YELLOW MUSK CREEPER

The yellow musk creeper is a large light green climbing plant with leaves like ivy, dark green buds, and flowers like those of an orchid, bright yellow in colour with splashes of purple.

Typically, the plant is found in soily areas underground, though specimens have been identified in the heart of thick forests. The creeper can climb up trees and rock faces with equal facility. It is sometimes planted deliberately in locations where it will 'guard' treasure.

Each plant will have 2-12 flowers and 1-4 buds; it extends over an area up to 20-ft square.

When approached within 10-ft, the creeper will 'attack', the flowers swaying in a hypnotic way before the face of the victim. A successful 'hit' indicates that one of the flowers has puffed a dust, smelling of musk, into the victim's face. The victim must then make a saving throw against magic or be entranced and walk into the mass of the plant, resisting any attempt to restrain him and taking the remainder of the melee round to do so.

Once the victim is in the heart of the plant, aerial roots attach to his skull (no 'to hit' roll required) and his brain is devoured at the rate of 1-4 Intelligence points per round. Any hit on a root will cause it to release, but so many roots will be attached simultaneously that the Intelligence drain cannot be prevented by such means.

The only way to kill the creeper is to stab at its bulbous root which will be found buried in the earth 1-ft below the surface. The root will have various personal belongings of previous victims buried near it, since the creeper appears capable of scraping together enough soil from the area nearby to cover evidence of its previous 'successes'.

The effects of the Intelligence drain varies. If the drain in a given round reduces the victim's Intelligence to zero or below, the victim dies, a bud flowers and a new bud appears. If the victim's intelligence is reduced to one or two points, the victim immediately becomes a yellow musk zombie (see Zombie, Yellow Musk for details).

Each creeper will have one yellow musk zombie for every two flowers.

Intelligence loss in those not killed or transformed into yellow musk zombies is temporary and will be regained at the rate of one point per day of rest. A heal spell cast on the victim will restore all lost Intelligence points immediately.

Yellow musk zombies are victims of the yellow musk creeper whose intelligence has been reduced to 1 or 2 points. When this takes place, the victim becomes mindless, his skin turns yellow and his eyes become fixed and glazed. The draining process stops and the plant injects a seed into the victim's skull, where it is to germinate. The victim is now a yellow musk zombie under the control of the plant; the zombie will fight on the plant's behalf, attempting to find new victims for it and drag them or tempt them into its clutches. (See Yellow Musk Creeper for further details). They serve the parent plant for two months before wandering off to drop lifeless in some quiet corner, unless they are killed beforehand. In either case, the implanted seedling sprouts from the decaying corpse, growing quickly (within an hour after 'death') into a new yellow musk creeper.

Yellow musk zombies retain the same hit points, armour, weapons and belongings as they had prior to their 'capture'; however in melee, they attack as monsters with 2 hit dice. They will not be able to use any of the spells or psionic abilities they controlled when 'alive' and will receive no Dexterity or Wisdom bonuses, though Strength bonuses and penalties still apply.

A yellow musk zombie is not true undead and thus cannot be turned or destroyed/controlled by a cleric. However, like undead, it is immune to the effects of all mind-influencing spells such as charm, hold, illusion, sleep and so forth.

A yellow musk zombie can be cured of its affliction by the death of its master plant and the use of neutralize poison and heal cast on the creature in either order, one spell immediately after the other. The victim will thus be restored to his former self, though he will need four weeks rest before his original characteristics are restored.