Collaborative Cave!

11: Fog and Death (EL 10)

As you descend the narrow twisting passage into this chamber, you find yourself confronted by a thick, dense bank of acrid fog.

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While the dragons have been occupying this cave system, small amounts of the corrosive gas they exhale have been dissolving into the bodies of water. Some of this gas is released back into the air by the pool in area 12. It has accumulated at the lowest level it can reach, which is this chamber.

Treat this as a permanent acid fog trap which cannot be dispelled or disabled. Due to the geometry of the chamber, even strong winds cannot disperse the vapours.

Natural Acid Fog Trap
CR 7; magic device; no trigger (always active); simulated spell effect (acid fog, 2d6/round acid); Search DC 31; Disable Device --.

As a method of enforcing obedience among the [goblins], or perhaps just for their cruel amusement, the dragons occasionally order offenders to be bound and thrown into the room. Their deaths are agonizing as the acid dissolves their bodies. The pain and suffering has attracted the attention of a greater shadow, who enjoys the horrific spectacle.

Shadow, Greater: CR 8, 60 hp.

Tactics: The greater shadow makes full use of Spring Attack which, along with its incorporeality, allows it to remain within the solid stone walls of the cave itself, coming out only to strike. Favourite targets for its attacks are the most heavily-armoured characters, as its incorporeal touch can usually ignore all such physical protection. Coincidentally, these characters are also often the clerics or paladins of the party.

The greater shadow prefers to engage characters who are engulfed in the acid fog and subsequently damaged and hindered by it. However, if the battle is going in its favour, it will not hesistate to follow and harry its prey for as long as it takes.

Treasure: [The expected treasure for this encounter is 5206 gp. As the dragons probably have more than their fair share of treasure, they can 'use' some or all of this amount. Any treasure actually assigned to this room should be things that can resist acid -- diamonds or other gemstones, perhaps.

This would also be a reasonable place for the dragons to be clever and place some cursed items, if desired.]

Scaling the Encounter: To reduce the difficulty of this area, the greater shadow (CR 8) could be replaced by a spectre (CR 7), or some number of other undead incorporeal monsters, such as wraiths, shadows, or ghosts. The trap's damage could be reduced, or removed entirely. Adding more monsters or trap damage increases the difficulty of this area.

Contributer: Roger Carbol.

Boxed Text

The smell that assails your nostrils as you enter this passage is a strange combination of rotten eggs and fermenting fruit. Curving slightly to the left you emerge into a carvern bathed in an eerie green light which streams down from above highlighting the visible features a few jagged boulders fallen from above and the stairway-like formation that extends the full width of the cavern and gleams stickily in the green light...

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The stairway formation rises up about 20 ft has a slippery uneven surface but it can be climbed. Climb DC 25 due to slippery uneven surface, with a chance of further rockfall

Inspection will show that the rocks are covered in yellow slime that is dripping from snottites (slimey stalactites) hanging from the cave roof overhead. The dripping slime has the properties of green slime (CR 4 1d6 acid damage) and is the source of the rotten egg smell

At this distance the roof is not visible.

Snottites

Reaching the top you find yourself on a broad platform about 30 feet across and 15 ft wide with another tunnel directly opposite. The source of the green light is now apparent, in the far corner of the cavern the roof has collapsed admiting light from the surface. However the opening has become so overhung with a thick and twsited tangle of foliage and vines that it creates a virtual cieling of growing fibres. Thick mossy curtains hang down the walls intertwined with large round leaves and dangling vines. The whole verdant mass drips a reddish sap and is the source of the overpowering stink of fermenting fruit.

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The Mossy curtain is a colony of 4 Verminvine (see WoTC feature), if the PCs stay 30 ft away and quiet they may be able to pass without encountering the Verminvine however getting closer will cause it to strike out and loud noise will instigate it to use its Insect Plague ability.

The 4 Verminevines each control a swarm (3 of small centipedes and one of hellwasps) which crawl down from the walls and fly out of the mossy curtain to attack.

The most dangerous part of the cave however is the exit passage the roof of which is unstable and ready to collapse a Dwarfs Stonecunning or a Knowledge Engineering check DC 20 should identify this risk. (The cave-in will be triggered if fireball or similar spells are used)

To be continued...

Tonguez, could you link to the WOTC feature?

der_kluge, would you mind adding the EL for each room to your index? I'm strongly considering dropping "The Greatest Of Chokerkind" down to a CR 6 or 7 to avoid stocking this cave with too many high-EL encounters (like 8 and 11).

Also, linking each room to the post where it is detailed would make your summary in the initial post even more helpful...if it's not too much trouble.

Edit: Something like this.

Room 1 - Unassigned.
Room 2 - Scribble. (EL n/a) http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=2844239&postcount=66
Room 2a - Elephant. (north passage, EL 5, south passage, EL 8) http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=2846124&postcount=95
Room 3 - Whizbang Dustyboots.
Room 4 - Ilium.
Room 5 - Unassigned.
Room 6 - Raven Crowking.
Room 7 - Elephant. (EL 10 or 6) http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=2844015&postcount=64
Room 8 - der_kluge (dragon's lair, EL 11). http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=2844714&postcount=84
Room 9 - Unassigned.
Room 10 - Shieldhaven.
Room 11 - Roger. (EL 10) http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=2852866&postcount=141
Room 12 - Unassigned.

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Also, I'll cook up something mean for Room 5 if no one else claims it.

Elephant, yes I can update that. Thanks for the links. I'll do that shortly. I think dropping the CR of the choker down a few pegs might be good. It's on par with the dragon room, and if we want to try to keep the dungeon to around CR 8 or maybe 9, we should keep that room as the most difficult room.


Tonguez, not to be pedantic here, but you've not technically signed up for a room. Which room description are you writing up, and I'll assign you to it. It sounds like room 5, is that right?

1. Cave Entrance (EL 6 - if rust monsters are present; EL 0 otherwise)

The cavern entrance is not unlike any other earthen cave you've ever been in - the air is still and quiet. The roughly 10 foot wide entrance opens up considerably, and almost immediately doubles in width. Further into the cave, you can just make out what appears to be a small pool of water.

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This cave is normally the home to two rust monsters. Ferix, the dragon (see area 8) often supplies these creatures with bits of metal that she finds to encourage them to nest here. So while the rust monsters have a fairly steady supply of food, it's in their nature to constantly wander the countryside to satiate their metallic hunger. This frustrates Ferix to no end, who would love to see the two remain here constantly as guards protecting the entranceway, but she knows that, at best, all she can do is keep them from leaving completely. The rust monsters are encountered here only on a roll of 1 on a 1d4 if entering the dungeon - 1 to 2 on a 1d4 if they are leaving the dungeon (assuming they weren't encountered before).

Rust Monsters (2)
Medium Aberration
Hit Dice: 8d8+16 (52 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+3 Dex, +5 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+6
Attack: Antennae touch +3 melee (rust)
Full Attack: Antennae touch +6/+1 melee (rust) and bite +0/+0 melee (1d3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Rust
Special Qualities: Darkvision, scent
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +7
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 8
Skills: Listen +9, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Track, Ability Focus (Rust)
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating: 4
Alignment: neutral

These rust monsters are mostly dark brown with a dark red back. They are about 6 feet long, and just over 3 feet high, and each weighs about 250 pounds. These rust monsters are a little fatter and bigger than most.
Tactics
These rust monsters, like all rust monsters, are voracious eaters of metal. They can smell metal of any kind up to 90 feet away. They will always attack the largest source of metal first, striking at armor, then shields, then weapons. They will not fight to the death, and will flee if seriously injured.
Rust (Ex): A rust monster that makes a successful touch attack with its antennae causes the target metal to corrode, falling to pieces and becoming useless immediately. The touch can destroy up to a 10-foot cube of metal instantly. Magic armor and weapons, and other magic items made of metal, must succeed on a DC 22 Reflex save or be dissolved. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +4 racial bonus and a +2 from Ability Focus.
A metal weapon that deals damage to a rust monster corrodes immediately. Wooden, stone, and other nonmetallic weapons are unaffected.


The floor here is very soft and powdery. Closer examination will reveal that it is in fact piles of rust. Anyone with any sort of metal-related craft skill can identify its nature, otherwise, a DC 10 intelligence check can determine what it is.

Searching this room (DC 10) reveals some old leather armor riddled with holes. This was once studded leather which is now somewhat tattered from all the metallic studs being chewed off. It's quite old, and has no identifiable markings. There are also 7 wooden handles scattered about, which were once attached to axes and hammers. Hidden within the layers of powder, an exhaustive search (DC 30) will uncover 5 onyx buttons (apparently missed by the dragons) worth a total of 40gp.

Anyone making a survival check in the cave (DC 10) will notice dragon tracks heading into the pool, and strange insect-like tracks belonging to rust monsters. Seasoned adventurers will figure those out right away, otherwise a Knowledge (Dungeoneering) check of a DC 10 will be able to identify the owners.

The water here is muddy, though not terribly deep. A successful search in the water (DC 15) will reveal a submerged underwater passage leading further into the cave. A more thorough search (DC 25) will reveal that this passageway has been clawed into being wider. The tunnel is just over 15' in length. Anyone swimming under it can do so in a single round with a DC 10 Swim check. Because it is so shallow, it's possible to simply crawl on the bottom of the tunnel, for those in heavy armor, though only at a rate of 5' per round.

Contributor: Curtis "der_kluge" Bennett

der_kluge said:

Tonguez, not to be pedantic here, but you've not technically signed up for a room. Which room description are you writing up, and I'll assign you to it. It sounds like room 5, is that right?

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Oh I put in dibs at post 123 - sorry I didn't wait for confirmation

Yes room 5 and whats there at the moment is still only a base draft - it is a bit too easy atm and lacks something special - hence the to be continued comment.

Tonguez said:

Oh I put in dibs at post 123 - sorry I didn't wait for confirmation

Yes room 5 and whats there at the moment is still only a base draft - it is a bit too easy atm and lacks something special - hence the to be continued comment.

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Oh ok. I'll add you to it.

If this cavern opens up to the sky, is this where the dragon enters? That makes the whole chasm, underwater tunnel thing in areas 1/2 kind of moot.

Area 6: Pool Slide

Flavour Text said:

As you move down the passage, you can hear the drip and splash of water ahead. A small alcove to your left is thick with stalactites, stalagmites, and columns of stone – what seems like rashers of frozen bacon flow between them. You might be able to worm your way in there, but it would be a tight squeeze.

In front of you, the passage slopes away steeply into darkness. The floor is made of broken pieces of shale. It is from this direction that you can hear water flowing.

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In ages past, water once flowed from the alcove down into Area 6, and the humidly has kept this area looking much as it once did. What looks like bacon is actually called “cave bacon”, a mineral formation composed of calcite with alternating bands of mineral impurities. Tiny openings in the cave ceiling reach the surface. Although they are now somewhat choked with the roots of plants, this area seems to dimly glow during the daytime if viewed without an artificial light source. These openings are a food source for the cave, allowing small insects and spiders to dwell herein.

Exploring this area requires an Escape Artist check (DC 10) for Medium creatures. Anyone searching this area may find a rusted iron buckle from a belt that was long ago eaten away (DC 10) eight scattered ivory buttons (DC 12, each worth 1 sp) and a silver brooch that looks like a stylized bird in flight (DC 20). The brooch appears to be worth about 50 gp, but is actually a brooch of shielding lost here long before the dragons came.

The steep slope is made of shale, but close examination (Track DC 15) shows that the rock has been pitted and moved by the passage of the dragons. Climbing down the steep incline quietly is difficult but not impossible (Move Silently DC 20). Far more dangerous is the chance of rock sliding beneath one’s feet – traversing this slope requires a Balance check (DC 15). Those who fail fall, sliding down the slope toward the water below. This is very loud, echoing along the cavern walls and automatically alerting the choker in Area 7. Sliding characters are allowed a Reflex save (DC 15) to catch themselves before sliding into the water at the bottom of this passage.

Climbing back up this passage requires a Climb check (DC 10) due to the shifting stones.

Flavour Text said:

At the bottom of the passage is a pool of dark water, some 40 feet across and perhaps twice as wide. Water pours from cracks in the right-hand wall into the pool and drips from stalactites 20 feet overhead. You cannot easily tell where the pool drains. On the far side, directly before you, you can see a wide beach and another passage leading steeply upward and further into the cave.

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The water in this pool is varies from an average of 3-5 feet deep to 10 feet deep in the deepest areas. This pool drains into a 20-foot deep but relatively slow-moving underground stream flowing into Area 10. Along the bottom of the pool, a few long cracks 1-2 inches wide allow water to seep down farther into the earth, giving this additional drainage. At the DM's discretion, characters who explore these cracks might find them leading into the ceiling of a water-filled cavern network even deeper underground.

This area provides a swimming hazard, but is otherwise safe. Of course, Small characters that slide into the pool must swim or drown – a feat that wearing heavy armour makes difficult.

Because of the depth of the underground river, the dragons are more than capable of swimming from Area 8 to Area 10, and then to Area 6. For this reason, the passage to Area 7 shows none of the pitting and wear that the passage to the pool did. The slope to Area 7 is also not as steep as the previous passage, and is made of more solid stone.

Although climbing this passage is easy (DC 0), circumstance modifiers for trying to climb it at speed while in combat might require an actual check. Characters who somehow escape (but do not defeat) the dragons in Area 8 might discover Artix rising out of the pool here while Ferix comes from behind.

der_kluge said:

Oh ok. I'll add you to it.

If this cavern opens up to the sky, is this where the dragon enters? That makes the whole chasm, underwater tunnel thing in areas 1/2 kind of moot.

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I had considered that so as I concieved it

1. The passage ways are too small for the dragons to move through easily
2. The opening is overgrown with a thick tangle of overgrowth (hmm perhaps a colony of Verminvines). The overgrowth admits filtered light but doesn't allow access from below but if enough weight is applied the moss mat will tend to tear (and creatures above fall through)
3. The Verminvine(s) controls a swarm of stinging vermin which even the Dragons would find really annoying (especially if the passageways restrict movement)

Tonguez said:

I had considered that so as I concieved it

1. The passage ways are too small for the dragons to move through easily
2. The opening is overgrown with a thick tangle of overgrowth (hmm perhaps a colony of Verminvines). The overgrowth admits filtered light but doesn't allow access from below but if enough weight is applied the moss mat will tend to tear (and creatures above fall through)
3. The Verminvine(s) controls a swarm of stinging vermin which even the Dragons would find really annoying (especially if the passageways restrict movement)

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Are Verminvines OGL-compliant?