The Nightmare Out of Time

Strong conjuration; CL 15th; Craft Aboleth Glyph, control water; Price 120,000 gp.

Glyph of Enfeeblement: All nonaboleths within 20 feet of this glyph are weakened and debilitated, and take a –6 penalty to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. The effect of this glyph persists for 1d4 rounds after a creature exits the area of effect. A successful DC 16 Will save negates the effect completely. Moderate necromancy; CL 9th; Craft Aboleth Glyph, bestow curse; Price 72,000 gp.

Glyph of Extension: Any aboleth within 20 feet of this glyph doubles the range of its enslave special attack. Moderate transmutation; CL 9th; Craft Aboleth Glyph, eagle’s splendor; Price 20,000 gp.

Glyph of Law: All nonlawful creatures within 30 feet of this glyph become nervous and unsure of their abilities. These creatures take a –1 penalty on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, and saving throws. This effect cannot be resisted with a saving throw. Moderate abjuration; CL 9th; Craft Aboleth Glyph, magic circle against law; Price 30,000 gp.

Glyph of Slave’s Glory: All creatures within 30 feet of this glyph and currently under the effect of an aboleth’s enslave ability are fi lled with feelings of pride for and loyalty to their aboleth masters. The creatures gain a +2 morale bonus on Strength, Constitution, and Will saving throws. If a slave attacks another aboleth while within the area of this glyph, he takes 10d6 points of force damage (DC 16 Refl ex save for half ) and immediately loses all benefi ts of the glyph until he leaves the area and reenters it. Moderate transmutation; CL 9th; Craft Aboleth Glyph, rage; Price 40,000 gp.

Glyph of the Slime Curse: Within 30 feet of this glyph, any saving throws against an aboleth’s slime special attack are made with a –4 penalty. A failed save indicates that transformation occurs in a single round. Moderate transmutation; CL 9th; Craft Aboleth Glyph; Price 25,000 gp.

T HE NIGH TM ARE OU T OF TIME

Aboleths are characterized by their ancient nature. They remember the rise and fall of countless nations, the foundation of the fi rst religions, the formation of mountain ranges, and the creation of the seas themselves. They have had more time to build their empires than any other race; these empires rise and fall on a geologic scale through the eons. They are primal forces, unknowable to anything but their own kind. There can be no accounting of the history of the aboleth race. The creatures have existed for millions of years, and any chronicle of their history with even a small level of detail would require a tome thousands of pages in length. Still, despite its age, the aboleth race follows certain inexorable trends, just as the life and death of mountains and oceans follows a cyclic path. To understand the source of the aboleth race, one must fi rst realize that other entities existed long before even the aboleths themselves. Their goals and desires were alien and unknowable to humankind. Yet they did exist, in the spaces between reality and possibility. Modern sages theorize that these creatures might be the primal source of the dimension known as the Far Realm, while others argue that their presence only enabled the existence of this dimension, and that the Far Realm is but one of a myriad of their workings. Sages refer to these beings collectively as the Elder Evils. One of the Elder Evils was the source of the aboleth race. The aboleths know this entity by the name Piscaethces, which roughly translates as “Blood Queen,” for it is from her blood that the primal aboleth was spawned. Piscaethces has since retreated from the physical world, and although insane cultists periodically attempt to call the Blood Queen back, she never stays for long. Her interests lie beyond this dimension. The aboleths themselves understand this, and they know that the Blood Queen didn’t spawn them out of scientifi c curiosity or a need for companionship. At best, the foundation of their race was a cosmic accident that came about merely as a by-product of the interaction between the Blood Queen’s body and the material world. Yet this concept does not trouble the aboleth; if anything, it has liberated them. If their progenitor is uncaring and unfeeling to them, they are free to make their own progress through existence without fear of reprisal or desire to please. What the aboleth race has done and shall continue to do, it does for itself. Since their inception, aboleths have founded countless empires in the watery reaches of the world. Their fi rst empire remains their longest-lived and most expansive. Built when the world itself was a barren rock of boiling seas and choking skies, this empire spanned the globe. With the world already under their control, the aboleths turned their intellects to other pursuits, primarily the creation of minions to perform the dreary, day-to-day tasks of keeping their empire running. They experimented with countless forms of life, including constructs, oozes, elementals, vermin, and eventually more complex creatures like animals, magical beasts, and even humanoids. The world of the primal empire was a place of eternal night, truly vast oceanic gulfs, and twisted monstrosities fashioned by the aboleths in their own image. For timeless ages, this primal empire prospered—until disaster struck. What precisely destroyed the primal empire is known only to the aboleths, and they do not speak of it, even among themselves. Sages of other races have posited theories. Perhaps their slave races managed to rebel against them. Perhaps some great natural disaster struck. Perhaps the aboleths turned on themselves in a fi t of self-destruction. Perhaps the Blood Queen or another of the Elder Evils returned and wreaked unimaginable devastation.