THE EYE TYRANTS
CHAPTER 3
SEKARVU’S LAIR Sekarvu is a typical beholder. It spent much of its youth exploring underground realms and killing everything it found. One day, it came upon a large cavern filled with violet fungi. At the edge of the cavern, it found a small band of adventurers who had all but succumbed to the toxins of the fungi’s tendrils. They offered little resistance to Sekarvu as it approached and began to feed on their still-writhing bodies. With its first bite, the beholder’s life changed forever. The feeble struggling of each victim it consumed was rapture to Sekarvu. It quickly ate the bodies of the adventurers, and Sekarvu spent the next several months charming monsters and bringing them back to the cavern for food preparation. When Sekarvu tried this tactic with a well-armed band of svirfneblin explorers, though, its taste for fungi-tainted flesh nearly cost the beholder its life. After escaping, Sekarvu decided to build an underground lair where it could raise a farm of violet fungi and to which it could lure new food with ease. It wanted to maintain terrain advantages over any victims that proved especially difficult to eat. The beholder found the perfect site at the base of the Skitterrift, a narrow but deep subterranean gorge filled with monstrous centipedes. Sekarvu spent several days killing the centipedes before settling in. Since then, it has charmed a gnome illusionist named Ilirik Jadewhisper, whose mapmaking skills have proven quite a boon in luring would-be treasure-seekers to their doom.
ADVENTURE HOOK The best way to lure the PCs to Sekarvu’s lair is for them to discover one of the false treasure maps that Ilirik has prepared and scattered throughout the region. The map shows the best underground route from a fairly well-known surface entrance to what is reputed to be the lair of a powerful medusa. The map shows areas 1 and 2 of the lair, but it doesn’t show the passageway leading south from area 2. It also indicates that the medusa lives in area 2 and that she has amassed a huge mound of treasure within.
1. ENTRANCE CAVERN This long, dry cavern is free of stalagmites and rubble. The floor is smooth and covered with a thick layer of pale yellow fungus. Dozens of humanoid statues lie in a jumbled heap against the walls. At the far end of the cavern, a 10-foot-wide circular passageway opens into the rough cavern wall.
The forty-seven statues piled along the walls of this cavern are indeed petrified humanoids, victims of Sekarvu’s flesh to stone eye ray. Each statue is badly damaged and missing sufficient parts that any victims restored to life immediately die. If a body is resurrected, the victim can warn its rescuers that a beholder petrified him or her. Characters who do not learn this information can still obtain a clue as to the possible nature of the creature that lairs within
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by studying the smooth, circular tunnel that leads to area 2. A DC 26 Spellcraft check confirms that disintegrate spells were used to dig the tunnel. The tunnels of Sekarvu’s lair remain fairly level, except for the numerous vertical shafts. The beholder can navigate these easily, but it knows that its enemies and prisoners cannot. The walls of the shafts are extremely smooth and can be climbed only by creatures that have a climb speed, use magic, or use a rope or similar climbing tool. A PC who uses a rope or tool can climb a shaft with a DC 5 Climb check. The depth of each vertical shaft is indicated on the map; the directional arrow shows in which direction the shaft descends, and the number indicates the shaft’s depth.
2. FOOD TRAP (EL 10) This circular room glitters and shines, illuminated by five freestanding torches along the edge. The floor is hidden from view by a veritable carpet of coins—copper, silver, gold, and even some platinum pieces sparkle invitingly. Strewn among the coins are the odd gemstone, necklace, ring, and work of art. A large golden divan sits against the far wall, and lounging upon it is a figure with writhing hair and terrible, glowering eyes.
The majority of this room’s contents—the coins and treasure, the divan, and even the reclining medusa—are illusions. Only the five torches are real. At Sekarvu’s command, Ilirik placed the illusion here with a permanent image spell (DC 22 Will save to disbelieve). The real threat that lurks in this room comes from the three charmed driders that Sekarvu has guarding this chamber. These driders cling to the ceiling 30 feet above. Once they hear the PCs approach or spot their light sources, each drider casts invisibility on itself. One then casts major image to make it seem as if the medusa stands up to attack the intruders. The other two driders position themselves so that one can cast a web in the hallway to the east while the other casts major image to make it seem as if the vertical shaft to the east has just collapsed in a cave-in. Sekarvu has ordered the driders to catch “food” alive if possible, so they use spells like ray of enfeeblement and web to catch the PCs and suggestion to keep them from fleeing if they escape. If the PCs look relatively healthy, the driders use magic missiles to soften them up. Once their spells are spent or the PCs are caught, the driders levitate down to attack, using their bites and heavy maces to make nonlethal attacks (taking a –4 penalty on attack rolls as a result) and beat the intruders into submission. If their tactics are successful, one drider skitters off to alert Sekarvu, while the others carry the unconscious prisoners to area 5. There, they strip the PCs of their equipment, which they leave piled in the center of the room for Sekarvu to look over, and deposit the characters in separate pits. The passageway leading south from this room is hidden by an illusory wall placed here by Ilirik (DC 20 Will save to disbelieve if the PCs interact with the wall). Numerous other illusory walls placed by Ilirik protect the lair, as indicated on the map.
