Elder Evils

spores become aberrant hybrids. (Knowledge [the planes]
or [religion] DC 32)
Ragnorra is a vast intelligence, but not a conscious one.
She operates on intuition, dreaming inexplicably deep plans.
Destruction is not her purpose, but rather undoing the “errors”
of the gods and reshaping all life according to her own vision.
That this horrid new order is contradictory, destructive, and
painful to her progeny does not matter to her. (DC 37)
Ragnorra is no longer content with merely seeding a world
from above. She now prepares it by crashing herself into the
earth with enough force to raise a vast crater. The collision
hurls dust and debris into the air, altering the climate and
weakening existing life. Pieces of Ragnorra’s own body rain
down from the sky, spreading her awful fecundity around
the world. (DC 42)
A group of outsiders from several planes have formed a cultlike
society, the Malshapers. Rather than fearing Ragnorra, they
revere her power and guide her plans. They create a sort of trail
through the multiverse, seeding it with life from a chosen world
to lead the Mother of Monsters to her next target. Evidence of
this trail manifests as runes in the Astral Plane. (DC 47)
RAGNORRA
IN THE CAMPAIGN
Ragnorra’s path is extraplanar, a twisted loop with one end
anchored in the Positive Energy Plane It curves through
the Astral Plane and intersects with the Ethereal Plane, the
Material Plane, or the Plane of Shadow before returning to
its starting point. Each loop takes approximately 500 years.
Ragnorra was exiled long before the deities created the mortal
races, so the elder evil has been a potential threat for as long as
the campaign setting has existed. Her current path is taking
her toward the PCs’ world as the result of the Malshapers’
actions to lead her there. This process can take anywhere
from a few months to many years of game time, depending
on the needs of the campaign.
Once Ragnorra emerges on the Material Plane, astrologers
and astronomers quickly detect a fiery red comet where none
had previously been recorded. The faint effect of her sign
appears. Soon she is visible to the naked eye, dominating the
night sky while the sign’s effect strengthens. Ultimately, she
crashes into the world, and the sign reaches its peak. At that
point, the PCs have only a short time to deal with the threat.
Sometimes Ragnorra’s target is another, nearby world. Her
close passage leaves spores and corrupting influence in its
wake, producing the effect of a moderate or strong sign, but
does not culminate in a collision.
TIMELINE
Here is a campaign timeline to help you construct adventures
around events that might occur as Ragnorra approaches,
culminating in her catastrophic arrival.
EL 5: The Malshapers observe that Ragnorra is about to
emerge from the Positive Energy Plane. They have chosen
the campaign world as her destination and set in motion a
plan to lead her there. Irthicax Vane (see page 101) recruits
minions for a gruesome “scavenger hunt” to gather living
organisms, including members of sentient races, to entice
Ragnorra along the chosen course. Their activities come
to light through kidnappings, the purloining of rare herbal
specimens, or the disappearance of prized livestock.
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SIGN: TWISTED LIFE
This sign manifests as a surge of corrupt positive energy that
resculpts life on an entire world.
Faint: All spells and effects that use positive energy are cast at
+1 caster level, conjuration (healing) spells are cast at +2 caster
level, and turn undead attempts are treated as though they were
made by a cleric of 1 level higher.
Moderate: As faint, but in addition, warts and blemishes appear
on living targets of conjuration (healing) spells. These unsightly
growths impose a –2 penalty on Charisma-based checks. Once
per day, an affected creature can attempt a DC 15 Fortitude or
Will saving throw; success removes the blemishes.
Spores fall to earth, taking root in rock, roofs, and living creatures.
Treat this effect as a disease (contact, incubation period 1
day, damage 1d4 Con, DC 15), but three successful saving throws
are required to throw off the infection instead of two (DMG 292).
The spores create pustules that grow as the disease progresses,
bursting when the infected creature’s Con is reduced to 0. The
creature’s death releases one swarm of mundane pests (such
as bats, rats, spiders, or locusts) per 5 Hit Dice of the infected
creature (minimum one swarm).
Strong: As moderate, but the DC of saving throws to resist the
spores or to remove blemishes increases to 20. Conjuration (healing)
spells and other spells using positive energy are impeded,
meaning that a caster must succeed on a Spellcraft check (DC 20 +
the level of the spell) or lose the spell or spell slot without effect.
The surge of positive energy repairs flesh. Once per day,
an injured living creature regains 2d8+10 hit points, as if by
an empowered cure moderate wounds spell (caster level 20th).
Undamaged living creatures gain temporary hit points instead.
The temporary hit points last for up to 24 hours.
This unnatural growth twists living, corporeal creatures. Once
per day, an affected creature can attempt a DC 20 Fortitude or
Will save to resist the effect. (Creatures that have spell resistance
can choose not to drop it, but they still have the option to make
a saving throw if the sign’s effect overcomes their resistance.) If
the save fails, 1 Hit Die of the creature becomes corrupted; this
corruption can be removed only with a remove curse spell or effect
(cleansing all affected Hit Dice). As long as at least 1 Hit Die is corrupted,
the creature takes a –2 penalty on Charisma-based checks.
When all the creature’s Hit Dice are corrupted, it transforms into a
ghastly aberration. It gains darkvision out to 60 feet, its Constitution
score increases by 2, and its Charisma score is reduced by 4;
all other characteristics of the creature remain unchanged.
Overwhelming: As strong, but the DC of saving throws to resist
the spores, to remove blemishes, or to avoid corruption increases
to 25. Dead creatures rise a number of days after death equal to
their Hit Dice, becoming aberrations as described above.
The overwhelming aura of positive energy is anathema to
undead. Once per day, exposed undead are affected as if by a greater
turn undead attempt (as the Sun domain granted power, PH 188)
by a cleric whose level is equal to one-half the elder evil’s Hit Dice;
use the Charisma modifier of the elder evil. Undead can avoid
this effect by remaining underground (minimum 15 feet depth) or
within a stone or metallic vault whose walls are at least 15 feet thick,
provided all entrances to the chamber are sealed.
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CHAPTER 7
RAGNORRA
97