ORIGIN: Gehenna
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-10
ARMOR CLASS: -6
MOVE: 18”
HIT DICE: 6+6
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: See below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6/1-6/2-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Wirching (see
below)
SPECIAL DEFENSES: immune to fire
+ acid; takes double damage from cold
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Low-average
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Evil (neutral tendencies)
SIZE: S
PSIONIC ABILITY: 50
Attack/Defense Modes: B/H, I

The Wirchler originates from the plane
of Gehenna, the Valley of Flame. Fire is
their natural habitat, much as air is ours.
They are, however, known to leave their
dreadful home in groups to search for
new prey. At present they pay precious
Fire-gems to the Night Hags in Hades in
return for Larvae to torture.

The Wirchler thrives on the pain of its
victims. After it inflicts its special damage (see below), it sits back and enjoys
their dying screams.

A Wirchler appears as a disembodied
mouth with two long, scrawny, hairy
arms sticking out of where its cheeks
ought to be. Since it has almost no density, it barely has to move its arms to flit
about. A single Wirchler attacks with its
arms and its long, protruding teeth.

When four or more Wirchlers get together, they can and will utilize their
special attack. They start rubbing their
teeth together, and the sound “wiiiirrrrccchhhhh” results. This noise stimulates
pain centers in the nervous system, and
if the wirchlers are allowed to continue in
this manner for one full round (i.e. no
hits are scored on them), all monsters
and humans (except those listed
below) within a 6” radius will scream and
writhe on the ground, unable to attack,
defend, or do otherwise. The following
effects will also beset the victims: They
will lose one hit point for every hour the
wirchlers wirch, one point of Intelligence
every three hours, one point of Wisdom
every four hours, and one point of Charisma every five hours. The ability losses
are permanent unless later regained by
magical means.

All Wirchlers encountered will wirch
for 1-4 hours, and then some will tie the
victims up while the others wirch. The
victims will be devoured when the
wirchlers next feel hungry again, 1-8
hours later. If there are only four
wirchlers, they will all wirch until a.) their
victims are dead; b.) more wirchlers arrive; or c.) they are stopped by some
other creature.

The following creatures and monsters
are not affected by wirching:
Gods, Demigods, Arch-Devils, Demon
 

By Patrick Amory