The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

Those who have survived expeditions into the far north
often tell tales of the terrible beasts to be found there.
They spin yarns of woolly mammoths, barbaric frost
giants and elder ice wyrms in nests of snow that have
not seen a thaw since the world was begun. There
is one creature, though, that is never mentioned; one
nightmare that is perhaps feared above all others.
This is the tiny terror the ice-dwellers call the ‘little
blue devil’, though it is not a devil at all but a species
of fey. According to legend, the little blue devil hides
itself away among one’s equipment. When it is snugly
hidden away, it begins to whisper terrible things in a
voice only the individual carrying it can hear. The
strangest thoughts enter the victim’s head. In the
middle of the arctic wilderness, far from civilisation, the
victim begins to go insane. He becomes convinced that
his team mates are plotting to abandon him. He gets
crazy notions, such as the belief that there is a secret
passage to a safe haven hidden under the ice, so he has
to smash his way through it. The victim can even end
up believing that the only way to remain safe against the
evil spirits of the mountain is to eat human flesh – the
flesh of his companions.
When rescue parties come across the shattered remains
of explorers’ camps, they usually imagine that monsters
are responsible. When it becomes apparent that the
team members killed each other, the blame is usually
placed on the endless monotony of the snowy waste
driving people mad. Those who live in those wastes
know better. The little blue devils have been at work.
The blue devils look like tiny, bald, blue-skinned men
with sneering expressions and thin tails. They are
completely malicious and love nothing better than
causing havoc. The more a creature’s sanity suffers
before dying, the more they like it. They live off
carrion.
Alcohol Vulnerability: Alcohol is a deadly poison to
the little blue devil. It functions as a contact poison
(saving throw DC 20, primary damage death, secondary
damage 2d6 Con). The devils will not attack nor come
within ten feet of a creature who even smells of alcohol.
A creature who has drunk alcohol is left alone until the
effect wears off (usually 2–4 hours), while a creature
who has rubbed himself with alcohol is safe from the
blue devils for eight hours.
Camouflage (Sp): The little blue devil uses an inherent
Illusion ability to assume the form of an object of
Diminutive size such as a bag of provisions or even
a rock, as if by the alter self spell cast by a 10 th level
sorcerer. Unlike an ordinary caster, the blue devil is
not limited to assuming the form of a creature and
may become an object. When it does this, it makes a
Disguise check at a +10 bonus to assume the new form
convincingly. If it suffers damage, it must make a
Concentration check to maintain the illusion.
Giddying Bite (Su): Those bitten by a blue devil must
make Charisma-based Will saving throws (DC 19) or
become groggy and light-headed. A giddy character
is stunned for one round. In addition, he immediately
forgets what he was doing prior to the bite, as if affected
by a modify memory spell cast by a 12 th level caster. The
blue devil uses this memory lapse to avoid detection.
Suggestion (Sp): The blue devil’s primary mode of
mischief-making is its suggestion ability, which it can
use at will. It implants the suggestion telepathically and
must have line of effect to do this. The target is entitled to
a Charisma-based Will saving throw (DC 23, including a
+4 racial bonus). This is a mind-affecting enchantment.
If the saving throw is successful, the target knows what
it was being prompted to do and that it was a suggestion
but not where the effect came from. The target is also
immune to that blue devil’s suggestion for the next 24
hours. The blue devil manipulates its victims carefully,
using one suggestion to build on the next. For example,
it may suggest to a character that another character is
acting in a suspicious manner and clearly has something
to hide. If the character then confronts the ‘suspicious’
person, who denies the allegation, the blue devil will
suggest that the denials are excessive and thus clear
evidence of guilt. Successive suggestions that build on
the first are considered exceptionally plausible and this
bestows a –1 or –2 circumstance penalty to the saving
throw.
Telepathy (Su): The blue devil can communicate
telepathically with any creature within 100 feet.
Lodestone Golem
Large Construct
Hit Dice: 14d10+30 (107 hp)
Initiative: –1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armour Class: 26 (–1 size, –1 Dex, +18 natural), touch
8, flat-footed 26
Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+25
Attack: Slam +20 melee (2d10+11)
Full Attack: 2 slams +20 melee (2d10+11)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Ferrous attraction, magnetic drag,
magnetic slow
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8
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