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River serpent is primary creature, rising from normal unfrozen river at instant magical restraint takes hold. Serpent must read as one enormous aquatic body, not dragon or eel: thick scaled trunk, wedge head, powerful neck, and long tail. Its midsection is locked inside fresh river ice while head and tail remain free above water. Head rises free on one side of ice collar and curves toward sorcerer on left bank, jaws open in threat; tail breaks water free on opposite side, both belonging to same continuous trapped body. Dark-robed sorcerer is secondary active subject, standing on temperate wooded riverbank beside broad open channel with one arm outstretched toward serpent. Hand is visible spell source. Pale blue-white arcane radiance forms one continuous visible path from outstretched hand to river surface at serpent’s midsection. Radiance terminates in water and newly forming ice, not on serpent’s body. Sorcerer’s stance is deliberate and braced, feet planted on wet bank, attention fixed on trapped creature. Ice must read as magical effect, not seasonal freezing. Mechanical chain must remain unmistakable. Spell freezes a localized circular sheet of river surface around serpent’s midsection; surrounding river remains liquid. Ice is thickest and most rigid where it clamps middle body, then tapers thinner toward outer perimeter. The serpent’s twist fractures that localized sheet and levers one broad slab upward while one fractured edge remains attached as a hinge and the ice collar remains tight around its body. Fractures radiate from trap zone, edges crack, and water splashes at break lines, all aligned with same struggle direction. Serpent occupies center midground. Place sorcerer on left foreground bank so line of action stays short and legible. Use slightly elevated three-quarter view that keeps sorcerer, radiance path, spell contact point, trapped midsection, lifted slab, free head, and free tail readable in one frame. Lifted slab should open enough toward camera to show slab thickness, broken edge, and collar position around serpent. Do not hide main action behind spray, reeds, or excessive effects. Environment must support nonwinter reading. River beyond trap zone remains liquid, with normal ripples and exposed open water upstream and downstream. Bank shows wet soil, stones, roots, reeds, and temperate trees rather than snow, frost, or winter barrenness. Bank, reeds, trees, and river beyond frozen circle remain unfrosted. Open channel should stay broad enough that unfrozen water is obvious on both sides of ice zone. Background remains uncluttered so radiance path, water-to-ice transition, and heaved slab remain easy to read. Lighting must be clearly exposed in readable daylight, not dark scene lit only by spell glow. Broad daylight reveals robe folds, wet serpent scales, translucent new ice, liquid water, and fractured slab thickness from edge to edge. Pale blue-white spell light runs through newly formed ice and along radiance path, but overall exposure stays open and natural. Image should read as fantasy action grounded in visible cause and response: sorcerer casts from bank, river flash-freezes around serpent’s midsection, and twisting serpent heaves fresh ice upward around trapped body. --mod asymmetric composition --mod digital fantasy illustration --mod readable daylight --mod temperate wooded riverbank --mod slightly elevated three-quarter view --mod translucent magical ice
ADVENTURE BACKGROUND
The party has been split at Blackwater Ford. A collapsed footbridge, three very angry
hillmen, and one badly timed Wandering Monster check have left Magister Orven
Taal alone on the south bank with his spellbook, staff, and a strong opinion about
where the river keeps its money. The others are somewhere upstream. Orven is in
no hurry to find them.
For years he has studied miners’ tallies from the Redcap Range. Every spring flood
scours gold from the mountain creeks and carries it into the main river. Most
vanishes into gravel. Some does not. At this bend the current slows behind a shelf of
black stone, drops its heavy load, and turns north. Orven has done the arithmetic.
There should be enough placer gold under twelve feet of water to make separation
from the party feel considerably less unfortunate.
THE BEND
The river broadens beneath alder and willow, brown-green water sliding around a
crescent of exposed stone. Sunlight catches yellow flashes in the shallows. The far
bank is undercut. Something large has been moving there.
Orven has just found the first thumb-sized nugget when the river rises.
The serpent comes up in one muscular length, water pouring from scales dark as
wet iron. Its head clears the bank by eight feet. Its tail smashes through the shallows
on the opposite bank.
Roll initiative!
THE RIVER SERPENT
AC 2; MV 9, Sw 18; HD 13; hp 71; #AT 2; Dmg 2–16 bite/2–12 tail; SA constriction;
Save F7; ML 15.
The serpent attacks immediately and does not retreat while prey remains within the
bend. If its bite hits by 4 or more, it has caught Orven and will drag him into deep
water next round. His spellcasting then becomes a matter for whatever deity
watches greedy magic-users.
Orven is 12th level. He has Cone of Cold memorized. If he wins initiative, the river
becomes very interesting.
The spell strikes the serpent across the middle. Roll 12d4 + 12 damage; save vs.
spell for half. Water flashes white around twenty feet of body. A slab of new ice forms
across the surface, thick at the serpent and thin toward the rim. The beast’s head
remains free. So does its tail. This distinction may shortly become important.
On a failed save, the serpent is pinned for 1d6 rounds. On a successful save, 1d4.
Each round it thrashes, cracking the sheet and throwing fist-sized ice across the
bank. Orven may cast, run, or start thinking about why he came here.
TREASURE
The gold lies directly beneath the trapped serpent.
A careful search after the fight yields 3,700 gp in nuggets and coarse flakes, one 900
gp blood-opal washed down from an old mountain working, and a corroded iron
coffer wedged under the stone shelf. The coffer contains 1,200 gp, three potions,
and a map fragment marked with a red X two valleys east.
The ice is already breaking.
Orven has one sack.
