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L is for Lepperchaun

Lepperchaun

No. Enc.: 1 (1d8)

Alignment: Chaotic

Movement: 60' (20')

Armor Class: 7

Hit Dice: 2

Attacks: 2 (claw, bite)

Damage: 1d3/1d3, disease

Save: F4

Morale: 4

Hoard Class: VI

XP: 38

Another of the perverse creations concocted by the dread mage Holmvay the Apothecary, the so-called Lepperchauns are the warped result of horrendous experiments and torture afflicted on his gnomish captives. Why they in particular have the unenviable honour of receiving the full brunt of the sadistic spite of the vile lich is uncertain, but the few fortunate ones to have escaped the dungeons of Castle Gygantex confirm this process is solely performed on gnomes.

After a lengthy period of torture, when their jailers deem them sufficiently crazed or mentally broken, the gnomes are taken from the cells to a level deeper down, where they are dipped in a slimy green cesspit for a minute or two. Those who survive the dipping come out radically changed: their skins a sickly green hue, covered with scabs and weeping boils teeming with virulent diseases, their faculties reduced to that of slavering, ferocious animals. The creatures are then returned to the surface and released into the wild, plagues and death following in their wake as they roam the countryside, always drawn towards civilization, perhaps because of their past lives half-remembered. After the sudden outbreak of an epidemic, it often occurs that one finds a Lepperchaun skulking around at night, swimming around in a well or soiling food supplies. As the creatures spread their maladies by touch, disposing of them is usually done by trapping the creature in an abandoned building and burning it to the ground.

Every time the Lepperchaun makes a successful attack, its target must make a save versus poison. If it fails, the character contracts a wasting disease, causing a painful death in 1d3 days. If it is successful, the character gets seriously ill and is bedridden for three weeks, after which period there is a 10% chance the character still succumbs to the malady. The spell cure disease will cure this infection.