Help With an Ixitxachitl Lair

[Aeolius]

Next week in "Heirs of Turucambi", my players will be searching for an ixitxachitl lair in the hopes of finding a captive aquatic human. The level of play is roughly L3, so I'm not sure if I'll involve vampiric ixitxachitl yet, but the PCs have learned the ixitxachitl seek to augment their powers with true vampirism.

So... what would you add?

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

I've been watching this thread today because I have never used the ixitxachitl, and was hoping for some good ideas myself...

Just to perhaps move the discussion ahead a little bit - why was the human taken captive? Slavery? Potential sacrifice to Demogorgon?

What kind of responses are you hoping to get here? Plot or monster based suggestions?

Great comic BTW...

 

[Aeolius]

The aquatic humans in the game are bit of an unknown. It has been established that sailors who fall overboard and drown in the region of Turucambi Reef may return as an aquatic racial variant (UA). The catch is that these new aquatic beings remember nothing of their prior lives, speak an ancient an unknown tongue, and share a communal racial memory.

The ixitxachitl have been ordered by Diadema the blackwater hag to keep the number of aquatic variants in the region to less than 333. A quick death is not something the ixitxachitl favor, however, so they have been sacrificing the aquatic variants in unholy ceremonies.

As for the lair, I know that stingrays prefer a sandy surface in which to conceal themselves, so I may start with that. They are an ancient race and intelligent, so they might require slaves to excavate proper lairs.

 

[SteelDraco]

How many encounters do you want to have? What sort of servants are these creatures likely to use? I'd imagine a couple of ixitxachitl, maybe a lesser fiend or two that they're feeding with their ritual. And, of course, zombie sharks. Because it's a zombie. And a shark. It's a zombie shark.

As for the layout... I'm not sure. A cave carved in a coral reef, perhaps? You'll want something enclosed, and I don't think sand would make a great place to build a tunnel structure. Is this an environment where there are likely to be ruins on the bottom of the ocean? I imagine they'd use those, if available. Particularly defiled temples.

 

[Aeolius]

...zombie sharks. Because it's a zombie. And a shark. It's a zombie shark

My chumm are an undead creation that resembles a cloud of blood in the water... except it possessed one corporeal component... a full set of shark's teeth.