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TacticsAn attack shocks Anthraxin, but she quickly recoversand viciously responds in kind.Round 1: The dragon’s first action is to catch theadventurers in the area of her wail of death; then sheuses mask of dread against an enemy outside that area.Finally, she moves forward and uses frightful presenceto stun her enemies.The blood fiends take to the air, each flying towarda different enemy. When one comes within 3 squaresof a PC, it uses terror gaze to immobilize that enemyand try to push him into the sea below.Round 2: Anthraxin phases through the island,emerges beneath it, and flies back up toward thePCs, hoping to take them from behind. After she is inposition, she spends an action point to use her breathweapon and takes a minor action to use mask of dreadagainst an enemy.The blood fiends continue to use terror gaze untilan enemy lands on the island. At that point, they dropback to the ground to attack with their claws.Round 3+: Anthraxin closes with any PCs on theground and presses them with bites and claws untilher powers recharge. Whenever possible, she backsoff and uses a power instead of staying in melee.The blood fiends fight until the PCs are bloodiedand then go wild with their bloodthirsty bite.DevelopmentCombat might draw the attention of the balor in area7. If the battle continues for 4 or more rounds, thebalor dispatches the gray wing vrocks to investigateand bring the fight to a close so that the demons canwork without being disturbed.Features of the AreaIllumination: A dim red light suffuses thearea.Faces: Faces peer up from the island’ssurface, potentially obstructing movementbecause of their gaping mouths. Any creaturethat did not move on its previous turnbecomes slowed until the end of its turn.Orifice: A pair of moist openings lead intothe dark recesses of the island. They are toosmall to enter, but they spew noxious gas.Creatures that start their turns adjacent toan orifice become weakened until the end oftheir next turn. Tucked into one of the orifices(your choice) is the dragon’s hoard. It consistsof a small golden coffer (500 gp) containing12 ad and 3,145 pp; a sack with five starsapphires (5,000 gp each); an amulet of coldforgedelemental fire bearing a soul fragmentof one of the first archons (50,000 gp); an adamantinebroach set with an astral diamond(50,000 gp); a brilliant rug woven from celestial goldthat depicts images of suns and stars on a field ofwhite (50,000 gp); a tiny, nonfunctional mechanicalbird constructed of adamantine and platinum(15,000 gp); a level 27 magic item; and a level 29magic item.Soft Edges: The island’s edges are thin and incapableof supporting weight. Any creature that enters asquare containing an edge must succeed on a DC 10Acrobatics check or slip off the edge and fall into theBlood Sea 70 feet below, taking 7d10 falling damageon impact.Weeping Eye: This bizarre organ resembles a redeye. When a creature comes within 5 squares of theeye, it flutters open and watches the intruder. Bloodwells up from a dozen tear ducts, spills down, andgathers in puddles. The pupil follows the movementsof any creature that comes close, but the eye shutsas soon as all creatures move more than 5 squaresaway from it. The eye has AC 3 and 30 hit points. Ifreduced to 0 hit points, it spews a torrent of blood thatmakes the ground slippery in a radius of 5 squares.Such spaces are both difficult terrain and challengingterrain (Acrobatics DC 15).ConclusionThe blood fiends fight until destroyed. Anthraxinis no fool, however, and might fly to another islandto lure the PCs to dangerous terrain. She favors theIsland of Pustules (area 2), but if reduced to onequarteror fewer of her hit points, she leads the PCsto area 7 to force the demons into the fight.ABYSSAL LAIRJASON A. ENGLECHAPTER 3 | Dragon Lairs155