Chapter 7 - The Earth Labs

Part 7: The Earth Labs

Here is an example of more background that the party would never know about but it helped me round out the scenarios.

When Jopalarius Blikspinnel returned from his most recent resupply errand, about a month ago, he was surprised and dismayed to find that the home that he had known for the last several years was partially destroyed. His master, the mage known as Ciuq, was nowhere to be seen and access to the labs that Ciuq typically worked in was buried beneath a mountain of dirt and stone. He feared the worst but has been diligently trying to excavate his way to the buried labs, little by little. Jop is a deep gnome, also called a Svirfneblin and served as Ciuq’s assistant and sometimes apprentice. Although he did not have a lot of magic power, he was fiercely loyal to Ciuq since he was saved many years ago by Ciuq from a slaver expedition of drow. About a week ago, Jop was attacked by a nasty little creature called an Intellect Devourer. The Devourer came into the area inhabiting one of the drow undead accompanying Virdian. It had been easy to hide in the decaying shell of one of the wizard’s thralls, but the evil creature sensed that other life was nearby and began exploring the rest of the area, eventually reaching the earth labs (but hiding the teleport circle as he left). When the creature found the lone gnome at his frantic work, he rejoiced in the prospect of new flesh to control. Unfortunately, little Jop was overwhelmed by the creature and fell victim to the Devourer’s brain diet. During the process of feeding on his brain, the Devourer learned of Jop’s master and used a few recently discovered Passwall scrolls and Detect Magic to find the dead mage. Now the evil creature inhabits Jop’s body and is exploring the area looking for more living brain-food while experimenting with dead Ciuq’s magical possessions (including his Ring, but he left the key since he did not know of its importance).

1) Ciuq’s private room – built into a huge hollow pillar which is large at the top and tapers as it descends, Ciuq created a home away from home here in his labs. This ‘studio’ has a bed, kitchenette, table and chairs, pantry, wardrobe and the teleport circle (Jop uses a teleport scroll to return here when he’s done with his errands). A very cleverly disguised secret trap door in the floor (DC 32 to find) leads to a narrow spiral walkway (2’) that descends to the floor 120’ below. A search of the room will yield Ciuq’s clothes (earth tones, very rugged like a miner’s), a fine layer of dust and dirt on the floor, with small (Jop) recent footprints. It looks like the pantries and stove have been used recently (about 1 week). Hidden under a heavy stone in the floor under the bed (DC28 to find) is a leather sack (Bag of Holding (type 2) with a Staff of Earth and Stone inside).
2) The floor of the cavern is 120’ below Ciuq’s living quarters and has several stalagmites rising 5 to 20 feet in height. Anyone who moves down the spiral ramp will attract the attention of 3 Large Earth Elementals ‘E’ which are guarding the area and will attack when someone crosses onto the ground.

3 Large Earth Elementals

At the far south end of the cavern is a 5’ wide hole that leads to a small passage to another lab.

4) Ciuq created this rough-hewn octagonal room to study and perfect the teleport magic that he learned from Irfax’s notes. The room’s outer walls have a permanent Dimensional Lock on a lead-imbued layer that requires a special magical somatic and verbal addition to any teleportation magic to penetrate it. This fact is referred to, but not documented in detail anywhere within this room. A raised platform (5’) has a prototype of the teleport circle and portal on it (the portal does not have the red/blue crystals however). Both are functional if the magical bypass is invoked. The research papers, scrolls and books in this room weigh 80# but contain the equivalent of all teleportation magic studies. On the bench are many neatly stacked scroll tubes with the following (one per tube): Dimension Door (CL7) x8, Blink (CL5) x4, Teleport (CL12) x6, Greater Teleport (CL13) x2, Teleportation Circle (CL17) x2, Teleport Object (CL13) x4. In addition, there is a jar with 5000gp of amber dust and a small wooden rack with 12 blue and 12 red crystals used in the portals. 8 of each are non-magical, but perfectly shaped. The other four are labeled; Earth, Air, Water, Ciuq’s Tower. These crystals have the proper magic within them to bypass the room’s restrictions and with any of the Rings in possession, someone can use any of the crystals to activate and travel through the portal and appear in the corresponding lab or Ciuq’s tower in one of the teleport circles.

The trick: once the room is successfully entered and the door is closed, the room and its contents are shifted to a different location about 5 miles from here. The door re-opens against a wall of solid stone. There are only two ways to successfully exit the room; one is to use a normal teleport spell (with the bypass added – none of the scrolls have that embedded) and the other is to use one of the brother’s rings and one of the two teleportation devices on the platform to travel to one of the brother’s personal circles in the labs (water, earth or air, by ring type) or the portals in Ciuq’s tower. Since Ciuq’s ring is attuned to all three portal types, the user must state which one he wished to travel to before it will activate the circle/portal.
5)   An invisible wall of force acts as a bridge over the chasm from Ciuq’s room to the complex beyond. However, after the disaster, a 7-8’ section of the Wall closest to the room has separated leaving a gap to the floor below. DC10 Acrobatics to cross with a jump. If missed, DC20 Ref to catch lip, a second DC20 ref to catch edge of the walkway below (2d6 dam), otherwise it is a 120’ drop (12d6)
6)   3 miners’ helmets hang on pegs on the walls here as well as 3 long, leather overcoats. The helmets have a small directed lantern-like spell cast on them that emits a 10’ wide at end x20’ long conical beam of light when worn. The overcoats offer Endure Elements and Energy Resistance (10 vs. fire) to their wearers, but reduce movement by 5’.
7)   Jop’s quarters – Jop has lived here for the past 10 years and his small bed, desk and chest are dwarfed by the size of the room. He has created a cozy little space with all sorts of knick knacks collected throughout his life, including a troglodyte tooth, a 3” braid of dwarf-maid hair, a vial of mercury, a small brass snuff box with a dose of Healy Myrrh in it, a broken drow hand crossbow, bottle of Blacktalon Port (150gp), green-tinted spectacles, petrified black egg (6”), ettin nose ring (3” diam), narrow glass jar with 300gp diamond dust, locket with a drawing of an elf maiden in it, pendant with a red crystal (one used in the t-portals, but not enchanted yet), old pair of boots (from his early exploring days), rough map of Mindspin Mountains. The room looks like is has been recently occupied, but is very messy.
8)   These two rooms have hundreds of small mounds of dirt from the excavations that Jop has been digging. A small cart (2’x4’) rests outside the new tunnel and contains 2 shovels and 2 pickaxes as well as a large shallow ½ barrel. Jop is not very good at excavation and in his frantic state of mind just leaves a new pile of dirt and rock wherever he sees fit at the moment. In one of the larger piles (X) is the headless remains of the drow that served as the creature’s last host, DC20 Per to find. “Jop” will admit to killing the undead drow and burying it in this room, if questioned.
9)   This storeroom has digging implements, spelunking equipment, extra lamp oil, water and dried foods, hemp rope, grappling hooks and 12 barrels with lids on them. Each barrel contains a different type of soil, sand or dirt (Ciuq used these in his conjuration ceremonies). There are also some smaller buckets in here to transport the soil.
10)   This room was used as an observation area for #11. Two shelves hold notes and a few odd components for the work done in the next room. The ‘windows’ are actually 3’ tall x 1’ wide slits in the 5’ deep wall. The notes in here contain the theories for spells such as Expeditious Excavation, Shatter, Stone Shape, Wall of Stone, Acid Fog and Wall of Lava.
11)   This room was used by Ciuq for his earth spell experiments. “Jop” is currently in this room, trying to discern the nature of his new magic items and digging through the rubble on the far side. A small area has been caved in from the disaster. In the center of this room is a trench filled with molten rock (same damage as Wall of Fire (2d4 points of fire damage to creatures within 10 feet and 1d4 points of fire damage to those past 10 feet but within 20 feet. The wall deals this damage when it appears, and to all creatures in the area on your turn each round. In addition, the wall deals 2d6 points of fire damage + 1 point of fire damage per caster level (maximum +20) to any creature passing through it. It takes a DC18 Per to see Jop on the far side.
Jop will act confused, but will do his best to try to be thankful to the strangers. His demeanor is slightly off however and he doesn’t know much about his former ‘master’. His ultimate goal (after seeing the juicy morsels who just walked in) is to stun one of the party members during the night if on watches and kill via coup de grâce if asleep or stunned, then take the party member’s place. If discovered, the Devourer will fight fiercely to the death.
As the group is deciding how to get to Jop, they will see a trio of creatures emerge from the molten river and sneak up on the gnome.

3 Salamanders CR 6

In a sad twist of fate, the Devourer randomly chose someone at the back of the party to attack and hopefully infest and poor Kodiak, Ramos' long time animal companion was secretly killed and possessed by the nasty creature. This required a very emotional battle to 'kill' the now possessed bear which was actively trying to kill the party.

The group actually interacted with the faux gnome and attributed his horrible smell to his personal grooming habits (although Kodiak was very off put by his odor). The gnome/intellect devourer was hybrid creature with traits of each.

“Jop” the Svirfneblin/Intellect Devourer (Jopalarius Blikspinnel)

Jop wears a dusty light leather coat and heavy boots. He seems to have a constant scowl on his face which makes his eyebrows almost cover his eyes, but his grin is wide and toothy. He has a small pick hanging from him left hip and a 4’ long skinny bladed shovel strapped to his back. When he first sees the party, he will smile broadly (but something about his look is creepy and too welcoming). Anyone who gets within 5’ of Jop (or any who have scent at 25’) will notice that he smells bad, like he hasn’t bathed in a few weeks or something (this is his decaying body odor)

CE Small aberration / Humanoid (deep gnome)
Init +10; Senses blindsight 60 ft., detect magic; Perception +19
Defense
AC 22 (18), touch 17, flat-footed 16 (+6 Dex, +5 natural, +1 size)
hp 84 (8d8+48) (devourer) 42 (Jop)
Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +8
DR 10/adamantine and magic; Immune fire, mind-affecting effects; Resist cold 20, electricity 20, sonic 20; SR 23
Weaknesses vulnerability to protection from evil
Offense
Speed 40 ft.
Melee 4 claws +13 (1d4+1)
Special Attacks body thief, sneak attack +3d6
Spell-Lilke Abilities (CL 8th)
Constant—detect magic
At will—confusion (DC 17, single target only), daze monster (DC 15, no HD limit), inflict serious wounds (DC 16), invisibility, reduce size (as reduce person but self only)
3/day—cure moderate wounds, globe of invulnerability
Statistics
Str 12, Dex 23, Con 21, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 17
Base Atk +6; CMB +6; CMD 22 (26 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Toughness, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +19, Disguise +11, Knowledge (local) +14, Perception +19, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +29, Use Magic Device +11; Racial Modifiers +8 Bluff, +8 Perception, +8 Stealth
Languages Undercommon (cannot speak); telepathy 100 ft.
Treasure: Ciuq’s Earth Ring (Meld into Stone, attuned to all three brothers’ portals ), Scrolls: Passwall (CL9) x2, Stone Shape (CL7) x 6, Acid Fog (CL11) x2, Bracers of Armor +4, Stone of Good Luck (agate), Wand of Acid Vapor (acts as per fireball) CL5, 24Ch, Endure Elements Overcoat
Special Abilities
Body Thief (Su) As a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity, an intellect devourer can reduce its size, crawl into the mouth of a helpless or dead creature, and burrow into the victim's skull to devour its brain. This is a coup de grace attempt that inflicts 8d4+3d6+8 points of damage. Fort save DC10+dam or die. If the victim is slain (or already dead), the intellect devourer usurps control of the body and may use it as its own, as if it controlled the target via a dominate monster spell. The intellect devourer has full access to all of the host's defensive and offensive abilities save for spellcasting and spell-like abilities (although the intellect devourer can still use its own spell-like abilities). A host body may not have been dead for longer than 1 day for this ability to function, and even successfully inhabited bodies decay to uselessness in 7 days (unless this time is extended via gentle repose). As long as the intellect devourer occupies the body, it knows (and can speak) the languages known by the victim and basic information about the victim's identity and personality, yet has none of the victim's specific memories or knowledge. Damage done to a host body does not harm the intellect devourer, and if the host body is slain, the intellect devourer emerges and is dazed for 1 round. Raise dead cannot restore a victim of body theft, but resurrection or more powerful magic can.

Vulnerable to Protection from Evil (Ex) An intellect devourer is treated as a summoned creature for the purpose of determining how it is affected by a protection from evil spell.

An intellect devourer is 3 feet long and weighs about 60 pounds.

RIP KODIAK

12)   This is a rough-hewn tunnel created by Jop‘s digging with a small pickaxe and shovel. It is very narrow (2’x4’) so only one person can squeeze through at a time and only small, long or ranged weapons can be used in combat while in the tunnel. Jop began by digging through to the closest room but missed the door due to the sinking of the area. He did find the floor of the hallway mid-tunnel and kept going, uncovering a few pockets of uncollapsed rooms.
13)   The first uncollapsed room is now full of dirt piles as well, but one time served as a storage area for an office further on. The remains of shelving and some notebooks lay among the dirt piles, but nothing of value (a careful study, Per DC28 will reveal that Ciuq was designing exercises from earth elementals to learn finer construction abilities such as straight passages, stairs, etc.). The door in here has been opened before but there is a wall of dirt beyond. Jop opted to dig two more tunnels from the corner to a cave due south and another set of rooms to the southeast.
14)   Crude stairs are half-buried on the floor of this cave where earth elementals have been practicing using their burrowing ability to shape basic objects. At the back side the stairs is a large still dark pool of black liquid. The surface of the liquid is completely opaque but when 2 or more creatures are within 10’, it will reveal its true form. In the center of the pool is a small lump of black stone (strong conjuration and transmutation; CL 15th), which is an Obsidian Steed.

Black Pudding CR 7

15)   This is a lab where Ciuq had been doing his most recent work with training earth elementals. There are notes and books that refer to his trainees progress and that the smaller ones seem to be more eager to learn, though they are slower. The large ones are very effective but are harder to control as they have more ‘attitude’. This room was completely formed by his trainees and there are numerous large and small details throughout such as pools, columns, molding. There are two secret doors of intricate design that can be found with a DC26 Per check. The secret rooms are empty however.
The center column in this room has been fashioned into a deadly trap. Fine writing can be seen on the surface, but not clear enough unless someone approaches closely. If they get within 5’ of the column, the column and floor will crumble, dropping all within 5’ into a 10x10’ spiked pit trap, 20’ deep. DC 20 to detect, DC20 Ref to avoid. 2d6 falling damage + 2d6 debris damage.
16)   The false Jop used his host’s memories and some well-placed detect magic to eventually find Ciuq’s crushed body. Jop’s small footprints (DC18) can be seen walking directly into a wall of debris on this side of the door.
17)   Ciuq’s body has been crushed by several thousand pounds of rock, so there is very little left of the poor wizard. The magic items on his corpse have been pilfered, but there is a small faintly magical stone in the shape of a triangle with a line through lying a few feet away from his body. (DC15 Per to find) This stone is a key to door 3.

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Here is an example of more background that the party would never know about but it helped me round out the scenarios.

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The group actually interacted with the faux gnome and attributed his horrible smell to his personal grooming habits (although Kodiak was very off put by his odor). The gnome/intellect devourer was hybrid creature with traits of each.