The Crawling Lands

The Crawling Lands are considered to be the stretch of foul swamp, tunnel riddled forest, and webbed canopies that reach from the eastern edge of the Noxmarsh to the lands of Taurea. A vile and dangerous land, all forms of life have been chased out except for insects. Those that sting, crawl, bite, and flutter have a home here with plentiful food and breeding grounds. Aside from regular insects everywhere, there are also large populations of giant insects, magical abominations, quasi-sentient races yet to be fully identified, and what some call a god beast, the Vermiurge.

While in the Crawling Lands, there is the constant hum of trillions of winged insects buzzing in the air for miles and miles around. Sleep is a difficult venture. After only an hour or two, the buzzing will wake anyone. The only method that has been found to counteract this is to physically knock the creature unconscious or to put it under a magical sleep spell.

##### *GM NOTE: Any creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher that travel in the Crawling Lands cannot take Long Rests. On the second day without a long rest, creatures must make Constitution saves, DC12+2 for every day without a long rest. Every time this check is failed, they gain a level of exhaustion.*

Swarms of flying insects are constantly searching for a next blood meal and anyone who sleeps on the ground, even in a bed roll, in these lands runs the risk of fleas, tick, bed bugs, and other fouler parasites to worm their way into the clothing, their hair, and their bedding.

### **The Wailing Hive**

Towards the eastern edge of the Crawling Lands are a pair of enormous cave entrances that go deep into the ground. These mounds are guarded by magical insect monster with carapaces like iron. They swarm all intruders. Those that have been able to penetrate the hive speak of a large number of humanoid captives, wrapped in webbing and goo. They are kept alive by forced nutritional infection by a special kind of slug. They are used as living food, slowly being drained of blood and then allowed to heal.

Those that tend to the victims are the quasi-human creatures that skulk about these infested lands. A dreadful people, their skin bland and their eyes full of loathing. Their hands are malformed claws and scant, thin hair covers their sore covered bodies. They have been given the name Meenlocks by travelers.

**Meenlock, Small Aberration, LE**

HP: 12 AC: 13 (Natural) Init: +2 Speed: 20 ft. Climb 20 ft.

Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d4)

Abilities: Str 10 Dex 14 Con 11 Int 14 Wis 12 Cha 7

Skills: Acrobatics +4, Athletics +1, Stealth +8

Passive Perception 11

Languages: Meenlock, Common (Cannot speak Common)

Special: **Blindsight 60 ft., Fearful Appearance-** Any creature who sees the Meenlock, who is not another Meenlock, must make a Wisdom save DC 12 or become frightened for 1 minute. **Dimensional Step (Recharge 5-6)-** The Meenlock can step through higher dimensional angles to teleport around its nearby proximity. As a bonus action, the Meenlock may add 50 ft. to its move speed for that turn. **Telepathy-** May telepathically communicate with any creature with a language within 30 ft. of itself. **Psychic Hallucination-** May cause any creature within 300 ft. of the Meenlock to hear sounds only audible to the target. There is no save to resist. **Meenlock Transformation-** Creatures captured by Meenlocks can be turned into Meenlocks. The Meenlocks force feed certain beetles and leeches to the target while remaining in constant contact. Whispering, nuzzling, and licking the target, they begin to warp its very body. The process takes 6 days. Every day, the target must make a Constitution save DC 12. If the target fails three saves in the next six days, they transform into a Meenlock on day 7. If the PC succeeds all the saves, the Meenlocks may begin the process again on the 7th day. **Fear of Light-** When confronted with a bright light or sunlight, the Meenlock must make a Wisdom save DC 12 or flee to the nearest unlit area. If in a shadowless room, they will scream, panic, and flail about in mental pain. **Multiattack-** May make two claw attacks per turn.

At the center of the hive is the Meenlocks god, indeed perhaps the god of all insects. A great beast, the body of a scorpion, wings of a wasp, stinger of a hornet, claws of a crab, and biting fangs of a spider: it is called the Vermiurge. It is sentient and masterfully intelligent. No one knows its origin, but scholar hypothesize that it may be an ur-being from the beginning of time and the sire of all insects.

Every few years it will rouse from its throne and wander the area. During this time it will kill and terrorize all who have the misfortune of being near its home.