Elder Evils

denizens, and learn that Zargon is entombed in the ziggurat
on the surface.
EL 12–17 (Overwhelming Sign): The cultists free Zargon
from his prison and the elder evil destroys them all, spewing
his slime and transforming them into his whelps. The PCs
must enter the ziggurat, contend with the horrors inside, and
face the elder evil before it breaks free to wreak havoc.
ZARGON IN EBERRON
Zargon is an abominable creation of the daelkyrs. During
their invasion, he was one of the greatest terrors to stalk the
land, legendary for his resilience to mortal weapons and his
ability to regenerate his wounds. When the daelkyrs were
entrapped deep within Khyber, Zargon fled into the Demon
Wastes, where he conquered a petty kingdom. He was defeated
and sealed into a prison of his own and now bides his time
to break free and release his former masters.
The Ziggurat and the surrounding Valley of Death lie within
the Demon Wastes, somewhere south of the Lake of Fire in a
sandy stretch of land. The remnants of Cynidicea are remote,
forgotten, and all but ignored; few have reason to travel to
the Demon Wastes, let alone to some obscure city.
ZARGON IN FAERÛN
When Asmodeus flung Zargon from the Nine Hells, the elder
evil fell to the lands that became the heart of the Imaskar
Empire. As the nation grew, one small city blossomed over
the very site of Zargon’s fall. That city’s name was Cynidicea.
When the cult of Zargon came to power, the cultists attending
to the beast were slain. If Zargon should return, he would
raise up the madmen who live in the Lost City and form an
army to create a new Imaskar Empire, in his image.
The Valley of Death lies in the Giant’s Belt on the edge
of Raurin, the Dust Desert. A brown dragon makes its
home in the cliff overlooking the sand-choked valley, bound
here by a great power to ensure that nothing disturbs the
sleeping being.
ZARGON
Zargon stands 30 feet tall from the nest of his squirming
tentacles to the tip of his great black horn. One’s eyes cannot
help but fall upon Zargon’s monstrous head. A wide maw
filled with curving teeth stretches across his reptilian face,
and oozing brown slime hangs from his chin and forms
smoking clots on the hardened flesh of his torso. A 7-foot-long
black horn speckled with silver flecks thrusts out from the
center of his forehead, and pale yellow fluid weeps from its
base. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about Zargon is the
bulging bloody eye just below his horn.
The rest of Zargon’s form is no less repellent. A muscular
torso bears the signs of countless injuries, crisscrossed with
seeping wounds and pestilential tumors. In place of arms,
Zargon has a knot of flesh at each shoulder, from which six
long tentacles whip out, each with a thorny barb perfect for
embedding into flesh and bone and holding victims fast.
Six thick, muscled tentacles grow from the base of his trunk,
and when he moves, one or more of these appendages darts
out to find purchase and drag his awfulness forward, leaving
a stinking trail of bloody slime, fingers, slippery organs, and
other undigested flesh wherever he travels.
Zargon the Returner CR 16
hp 342 (18 HD); regeneration 50; DR 15/epic
LE Huge outsider (evil, lawful)
Init +2; Senses blindsight 500 ft., darkvision 60 ft., true seeing;
Listen +30, Spot +30
Languages telepathy 1,000 ft., tongues
AC 32, touch 10, flat-footed 30
Immune acid, anathematic secrecy (malefi c property), disease,
poison; elder evil immunities (page 6)
Resist cold 20, fi re 20; SR 28
Fort +28, Ref +19, Will +26
Speed 40 ft. (8 squares), swim 60 ft.
Melee 12 tentacles +36 each (2d6+20/19–20) and
gore +34 (3d6+10) and
bite +34 (2d6+10 plus 3d6 acid plus slime)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (30 ft. with tentacles)
Base Atk +18; Grp +46
Atk Options Cleave, Great Cleave, Power Attack, aligned
strike (evil, lawful), constrict 2d6+20, epic strike, improved
grab, slime
Special Actions divine enervation (malefi c property), spew
slime, summon ooze
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th):
At will—freedom of movement, magic circle against good,
rusting grasp (+36 melee touch), transmute rock to mud
(DC 26)
3/day—lightning bolt (DC 24), miasma of entropy SC (DC
25), slime wave SC (DC 28 C
1/day—acid cloud, mind fog (DC 26)
Abilities Str 50, Dex 15, Con 32, Int 21, Wis 28, Cha 33
SQ horn, nondetection, sign (eerie weather)
Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (tentacle), Improved
Natural Attack (gore), Improved Natural Attack
(tentacle), Multiattack, Power Attack
Skills Climb +41, Concentration +32, Decipher Script +26,
Diplomacy +13, Hide +15, Intimidate +32, Knowledge (arcana)
+26, Knowledge (religion) +26, Listen +30, Search
+26, Sense Motive +30, Spellcraft +28, Spot +30, Survival
+9 (+11 following tracks), Swim +49
True Seeing (Su) As the true seeing spell; continuous; caster
level 20th.
Tongues (Su) As the tongues spell; continuous; caster level
20th.
Regeneration (Ex) Cold and fi re deal normal damage to
Zargon. If Zargon loses a limb or body part it grows back
in 1 minute. The creature can reattach the severed member
instantly by holding it to the stump.
Constrict (Ex) Zargon deals 2d6+20 points of damage with a
successful grapple check, in addition to damage from its
tentacle attack.
Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, Zargon must hit an
opponent of up to Huge size with a tentacle attack. It can
then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without
provoking attacks of opportunity. It receives a +2 bonus
on the grapple check for each tentacle that hits. If it wins
the grapple check and maintains the hold in the next
round, it automatically bites the foe at that time.
Slime (Ex) Creatures damaged by Zargon’s bite attack must
succeed on a DC 30 Fortitude save or become polluted
with slime. Each day, the victim must succeed on another
save or take 1d6 points of Constitution, Intelligence, and
Charisma damage. Victims reduced to Constitution 0 collapse
into a puddle of foul slime, dead. Those reduced to
Intelligence 0 or Charisma 0 become whelps of Zargon
(see page 154). They retain none of their previous abilities.
A remove disease or heal spell removes the effect.
CHAPTER 10
ZARGON
147