Kasmeh

Kasmeh was a fiendish insect creature encountered at the mouth of the Underdark, mutated by extreme cold exposure over an extended period. It served as the party's first combat encounter upon entering the Underdark proper.

Appearance

Kasmeh was a large insect-like creature with a prominent proboscis. Cold mutation had left visible marks: wings half-frozen and layered with frostbite, its body speckled with cracked ice and crystalline formations. The creature emitted a low droning sound described as threatening enough to drive the sane toward madness. Its physiology suggested a long adaptation to Underdark conditions under extreme cold.

Campaign Role

First Underdark Encounter (Session C05)

As the party entered the Underdark at the exile's field—a field of frozen drow corpses killed through exposure—Kavu heard a low chittering from deep within the cave mouth, growing increasingly agitated. Kavu signaled a halt. Rather than investigate further, Kavu cast a blind Firebolt into the cave, striking the creature and flushing it out.

Kasmeh emerged rapidly. Roland's Religion check had suggested something fiendish and demonic—not uncommon in the Underdark, but the nature of the threat was unknown. Combat initiated.

Combat Summary: Kasmeh opened Round 1 with a devastating attack. It identified Othorion as a drow—exactly the type of prey it was evolved to hunt—and dove at him with extraordinary speed. The creature's proboscis connected with a natural 20, piercing Othorion through the chest and dealing 114 piercing damage, immediately rendering him unconscious.

Selene killed Kasmeh with a single arrow through its eye, though the creature's proboscis was still embedded in Othorion when it fell, tearing free and leaking icy ichor as the creature collapsed. Kasmeh did not appear in the party's copy of the Underdark Survival Guide.

Loot

Kasmeh's body was left at the site. No loot was recovered.

Threads

• Kasmeh's Origin: Why is this creature not catalogued in the Underdark Survival Guide? Is it a custom species, or a variant not yet documented?
• Underdark Predation: What other creatures hunt drow in the Underdark? How specialized are such predators?