DIGGER SNAKE OF ROON

This dun colored snake is dreaded by all who travel the sands of Roon. It’s lightning-like strikes and its ability to burrow away from their pray as it attacks makes it a formidable foe.They travel half as fast under the sand as they do on the top of the sand.

They will always attack from ambush beneith the sand. They suprise on a 1,2,3 or 4 and will disappear until they hear prey walking overhead again. They will continue to attack and flee until there is no sound overhead, then they will come to the surface to feed. If they win initive, they will burrow into the sand, giving the party no chance to hit them that round. If the party wins initive, the party may attack them.

If hit, the player must make a save VS poison. If they save they take no dammage. If they fail, they will become increasingly lethargic losing -2 to their dex per round until they are uncontious. Once uncontious, they begin to lose -2 points of con until they reach 0 at which time they stop breathing. Use suffocating rules after this point.

They spend the bulk of their lives under the hot sand. During the day, they try to stay a foot or so under the sand and listen for surface vibrations to signal food above. They are not solitary as are most snakes but rather travel in a pack. They will share food with each other, and will always attack together. It is thought that they have a means of signaling each other by rythemic movement.

In all ways other than those listed above the same traits and adaptations shown by a normal desert snake apply to the Sand Digger.

These monsters are related to or perhaps a derivative of a Dust Elemental. At first glance, they look much similar to the more common dust devil. Upon examination (especialy in bright sunlight) they will be seen to contain a lot of fluid swirling along with the dust. This is the moisture they have robbed from their victems. Roll INT for druid players to notice this during the initive phase of the first round.

The Disolver will swirl toward a single character, seeking to avoid contact with most of their bodies covered. When the find the one whos skin is least protected, they will swirl around that character seeking to make skin contact. They character will be dodging to try to avoid being enveloped. A hit by the disolver indicates that the char. has been enveloped.

Their main danger is their ability to dissolve those who oppose them. Upon being hit by a dissolver, a save VS Petrifaction must be made. If the save is successful, then only damage takes place. If the save fails, the person hit will begin to return to its constituent parts. Water will begin streaming from the mouth and other orifices as the water drains out of the victim’s body. The following spells will stop the process:

Disolvers are most vulnerable to water attacks. If hit with water, they will take 1d8 points of dammage per quart of water they are hit with.

Almost nothing is known of how these creatures live, or why and how they hoard moisture. Some say that they are the mindless denizens of the Plane of Mud. They are always solitary and their means of reproduction is unknown and seldom speculated on.

They can only exist on the sand dunes that have no moisture. They benifit from moisture obtained from living sources and are injured by water that is not.

These are Clerical Dust Devils that had permanency spells cast on them. They range the surface of Room simply do do mischief and evil. While meeting a couple of these beasts is simply bothersome, when they attack en masse, they can be devastating. For further stats on these monsters, please consult the U.E. for info on the Dust Devil Clerical spell.

Ear’A’Tue (Dervishes)

The Ear ‘A Tue (ear-ah-too-ee) can be recognized for what they are from a distance. Their fiery red clothing and armor make their identification easy. These wanderers are Religious fanatics that wander the dust in service of their god Ear’Tu. In his name many wars are fought and the worshipers think nothing of throwing themself’s into any battle. They are sometimes used as mercenaries underground. This is rare though as most of them beleve that the only deeds that are known to their God are those that appear above ground.

As one of the Gods of war, Ear ‘A Tue watches the battles of his worshipers, and may intervene on their behalf at any time. They fight in order to amuse their god, and themselfs. Except for the number appearing they are as the Dervishes described on page 68 of the Monster manual 1. More information on their religion can be found on page 68 of the DD.

These monsters are used in the campaign mostly to set the correct atmosphere. They are not a serious danger to a large party, although they have been known to kill occasionally. No one knows how they come to be, but preventing this hideous life after death from happening has created an elaborate burial ceremony in the culture of the Rooners.

Their main weapon is the miasma of sadness that they carry with them. It is intense in a 5’ radius area around them, but may be sensed as far as 60’ away. When within 5’ of the skeleton, the player must save VS spell or be overcome with pity for the creature. They will then mount no resistance as the skeleton eats them; those affected will even offer their own flesh to help the mournful skeletons. This effect goes away gradually, but it is disturbing to sleep and watchfulness for 1 week after. In games terms, this means that those affected will be -2 to surprise.

In all ways (except for their creation which is a mistery) they are identical to a regular skeleton. They have no way of digesting or utilizing the food they eat; the reason for this behavior is not known.

They will only appear in numbers within the deep deserts, but one or two has been known to wander into outlying settlements looking for flesh.