Exemplars of Evil

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fragmented into smaller knots and factions. The goblins turned against one another, the hobgoblins attacked the bugbears, and creatures strove to tear each other apart as if possessed by madness. Gnash knew that something was wrong. He knew that Scar had not been strong enough to hold such a fractious brigade together all by himself, which meant that the rank and file must have possessed a sense of community that kept them working together. But now something was affecting their tendency to cooperate . . . something about the city, Gnash supposed. Now on the alert, the bugbear began to examine the city more closely. Odd statues of squid-headed creatures lined the roads. The construction of the buildings seemed haphazard—some were pyramidal or cylindrical, while others defied the principles of geometry altogether. Strangest of all, the human defenders had not put up much of a fight. Indeed, they seemed resigned to dying. Gnash came to the conclusion that the city was cursed. He knew that he should flee, but part of him wanted to learn more about the strangely compelling place. The bugbear ventured deeper and deeper into the winding streets. As he explored, he came across an ancient temple that embodied all of the bizarre elements he had witnessed. Inside, Gnash found an altar to a strange, alien deity. The idol was a stone orb, carved to suggest the surface of the seas. The same aquatic designs covered the columns that lined the altar, as well as the temple’s walls, floors, and ceiling. Again, the bugbear felt an urge to run, but again, something held him there. His mind began to fill with impossible images—unsettling landscapes, ancient cities, and endless worlds ripe for the taking, awaiting genocide. Hovering above them all was a ball of roiling water the size of a mountain. An inky tendril extruded from the ball and brushed across the vistas, poisoning everything in its reach. Gnash knew that he had found his new master. Somehow, he even knew its name—Shothotugg, the Eater of Worlds. And he also knew that he needed to bring this mad abomination to his own world, so that he and all others could know its febrile touch. Gnash emerged from the temple and addressed the bands of ragged goblinoids, who were still squabbling in the ruins of the city. He spoke of his bizarre master, calling for the warriors to join him; together, he promised, they would pull down the trappings of civilization, destroy and maim, and spread ruin so that all could welcome their new lord from across the stars. They would sail the seas, just as the Eater of Worlds did, and bring its message of death and decay to all they encountered. On that day, Gnash the guard became Captain Gnash. Supported by a crew of goblins, hobgoblins, and other wretches, he set sail from the dead city to become the scourge of the ocean, a dreadful villain whose name is an epithet and whose deeds have defied imagination. GOALS Captain Gnash is insane. Whatever lucidity he possessed as a guard is now behind him, as he campaigns to spread the seeds of destruction and prepare the world for Shothotugg’s ascendance. In the depths of the sea, Gnash sees the face of his master, swirling blackly in the foaming waters. His rest is tortured, haunted by nightmares of what will happen when the Eater of Worlds arrives. Though he moans with terror during his sleep, he is reinvigorated each dawn, driven by unreasoning desire to spread suffering to everyone in his path. Lately, Gnash has dreamed of an island, a windswept outcrop of rock with a single stone pillar thrusting into the sky. He is certain that this place exists—and furthermore, that it can draw Shothotugg’s attention, calling the entity from across the stars to scour this world of all life. Obsessed with finding the island, Gnash has bent his crew to his will, taking them to the edges of the oceans in his desperate search for clues. The bugbear has considered the possibility that the temple in the dead city might reveal the location of the island, and that he somehow overlooked this knowledge when he received his dreadful revelation. His memories of that time are fragmented and disconnected, a montage of sickening sequences that leaves him quailing in fear. One clear memory from his visit to the temple is the recurring image of a bloated fish-creature bristling with tentacles. The carvings showed the devastating effects of this creature’s touch on humans, who were melted into twisted masses. Gnash suspects that one of these aboleths—as he learned they were called—might know of the mysterious island. Although he is tempted to hunt down an aboleth and tease out its secrets, he remains haunted by the nagging thought that he missed something important in the dead city. Unfortunately for Gnash, he cannot remember where the city is—a fact that fills him with perpetual rage. Accordingly, the captain has begun raiding ports in search of anyone who might have knowledge of the city’s location. The smoking ruins of the hapless communities testify to his continued failures, but Gnash has nothing to lose and has vowed to bring this world to its end. CHAPTER 4 CAPTAIN GNASH pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs SHOTHOTUGG, EATER OF WORLDS The Eater of Worlds (Lords of Madness page 28) is an Elder Evil, a magnificent and terrible entity whose mere existence is a threat to everything that lives. Most of the Elder Evils dwell in an unknowable, unreachable place, manifesting in the mortal world only when they choose to do so. But Shothotugg exists fully on the Material Plane. It is a mountainous, undulant mass of fluid drifting through space, alighting on the worlds it encounters and poisoning them with its filthy touch. With each destroyed world, the fundamental nature of the Material Plane shifts, creating a palpable effect that ripples throughout the multiverse. Like all Elder Evils, Shothotugg is a being of entropy, and its presence means doom to all. pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs 65
CHAPTER 4 CAPTAIN GNASH 66 Illus. by T. Giorello Captain Gnash USING THIS VILLAIN As a disturbing villain, Captain Gnash’s plots and goals let you showcase the evil created from a sick mind. The bugbear is fully in the thrall of a strange, otherworldly entity, heedless of the consequences of drawing the Eater of Worlds across the gulf of space. Gnash is a psychopath and his actions and plans are erratic, which makes him a dynamic and adaptable villain. Gnash does not operate in one stretch of forest, one city, or even one region of the world. Since his base of operations is his ship, the Much Kill, he can go anywhere he desires, crossing the oceans with abandon and marauding as he goes. His mobility makes it easy to introduce him to the player characters, because you can place Gnash wherever he is needed in your campaign, rather than orchestrating events to put the PCs in the villain’s path. Perhaps the best way to introduce the dread pirate is to let his reputation do the work for you. Whenever the PCs visit a coastal city or a nearby settlement, they are bound to hear rumors about seas and sailors. Captain Gnash’s reputation is particularly fearsome, and his exploits are known throughout the shipping lanes. With each new telling of the tales, the bugbear becomes more of a monster. Some of the speakers exaggerate the extent of his cruelty, but not by much. If you seed these stories into your game early, the PCs should not hesitate to pursue Gnash when a local lord places an enormous bounty on the pirate’s head. Of course, tracking him down is just the start of their trouble: The longer they chase the bugbear, the odder things become. The PCs learn that though the members of Gnash’s crew are goblinoids, many of them have been twisted by whatever power they serve and now exhibit strange physical deformities. By talking with survivors in the charred ruins of the villages that Gnash has destroyed, the party discovers that the mad captain is searching for a lost city. Eventually, the PCs learn the truth about his intentions, and at that point, the campaign changes tone. The characters are no longer merely hunting a rogue pirate, but saving the world. CAPTAIN GNASH IN EBERRON Captain Gnash spent most of his pirate career sailing the waters south of Darguun, but as his feverish dreams continued to worsen, he found himself venturing deeper and deeper into the Sea of Lost Souls. Members of his crew are becoming concerned; although their captain still raids coastal villages and sacks ships, the band’s take from these assaults is small and sporadic. Worse, Gnash has been spending much of his time in his quarters, and rarely appears before the crew. His crew was on the verge of mutiny, until the captain burst out of his chambers and called for a new course—turning the ship toward the mysterious continent of Xen’drik. CAPTAIN GNASH IN FAERÛN Gnash was part of a band of goblinoid pirates that prowled the Trackless Sea, raiding the small settlements scattered throughout the Nelanther Isles. Originally the first mate under Captain Scab, a brutal ogre, he served his master loyally—until the Much Kill came upon a remote, uncharted island. Exploring the place, the crew discovered an ancient, abandoned city, and Gnash located an old temple. Newly filled with hatred and madness after his visit to that place, he led a mutiny and took command of the Much Kill. Today, Captain Gnash still searches for the lost city, but along the way he is content to harass human pirates and plunder their treasures. APPEARANCE AND BEHAVIOR Captain Gnash is a hulking brute of a bugbear. He stands just under 7 feet tall and has a bulky frame. His patchy black fur is matted with dried excrement and old blood, but he covers the worst of it with black breeches and studded leather. Though his armor is enchanted, it is no cleaner than the rest of him, stained dark with sweat and with the gore of countless victims. Despite his great size, Gnash prefers the weapons of a dexterous fighter. From a belt cinched around his waist hangs a fine rapier; the weapon has a sharkskin-wrapped handle and an ornate basket hilt studded with ovoid pieces of jet. When boarding an enemy ship or attacking a settlement, Gnash always straps his steel shield onto his arm. Tied to the spikes
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3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Introd
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Illus. by J. Zhang s a Dungeon Mast
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worlds, but the PCs find it first a
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them and thwart their efforts. A ri
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VILLAINOUS PLOTS Every great villai
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Envy Envious villains pursue their
Page 16 and 17: Advancing the Villain A one-shot vi
Page 18 and 19: Typical Classes: Bard, beguiler, he
Page 20 and 21: wants, what she expects of you, and
Page 22 and 23: FEIGN DEATH A clever villain has ma
Page 24 and 25: Table 1-1: Villainous Feats General
Page 26 and 27: Benefit: You gain the extraplanar s
Page 28 and 29: 2nd Level Alliance Undone: Suppress
Page 30 and 31: whose movement rates drop to 0 feet
Page 32 and 33: cell belongs to a third cell, and s
Page 34 and 35: Illus. by T. Giorello he orc has fa
Page 36 and 37: hopes to eventually claim the Eldee
Page 38 and 39: double axe. He also carries a few s
Page 40 and 41: CHAPTER 2 ZARGATH HUMAN-BANE DEFENS
Page 42 and 43: changes each week. Unescorted visit
Page 44 and 45: FEATURES OF THE AREA The area has t
Page 46 and 47: If Dwarreg is killed or if more tha
Page 48 and 49: War Leader Grikfell CR 3 hp 25 (3 H
Page 50 and 51: effort to embrace this power, but h
Page 52 and 53: small jars throughout his personal
Page 54 and 55: Speed 30 ft. (6 squares) Melee +1 r
Page 56 and 57: of the structure are masonry and ha
Page 58 and 59: CHAPTER 3 EDGAR & KATARIN TOLSTOFF
Page 60 and 61: After throwing the thunderstone, th
Page 62 and 63: FEATURES OF THE AREA The room has t
Page 64 and 65: Fiendish Wolverine CR — hp 34 (3
Page 68 and 69: that protrude from its surface are
Page 70 and 71: GOALS Pog’s time as a statue has
Page 72 and 73: of the crew into the hold. The capt
Page 74 and 75: CHAPTER 4 CAPTAIN GNASH 73
Page 76 and 77: 4 Pseudonatural Hobgoblins CR 1 hp
Page 78 and 79: FEATURES OF THE AREA The room has t
Page 80 and 81: TACTICS Once the PCs are aware of t
Page 82 and 83: way out. They took heavy damage, bu
Page 84 and 85: organization also includes Sulatar
Page 86 and 87: umors and courting new business ass
Page 88 and 89: Ranged +1 hand crossbow +10 (1d4+1
Page 90 and 91: CHAPTER 5 CALAIS ARCHWINTER among t
Page 92 and 93: FEATURES OF THE AREA The warehouse
Page 94 and 95: 4 Tomb Spider Broodswarms MM3 CR
Page 96 and 97: On subsequent rounds, Calais employ
Page 98 and 99: significant portion of his treasure
Page 100 and 101: USING FARROR As Emmara’s spy, Far
Page 102 and 103: Melee mwk greataxe +22/+17/+12 (3d6
Page 104 and 105: CHAPTER 6 EMMARA ISHANDRENN 5. Chap
Page 106 and 107: FEATURES OF THE AREA The sea cave h
Page 108 and 109: FEATURES OF THE AREA The lowest cer
Page 110 and 111: 2 Stone Golems CR 11 hp 107 each (1
Page 112 and 113: The young queen set about restrengt
Page 114 and 115: without provocatively revealing any
Page 116 and 117:
as Thaden’s way of asserting his
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Appearance and Behavior Fire giants
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CHAPTER 7 VALBRYN MORLYDD Illus. by
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eneath the fortress. Valbryn discov
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FEATURES OF THE AREA The gatehouse
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8 Advanced Hell Hounds CR 12 hp 44
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this purpose. Decapitating scarf is
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Energy Plane, where even the boldes
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4th—Moilian burning blood SC (CL
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Frightful Presence (Ex) Albrathax c
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are havens for the few inhabitants
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CHAPTER 8 KASTYA ZURITH- MOVYA 4. C
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4 Bloodfiend Locust Swarms FF CR 8
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FEATURES OF THE AREA The room has t
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the way they came, and then uses a
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Sons were allowed to claim mates fr
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5th (7/day)—dominate person (DC 2
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Rajief CR 12 hp 154 (19 HD) Male ad
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CHAPTER 9 BORAK, THUNDER TYRANT 151
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FEATURES OF THE AREA The Al-Iborak
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FEATURES OF THE AREA The main chamb
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FEATURES OF THE AREA The great hall
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THE SOTH TARNEL IN FAERÛN The Soth
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