Elminster's Ecologies: Book 3 - Anauroch

The secrets of the massive desert were detailed within this firsthand account. It offered a broad description of the three regions of the Anauroch desert, including the Sword, the Plain of Standing Stones, and the High Ice. It continued with an exploration of both the more commonly-found animals as well as the rarer, particularly deadly beasts found within the three regions.

Read the Document

Elminster's Ecologies: Book 3 - Anauroch

A Great Man's Journeys

The man known as Ibn Al'Arif was not easy to track down. Once found, he remained largely and maddeningly deaf to entreaties for cooperation. His stubbornness and pride are great faults, not only of the individual, but of all his people; in fact, these characteristics demonstrate the failure his folk will always make of diplomacy and coordinated endeavors... but I digress. Nevertheless, Ibn Al'Arif's aid in compiling information regarding the strange desert of Anauroch proved invaluable. In fact, I would deem it impossible to attempt a similar task without his aid. There exists, in all likelihood, no one who knows as much about the desert, and the secrets that it holds, as does he. These secrets are many, and some are quite startling. To be sure, more stirs in the savage realm of Anauroch than first meets the eye.
Ibn Al'Arif - translated, the name means Son of the Great Lore - refused to speak of his life's history in an organized fashion. He would tell what he had seen and learned, but nothing of what he has done. I, however, have learned - through sources varied and numerous (and some suspect) - much of his sordid past, and relate it here now.
Born son of the sheikh of the tribe called Maurani, Ibn Al'Arif is of the people called the Bedine. Among them, he is known also by the title the Wandering Son; no one speaks his true name. The Bedine are desert nomads, the only humans to call Anauroch their homeland. Almost without exception, the tribes remain in that region of vast Anauroch known as the Sword.
The Maurani were once a large, powerful tribe. They roamed the entire length and breadth of the Sword in their quest for survival. At a tender 16 years, Ibn Al'Arif became sheikh of this powerful people when his father was turned to stone by the fearsome gaze of a basilisk.
No one with knowledge of what happened next will speak of it, and the thread of the story wears thin to breaking. How long Ibn Al'Arif remained as sheikh is unknown to me, but he lasted at least a full year. no small accomplishment for a green boy, you will agree, once you have read his report on the Great Desert - probably longer. But the desert is harshest on the passions of youthfulness. The end of his reign came abruptly when the Son of the Great Lore made a serious mistake, a bad decision, likely prompted by his fierce temper.
His tribe abandoned him. Barbarous as it seems, such is their right, by custom, when they disagree with their leader.
Ibn Al'Arif found himself alone in the desert, too proud to retract his blunder, watching his people go. Loyal retainers and immediate family may choose to remain with their sheikh, but none of the young man's family did so. It is said of this precipitous moment the tribe actually split into two tribes, both of which still exist today. Neither tribe speaks of its former sheikh.
When a man is left alone in the Great Desert, even if he is Bedine, it is assumed he will not survive long. The desert has a way of swallowing lone individuals, and they are never seen again. Not so with Ibn Al'Arif. He wandered Anauroch alone.traversing not just the sandy Sword, but the far, obscure regions known as the Plain of Standing Stones and the High Ice as well. He braved elements whose battering has crushed many a larger, less tenacious adventurer. He faced creatures whose magical natures make them feared and reviled by his own people.
He was even captured by the insidious evil forces dwelling in the Underdark below Anauroch. Instead of surrendering to their will, the Wandering Son bided his time, recruited his strength and his cunning, and escaped.and from them gained knowledge that he alone, among humans, possesses.
No other man is as well-equipped to tell the tales of all those myriad creatures that dwell in the Great Desert. Even what I know of these mysteries comes in great part from my discussions with him. The following account, in Ibn Al'Arif's own words, shares all the information he would give regarding the ecology of Anauroch.

Part One: The Lands of Anauroch

Despite what outlanders think, Anauroch is not all sand dunes and days of endless heat. Only the region called the Sword fits such a description - and even then, the statement does not prove true for the entire Sword. However, berrani, or strangers to our land, often cling to poetic generalities and ignore specific truths. This is why they do not live long in Anauroch. The Bedine often say, "survival is in the details."

The Sword

The Sword sweeps around the southern part of Anauroch like the curved blade of a Bedine warrior. It surrounds the other desert regions and provides a buffer between them and the outer lands. To enter Anauroch is to enter the Sword.
It is a realm of dunes and dry heat, with only a few, widely scattered oases to provide the blessing of water. Occasionally, one encounters the white, glaring crust of a salt pan, a scoured, pebble-covered plain, or barren, rocky mountains and hills (whose rumored-to-be gold-filled interiors often draw foolishly unprepared, soft, honorless outlander prospectors and miners) . . . but for the most part, the Sword is an endless sea of sand.
It is also the realm of the Bedine, a proud, noble people unknown to most outsiders. A word of warning to those entering the Great Desert: You will find the Bedine a greater potential danger than any of the fearsome beasts which roam the naked waste. Do not cross the Bedine - you will not survive the experience.
With this caution always in your mind, let me tell you briefly what a berrani must know of my people. Do not dislike them out of hand. Unlike outsiders, the Bedine are an open-minded people. They only react with hostility if they are angered.
The Bedine always give strangers a chance to prove they can act with trustworthiness and honor. Most outsiders they encounter, however, are brigands and evil wizards (whom the Bedine call "Black Robes" and you may be more familiar with as "Zhentarim"), so a few among my people have a prejudice against paleskinned strangers.
In a way, however, this prejudice is a blessing. Because my people assume a stranger to be without honor (until he has proven otherwise), they usually allow him a chance to surrender should he anger them to the point of battle. No such offer is extended to another Bedine.
What constitutes honor? I should not have to describe what every child learns as easily as sand spills over a dune, but berrani can be dumber than cactus. Do not attempt to trick or steal from my people. Such actions are punishable by death. Also, avoid a Bedine tribe that is in water-pains. A Bedine does not refuse another water or food if he has it to give. But if he thirsts or hungers himself, he does not hesitate to kill to get sustenance.
Lastly, if you are a practitioner in the foul arts of sorcery, do not display such base talents among the Bedine if you wish to keep your head. It was magic that made the desert, and we will not abide its use. Most Bedine tribes simply banish spellcasters - but not all are so kind. And do not depend on some outsider's notion of mercy. There is no exception to any tribal rule. The Bedine craven enough to use magic does so secretly, or is outcast, living alone in the desert - a punishment the tribes consider as good as death.
One last caution: Travelers in the Sword should try to somehow learn the locations of such oases as exist. It is almost impossible to carry enough water to cross the desert without the blessing of an oasis.

The Plain of Standing Stones

Inside the sandy arc of dunes that is the Sword, the Plain of Standing Stones occupies most of the south central part of Anauroch. Despite its name, this region is hardly a flat, featureless "plain." The rocky, windswept area is filled with numerous stony outcroppings carved into pillars, spikes, and stranger shapes by the ceaseless, winding wind.
At first glance, the Plain of Standing Stones seems as devoid of vegetation and water as the Sword (and perhaps even more barren, which is why the Bedine never come here). It is not so. Sheltered valleys, deep gullies and other hidden spots hold cool streams of melted ice from the north. In these areas, life is abundant.

The High Ice and Beyond

North of the Plain of Standing Stones stretches a vast wasteland, covered with ice and dry, powdery snow. It is a land of perpetual winter. The barren emptiness is compounded by the disaster of bonekilling cold. The flatness is broken occasionally by deep crevasses and jagged rifts. Neither I nor anyone else knows how far north this frigid sweep extends, nor what might lie beyond.
Southwest of the High Ice, frozen sand dunes stand in rigid waves - a frigid extension of the Sword. Known as the Frozen Sea, the area is noted for the ancient cities that lie buried beneath its crusted sands. My travels have shown me that the Frozen Sea is not unique in possessing uncharted ruins. Indeed, such mysterious, hidden places can also be found within the High Ice, and even in the Sword itself.

Weather and Seasons

Although it may be hard for ulugarr - outlanders - to believe, every native inhabitant knows the weather and seasons are not uniform in Anauroch. The Great Desert is famous for its dry winds and deadly hot sun, but these are only one facet of the weather here. Wetstorms blow across the landscape, although they are rare, brief, and fierce as a giant eagle defending her nestlings. They often drench a small area with many inches of rain. It is difficult to imagine water as other than a precious treasure, but the sudden raging of runoff through a wadi can drown a camel, or sweep away an unwisely pitched camp.
More commonly, the hazards are scouring winds and the grains they fling before them. Sandstorms forming in the deep desert plague the region as a whole. Dust obliterates the sky. Dunes shift, and landmarks disappear, sometimes forever. Entire tribes can be buried alive by the shifting sands. The wind, flying across the surface of the dunes, roils in the troughs between them, rendering it all but impossible to maintain a steady direction.
The temperatures drop considerably at night among the sand and rocks. Each reflects At'ar's burning glance by day, but neither holds her spiteful heat long when she is absent. Though I have traveled in the lands outsiders leave behind, where vegetation chokes the horizon and evenings are gently warm, I still cling to my boyhood delight in the chill of desert nights. The heat of the day may bake clay into bricks, yet third watch sentries just as easily see their breaths hanging like little sand clouds in the air before them. It takes only a little daylight for the sun to warm the land to scorching again.
Of course, the Great Desert experiences larger climatic changes beyond the day-to-day variations of storm and sun. The ulugarr El'Minster claims his home has four seasons, but I know he exaggerates. There are really two seasons, as we have here in the Great Desert - hot and cold, summer and winter. The winter is short in the dunes, being only three months long, but during that span the temperature plunges and the wind increases so as to make the Sword inhospitable to human life. Occasionally, a dry snow falls, white like the salt pans but lighter than dust. It does not last. Any moisture binds the sliding sand grains into a hard, slick surface. Most Bedine flee underground during this time, to fight the living beasts in the caverns under the sand, rather than waste away in the breathless chill above.

Anauroch - Part Two: Ecology of the Sword

The sandy dunes of the Sword are home to a great variety of life, often to the surprise and horror of newcomers. This populatedness, where ulugarr thought to find only sand and sun, is due in part to Anauroch's surprisingly close proximity to regions with more hospitable climes and large sources of water. (Many Bedine, who rarely, if ever, leave the Sword, would be shocked by the luxurious and forgiving climates of nearby lands. Sight of the great seas of water to the south would stun them senseless.) It is from these regions that the Sword acquires many of its inhabitants. Though they may not have chosen to come here.often they were chased or driven by some predator or circumstance. and though they may not survive as long as the hardy native creatures, still the Mother Desert accepts all who choose to tread her sands. If they are clever, they can thrive.
Another source of Anauroch's diversity is less appealing to consider - indeed, to the Bedine it is the root of evil. That is magic. Wanting no truck with magic, nevertheless I have been forced by circumstance to observe it more closely than any Bedine should, or would ever wish to. I suffered these indignities because life, and revenge, are precious to me, and that is all I will say of the subject. I pass on information about foul magical creatures so that others may have warning. The very words leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
Many creatures found within the Sword are not found in other deserts, I am told. (Though I have seen much of the Realms, I have not journeyed to the place called Zakhara, nor do I wish to.) Other creatures are well known to frequent arid regions, and informed travelers will not be surprised to find them in Anauroch as well. Sometimes our monsters have slightly different habits than their cousins from other regions. It is best not to assume familiarity. Learning the nature, habits, and secrets of those beasts which prowl its scorched earth is essential to surviving the desert. As the Bedine say: "A careful warrior will make a wise elder."

Common Creatures

The first creatures a berrani encounters are most likely those insects that fly or crawl across the sandy wasteland. Flies, ants, termites, moths, and locusts are all common pests.
Few travelers pay insects any attention, however, unless they are engulfed in dangerous swarms. Whatever their behavior in outlanders' territories, insect swarms feed on any living thing they find in the desert, including plants, animals, and humans. Although quantities of fire and water are useful for dispatching swarms, there is an easier (and, in the case of precious water, less costly) way of warding them off. There is a nabat, or plant, called ularimil which grows in patches within salty, flat areas of the Sword. This reddish grass, when mixed with sparing amounts of water, forms a thin paste which repels insects of all kinds. Although inedible and strongly acrid, the paste has no ill effects upon the skin.
Like insects, spiders are quite common, although not as numerous nor as visible. Most spiders of the desert are poisonous, using their venom to immobilize their prey. Only the extremely large among their kind regard men as food (see Rare Beasts, below). Smaller spiders, such as the reikh'irud (known in other tongues as the tarantula), are truly a danger only if somehow disturbed or accidentally agitated. Spiders often ambush their prey (be they insects, scorpions, or even small desert rats) by hiding in the sand. Some build hidden traps with their webs. Careful travelers are watchful of stepping onto such a trap, for an angry spider always bites.
Another tiny but dangerous desert dweller is the scorpion. The Bedine highly respect scorpions for their hardiness and tenacity. It is a compliment to be compared to one, though many berrani are ignorant of the status implied by such a remark. These creatures behave alike to poisonous spiders - a watchful desert traveler is careful not to disturb them. Unmolested, they pose little threat. If a man is foolish enough to sleep with his gizam, or boots, off in the open desert, however, he should be wise enough at least to shake out those boots when he awakens. Many a desert creature considers the sheltered confines a perfectly comfortable cave or crevice to rest in, nest in, or defend with his utmost powers. The Bedine check their gizam for night visitors even when they have slept in the safety of their own tents.
The desert snail is a strange creature that dwells in the sand. Most active in the more moist and cooler winter season, these creatures mark the onset of the hot weather in an unusual way. They seal their bodily moisture into their shells with a viscous membrane and abandon them upon the surface of the sand, working their soft bodies deep into the ground to hibernate away the hot months. I do not know how, with the blowing winds, they expect to ever find those shells again, or if they will simply take whatever shell is handy when they resurface. I only know that sometimes the desert is white with snail shells. Desperate travelers have been known to break them open and suck out the stored droplets of water. The tiny bit of moisture recovered hardly makes such actions worth the effort, but there are times when even a few drops keep a water-poor body alive long enough to reach a real source of liquid.
Anauroch has its own breed of bats that fill every night sky. Where do they come from, in this bleak, featureless land? I have discovered bats individually and in small groups tucked into the smallest gaps between rocks on a windswept ridge, or clinging to the under-fronds of oasis palms. Their wingspan is deceptive. Bat bodies are often smaller than a fist, and they fly great distances.
Though they primarily feed on insects, bats are not averse to drinking the blood of sleeping larger prey, such as camels, antelope, and even humans. When asked which creature is most numerous in the desert, a Bedine usually ignores insects and their ilk, and replies, "Bats." Though universally disliked, the creatures are regarded almost as one regards the sun, the heat, and the sand. They are simply a part of the desert and everyday desert life.
Few birds dwell in the Sword, but hawks and other carnivorous avians occasionally find dinner near oases. They might dine on small lizards, rodents, and even large insects. Vultures, of course, most often feed on carrion, and willingly follow a potential victim deep into the desert, circling it as it moves. Among my people, some claim a certain type of vulture is actually a demon that seeks the soul of a soon-to-be-dead man rather than his flesh. These large, brightly-colored bird-creatures are extremely rare, and are said to hunt only humans. (In fact, they may be purely myth - I have never seen one with my own eyes.)
Lizards and snakes do live in the Great Desert, but they bury themselves deep in the shifting sand to escape the heat of the day. Almost always, a traveler stumbles upon them at night. Like most of the creatures in Anauroch, desert reptiles eat meat almost exclusively. Their venom is concentrated poison to help them subdue their prey. Cobras and spitting snakes present a very real danger to all night travelers, while vipers and other species are found most frequently near oases. The Oasis of Vipers is, of course, avoided by man and beast alike because of the prevalence of poisonous snakes. (More can be found on snakes in the Rare Beasts section.)
Near an oasis, the relatively hospitable local climate supports more life. The larger animals can survive where there is water enough, and food. They will brave such proximity to predators that I have heard outlanders remark with amazement - all to keep access to drink. Antelope, especially gazelles, graze in small herds. Jackals roam in hunting packs, feeding primarily on what antelope they can catch (usually the weak and infirm). Sometimes a bold or desperate pack savages the domesticated camels and horses of resting travelers and Bedine camps.
More dangerous yet is the shrewd desert lion, which stalks any large game it finds, including men. These cats are master hunters and extremely stealthy, efficient killers. The only defense against them is a watchful eye and some training with a strong weapon. Bedine camps are not guarded merely against the jealous raids of neighboring tribes. Faced with prey that demonstrates the ability to skillfully defend itself, most lions choose to search for easier game rather than enter into a prolonged fight. If a man is foolish enough to corner a big cat, however, or threaten its young cubs, he finds himself in a fight to the death.
Herds of wild camels frequent oases even as their domesticated brethren do, but these well-adapted beasts can be found deeper in the desert than any other nonmagical beast. Although they can be broken to camp life, it is much easier to train the young of an already .tame. camel. Wild camels do not hesitate to lash out with vicious kicks and bites to defend themselves.

Rare Beasts

Aside from common animals, as I have said before, monstrous creatures roam the Great Desert. These are creatures to be feared. Many are too powerful both in strength and in sorcerous powers to be fought by even the greatest warrior. Against these foul foes, it is not cowardly to flee.

The Basilisk

I speak first of the basilisk, not because it is most prevalent or most powerful, but because I hate it most of all creatures. I lost my father, the great Asiru, son of Misarud, to a basilisk, whom the Bedine call hagar motab, bringer of stone-death.
My travels have shown me that these monsters are not only horrors of The Great Desert, but common in other lands as well. I have never met the beast elsewhere but merely listened, with grim memory, to ballads and recollections that goad my rage afresh. The Anauroch variety basilisk is brown-skinned. Like most desert-dwelling lizards, these creatures are active only after the heat of the day has passed. During sunlit hours, they hide underground in their cave-lairs. They are almost never encountered among the endless dunes of the deep desert, preferring to crawl about where either an oasis offers easy access to water, or a mountainside surrenders its sheltering angles of stone. Basilisks are not only evilly cunning, but lazy and cowardly as well. They prefer to lair where food, water, and shelter all lie within an easy dash.
In my experience, these creatures are irrational and insane half of the time, and shrewd hunters the other half. A desert basilisk is easily angered, but it never fights to the death if it can avoid doing so. When angered, it hisses like a cobra. The lizard may attack prey, of course, but if the initial attack fails, a basilisk usually retreats and waits for an easier victim. Many Bedine have avoided a fierce (and probably hopeless) battle with a basilisk by stoutly fending off the initial attack and then falling back, rather than foolishly pressing on to slay the creature.
When hunting, basilisks pounce from a hiding place and attack their victims with their hideous gaze and strong, toothy bite. If they are able to kill a victim before the effect of the gaze turns it to stone, they drag the carcass back to the (always nearby) lair and devour it. Most basilisks need only eat a large meal.a kill the size of a man or antelope.once per month due to their slow metabolism. They are gluttonous, however, and eat any and all meat available. I have heard tell that, presented with enough fresh meat, a basilisk will literally gorge itself to death. I should think this would require a great deal of flesh, however.
If it turns a victim to stone, and if the lizard currently has a brood of young, the desert basilisk returns to its lair and leads its young to the petrified victim. The tiny reptiles (only one to three inches in length when newly hatched) then actually devour the stone, worming their way slowly through it with tiny but powerful jaws.
Apparently, these creatures have something in their bellies that allows them to digest petrified flesh as if it were in its original form for nourishment. Meat turned to stone is all the young eat, however, and they seem to lose this ability once they mature. I have never heard of a stone-eating adult.
If a desert basilisk petrifies a victim and has no young, it ignores the new "statue." A greater basilisk (of which rumors number only one or two in all Anauroch) is more likely to smash any immobilized victims with a contemptible lash of its tail.

Dragonnes

These foul creatures are, in my opinion, the obvious result of magical crossbreeding. They display the physical characteristics of both lions and brass dragons - too many to be mere coincidence. Dragonnes lurk within the Scimitar Spires and among any of the northern hills in the Sword. They are found as well throughout the Plain of Standing Stones. Extremely territorial, the beasts are never encountered in numbers or even near others of their own kind. As dragonnes do not eat humans unless they have to, the only people who need worry about them are those who invade dragonne territories. Simply passing nearby, as the nomadic Bedine might, is not likely to anger a dragonne, but anyone or anything looking to settle permanently in a creature's territory is soon savagely attacked.
Of course, in times of great famine, when antelope or camel herds are scarce, a hungry dragonne may be driven to attack humans, so travelers should always be wary. More, they must guard their pack animals from predation. While the creature is unlikely to attack a man, it makes no such exception for his beasts. Bedine who travel through the known territory of a dragonne often put worn, sweat-covered clothing on their camels and goats to give them the odor of man. This seems to slightly discourage a dragonne from attacking domestic animals.although it is by no means foolproof.
Dragonnes are most dangerous to travelers during their mating season, which is the first month of fading heat. In this time, they lose their senses. Even the other beasts of the desert know to avoid a dragonne's territory when it is overcome by the mating drive. Any creature it sees, other than a dragonne of the opposite sex, it attacks. Oddly, mating-mad dragonnes rarely strike directly at their targets. One might fly to a high, rocky place and push boulders down upon its foes. I have even seen a dragonne swoop down from the sky, grab a man off his camel, and fly back up into the air, merely to drop the victim from a greater height.

Giant Spiders and Scorpions

These creatures are rare, but they may be encountered anywhere in the Sword or the Plain of Standing Stones. Scorpions come in a variety of sizes. The largest I have heard of was eight feet long. At one time, a tribe of asabis (laertis, to outsiders) attempted to capture a number of these vermin, to train them as attack creatures and possibly even mounts. Although they had a certain success with a few of their captives, generally the beasts proved far more trouble than they were worth.
Those giant spiders found in the desert are huge, hairy brutes, which do not bother with web making as practiced by their smaller cousins. They feed on small rodents and large insects, relying on speed to pounce, and attacking with an especially virulent poison that completely (and permanently) paralyzes prey, causing all bodily functions to cease.
Many Bedine tell camp tales of epic battles between giant scorpions and giant desert spiders. Though ulugarr consider them legends, these tales are most always true in the essential, observed facts, however they are decorated with morals. The creatures seem to be natural enemies, and gladly feast upon each other's flesh.

Laertis

Asabis, as these beasts are named in the tongue of my people, are serpentine humanoids unique to Anauroch. Primarily subterranean creatures, these fiends often rise to the surface at night to raid Bedine tribes for food. Like lamias, they feast upon the flesh of men.although asabis prefer the internal organs, or "soft parts," as they hideously call them.
I have encountered two varieties of asabis. The more common, and I suspect more intelligent, are warriors, and the larger, more monstrous my people know as "stingtails." The difference will become obvious as I continue.
Common asabis are brown or gray and narrowskulled as the little swifts that dart across the dunes. Their yellow eyes flash malevolently in the night when they leap to attack. They dress in crude armor and fight with weapons that they fashion themselves. Occasionally, some take up the equipment of their fallen human foes. Those asabis that carry scimitars are often particularly favorite targets of young Bedine warriors. A recaptured sword is especially blessed.
Laertis can burst up out of a dune as if from nowhere.it is their favorite method of attack. What stops them from being a worse menace than a greedy Bedine sheik is their inability to attack under At'ar's burning gaze. As it is to Anauroch's lesser lizards, so too is the heat of the sun injurious to asabis. Indeed, a very little exposure can kill them. So, they only come out at night.
But this does not mean the creatures are not mobile. Their underground passages create huge catacombs beneath the desert. In the dank darkness, they can travel far. If one is caught above ground by daylight, or if a band is preparing an ambush, they dig themselves several arms-lengths into a soft duneside, where they hide from the heat of the day. Asabis organize themselves into tribes, each ruled by a council of elders and a war-leader.
Stingtails seem to be a strange, mutant form of asabis. Brown or reddish, rather than gray, they loom head and shoulders above their smarter brethren, yet seem content to merely follow. They are always found among an asabi tribe, never on their own. Stingtails can wield weapons both with their hands and in their prehensile tails.
Those sinuous, pebbled tails have a worse function. If a creature uses its tail to slap a foe in combat, instead of merely slicing at him with an extra blade, it can secrete a liquid poison onto its victim. Thus they acquired their name.
Though both asabis and stingtails themselves are immune to it, this poison is very effective against other creatures and against men (it yields terrible consequences, both physical and mental). Some Bedine warriors coat their blades and points with stingtail poison.
In their lairs underground, asabis cultivate fungi to feed upon when meat is not plentiful. These creatures, despite their evil nature, never war among themselves. Unlike many of the desert-dwellers, they never resort to cannibalism.
Though few humans realize it, most asabis are not acting merely on their own whims and strategies. A majority of laertis are actually mentally controlled by illithids and beholders that dwell under Anauroch (see The Underdark of Anauroch for details).
A few tribes remain autonomous. Even these free creatures hire themselves out to the Black Robes or other evil masters. Apparently, they prefer the security of working for outsiders to being forced to fend for themselves.
Asabis can be found throughout the Sword. There is a great asabi force gathering under the ruined city of Rasilith. Those monsters, however, are under the direct control of the evil creatures that dwell in the Underdark. In contrast, many "free" asabis dwell in caves under the rocky spires of Azirrhat. Despite the gold that can be found there, the Bedine avoid Azirrhat for just this reason.

Lamias

These vicious devils have slaughtered whole tribes of my people. Using their evil spells to bewilder and slay their prey, they feast upon the flesh of humans. Fortunately, for the Bedine and for the outlanders who roam the face of the Great Desert, they are fairly rare. From all I have heard and observed, a new lamia is born only infrequently.
Common lamias always appear to be females. attractive, desirable females.from the waist up, but their lower quarters are animals. And not only one species; the animal portions vary greatly. I myself have seen lamias with the bodies of lions, goats, antelope, and once, even a camel. I have heard tales of even more exotic aspects. Could I picture monsters with the nether parts of giant lizards, wolves, or even large cats not native to the desert? It strains my belief, but I cannot say that it is not so.
As there are two kinds of asabis, so too are there two varieties of lamias. A lamia noble, however, always has the lower body of a giant serpent. Horribly, the torso that tops this snakelike lower portion can be either sex.
It is said that normal lamias are begotten by the mating of lamia nobles. But no one I have met can tell the tale of the nobles' origins. Most likely, anything so cruel, so grotesquely formed must be a magically created abomination from ages long past. Perhaps it would be a fitting quest to attempt to slay all lamia nobles, for if the rumors are true, that would spell the end of the whole race.
Any traveler can be unlucky enough to run across a lamia in rocky, mountainous regions of the Sword. Beware the naked beauty beyond the crest of the hill! A Bedine woman would never be so immodest as to greet a man without her veil, but there is a further giveaway. Lamias refuse to wear jewelry of any kind. A Bedine is decked with all her wealth: rings, chains, and beaten ornaments jangle at her neck, dangle from her arms, and weight her keffiyeh against the tugging of the wind. If she is jewelless, if she is veilless, turn away.
Even greater numbers roam the Plain of Standing Stones. A lamia prefers to live alone and she makes her predations on a traveling party one at a time. The creatures also like to lair among the ruined, mostly buried cities of the distant past. Unfortunately, such ruins are common throughout Anauroch. It is my theory that perhaps the nobles are actually survivors of the great cataclysm which swallowed those cities. If this is true, then noble lamias have much lore that has been forgotten - magical lore. Thus foul, dangerous information probably best left "lost."
A single lamia is a curse upon those she dwells near, but far more horrible is the lamia noble which organizes a large force of these normally solitary creatures. This has happened only once during my lifetime. But two entire tribes were destroyed before a great council, led by my father, organized half the tribes of the Sword to destroy this threat. Hundreds of Bedine died in this war, but the threat was extinguished. The pair of lamia nobles which had led the attacks was slain.
Today, lamias can be found in concentrations only within the Lion's Eye Oasis and the far northern ruin of Hlaungadath. My people avoid these areas, naturally. The lamias that control the Lion's Eye Oasis are ruled by the powerful and cruel Glaendra, a female noble nine feet in height. She uses a great many sorcerous artifacts, and commands a formidable force of lamias. It may be of some value to note here that even before the lamias came, Bedine legends tell of horrific monsters dwelling in the surprisingly deep lake formed by the oasis. I know this to be true. At least one reptilian creature - a dragon turtle - resides there, controlled by a powerful, sorcerous water naga. The naga possesses a great hoard of treasure, which it keeps within the submerged ruins of an ancient castle.
The ancient city of Hlaungadath is said to be home to as many as one hundred lamias and a dozen lamia nobles. Rumor has it that there is more treasure there than a man can imagine, both in terms of wealth and dread magic. From what I learned in the underground regions, the phaerimm consider these lamia a major threat. The passages below the city seethe, a constant battleground between the two evil forces (see The Underdark of Anauroch).

Lycanthropes

The only shapeshifting were-beasts that I have ever seen in the Sword are were-rats. A small tribe of Bedine, calling themselves the Nasaba, are in actuality were-rats in human form. Somehow, long ago, the entire tribe was infected with lycanthropy. Unlike the were-rats that I have heard tales of when I visited the outlanders. cities to the south of the Mother Desert, these creatures most resemble the small, quick, desert rats which commonly skitter hieroglyphic trails in the dunes of the Sword.
Most ulugarr fear were-beasts with a deep and irrational passion. The tales told in other lands about them are so gruesome, so villainous, that no outlander would hesitate to commit murder on a man he suspected of carrying the lycanthropic curse. I know this because I heard it, around camp fires and in common rooms and taverns throughout the Realms.
But we in the desert are more open-minded than you berrani. Until I traveled, I had not even heard of the existence of were-beasts. And I want to you to hear the tale I am about to relate without your native prejudice. Put it aside.
The Nasaba are extremely insular, and attempt to pass themselves off as a cautious Bedine tribe that avoids contact with strangers. Only their small, wiry appearance (though that physique alone is not terribly uncommon for Bedine), and the presence of so many normal desert rats in the camp might give them away. Strangers who insist on spending the night with this tribe must all too soon discover the ratmen's secret - and then they are devoured. Other than the occasional stranger, however, these creatures tend to eat only the foods a normal Bedine tribe would gather.
I only know their true nature because I stumbled upon them as they were being attacked by a dark naga and a force of asabis. The entire tribe transformed into their ratman shapes. The surprise alone was enough to turn their foes away.
Since they do not hunt humans, and discourage the presence of strangers whom they would be forced to slay, I will not think of the Nasaba as evil beings. I wish them no harm.

Serpents

The number of giant serpents and monstrous lizards in the Sword is not large, but they are a menace nonetheless. Huge snakes, such as the giant cobra, are a rare but very real danger, but the heway snake is the most feared.
My travels in the outlanders. countries have convinced me that none have as hated or as deadly a foe as the heway. Monsters are monsters the Realms over: they kill folk, they ravage towns, they terrorize livestock. But the heway's special talent is more horrific than any other.
This twelve-foot, slimy-scaled beast secretes poison from its skin into a well or oasis, fouling the water so that any creature drinking from it is paralyzed. It does this in a cowardly attempt to weaken its prey, but its selfish act has far-reaching consequences. Without the blessing of good water, whole tribes, whole regions, are condemned to death.
To defend itself, the heway can hypnotize its foes with a sorcerous stare. It moves only in twilight. Not only Bedine, but all herd animals as well, will kill a heway on sight.
On the subject of serpents, it may be good to add a small bit on dragons. Drakes are rare in the Sword, but they do exist. A venerable brass dragon whom the Bedine call Tayyib-kher dwells at the eastern end of the Scimitar Spires. A rumor that I have heard swears a number (up to as many as a dozen) of other, younger, brass dragons live nearby. This rumor goes on to claim that these brass dragons slew any and all blue dragons (for these are enemies of brass dragons, the way basilisks are enemies of Ibn Al'Arif) that once lived in the area.
This is not entirely true, for I have seen a blue dragon in the Hills of Scent myself, although it was still young and quite small for a dragon. In any event, Tayyib-kher is known to the Bedine as a benevolent protector of the Spires, although he has an annoying habit of waylaying entire tribes so as to talk at length with the elders. Such an encounter can lead to a delay of many days for a traveling tribe.
To the east, a mated pair of copper dragons has begun the habit of flying in from the Desertsmouth Mountains to hunt hatori. Normally, these dragons ignore humans, but occasionally they swoop down to play some strange joke upon a traveler, as is their nature. Most humans have nothing to fear from them, but I once saw them attack and destroy a caravan of Black Robes. Whether the dragons wreaked such destruction because the Zhentarim are evil or because they perhaps showed no appreciation for humor, I do not know - or care to ask.
Not every dragon in the Sword is kind-natured, of course. Though most outlanders are unaware of their existence, the Great Desert is home to a breed of yellow dragons - evil to the bone. They enjoy feasting upon the flesh of men. Their greatest delicacy is another race, however. Yellow dragons seem especially fond of munching on D'tarig, a dirty dwarf race that dwells on the southern and eastern fringes of the Sword. I have seen these fiendish creatures most frequently darting around the fringes of the Saiyaddar, a semi-fertile plain known for its antelope, and for Bedine antelope hunters - either of which the dragons happily devour.
Lastly, I have heard tales of a great wyrm red dragon, trapped for some reason in a cave on the northern edge of the Sword, near the Oasis of Vipers. This fiendish dragon is depicted in all the rumors and legends to have advanced magic-using ability, even for one of his twisted kind, and he uses spells to summon monsters from other worlds and turn his foes into terrible undead. He sends his creatures out to wreak havoc and chaos as revenge for his mysterious entrapment.which the legends all agree occurred long before the desert was even created.

Sphinxes

Both andro- and gynosphinxes may be found in the Sword. My people have long used sphinxes as characters in our tales and cautionary parables relating to the differences and relationships of men and women. It is considered a virtue among Bedine men to resist the lure of women and of love, just as the androsphinx avoids the gynosphinx.
In real life, sphinxes roam the desert in seclusion and solitude, avoiding all other creatures - a fairly easy task in the deep desert. Both types of creatures seem to be completely magical in nature and need food or even drink only once every few months. For this reason, they may even be encountered in the Shoal of Thirst, where all is dust and salt.
Some sphinxes, of both types, know spells which can create water. If encountered in the deep desert, some are willing to make a deal with a traveler. They cast their spells if travelers can give them something of value.
Not all Bedine would take advantage of this opportunity. Though my people picture sphinxes in our tales, they are nevertheless tainted by forbidden magic. But you outlanders have fewer fears about magic, so I tell you this in case it is of use.
Gynosphinxes are almost solely interested in locating androsphinxes, or in some magical item or spell that will help them eventually find one. Androsphinx motivations are far less focused, and their desires vary greatly. Many wander without any purpose at all.

Anauroch - Part Three: Ecology of the Plain of Standing Stones

In contrast to the Sword, the Plain of Standing Stones is less a traditional desert - or, a desert in the way that outlanders think of one, all drifting sand and burning sun - and more a rocky, barren wasteland.
The native animals and beasts that dwell there are more varied than in the sandy desert, but they must make adaptations to survive the rough, rugged terrain. There are fewer refugees from the lands beyond Anauroch here. After all, even if the outlander beasts know where they are heading, in the way all beasts have to sense shelter and safety, most of those perish in the dunes, or become fodder for some cunning indigenous life along the way. It is the will of At'ar.
There are still foul, magic-tainted beasts stirring in the Plain of Standing Stones. Many of the creatures that frequent the Sword region also roam through the Plain - except for humans.
Bedine tribesmen generally believe the Plain to be more hostile to life than the Sword. In this case, my people are mistaken - it is not more dangerous; it is simply different. In fact, in some protected, secluded valleys, the land of the Plain of Standing Stones is lush beyond a Bedine nomad's dreams.
Like everywhere in Anauroch, winters in the Plain are especially cold and harsh. The winds scour the pillars and rock formations with stinging lancets of ice, and glittering crystals rime surfaces to unearthly beauty and slickness. Most creatures have caves or rock-hidden lairs to protect themselves from the death-dealing cold. Some even delve down so far as to break into the network of underground tunnels that make up Underdark Anauroch.
But the very presence of the lumps and misshapen monuments of stone means that there are lee spaces out of the force of the wind, and snug cracks where tinder can be lit and not whipped away from frozen fingers. Compared to the Sword, the Plain of Standing Stones offers a stranger the ghost of a chance of surviving the fierce winter season.

Common Creatures

Rodents and the lively small mammals, including rats, raccoons, gophers, hedgehogs, badgers, even foxes, thrive in this rough area. Their tracks crisscross any small pockets of dust or earth, their discarded seed hulls and downy shed hairs nest in crevices and fill hollows with the litter of life. Most stay near the occasional fertile valleys, like Aerithae's Rest, but many, particularly rats, can be found in practically every ravine, cave, and crag.
Insects, spiders, and scorpions are as common here as in the Sword, but rather than digging in the endless sloughs of dunes, they crouch among the rocks waiting for prey.
Wild crag sheep herds live in the region, keeping to the greener valleys. Jackals, coyotes, lions, and even wolves, make these herds the targets of their depredations, as do giants, hobgoblins, outlaws, and the other more intelligent races of the area.
The fertile areas, with their myriad small denizens, in turn also support larger animals: boars, wild dog packs, skunks, squirrels, warthogs, goats, and a few bears. More rarely, ordinary creatures grown to giant size, including boars, badgers, porcupines, and skunks, as well as huge spiders and scorpions (discussed previously in regard to the Sword region) may be found.
Birds are more common in the Plain of Standing Stones than in any other part of Anauroch. The rocks give them resting places, nesting sites, and hunting ground where the prey below might venture to think themselves safe. How clearly a ground squirrel might follow the progress of a hawk circling the wide sky above a dune, endless blue punctuated by the naked silhouette of death. But among the narrow crenellations of stone, how safe it must think itself - a dash from shelter, a crack everywhere at hand. I have seen the hawks batter themselves with fury against a wall of stone, and heard their piercing shrieks of rage. But I have also seen them rise triumphant from a seam of rock, dinner clutched in their powerful talons, when the crevice proved too shallow, or the prey too slow.
Vultures, hawks, desert owls, ravens, eagles, and other hardy birds scour the skies. Again, some few have reached giant size. But even a Bedine can tell you that no bird spends both seasons here as a matter of course. A great number of birds of all sizes and species fly from the area to avoid the cold, windy winters - even those that are not normally considered migratory by outlanders. Some days in the Sword, the sky darkens as before a sandstorm. But it is only birds fleeing from winter in the Plain of Standing Stones.
Snakes, lizards, and tortoises are common anywhere in the Plain of Standing Stones. Cobras, rock pythons, spitting snakes, and gila monsters are the most dangerous creatures of their ilk. They have even been used as weapons.
The hobgoblin tribes that dwell among the Standing Stones often capture poisonous snakes and keep them in tightly-knit baskets. Thus armed, they wait atop a high cliff for their enemies to approach, ready to drop the snakes upon their foemen to sow confusion and panic in their ranks. While the targets hop about, flinging snakes out of their midst and groaning over unfortunate bites, other hobgoblins in the tribe press forward the attack from below at the same moment. I have seen these tactics in action, and the hobgoblins were the victors of the engagement, suffering only three snakebites among their ground forces from poorly-aimed baskets.
I was also once told by the outlander wizard El'Minster - who, by great At'ar the Merciless is no friend of mine - that the eyes of a small lizard called the jer-jer-ub are valuable in the distillation of sorcerous potions which make a man extremely agile for a short time. The jer-jer-ub, whose name comes from the hobgoblin tongue and means rock-hopper, is a dexterous little beast and is quite difficult to catch as it leaps about rocks on high cliff faces and stony crags.
Never mind the dread purpose of sorcery - I have not been so undignified as to scramble among the stones, chasing lizards, since I was a small boy.

Rare Beasts

Dragons

There exists in the Plain of Standing Stones a rock known as the Pillar of Tauros. This tall, crooked column of stone serves as a sacred place for dragons of all kinds. I myself have seen the great beasts flying toward the pillar, ignoring all else. Once there, dragons perch atop the rock and spend hours in what appears to be some sort of meditation.
A berrani explorer by the name of Jo'tull supposedly climbed the Pillar of Tauros, and found an inscription of magical runes. He claims that the inscription is like unto a foul sorcerer's spellbook, and from these runes, dragons can learn new spells. including, as these tales always say, many unknown to human wizards.
I do not know how greatly this rings of truth, but I do know that I intend to never find out for myself. Dragons come from the farthest realms to visit the Pillar of Tauros, and they often engage in fantastic battles over the right to "nest" on the pillar. It is magnificent and chilling to see the aerial dance of fighting dragons. Little sand lizards are but a parody of the flashing, swooping grace of the great wyrms. Whatever is on top is definitely a prize they feel is worth risking their lives.
Blue dragons are the most commonly found of their kind in the Plain of Standing Stones. They have few or no enemies there, and so they hunt without fear. One blue dragon, Ghondalaath, dwells within a rocky pinnacle known as Heroes' Helm. I give the area wide berth since I chanced across it when the beast was returning from a gorge. This great wyrm is a master of magic, and his lair is guarded by magical traps and gruesome undead which he has created.

Giants

Among the rocky convolutions of the Plain, a surprisingly large number of hill giants make their homes. They normally hunt hobgoblins, humans, sheep, and goats. Occasionally even more dangerous game takes their fancy, such as cliff-dwelling hippogriffs, giant insects, and those monstrous-sized mammals (including giant badgers and porcupines) that fit their stature. I suppose for a creature that large, it takes too many sheep skins to make a cloak.
Normally, these giants dwell in groups of ten to twenty, but occasionally they gather in even greater numbers, called together by their king, Derrnog. This Derrnog is a surprisingly intelligent warrior for a giant. He stands over twenty feet in height. I was at first mystified to see such a turn-out of monsters, but since my initial discovery of the council, I have found that the giants often wage a concentrated war against hobgoblins (who are much more numerous), or attack the much rarer but powerful fomorian giants that also lair among the rocky crags and caves.
These actions may have provocation, but I have never seen or heard tell of an instance of aggression from either foe that would account for the force of the hill giants' revenge. It could be there are feuds of long standing. But I suspect that Derrnog has some grander plan than mere retaliation.
Hill giants greatly fear both cloud and storm giants. I overheard a pair muttering darkly about these other monsters, who they believe live in secret cloud castles above the desert.
Of the sky-giants, I know nothing. I have, however, had the unfortunate mischance to encounter the foul fomorian giants. These behemoths are malformed and hideous - personally I believe their origin is the mad experimentation of some ancient sorcerer. In fact, as I have alluded to before, I believe such experimentation explains the blighted existence of many of the strange creatures in Anauroch. It is further proof why magic is to be feared and avoided.
Though smaller than their hill giant cousins, fomorians are stronger and more cunning. Worse than that, from the point of view of all who dwell in the Plain of Standing Stones, they feed upon the same sorts of prey as hill giants do.
But fomorians also eat the flesh of their fellow giants. That hill giants are not happy either to compete for foodstuffs or to become them may well explain the occasional wars between the races.
Fomorians like to torture their prey before eating it. This barbaric custom gives rise to an occasional wail of pain that is carried on the wind, and to the Bedine mother's observation to errant children, even when it is truly the wind's whine, that "Fomorians are feasting today." The giants' large, deformed hands do not allow them to make precise or delicate movements. Therefore, torture victims are usually killed very quickly, though accidentally.

Hobgoblins

The few humans that dwell in the Plain of Standing Stones speak of the barbaric hobgoblins with hatred in their eyes and fear in their voices. These marauders tend to kill all they come across, either to steal from it, in the case of intelligent victims, to eat it, or just for pleasure. Even the giants in the region have reason to be wary of hobgoblins, as the latter have devised ingenious hunting and trapping techniques to bring down any foe.
I have seen a force of hobgoblins destroy three hill giants by the simple strategy of attacking them as they passed through a narrow gorge. The hobgoblins struck from above and below at the same time, laying about with spears, bows, and crude blades. Those above also pushed large boulders down into the gorge to strike the giants, even though this tactic resulted in harm to some of their fellow warriors.
These ruthless creatures are masters of surprise and ambush. Their encampments are always well hidden, and surrounded by skulking guards.and possibly a few crude traps. I have been told hobgoblins never fight in an open area if they can help it, and that they flee or surrender if attacked when unprepared.
There are at least a dozen tribes of hobgoblins in the Plain, each numbering a hundred or more. Each tribe splinters into smaller war parties for most of the summer months, reuniting during the winter.
It is not completely unknown for a few humans (usually thieves or brigands) to join up with a war party of hobgoblins, but such alliances are usually short, and they are always in the summer. When a tribe masses for the winter, outsiders are not welcome - the tribe carries only enough food and shelter for hobgoblins, and much of the time, they fail to collect even that.
Hobgoblins in this region capture other creatures and use them as beasts of burden, or even as weapons. One tribe, the Bonegnashers, is said to have captured a gorgon a few years ago. Apparently, the shaman of the tribe fashioned some masks from a rare plant known as huvremba that allows one to breathe the petrifying breath of a gorgon safely.
Wearing their masks, the beast's keepers herd it from its cave into a dead-end ravine. Then, the hobgoblin warriors drive their enemy's forces down the ravine - right into the gorgon.

Leucrotta

These beasts are among my least favorite creatures of the myriad species I have encountered in my travels. They - But I can describe them better with a tale.
Once, while traveling the Plain of Standing Stones, I was in the company of a young ulugarr of little honor (a murderer and a thief, but a tolerable companion for a short time) named Tirug. We were looking for shelter, both from the wind and from a hungry band of hill giants, and darted into a ravine.
Upon descending into the darkest portion of the gully, we both heard the shrill pitch of a woman crying out in pain. Tirug wanted to ignore it, and now I see the sense in his lack of compassion. I was young, and full of noble impulses. I insisted we find the woman and save her, and so we followed the cry.
We found no trace of human passage. There were only the tracks of some sort of stag - Tirug was actually more familiar than I with such beasts. Those tracks should have alerted me to danger, as certainly they alerted him.anything mysterious in Anauroch can only be dangerous.
But I was naive. Without warning, we were attacked by three leucrotta, who had been mimicking a woman's cry to entrap us.
I escaped the foul ambush, but Tirug did not. In the fight, I saw one of the hideous beasts bite right through Tirug's shield and armor with the bony ridges that it has instead of teeth. The tales that I had heard of such beasts did nothing to prepare me for their incredible ugliness or their foul smell. I am told that their lair is even more odorous, and I have no desire to ever test the knowledge.
After I escaped up the ridge, I watched as our pursuing giants entered the gully. The leucrotta interrupted their horrid feast of Tirug to hide - and commenced to imitate the cry of a giant in pain. The giants paused, and then fled. Apparently, even those dim witted fools had learned the leucrottas. tricks.
The leucrotta returned to their former feast. But my companion's death was not entirely in vain. Since that hard lesson, I too have tricked a number of giants into running from me. I hide snug in a crevice and mimic a giant in pain - or rather, a leucrotta imitating a giant in pain. It was a difficult skill to master, but it has saved my life twice.
Leucrotta seem willing to feed on anything, but in some perverse way the beasts prefer to eat the flesh of intelligent creatures they can deceive. I have heard their hide is useful in the construction of magical boots of striding and leaping, and that their spittle can be imbibed as an antidote for certain non-lethal poisons and potion-based charms, but I know little of such matters. I have fought them off once. The next time I might not be so fortunate.

Manticores

Those manticores in Anauroch display traits that differ slightly from others of their kind living in the outer lands. These beasts are known as gared-guur among the hobgoblins and giants in the region, which means "slayer from the skies."
I am told that manticores outside of the Great Desert prefer human flesh to feast upon. In the Plain of Standing Stones, such meals are few and far between. Perhaps because of this lack, our manticores have taken up a new favorite prey: giant eagles. Most manticores in the region make their lairs near the high nesting areas of these huge, elegant birds.
Manticores hunt in packs of three to twelve creatures, and can bring down giant eagles in flight with their sheer numbers. Eagles are also handicapped by a manticore's tail spikes. The bird is forced to close with its attacker in order to bring to bear its sharp talons or tearing beak, but the manticore can throw its tail spikes from a distance outside the reach of the eagle's defenses.
The manticores of the Great Desert are still not able to resist the taste of humans, however, and attack all travelers that come near them. When manticores cannot find a meal of humans or eagles, they settle for hobgoblins or even small animals.
Great numbers of manticores are known to gather near a huge mountain known as the Swordpoint. The creatures are also reputed to generally hate lamias, and are known to attack them on sight. Lamias, on the other hand, often use sorcery to enslave manticores and force them to act as guardbeasts.

Trolls

Rarer than hobgoblins, desert trolls are still a threat to all creatures, intelligent or otherwise. These rocky, brown-skinned cousins of the much more common troll of the outer lands are able to slightly modify their color to better blend in with their surroundings.
Desert trolls are exclusively carnivorous. In fact, they do not even drink water - only blood. Water is poison to them, and merely touching it causes them harm. No outlander's troll suffers this condition. Again, I find evidence that leads me to think our desert creatures are created or mutated by sorcery.
Luckily, desert trolls are usually solitary, and can be content feeding on crag sheep and small birds and mammals. A troll is not afraid to take on a creature that can fight back, however, and does not hesitate to attack a giant scorpion.or a band of men. I have heard tales that a starving troll may even attack some of the creatures from the Underdark, like beholders or illithids (though normally it would seal its fate by doing so). Desert trolls have at least learned not to bother their giant neighbors.
These creatures do not seem to keep lairs, but wander the Plain of Standing Stones, thinking only of their next meals.
Though crafty and shrewd in the ways of stalking, hiding, and hunting, they are generally not as smart as normal trolls (or so I am told. I have not encountered enough of either variety to make a careful study, nor can I see any point in seeking them out). Most desert trolls can speak only a few words, and those are hard to understand.
Very rarely, a family of up to six trolls may be found together, parents and young. These groups remain bonded for only about two years. When the young trolls are able to make their own way in the world, the group disintegrates. Each heads off in its own solitary direction.
That I know of, nothing feeds on trolls - even the foully-scented, carrion-eating leucrotta find troll flesh too distasteful to ingest.

Water Creatures

The River of Gems and the surrounding valley it creates are home to many strange and sometimes terrifying creatures. This river forms at the southern border of the High Ice and runs with the frigid temperatures of melting snow into the Plain of Standing Stones. Fierce At'ar's gaze warms the surface water as the river travels to the edge of the Sword, where it disappears into a large sinkhole called the Throat. The river remains narrow throughout its course, and in places depths of 50 feet or more are not uncommon. In the bottoms, the water is still as cold and clear as the ice from which it came.
Both merrow and scrags lair in caves under the surface of the river, and form one of its hidden threats. These creatures live and hunt together, cooperating very well. They spend much of their time gathering gemstones found on the river bottom. They also hunt fish, and those animals that come to drink at the shore. Merrow and scrags most enjoy attacking groups of intelligent beings.humans, hobgoblins, and even giants.for these beings provide both food and the treasure they love.
Though interbreeding appears to be impossible, the two races intermingle in every other manner. and on equal terms. Both decorate their bodies with tattoos and scars to show age, prowess and position in their dual society. I once spoke with a woman who claimed to have actually spent time with the merrow and scrags, and who apparently understood the tattoos. As a general rule, she said, the more markings on an individual's body, the older and more skillful he or she is.
Merrow use primitive spears, while scrags rely on their natural weaponry. Both are adept at setting crude traps along the river's edge to aid them in catching prey. Though both races can survive out of water for an hour or more, they prefer not to leave their element, especially during the day when At'ar the Merciless beats down upon the Great Desert.
The river is also home to many sorts of fish - small remnants, mute reminders of a time when Anauroch was a fertile land filled with lakes, streams, forests and life. Though most of my people find it hard to accept this history, after all I have seen in the Realms and in my own land, I know it to be true.
The River of Gems is full of what my merrow-loving acquaintance calls river fish, amphibians, and reptiles. These may be the normal inhabitants of a liquid environment, but they are creatures of which I really know very little. Oasis species are altogether different. I have seen as well animals even a dune-dwelling Bedine would recognize as unusual: giant frogs, huge water beetles, giant gar, and a ferocious fish called a quipper which, when found in groups, can devour a man in just a few short minutes.
Perhaps it is just a Bedine's natural fear of so much water in one place, but I find the River of Gems to be a deadly locale, and one that should be avoided.
No better example for my distrust exists than the creature called the morkoth. I have been told by reliable, honorable men that these creatures are only found in deep parts of the sea. Once again, the Mother Desert disproves the shallow knowledge of the berrani.
There are numerous tunnels, both above and below the water's surface, that open within the ravine carved out by the river. Many of these passages lead to the Underdark, an area of subterranean horrors deep below Anauroch (and, I am told, under many other parts of the world as well).
Unwary explorers attempting to access the Underdark through these routes often end up becoming lost within a series of identical, winding tunnels. Some strange effect of these underground passages draws them ever deeper in until they reach a large, central chamber which is their doom. In this chamber lives a morkoth.
Morkoth somehow hypnotize their victims as they stumble through the labyrinthine twists above, and devour them once they reach the central chamber. When not luring human adventurers, they probably feast upon the more plentiful merrow, scrags, and perhaps even the larger of the river fish.
One legend says that once every ten years, all morkoth leave their lairs to find mates. During this time, great ill is inflicted upon all those dwelling near the river through blights, disease, and misfortune. Dead fish float up to the surface of the river and are washed away.
At the Throat, a three-mile-wide sinkhole in which morkoth are even more common, there are said to be creatures called water nagas, supposedly related to dark nagas, which I will describe to you later. Unfortunately, I know little of these water creatures. I know merely that they are not necessarily evil beings, and are better off left alone.
Rumor has it that directly below the Throat, at a depth of water I cannot conceive of, there is a hidden city of aboleth, creatures in league with the other foul subterranean horrors. These also will I detail later, when I finally reveal the secrets found in the Underdark...

Anauroch - Part Four: Ecology of the High Ice

In the north, the frozen plain known as the High Ice stretches farther than any man knows. Within this frigid wasteland, life is uncommon. The ice covers a number of ancient, well-preserved cities, however, rumors of which draw adventurers and explorers to the region on a continual basis. Most do not return.
I myself have only traveled through the High Ice once. It is not a place for casual visitors. At the time I chose to explore it, I was searching for the rare sisareya bloom - the only cure for an illness my second wife gained from drinking at a well poisoned by a heway snake.
Though I was unsuccessful in my quest - to my sorrow, the plant blooms only once every five years and grows only amid ice and snow - I did learn much about the region during my sojourn there.

Common Creatures

Animals common to the High Ice are few. Travelers are most likely to encounter harmless, thick-furred icejacks, which resemble plump, slow moving hares. These creatures feed only on snowflowers, hardy plants that push their way up through the snow.
This vegetation seems susceptible to the tearing winds, or perhaps an icejack's nibbling weakens its grip in the snow. Whichever, the rounded, wiry shrubs are sometimes blown about like the tumbleweeds which roll in the Plain of Standing Stones. They nourish the icejacks, which in turn form the basis of the northern food chain, as they are extremely abundant.
A white-furred constrictor, called a snow snake, is another frequently encountered creature. It waits buried in powdery snow for its prey. Occasionally these snakes actually burrow into the depths of a snow bank, but usually they scurry along on top of it.
Small badgers, arctic foxes, caribou, a few bears, and other, small creatures make their homes here, feeding on either snowflowers, icejacks, or each other, as is their taste. Snow owls, great soarers (huge, white-feathered condors), and other predatory birds spiral overhead, watching for twitches and shadows that disturb the vast, pale expanse below.

Rare Beasts

Dragons

Dragons of various types, including red, topaz, brass, blue, and others, lair near a peculiar phenomenon known as the Smokeholes, when traveling across the High Ice. Away from the tempering influence of these oases in the cold, it is rare to find any but white dragons. But that declaration is too hasty - crystal dragons are not unknown, either. Usually, if a white and a crystal dragon encounter one another, they fight - although the white dragon is nearly always perceived as the aggressor in such a battle.
The hill giants of the Plain of Standing Stones tell a tale about frost giants who came from the mysterious north to settle in the High Ice. The arrogant - or in other tellings - foolhardy frost giants encountered a number of crystal dragons in their new territory, and attempted to enslave them. The dragons slew the giants, and now no giant of any sort dares enter the area.
White dragons prefer to hunt outsiders, whether human or animal, as most of the native creatures are, by adaptation or design, resistant or immune to their breath weapons. I have seen, however, a dragon attack and kill a small remorhaz - and later, the same wyrm slew a group of yeti.
There is a powerful white dragon named Augaurath who dwells within the region. She is the undisputed lord over all dragons in the High Ice, and it is rumored that some of the other creatures in the area, such as yeti, winter wolves, and even some semi-intelligent remorhaz, worship her as a god.

Ice Toads

No Bedine should ever be forced to endure the savage cold of the High Ice. It is such a change from the broiling heat of the Sword that it is hard to believe the two regions are so close. Creatures like ice toads make the too-frigid air of the High Ice even colder.
These beasts grow to be eight feet long and dwell in small groups in icy rifts throughout the High Ice. They feed on practically anything, and attack with their vicious bite.
Worst of all, though, they radiate a cold so intense it can kill a man, instantly - a cold so bitter it outchills even the harshest arctic wind. You are not daunted by monsters? The mere presence of these beasts has slain many desperate, unwary explorers as they searched a toad-inhabited rift for food.
Mostly, since explorers are themselves so rare a species in the High Ice, the toads feed on small mammals like icejacks and arctic foxes. They feast when an occasional caribou herd wanders across the southern edge of the region.
Ice toads are said to be intelligent, and to have their own language. As good a weapon as it is against yeti - another hazard common to the frozen wastes - fire is useless against ice toads. Heat draws ice toads, and drives them into a frenzy. A simple campfire is enough to launch a single monster into a fight to the death with whatever opponent might be handy. A larger fire could draw perhaps dozens of the creatures, all insane with rage.

Remorhaz

These beasts, which resemble nothing so much as huge worms, are probably among the most feared creatures in the High Ice. I myself encountered one once, as I journeyed across the ice with five ulugarr gnomes who were seeking the area known as the Smokeholes, where they had heard rare minerals might be found.
Long before we reached the Smokeholes, one of these terrible polar worms erupted from the snow in front of us and attacked. The beast we confronted was almost thirty feet long, although I have subsequently learned that they can grow to a length of almost fifty feet.
It immediately swallowed one of my companions whole, while the rest of us attempted to fight it. One of the gnomes attacked the beast from the rear, but the creature's back grows incredibly hot when aroused - hotter than At'ar herself, it seems - and the gnome's stout shef weapon melted as he struck the worm.
Though we managed to kill it eventually, our victory came at the cost of a further two gnomes' lives. I had foolish hopes that the remorhaz' first victim might yet live, having not been chewed or squeezed in the suddenness of the monster's attack. Sad, what unfamiliarity with a monster can lead one to believe. It was not to be. The swallowed gnome was of course instantly suffocated by the creature's unbelievable inner body temperature.
The leader of the gnomes, being somehow knowledgeable about such things, drained a liquid from the beast's body that he called thrym. He claimed that it was a useful substance in the making of heat-related magical items. Even among outlanders, I ask who would count foul magic worth such a cost?
In the aftermath of our battle, we had the bodies of the monster and our companions, and a great hole rimmed with refrozen ice. I left the gnomes to their death rituals, whatever those might be. I felt sure they would prefer to face their grief alone.
Curious, I backtracked instead down the slippery tunnel the creature had made or chewed or melted through the ice. Eventually, my fearsome trail lead to a series of passages, and then onto a central lair. Here I found the indigestible possessions of those intelligent beings the beast had eaten previous to our fateful encounter, and a number of eggs. I took one of the eggs, and soon afterward sold it to an adventurer who thought that he could raise the creature and train it to serve him. Ulugarr talab ghashim tariq. Outlanders seek strange paths.

Salamanders

I am told it is another of the great ironies of Anauroch that heat-loving beings like salamanders have a place in the High Ice.
As previously mentioned, there is a region in the High Ice known as the Smokeholes. These holes mark the exit points of hot, volcanic gases which escape upward through the ice sheet, producing great amounts of steam. The air around these vents is extremely hot, and the very earth surrounding them is warmer than the rest of the region.
Salamanders dwell within the Smokeholes and wait for other beings to tread close in a dangerous search for warmth. The salamanders attack whatever comes near, hoping to pull a victim into their holes. Dwarves and gnomes like the group with which I was traveling are forever mounting expeditions down into the holes following tales of great, rare ore veins.
It is said these veins decorate the Caverns of Burning Ice beneath the Smokeholes. So far as I can tell, these legends simply provide various salamanders with humanoid meat.
Salamanders wield magical weapons and keep fire snakes throughout their lairs as guardians. It has been told to me by a mysterious traveler that the salamanders guard the Smokeholes because some powerful entity commanded them to protect something buried in the caverns. What this treasure could be is a mystery to me...

Snow Cloakers

These beings are very rare, existing in small numbers in and around the particular rift known as Llashloch, the Lake of Ice. It may be that they exist nowhere else. When I brought up these creatures in my brief conversations with the outlander wizard, El'Minster, he mumbled something about the race nearing extinction. Good riddance, I say - if it be true.
Snow cloakers, which have a subterranean counterpart in other parts of the Realms that I have also had the misfortune to encounter, glide over snow and ice and drop upon unsuspecting victims to devour them. When they are at rest, they are almost impossible to see. Even when they are gliding about, their sinuous movements are difficult to pick out of the snow-filled winds. They apparently are immune to the High Ice's harsh cold.

White Pudding

As life adapts to the burning sands of the Sword, so too does it adapt to the drifting, dune-like snows. One great danger of the High Ice is that most creatures that live there are hard to detect because of their coloration or their stealth in concealment. None is more difficult to perceive than the white pudding, a creature sometimes known among adventurers as the snowmound beast.
White puddings are huge masses of flesh, three to eight feet in diameter, that move by oozing their way across the snow. Never elsewhere have I seen such a thing with my own eyes (though there is said to be a similar creature in the Sword that has the appearance and consistency of sand).
The monster feeds on all kinds of animal and plant matter, as well as absorbing ice and snow. White puddings secrete some sort of acid which eats through clothing and flesh with alarming speed.
Noise in great quantity and at great volume is said to ward these creatures off. Of course, these same sounds may attract predators of a different kind! The reverse is also true. Sometimes a white pudding - usually a small specimen; perhaps they are less sensitive - follows the baying, howling, or growling exchanges of other beasts, such as a pack of white wolves or a bear, and devours what they leave behind.
Legends told round the cookfires of hardy explorers and the sentry fires of bundled trekking parties picture a huge white pudding, hundreds of feet across, that never moves. This awesome - and in my mind, likely mythical - beast said to exist in the far north simply waits for prey to come to it.

Winter Wolves

Equally as intelligent as the dread ice toads are winter wolves, the toads' chief predator. Immune to ice toads. cold emanations, these lithe creatures have no problem in slaying their prey.
Huge, beautifully white animals, much more impressive than the skulking jackals of the hot desert, a pack of winter wolves can nevertheless be extremely deadly. They breathe frost as a white dragon can.
These beasts always travel against the wind, so that their prey is unable to scent them. Watchful travelers in the snow country therefore always note the direction the wind is blowing. Upwind is where the wolves are. Winter wolves have no need to practice tactics like surprise or ambush. Their speed, strength, and power are sufficient to defeat any foe or bring down any game.
Their packs are well organized. Unlike his cousin wolves in many other parts of the Realms, a winter wolf pack leader is usually the smartest animal, rather than merely the largest or strongest member of the pack.
It has been said that if a human were to offer a pack leader something it would value, that human could gain the service of the wolf pack. I am suspicious of such a nebulous promise; it smacks of braggarts and wishes. What a human explorer could offer a winter wolf of the High Ice is something I would love to know.

Yeti

Though fierce hunters in their own right, yeti are perhaps best known in the High Ice as the primary food source of the remorhaz. These well-adapted apes are intelligent and crafty, cunningly burying themselves in snow banks and holding motionless to ambush their prey. Remorhaz, however, have some way to detect them while they are hidden, unmoving and invisible to the naked eye. The great polar worms attack the hapless yeti from underneath.
Yeti have been seen using weapons they have stripped from intelligent victims, but they make no tools or weapons themselves. It is said that one should never look directly into their eyes, for the icy blue orbs of a yeti can paralyze a man with fear.
They live in small packs of extended families. Like some Bedine tribes, these families consider every other living being, including other yeti, as enemies. Unlike my tribesmen, yeti also consider everything else beyond their family members in the light of possible foodstuffs. Yeti risk an attack only if they believe they can successfully kill their chosen prey.they are not foolish.
The fur of a yeti has some sort of heat-absorbing property. Because of this, they are dangerously cold to the touch (heat from your body is pulled from you when you touch one), and they can withstand great amounts of damage from fire. However, I have found in my own travels that a simple torch swung about will ward off numerous yeti. If you can manage to slay one of these creatures, skin it and take its pelt. It can save you from the death-bringing cold.

Denizens of the Lost Cities

No discussion of the creatures of the High Ice can be complete without mentioning the Lost Cities: Ascore, Hlaungadath, Spellgard, and Oreme in the Frozen Sea, and Anarath, Bhaulaea, and still others under the ice itself.
These places are, in general, filled with magic and death. Any sort of creature may be found within their boundaries, even those not necessarily native to ice and snow, sand and stone. Many monstrous inhabitants are leftover remnants of a forgotten age, preserved by magic or their ability to adapt.
As is the case in the ruined cities in the Sword, the most common sort of monster in the Lost Cities is undead. These restless spirits of ancient times still guard the Lost Cities from intruders. Magical creatures beyond a Bedine's worst nightmare, such as lamia, hags, dragons, medusae, beholders, even other planar beings, are also frequently encountered, either living among the ruins or exploring, for these foul abominations were, in their heyday, places of powerful magic.

Anauroch - Part Five: The Underdark of Anauroch

I save this discussion for last, because I like to speak of it least of all things. There is no more terrifying place than the Underdark, and it holds secrets regarding the Great Desert that are both difficult to tell - and difficult to hear.
Winters are harsh all across Anauroch, even in the Sword. When the winds howl and the temperatures plummet, the Bedine retreat into subterranean tunnels beneath the sands. We have no choice. To stay above ground would be to freeze, for there is no shelter in the endless dunes. The wind harries all before it.
This is the most trying time for any tribe, for there are beasts below ground that resist our intrusion with fearsome powers and surprising organization. These forays into underground caverns are a constant fight, but death above, in the cruel winter winds, is certain. The Bedine have only to endure the horrors of the Underdark, and count the days till they can emerge once again.
The first time I lead my tribe into the dark underworld, we entered through the caves south of the Shoal of Thirst. Immediately, eye tyrants attacked us and barred our way. Many of my people died, and only our sheer numbers drove the foul creatures back.
One victory did not secure us lasting peace by any means. The eye tyrants later retaliated by sending endless hordes of orcs and hobgoblins to assault us in our makeshift camps. Apparently, these goblinoids were under the mental control of the beholders. No matter how bravely we repelled them, more came. Still, we held our ground. Many more brave Bedine warriors died, and their wives sang the songs of mot'azim, or death, for many days. Finally, the creatures gave up. Although occasionally one of our people disappeared, wandering too far from the fire we kept stoked night and day (for what are night and day in perpetual darkness? The firelight held back the noisome little beasts), we made the best of it, and awaited the coming of summer with the same eagerness with which a hawk springs into flight.
That was my last winter as sheikh of my khowwan. I did not return to the Underdark for many years after that, for I knew I could not survive there alone. It is not in my nature to seek death in so cowardly a fashion. Little did I know that when next I journeyed there, I would indeed travel alone. It was on my second sojourn that I learned the horrible secrets I will now reveal.
An ancient, inhuman race called the phaerimm rules Anauroch's Underdark and controls, one way or another, all of its inhabitants. These monsters control many of the events on the surface of the Mother Desert as well. Most of the asabis, and even some of the Bedine tribes, are directed by phaerimm magic.
It is the phaerimm who have made Anauroch into the waterless, lifeless region that it is. Even were I to reveal this secret to the Bedine sheikhs who were once my equals, however, the power of the phaerimm is too great. Even a united Bedine force, astonishing as such a prospect is (but remember, too, that my own father once united half the tribes of the Sword), powerful and brave though my people are, is too weak to ever confront them.
Perhaps no one can stop them - and they seek to spread the desert over all the Realms! I know this to be true, for I have beheld these monsters with my own senses. They had control of me for some little time, as well, but I managed to break free and flee to the surface.
Knowing these facts, a traveler from the outlands may at last truly understand Anauroch and why things are the way they are in the desert. It may be that no man in Anauroch can truly be trusted, due to phaerimm influence. I have faith, however, that my people - more than soft outlanders and greedy adventurers, more indeed than any other people - have a chance to resist such evil sorcery for at least a short time longer.
They are a strong race, the Bedine. They reject magic absolutely, and they abhor the very idea of slavery. How long this desert-honed strength can last, I do not know.
For those actually wishing to enter the dark realm of death after all the warnings I have given you, I will relate what I have seen of the most commonly encountered beings.

Creatures of the Underdark

Beholders

More commonly called eye tyrants among my people, beholders are an evil race. They arrogantly believe themselves to be masters of the Underdark (a place my people call ard'amiq). Few eye tyrants realize that their own leader, Rilathdool, an Elder Orb, is a mere phaerimm pawn.
Upon seeing an eye tyrant for the first time, my thought was "how could such a thing exist?" Years later, I still find the same question burning in my mind. Beholders and their kin (for, much to my horror, I have discovered there are many types of beholders) are unlike any creature I have ever encountered. They are not natural, they are abominations of nature.
Most of them are completely limbless, and they fly hideously ungracefully, by some sorcerous ability. The strangest thing about eye tyrants is, of course, their ability to fire magical blasts of energy like spears from their many eyes.
Beholders of Anauroch have developed a magical item called an eye-ring. In my dreams I have gathered all of these foul constructs and flung them into a remorhaz's maw, to melt in the infernal heat.
What a quest that would be! What a fitting end for base magic! But I must tell you what these eye-rings can do, so that you will recognize the justice of my dream vision.
These magical rings fit onto the eyestalks of a beholders' many eyes. Each ring is keyed to a specific power of a beholder's eye, and changes the ray fired by the eye it is worn on to the power designated. What this means is that if a particular beholder likes the sleep ability of one of its eyes, it can wear "sleep" eye rings on the nine other eyes so that they all fire rays of sleep.
The eye tyrants of Anauroch dwell mainly in a city called Dakspar, roughly below the Dragon's Back Peaks in the Plain of Standing Stones. This city is ruled directly by Rilathdool, and has many different beholder-kin types, including gauth, spectators, and even death kiss beholders. Despite rumors to the contrary, beholders are able to coexist, and they do so in Dakspar in numbers of at least a thousand.
Gauth, those beholder-kin that consume magical power, are rare, but often hold positions of authority in the subterranean beholder society. Spectators are extremely rare and serve only as guards. Death kisses are often sent as assassins or special agents.
The beholders of Dakspar keep both orcs and hobgoblins among them as slaves and soldiers. Almost every beholder has charmed at least one such slave/bodyguard. These slaves become the "hands" of the beholder, allowing the master - through the slave - to manipulate objects they otherwise could not. Other slaves are organized into military units, each commanded by an eye tyrant which has charmed all of the orcs or hobgoblins in its unit.
Beholders, as far as I could tell in my time among them, do not distinguish at all between orcs and hobgoblins. Occasionally, a charmed Bedine like myself may also be discovered among the slaves. We humans are treated the same as any other slave. Apparently, eye tyrants do not bother to recognize any differences among other races. They seem to think only in terms of "us and them."
Some small-minded Bedine feel that way about outlanders, but observing beholder society has shown me the folly of such narrow thinking. That is a weakness among both the eye tyrants and the Bedine - they are quick to underestimate that which they are unfamiliar with.
Beholders never imagine any human is a threat until they are shown otherwise. A smart adventurer can use this arrogance to his advantage. Once a slave or foe demonstrates a great deal of ability or skill, however, beholders will be on their guard, for they are quick to recognize power. Power is the one thing they respect.
Since the Bedine are familiar with the eye tyrants that dwell in the Underdark, having encountered them every cold season in their underground sojourns, displaying a dead beholder or some vestige of it, such as an eye, is a quick way to gain a small amount of respect from a desert tribe. But do not be too ostentatious. A cloak tasseled with beholder eyestalks, the way some northmen trim their fur capes with tails, is more likely to turn stomachs than to inspire respect among the tribes. Many great Bedine warriors have eye tyrant trophies, but they are rarely displayed openly. To speak of the denizens of the Underdark any more than necessary is considered bad luck and bad taste.

Dark Nagas

Dark nagas are evil agents of the phaerimm that operate above ground as well as below. Unlike beholders and illithids, these creatures are both aware of their masters and serve them willingly - there are no spells which force a naga into servitude. I am told by those more knowledgeable about such things than I that these creatures obtain a feeling of security by working with, or for, others.
Perhaps nagas feel more secure knowing the awesome power of the phaerimm supports them and their actions. On an even more practical level I have observed that nagas often learn new spells from the phaerimm as rewards for duties smartly completed and missions accomplished. Given the limitless magical knowledge the phaerimm possess, I imagine a powerhungry creature like a dark naga has no reason to ever leave service to a generous master.
Dark nagas serve most often as a kind of field commander, leading a group of lesser slaves in combat or on other important missions. They are almost never encountered without a retinue of orc, hobgoblin, asabi, or human underlings. However, there must be some friction or jealousy within their species, as they also never operate with other dark nagas. Their masters teach dark nagas spells to charm and control these lesser troops.
Some dark nagas appear to serve the beholders in their foul city of Dakspar. They operate as slave unit commanders for eye tyrants, just as they do for the phaerimm. It is my belief that these Dakspar nagas are actually spies and infiltrators sent by the phaerimm to make sure the beholders do as the phaerimm wish.
Dark nagas are not fastidious, and they eat all types of flesh, even that of other nagas if they must. In a desperate situation, a naga does not hesitate to kill one of those under it for food. They are selfish in the extreme. But they do have some concept of loyalty. at least enough not to turn on those in positions of authority.
Dark nagas have fully adopted the goals of the phaerimm as their own - these being the complete domination of both the Underdark and the sunlit world. Each naga has its own individual plans as well. Some scheme simply to gain more personal power, others develop plans so esoteric they are difficult for humans to comprehend.
In their quest for more power, dark nagas value magical items above all else. They always plunder their foes for such booty. If they find treasure worth taking, they swallow it, placing it in what would seem to be some special storage stomach whence they can regurgitate it later.
Dark naga lairs are usually filled with magical items. Unfortunately for the would-be wizard, these base leftovers tend to be weapons and charms that were not worth the creature's time or that they could not use. An item a naga finds useful is kept on (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say in) its person.

Illithids

Illithids - or mind flayers - are for the greatest part directly controlled by the phaerimm. There is no illusion here, as there is in the eye tyrant's lairs, that the species chooses its own destiny.
Phaerimm control is not absolute, however. There are supposedly a few independent, rogue illithid bands - particularly near the frozen city of Anarath.
The number of illithids in Anauroch's Underdark is actually small, being less than a few hundred. Because of this, the phaerimm use their illithid slaves sparingly, and rarely in groups. Instead, mind flayers serve as the phaerimm's special enforcers.
Illithids may occasionally even venture onto the surface of the Great Desert, carrying out some mission for their masters. Usually, they act as spies, trying to discern the meaning and probable outcome of Zhentish activities, the plots of lamias, and directives of any other active power group in the desert. (The phaerimm usually disregard my people, for which forbearance the Bedine would no doubt be grateful, if they were aware of it.)
In the Underdark, a mind flayer is sent by its phaerimm masters to investigate whenever a powerful threat enters their dark domain. I have heard that sometimes when a Bedine tribe flees underground to avoid a harsh winter, an illithid may be sent to spy on and perhaps harass them. If a powerful band of adventurers begins killing large numbers of phaerimm servants, they too might gain an illithid spy as an unwanted and most likely undiscovered companion.
Everyone has heard stuttering noises in the dark, and inexplicable rustles, then a pause in the small noises that whisper through a living tunnel. In the blackness, it is almost impossible to discover all the hiding places, all the listening crevices. Much as a person dreads the possibility of total isolation, neither can he be sure he truly is alone.
A mind flayer spy uses its mental powers to confuse and mislead any intruders into its assigned territory. If it can, it isolates them one by one from their companions, and kills them. Even though an illithid's will is not its own, mind flayers are still a cowardly lot, without honor of any kind.
The tales you might have heard are true - these monsters really do eat the brains of other creatures. I had heard they regard humans as humans might in turn regard their goats. This, however, is not true, at least not in the case of Anauroch mind flayers. They are cautious, and actually overestimate their enemies (again, they differ from beholders in this respect). They do not attack unless they are sure they can win.
I believe the mind flayers' extreme respect for human powers comes not from the sparse confrontations with Bedine and ulugarr adventurers of the current Anauroch. Though I value my own worth in fighting highly, I have seen too much of the world to imagine that I am among the most fearsome creatures in it. I think perhaps the mind flayers are recalling far earlier contacts with the Netherese, that race of powerful sorcerers who once lived in what is now the Great Desert.
Since illithids almost never so much as see each other, there is no illithid culture to relate to you. How they procreate is beyond me. I suspect from some incidents whose details I will not bore you with, however, that mind flayers are actually incredibly long-lived. Perhaps their natural life spans have by some means been lengthened by some dark phaerimm magic.
If this be true, then the illithids that run such foul errands for the phaerimm now may even be the original mind flayers captured and controlled by their masters over a thousand years ago.

Orcs (and Hobgoblins)

Most of the goblinoid creatures under Anauroch are slaves, probably taken from the sunlit world above in raids and wars. Orcs are more common, with hobgoblins being fewer in number. Asabis are frequently slaves of the phaerimm as well.
All of these races are kept and all are treated as slaves, but they are magically charmed or controlled, so there is little discontent or rebellion. Slaves. wills have been so successfully taken from them that they exist only to serve. Their masters encourage them to breed, in order to increase their numbers.
Orcs in particular have been slaves so long and have adapted to the life of servitude so well that even though the species has all but disappeared from surface Anauroch, they are a common odor in the Underdark.
Phaerimm slaves are almost never encountered alone. They would not know what to do by themselves, so degraded are they. Usually some more intelligent creature, perhaps a beholder, a dark naga, or rarely even an illithid, commands a group of twenty to thirty slaves.
Slaves most likely carry the same sorts of weapons and equipment that their above-ground brethren use, for those are the tools they had when they were captured. But since no attention and no pride is paid for the armaments of servants, the weapons are almost always of poor quality.
Since their masters do not care for their welfare, it is not uncommon for these creatures to be underfed and sickly, as well. Many turn to cannibalism, even eating their fallen foes if their masters allow it.

The Phaerimm

The phaerimm are the black masters of the Underdark of Anauroch. It is they who cast the dreadful lifedrain spells that have dried the surface world above them into the husk that today is the Great Desert Anauroch. Magic has done this! My people are right to despise its gruesome workings! To be sure, some creature or power, greater even than the phaerimm, slows and hinders their actions, but the monsters remain a threat to all that lives nonetheless.in the desert and beyond.
How can I describe these most inhuman villains? Their unnatural physical appearance is nauseating even to imagine. Phaerimm float and fly through the air as beholders do, but where an eye tyrant is rounded, the hideous phaerimm is shaped like an antelope horn stood on its point. The narrow end dwindles to a barbed tip. The widest end is surmounted by jaws lined with vicious teeth. Waving around the cruel lip of this maw sprout four amazingly humanlike arms.
When first I beheld one of the beasts, in fact, I thought it had failed to swallow its previous meal. But the limbs are its own, retractable, and ending in deformed grips. Such a monster is clearly the result of dread magic, gone horribly wrong.
Many are the servants of the phaerimm. They influence beholder society through their elder orb leader. They control other creatures directly: illithids, orcs, hobgoblins, asabis, umber hulks, giants, dragons, undead, doppelgangers, a few drow, and even humans and other upperworlders. Some few slaves, such as dark nagas and aboleth, serve the phaerimm willingly. Servants are most commonly encountered in the Underdark (where their masters control almost everything), but they can be found spying and fomenting trouble above ground as well.
Indeed, phaerimm accomplish most of their goals through their servants. From the numbers of slave parties I saw set out, and the objects I caught a glimpse of when a group returned, I fear their chief short-term goal is the accumulation of ever more new spells and magical items.
To accomplish their foul ends, they not only send out their servants to pillage and steal, but they also bid them spread word among the surface races that great wealth can be had in Anauroch. Rumors spread with every campfire, and of course, they only grow more alluring with each telling. By these rumors the phaerimm obviously hope to draw to themselves those armed with even more powerful items.
Like every other creature of dark power, phaerimm rarely collaborate together, although each individual does keep a large force of servants with it to do its bidding. There is no true leader or king among their kind. Instead, they revere and honor those of their number whose skill in sorcery is greatest, and those who develop new spells.
Phaerimm eat whatever servant is handy when they get hungry. If an explorer penetrates deep into their lairs, a strange and horrible sight confronts him - living humans, completely paralyzed, floating in the air through magical levitation. Each of these victims is injected with a phaerimm egg. (Occasionally, the victims may be other creatures, but humans are apparently preferred.)
As the foul larva grows, it devours its victim from the inside. Though paralyzed, these poor souls appear to feel a great deal of pain. I suppose it is possible magic may be able to save the incubators from their dread parasites. It must be capable of some good. But the easiest and most honorable thing to do is to put these tortured people quickly out of their misery. However, to insure the immature phaerimm is dead, the host body should be burned to ashes.
That I know of, phaerimm have no weaknesses to exploit. Their power can only be matched with equal power. Each phaerimm is a sorcerer, and most have developed unique spells for their own use. I myself have seen phaerimm magic drain all of the life-sustaining fluids from an enemy, turning him into a dry, dead husk in just a few minutes. Those magics involving charms and mind control are among their most powerful. Faugh on magic! Even El'Minster, who counts himself a powerful sorcerer, says he must be wary lest he fall prey to a phaerimm charm.
Phaerimm are supremely arrogant and self-confident, positive their magic can overcome any threat. I am not so sure that they are wrong.

Tomb-tappers

Beneath much of Anauroch there exist strange beings known as thaalud, or tomb-tappers. These creatures are oddly shaped, being in a man's general form, but with a faceless head. Large, tooth-filled maws are located in their midsections, and they appear to be sexless as well as hairless. Their skin looks to be of granite, and it is said that their claws can burrow through solid stone at an amazing rate.
Tomb-tappers, known among the few Bedine that have seen them as the Faceless, do not live on the surface of the desert, nor even in the caves and caverns of the Underdark. Instead I can report - because I have seen them with my own eyes - they tunnel up to our land from the very bowels of the world. They seek the ancient tombs of those long dead sorcererkings who ruled in ages past.
Why do they come? The creatures revere magic. Like the phaerimm, they seek magical items - but unlike those sorcerous monsters, the Faceless do not seek to use their treasures. They choose only to honor them.
Unlike all other creatures of the Underdark, thaalud are not servants of the phaerimm. In fact, they do not seem affected by the dark lords at all. The Faceless completely resist phaerimm mind-controlling magic, and the monsters know it. Because of this failure, the phaerimm have a special hatred for the Faceless. They are always looking for methods to interfere with or destroy thaalud.
For myself, I have neither seen nor heard of a young thaalud. I suspect that they are incapable of reproduction, which explanation would fit with creatures of a solely magical origin.
An ulugarr priest by the name of Demoiliss once told me he had read in a book called the Bestiary written by someone named Hlammech the Naturalist. (He graciously offered this slender, leather-bound volume up for my inspection, not knowing books and reading are somewhat beyond me. I would never embarrass a priest by pointing out his error, so I just nodded and smiled.) The text tells a little of the nature of thaalud.
According to this clever and learned book, tombtappers eat stone, although they can extract nutrients from blood and bone if they have to. I shudder at the thought. They can also absorb water directly through their skin.
Demoiliss began to tell me thaalud reverted to stone when they were killed. This was not news to me. I had learned about the reversion some time ago on my own. In fact, I beheld the phenomenon with my own eyes on that ill-fated journey across the High Ice.
An unfortunate encounter in that frigid land put me in a fight with two thaalud. Both had the huge metal hammers that tomb-tappers always seem to carry, which proved to be formidable weapons. My companions and I slew one, and ran from the other. But our flight was to no avail. If only Demoiliss had read his book to our traveling party before that day. Just as the book confirmed to me when Demoiliss read from it, these beings can sense magic (almost like a camp dog scenting lizards). Unfortunately, my gnomish allies were not willing to part with theirs. The tomb-tappers insisted.
A word to the wise: If you encounter thaalud, and they demand that you hand over your magical possessions, do not refuse. Do not lie to them, either - it does not work. You are better off without the taint of magic in any case.

Anauroch - Part Six: Legends and Rumors

I shall end by imparting those tales I have heard that I cannot prove, or those I would not wish to try to prove. Take these bits of information for what they are. I have no idea how much truth they hold.

There is an oasis in the Frozen Sea (an odd thing in and of itself) that is home to a herd of pegasi. These winged horses are aloof and leery of strangers, but extremely intelligent and honorable. If a human of good nature approaches them and gives an appropriate reason for needing their aid, they may allow themselves to be ridden.
Some Bedine claim to have seen a creature that fits the description of a remorhaz, but burrowing its way through the hot sands of the Sword! It may be a mutant or a new adaptation, or perhaps the testing of a new magically-created breed of creature by the evil Zhentarim.
A human wizard, a dark naga, and a band of questionably sane Bedine have taken it upon themselves to try to change the course of the River of Gems. Rather than allowing so much precious water to disappear into the Throat and be lost forever, they wish to force the river's flow out into the Sword, and water that dry realm. If this plan is truly what they are attempting, surely the forces of that dark, inhuman evil below will try to stop them.
Goblins, brigands, and bugbears from the Stonelands have recently been attacking Bedine encampments in the southeast. Rumor has it that some foul evil drives these noisome creatures from their lairs and homes and forces them into the desert. Of course, the newcomers have no provisions and no sense of desert ways and dangers. Their only hope of survival is to raid among Bedine encampments.
There is a location known as "The Secret Place in the Sands" somewhere in the southern part of the Sword. Difficult for anyone not born to the desert to find, it is said of this place that a creature of awesome might, known as a tarrasque, sleeps below. The creature supposedly can be awakened by some special ritual, but its power could destroy the entire region.
Titans supposedly wander the Plain of Standing Stones, uncovering veins of special ores with which to forge items of incredible power. Humans helping them are said to receive wondrous gifts.
Until now, the only surface access to the realm of the thaalud has been in the frigid, nearly unreachable barrens of the High Ice. Recently, however, some of these strange, faceless beings have been seen near the oasis of Ma'atar. Not only are they present in the hot desert, I have heard they have a great many base magical items with them. But their purposes and their methods are unknown.
An ancient sorcerer, in the form of a lich, has recently been seen in or around the ancient ruins of the city of Oreme. This lich's goals are no less than to raise all of the city's dead inhabitants and re-establish the place as a major center of magical and political power.
This last rumor was not even told to me in Anauroch, but it concerns the desert nevertheless. In a small tavern outside Neverwinter, a slender, elf-like man hailed me. By my robes, he said, he knew my homeland. He asked that I find his elder brother, who had traveled into the Sword years before, and bring him home. An ulugarr wandering the desert alone? I replied he would not have lasted two months - but the man insisted his brother was a learned mage. Of course, I refused the task - I want no part in hunting foolish magicians' bones. Still, the Neveren believed his brother lives. And he stands heir to a fortune

Close

Type

Report, Scientific

Medium

Paper