1-6/1-4,
SD hit only by + 1 or better weapon;
XP 300, 290, 285, 265
Jackalweres (2): AC 4, MV 12", HD 4, hp 27, 22,
#AT 1, D 2-8, SA gaze = sleep (save vs. spells), weapon use,
SD hit only by iron or +1 or better weapon; XP 908, 888
Jackals (20): AC 7, MV 12", HD 1/2,
hp 4, 3, 2, 1 (5 of each), #AT 1, D 1-2;
XP 9 (x5), 8 (x5), 7 (x5), 6 (x5)
In a concealed space under the rock slab
are the monsters' treasures, garnered from
victims since Zuggtmoy no longer takes
such from them. The loot includes 104 cp,
171 sp, 223 ep, 410 gp, 67 pp, 9 gems (roll
for random value), two pieces of jewelry
(random value), a potion of plant control,
and a scroll of four magic-user spells (spider
climb, levitate, infravision, extension I).
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