The House of Deros Frist

Illus. by W. England

focus to be used or the expensive component to be consumed normally, without you having to handle or manipulate it. If you do not cast a second spell while whispercast is in effect, you gain no benefi t from casting whispercast. Casting this spell is a swift action. It does not require a move action or standard action, but you can take only one swift, immediate, or quickened action per turn. Tsochari spellcasters use this spell to permit spellcasting while they inhabit other creatures. It is also useful for grappled spellcasters.

TSOCHAR I TEMS

Tsochari use magic items differently than humanoids do. A tsochar can wear:

• Three amulets, brooches, medallions, necklaces, periapts, or scarabs secured around the small central body. • Three pairs of bracers or bracelets on the thicker motive limbs near the central body. • Up to four rings on the slender ends of four additional tentacles (one ring per tentacle).

Tsochari cannot wear headbands, hats, helmets, phylacter ies, lenses, goggles, vests, vestments, shirts, robes, suits of armor, belts, cloaks, capes, mantles, gloves, gauntlets, boots, or shoes. Tsochar arcanists design items that use the bracer or ring slots. Tsochari that grow too large to easily inhabit humanoids sometimes make use of a ring of reduction, described below. Of course, a tsochar that inhabits or replaces another creature benefi ts from magic items that creature wears.

Ring of Reduction

On command, this ring reduces the wearer’s size as described in the spell reduce person, except that any intelligent creature can be affected, not just humanoids.

This reduces the wearer to the next smaller size category. A reduced creature gains a +2 size bonus to Dexterity, a –2 size penalty to Strength, and the size modifi ers to attack rolls and Armor Class appropriate to its new size. The wearer remains small until he removes the ring or commands it to restore him to his proper size. Moderate transmutation; CL 9th; Forge Ring, reduce person, permanency; Price 20,000 gp.

T HE HOUSE OF DEROS FRIST

The isolated tower of the wizard Deros Frist is an example of a typical tsochari incursion into the human world. This short adventure site describes the lair of a tsochar noble that has successfully replaced Frist, a local wizard of some renown. The tsochar Yikk Tasst now pores through the wizard’s libraries and spellbooks, eagerly absorbing all the arcane lore it can. This scenario works best when the player characters have no reason to expect danger in Deros Frist’s home. Frist might be a NPC ally of the party, a renowned sage whose advice the party is seeking, or a friend of a trusted NPC mentor or patron who asks the party to carry a minor magic item to his house as a favor. A typical tsochar adventure should focus on the dawning realization that things are not as they seem.

THE HOUSE

The wizard’s tower stands on a windswept hilltop above a sinister and tangled forest on the lower slopes. A rutted road breaks out of the oppressive woods and winds across the sere hillside to the wizard’s door. Glimmers of dim lanternlight spill out of the narrow, slitlike windows.

There are two entrances to the tower—the front door and the kitchen door. The front door is open, but the kitchen door is locked (DC 25 Open Lock check). The tower sits atop a sturdy plinth of stone about 7 feet high, so the ground-fl oor windowslits are actually about 10 feet above ground level, and short fl ights of stone stairs lead up to the doors.

1. FRONT HALL (EL 7)

The door opens into a modest foyer or hall, tastefully appointed with paintings and wall hangings. Two doors exit the room to the west, and a low, guttering fi re burns in a stone fi replace. Several human guards wait here, dressed in purple cloaks.

The “guards” are actually human cultists, members of the Cult of the Nine-Tongued Worm named Tilkos, Werra, and Zard. Yikk Tasst summoned them to the house when it replaced Deros Frist, and they now serve the tsochar as guards and attendants. The worm cultists are aware that Deros Frist has somehow been transformed into a being that stands high in their cult, and they suspect a tsochar replacement. They play along with the masquerade, pretending that everything in the house is as it should be and passing themselves off as simple swords-for-hire. Players asking after Deros Frist are told that the master of the house is busy with his research, but if they press, one cultist consents to go speak to Deros Frist to see if he wishes to receive visitors. (Yikk Tasst is happy to come downstairs and speak to the PCs, trusting in its disguise to allay any suspicions—after it prepares for a fi ght by casting a few spells fi rst.) Tilkos, Werra, and Zard do not attack unless it seems clear to them that they can overwhelm the visitors, or that the visitors are growing unduly suspicious of the situation.

Worm Cultist (3): Human rogue 2/cleric 2; CR 4; Medium humanoid; HD 2d6+2 plus 2d8+2; hp 23, 20, 19; Init +3; Spd 30 ft.; AC 19, touch 13, fl at-footed 16; Base Atk +2; Grp +3; Atk or Full Atk +6 melee (1d6+1/19–20, masterwork short sword) or +5 ranged (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); SA sneak attack +1d6; SQ evasion, rebuke undead 2/day (–1, 2d6+1, 2nd), trapfi nding; AL CE; SV Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +5; Str 13, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8.

Skills and Feats: Balance +5, Bluff +4, Climb +6, Concentration +6, Diplomacy +1, Disable Device +5, Disguise –1 (+1 acting in character), Escape Artist +8, Hide +8, Intimidate +1, Jump +3, Knowledge (religion) +1, Listen +7, Search +5, Spot +7, Survival +2 (+4 following tracks), Tumble +8, Use Rope +3 (+5 with bindings); Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Finesse.

Language: Common.

Cleric Spells Prepared (caster level 2nd): 0—cure minor wounds, detect magic, guidance, resistance; 1st—command (DC 13), cure light wounds, divine favor, longstriderD . D: Domain spell. Domains: Destruction (smite 1/day, +4 on attack, +2 on damage) and Travel (freedom of movement up to 2 rounds/day; Survival is a class skill).

Possessions: +1 mithral chain shirt, masterwork buckler, masterwork short sword.

A large table of well-polished wood fi lls the center of this room, surrounded by eight comfortable chairs. The remains of several meals—roast fowl, boiled potatoes, and what seems to have been a small goat—still lie scattered on the table.

The worm cultists are somewhat slovenly and haven’t bothered to clean up after meals or wash dishes for several days. Yikk Tasst sustains itself by slowly consuming Deros Frist’s body, but it occasionally catches and eats small live animals.

3. LIBR ARY

A wooden staircase leads upstairs from this small sitting room. Wide bookshelves fi ll one corner of the room, and a capacious fi replace with a few overstuffed armchairs in front of it stands nearby. The bookshelves are in terrible disorder, with many tomes lying discarded on the fl oor.

Yikk Tasst has thoroughly ransacked the bookshelves, fi nding little of particular interest. The discarded books include genealogies, old adventuring journals, philosophies, histories, and other such scholarly tomes. About one hundred books remain in this room. Most would be worth about 2d6 gp each to a dealer in a good-sized city, but one tome (The Tale of the Golden Chalice) is not only a very rare work of fi ction but an outstanding example of a gorgeous illuminated text, worth 350 gp.

4. KI TCHEN

This room was clearly the tower kitchen. Countertops crowded with dirty dishes and unscrubbed pots fi ll the room, and a faint odor of rotting food hangs in the air.

Deros Frist formerly maintained a small staff of fi ve servants and attendants, but they all fl ed the house soon after their master suddenly and severely changed personality. The servants are staying with kinfolk in nearby villages, wanting nothing to do with the “new” Deros Frist. The small room to the east is a pantry, where some foodstuffs have been allowed to go bad due to the inattentiveness of the house’s new owner.

5. SECOND FLOOR L ANDING

This area is unremarkable, except for the fact that the secret trapdoor in the fl oor of area 8 (the Master’s Chamber) opens up in the ceiling overhead. Noticing the trapdoor requires a DC 30 Spot check by anyone simply passing through this hall, but if someone searches the ceiling in this square, it requires only a DC 10 Search check to discover.

6. GUEST ROOM (EL 6)

An odd, almost metallic, smell permeates this small bedchamber, which has been ransacked. The bed lies on its side, furnishings are strewn around the room, and a heavy blanket has been affi xed over the window slit to keep the room dark. One wall boasts a large fi replace, but it is currently cold.

Two normal tsochari have taken up residence in this room. The creatures serve Yikk Tasst, and they await orders from their leader to infi ltrate or assassinate nearby spellcasters. One currently lurks behind the overturned bed, and the other hides in the spacious chimney of the fi replace. The two tsochari attack any creatures (other than the worm cultists or other allies) that enter the room.

Tsochari (2): hp 32, 31; see page 121. Both tsochari hunger for the opportunity to possess an arcane spellcaster and take his spells, and naturally make any such character their prime target. If pressed hard, the tsochari seek to escape. They are good climbers, and as Small creatures with fl exible bodies, they can scramble up or down the chimney to areas 4 or 8 with DC 15 Escape Artist checks (their skill modifi er is +4) or even slip out the windowslit (DC 20).

7. SERVANTS’ QUARTERS

This small bunkroom has two double bunks, small trunks at the foot of each bed, and looks relatively spartan.

The worm cultists Tilkos, Werra, and Zard use this room as their personal quarters, since the previous occupants—Deros Frist’s servants—abandoned this place. They keep odd hours, but are most likely to be found here in the early morning. One of the servant’s trunks now holds a small stash of wealth belonging to Zard. The chest is locked (DC 25 Open Lock) and protected with a poison needle trap (DC 20 Search; attack bonus +6 melee; blue whinnis, DC 14, 1 Con/unconsciousness). It contains a sack with 225 gp, 40 sp, two black pearls worth 200 gp each, and a scroll of wall of fi re.

8. M ASTER’S CHAMBER

This large bedchamber features a fi ne carpet, comfortable furnishings, a bookcase with leaded glass doors, and a big stone fi replace, now empty. A large mirror in a gilded wooden frame hangs on one wall.

This suite formerly belonged to Deros Frist. Yikk Tasst has made little use of it since killing the wizard, because tsochari need little rest, and because allowing their human hosts to relax brings no comfort to tsochari. The prefer to drive their hosts mercilessly. The bookcase in this room has not been ransacked, because Yikk Tasst learned that Deros Frist protected it with a few dangerous magic traps. First, the bookcase is guarded by a fi re trap (DC 29 Search check, DC 29 Disable Device check, 1d4+8 points of fi re damage, DC 18 Refl ex save for half ). Second, the bookcase is guarded by a permanent mental alarm spell attuned to warn Deros Frist if anyone opens the bookcase. (Of course, since Frist is dead, the alarm spell no longer serves any pur-

pose.) Finally, if the bookcase is opened and a particular book removed, a symbol of pain is revealed (DC 30 Search check, DC 30 Disable Device check). The book in question is a prominent tome entitled Magic of the Dragon Lords, positioned face-out in the center shelf—easily the fi rst book anyone examining the bookcase notices. In the northwest corner of the room, below a corner of the carpet, lies a concealed trapdoor allowing access to the landing below on the second fl oor (DC 20 Search check, or automatic if anyone looks under the carpet). A simple rope ladder rests coiled up in the foot-deep space between the two doors. A secret compartment above the fi replace (DC 20 Search check) contains a small coffer fi lled with 250 gp, 110 pp, a wand of magic missiles (caster level 5th), and a scroll of teleport. Several inconspicuous tomes on one shelf of the bookcase are the spellbooks of a wizard whom Deros Frist defeated several years ago. The spellbooks include the following spells: 0 —acid splash, dancing lights, detect magic, fl are, mending, message, read magic, resistance; 1st—comprehend languages, color spray, disguise self, enlarge person, feather fall, identify, jump, shocking grasp, silent image; 2nd—arcane lock, glitterdust, hypnotic pattern, scare, spectral hand, spider climb, web, whisper ing wind; 3rd—deep slumber, dispel magic, displacement, keen edge, major image, slow, suggestion, water breathing; 4th—dimensional anchor, lesser globe of invulnerability, polymorph, rainbow pattern, stoneskin, summon monster IV.

9. WIZARD’S WORKROOM (EL 10)

This room is a laboratory or workroom of some sort. Against one wall stands a table covered with alchemical apparatus—beakers, alembics, retorts, and similar devices. Smaller shelves on the walls hold various arcane curiosities: rare reagents, glass jars containing small preserved magical creatures such as brain moles and hatchling gricks, and skulls of different types. A bookcase on another wall once held a small number of arcane tomes, maps, and scrolls, but all are now scattered on the fl oor. Yikk Tasst, now in the body of Deros Frist, spends most of its time in this workroom. Deros Frist was a 9th-level wizard before the tsochar noble Yikk Tasst killed him and insinuated itself into his corpse. The tsochar has used some of the spells

it took from Deros Frist, but still possesses the majority of the spells the wizard had prepared when he was killed. Yikk Tasst begins any encounter in the form of Deros Frist. If the heroes are not overtly hostile, the tsochar continues the masquerade as long as possible; it is a skillful liar and enjoys deceiving people. It does its best to reassure visitors that all is well, and waves off pointed questions about the state of the tower, explaining that its new research permits little time to tend to such matters. If matters come to blows, Yikk Tasst fi rst makes use of its own sorcerer spells, carefully hoarding Deros Frist’s taken spells as long as possible. If things go badly, it abandons Frist’s body (giving up its taken spells) to gain full use of its formidable physical attacks. In a real pinch, Tasst ducks into the closet to the south and uses the secret door there to escape into the Conjury (area 10). From there, it can bolt down the stairs or exit the building through the secret door in that room. A hidden drawer beneath the worktable top (DC 15 Search check) holds a leather pouch with 210 gp and a scroll of fl y. The bookshelf in this room holds Deros Frist’s own spellbooks. Yikk Tasst: Tsochar sorcerer 6; CR 10 ; Medium aberration; HD 8d8+40 plus 6d4+30; hp 121; Init +7; Spd 20 ft., climb 20 ft.; AC 22, touch 14, fl at-footed 19; Base Atk +9; Grp +17; Atk +13 melee (1d6+4, tentacle); Full Atk +13 melee (1d6+4, 4 tentacles); Space/Reach 5 ft./10 ft.; SA constrict 2d6+8, improved grab, poison, take spells, wear fl esh; SQ damage reduction 5/adamantine, Yikk Tasst inside the body of Deros Frist darkvision 60 ft., resistance to cold 5, spell resistance 19, telepathy 100 ft.; AL CE; SV Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +14; Str 18, Dex 16, Con 21, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 19. Skills and Feats: Bluff +15, Climb +12, Concentration +17 (+21 casting defensively), Diplomacy +6, Disguise +4 (+6 acting in character), Hide +14, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +10, Knowledge (the planes) +10, Move Silently +14, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +12 (+14 deciphering scrolls), Spot +12, Use Magic Device +16 (+18 involving scrolls); Combat Casting, Combat Refl exes, Craft Wondrous Item, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon FinesseB .

Illus. by M. Cotie

Illus. by D. Kovacs

Languages: Tsochar, Common, Undercommon, Abyssal, Draconic.

Constrict (Ex): Yikk Tasst deals 2d6+8 points of damage with a successful grapple check. When Yikk Tasst deals damage by means of its grapple check, it injects its victim with poison.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, Yikk Tasst must hit with two tentacle attacks. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict. Tsochari receive a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks (included in the statistics above).

Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 19, initial and secondary damage 1d3 Dex. The save DC is Constitution-based. The poison is delivered by dealing damage with a constrict attack.

Take Spells (Su): A tsochar that replaces an arcane spellcaster retains any arcane spells prepared by the dead spellcaster. See page 122 for details.

Wear Flesh (Su): A tsochar can bore its way into a helpless living creature’s body, choosing to inhabit or replace its victim. See page 122 for details.

Sorcerer Spells Known (6/7/6/4 per day; caster level 6th): 0 —daze (DC 14), detect magic, disrupt undead (+12 ranged touch), ghost sound (DC 14), mage hand, read magic, touch of fatigue (+13 melee touch; DC 14); 1st—identify, mage armor*, magic missile, silent image (DC 15); 2nd—invisibility, whispercast†; 3rd—lightning bolt (DC 17). *Already cast. † N e w s p e l l described on page 129.

Possessions: +1 ring of protection, ring of reduction (see page 130).

Yikk Tasst in Deros Frist’s Form: As above, except as follows: Medium humanoid; Spd 30 ft.; AC 18, touch 14, fl at-footed 15; Base Atk +9; Grp +8; Atk +13 melee (1d4/19–20, +1 dagger); Full Atk +13/+8 melee (1d4/19–20, +1 dagger); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA take spells; SQ spell resistance 19, telepathy 100 ft.; AL CE; SV Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +15; Str 9, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 19.

Additional Skills and Feats: Climb –1, Concentration +14 (+18 casting defensively).

Taken Spells (caster level 9th): 0 —detect magic, mage hand, open/close, read magic; 1st—charm person (DC 15), identify, magic missile, shield, silent image (DC 15); 2nd—daze monster (DC 16), mirror image, resist energy, scorching ray (+12 ranged touch); 3rd—deep slumber (DC 17), dispel magic, fi reball (DC 17), fl y; 4th—charm monster (DC 18), Evard’s black tentacles, fi re shield.

Possessions: +1 dagger, cloak of resistance +1, wand of fi reball (CL 6th, 22 charges), wand of invisibility (18 charges).

Frist’s Spellbook: as above plus 0 —dancing lights, message, prestidigitation; 1st—mount, protection from evil, shocking grasp, sleep, 2nd—fog cloud, invisibility, rope trick, summon monster II; 3rd—clairaudience/clairvoyance, magic circle against evil; 4th—arcane eye, enervation, fear, wall of ice; 5th—cone of cold, teleport, summon monster V.

10. CONJURY

The door leading into this room from the hall outside is locked (DC 25 Open

Lock check or DC 23 to break).

The fl oor of this room is fi nished in smooth, polished marble. In the center of the room, a pentagram of silver is inlaid in the fl oor. A counter beside the door holds a collection of ritual implements, including a knife of cold iron and a golden goblet.

The pentagram is ominous, yet harmless—nothing has been summoned here for some time. Yikk Tasst, like Deros Frist before it, considers this room its hidden retreat from the tower. A secret door i n the ea ster n wa l l (Sea rc h DC 20) leads to the closet in the wizard’s workroom, area 9. In addition, a secret door in the south wall opens into the middle of the air on the tower’s exterior, 50 feet above ground level. The door is not concealed from inside the conjury, but it is well hidden from outside observation (Search DC 25), and locked (Open Lock DC 30). If Yikk Tasst is forced to fl ee area 9, it tries to slip out this aerial door and either climb down the tower (Climb DC 20) or use a fl y spell to make its escape.