Dexteritysavingthrow.Onafailedsave,thecharacteris
prickedbytheneedle,takes 5 ( 1 d 10 )poisondamage,andis
blinded.Theblindnessispermanentbutcanbecuredwitha
lesserrestorationspellorsimilarmagic.
Theairinhereismoistandsticky.Naturallightspills
fromcracksintheceiling,andmudcoatsthefloor.
Stoneworkbenchesareladenwithclaybottlesofvarious
shapesandsizes.Toadstools,snakeroot,and
belladonnaplantsgrowamongtheclutter,fedbywater
seepingfromabove.Standingneartheplantsisa
hairlessmanwithscalyskinandabronzesyringe.
Lurkingintheshadowsaroundhimarefiveslouching
humansthatreekofdecay.Yuan-tiusethischambertoextractvenomfromsnakes.
Xopal(pronouncedzoh-PAUL),ayuan-tipureblood,bottles
andblendsthevenomtocreatedeadlynewstrains.Five
humanzombiesserveXopalaslaborers.
Xopalcarriesabronzesyringecontainingthreedosesofa
poisoncocktail.Asanaction,hecanmakeameleeweapon
attackwiththesyringe(+ 3 tohit),whichdeals 1 piercing
damageandinjectsonedoseofpoisononahit.Anycreature
injectedwithadoseofpoisonmustmakeaDC 14 Constitution
savingthrow,taking 10 ( 3 d 6 )poisondamageonafailedsave,
orhalfasmuchdamageonasuccessfulone.Inaddition,the
creatureispoisonedfor 1 hourwhetherornotitssave
succeeds.
Xopalbelievesit’shisdestinytotransformintoamuch
morepowerfulformofyuan-ti—ametamorphosisthatwill
occurwhenhedevelopsapoisonsovirulentthateveninnate
immunitytopoisoncan’twithstandit.Xopalusesthezombies
astestsubjects;oncehe’sovercometheirimmunity,heplans
toconductfurthertestsonliveyuan-ti.
BottledPoisons
Thepresenceofsomanypoisonsmakescombatinthisroom
hazardous.Ifaworkbenchisexposedtoexplosiveforce,such
asthatgeneratedbyathunderwaveorfireballspell,the
bottlessmashandcreatea 15 - foot-radiussphereofpoisonous
vaporsthatlastsfor 1 minute.Anycreaturethatentersthe
areaforthefirsttimeonaturnorstartsitsturnwithinthe
spheremustmakeaDC 15 Constitutionsavingthrow,taking
18 ( 4 d 8 )poisondamageonafailedsave.Creaturesare
affectedeveniftheyholdtheirbreathordon’tneedtobreathe.
Amongthepoisonsisastopperedbronzejugusedfor
fermentingjunglerootsintosoporificgas.Removingthe
stopperreleasesthegas,whichfillsa 15 - foot-radiussphere
centeredonthejug.Seearea 3 fortheeffectofthesoporific
gas.
Treasure
Xopalcarriesabrasskeythatunlocksthesouthdoor.
Characterswhosearchthroughthepoisonscanloottwenty
dosesofserpentvenom,fivedosesofessenceofether,andfive
dosesoftorpor(see“Poisons”inchapter 8 oftheDungeon
Master’sGuide).
15 .SnakePit.............................................................................................................................................................................
Aricketywoodenwalkwaythreadsaroundthewallsofa
deeppit.Foulodorswaftupfrombelow.Somewherein
thegloombeneathyou,thousandsofsnakeswrithe.Despiteappearances,thericketywoodenwalkwayissafe.
Theyuan-tisometimeshurldisobedientslavesintothepitto
bedevouredbytheserpents.Thepitis 50 feetdeepandfilled
withpoisonoussnakes.Whenacreaturefallsorsetsfootin
thepit,aswarmofpoisonoussnakesformsarounditand
attacks.Avirtuallyinexhaustiblenumberofswarmscanbe
createdinthisfashion.Aswarmthathasnothingtoattack
ceasestoexistasitsconstituentsslitherapart.
Toclimbthewetcavernwalls,acharactermustsucceedon
aDC 15 Strength(Athletics)check.16 .BloodBaths........................................................................................................................................................................
Theironstenchofbloodfloodsthischamber.Alongone
wall,arowofgore-filledpoolssinkintothefloor.Blood
trailsandbloodyfootprintsrunbetweenthepools.Whentheyawakeeachday,theyuan-tirituallybathein
thebloodofsacrifices.Thebloodiscontainedwithinthese
stonebathsandheatedbythermalventsunderneatheachpool.
Whenthecharactersenter,fouryuan-tipurebloodsandtwo
type 2 yuan-timalisonsbatheinthewarmpools.Fiveslaves
inloincloths(maleandfemaleChultanhumancommonersof
variousalignments)tendtotheireveryneed.Givenamesto
slavesasneeded(seethe“ChultanNames”sidebarinthe
book’sintroduction).
Theblood-drenchedyuan-tikeeptheirweaponsatthe
backofeachalcove.Iftheyhearthegongalarmsound,the
yuan-ticommandtheirslavestoremainherewhiletheyarm
themselvesandheadquicklytoarea 9 .Ifcombatbreaksout
here,reinforcementsfromarea 17 arrivein 1 d 3 rounds.17 .Sauna..................................................................................................................................................................................
Heatrisesfromanenormousovalstonesetintothe
floorofthischamber.Discardedskinsareheaped
aroundit,andshelvesunderneathitarelinedwithjars.
Asnake-headedyuan-tishedshisskinwhiletwostrong,
bare-chestedhumanmenwithspearslookon.Theovalstoneis 8 feettallandmadeofporousrock.
Situatedatopavolcanicvent,ittransfersheatevenly
throughouttheroom.Theyuan-ticomeheretoshedtheir
skinsandpolishtheirscales.
Thirtyjarslinetheshelvesunderneaththeovalstone,and
eachonecontainsascentedointmentthatyuan-tiusetokeep
theirskinsuppleandtoeasethesheddingoftheirskin.The
ointmentisnotvaluable.
Unlesstheyhavebeenfoughtanddefeatedelsewhere,two
enslavedmen(NEmaleChultanhumangladiators)watch
Yahru(pronouncedYAH-roo),atype 1 yuan-timalison,ashe
shedshisskin(aprocessthatcantakeuptoanhour).Yahruis
RasNsi’sspymaster,andhedoesn’tliketobedisturbed.
Characterspassingthemselvesoffasyuan-tipurebloodsare
instructedtoleavetheroomatonce.Enslavedcharactersare
orderedtosmearointmentonYahru’sskintoexpeditethe
skin-sheddingprocess.
Yahruabhorsphysicalcombat,andhevalueshis
bodyguardstoomuchtorisktheirlivesinapointlessbattle.
Unlessthecharactersprovokeafight,hetriestofindoutmore
aboutthemandlearnanysecretstheymightpossess,while
providingaslittleinformationaspossible.IfYahruobtains
informationthatwouldclearlybenefitRasNsiorFenthaza,he