Derro's Outpost
The cruel and depraved derro scour the Ebon Realms for slaves to experiment on or victims to participate in their insane plans. Many travellers realise too late these small, weak-looking creatures should not be underestimated.
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Outside the Lair
Rough cave paintings depict dancing figures bursting into flames under the bright sun.
Maddening giggles and tearful wails echo eerily down tunnels. The sounds ebb and flow seemingly without rhyme or reason.
A small grey stone in the centre of the chamber is surrounded by a macabre spiral of hundreds of perfectly arranged dried toes.
A line of polished pebbles stretches from wall to wall of this passage.
What’s Going On?
Giggling derro move flat stones to one side of a chamber whilst stacking rounded stones in a tall pile.
Hopping from one foot to the other, a group of derro listen to the babbling of their sorcerous leader.
The derro guards dip their spear tips in a small earthen pot before moving off on patrol.
Two derro hurl spears at a wall before running away.
Major Lair Features
Hundreds of pebbles are sorted into piles of grey, black and white. Other coloured stones are discarded.
A mound of tough fungal sticks lies ready to be adorned with sharp hooks and spikes.
Bowls bubbling over a dung fire contain venom, rotting meat and fungus beer.
Tall blue mushrooms crawling with tiny black insects grow from cracks in the ground. The cracks cross-cross the chamber, forming a strange sort of maze. Some of the mushrooms have poisonous caps.
Minor Lair Features
A large barrel leaks watery red clay over the floor. The swath of slick floor leads away from the barrel that is now almost empty.
A half-made necklace leather cord threaded with shiny insect shells—lies discarded beside a broken stone jar.
Long threads of fungus are stretched out on bone racks to dry.
A long, flat rock has a strangely shaped hollow on top of it where it has been used to sharpen spears.
Derro’s Appearance
With a huge bushy moustache and a shock of spiked white hair, this derro looks comically terrifying.
Wearing a weaved coat of leather and fungus over leather armour and holding a spiked club in each hand, this babbling derro directs his minions.
The hair of this derro is slicked back with slimy red clay to lie flat against its scalp.
Many of the derro in the group have meaningless symbols and writing tattooed onto their faces and arms.
Treasure
Made of three spiralling stones of white, grey and black entwined around each other, this holy symbol forms an elongated cone.
This intricate bone and steel repeating crossbow comes with a magazine filled with poisoned bolts. Upon command, the crossbow releases all remaining ammunition in an inaccurate spray.
Forged from a strange black metal, this thin narrow-bladed knife is designed for removing flesh from bone.
This spiked aklys has a surprisingly long cord of treated spider’s silk which is as strong as steel.
Trinkets & Trash
This pot of rock salt is dusted with flakes of quartz. The salt is proof against slugs both monstrous and mundane.
Four small bags contain different coloured sand.
A flat box contains polished and painted spheres of rock and glass. A note inside says, “Do Not Lose”.
This small chunk of blue-veined cheese is made from grubs’ milk. It tastes and smells foul but remains just about edible for weeks.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from Monstrous Lair #42: Derro Outpost by Steve Hood.
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