Mother Screng’s Herb Shop – Temple of Elemental Evil Area of the Week 02/14/03

This page is a part (The Village of Nulb #3) of a playthrough that spanned the year of 2003. All the information was taken from TSR’s original AD&D adventure, the Temple of Elemental Evil.

This dilapidated frame building is well known in the village as the place to go for all sorts of herbs, medicines, and possibly even special draughts of one sort or another. Mother Screng is old and bent, with scraggly gray locks sticking out from beneath the aged shawl she wears all year ’round. Her daughter appears quite old herself, so Mother Screng must be venerable. This daughter, Hruda by name, is quite ugly, and it is no wonder that she is an old maid, for her personality matches her looks and her tongue is sharp.

Inside the shop are counters and shelves filled with jars, flasks, bottles, boxes, and small drawers. These are stuffed with herbs and like stuff, and various infusions and decoctions made from such. Bunches of vegetation of various sorts hang from the rafters or are tossed onto counter tops to dry. The shop has almost every known herb and spice, and even 3 jars of Keoghtom’s ointment which Mother Screng sells to any adventurers of Good alignment who are in real need of the magic salve, after having proved themselves in expeditions to the Temple.

Mother Screng: An herbmonger (also Canoness Y’dey–Level 6 Cleric, XP 3978);
AC 9 (no armor) or better (see below); hp 37; AL NG; XP 1072
S 13 I 12 W 17 D 15 Co 16 Ch 13
Carried: club (under the counter), purse with 4 cp, 7 sp, 5 ep, 11 gp.

Typical spells:

First level: bless, command, cure light wounds, detect evil, protection from evil
Second level: augury, detect charm, hold person, know alignment, speak with animals
Third level: dispel magic, prayer, remove curse

Hruda: Mother Screng’s daughter (a. k. a. Murfles, Otis’ fellow- adventurer and follower, an elven warrior-footpad, Level 2/2 Fighter/Thief),
AC 6 (no armor) or better (see below); hp 12; AL NG; XP 156
S 15 I 9 W 11 D 18 Co 15 Ch 14
Thief abilities: PP 40; OL 49; F/RT 30; MS 36; HS 35; HN 15; CW 86.
Carried: shortsword (under robe), purse with 9 sp, 5 gp, and 2 pp.

Y’dey is the chief cleric of the church of St. Cuthbert in Hommlet, away on this ‘sabbatical’. She has a suit of plate mail +1, shield + 1, mace + 1, ring of (ire resistance, potion of flying, a scroll of 3 cleric spells. (silence 15′ radius, neutralize poison, raise dead) and adventuring gear, all kept in her chambers. The potion, scroll, and equipment are in a wardrobe, along with a small locked iron box which holds 50 gems (mostly pearls and a few red spinels, each worth 100 gp) and 10 silver ingots worth 10 gp each. Murfles has a suit of leather armor, adventuring gear, a dagger, longsword, longbow, and quiver with 11 silver-tipped arrows in her chambers. She will lend the arrows to deserving adventurers as needed. A sack with 290 gp lies under a loose floor board. Murfles assists Y’dey and reports to Otis about everything of possible interest.

Neither Y’dey nor Murfles goes on any expedition (to the Temple or elsewhere) unless Otis personally asks them to do so, and has a sound reason for it as they are likewise serving Furyondy, Veluna, and the cause of Good by keeping watch on Evil activity at Nulb and the Temple. Both, however, assist parties of Good alignment and intent. Quiet exploration of the Temple, to discover the state of its forces and their current intentions, is of great importance to both of these ‘old hags’.

A small coop is in the rear of the shop. It holds 6 homing pigeons, which Y’dey uses for communicating with the Archcleric of Veluna. This same information is sent to Furyondy (and then to Veluna and Verbobonc) by way of Otis’ regular reports; the pigeons are a back-up system.