The Village of Riverbend
The primary export of this village is salmon which come up the Dessarin
to spawn.
There are about 80 people in the town.
1 - Farm House
2 - Farm House
3 - Farm House
4 - Fishermans Home
5 - Farm House
6 - Fish Warehouse
7 - Inn "Macks at Riverbend"
8 - Fishermans Home
9 - "Delk's Sundries"
10 - Farm House
11 - Mama's Boarding House
12 - Tavern - "Skipjack Retreat"
13 - Lacy Home for Ladies (Whorehouse)
14 - Hermit's Hovel
There are numerous other farm buildings and small hovels along the
river, but they are not detailed. The DM should feel free to put a
small home wherever fits the adventure/encounter that is used.
First Time in the Villlage
Beyond the scattered farm houses that nestle in the ancient wash of the
Desserin river, there wasn't much to the place. 6 or 7 large buildings
and a few more smaller ones clustered near where the more modern area
of the wash is located. There is a steep bank that leads down to this
wash that the fishing boats pull up to. A scattering of nets drying are
staked out on either side of a switchback path that leads to the water
and that's about it.
Any large party will be treated by the people at large with distrust
and by the shopkeepers with adoration. There are only 5 rooms in the
village that can be hired; 3 in Mama's and 2 at the Inn.
Unfortunatly for this village an Aboleth has taken up residence about a
mile downriver. It is pregnant and wants to use the people of the
village as enslaved servents to build a nest for her.
When the party arrives at the village and makes contact with someone
other than the farm people around (who will give the party little or no
information), they will be told that if they have a healer, there is a
man near death being put up outside one of the farm houses. He is has
been hovering near death in a horsetrough. If he is removed from water,
he screams and goes deeper into the coma induced before they knew to
keep his body in water. He had been missing for 8 days along with 2
other people from the farms and 3 fishermen.
They have built a crude tent over the trough and have been feeding the
man broth, but his illness is so strange they don't know what else to
do. When the party first meets him he has -2 HP. If the party
heals him, he will tell them his story.
Gabriel, male human Com9: CR 8; Size M (5 ft., 5 in. tall); HD
9d4-18; hp 11; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 10; Attack +5 melee, or +4
ranged; SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +6; AL NG; Str 13, Dex 11, Con 6, Int
8, Wis 12, Cha 12. Languages Spoken: Common.
Skills and feats: Craft (Armorsmithing) +6, Craft
(Leatherworking) +11, Hide +0, Listen +1, Move Silently +0, Ride +7,
Spot +1, Tumble +3; Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Skill
Focus (Craft (Armorsmithing)), Skill Focus (Craft (Leatherworking))
"I had made a canvas and leather cover for one of the larger boats and
was taking it down to the river to make sure it fit. I was walking
along the river to the boat when suddenly it was like I didn't have
control of my body anymore. Like a marionette I marched into the river.
I felt the slimy touch of a black brown tenticle and then the pain
started. When the pain died away, I was in the creech; at least that is
what controled me called it. I could breath water! It was cold in my
lung and it hurt all the time, inside. There were 6 or 7 of us
there and we were all digging. We didn't have any tools so we used the
water to wash away the earth and rocks and then pushed the silt out of
the creech and into the river to wash away. It was hell. All we had to
eat was raw fish and we drank the river water and breathed it too. But
mostly we just make that hidden hole bigger.
After some time, I realized that I should try to fight the thing
holding me. I gathered my mental strength and just as suddenly as I had
been enslaved, I was free. I took a deep breath and headed for the
small hole and outside. The thing knew I was loose, and headed toward
me. It had stayed well away before as if it thought of us people as
defiling at least that's how it made me feel. I made as little movement
as possible underwater. It's tenticles thrashed around, but I hung
close to the river bottom and somehow it missed me, but it did and I
came out on the river. I didn't know where I was or where to go; I just
wanted to get out of the water. But when I broke surface and tried to
breathe I couldn't. I'll never look at a fish out of water the same way
I can tell you that! I also saw my skin was covered with slime and it
hurt to try and scrape it off. I had to get as far away as possible but
which way to go? I saw a small branch floating by with a knot at one
end, so I picked it up and threw it into the air. The knot end hit the
water first so I headed up stream. Lucky for me!
Gradually I found I could breath air again and it was a considerable
releaf to get that cold river water out of me for good. After I
vomitted out the last of the water, I climbed out of the river. I
walked for a minute or two, but then the slime on my skin began to dry
and itched so I couldn't stand it. I went back in the water and the
itching went away, but I realized I was in a pickle. I couldn't go to
sleep in the water and I couldn't get out. So I swam for 3 days upriver
without stopping. I couldn't stop! When I reached the village I was
almost dead. Some of the boys helped me get to Mama's. I thought I
could wait out the itching of my skin with some help and the thought of
going back in the river again gave me the horrors. I decided I would
beat this thing on my skin or die trying. Once I slipped and my arm
went into a vat of boiling lime up to the shoulder. This was like that,
but it went on for hours. Then I guess they put me in the trough and
that helped, but I kept trying to get out. Finally I guess I passed out
and next thing I remember is Victorex and his blessing of Bob"./
A successful roll of DC 18 will allow someone in the party with
Knowledge Dungeoneering to identify the creature. Gabriel doesn't know
how far down river the creature is but guesses it less than a days
ride. Anyone who knows what the creature is will understand that it
will continue to prey on the fishermen in the area and it is obviously
making a home.
The aboleth is pregnant with 3 offspring. She will fight to the death
any attempt to remove her from her creech.
HD 11d8-40 (85 HP)
Although the childeren are killed by the Local 509, the mother survived
and escaped to return another day!
ABOLETH - Located at Point A
Huge Aberration
(Aquatic)Hit
Dice: 8d8+40 (76 hp) Initiative:
+1 Speed: 10 ft. (2 squares),
swim
60 ft. Armor Class: 16
(–2
size, +1 Dex,
+7 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 15 Base
Attack/Grapple: +6/+22 Attack:
Tentacle +12 melee (1d6+8
plus slime) Full Attack: 4
tentacles +12
melee (1d6+8 plus slime) Space/Reach:
15 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks:
Enslave, psionics, slime Special Qualities: Aquatic
subtype, darkvision 60 ft., mucus cloud Saves:
Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +11 Abilities:
Str 26, Dex 12, Con
20, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 17 Skills:
Concentration +16, Knowledge
(any one) +13, Listen
+16, Spot
+16, Swim
+8 Feats: Alertness, Combat Casting, Iron
Will Environment:
Underground Organization:
Solitary, brood
(2–4),or slaver brood (1d3+1 plus 7–12 skum) Challenge Rating: 7 Treasure: Double standard Alignment: Usually lawful evil Advancement: 9–16 HD (Huge);
17–24 HD (Gargantuan) Level
Adjustment: —
The aboleth is a revolting fishlike amphibian found primarily
in subterranean lakes and rivers. An aboleth has a pink belly. Four
pulsating blueblack orifices line the bottom of its body and secrete
gray slime that smells like rancid grease. It uses its tail for
propulsion in the water and drags itself along with its tentacles on
land. An aboleth weighs about 6,500 pounds.
Aboleths speak their own language, as well as Undercommon and
Aquan.
COMBAT
An aboleth attacks by flailing with its long,
slimy tentacles, though it prefers to fight from a distance using its
illusion powers.
Enslave (Su): Three times per day, an aboleth can
attempt to enslave any one living creature within 30 feet. The target
must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or be affected as though by a dominate person spell (caster
level 16th). An enslaved creature obeys
the aboleth’s telepathic commands until freed by remove
curse, and can
attempt a new Will save every 24 hours to break free. The control is
also broken if the aboleth dies or travels more than 1 mile from its
slave. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Psionics (Sp): Effective caster level 16th. The save
DCs are Charisma-based.
At will - hypnotic pattern (DC 15), illusory
wall (DC 17), mirage
arcana (DC 18), persistent image (DC 18), programmed image (DC 19), project
image (DC 19), veil
(DC 20).
Slime (Ex): A blow from an aboleth’s tentacle can
cause
a terrible affliction. A creature hit by a tentacle must succeed on a
DC 19 Fortitude save or begin to transform over the next 1d4+1 minutes,
the skin gradually becoming a clear, slimy membrane. An afflicted
creature must remain moistened with cool, fresh water or take 1d12
points of damage every 10 minutes. The slime reduces the
creature’s
natural armor bonus by 1 (but never to less than 0). The save DC is
Constitution-based.
A remove disease spell cast before
the transformation is
complete will restore an afflicted creature to normal. Afterward,
however, only a heal or mass
heal spell can reverse the affliction.
Mucus Cloud (Ex): An aboleth underwater surrounds
itself with a viscous cloud of mucus roughly 1 foot thick. Any creature
coming into contact with and inhaling this substance must succeed on a
DC 19 Fortitude save or lose the ability to breathe air for the next 3
hours. An affected creature suffocates in 2d6 minutes if removed from
the water. Renewed contact with the mucus cloud and failing another
Fortitude save continues the effect for another 3 hours. The save DC is
Constitution-based.
Skills: An aboleth has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim
check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always
choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It
can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight