Bulette's Tunnels
Immensely strong burrowing predators, bulettes—or land sharks as they are sometimes called—live only to feed. They fear nothing and treat everything moving as food. Bulettes range over a wide area and are always on the move.
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Outside the Lair
A pile of disturbed earth five-foot high—akin to a massive molehill—juts from the ground.
The roof of a meandering tunnel has collapsed, creating a long, thin depression in the ground.
A confused mass of jumbled footprints cut across the area. A skilled tracker can tell the people who left the tracks were running—probably for their lives.
As #3, but several sets of tracks end at huge molehill-like piles of earth.
What’s Going On?
The ground trembles as a bulette intent on larger, nearby prey passes under the group.
A flock of birds roosting on a distant tree suddenly—as one—take flight. Perceptive characters notice the tree judders moments later.
A man halfway up a tree shouts a warning to the party. acters hear is a faint breeze sighing through the trees.
A badly injured warhorse wearing fine plate barding on the brink of death from excessive blood loss staggers toward the party. Three rounds after it reaches the group, so does the bulette hunting it.
Major Lair Features
The bulette undermined a tree, which has sunk into the tunnel below to block the passage.
This tunnel runs over a deeper tunnel. Heavy characters walking over the part of the floor that passes over the lower tunnel cause the floor to collapse.
The bulette’s tunnels are a hopelessly complex and dizzying labyrinth of earthen passages.
The tunnel intersects with a water-filled sinkhole. The tunnel continues onwards at water level on the other side of the shaft.
Minor Lair Features
Water drips through the tunnel ceiling to form puddles on the ground.
A tunnel intersects with a sinkhole, providing a view of the sky. The sinkhole’s sides comprise crumbling earth and are, therefore, difficult to climb.
Jagged roots protrude from the tunnel’s walls to slash and grab at unwary explorers. A dank, mouldy smell hangs in the air.
This tunnel ends abruptly at a slab of rock. A side tunnel leads off around the obstruction.
Bulette’s Appearance
Old, faded scars crisscross the head and neck of this armour-plated monstrosity.
This monstrous beast is blind in one eye—a dagger hilt juts from a mass of scar tissue where the eye should be.
The stump of a sundered sword is wedged between two teeth in this huge creature’s gaping maw. It violently shakes its head as it tries to dislodge the weapon.
This huge armoured monstrosity has a blue-brown head and grey-blue scales. Its tiny, anger-filled eyeballs are a fell yellow colour.
Treasure
A tightly-sealed dirty canvas holds three bolts of blue silk. The silk is undamaged and blemish-free.
A straw-filled box lies on its side. It held four bottles of fine brandy; two survived the fall into the tunnel.
This leather scroll tube contains the deeds to “Kildrak’s Keep”. Sadly, the deeds do not say where the keep lies.
A pair of finely crafted manacles yet hold the bony arms of their last prisoner. A key fills the manacle’s lock.
Trinkets & Trash
A sodden and shredded backpack hangs from a tree root jutting from the ceiling.
A length of thick, sundered chain lies stretched out on the floor.
Scraps of a canvas tent hang from the ceiling, caught on a thick root. The scraps flutter in a slight breeze.
The cracked and dented head of a warhammer is part-buried in the soft earth floor.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from Monstrous Lair #72: Bulette’s Tunnels by Robert Manson.
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