Mother of a Thousand Young

The Mother of a Thousand Young was the mysterious leader of the spider katanga who allied with the malicious outsiders known as the Tamara. She and her kin resided within the Fire Mountain of the Malatran Plateau in the late 14 century DR.

Description
After becoming the Mother of a Thousand Young, her stomach area became bloated and distended with countless egg sacks. She was a monstrous creature who reveled in death and destruction, and her transformation left her ravenous for flesh. The spider katanga rarely spoke, but her speech was as venomous as her bite when she did.

Abilities
Despite her bloated appearance, the Mother was a powerful and agile spider katanga. Transformation into the Mother toughened the body similar to the barkskin spell, and she received resistance to magic, as well as sorcerous abilities. Like other spider katanga, the Mother could climb on walls with ease. She had a highly venomous bite and could spit acid at her enemies.

Part from being a powerful warrior, the Mother could tap into divine and arcane magics. She always kept defensive spells active on herself, such as shield of faith and mage armor.

Possessions
The Mother of a Thousand Young inhabited the area known as the nest within the spider katanga lair on the slopes of the Fire Mountain. The nest was a cold stone chamber filled with the stench of death and decay. The Mother's nest was a thick mess of webs and parts of her victims' bodies. She sat on a grand throne made out of her victims' skulls.

The Mother of a Thousand Young wielded a powerful enchanted Runestick of the Tamara. The item allowed a loyal servant of the extradimensional evil to have access to additional arcane spells, such as cat's grace, endurance, fly, haste, and see invisibility.

History
The Mother of a Thousand Young and her spider katanga subjects participated in the faithful Battle of Blood Bridge of the Year of Tigers Return of Malatran calendar. The evil katanga sought to bring the outsider creatures known as Tamara to the Living Jungle. The ceremony of the Blood Bridge allowed passage for some of the Tamara creatures to Toril, but with the valorous battle, the ritual was stopped, but the threat remained.

A year later, in the late 14 century DR, the Tribe of the Wise Ones became aware of a new looming threat. The leader of the dreaded spider katanga, the Mother of a Thousand Young, became swollen with a thousand children ready to overflow the jungles with ravenous spawn. The hunters of the Wise Ones discovered lands between the Rayana Savanna and the Fire Mountain poisoned by the Mother and her followers. Additionally to the poison, the Mother of a Thousand Young captured a group of hunters of the united Malatran tribes. In response, the Tribe of the Wise Ones assembled several groups of heroes from across the Living Jungle to rescue the missing individuals, stop poison, and slay the Mother of a Thousand Young.

However, even though the Mother of a Thousand Young's menace to the Living Jungle was a very real threat, the poison was released by Talunuku, a spider katanga who lusted for the Mother's power. Talunuku started rituals to transform herself into the new Mother of a Thousand Young, rituals that were poisoning the jungle. Talunuku knew that the tribes would blame the Mother, and that was perfect for her plan. In order to become the new Mother of a Thousand Young, the current Mother needed to die. Talunuku found an unlikely ally – Nathani, a hunter and traitor from the Huroola tribe.

The Mother of a Thousand Young was within her nest when the heroes of Malatra reached the spider katanga lair. The adventurers split into two groups, one of them headed straight for the Mother. She greeted the heroes with venomous spite and immediately ordered her two bodyguards, Taluku and Morizuku, to slay the invaders. The outcome of the battle remained unclear as the poisoning was stopped, which could've been accomplished by slaying the Mother or by weakening her leadership and forcing her to flee once again.

Appearances

 * Licensed Adventures & Organized Play
 * Come the Tiger &bull; An Army of One Thousand