\chapter{Lower Depths}
 \index{Lower Depths} \index{Depths}
 


\startMonsterName
Aboleth	\CMTags{Group, Huge, Intelligent} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Tentacle (d8+3 damage)	18 HP	0 Armor

 

\CMTags{Reach} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Telepathy
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
Deep below the surface of the world, in freshwater seas untouched by the sun dwell the aboleth. Fish the size of whales, with strange growths of gelatinous feelers used to probe the lightless shores. They’re served by slaves; blind albino victims of any race unfortunate enough to stumble on them, drained of thought and life by the powers of the aboleth’s alien mind. In the depths they bid and plot against each other, fishy cultists building and digging upward towards the surface until someday, they’ll breach it. For now, they sleep and dream and guide their pallid minions to do their bidding. {\em Instinct} : To command
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Invade a mind

 
\item Turn minions on them

 
\item Put a plan in motion


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Apocalypse Dragon	\CMTags{Solitary, Huge, Magical, Divine} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Bite (2d10·b+9 damage 4 piercing)	26 HP	5 Armor

 

\CMTags{Reach, Forceful, Messy} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Inch-thick metal hide, Supernatural knowledge, Wings
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
The end of all things shall be a burning—of tree and earth and of the air itself. It shall come upon the plains and mountains not from beyond this world but from within it. Birthed from the womb of deepest earth shall come the Dragon that Will End the World. In its passing all will become ash and bile and the earth a dying thing will drift through planar space devoid of life. They say to worship it is to invite madness. They say to love it is to know oblivion. The awakening is coming. {\em Instinct} : To end the world
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Set a disaster in motion

 
\item Breath forth the elements

 
\item Act with perfect knowledge


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Chaos Spawn	\CMTags{Solitary, Gibbous} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Chaotic touch (d10 damage)	19 HP	1 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close, Reach} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Chaos form
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
Driven from the city, a cultist finds solace in towns and villages. Discovered there, he flees to the hills and scratches his devotion on the cave walls. Found out, he is chased with knife and torch into the depths, crawling deeper and deeper until, in the deepest places, he loses his way. First, he forgets his name. Then he forgets his shape. His chaos gods, most beloved, bless him with a new one. {\em Instinct} : To undermine
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Rewrite reality

 
\item Unleash chaos from containment


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Chuul	\CMTags{Group, Large, Cautious} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Claws (d8+1 damage 3 piercing)	10 HP	4 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close, Reach, Messy} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Amphibious
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
Let us, for a moment, consider the lobster. This one is your worst seafood nightmare come to life. A sort of vicious, half-man half-crawdad cursed with primal intelligence and blessed with a pair of razor-sharp claws. Strange things lurk in the stinking pools in caverns best forgotten and the Chuul is one of them. If you spot one, your best hope is a heavy mace to crack its shell and maybe a little garlic butter. Mmmm. {\em Instinct} : To split
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Split something in two with mighty claws

 
\item Retreat into water


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Deep Elf Assassin	\CMTags{Group, Intelligent, Organized} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Poisoned blade (d8 damage 1 piercing)	6 HP	1 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close} 

 
\startMonsterDescription
It was not so simple a thing as a war over religion or territory. No disagreement of Queens led to the great sundering of the elves. It was sadness. It was the very diminishing of the world by the lesser races and the glory of all the elves had built was cracking and turning to glass. Some, then, chose to separate themselves from the world; wracked with tears they turned their backs on men and dwarves. Others, though, they were overcome with something new. A feeling no elf had felt before. Spite. Hatred filled these elves and twisted them and they turned on their weaker cousins. Some still remain after the great exodus below. Some hide amongst us with spider-poisoned blades, meting out that strangest of punishments: elven vengeance. {\em Instinct} : To spite
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Poison them

 
\item Unleash an ancient spell

 
\item Call reinforcements


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Deep Elf Swordmaster	\CMTags{Group, Intelligent, Organized} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Barbed blade (2d8·b+2 damage 1 piercing)	6 HP	2 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close} 

 
\startMonsterDescription
The deep elves lost the sweetness and gentle peace of their bright cousins ages ago but did not abandon grace. They move with a swiftness and beauty that would bring a tear to any warrior’s eye. In the dark, they’ve practiced. A cruelty has infested their swordsmanship—a wickedness comes to the fore. Barbed blades and whips replace the shining pennant-spears of surface elven battles. The swordmasters of the deep elf clans do not merely seek to kill, but to punish with every stroke of their blades. Wickedness and pain are their currency. {\em Instinct} : To punish
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Inflict pain beyond measure

 
\item Use the dark to advantage


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Deep Elf Priest	\CMTags{Solitary, Divine, Intelligent, Organized} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Smite (d10+2 damage)	14 HP	0 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close, Reach} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Divine connection
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
The spirits of the trees and the lady sunlight are far far from home in the depths where the deep elves dwell. New gods were found, there, waiting for their children to come home. Gods of the spiders, the fungal forests, and things that whisper in the forbidden caves. The deep elves, ever attuned to the world around them, listened with hateful intent to their new gods and found a source of power yet unrealized. Hate calls to hate and grim alliances were made. Even among these spiteful ranks, piety finds a way to express itself. {\em Instinct} : To pass on divine vengeance
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Weave spells of hatred and malice

 
\item Rally the deep elves

 
\item Pass on divine knowledge


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Dragon	\CMTags{Solitary, Huge, Terrifying, Cautious, Hoarder} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Bite (2d10·b+5 damage 4 piercing)	16 HP	5 Armor

 

\CMTags{Reach, Messy} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Elemental blood, Wings
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
They are the greatest and most terrible things this world will ever have to offer. {\em Instinct} : To rule
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Bend an element to its will

 
\item Demand tribute

 
\item Act with disdain


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Gray Render	\CMTags{Solitary, Large} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Rend (d10+3 damage)	16 HP	1 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close, Reach, Forceful} 

 
\startMonsterDescription
On its own, the render is a force of utter destruction. Huge and leathery, with a maw of unbreakable teeth and claws to match, the render seems to enjoy little more than tearing things apart. Stone, flesh, or steel, it matters little. However, the gray render is so rarely found alone. They bond with other creatures. Some at birth, others as fully-grown creatures, and will follow their bonded master wherever it goes, bringing them offerings of meat and protecting them while they sleep. Finding an un-bonded render means certain riches, if you survive to sell it. {\em Instinct} : To serve
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Tear something apart


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Magmin	\CMTags{Horde, Intelligent, Organized, Hoarder} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Flaming hammer (d6+2 damage)	7 HP	4 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close, Reach} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Firey blood
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
Dwarf-shaped and industrious, the magmin are among the deepest-dwellers of Dungeon World. Found in cities of brass and obsidian built nearest the molten core of the planet, the magmin live a life devoted to craft—especially that of fire and magical items related to it. Surly and strange, they do not often deign to speak to petitioners who appear at their gates, even those who have somehow found a way to survive the hellish heat. Even so, they respect little more than a finely made item and to learn to forge from a magmin craftsman means unlocking secrets unknown to surface blacksmiths. Like so much else, visiting the magmin is a game of risk and reward. {\em Instinct} : To craft
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Offer a trade or deal

 
\item Strike with fire or magic

 
\item Provide just the right item, at a price


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Minotaur	\CMTags{Solitary, Large} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Axe (d10+1 damage)	16 HP	1 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close, Reach} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Unerring sense of direction
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
Head of a man, body of a bull. No, wait, I’ve got that backwards. It’s the bull’s head and the man’s body. Hooves sometimes? Is that right? I remember the old King said something about a maze? Blast! You know I can’t think under this kind of pressure. What was that? Oh gods, I think it’s coming… {\em Instinct} : To contain
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Confuse them

 
\item Make them lost


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Naga	\CMTags{Solitary, Intelligent, Organized, Hoarder, Magical} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Bite (d10 damage)	12 HP	2 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close, Reach} 

 
\startMonsterDescription
Ambitious and territorial above nearly all else, the naga are very rarely found without a well-formed and insidious cult of followers. You’ll see it in many mountain towns—a snake sigil scrawled on a tavern wall or a local church burned to the ground. People going missing into the mines. Men and women wearing the mark of the serpent. At the core of it all lies a naga; an old race now fallen into obscurity, still preening with the head of a man over its coiled, serpent body. Variations of these creatures exist depending on their bloodline and original purpose, but they are all master manipulators and magical forces to be reckoned with. {\em Instinct} : To lead
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Send a follower to their death

 
\item Use old magic

 
\item Offer a deal or bargain


\stopitemize
 
\startMonsterName
Salamander	\CMTags{Horde, Large, Intelligent, Organized, Planar} 
\stopMonsterName
 

Flaming spear (2d6·b+3 damage)	7 HP	3 Armor

 

\CMTags{Close, Reach, Near} 

 
\startMonsterQualities
{\bf Special Qualities:}  Burrowing
\stopMonsterQualities
 
\startMonsterDescription
The excavation uncovered a basalt gate, the reports called it. Black stone carved with molten runes. When they dug it up, the magi declared it inert but further evidence indicates that was an incorrect claim. The entire team went missing. When we arrived, the gate was glowing. Its light filled the whole cavern. We could see from the entrance that the area had become full of these creatures—like red and orange skinned men, tall as an ogre but with a snakes tail where there legs ought to be. They were clothed, too —some had black glass armor. They spoke to each other in a tongue that sounded like grease in a fire. I wanted to leave but the Sergeant wouldn’t listen. You’ve already read what happened next, sir. I know I’m the only one that got back, but what I said is true. The gate is open, now. This is just the beginning! {\em Instinct} : To consume in flame
\stopMonsterDescription
 
\startitemize[1,packed]

\item Summon elemental fire

 
\item Melt away deception


\stopitemize
 






