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2 0. BLACKTONGUElSL E
Deep Water. The ground falls away at all entrances to
this 30-foot-high cavern, whose water is 30 feet deep.
Island Village. A dozen crude shacks sit atop a muddy,
horseshoe-shaped island. Twenty-five bullywugs and
six giant frogs slip in and out of the shacks.
Bonfire. A bonfire burns at the northern tip of the is-
land, giving off pungent smoke. (The bullywugs keep it
burning with a mixture of dried offal and fungus.)
The s hacks are made from rocks mortared with mud.
The bullywugs found here are busy raising young,
mending nets, cooking, or working on other domestic
necessities. They and the giant frogs are quick to re-
spond to calls for aid from area 19.
Harmless cave fish swim in the deep water around
the island. The pool at the island's center is closed off
by a submerged net that prevents fish from finding their
way inside. The Blacktongues keep their unborn eggs
in this pool, hidden among submerged stands of thick-
fronded fungus.- L O RD O F FETID OBLITERATIO N
Unless he has been summoned to a rea 19, the unhappy
king of the Blacktongues is here.
21A. HYDRA DEN
This cave has a 20-foot-high ceiling and is filled with
water to a depth of 30 feet. Lurking in the muddy water
at the bottom of the cave is a trained hydra. The hydra
refrains from announcing its presence or attacking until
such time as Kuketh orders it to rise and kill something.21B. KUKETH^1 S LAIR
Ledge. A dry ledge 5 feet above the water line is strewn
with bones, some with flesh still attached.
Kuketh's Bed. The eastern end of the ledge contains a
pile of moldering hay and the rotting body of a giant
toad. Unless it has been drawn elsewhere, Kuketh the
death slaad lounges on the hay in bullywug form.
When not bossing around its subjects, Kuketh quietly
ruminates on its troubles. The slaad communicates with
strangers using telepathy and is willing to negotiate with
characters who claim to be enemies of the Ssethian
Scourges. A mercurial creature, Kuketh doesn' t honor
agreements for very long. Its only consistent desire is
to escape from Undermountain and return to the Outer
Plane of Limbo.21C. SECRETVAULT
This cave is hidden behind a secret door.
Treas ure. The vault holds treasure collected by the
bullywugs, including 56 pp, 2,417 gp, 540 sp, a platinum
holy symbol of Sseth (a flying snake with bared fangs)
worth 150 gp, and a headband of intellect.22. STABLES
The Blacktongue bullywugs raise "livestock" in this
20-foot-high, torch-lit cavern. If the bullywug handlers
here are attacked, they release their carrion crawlers
and shout for aid from areas 19 and 23.LEVEL 8 I SLITHERSWAMP22A. GIANT FROGS
Six giant frogs hop through shallow water in this cav-
ern, croaking loudly while four hullywugs dump food
(mostly vermin) into a trough along the northwest wall.22B. CARRION CRAWLERS
This raised dry area contains the following:Wooden Pen. A pen made of wooden slats confines
four carrion crawlers to the northeast. Three carrion
crawler eggs are inside the pen.
Tools. Several buckets and long-handled tools for
wrangling the carrion crawlers stand near the gate
to the pen.
The bullywugs raise carrion crawlers for their poi-
sonous mucus, but they also feed carrion crawler eggs
to the hydra in area 2la. The carrion crawlers are not
treated well. If released, they are as likely to attack the
bullywugs as they are the characters.
Wood scraps gathered from throughout the level have
been used to fence off this dry area from floor to ceiling.
The gaps between the s lats are just wide enough for a
melee weapon or a carrion crawler's tentacle attack. A
simple loop of rope keeps the gate closed.23. BULLYWUG CAMP
Muck. This 20-foot-high cave is filled with muck to a
depth of 1 foot.
Bullywug Shacks. Two hovels made of stones and mud
are lit by tall torches. Four bullywugs are mending
tools near the shacks while two giant toads look on.- KELP FARM
Five bullywugs work kelp beds in the 6-foot-deep wa-
ter of this 30-foot-high cave, while a giant toad swims
nearby. The kelp is a staple of the bullywugs' diet and
glows with a faint green light. The light fades 10 min-
utes after the plant is harvested.
If they are threatened, the bullywugs order the gia nt
toad to attack and call for help from areas 2 and 23.
Aftermath
If the characters help Kuketh destroy or reclaim its
control gem, the death slaad abandons the bullywugs. If
Torbit is alive, he becomes the ruler of the Blacktongue
tribe after Kuketh departs or is killed. It 's only a matter
of time, however, before the Ssethian Scourges seize
him, make him one of their thralls, and take control of
the bullywug tribe. If all the Blacktongue bullywugs
are defeated, the temple becomes a safe place for the
characters to rest (assuming the yuan-ti abominations in
area 19d haven't taken over the place).
Killing the Ssethian Scourges frees Yoastal from her
curse and allows the Blacktongues to overrun the nagas'
caves. Karstis and the mages of Dweomercore might be
there already, though, wanting to hold those caverns.
Such gains are short-lived, because the spirit nagas'
Rejuvenation trait ensures their return in ld6 days.