D&D 3E/3.5 Elder Dragons

[ElectricDragon]

2. Human, 15th-Level Sorcerer Lich King
Mumrah
Medium Undead
Hit Dice: 15d12 (97 hp)//33d12 (214 hp)
Initiative: +1//+9
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (Dex +1, natural +5 mage armor +4), touch 11, flat-footed 19, incorporeal touch 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+8//+12/+13
Attack: Dagger +8//+13 melee (1d4+1) or paralyzing touch +8//+13 melee touch (1d8+5 negative energy damage plus paralysis) or by spell +8//+13 melee touch or +8//+13 ranged touch
Full Attack: Dagger +8/+3//+13/+8/+3 melee and paralyzing touch +3//+8 melee touch (1d8+5 negative energy damage plus paralysis) or paralyzing touch +8//+13 melee touch (1d8+5 negative energy damage plus paralysis) or by spell +8//+13 melee touch or +8//+13 ranged touch
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Fear aura, paralyzing touch, spells
Special Qualities: DR 15/bludgeoning and magic, immunities, turn resistance +4
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +10
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 12, Con -, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 20
Skills: Appraise +3 (//+7 jewelry), Bluff +23, Concentration +26//+44, //Craft (jeweler) +39, Diplomacy +7, Disguise +5 (+7 acting), Hide+9, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (arcana)+21//+39, Listen +9, Move Silently +9, Search +11, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +23//+43 (+2 scrolls//+8 scrolls), Spot +9, //Use Magic Device +41 (//+4 scrolls)
Feats: Augment Summoning, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, //Efficient Item Creation (wondrous item) [epic], Empower Spell, Energy Substitution (acid), //Energy Substitution (cold), //Eschew Materials, //Ignore Material Components [epic], //Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Concentration), //Superior Initiative [epic]
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary or troop (Lich king and two 12HD mummies)
Challenge Rating: 20//23
Treasure: Amulet of mummy control (only works for these two specific mummies), darkskull, Lich’s Crown, Phylactery
Alignment: Lawful evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +4
Mumrah speaks Common,//Abyssal, //Celestial, //Infernal
Mumrah was introduced to mummies early in life. He was so impressed that he decided to become the best embalmer in the world. He studied long and hard on each different custom and ritual; finding and filing each one until he happened upon, quite by accident, a ritual for becoming a lich. Intrigued, he spent all of his resources to perform the ritual; thinking, “Now I will become the best embalmer in the world, I’ll create an army of mummies.”
200 years later, his army had been created and destroyed twice when he chanced upon the Lich’s Crown while hiding in a deep cavern from his paladin pursurers.
Another 50 years put him in possession of the ritual for changing soul energy into larvae
He makes contact with a Night Hag merchant willing to trade divine power for enough larvae. A price is agreed upon: 1,277 larvae for rank 0 divine status.
Unfortunately for him though, he refused Nethrancor’s offer for the ritual; and instead found his own copy in the annals of a great library. The copy he found had been edited by a monk under the influence of Desinora's Scout. Desinora had discovered that one purported way of destroying the crown was if a Null-Magic Elemental ate it. So she set a devious plan in motion by laying dreams showing the monk as saving the world by adding a short passage of words to a specific document. Eventually the monk added a “location requirement” to the ritual even though no such requirement existed. The location was a cavern on the edge of Arkonseptsis’ realm reached by an attached map.

Desinora hoped to destroy Nethrancor’s crown as well as create dissent between the Lead Dragon and the Death Father. Nearly 600 years later, Mumrah found the modified ritual.

Mumrah is usually accompanied by two 12HD mummies that follow his spoken (free action) or mental (standard action) orders due to an amulet around his neck. He is searching for the cavern in which to perform his ritual.

Spells: 6/8/7/7/7/7/6/4; Caster Level: 15//33; Save DC 15 + spell level, 16 + spell level for conjuration spells (marked with an *).
Spells Known: 9/5/5/4/4/4/3/2
0th acid splash*, detect magic, ghost sounds, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, ray of frost, read magic
1st burning hands, disguise self, grease*, magic missile, shield
2nd acid arrow*, false life, locate object, scorching ray, see invisibility
3rd arcane sight, dispel magic, fireball, flame arrow
4th charm monster, dimension door*, ice storm, phantasmal killer
5th cloudkill*, cone of cold, fabricate, shadow evocation
6th flesh to stone, summon monster VI*, veil
7th finger of death, mass hold person

//Crown Spells: 1/day each as an 18th level caster; Save DC 15 + spell level, 16 + spell level for conjuration spells (marked with an *).
0th Acid splash*, detect magic, disrupt undead, mage hand, mending, read magic, touch of fatigue
1st cause fear, chill touch, expeditious retreat, mage armor*, mount*, ray of enfeeblement, true strike
2nd acid arrow*, command undead, pyrotechnics, scare, spectral hand, web*
3rd arcane sight, halt undead, ray of exhaustion, stinking cloud*, vampiric touch
4th animate dead, bestow curse, contagion, enervation, fear
5th blight, cloudkill*, symbol of pain, teleport*, waves of fatigue
6th circle of death, create undead, eyebite, symbol of fear, true seeing
7th control undead, finger of death, symbol of weakness, waves of exhaustion
8th create greater undead, horrid wilting, symbol of death
9th energy drain, summon monster IX*, wail of the banshee


Since putting his mummy army (3rd iteration) on hold, Mumrah has taken to wrapping himself with bandages as if he were a mummy (Disguise +7, circumstance +2). This also helps hide his phylactery.
Mumrah’s phylactery is the basic one: linen arm wrappings holding a diminutive metal box next to his desiccated skin. The metal box is adamantine and contains (with no way to get them out without destroying the box) small linen strips inscribed with magical phrases invoking soul storage and unlife. Mumrah acquired a scroll of hardening and cast it on the box. Hardness: 25; HP: 40; Size: Diminutive AC: 6; Break DC 40. Only by unwrapping the body can the phylactery be found; all his other wrappings are on top of the arm wrappings holding his phylactery.

Stats and abilities after a double slash (//) are for when the crown is worn.
Mumrah uses the elite array.

 

[ElectricDragon]

PRIVATIVE MAGIC
Arkonseptsis claims more territory than a demigod of divine rank 5 usually rules. Visitors begin feeling the drain of magic; everything magical seems more taxing than usual. Spellcasters* that require sleep to regain spells, now require 1 hour more to regain their spells. Creatures that instead meditate now also require 1 more hour. Creatures with spell-like abilities* now require at least one hour’s rest per day or their abilities will not recharge. There is no effect to magic items in this extra claimed area. The size of the extra area changes daily but never exceeds five miles from Arkonseptsis’s realm.
*Manifesters and psi-like abilities also for campaigns that include psionics.

The Realm of Arkonseptsis
Once the border area is passed, things get more dire for magical visitors. Another hour of sleep or meditation is required. And spellcasters* face a Concentration check DC 5 +2/day spent inside the realm for each spell they attempt to cast (this is in addition to any required Concentration check called for by the spell, casting defensively, or taking ongoing damage. Failure means the spell sputters out and has no effect other than the waste of the caster’s time, any material components, and the now empty spell slot. Creatures using spell-like abilities are also forced to make the same check, with the loss of one usage of the spell-like ability as a penalty for failure. Magic items also face such a Concentration check (from their user/activater) each time they are activated. Failure in this case results in the magic item being totally inoperative for 1 minute. Artifacts as not affected by these constraints.
*In a psionic campaign, manifesters, creatures with the psionic subtype, and psionic items face a similar Concentration check any time a power or psi-like ability is activated.

Arkonseptsis’s realm is roughly a sphere 5 miles in diameter; encompassing multiple tunnels and chambers that interconnect often. The tunnels go every direction, incuding up and down, wandering around the rocky demenses of the Lead Dragon.
The Surrounding Maze
There is a tangled maze of tunnels leading to Arkonseptsis' lair. The tunnels converge from all directions. Many are false trails that lead to dead ends. These false trails as well as the true path to his lair are littered with the debris and detrius left behind when Arkonseptsis travels: oozes and slime keepers as well as dangerous traps built by an enslaved dwarven clan oversaw by Arkonseptsis in his youth when he was yet mortal. The tunnels leading to Arkonseptsis' lair, if properly followed without deviation from the true path would take approximately 12 hours to traverse on foot, usually 2d4 12-hour days otherwise. Unfortunately, using magic to find the true path is a sure way to gain Arkonseptsis' attention even if he is not in his lair.

Tunnels are roughly cut, mostly natural caverns 40 to 70 feet wide with many stalactites (ceiling) but few stalagmites (floor). A lot of stalactites constantly drip water forming small puddles below their tips. Sometimes pools of grimy water or sandy patches or graveled slopes cover the undulating floor, but mainly the floor is bedrock, worn smooth through generations of use. The walls are slick with slime or slimy water. Large fields of phosphoreresent fungi (the rare kind that glows as bright as a torch, but stranger because violet is only one of the choices for color though each patch is only a single color) are arranged in shapes and even messages in strange languages every fifty feet or so, often negating the necessity for light sources even for those with no darkvision. These messages make no sense even if properly translated, having been written by mind-blasted slime keepers over the centuries.

The roof of the tunnels varies in height from 30 to 50 feet with most chambers (wider areas or crossroads) being the maximum. An encounter usually happens in a chamber, whether that be a wide area or an intersection. The tunnels are chock full of intersections as every path crosses every other path at least once. Even though many have died in these tunnels, the various oozes in the tunnels "clean" the area of bodies, equipment, and most signs of passage.

Imagine that Arkonseptsis’s realm is an egg, then his lair would be the yolk. The entrance to the lair seems to be a shallow puddle about 100 feet in diameter in another dead end, but the water reflection makes the actual depth look deceptively close instead of the 50 or so feet deep the puddle actually is. The puddle is really just the only corner of an underground lake on this side of the tunnel walls. Forty feet down into the puddle, the tunnel wall separating the lake from the dead end ends; allowing entrance into the lake beyond the tunnels, albeit underwater. The water is ice cold, see below under Water Level for rules dealing with this infested, tainted, icy underground lake.



Surrounding Maze Random Encounters
1d20/Encounter (check hourly)
1-4 Black Pudding
5-7 Slime Keeper
8-9 Ocher Jelly
10-11 Gelatinous Cube
12-13 Gray Ooze
14 Purple Worm (1)
15 Otyugh
16 Flaming Puddle (2d6)
17 Treasure Ooze (1)
18-20 Special

1d20 Black Pudding Type
1-12 Black Pudding 1d4 H
13-18 Black Pudding 1d3 G
19 Elder Black Pudding 1 G
20 Wizard Pudding 1 G

1d20 Slime Keeper
1-16 Any one
17-18 Any two
19-20 Any three

1d20 Ocher Jelly Type
1-14 2 L
16=20 1 H

1d20 Gelatinous Cube Type
1-13 1d3 L
14-20 1d2 H

1d20 Gray Ooze Type
1-17 1d6+2 M
18-20 1d4 L

1d20 Otyugh Type
1-18 1d6 L
19-20 1d4 H

Special
1-10 Fungus Patch
11-15 Altar
16-20 Trap
Fungus Patch: 50/50: 3d4 Violet Fungi (1d2 of them advanced), 4d4 Shriekers (all advanced), 1d2 Ropers, and 1d10+30 regular giant sized mushrooms. Shriekers call a purple worm or 1d4 otyughs (equal chances) after 2d4 rounds of shrieking. OR a casting of Summon Monster I from a slime keeper forming a message that makes no sense. This consists of glowing slimy fungus shaped into a written message often in strange or unknown tongues and always incoherent even if translated properly. The colors of the glowing words varies according to the whim of the writer but each message is a single color, giving the whole area dim lighting within 50 feet of the glow.
Altar: A temporarily consecrated altar (usually just a few rocks stacked together) made to sacrifice magic items or creatures (equal chances of either).
Trap: A mechanical trap built by some long forgotten race (each trap construction personally oversaw by Arkonseptsis). Dwarves that get within 10 feet of a known trap can identify it as a shoddy (thus slave-built) dwarven construction, a shoddiness noticeable only to a dwarf though there is no actual difference to the DC's. The age of these stonework contraptions varies from 10 to 20 centuries ago.
Traps are either of two types (equal chances of each, neither of which affect the resident oozes in any negative way):
1. Crushing Wall Trap: CR 10; mechanical; location trigger; automatic reset; no attack roll required (18d6, crush); Search DC 20; Disable Device DC 25.

2. Poisoned Spiked Pit Trap: CR 10; mechanical; location trigger; automatic reset (every 10 minutes); (Search DC 25); DC 20 Reflex save avoids; 50 ft. deep (5d6, fall); multiple targets (first target in each of two adjacent 5-ft. squares); pit spikes (Atk +10 melee, 1d4 spikes per target for 1d4+5 plus poison each); poison (purple worm poison, DC 24 Fortitude save resists, 1d6 Str/2d6 Str); Search DC 16; Disable Device DC 25.

 

[ElectricDragon]

Magical Sense

Arkonseptsis' Salient Divine Ability of Extra Sense Enhancement (magical sense) is much more powerful in his realm, even if he is not there. He is so attuned to his realm that he immediately knows whenever a creature with magical abilities* (including spellcasting, or even divine status) or a magical item** (including artifacts) enters his home turf. This does not anger him; he doesn't profess to guard his borders from intrusion, but he does expect visitors to respect him and not cast magic while in his realm.
*This includes psionic abilities in campaigns with psionics.
** This includes psionic items in campaigns with psionics.

Each hour, Arkonseptsis tallies up the spell violations to his realm and decides to intervene or not according to his criteria. For DM's keep track of each spell cast, each magic item activated, each spell-like or supernatural ability activated during that hour.

On the first day in the realm: Arkonseptsis is very lenient on his punishments so each spell or spell-like ability or magic item activation or supernatural ability activated only counts as a 1% chance to draw the Lead Dragon's attention.

Day 2 in the realm: increases Arkonseptsis' annoyance and thus increases the chances by a lot. Spells are now worth their spell level in %; spell-like abilities with a level equivalence are treated as if that spell level; magic items, supernatural abilities, and spell-like abilities without a level equivalence are treated as if 5th level.

Day three: the base changes to 2% per spell level.

Day four: the base changes to 3% per spell level.

Day five and afterward: the base changes to 4% per spell level.

If the roll is made and it draws Arkonseptsis' attention, his actions depend on the total of the % chance.

20% or less: Arkonseptsis runs to within 300 feet of the offending group, spits out a black pudding and leaves to attend to other business.

21% to 60%: Arkonseptsis does a run-thru attack. He runs through the offending group's position at full speed on the ground (staying off the walls) doing an overrun attack. Each party member must make a choice: dodge (Ref DC 15) to the side (evasion works against this attack); or stand and get an AoO but become prone. In either case, Arkonseptsis is then gone from sight. For the overrun attack, Arkonseptsis' modifier is +36 versus Medium opponents and +40 versus Small opponents (+16 Str, +16/+20 size difference, +4 more than two legs) versus the party's individual Dexterity or Strength checks. Arkonseptsis suffers a -2 penalty to his AC during this attack. RBDMs would also call for saves vs. his curse, his divine aura, and his diseases as he runs by.

61% to 80%: Arkonseptsis does a run-thru attack as before but also gets one try at snatching a magic item in his jaws as he passes by (grapple to hold onto the item or it is gone with Arkonseptsis), the attack gains +2 to hit and deals bite damage and half strength bonus to the attached appendage. The magic item is immediately swallowed unless successfully grappled by its owner. A successful grapple check allows the owner to hold onto the item and go for a ride with the Lead Dragon. Successful grapple checks must be made each round or the item is lost and the character falls to the wayside (2d6 damage from skidding to a stop). As usual, the overrun deals no damage just forces the party prone. Same note about RBDMs here.

81% or more: Arkonseptsis has had enough of your insolence and intends to put an end to your annoyance once and for all. He spits a black pudding from max range, charges and gets full attack attacking as many opponents as he can. The Lead Dragon will not allow anyone to escape unless he gets to destroy a magic item of worth (no potions or scrolls; something substantive).

If someone is so brazen as to enter his lair, the base chance rises to 5% per spell level and no matter what the final %; if the roll is made, he will treat it as if the chance were 81+%.

Artifacts and deities are treated as if they had been in the Lead Dragon's realm for 1 more day than they have been there; Arkonseptsis considers that gods and their creations should know better.
Salient Divine Abilities and artifacts activated within his realm are treated as if they were 10th level spells for the purposes of drawing Arkonseptsis' attention.

 

[ElectricDragon]

Dead Ends

Another kind of encounter occurs whenever the party enters a dead end. Dead ends are disguised by turns in the tunnel walls or changes in the tunnel's elevation; hiding the dead end until the party is in it.

Dead ends are roughly circular and about 200 feet in diameter. Most of the dead end is filled with a mound of volcanic glass that has been polished and faceted to reflect any light onto the cavern walls, dimly lighting the whole area from just a single torch.

Long ago, before he achieved godhood, Arkopnseptsis made a deal with a small family of otyughs. That family has since grown into a tribe that inhabits all but one of the dead ends in the Lead Dragon's realm. Arkonseptsis had his dwarven slaves build the mounds in each dead end, with volcanic glass mined from a nearby dormant volcano (any dwarf within 10 feet notices this dwarven construction, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) DC 25 can do the same). The mounds have been built to nullify vibration in the ground (such as used by tremorsense) for any creature standing on the mound. Also, as a side effect, oozes find this polished glass to be especially hard to move upon (their speed is halved on the mound).

Arkonseptsis uses all but one of the dead ends as his bathroom, so each mound in each dead end has 1d6 huge-sized piles of poop on it. This is where the otyughs live in family units of from 2 to 8 members. At least one or two are advanced and thus use the non-elite array. Oozes usually come into the dead end and wander around the mound for several days to a week then exit the way they came in. The mounds are also home to 2d4 rat swarms. The poop can have items buried in it, but a god's diseased poop is not something anyone should want to pilfer through. There is a 25% chance (per pile) that the poop is also infested with rot grubs.

There are two special dead ends. The first is the repository of the artifact known as the Lich's Crown; which is to be found deep inside one of the six piles of poop in its dead end. There are eight otyughs, 3 of which are max advanced, 2 rat swarms scuttle about on the mound, 2 poop piles are claimed by a group of 7 monstrous centipedes (1 H, 2 L, 4 M), a trio of gelatinous cubes (one Huge -sized) patrol the pathway around the mound.
The second special dead end is the entrance to Arkonseptsis' lair, where he keeps his treasure.

 

[ElectricDragon]

THE LAIR OF THE LEAD DRAGON
In the yolk that is the egg of Arkonseptsis’ realm is the lair of “no magic”. Though magic can be cast or activated here, it is likely to immediately draw the lead dragon’s attention. No matter where he is in his realm, Arkonseptsis can be anywhere his attention is drawn in 4d6+2 rounds. He knows all the shortest routes. In his lair though, he can be anywhere his attention is drawn in only 2d6 rounds. Once he has shown up, he will use his normal speed for combat.

The lair of Arkonseptsis is shaped like an ellipsoid angled slightly upward, with the lowest level of the lair below water.

Lake Level
The lake itself is shaped like a half-circle, with the flat edge being the wall of the tunnels beyond. The curved edge offers three ledges on which the party can climb out of the water; all other areas being filled with a multitude of stalagmites and some stalactites, enough to call the whole area a forest of stalagmites. The radius of the lake is 1,000 feet.

The only entrance to this cavern is deep under water (40 feet) but not at the bottom (50 feet) and once the surface is reached, a swimmer needs to cross nearly 1,000 feet of ice cold, deep lake water to get to an area where climbing out of the water is possible. Those in the water and not ooze type or aquatic subtype or resistant to cold must make a Fortitude save DC 15 every 10 minutes or suffer -1 Strength and -1 Dexterity from numbness (this numbness stacks). Make numbness checks every 10 minutes in the water. Numbness penalties lessen by 1 on each ability score for each minute spent out of the water. A campfire will provide enough warmth to lessen the time to rounds spent out of the water instead of minutes.

The lake is infested with treasure oozes. Any creature in the water acquires an treasure ooze attached to it each minute. They will stay attached until a pile of objects comes into range.

Further, the water is tainted with Blinding Sickness and requires a save versus the disease (DC 16) or catch the disease, repeat this save every 10 minutes for anyone in the water until they fail a save or exit the water. This cavern is nearly lightless, having only a faint multicolored glow coming through the stalagmite forest of the second level.

The ledges are five feet above the water, requiring a jump and grab to get up on the ledge.
Climbing out of the water is made difficult by slippery edges everywhere climbing up is possible (3 different places easily seen because of a diffuse glow from around the stalagmites surrounding the curved side of the lake): Climb check DC is 20 to climb out of the water because of the slipperiness.

The chance of an encounter while in the lake is 50%, checked every 10 minutes. If an encounter occurs, roll on the table below to determine what creature(s) are encountered. If possible, creatures encountered will follow any that seek to escape onto land.

Lake Random Encounters
1d12:Encounter (# of creatures)/Creature Size
1 giant octopus (1d3)/L
2 giant octopus (1)/H
3 black pudding (1d3)/H
4 black pudding (1d2)/G
5 elder black pudding (1)/G
6 wizard pudding (1)/G
7 ocher jelly (1d3)/L
8 ocher jelly (1d2)/H
9 gelatinous cube (1d4)/L
10 gelatinous cube (1d3)/H
11 gray ooze (1d6)/M
12 gray ooze (1d3)/L

Kerthan mentions a legendary tale of an apprentice dwarven blacksmith of clan Stonehammer, named Hraggar, who encountered a "Magic Eater" deep underground. While running from it he stumbled and fell into a puddle that turned out to be the corner of a deep lake. Hraggar's armor bore him down to the bottom where he found a glowing bluish gate and rather than wait to drown or try and walk out, he entered the gate.
The other side of the gate offered a bleak, hostile landscape. Hraggar quickly took off his armor and plunged back through the gate into the icy water. Months later, a fellow clan member found him wandering the deep tunnels, barely alive. Though the best dwarven physicians and priests tried for years; he never recovered enough strength to return to his craft. The clan history blames the Magic Eater for his affliction; Kerthan the Historian claims that "Magic Eater" is another epithet for Arkonseptsis.

 

[ElectricDragon]

Stalagmite-Forest Maze

The second part of the cavern that is the lair of Arkonseptsis and taking up about a third of the cavern is the Stalagmite-Forest Maze. The dimensions of this part of the cavern are consistently 1,000 feet wide and another 1,000 feet from the edge of the lake to the beginning of Arkonseptsis' bedroom/treasure chamber. Stalagmites grow so closely together as to form the walls of a maze with many intersections, dead ends, and rejoinings. Unlike the larger Surrounding Maze, this maze is all level (no tunnels going up or down), though the whole maze tilts slightly uphill toward the next section of Arkonseptsis' Lair. The stalagmites meet stalactites about 30 feet up, making the "walls" reach to the ceiling. The stalagmite walls are about 5-7 feet thick at ground level, tapering to only 2-3 feet thick at 30 feet, then widening again to 4-5 feet thick at the ceiling.

The three openings from the lake level join into a small clearing with 4 possible exits into the maze.

This maze should take no more that 2 hours to traverse (barring encounters). The maze ends at a 50-foot wide ramp that leads through an opening in the stalagmite walls that form the end of this zone.

Busting a way through the maze is possible, but the "walls" are stone (hardness 5, 60 hp per 5-foot section). Even with the perfect tool and great strength; walking the maze should prove quicker.

The maze is inundated with oozes of various types that usually come in groups of from 5-10 creatures.
Check every 10 minutes (50% chance) for an encounter. The oozes will always be ahead in the party's path.
Encounters always occur in intersections or dead ends. Intersections have 3-6 (1d4+2) choices (including the direction from which the party came).
If an encounter occurs, use the table below to determine which oozes are present.
Roll 1d6
1: 1 black pudding, 4 flaming puddles, and 1 ocher jelly
2: 3 ocher jellies, 3 gray oozes, and 3 gelatinous cubes
3: 1 wizard pudding and 9 treasure oozes
4: 2 elder black puddings, 2 flaming puddles, and 1 gray ooze
5: 8 flaming puddles and 1 black pudding
6: 1 Huge gelatinous cube, 3 treasure oozes, 1 gray ooze, 1 ocher jelly

Once an encounter has occured, ignore that result for future encounter rolls (or go to a smaller die-size when two or more encounters have been removed from the list: d4, d3, d2). There should not be more than 6 encounters to traverse this area unless the party tarries for some reason (in that case, start over with the list).

 

[ElectricDragon]

Treasure Level
The cavern walls that surround the treasure level are lined and swirled with multitudes of colors of glowing fungi (black, white, violet, red, orange, green, pink, and yellow) sort of a psychedelic wall coloring with swirls and stripes of the various colors. Fungi that grow on the walls here can be found nowhere else in the world. The whole central chamber is brightly lit requiring no special vision to see. There are still some shadows though, but they are few and far between on the treasure level (-6 to Hide checks on the treasure level). Because of the wild colors though, determining color of items is impossible.
Though oozes will follow opponents into the treasure level, there is only one resident ooze in the treasure chamber otherwise; and it will not attack or even reveal its presence until a piece of the pile of coins and gems is touched.

Check upon entering the treasure level and once per hour thereafter.

1d10 roll//Encounter//Creature Size
1-2//Arkonseptsis//C
3-10//None//N/A


Arkonseptsis' Treasure
12,773,000 cp
5,080,562 sp
1,851,034 gp
350,908 pp
7,163 gems of various types
392 pieces of artwork
No magic*

Artwork: All artwork is ancient beyond belief but every piece is delicate and won't stand up to travel or even touching very well. (+25% to the value of all artwork because of age, but only a 10% chance any piece survives transport undamaged (extraordinary safety measures can take this to 20%). Damaged artwork is worth only 10% of the adjusted value). There are pieces of jewelry, statuettes, paintings, tapestries, silverware, busts, and maps among the artwork. The various pieces of artwork are arranged in two natural rock showcases on either side of the pile of coins and gems and flanking the ramp from the Stalagmite-Forest Maze. The showcases are truncated stalagmites that grow so closely together as to be a single 5-foot high, 12-foot long, U-shaped wall encasing the artwork. Phosphorescent fungi grow on the showcases and supply violet mood lighting for the art.

Gems: The gems are located in a huge pile in the central area of the treasure chamber along with the multitude of coins. This enormous pile is often visited, slept on, and swam in by the Lead Dragon. Arkonseptsis only picks up the very best gems to add to his hoard so +100% to the value of all gems. Though it is not possible to tell in the normal lighting of the cavern; 75% of the gems are green.

Coinage: The coins are representative of every civilization that ever minted coins, Some are old beyond belief, many are stamped with unknown faces, unrecognizible beasts, impressive buildings or strange ships on them. They also contain lettering and symbols from some forgotten time [Knowledge (history) DC 20 or Bardic Knowledge DC 20 to identify most times and places, lots of coins though and examining each coin would take years]. Coins must be exchanged for present day local coinage and most will lose much of their value due to this exchange. At best, assume -50% of value for all coins because they will be melted and used as metal stock.

Magic:* Any magic that Arkonseptsis finds, he eats or destroys depending on his mood; so, none will ever be found in his treasure.


Notes
There is only a 20% chance that Arkonseptsis is present in his lair. The other 80% of the time he is out tracking down some magic/spellcaster/undead he wants to destroy. And sometimes he then moves onto to the destruction of a magic-using city, depending on his mood.

Using active magic while in the lair of Arkonseptsis, can call his attention and bring him running to protect his home from magic. It will only take him 2d6 rounds to get to his lair if he senses enough active magic cast there. He can locate and arrive at an area of active magic anywhere in the surrounding tunnels in 4d6+2 rounds. He does not teleport. His running speed is impressive. He usually skids to a stop far enough away to start the battle with a spit and charge.

The treasure itself in Arkonseptsis' lair has been animated by a treasure ooze; and it will attack once touched.

Once Arkonseptsis returned to his lair after a long absence on the Elemental Plane of Entropy, one of the treasure oozes that infested him from his eon-long stay on the plane dropped off of Arkonseptsis to bury itself inside the treasure hoard that he slowly tracked down, piece by piece (along with any other treasure he could acquire along the way) and animated it. It followed him until he got the last piece adding any new treasure Arkonseptsis dropped on the pile to its size. The treasure pile followed the Lead Dragon all the way back to his lair and even to the treasure chamber where it now sleeps and procreates.

As it animates a Colossal pile (advanced to 60HD), it produces offspring once per month. An offspring has no pile to animate thus it searches for creatures on which to use its attach ability. At present, there are 10 new treasure oozes slowly moving toward the second level. Most young treasure oozes attach to Arkonseptsis when he is in attendance, but he has been absent for nearly a year presently.

Even if some adventurers were to abscond with some of Arkonseptsis' treasure; the Lead Dragon would track them unfailingly until he retrieved his treasure, stopping only momentarily to destroy or eat a magic item. Chances are that said adventurers have attached treasure oozes that will drop off as soon as a pile of objects comes into range. Any piles of treasure animated by such oozes, will be combined into one pile and herded back to his lair by the Null-Magic Elemental as soon as he regains his spoils. Once there, the ooze animating the largest pile will engulf the other pile(s) and gain control of an even larger pile. The other ooze relinquishes its hold on those objects and must use its normal movement or its attach ability to find another pile. It has been over 150 years since Arkonseptsis last herded a treasure pile into his lair.



Treasure Ooze
Animated Treasure Pile
Colossal Construct
Hit Dice: 60d10+80 (410 hp)
Initiative: –5
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: –3 (–8 size, –5 Dex), touch –3, flat-footed –3
Base Attack/Grapple: +40/+70
Attack: Slam +46 melee (4d6+21 plus 4d6 bludgeoning)
Full Attack: Slam +46 melee (4d6+21 plus 4d6 bludgeoning)
Space/Reach: 60 ft./30 ft.
Special Attacks: Constrict 4d6+21 plus 4d6 piercing, improved grab
Special Qualities: Blend, blindsight 60 ft., construct traits, fast healing 2, immunity to metal, ooze traits, vulnerability to stone
Saves: Fort +20, Ref +15, Will +15
Abilities: Str 38, Dex 1, Con —, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 1
Skills: —
Feats: —
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 20
Treasure: None (but see below)
Alignment: Always neutral

Notes:
Arkonseptsis, through centuries of study and experimentation, discovered how to affect the immunity and vulnerability of treasure oozes. He herded his private treasure ooze and all its coins and gems to one side of the cavern he calls his treasure room/bedroom. Then he broke all the stalactites off the ceiling, creating a Gargantuan pile of rocks and herded the treasure ooze with all its treasure pieces onto the top of the rock pile and waited for the hidden rocks to become part of the treasure ooze’s pile. Metal though numerous in coins, is only the second largest component of the pile, the largest being stone from ceiling rocks and gems. The treasure is always arranged so that few if any rocks show. Usually as a carpeting of coins that swirls up into motionless waves across the chamber; with a glint of large gems everywhere.

Even a thrown rock will damage this ooze, albeit only by its normal damage x 1.5. Unfortunately, any handy rocks are part of the ooze's construct.

The treasure ooze operates the Lead Dragon’s treasure hoard as a construct. Once defeated, the treasure it operated as a construct, is available for the taking.

 

[ElectricDragon]

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE REALM

There are several features of the realm of Arkonseptsis. Most are found in the surrounding maze and only one is found in the lair. First off, there are 3 streams, mere rivulets, that run through Arkonseptsis' realm. One feeds the lair lake, one drains from said lake, and one just meanders through the sphere that is the realm from near the topmost point and exits out finally near the bottommost point flowing through the different levels of the maze. Second, there are 6 secret rooms. And third, there are magma pools.

First, the features of the surrounding maze. Except for the first one, all features should be added to a normal encounter. 20% of all encounters will include a feature of some kind.
If the dice determine that a feature should be added; roll a d6 to determine which one.
D6 roll
1-3 Stream (d6: 1-4 pure water, 5-6 cold, tainted, and infested water*)
4-5 Secret Room (d6: 1-5 empty, 6 skeletons)
6 Magma Pool
*see the Lake Level for details

Streams
Streams appear in one of three ways in the surrounding maze. Equal chances of any appearance.
1. The rill drips from the roof of the tunnel cascading down one wall forming a puddle below where the water slowly seeps lower in the maze.
2. The rill enters the tunnel from one wall and runs across the tunnel to the other wall where the water waits in a puddle to drain further down in the maze.
3. The rivulet becomes a tiny waterfall in the middle of the tunnel, falling again to a puddle until the water can seep back into the cracks in the bedrock.

The streams are too small for any creature larger than Fine size and even then, Ooze type is a necessary requirement to travel the cracks with the water. Even Small oozes cannot squeeze themselves so thin.


Secret Rooms
There is just one description of the secret rooms, as they are all identical except in one respect.
The very first encounter in the realm is one of these secret rooms instead of any random creatures.
The room worked stone, 60 feet by 60 feet, and 30 feet high. Any dwarf that gets within 10 feet knows that this is dwarven construction, shoddy like the traps, but still dwarven. The 20-foot wide, 10-foot tall secret door is obviously worked stone when viewed from the inside of the room, but retains the natural stone appearance when viewed from out in the tunnel. The door is locked with a lever, only accessible from the corridor. The lever requires a combined Strength score of 40 (or size H and 30) to move it. Once moved to its lower position, the door becomes apparent as it opens. Also apparent is another door (10 feet wide and 5 feet tall) across the tunnel, that also opens. It contains racks for tools, but the racks are all empty. Raising the lever (Strength as before) closes and locks both doors.

Each room contains 50 stone bed frames, the bed-clothes having long ago turned to dust. There is a small partially walled-off section in one corner that contains a midden that has since dried up. A large pool along one wall still contains water, tepid and stale, but safe and pure. Another corner holds a small mushroom farm where water drips down into it from a crack in the wall. The mushrooms are still edible and provide good nutrition for those brave enough to try them.


Skeletons
One secret room is different. First, a cloud of musty gas exits the room when opened having the same effects and size of a stinking cloud. Once the cloud clears (10 minutes), the party will discover that some of the stone beds are occupied by dwarven skeletons (not the creatures called skeletons, just dead bodies), rusted chains still on their legs. A group of four skeletons lies near the door with dwarven leg bones in or near their hand bones. There are scratches all over the inside of the door and bone fragments everywhere around the door. Several of the skeletons in the beds close to the door are missing one or both legs. It seems as if Arkonseptsis no longer had a use for his slaves once their work on the traps, rooms, and magma pools was done;.so he neglected to release his slaves from their quarters.

The tool rack across the tunnel contains loads of mining tools (picks, shovels, a heavy stone-wheeled, stone cart (requires a total Strength of 25 to push it slowly-5' feet per round, it weighs 800 lbs., higher Strength totals can move it faster), and even a grinding wheel powered by pedals for sharpening the tools. The tool-heads are all worn, but in good condition and sharp. They are made of normal iron. The wooden handles though have petrified and are actually now stone. These stone tool handles could be used passable weapons against the treasure ooze guarding Arkonseptsis' treasure (Damage 1d6/x2, bludgeoning), if the party takes them. The tools weigh 3 lbs. each and there are approximately 60 of them. The grinder has two wheels like a wheel barrel and is easily moved by someone with at least a 12 Strength, at normal walking speed. Stone handles removed from the tool-heads only weigh 2 lbs. each.


Magma Pools
These are simply obsidian bowls about 10 feet in diameter and about 3 feet high, containing lava. The bowl merges with the floor and can only be removed by its destruction. The lava is drawn straight from a volcanic vent far below, raising temperatures by 30 degrees within 10 feet. Arkonseptsis provides these for visitors to his realm to make it easier for them to destroy their magic items and dispose of spellcasting creatures. Any dwarf within 10 feet recognizes these as the same shoddy dwarven construction seem elsewhere in the realm.

 

[ElectricDragon]

The last kind of special feature is to be found only in the depths of the lake in the lair. It can be easily missed.

Gate to Entropy
Description: It is 50 feet underwater and 300 feet from the underwater entrance to the lair (from the dead end in the surrounding tunnels). It produces a feeble blue glow that can only be seen from 30 feet away (60 feet for low light vision). It is nothing more than a hole into nothingness whose edges glow slightly, roughly 40 feet in diameter laying flat against the bottom of the lake.

Exploring the whole lake underwater is the only reliable method of finding this feature, a gate to the elemental plane of entropy. The gate is a natural phenomena (if it had been magical, Arkonseptsis would have surely destroyed it long ago), and radiates massive amounts of cold into the surrounding lake water (providing the extra-special coldness of the lake).
Perhaps, the Lead Dragon living here causes the area to mimic entropy enough to attract a physical connection with the plane itself.

Special Rules: The DC 15 Fortitude save to prevent Numbness (see the Lake Level) must be made every minute while within 30 feet of the gate. Numbness penalties accrue per minute rather than per 10 minutes when within 30 feet of the gate. When within 10 feet of the gate, the Fortitude save to prevent further numbness must be made each round and the numbness penalties accrue per round. Warming methods, once the water is exited (on shore or through the gate) do not change.

 

[Schmoe]

There's some really great stuff in here. Thanks for posting!