Night Monumental Evil

Not my favorite record by any stretch, but boy, look at that cover. Shit!

LILITH - Chaotic Evil Magic User, Lvl: 8, Atr: 8/16/11/16/12/10 , AC: 2, HP: 25
Equipment: Banded Mail, Heavy Flail +1, Staff
Spellbook: First (3): Magic Missle, Burning Hands, Scribe, Allure. Second (3): False Gold, Shatter, Amnesia, Detect Invisible, Rope Trick. Third (3): Explosive Runes, Water Breathing, Feign Death, Haste (reversible). Fourth (2): Flame Charm, Fire Shield, Curse (reversible), Fumble. Fifth (1): Stone Shape.

LUCIFERIOUS - Chaotic Evil Fighter, Lvl: 8, Atr: 14/7/9/12/10/12 , AC: 6, HP: 51
Equipment: Studded Leather +1, Long Sword +1, War Hammer +1

BLOODLORD - Lawful Evil Cleric, Lvl: 9, Atr: 11/11/3/9/11/12 , AC: 5, HP: 29
Equipment: Studded Leather +2, Quarterstaff +1, Mace +1
Spellbook: First (4): Protection from Good, Command, Light, Cause Fear. Second (4): Hold Person, Resist Fire, Poison, Silence 15 ft. Radius. Third (3): Hold Person, Spiritual Weapon, Unholy Chant. Fourth (2): Sticks to Snakes, Create Poison. Fifth (1): Raise Dead.

MIDGARD - Chaotic Evil Fighter, Lvl: 9, Atr: 17/13/11/11/15/12 , AC: 0, HP: 42
Equipment: Plate Mail +1, Shield +1, Flail +1

BAALBERITH - Neutral Evil Male Fighter, Lvl: 9, Atr: 17/14/10/10/11/11 , AC: -2, HP: 39
Equipment: Plate Mail +2, Shield +1, Long Sword +1

If found together on their mountaintop lair, Enochian will be without armor (AC 9 yet bonuses apply) and will have the ability to breathe evil fire. 6d6 or 3d6 with successful save vs. breath weapon.

The Perchwood Siblings

Ezra and Murla Perchwood are twin brother and sister who live among the ruins of the Necropolis of Garel. They prey upon lost travelers in the marshes and ruins and try to kill and rob them.

They are pickpockets, thieves, con artists, and kidnappers. They live in a decrepit hovel in the ruined cemetery and also rob from tombs and explore the caverns beneath the ruins. They are also wererats and they believe that they have been blessed with this infliction. They secretly worship Stisis the Rodent Mother and have built a shrine to her from rat bones and skulls.

Ezra Perchwood

Ezra Perchwood is a short, skinny young man. His strange features make his age difficult to determine, but he could be anywhere between 18 and 30. His teeth are crooked and sharp. His eyes are dark and beady. His brown hair is matted and dirty. He wears ragged clothing that is patched together but he also wears gaudy and fanciful jewelry that he's stolen from tombs.

He carries several short, slender knives hidden on his person and will attack with these and attempt to move and kill silently. Ezra can move silently and backstab as a 8th level thief.

Ezra is extremely quick and agile. He can hide himself in virtually any environment. Some more nefarious factions often utilize Ezra as spy and informant, but he does not stray far from his home in the necropolis, and he rarely leaves his sister's side.

AC 3 (6 in wererat form)
Move 60' (60')
HD 8 (8)
Attacks: var. weapon (bite 1d4 + lycanthrope, claws 1d4)
Save as 8th level thief

Murla Perchwood
Murla Perchwood is Ezra's twin sister. Like her brother, she is also ragged and dirty in her appearance, she wears tarnished jewelry, furs and swamp flowers in her hair.

Murla fancies herself as quite the seductress. She has the ability to cast Charm Person once per day to lure men into her embrace so that her brother can kill and/or rob them.

AC 3 (6 in wererat form)
Move 60' (60')
HD 6 (6)
Attacks: bite 1d4 + lycanthrope, claws 1d4
Save as 6th level magic user

The Perchwoods claim that they are descended from an extremely wealthy family and they are hiding out in the marshes and ruins as part of an elaborate strategic ruse. Their true origins are unknown. It is rumored that they are cursed by a demon or crypt thing and must continue to kill and defile in order to please their masters...

Tarlen and Dodd

Tarlen and Dodd were like the Mitch and Murray of several of my campaigns.

"You think I'm fucking with you? I am not fucking with you."

They were benefactors as well as shadowy antagonists.

My players in the early days were big on thieves and assassins, as well as Opal Starr - a NPC fighter/magic-user/thief that only a the fevered mind of a pudgy adolescent raised on Elric, Conan and Boris Vallejo art could have created. Opal Starr would have been the Alec Baldwin to Tarlen and Dodds' Mitch and Murray. Opal Starr would contact the adventurers about some McGuffin that they needed to go find, or a missing shipment of black lotus ("Stygian! The best!") or whatever adventure hook.

I was really into the Fiend Folio, that wondrously reviled book, and for my last, great Tarlen and Dodd adventure, I used the fuck out of it. In the end, Opal Starr revealed herself to be a Pennangalan, the characters fought a Needleman, and eventually they lead the Lava Children in a revolt against the horde of Githyanki that had invaded their home. Shit, someone may have even swallowed a throat leech.

The characters never met Tarlen and Dodd, but they asked a lot of questions about them. What was probably a throw away idea I had became something really fun and engaging for the players. They got to ask around town, learn rumors, false information, and of course, follow leads.

"These are the new leads, these are the Acererak leads..."

After Opal Starr (that name makes me cringe to type) died a grisly death, the players took it upon themselves to go off and kill Tarlen and Dodd too. It never happened, but it's just as well. Vengeance is for closers.

Later, I imagined Tarlen and Dodd were a pair of demi-lich skulls that lay in the corner of a long-forgotten crypt. In life, they were rival wizards who were constantly at odds with each other, now they formed a collective evil consciousness that reached out to people in their dreams, forcing them to gather what they needed to return to their physical forms.

"Psst...over here!" "No! Over here!"