Demon Portal Room

Demon Portal Room (#21/31; #141/365)

"This is a small cave with a damp sandy floor. There are no other exits, but on the flattish far wall, is a peculiar growth of purplish mould that forms an almost perfect circle. At the base of the wall, on either side of the circle, grow several giant pale violet mushrooms, each about knee-high."

Contents: The circle marks a portal to the Plane of Rust, in the Demonic Pit, through which Demons enter these caverns to collect fungi from the Fungus Gardens. Both the mould and the mushrooms are invasive fungi from the Pit, that have gradually seeped through when the Portal has been open. The mould is harmless (unless eaten; anyone who does loses 1 STAMINA point from retching and coughing), but the mushrooms are LAVENDER DREAM-SHROOMS and will attack any non-Demon that gets too close to them or the portal.

The portal is currently inactive and only operable from the Plane of Rust (unless a Hero has access to the Hellportal Spell). It is scheduled to open soon, to admit a First Incursion Party to collect fungi; they do not know the previous Demonic overseer has been slain by the Skorn.

If the first incursion are all slain, or one of them escapes back through the portal to the Plane of Rust, one day later, the Second Incursion Party will arrive to 'deal with things'. If this party are all slain, or one escapes back through the portal, then the portal will be closed, and these fungus gardens abandoned by the Demons as 'too difficult'.

Anyone venturing through the portal while it is activated will arrive at the Forbidden Garden of Thay, on the Plane of Rust, near the Carnelian Desert.

Stats:

4 LAVENDER DREAM-SHROOMS: SKILL 6, STAMINA 5, 3 Attacks, Tendrils (as Small Claw), Light Armour, exudes hypnotic spores (as per the Befuddle spell on one victim per Attack Round)

First Demonic Incursion party:

5 BLADE DEMONS, SKILL 5, STAMINA 6, Arm Blade (as Sword)

Blade Demons are five feet tall with cruel, horned, dog-like features, spindly limbs, and arms that end in wicked curved blades of bone. In this incursion they have wicker baskets strapped to their backs and their job is to harvest fungi as directed by the CLONE gardeners.

1 CURSED WARRIOR, SKILL 6, STAMINA 8, Sword, Leather Hauberk

 A Cursed Warrior appears as a skeletal warrior missing its lower jaw and covered with a strange green glow. The soul of an evil warrior serving its time in the Pit, by being placed in charge of unruly lesser demons.

(The BLADE DEMON and the CURSED WARRIOR are taken from Jonathan Hicks' excellent AFF mini-adventure, The Taskmaster's Tower)

Second Demonic Incursion party:

4 SMOKE DEMONS, SKILL 9, STAMINA 12, 2 Attacks, Small Claw. Anyone fighting a Smoke Demon must deduct 1 from their SKILL due to the stench-laden haze that surrounds these creatures.

1 FIRE DEMON, SKILL 10, STAMINA 10, 3 Attacks, Fire Sword, Fire Whip, Fire Breath, Light Armour, +2 to Damage Roll.