Dungeon23: Week 5

Level 2 - Area A

 

This map is created under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

 

Level 2 Notes:

• Squares on the map are 10 feet.
• Unless otherwise noted, all doors are made of hard wood and stuck.
• Hallways and chambers are generally 10-15 feet tall unless otherwise noted.
  
• Small rooms and chambers have torch sconces at the entrances.  Larger ones have oil lamps at about 30-foot intervals.  All are unlit unless otherwise noted in the description.  Cavern areas do not have light sources unless noted in the description.
  
• Monster and creature names are in bold.  General statistics usable with OSR fantasy games are provided where necessary.  Otherwise, use equivalents from your favorite game (works best with Original or BX power levels.)
  

 

Room 1

This large, circular room is a vertical tunnel leading down to Level 3 (Note: possibly beyond; TBD.)  The room has four exits, but only two opposite are currently connected by a metal bridge with circular platform in the center.  The platform has a wheel that is difficult to turn (open doors Strength roll needed.).  When turned, it swivels the bridge to connect the northeast and southwest exits.

Room 2: Embalming Room

The center of this room is sectioned off into four (4) wooden cubicles, each with a table and a number of scattered instruments (rusted embalming tools, containers, and linen wrappings.)  Mirrored oil lamps (currently unlit) hang from chains in the ceiling.
 

The room has a magical alarm covering a 20 ft. radius from the center.  This area is marked with arcane symbols on the floor.  Crossing the area activates an audible gong sound, which warns the Champion in Room 7.  The sound (or any other loud noise in the room) also rouses the berserkers in Room 3.  The Champion arrives in 1d6 rounds to observe any battle from the shadows of the hallway, intervening only if it is advantageous for him to do so in order to subdue any survivors (total party levels equal or lower to his HD.)

 

The floor of the northwest hallway collapses into a chute ("CH") to Level 3 when weight is placed on it.  It was used to quickly transport bodies to the abattoir below (Room TBD.)  The chute closes in one (1) round.

Room 3: Berserker Storage

This chamber was where the Cult previously stored embalmed bodies.  Six (6) slabs in the room that have been fitted with iron manacles by the Champion in Room 7 for use in his berserker experiments.  

 

There are currently three (3) of these berserkers here – hapless adventurers who have been force-fed the glowing Uppaz snake and turned into maddened killing machines.  The iron-masked berserkers are dressed in studded leathers (AC 7 [12],) and armed with spiked punching blades strapped to their forearms (1d6 dmg.)  They sit motionless on the slabs unless roused by the presence of other living beings.  They fight until all other creatures are destroyed (in a pulpy, bloody mess.)

A shelf has a set of embalming fluids, powders, and other chemicals that are worth 125 gp to an alchemist.  One corner of the room has a pile of the adventurer’s former belongings (random, mundane equipment) along with some found treasure (various coins and trinkets worth 80 gp, weighing twice as much.)

Room 4: Steam Room

This triangular room has bronze and lead pipes running along the walls, some which are leaking steam into the room.  The northwest corner has a shattered shield next to a small sack.  Inside the sack are spoiled trail rations and a dark, fist-sized rock with bits of metal stuck to it (a lodestone.)

 

There is a lever in the room which also operates the swiveling bridge in Room 1.  (Note: this room is potentially a defensible place where the player characters can rest and recuperate.)

Room 5: Mice Aroma

Player characters listening at the doors to this room can hear scuttling, scratching, and/or faint squeaking.  The floor of this room is almost completely covered in mice, which have been attracted to stacks of crates and baskets full of produce.  One of the baskets has balls of yarn and spools of flaxen thread instead of vegetables.

Room 6: Trog Ambush

This chamber has rows of defaced and unrecognizable statues standing in vigil along the walls.  Seven (7) troglodytes are hiding among the statues, hoping to ambush and kill hobb-men and take their steel.  They are encroachers seeking to create a lair on this level of the Temple.

 

Three (3) of the creatures (hp 8, 2, 8) are weaponless and fight with their claws and teeth.  Two (9 hp each) are armed with stone maces and spears.  Their leader (15 hp) and his lieutenant (10 hp) fight with a steel sword and crude, stone battle axe respectively.

The troglodytes may be amenable to allying in raids against the hobb-men, but fighting alongside them is a foolish proposition at best due to their horrible stench and untrustworthy nature.

Room 7: Champion’s Sepulcher

The entrance hall to this chamber is trapped with a 10-foot pit lined with spikes (1d4+2 additional damage, save against breath for half.)

 

The chamber itself is lit with flickering torches, which show serpentine motifs adorning the walls.  In the center is an upright, stone sarcophagus, surrounded by offerings of blood-soaked riches and flesh, meant to appease the vengeful spirit of Thomgrir, one of the Champions of the Snake Cult.

The Champion was laid to rest here by the pathetic remnants of the defeated Snake Cult.  The energies of the Temple have caused him to rise as an undead being (a special type of wight.)  His embalmed remains are dressed in torn, rusted scale armor which still show the fatal spear wound that ended him.  His near-skeletal hands hold a war hammer etched with writhing serpents.

Thomgrir may have already been roused by characters tripping the magical alarm in Room 2.  Otherwise, he rests in the sarcophagus until either the pit trap is activated or someone begins searching his resting chamber.

Thomgrir seeks to subdue any interlopers, to use them in his berserker experiments (see Room 3.) He fights with his magic war hammer, but switches to his level drain attack against capable (higher level) combatants to weaken them.  If reduced to less than half of his hit points however, he goes into a berserk state, granting him a +2 bonus to damage rolls.  He then fights until all enemies are destroyed.

 

Thomgrir, Champion of the Cult: AC 5 [14]; ATK 1; DMG 1d6+2 (magic war hammer) or special (level drain); HD 3; HP 17; MV 12; SAVE 14 (or as warrior); SPECIAL: berserking (+2 dmg,) immune to non-magical/non-silver weapons, level drain; AL C; XP 800 (or HD + specials.)  

 

Among the grotesque offerings are piles of coins (2700 copper, 439 gold, 46 platinum, 2780 silver,) a leather necklace with a river pearl worth 8 gold, and an elf-crafted lute worth 80 gold.  Thomgir’s war hammer is a magical weapon with a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls.