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FYI.....GM's should be the only one's reading this.
This is a 5E imagining of Eyrilium's Lair. Considering how long she's been in the catacombs, it would stand to reason that she has some sort of command over said cathedral and some kind of connection to the Shrine of Lamashtu along with a sort of blending of the two. Here's what I wrote up for her Lair and the Minor Runewell...
Minor Runewell of Wrath (20 wrath points): If someone were to touch the freezing orange waters of the Runewell, they would need to make a WIS save DC 15 or enter a barbarian rage and attack the nearest creature. Any creature that fails this save may make another one at the end of every turn. Once successful, they cannot be affected for the next 24 hours.
3 WRATH POINTS
The runewell can also disgorge a Sinspawn as an Action when allowing a drop of blood to fall into the pool.
6 WRATH POINTS
LAIR ABILITIES (one per turn going on Initiative 20)
—Erylium can use the barest amount of telekinesis to make the runewell bubble and flare, causing the water to splash on 1 creature standing next to the rune well (see above).
—Any one female character must make a CHA save DC 15 for the next 3 rounds. If the target is pregnant, they roll the save at a DISADVANTAGE. A success means they cannot be possessed by the runewell for the next 24 hours.
The first round means the target retreats back to the Shrine of Lamashtu (provoking AO's when applicable).
The second round means the target pulls out a sharp implement and begins to slash their belly doing their weapon damage. If they have no weapon, they claw at their belly doing 1 damage.
On the third round, they invoke the Mother of Monster’s dark name and draw a curse upon themselves. CURSE: If ever you give birth, you will give birth to a monster. In addition, you gain the Flaw (Indefinite Madness), “Looking at a beautiful person makes me want to kill it”.
—The Runewell flares to life causing everyone in the room to make a WIS save DC 10 or use their reaction to attack the nearest creature.
I like giving Erylium some Lair actions, and the "splash" effect is great. I have problems with your second and third choices, however;
- Singling out female PCs is a questionable, especially for an effect that takes control of the character away and has lasting negative consequences.
- There's a lot of thematic overlap on the third effect with the 3 Wrath effect.
Up to this point, Erylium will be the toughest foe the players have faced; The original Pathfinder encounter is set up to teach the players how combat with invisible creatures works, with only a small chance of TPK. Reliably causing the PCs to attack each other kind of goes against that, and will make for a frustrating and more deadly fight.
Here's what I'd do;
Minor Runewell of Wrath: If a PC touches the freezing orange waters of the Runewell, they make a WIS save DC 12 or enter a barbarian rage and attack the nearest creature. This effect lasts for 1 round.
Lair Actions
- Erylium can use the barest amount of telekinesis to make the Runewell bubble and flare, causing the water to splash on all creatures adjacent to the runewell; DC 15 Dex save to avoid being splashed, effects per above.
- Fog of Wrath; Erylium darts through the mist bubbling out the Runewell, which acts as a zone of Heavy Obscurement (PHB 183), and may immediately Hide. If Erylium leaves the fog, or takes any Action, players can make a Wisdom (Perception) check to discern her location.
- Wrathspawn; Erylium cuts her palm, allowing the blood to drip into the Runewell. A Sinspawn emerges.
Erylium should spend the fight going in and out of invisibility, casting spells and taunting the PCs with hints of plot while the Sinspawn soak the hits.
I also think targeting female characters is questionable. I get that this is foreshadowing to meeting and understanding Nualia, though. I would tone down the reaction to the Lamashtu shrine to the area around the shrine and maybe make it a vision or some other less-threatening reaction that gives the party insight. If Lamashtu was more central to the cathedral of wrath, she wouldn't have a shrine outside the cathedral proper. That's my take, anyway.
For my group, I had the cathedral effect the party by making them 'thoroughly annoyed' with each other, and gave it a very large radius. Large enough that they experienced it just on the edge between the lower levels of the glassworks and the catacombs. This was purely a role-play effect, based on wrath. Players will ham it up or they won't, but it gave my players a sense of foreboding wherein they wondered all through the fight with Erylium when the actual anger was going to take over, even though it didn't exist.
Rather than the fight with Elyrium being a slog through her many defenses(as others have experienced); the longer the fight went, the more tense things got. They ended up fleeing from her and coming back.
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Know that I wrote this for my group in mind (it should be noted that I have two female players) knowing that they can not only handle this kind of content but actually love the creepiness of these kinds of situations.
That being said, I absolutely agree that for some groups, targeting female characters IS questionable. For me, it was completely thematic. Lamashtu is the Mother of Monsters after all and desired a visceral impact on my players.