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[Echohawk]

Treant, Evil (Blackroot)

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Tepest
FREQUENCY: Unique
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivorous
INTELLIGENCE: Very (11)
TREASURE: Qx5, X
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT DICE: 12 (84 hit points)
THAC0: 9
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 4d6/4d6 (branches)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Animate trees, spells
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Spells
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: H (18'tall)
MORALE: Elite (14)
XP VALUE: 14,000

The domain of Tepest has long suffered under the evil of the three hags who rule it. Their wickedness has seeped into the land, permeating it and poisoning even the plants and beasts of the forests. Perhaps the most awful example of this corrupting taint is the dreaded Blackroot. This evil treant dwells southwest of Lake Kronov, near the border of the Shadow Rift. None who pass through these woods do so without attracting his notice and, if care is not taken, his wrath.
Blackroot stands just over eighteen feet tall and looks like an ancient oak. His bark is grooved and rough, providing excellent protection from physical attacks. His branches are long and gnarled, never sprouting leaves or showing even the faintest hints of bud or blossom. When he wishes to be seen for what he is, a gnarled face appears to form out of the fissures and grooves of his bark. A great and terrible maw, shaped like an inverted V, opens up beneath two knotty eyes.
Blackroot, like most treants of any alignment, is able to speak with the animals of the forest. His evil is so pervasive, however, that the traditionally neutral animals of the forest near him have become neutral evil. Thus, even the most innocent creature in Blackroot's realm can be a potential enemy. Blackroot speaks the languages of Tepest and each of its neighboring domains. He seems to have no understanding of writing, not recognizing it as a form of communication.

Combat: Those who enter the forest attempting to destroy Blackroot are seldom seen again. If they are not destroyed by the wilderness which he commands, they usually perish in combat with this ancient, evil creature when they find him. Blackroot can attack twice per combat round, inflicting 4d6 points of damage with each blow that strikes its target. His tremendous strength and mass is such that it enables him to crumple even plate armor as easily as if it were cardboard.
Blackroot's thick bark provides him with excellent protection from most attacks. However, his plantlike biology makes him very vulnerable to attacks made with magical or mundane fire. Any weapon or spell that employs fire gains a +4 bonus on the attack and inflicts an extra +1 point of damage per die. In addition, Blackroot suffers a -4 penalty on all saving throws against fire-based attacks.
Because of this vulnerability, Blackroot quickly attempts to destroy anyone who is careless with fires in his woods. As he is well aware of the danger that such enemies pose, he prefers to act indirectly, sending savage wolves and other animals of the forest to destroy fire-wielding enemies for him. Only if these means fail will he seek a direct confrontation.
The infusion of evil from the tainted soil of Tepest has given him several magical abilities that most of his kind do not possess. Once per day he may cast the following spells as a 12th-level druid: 1st-animal friendship,
entangle, locate animals or plants, putrefy food or drink; 2nd-charm person or mammal, create water, speak with animals, warp wood; 3rd-hold animal, plant growth, snare, spike growth, summon insects; 4th-animal summoning I, call woodland beings, hold plant, repel insects, speak with plants; 5th-animal growth, animal summoning II, antiplant shell, wall of thorns; 6th-antianimal shell, speak with monsters. Blackroot has no need of components for his' spells; they are all simple acts of will.
Blackroot has the ability to animate the trees of his forest, causing them to obey his mental commands. It takes one round for an animated tree to uproot itself, but once this is done it is fully mobile. At any given time he may have two such followers doing his bidding. These trees conform to the statistics for mature treants, having 10 Hit Dice and inflicting 3d6 points of damage with each of their two attacks. They are not actually intelligent but do serve as extensions of Blackroot's own consciousness. Trees under his control must remain within sixty yards of their master, or they revert to their normal status.

Habitat/Society: Blackroot began his life as a tree, not a treant. He was a majestic and noble plant towering above the other trees of the forest and fairly radiating health and stamina. Indeed, so wondrous was this fine oak that a sect of druids settled around it to protect and nurture the ancient plant.
It was not long, of course, before the hags who rule Tepest took notice both of the tree and its protectors. They saw that more and more people were turning to the ways of the druids, venerating nature and balance. Such a shift in attention away from the action of the coven was unacceptable to the darklords.
In order to set things straight, the hags decided to destroy the druids, making an example of them to the other inhabitants of Tepest. One by one, each of the druids was transformed into a twisted and putrefied tree. As these newly created trees took root, the other flora and fauna of the wilds began to change until they too were twisted and corrupted. So sinister and terrible were these new trees that the people of Tepest began to avoid the woods.
The great oak, however, they reserved for special attention. In their horrible iron cauldron, they brewed a special draught composed of things dark and dreadful. When their terrible brew was finished, they took it out into the forest and dribbled it on the roots of the tree. Every night for a month the trio gathered around the tree at midnight and repeated their dark ritual. In the end, as a full moon the color of blood rose into a cloudless sky, the great oak's transformation was completed. With the hags dancing and cackling over their success, Blackroot was born.
Over the years, this once-great tree has become more and more evil. Through the plants and animals of the forest, he keeps a careful eye on all that transpires in the Brujamonte. While he is not under any form of mental domination, he does the bidding of the hags out of respect for their greater evil and in the hopes that he might one day replace them as the master of Tepest.

Ecology: Blackroot survives on a diet of human, demihuman, and humanoid flesh. Because of the large number of goblins that infest the woods of Tepest, he is frequently able to satisfy his hunger without molesting travelers on the Timori Road. From time to time, however, he becomes hungry for sweeter, human flesh. Generally, this happens about once a month.
Anyone who enters the forests of southwestern Tepest instantly becomes aware of that place's evil nature. The trees produce bitter fruit, the streams are brackish, stinging insects swarm everywhere, and thorny undergrowth hinders progress in every direction.

Adventure Ideas: The players might come into contact with Blackroot and his forest entirely by accident. Such an encounter could easily occur as they traveled the Timori Road into or out of Tepest. Blackroot frequently orders his trees to attack caravans and parties traveling on that highway to satisfy his hunger for flesh.
On the other hand, the destruction of the druid cult could also be used as a motivation for the heroes to enter the Brujamonte. The very nature of this corrupted wood should entice any druid in the party to examine its mysteries. Groups without such a person in their company could easily be contacted and hired to learn what happened to the druids who once lived in Tepest.
Adventures centering on Blackroot should focus not only on the destruction of the evil treant but also on the restoration of the area. This was once an area of great natural splendor and, with an enormous amount of effort, it might someday be restored to that state.
Of course, the hags who rule Tepest are certain to take notice of anyone who attempts to destroy their handiwork. They take pride in the malignant ugliness of the Brujamonte, and heroes attempting to set right the changes that they have made are certain to be looked upon as challengers to their authority. As such, the hags will simply seek to destroy them.
In Prince of Shadows, the encounters in Blackroot's forest should be used merely as incentive for the heroes to turn back toward Briggdarrow. If they have entered the Brujamonte, they must have either missed or ignored the events that were intended to pull them into the adventure.

 

[Echohawk]

Strangler

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Plains
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVE TIME: Any
DIET: Predator
INTELLIGENCE: Non- (0)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4 (7)
MOVEMENT: Nil
HIT DICE: 6
THAC0: 14
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1-6
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Paralysis, crush
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: G (25' diameter)
MORALE: Elite (14)
XP VALUE: 3,000

Stranglers are camivorous plants native to the disk world of Plata. The plant's central body is short and stocky -- roughly spherical and about 3 feet in diameter. Extending out from this center are 8 "tentacles," arrayed evenly around the plant, each about 10-12 feet long. These tentacles resemble thick green vines, about the thickness of a man's wrist, and extend outward along the ground from the central body. The tentacles are dark green, while the central body is a light greenish-yellow.
The green coloration of a strangler implies that the plant is at least partially photosynthetic. But this isn't its only source of sustenance. Although the long tentacular vines are usually stationary, they can under the right circumstances move extremely fast. The "right circumstances" is the approach of an animal of some kind within range of one or more tentacles. Tentacles lash out in an attempt to capture the animal and drag it into a fleshy mouth that opens in the top of the central body. Once the animal is "swallowed," the strangler's digestive enzymes dissolve it over a period of several hours.
Nobody knows exactly what senses a strangler possesses. It is unaffected by either darkness or bright light, and doesn't react to sound or silence. Most sages agree that the creature somehow senses movement, since it will never attack a motionless creature that it hasn't already captured with at least one tentacle.

Combat: At the first moment that a potential prey comes within range, one or more of the tentacles lashes out and attempts to wrap itself around the animal. This requires a successful attack roll. A successful capture means that the target creature is grasped by at least one tentacle, and suffers 1d8 hit points of crushing damage. Each subsequent round - unless the creature manages to escape - the tentacle continues to crush its target for maximum damage, and attempts to drag it towards the central body of the plant. Unless the plant has to contend with more than one target simultaneously, it will continue to wrap more tentacles around its prey as the unfortunate animal is dragged closer to its central body. A single creature an be attacked by no more than 6 tentacles. Subsequent tentacle attacks receive a +2 bonus to their attack rolls for each tentacle already gripping the target.
In addition to crushing damage, the tentacles of a strangler inflict a more insidious attack on their prey. The tentacles secrete an enzymatic mixture which causes paralysis in its prey. Each round that a creature is in the grip of a strangler, it must make a saving throw vs. poison or become paralyzed. This paralysis lasts until the creature is either dead or freed from the grip of the strangler; in the latter case, the paralysis fades gradually over a period of 2d8 rounds. For each additional tentacle in excess of one that grips a single victim, that victim suffers a -1 penalty to its saving throw against paralysis.
Once the strangler has shoved its victim into its fleshy mouth, the victim suffers 1d10 hit points of damage each round from enzymatic secretions (save vs. acid for half damage). In addition, the victim must save vs. breath weapons with a -5 penalty each round it's in the plant's mouth or be paralyzed. The body of a dead creature will be dissolved and unrecoverable after 2d12 hours.
The easiest way to free a victim from a strangler tentacle is to cut off the tentacle. A tentacle has AC 7 - as opposed to AC 4 for the central body - and can withstand only 2d8 hit points of damage before it's destroyed. Damage inflicted on tentacles isn't counted against the strangler's total "hit point pool," and can't kill the creature. Only hits against the central body can actually kill the creature. A strangler can regenerate a destroyed tentacle in 1 d6 days. It can regenerate multiple tentacles at the same time, although the time complete regeneration takes is increased by one day for each tentacle in excess of one that the plant must re-grow.
A strong, un-paralyzed creature might be able to tear itself free from a strangler, or at least prevent itself from being dragged into the central maw. To free himself from a tentacle, a character must make a "bend bars" roll based on Strength. A successful roll means the creature has tom free from one tentacle. Such an attempt takes one entire round in which the character can do nothing else. (Breaking free from a tentacle doesn't mean that same tentacle can't attack again on the next round, of course.)
High Strength can also let a character prevent a strangler from dragging him within range of its mouth. The procedure is as follows: First, consider that each tentacle gripping the character has a Strength of 16. Now add together the Strength scores of the captured character plus any other characters who are trying to help him pull away. Compare this to the Strength total of the tentacles currently holding the character. If the characters' total Strength is greater than or equal to the strangler's total strength - that is, 16 times the number of tentacles gripping the victim then the plant is unable to pull its prey any closer to its mouth. If the characters' total Strength is less than the strangler's total strength, however, the plant continues to drag its prey closer. (For example: Balfas the warrior (Str 14) is grabbed by two strangler tentacles. Balfas' friends Adria (Str 9) and Lykan (Str 12) try to help him resist the plant's pull. The characters' total Strength is 35; the strangler's total Strength for the two tentacles is 32 (16 X 2). Balfas and friends can resist the pull of the strangler... just. If the plant scores a hit with another tentacle, Balfas and his two friends will be unable to resist any longer.) It's important to remember that anyone trying to help a captured victim is by definition within range of at least one other tentacle...
Fire- and heat-based attacks do double damage to a strangler. All other attack forms do normal damage. Since the plant has no mind as such, it is totally immune to charm, illusions, and other mind-affecting magic.

Habitat/Society: Stranglers are non- mobile and totally unintelligent. They cannot communicate with their own kind in any way.
Every 250 days or so, a single blood-red flower blooms atop a strangler's central body. This flower is beautiful to see, but smells of carrion. The flower remains open for several days, then the seed pod below the flower bursts, scattering seeds to the winds. Since there are no insects or birds on Plata to fertilize the stranglers, the plants must depend solely on the wind to do so - not a particularly effective strategy. The relative frequency of the plants proves that this scheme does work, however.

Ecology: Stranglers are virtually perfect "opportunistic predators." If animal prey wanders within its grasp, the plant will eat it. If no animals come near, however, the plant is perfectly happy to subsist purely on photosynthesis.
The humanoids of Plata hate stranglers with a passion, and have sometimes tried to wipe the entire species out... with little to no success. The aarakocra consider the red blossoms to be the greatest of delicacies, and sometimes will risk attacks from stranglers to snatch the flowers.

 

[Echohawk]

Shadowsponge ("Air Stealer")

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any space
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary or groups
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Special
INTELLIGENCE: Semi- (2-4)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1-6
ARMOR CLASS: 9
MOVEMENT: Fl 13 (C)
HIT DICE: 7 + 7
THAC0: 13
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4/round (constriction) or 1 (ram)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Gas effects
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: G (ovoid, 36'+ long)
MORALE: Steady (11)
X.P. VALUE: 1400

These strange monsters are feared by all spacefarers. They drift in space until they sense the approach of an atmosphere, and attack mindlessly, absorbing precious air.
A shadowsponge appears as a greyish sponge. Hundreds of rubbery, many-branched air sacs protrude from a central mass. Studded with small, keen eyes and sensory patches, a sponge can 'smell' air in the void up to three miles away.
The substance of a shadowsponge is inedible. If struck by fiery or electrical attacks (which do normal damage), it burns with a thick, choking smoke. The smoke expands rapidly to fill a 30' spherical area, and lasts for 2-5 turns, completely blocking normal vision beyond 4', and turning clean air within its confines to foul.

Combat: A shadowsponge concentrates on absorbing air, swooping and turning continuously in an atmosphere. Any nearby creature risks being rammed or enveloped.
A ram (successful attack roll required) does 1 point of damage. The victim must make a Strength Check or be bowled over (items carried must save vs. "fall").
An enveloping attack surrounds a victim, squeezing and smothering for 1 point of initial damage. In subsequent rounds, enveloped beings suffer 1-4 points of constriction damage. They may automatically hit the shadowsponge with any piercing or slashing weapons in hand, but are unable to cast spells, get out other items, or wield bludgeoning weapons. Very large sponges (those of over 40 hp) can envelop two M-sized beings at once; smaller shadowsponges can entrap only one.
Any attack on a sponge may be partially suffered by an enveloped being. The being saves against the attack form (for physical weapon attacks, against Breath Weapon) to avoid taking a quarter of the damage done to the sponge (round fractions down to a minimum damage of 1 hp).
The porous, air-filled nature of a shadowsponge prevents enveloped beings from suffocating, but they must save vs. Breath Weapon on every second round or suffer the effects of harmful gases absorbed earlier by the sponge (refer to Gas Clouds in the "Flotsam of Space" section for such effects).
When a sponge is killed or dealt over 20 hp damage in a single round, it convulsively releases enveloped beings (who suffer damage from the attacks causing their release).

Habitat/Society: Shadowsponges are only semi-intelligent, but seem to herd together by instinct and move toward atmospheres in space. They avoid the large, stable atmospheres of worlds. Some sages believe shadowsponges are merely a stage in the lives of more advanced fungoid creatures. This stage, it is thought, ends when a sponge reaches a certain inner state by absorbing the nutrients it needs from absorbed gases. It then enters a world's atmosphere and falls to the surface, metamorphosing into spores to begin life anew in some other form.
Elminster cautions us that although this theory cannot be discounted, definite proof in support of it is so far lacking for several parts of the hypothetical life-cycle; the true nature of shadowsponges may be far different.
Shadowsponges never collide with each other or fight among themselves. They seem capable of rejoining scattered portions of themselves, or even joining with another sponge to form a larger whole, and have no reproductive lives or family units.

Ecology: Shadowsponges feed on nutrients gleaned from gases, absorbed light, and low level electrical and heat energy. Attacks relying entirely on heat for damage, and not flame (which has its usual effect), do not harm a shadowsponge, but rather give it additional or healing hit points equal to the normal damage done.
Sponges play no part in any food-chain. Alchemists and spell researchers of all races have looked in vain for uses for shadowsponge tissue and essence.
One experiment has given questionable results. Applica
tion of low-level electrical energy generated by a shocking grasp spell and certain gnomish energy creation and storage devices causes the sponge to release 25% of its stored atmosphere.
Desperate spacefarers have been known to enclose shadowsponges in a spacewreck or other large, sturdy spacegojng storage container and forcibly drag them through planetoid atmospheres, and to skim the atmospheres of worlds. The intent of this stratagem is to gain a portable atmosphere allowing a too-small ship to carry too-large a crew on too-long a space voyage. A secondary use of caged shadowsponges is to steal air from enemies by setting a spacegoing cage adrift on a course that will bring it through the atmosphere of, or into a collision with, a hostile planetoid, base, ship, or elven armada craft.
Shadowsponges imprisoned or brought into contact with planetary atmospheres will take on and store air usable in space voyages, but the shock of this treatment seems to ultimately kill them. Each sponge saves vs. Petrification for every day of confinement. If it fails, it dies instantly, poisoning the air around it.
A dying shadowsponge fouls 40 tons of air. Once the entire carried atmosphere of a ship is fouled, additional 40-ton foulings turn 40 tons of fouled air into deadly air. Many an intrepid space explorer has been forced to cut loose towed space barges full of dead shadowsponges to escape the poisoned air and stagger along on inadequate air reserves.

Herd Clouds
Some small, dark shadowsponges have been observed to lead their fellows on long voyages in space and round them up into groups. These "herd clouds" have recently been studied with interest by several sages.
Herd clouds have been found to be Very intelligent (11-12) and possessed of unusually high morale: Champion (15-16). They have 8+8 Hit Dice and an XP Value of 3000.

They also have the ability to gather electrical charges, discharging these as weapons against other beings. A typical herd cloud can emit one 9d6 chain lightning attack and two forked 6d6 lightning bolts in a "day" (144-turn period). Mere contact with, or even passing through a 'charged' herd cloud will not attract such damage unless the cloud wishes to release its energy.
Some sages and alchemists believe that herd cloud essence can be harnessed in some way to guard against or generate electrical magical attacks, but experiments in this line have so far been shocking disasters.

 

[Shade]

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Echohawk]

Just as long as that's not a bunch of, say, stranglevines...

 

[Shade]

Hydravine, Giant

I'm not sure there is enough information there to warrant a conversion, so we might need to just drop this from the unconverted pile.

Yeah, too little to work with. Let's drop it.

 

[Shade]

Long time, no page.

When you get a chance, will you pop into the Imagine Magazine conversion thread and see if you can answer some questions regarding the Taumet's relics?

Thanks!

 

[Shade]

We have a request for the following from Secret of the Slavers' Stockade (A2):

* Cave Beetle - Vermin
* Cave Lizard - Animal
* Cave Spider - Vermin
* Caveling - Humanoid

While you're doing some digging through 1e critters, I also don't have All that Glitters... (UK6), which contains:

*Atem - Humanoid
*Hek - Humanoid

Thanks!

 

[Echohawk]

THE ATEM

FREQUENCY: Uncommon
NO. APPEARING: 7-12 or 70-120
ARMOUR CLASS: 9
MOVE: 12"
HIT DICE: 1-6 hp
% IN LAIR: 50%
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENCES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT Neutral
SIZE: Medium
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defence Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P VALUE: Variable

The Atem are a fierce race of humans who inhabit the Indicara Jungle. They jealously guard their hunting grounds, killing all who enter their lands. The females are trained warriors and fight as well as the males, even the young are taught to use spears at an early age. In any group of Atem encountered, the mix between the sexes will be approximately even.

An Atem village, comprises a number of huts made from branches and woven grass, often with a more substantial building serving as a shrine or temple. There will be 70-120 ordinary warriors in a typical village, in addition to leader types and druidic wise women as follows:

- 3rd level fighters (both sexes): one for every 15 ordinary warriors
- a chief (6th level fighter - male)
- 1-4 bodyguards (4th level fighters - both sexes)
- a wise woman (7th level druid - female)
- 1-4 assistants (4th level druids - female)

Outside a village, Atem will be encountered in hunting parties of 7-12 ordinary warriors
(both sexes) led by a 3rd level leader type. Some hunting parties (25%) will be accompanied by a 4th level druid.

Atem value bright shiny stones, and these will he worn as part of bone and teeth necklaces. Warriors will have necklaces worth 1-10gp, leaders 10-40gp, bodyguards 50-100gp and the chief 100-400gp. The wise women wear no jewellery. Atem wear animal skins, body paint and carry large shields. Each of them will usually carry two throwing spears, a shorter stabbing spear (damage: 1-6/1-6) and a long knife (equivalent to a dagger).

THE HEK
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
NO. APPEARING: 20-40
ARMOUR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 1d10
% IN LAIR: 15%
TREASURE TYPE: None
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK By weapon type
SPECIAL ATTACKS. +1 to hit
SPECIAL DEFENCES. Nil
ALIGNMENT Lawful Neutral
SIZE: Small (4'+ tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defence Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALIJE: Variable

The Hek are small humans. In the years following the Cataclysm they adapted to the harsh conditions of the Ash Mire. They are short and stocky. Body temperature is high (110F). To prevent water loss from sweating, they coat their bodies with a waxy substance derived from the roots of the epycott plant. They are able to survive on only a pint of water a day.

The Hek are obsessed with water. To them it symbolises life, wealth and power. Certain Hek females are able to sense and locate water up to a mile away. These diviners are also able to sense the casting of spells such as create water or create food and water, from up to 5 miles away.

The Hek live in small tribal groups consisting of:

1 7th level fighter-leader
2-3 5th level fighter-lieutenants
20-40 1st level fighter-tribesmen
1-2 0 level female diviners
20-30 0 level females
10-15 0 level young

While in the Ash Mire each Hek will carry 2 days' water in a beautifully fashioned bone and hide water bottle.

The warriors of Hek tribes are all skilled riders of giant striders, and their skill with their weapons gives them +1 on their "to hit" rolls.

The Hek speak their own language, but leaders and licutenants also speak an archaic form of the common tongue.

The Epycott Plant: the Hek survive in the Ash Mire by collecting the roots of the epycott plant. This is a hardy plant that grows only in the Ash Mire. It has a vigorous root system that extends over many miles beneath the dust. At sporadic intervals the roots push towards the surface where bushes sprout rapidly. The bushes live for only a few days before being shrivelled by the sun. During this time the Hek locate the bushes, dig down and harvest the roots.

The roots are pounded to separate fibres from the hard outer skin, leaving the mushy flesh and a waxy juice. The fibres are used to produce clothing, footwear and tents. The flesh is used to feed the Hek's underground fungus gardens and their giant striders. The juice is used as body wax which after a few hours exposure to the air, begins to smell very unpleasant to any non-Hek.

 

[Echohawk]

There are a number of individual cavelings in A2, but this extract seems to provide a good overview of their culture, and stats for a typical caveling:

The cavelings have formed their own society within these caverns and live in different caves, one for each tribe. Most cavelings are insane and any children they have had, they have raised insane. Since most of the cavelings come from lawful races, they have reorganized themselves as one people where it is normal to be insane.
Each caveling tribe serves a purpose in the community. There is the tribe of Leaders, who help decide how new arrivals should be treated and direct the activities of the others. There is the tribe of Warriors who practice mock combats and are supposed to defend the cavelings from slavers and go on raids to the safe cell #28b. The Workers build things and gather fungus, water and small insects. The Hunters hunt cave beetles, spiders and the feared cave lizard. And the Thinkers are teachers and priests and help doctor wounded cavelings and make cavelings out of the children.
Insanity is also on a tribal basis with the affliction helping to determine which tribe a caveling will become a member of. For example: Warriors might be homicidal maniacs, while Leaders might be suffering from megalomania. The DM should select the insanities and will find details in the Dungeon Masters Guide, pages 83-84.
The bodies of the cavelings are horribly twisted and distorted, due to Markessa's "improvements" and they are not recognizable as their original race. The DM should determine how a specific caveling has been modified. Some of the changes are useful, such as the ability to climb walls, infravision, clawed hands and so forth, while others will only grotesque. The typical caveling will be AC 10; MV 12"; HD 1, 2 or 3; #AT 1; D rock 1-2 +2 or stone club 1-6+2.
Communiction with cavelings will be difficult, because their language consists of gutteral grunts and shrieks.
When cavelings are first encountered they will be curious, but cautious. If the cavelings reaction is friendly they will try to amuse the newcomers with songs, dances, tricks and by throwing gifts of fungus or smooth stones at them. These actions may appear hostile to the party, but if no hostile action is taken in return, the party will be deemed friendly and they will grab the hands of the characters and drag them to the Leaders' cave.
If the Leaders determine the characters are not the "Messengers of Light" they await, they will welcome them as caveling, and set a feast of fungus, puffballs, spider meat, dried roaches and fermented beetle juice. The beetle juice is very intoxicating and characters imbibing must save vs. Poison or become drunk and slow-witted. Drunk characters will fight at -2 to hit and damage.
There will be much dancing and hooting and then the Thinkers will be sent for to make the newcomers into cavelings. To make a caveling the Thinkers will attempt to surgically alter the form of the character. A character must make a system shock roll to survive the completed operation.
Several encounter areas are provided below with information about certain personalities detailed. The DM should create the characteristics of the other cavelings. The caveling reactions are left to the DM's decision because they are so random and insane.