Hex Crawl 23 #78: Scorpion Women of the Sands

Four hexes south, one southwest of Alakran.

 

The earliest written monster book is the Epic of Gilgamesh, and among the monsters are the scorpion-men -- guardians of the entrance to the land of the dead. Although ancient depictions have these creatures as bipedal,

      

they look a little silly to modern eyes, more like chicken-men. So gaming, starting with Runequest and continuing in Basic D&D (but never Advanced), has followed the Rule of Cool and portrayed man-scorpions as centaurid, with six or eight legs of the scorpion in their undercarriage. The 5th Edition SRD has open stats for the scorpionfolk from the City of Brass adventure, though the stats are miscalculated; it should be CR 3 and the creature's hit points should be 68.

 

Anyway, this hex is the home range of two patrols of d4+2 scorpion-women warriors who are charged with guarding the approaches to Zigmunus. They carry shield, spears, and slings, using barbed bone bullets laced with a dose of their own tail venom (2d6 poison damage over 2 rounds, CON save for half.) They are part of the reason the southern desert has such a fearsome reputation, for they will implacably attack anyone who is not a woman carrying a juniper branch. To women bearing the sign of asylum, though, they are helpful if brusque, and will guide them southward to the Amalug Statue.