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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 8223399" data-attributes="member: 2209"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/175300/Cyclopean-Deeps-Volume-2-Swords-and-Wizardry?affiliate_id=17596" target="_blank">Cyclopean Deeps Volume 2 Swords and Wizardry</a>Swords & WizardryAsh-Abti: Ash-abtis are undead creatures formed by their own cremated ashes, most often found in the tombs of Ancient Khemit. The dust of an ash-abti's disintegrated victim has a 5% chance to rise as an ash-abti (most ash-abtis are created by funerary processes rather than these wild ones created by a victim’s disintegration). Ghost-Ammonite: Unlike Leng-fossils, which are virtually unique to the Leng Plateau, ghost-ammonites are apparently the remnants of some unspeakably ancient race that once traveled through many planes of existence. Mantis Tomb Guardian: These undead creatures are the animated carapaces of mantis-priests. The creatures are animated by ancient necromancy, but apparently were prepared in a manner that made them immune to clerical turning. Serpentfolk Zombie: In short, Yiquooloome breeds the serpentfolk and grows them to maturity on bizarre trees that accelerate the growing process, kill the adult serpent-person, and then turn it into a zombie. Before the zombie begins to rot, the body is “harvested” from the tree, and its brains are removed. Yiquooloome’s Trees.Zombie Buoy: Zombie-buoys are zombies tethered to one of the floating rocks in a void. Ghast: ?Ghoul: ?Lich: Each time the Octopus Diadem’s owner puts it to use (other than for regeneration or flying), there is a 1% chance that the powerful magic item sucks the user’s soul into it, immediately creating a being that is, effectively, a lich. Mummy: ?Shadow: ?Wight: ?Wraith: ?Zombie: In short, Yiquooloome breeds the serpentfolk and grows them to maturity on bizarre trees that accelerate the growing process, kill the adult serpent-person, and then turn it into a zombie. Yiquooloome’s Trees The trees in Yiquooloome’s orchard are one of the more horrible growths found in the Cyclopean Deeps. They were fashioned by the elder being from flesh and bits of elder ambergris, and are an essential part of Yiquooloome’s bizarre ecology-economy. The trees have their roots in the loamy substance of the cavern floor, but they run far deeper, more than a mile down into the cold stone below. Clawing minerals and water from the depths, the trees are able to grow their horrid fruit, transforming newly-hatched serpentfolk into fully-developed bodies, devoid of intellect. The process may be summarized as follows: 1. Yiquooloome created the loamy earth of the cavern and then caused the trees to grow, using its own mind and some seeds of elder ambergris. This infusion of power began the process, and is not part of the ongoing lifecycle of the trees. 2. Serpentfolk eggs hatch on the loamy soil of the cavern, and the hatchlings smell the scent of the trees, which is almost irresistibly attractive to them. 3. The hatchlings climb into the tree, attracted to the higher part of the trunk by smell, and in the highest part of the tree’s trunk they smell the tree as food. 4. When the hatchling bites the tree, they are paralyzed by the sap. Tendrils grow rapidly from the tree into the hatchling, beginning to feed it rapidly. 5. The captured hatchling grows extraordinarily quickly from the nutrients the tree provides, using its vast root network to supply the process. The brain enlarges along with the rest of the body — faster, indeed, if the hatchling came from the Breeding Pits, where the gene pool has been artificially manipulated specifically for the benefit of these trees. The artificially-grown “fruit” of the tree is barely more intelligent than the hatchling, despite the large brain. 6. Within 2–4 weeks, the “fruit” is grown to maturity. The tree cuts off the flow of nutrients and instead infuses the dying creature with a drug that makes it able to hear and obey Yiquooloome’s mental commands. Once the creature dies from the lack of nutrient (about a day), it detaches as a zombie under Yiquooloome’s mental control. These detached zombies are periodically told to walk over to the Zombie Storage Cavern (Area 20Z-18).</blockquote>

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