The wild elves tell tales of the deep jungle, where nature rules supreme and the forest itself defends itself from interlopers. They say the vines there nourish themselves with blood, leaving behind the withered husks of their victims. When adventurers hear these stories, they think of the discarded treasure and coin purses that must litter the forest floor, and they venture out looking for them. But adventurers are fools, and every wild elf knows that. When the vines are sated on fools' blood, only then can you cautiously sneak by.

When you are Grabbed By the Blood Vines, roll +DEX. On a 10+, both. On a 7-9, choose one.

*Your gear is unharmed. *You are unharmed

Instinct: To feed upon the unwary

• Take hold without warning
• Pull something up, away, or inside
• Constrict, pierce, and feed

"Not like the hardscrabble villages of your people, our kingdom is an immense city of soaring architecture, built by the Glorious Lord himself. Such a sight to behold! The towers stretch into the clouds themselves! Our Lord, in his wisdom, has decreed that we have too long been a reclusive state. He bids us to travel the lands and spread the word, a new dawn of civilization has come! A return to the glory days of old! Come with us, brother, and share the gift of His power!" Instinct: Spread the 'glory' of their dark lord

• Convert the gullible with tales of wealth and power
• Unflinchingly murder anyone who opposes
• Beseech a dark gift from their evil benefactor
• Call for aid from evil powers

Many strangers walk the land, but a Doomspeaker is no mere traveler. They exist solely to spread horror and quench the fires of hope wherever they go. Though they attempt to hide their inhuman jaws and teeth, the telltale mask often gives them away. Doomspeakers have bartered their very humanity away in order to serve their Dark Lord, and thrive now on the terror they leave in their wake.

Instinct: To spread the Words of Darkness

• Mask their true nature until it's too late
• Announce a prophecy of failure (-1 forward)
• Deafen or terrify an opponent with a vicious, ear-bleeding shriek

Listen up, boy, we're taking the Swampramp Road, so for the Gods' sake do not stray from the path. In the crude huts of the mudflatters, the elders tell stories of The Eyebiter. They say it's not man nor beast, but something else entirely. They say it haunts the Dire Marsh and considers the Swampramp Road to be its dining hall. It sneaks up, quiet as a mudfish in the murk, and before you know it the thing has latched onto you and holds you tight with its many arms. It won't eat you, no no no, it won't even KILL you. That's the worst part. It only takes your eyes. I can see you don't believe me, but why else would this caravan be taking a full case of eyepatches to the mudflatter village? Some kind of pirate costume party?

Instinct: To seek the precious sweet fluids of succulent eyeballs

• Struggle to immobilize a victim with unexpected tentacles
• Devour the eye of immobilized prey
• Savor fresh eyeball in a drunken stupor

"So there we were in what must have been the War Room, there's just no other word for it. In the middle, covered in a century of dust, sat the largest Clockwork we had yet seen. As tall as any giant, but it was plated head to toe in solid brass. Remus decided to pry some plates off to make armor, which was going fine until Tilandor touched the Crystal Pipes in the corner. That massive brass beast sprung to life in a heartbeat, and there was nothing left of Remus but his crumpled armor and gore. We ran, of course, but the walls echoed with some sort of awful wail. Within minutes, the halls were filled with Clockworks. Only I made it out alive, and I will never go back to that cursed place."

Instinct: Destroy all Intruders! *click* Defend the domain!

• Emit a piercing klaxon that awakens the other Clockworks
• Display unimaginable strength and pitiless force
• Reveal a hidden function from the depths of its gearworks

"The Old Ones, they knew much. Not the alchemy of man nor the sorcery of warlocks and the like. No, this is the magic of gears and pulleys, the sorcery of science. Watch your every step in the tower: be wary or you may call to life the ancient defense systems. You'll know the Defenders have awoken long before you face them, that's for sure; they're louder than a stomping giant and their hulls scrape the stone walls. You'll hear them coming, I'm sure you can avoid them, go on in the tower. Me? I... I'll stay out here. Got to have a lookout post, right?"

Instinct: Destroy all Intruders! *click* Defend the domain!

• Display immense and uncaring strength
• Soldier on, ignoring all damage until the last
• Reveal a hidden function from the depths of its gearworks