0X.09: Sparkling Death

Form: A vertical tunnel leading down to what appears to be a great cache of gemstones.

At First Glance: As the PCs descend this shaft they see that there are gemstones embedded in the walls, and they appear to be more numerous and larger the deeper they go.

On Further Inspection: The gemstones are real: emeralds, rubies, diamonds and more. The shaft was dug by what appears to have been dwarven skill, revealing greater and greater wealth the deeper the shaft goes.

Secrets: The shaft is not a cache of magical gemstones, but one of the Godecho’s insidious traps. The entire shaft is in fact a hungry chameleon megaworm. It has formed its gullet to appear like a rich mining shaft. Once characters have descended 100 feet into the shaft (nearly within reach of the greatest gemstones). It snaps its maw shut and begins to grind and digest those trapped within. The megaworm is hundreds of feet long: no weapon the characters possess will prevail against it.

Treasure: If the character remove a gemstone and then flee, it reverts to a grotesque hunk of flesh. Nonetheless, chameleon worm flesh is valuable for spell research and as a magical reagent.

Connections: There is no outlet from the shaft/worm.