Purple Worm's Lair
Purple worms—voracious predators—burrow beneath the ground in a near-constant search for food. These huge worms are notorious for consuming prey—sometimes entire adventuring parties—whole.
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Outside the Lair
A narrow tunnel twists and turns through the rock. The tunnels are near circular and feature gouge marks on the walls, floor and ceiling.
A low-lying section of this twisted tunnel has flooded. Explorers must swim underwater for 30 feet to reach the worm’s lair.
Faintly glowing violet warning sigils—cut into the wall using magic—mark several tunnels leading to the lair.
Cracks cut through the tunnel’s walls. The tunnel ends in an old collapse; there is no path through this way.
What’s Going On?
A distant rumbling heralds a distant rockfall.
Faint scrabbling sounds from under the ground presage the arrival of a tiny—barely ogre-sized—purple worm.
The purple worm lies curled up in the centre of the chamber, sleeping.
The purple worm rears up and starts to violently regurgitate lumps of glimmering ore along with bits of weapons, shards of bone and the like.
Major Lair Features
A profusion of gravel and broken, worn stones cover the ground throughout the worm’s lair. Examination reveals bite marks or corrosion on many of the stones.
Great gouges in the cavern walls show where the worm has enlarged its lair.
The floor comprises great mounds of loose, unstable rumble. Sometimes the purple worm hides in the pile—either to sleep, lay its eggs or wait for prey to blunder within reach.
Part of the cavern ceiling is unstable. Strong vibrations—perhaps caused by the worm digging a new tunnel—cause them to collapse.
Minor Lair Features
Old, bent and rusting weapons, fragments of armour and other pieces of metal lie scattered about the lair.
Black splash marks on the stone floor show where the worm’s poisonous stinger has dripped venom.
The mouldering bodies of several man-long worms— purple worm young—are scattered about the lair. They all bear the marks of sword and spell.
Minerals glimmer in the walls, floor and ceiling.
Purple Worm’s Appearance
Thick purple plates cover this immense chitinous worm. Its tail ends in a thin stinger, and giant teeth fill the horrible thing’s maw.
The broken stubs of seven crossbow bolts stud this huge purple worm’s head. The wounds around the bolts are livid red in hue.
This huge purple worm’s unblinking eyes glow with a vivid yellow hue. Huge teeth the size of short swords protrude from its gaping maw.
Red and purple mottled scales cover the length of this monstrously vast worm. Its stinger, though, is jet black and drips a similarly hued viscous liquid.
Treasure
A thin trail of gold and platinum coins wends its way through the worm’s lair.
This worn, bronze statuette depicts a succubus in all her sensuous glory.
This pair of silver chain gloves has been scoured blindingly clean by the purple worm’s stomach acid.
This translucent green stone—a sapphire—is mounted at the end of an iron rod engraved with mystic symbols.
Trinkets & Trash
Shreds of corroded leather, cloth and bone fragments lie scattered about the lair.
The jagged stump of a scimitar is wedged into a small crack, purple scale. The scimitar is of drow artifice.
Half of a small ornately carved stone statuette of a lion lies against the wall. This was once a wondrous figurine.
This iron potion vial has lost its stopper; subsequently, it is empty.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from Monstrous Lair #69: Purple Worm’s Lair by Robert Manson.
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