Elder Evils

ENCOUNTER 8-2
P
ITS OF THE FORSAKEN
Encounter Level 19
SETUP
This encounter occurs as soon as the PCs enter area D.
You can also use this encounter if any PCs are captured
near the end of a Sertrous-themed campaign. Engineering
an escape from the prison pits should be difficult, but
might make for an interesting late-campaign twist as the
PCs move through the Reliquary in search of their gear
(which is stored in area G).
Zuvexus begins inside the illusory statue in the center
of the room.
When the characters enter the room, read:
The ceiling of this room rises to a dome of
scintillating scales 30 feet above, as if the entire
dome had been decorated with the hide of an
impossibly huge emerald snake. The floor drops
away to a depth of 30 feet. Nearly two dozen 5-footwide
pits pock the floor, each sealed with a grate of
black metal. Thousands of snakes writhe and
slither along the floor, and although they crawl
across the pit gratings, they never slide down
inside. Five balconies overlook the floor, one in
each corner and a fifth against the center of one
wall. Graceful bridges extend from the balconies to
a floating circular platform in the center of the
room, on which looms a large stone statue of a
headless snake.
FEATURES OF THE AREA
Lighting: This area is dark.
Balconies/Bridges: The balconies have no railings; a fall
off one of them causes 3d6 points of damage and immediately
exposes the victim to the carpet of snakes.
Illusory Statue: The statue of Sertrous in the middle of
the room is a permanent image (CL 20th). The statue is large
enough for a Large or smaller creature to hide within.
Prison Pits: An adamantine grate seals the top of each
pit. The grate cannot be opened; prisoners are placed in the
pits using teleport spells. The shaft of each pit drops 20 feet
and is warded with a forbiddance spell (CL 15th, Will DC
28). At the base, each shaft opens into a cubical cell; most
cells are 7 feet square, but three are larger (15 feet square)
for larger prisoners. Feel free to stock these prison cells with
prominent NPCs that have been captured by the Vanguard
in the campaign.
TACTICS
The viper swarms should be little more than a nuisance
to high-level PCs, but the real menace is a considerable
threat. Zuvexus is Seghulerak’s cohort, and when her
mistress is in the Reliquary, it is the marilith’s duty to
serve as warden.
She waits patiently, hidden inside the illusory statue of
Sertrous in the middle of the room. She can see through
the illusion with her true seeing ability. When the PCs
enter, she attempts to summon 1d4 hezrous. She then
drinks a potion of barkskin +4. In the third round, she
uses project image to place an image of herself on one of
the corner balconies, then uses her spell-like abilities to
harry the PCs, creating blade barriers and using telekinesis to
force PCs through the barrier and off the balcony. When
forced into melee, she uses her wand of haste and activates
a dervish dance. Then, with the aid of air walk, she takes
advantage of her high speed and ability to make full attacks
while moving. She fights to the death.
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