Illus. by Izzy
SERTROUS
CHAPTER 8
which approaches from three directions in a murderous are hired to investigate, and they discover that the merchant swath. At the end of this encounter, the PCs face their first has fallen under the sway of the yuan-ti that inhabit the exgolothoma demon, and its defeat proves to be a key point tensive catacombs below the building. The PCs rescue the in the battle. merchant (who becomes a supportive patron for them) but EL 16 (Strong discover that these yuan-ti cultists reSign): Encounters port to someone with golothomas, halfcalled Seghulerak fiend sixteen-headed hydras, and other and openly mock the traditional yuanserpentine horrors ti deities. become commonEL 9 (Faint place despite victory Sign): Seghulerak against the Vanguard. seizes control of The PCs discover that the yuan-ti are the ancient yuanti temple-city of based in the templeVeshlivenk in a city of Veshlivenk southern jungle and must travel there and establishes a and destroy the prinetwork of serpentmal serpentgate if gates, freestanding they wish to stop portals that allow the serpent infestathe Vanguard of tion and prevent an Sertrous to move beeven larger invasion. tween seven linked At the end of this temples scattered battle, they face and throughout the defeat Seghulerak, world. One such whom they believe temple is located to be the leader of in the large swamp the Vanguard. Her beyond the prioslain body vanishes ry. Serpents and to parts unknown, snakes grow more leaving behind a common, and the mound of dead, headPCs are hired to less snakes. find out what’s causEL 19 (OverAspect of Sertrous ing so many snakes whelming Sign): to slither out of the Despite the destruction swamp. They prevent the Vanguard from setting up this of Veshlivenk, serpents continue to overwhelm the world. temple as a staging point for a major simultaneous yuan-ti Intelligence gathered at Veshlivenk reveals the existence invasion, but discover that there are six other temples. of the Serpent Reliquary, and that Seghulerak’s body has EL 13 (Moderate Sign): The infestation continues. The reappeared there. The PCs must discover the Reliquary, PCs might take out several yuan-ti temples and their serdefeat Seghulerak again, and discover the true nature pentgates, but not enough to prevent the invasion. The PCs of the Vanguard of Sertrous (encounters 8–1 through 8–3, must race against time to defend a city from the Vanguard, pages 122–127).
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SIGN: INFESTATION
The earth vomits torrents of snakes and serpentine creatures. At first these infestations consist of normal snakes, but as the infestation grows, monstrous creatures such as chaotic evil nagas, hydras, and even mariliths become more common. As the sign grows more potent, the infesting serpents become increasingly more deformed. Some might have multiple heads, others are inside out, and some might have no head or tail—they’re simply a mass of coils with no end or beginning. The following guidelines apply to encounters involving the PCs.
Faint: The check frequency is once a week. The Encounter Level of the infestation should be 2 lower than the average party level. Moderate: As faint, but the check frequency increases to once a day. Strong: The check frequency increases to once every 1d4 hours. The EL should be equal to the average party level. Overwhelming: The check frequency increases to once an hour, and the chance of encountering wandering monsters increases to 20%. The EL should be equal to the average party level + 2.
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