Moander’s most common form in the Realms was known as the Abomina- tion. Thus god-thing as its body used a mass of rotting vegetation and car- rion as large as a hill that rumbled along the ground, scouring it clean of vegetation, topsoil, and all living things and leaving a putrid, brown slime in its nake. It cast no spells.
AC -4; MV 7, Cl 5, Sw 7, Fl 27; HP 216; THAC0 -9; #AT See Below Dmg See below
MR 30%; SZ G (Varies)
STR 25, DEX 16, CON 24, INT 10, WIS 10, Cha 1 Spells None — see below
Saves PPDM 3, RSW 5, PP 4, BW 4, Sp 6
Special Att/Def: The Abomination could easily scale vertical surfaces
or float across bodies of water. It could emit tendrils at will from any part of its bulk, including internally, that ended in fanged maws that babbled in an endless cacophony of a thousand disparate voices chanting the god’s name, or in swirling gray-and-white eyes that stared blindly. Although the Abomination was easy to make contact with in combat, its high Armor Class was a result of the difficulty of actually causing it any noticeable
physical damage.
Other Manifestations
For Moander to possess an avatar form constructed by his cultists, the mound of rotting material had to be at least 30 feet in diameter. For each mile of forest the Abomination plowed through, it regenerated 10 hit points and grew an extra 10 feet in diameter, up to a maximum of 100 feet. Unless rejuvenated by additional compost, the body of the Abomination always collapsed into dust and putrid slime in 1d4 months and a new one had to be found or built, requiring cultists to continually build it new bod- ies in the Realms.
The Abomination could confine its essence to a small piece of its rotting mass and spring forth as a small egg-shaped pod in a single round. This pod could then merge with another hill-sized pile of corruption or slowly grow in size again by absorbing more vegetation if the Darkbringer so desired. While less than 30 feet in diameter (because it was compressed into pod form or growing from a pod form), the Abomination could swell up with swamp gas and attack with a giant maw that inflicted 4d10 points of dam- age on a successful hit. However, this form was extremely susceptible to fire-any sizable flame that was not snuffed out by the wet rot of its body would ignite the gas in a fiery explosion, destroying the Abomination.
For every 10 feet in diameter in size it was, the Abomination could at- tack with 2d8 large tendrils (AC 0, 20 hit points each) each of ahlch ended in a lipless, many-fanged maw that could speak with its voice. Such large tendrils were half the Abomination’s diameter in-length and several inches in diameter. They could either bite and rend flesh (MV 6, THAC0 7,2d4+4 points damage) or enter any body orifice of an immobilized, living mammal or reptile and possess the creature’s body and mind. Alternatively, a tendril could disgorge a seed of Moander within the body and then with- draw. The seed then burst, releasing its spores. Tendrils could also hurl large trees and boulders with a maximum range of 300 yards doing 3d10 points of damage with each massive spear or stone. If two or more large tendrils made a successful attack, they could also entangle opponents and over the next two rounds drag them toward the Abomination’s rotting mass where it could manifest a gaping mouth and bite for 4d10 points of damage per round (no saving throw or attack roll permitted or needed).
Beings overrun and swallowed up by the Abomination were crushed and pierced for 5d6 points of damage per round for ld6+4 rounds before being thrown up to the top of its body. Once there, wounded captives found them- selves under attack by countless tiny tendrils that rotted away their clothing and nonmetallic parts of their armor in another ld4+2 rounds. Once a vic- tim’s clothing and armor were destroyed, the small tendrils began to rot away flesh and transform it into compost, causing 3d4 points of damage per round. The Abomination automatically succeeded at attacking with its small ten- drils each round, and no saving throw was allowed to avoid them. There was a 15% chance per round that a seed of Moander is implanted in the body of a being on top of Moander and deprived of clothing or armor.
Attempts by captives to tear free from the Abomination’s embrace and to move were hampered by the many grasping tendrils (both tiny and large), slowing movement to half rate (and to a maximum of 2 in any round in which the captive failed a Strength ability check) and preventing any form of flight, magical or otherwise. A captive held to successfully traverse the Abomination’s bulk and leap free to escape the rotting attacks, and then such a being still faced a 15% chance per round that a seed of Moander had been planted in them during their escape.
Twice per day, the Abomination could vomit forth a shambling mound, and once every three days, a gibbering mouther. Both of these sorts of spawn of Moander would do its bidding for 1d12 days and thereafter wander off to take up their own, independent lives. (Mouthers have no effect on the plant bulk that is the Abomination.) The Abomination could quench fires with its bulk if it was composed primarily of wet, rotting material. It took no harm from heat or flame unless it was composed primarily of dry kindling. In general it liked warmth, which was more conducive to decay, and always suffered double damage from all cold magics.
The Abomination could learn anything contained within a possessed being’s mind at will. Doing so gave the possessed being a glimpse into the Darkbringer’s mind as well, which often drove them mad (as adjudicated by the DM). Although the Abomination could not cast spells directly, it could have a possessed being cast any spells the possessed being knew. Likewise, the Abomination’s Intelligence and Wisdom rose (but did not fall) to match that of the currently possessed puppet (Minion) of greatest intelli- gence. Finally, the Abomination could create a gate for itself or fly for up to six hours (by burning swamp gas) at will, but doing so required a tremen- dous expenditure of energy, consuming one month of the Abomination’s existence in its current avatar form in the process.
Moander could marufest as the mtanglble Image of a rotting hulk that re- sembled a giant, floating, dlsemhodled human mdle head, with 20-foot-long, prehensile tendrils as hair, a many-fanged mouth, and two maliciously glit- tering red eyes. In this form, the god could speak, point and gesture with its tendrils, and establish a mental link with any creature it “touched” with those intangible tendrils—so that it could whisper to them later in their dreams by voice or visions. (The link could be broken by use of a remove
Moander could also manifest in any decaying matter in Toril, growing out of it as a 20-foot-long, vmelike tendril identical to those originating from the Abomination. If the tendril’s movements brought it to any decay- me: matter (leaf mold, which is present on the ground anywhere in a forest, is enough), it could transfer its “base” to that new decaying mass, leapfrog- ging away from its initial location.
In addition to their normal attacks, such tendrils could also possess im- mobilized, living creatures as described above. Often a tendril’s victims were sleeping, but saketimes they were bound by the Darkbringer’s Minions. If a tendril devoured (not possessed) a cumulative tota of warm-blooded (mam- malian) victims that had more than 77 hit points when allve, tt grew a bud that in 1d4 days split into a second, separate vine or tendril that could oper- ate independent of its parent. Tendrils lacking food or decaying matter within reach could go dormant for 1d8 months, but shrivelled and died if no sustenance came to them after that time.
Moander was served by a variety of plant creatures and peculiar abomi- nations including algoids, dark trees, gibbering mouthers shambling mounds, and vegepygmies spawned from russet mold. It sometimes sent black or green dragons to serve as a steed for the Mouth of Moander (the head of its church). The Darkbringer also manifested through a variety of possessed beings including animals, humans, treants, and various monsters, who were recognizable as being sent from or controlled by it by the vines growing from their bodies. The Great Dread God particularly enjoyed cor- rupting beholders and their kin to serve its will, probably as the result of some ancient feud with Bane. Those that were slain while resisting posses- sion by the Darkbringer are transformed into rotting death tyrants (undead beholders) upon their demises.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests CLERGY’S ALIGN.: NE, CE
TURN UNDEAD: C: No, SP: No CMND. UNDEAD: C: Yes, SP: No
All clerics and specialty priests of Moander receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Servants of Moander had to undergo a ceremony upon their initiation into the cult in which a seed of Meander was absorbed into the initiate. This seed slowly grew throughout the body until the recipient’s entire internal structure was composed of rotting plant material. The only outward mani- festation was a small flowered tendril emerging from one ear and winding through the hair. At all times the recipient was under the direct mental and physical control of Meander, whenever it so desired, and would always act according to the instructions of Moander and the cult.
Moander’s priests tended to be lonely, directionless folk who had found in the god’s mind visions firm direction in life. Once Moander possessed a body directly, the god’s control over that being became absolute, but the process of eating them away from within also began. In the case of extremely capable ser- vants, the Darkbringer guaranteed their loyalty by its power to speedily slay them from within if they proved treacherous, but kept them alive for years by granting them spells that inhibited the inner rotting (such as slow rot).
Prior to Moander’s death at the hands of Finder Wyvernspur, his clergy Included both specialty priests, known as darkbringers, and clerics. After the Darkbringer’s destruction and the death of his remaining clerics, new cults included only specialty priests and lay members in the priesthood. All priests were known as Minions of Meander. Senior clergy of a temple were High Minions, and the leader or high priest of a temple was the Master Minion. The supreme Faerûnian priest of the Darkbringer was known as the Mouth of Moander. The clergy members of Moander used no other titles as they were all simply slaves and puppets of the Darkbringer. There was a 1% chance that any high priest of Meander would be transformed into a skuz upon death. Such undead were known as Undying Minions.
The Mouth of Moander was its supreme servant in Faerûn and was usu- ally (though not always) a human female priestess. Since the death of Mo- gion in ruined Yûlash, the Mouth has been the shrewd mistress of intrigues Dalchatha Maereegh, a once strikingly beautiful crone who dwells in the Hidden Glades temple somewhere in the Chondalwood near Torsch. She administers a network of capable spies and task forces that capture or slay creatures destined to feed Great Moander and then teleport them to her or establish new bodies for the god in remote areas. In return, Meander grants her mouthful, lush beauty whenever she grows restless, and she can then venture into nearby human cities to enjoy satisfying (if fleeting) human companionship.
Any newly formed Cult of Moander that includes true priests must be backed by some other dark power than Moander (such as the cult backed by
Lolth). Assuming the cultists do not realize that their divine sponsor is other than Moander, it is likely that such a cult will continue as before (albeit with increased visitations by dark elf emissaries in the case of Lolth’s cult).
Temples of Moander tended to be located on stark hills in wilderness set- tings or in subterranean complexes in urban settings. Those in wilderness settings were marked by hilltop circles of red, fang-shaped plinths arranged to resemble a bloody, fanged mouth from above and typically contained an altar in the center of the circle, Those temples located in subterranean com- plexes were often constructed from forgotten sewer tunnels and saw much of the garbage and sewage of the city overhead pass through their halls. The walls of such temples were carved with tiny, intricate, flowing designs resem- bling tree sculptures grown and shaped by elves, but which depicted horrific images of heroes suffering deadly tortures at the hands of leering humanoids, being torn apart by chaotic beasts, and being fried, frozen, dissolved, and poisoned by dragons, beholders, and other deadly creatures. Temporary shrines to the Darkbringer were constructed in fetid swamps, verdant jun- gles, and rank sewers and consisted of massive compost piles meant to house the Abomination.
Dogma: Minions of the Darkbringer were charged to feed Great Moan-
der with fresh corpses of their own making. They were to hew down strong plants and trees to feed It. Moander’s priests were charged to keep the Abomination and the lands through which it would pass as warm as pos- sible. When a novice was first initiated into the priesthood and possessed by a seed of Moander, the Darkbringer instructed him or her through horrific dreams as follows: “Seek not to question the ways and words of Moander, lest you be stricken by the Eating From Within. Go forth and possess beings of power and influence for me. Slay, and let the rot cover all. Fight against cold with fire and magic. Fear me, and obey.”
Day-to-Day Activities: Moander’s Minions were a secretive, proud
clergy that scoured the land for malformed life (such as mongrelmen and dis- eased plants and beasts) and brutish, destructive beings (orcs and the like) to feed to Moander. Cultists of Moander strove to spread intelligent vegetable life throughout the Realms, including algoids, shambling mounds, gibbering mouthers, and vegepygmies (russet mold).
Minions of Moander existed to feed the god, whose decaying powers quickly destroyed any body it animated (always a tangled mass of carrion, dead or diseased plants, and the like). Minions were thus always kept busy building new bodies, leading the old ones to fresh food, or infecting other mortals to become new Minions. In rituals and spell-weavings in secluded wilderness ravines and caves, they built the Great Dread God endless new bodies to possess as the Abomination: triangular pyramids of decaying vege- tation, dung, and rotting corpses. Moander animated a “body” as the Abom- ination in a sacred ritual requiring but a single drop of blood from a living seed that granted the casting priest instant favor and promotion. To begin the ritual, the priest brought one of Moander’s living, seeds to the new body. Living seeds were sentient mammals or reptiles of high intelligence and good alignment who had been possessed by a seed of Moander and who had (at least temporarily) survived the process.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: The church of Moander had no
calendar-related high holy days except the Balefire. Always held on the first of Hammer, the Balefire celebrated the will of Moander’s servants to hold back the cold by building huge bonfire in its honor—fires at which the god always manifested to thank them, to deliver inspirational sermons, and to charge them with missions to further its power during the cold months when the Darkbringer retreated to deep, lava-warmed caverns in the Underdark (and had to be guarded by select faithful Minions against drow, deep dragons, and other dangers of the World Below).
On a daily basis, faithful of Moander had to slay something or gather veg- etable matter in the name of the god and render up their gatherings either to build a body for the god or to encourage rot and decay. Each month Moan- der’s Minions had to seek to extend the influence of the god by spreading ru- mors of its power and by bringing a seed of Moander into contact with at least one new being (while whispering Moander’s name).
Rituals were simple, and Moander did benefit its priests in one special way: Minions of Moander never caught a disease (including mummy rot and lycanthropy) nor suffered from poisoning no matter what they did. They could eat all manner of rotting food, mold, and the like, and drink water that had been deliberately poisoned or contaminated by decaying things and take no harm.
Major Centers of Worship: The Abyss of the Abomination, a subter-
ranean temple of the Darkbringer located deep beneath Yûlash, survived Moander’s destruction and is still being run by the Moanderite cultists (un- knowingly backed by Lolth). Tolerated by the Red Plumes of Hillstar, cultists of the Darkbringer are permitted too travel to and from the temple in
exchange for regular, hefty bribes to the local commanders. The temple is entered via a deep shaft hidden in a newly constructed warehouse owned by the cult. Surrounded by a ring of fanglike red marble stones, the pit is used as a garbage midden by the city’s inhabitants for a modest annual fee. The cultists serve as an informal dungsweeper’s guild for the slowly rebuilding city. The temple itself is entered via a recently rebuilt stair that spirals down the pit wall to a platform halfway down the stair, and the complex is under- going a significant expansion.
Numerous sacred sites of the Darkbringer’s cult survive throughout the Realms and are the site of pilgrimages by Moander’s cultists. West of the city of Westgate is a ring of seven hills, each the site of a temple to one of the Seven Lost Gods and topped with a ring of standing stones. The southern- most hill, known as the Hill of Fangs, is the site of a simple shrine to the Darkbringer. The standing stones are not mere pillars but huge red plinths of stone shaped like fangs that point inward. At the center of the ring, meant to suggest the Jawed God, is a bloodstained stone altar. Although the Dark- bringer’s cult is no longer active in the region, cultists gather annually at midnight on the sixth of Kythorn, the anniversary of Moander’s defeat, to plead for the return of the Jawed God to the area
Affiliated Orders: Moander is served by a secret brotherhood of rogues
known as the Eyes of the Darkbringer. This secretive fellowship has placed one or two members in most of Faerûn’s major cities. The Darkeyes, as they are known among the faithful, serve as spies and occasionally as assassins and warn the cult of any brewing threats to their fell rituals.