The characters can
tell right off the bat that something is amiss in the compound. The
main doors lie in ruin, smashed into so much kindling. Beyond the doorway,
several bodies can be seen lying about.
Moving into the
main hall, they can see torn and mangled bodies lying everywhere. It
is a gruesome scene, one which offends the senses of even the most jaded
adventurers. Blood is spattered on all surfaces (including the ceiling),
and pieces of monks are scattered about or missing entirely. If the
characters take the time to check, they can determine that most of the
monks died in one of three ways: from massive bite wounds, torn apart
by great claws, or cut to pieces by some manner of blade (the swordlike
protrusions on the hands of the blue slaadi). The smell is just awful.
The din of thousands of flies is audible, and they swarm up in angry,
black clouds if disturbed.
As the party members
enter the far half of the first floor (a kitchen/storage/bathing area),
they are set upon by some bigger scavengers who have found their way
in, drawn by the scent of food. The carrion crawlers swarm the party
from all sides, with at least one dropping from the ceiling above. The
odor that usually betrays a crawler's presence is masked by the nearly
overwhelming stench of blood and death.
Creatures (EL
8): The carnage has lured a group of carrion crawlers from their
nearby subterranean lairs. The monsters attack the characters with mindless
intensity, protecting their newly found food supply. The carrion crawlers
are moving around in the kitchen area and are relatively easy to see.
Anyone with a clear line of sight through the door can make a DC 10
Spot check to see the creatures moving among the wreckage, provided
that they have adequate light or vision abilities such as darkvision.
Carrion Crawlers
[5]: 22 hp each; see Monster
Manual, page 29.
Unless the area
is covered by a silence spell or similar effect, the battle with
the crawlers is likely to alerts the trio of slaadi to the presence
of the party, and they take appropriate measures such as hiding and
casting defensive spells to get an advantage on the characters. The
slaadi have Listen scores of +8, +8, and +12; to hear the battle they
must make a DC 10 Listen check with a –3 penalty to the roll for
distance from the battle.
Tom Kristensen is
an editor on the D&D Worlds team at Wizards of the Coast.
He lives on the east side of Lake Washington with his wife, daughter,
and three cats. He has played D&D for more than 20 years
with the same group of guys, and he has an embarrassingly large collection
of unpainted miniatures that he keeps promising his fellow gamers he'll
paint -- one of these days.
