Dungeon23: Week 6

Level 2 – Area B

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

Area Notes:

a. The hobb-men patrol this hallway frequently; chance of encountering 1d6 hobb-men is 2 in 6 every 10 minutes (one turn.)

Room 8: The Illusionist’s Hoard

This room is largely empty, with a set of pillars running through the center from north to south.  The northern pair of pillars is cut in half by the wall.

The north wall between the pillars is an illusion.  Anyone passing through finds themselves in a 20x20 ft. vault with a pile of coins at the center.  The treasure is surrounded in large tangled strands – the home of a giant, black widow spider (HP 16,) which descends on anyone disturbing them.

The treasure is made up 44 gold coins, each with a permanent mirror spell that makes a single coin appear as 1d4+1 coins.  While curious, these coins are unlikely to fool any merchant that handles them, since they have no additional weight.

Room 9: Hobb-man Barracks

This chamber has been turned into a barracks and war camp for the hobb-men, who are constantly on alert for raids from the oor-men above.  1d6+1 hobb-men are present at all times.  If outnumbered, one will attempt to flee and call for reinforcements from Room 14.

There is a central table with a rough map of Level 1 drawn on a skin.  It indicates the areas controlled by gobb-men (Area C) and oor-men (Area B.)  The areas beyond (Area D) are blank with notes in dwarf runes indicating that the patrols tasked with reconnoitering those areas haven’t returned.  Secret doors and rooms are only noted in Area C.

The southwest  corner has a pile of arms and armor (two suits of plate,  five suits of chain mail, seven shields, seven swords, and five spears,) miscellaneous travel supplies, and a locked chest with 5,000 silver coins.  These belong to the noble and his retinue imprisoned in Room 12.  One of the hobb-men has the keys to this room and the cell inside.

A secret door in the southeast corner leads to a chamber similar to Room 18 in Level 1 above (albeit without the magical effect) and a set of stairs that go to and from the same room.

 

Room 10: Hall of Stinging Serpents

Stairs descend into a long, wide hallway that stretches into the depths of the deeper Temple. The walls are adorned with carved, lifelike serpent statues stretching up towards the ceiling.  The statues coil and stare with glassy eyes towards those walking through.  

Pressure-sensitive plates on the floor in the center of the hall trigger a barrage of darts from hidden openings in the wall, aimed in different angles and directions to cover the entire 20 by 20-foot area.  Victims that that fail to save against paralysis are hit by 1d4+1 darts (1d4 dmg each.)  Victims that succeed are only hit by half the number of darts (round down.)

Room 11: Prison

The door to this room is locked (see Room 9.)  The northern half of the room is a wrought iron cell with seven (7) humans.  The current occupants are Lord Godric (a 3rd-level noble,) his housecarl Osbeorn (2nd-level veteran,) and five (5) men-at-arms (1st-level fighters) which formed part of his retinue.
 

Godric is grateful for any aid, and is willing to have his men assist the characters against the hobb-men.  He has an agenda, however.  Godric is a descendant of members of the Cult and aligned with Chaos.  While he claims to have been waylaid on the road, he actually came to the Temple to reestablish the Cult.  He was unable to convince the Hobb-men of his legitimacy and was imprisoned.

Godric will be friendly with the characters as he feels out whether they can be potential allies or pawns.  He expresses a curious interest in Temple artifacts, going as far as offering to buy any the characters have already found.  Eventually, he will decide whether to induct them into the Cult or capture them for future sacrifice to the Snake God.

(Note: this is also a good place for replacement characters to appear.)

Room 12: Room of Revelations

The door to this room is made of iron, and locked (the hobb-man Praetor in Room 14 has the key.)  There is an unlit oil lamp hanging from the ceiling.  In the center of the room is a lectern with a parchment spread out.  The parchment appears to be a map, with ancient runes and symbols in the dragon language.  (Note: this may be a clue to a location in the wilderness map, to be determined at a future time.)

Along one wall is a large, ornate mirror framed in gold and silver. The glass is foggy, making it difficult to see one's reflection.  Anyone staring at the mirror for over a minute (1 turn) sees visions that are not easily explained, like a dream that one quickly forgets when they wake up.  Anyone that has stared into the mirror and seen the visions may later have a moment of déjà vu and recall a clue or some other helpful revelation (1 in 6 chance per newly-explored dungeon room; occurs only once.)  Further glances into the mirror will have no effect – a fact that has frustrated the hobb-man Praetor in Room 14.

Another wall has a tapestry draped over a wooden frame.  The work is clearly of high craftsmanship, and the colors are still vibrant.  The tapestry, if transported carefully due to its fragility, may be worth 80 gp to a collector.  It includes writing in the language of dragons, and depicts a story about an order of Templars of Law that journeyed to a far away tower searching for a piece of the City of Humankind.  There, they came into conflict with masked nomads, but eventually joined forces with them to drive off a fearsome red dragon (this is a clue to hexes 3631 and 3939 on the wilderness map.)

Room 13

This winding hallway leading to Room 14 has been rigged by the hobb-men to trap would-be invaders.  A tripwire activates a series of pulleys and gears that cause a large net to fall in a 10-foot by 10-foot area (save against breath to avoid.)  Disentangling from the net requires a successful Strength check to open doors.  However, the edges of the net are lined with sharp hooks that cause 1 point of damage every round characters struggle to escape.  Cutting ones way out of the net with a knife or dagger takes 1d4 rounds.

A small crank lever at the entrance of the hallway can also operate the trap, tightening or loosening the net depending on the direction it is rotated.

Hobb-man patrols (see Note “a” above) check this area for trapped intruders regularly.  Trapped characters are stripped of their weapons, metal armor, and gear (which are placed in Room 9) and taken to the prison in Room 11.  Hobb-men will periodically take a prisoner for sacrifice, part of the days’ meal, or turned over to Thomgrir (Room 7.)

Room 14: Praetor’s Hall

This is a large hall with a vaulted ceiling.  The hall is dimly lit by a central fire with a humanoid torso cooking on a spit.  The fire is surrounded by moldy furs and broken furniture where 1d6+1 hobb-men lounge about.  The air is thick with the acrid smell of smoke and hobb-man musk.

The hobb-man Praetor (HD 5; HP 22) sits on a raised platform in a carved stone chair.  Despite his bandy-legged, deformed body, he makes for a fearsome figure, armored in blackened, Cult scale armor with a snake-crested, maned helm.  A serrated battle axe sits within easy reach.  A torn banner with the symbol of the Cult hangs from a wooden standard behind him along with hanging skulls of oor-men.  Two (2) bodyguards (HD 4; HP 11, 14,) stand at attention on either side, dressed in mismatched, leather and metal Cult armor with shields and swords.  Another (HP 5,) guards the entrance to a back room, separated by a wooden wall.

The Praetor is suspicious and paranoid (-1 to reactions) as he may be losing the war against the oor-men.   He has only 13 hobb-men left among his forces, and the gobb-men and baern-men are unreliable allies at best.  He may be willing to hire characters as mercenaries against the oor-men, but may later decide the characters are spies and imprison or kill them (re-roll reaction every meeting.)

The back room is the Praetor’s chambers, dominated by a massive bed and other mundane luxuries and decorations such as pillows, furs, and tapestries on the walls.  A chest in a corner contains his treasure: 3,136 gold coins and various precious objects such as gold and silver drinking vessels, plates, and jewelry worth 784 gold in total (weight is 1.5 times as much.)

A tapestry in the southeast wall conceals a secret door.  The door is locked with a mechanism that requires a Cult holy symbol to be placed in a slot and turned to open.  However, three (3) dials with symbols (Eye, Moon, Snakes, Sun) must be placed in the correct order (Eye, Moon, Snakes) before the Cult holy symbol can be turned.  (Note: Room 15 in Level 1 has been updated with a clue to this puzzle.)

Beyond the door is a stairway that goes upward to a landing with a well-like opening (“C”.)  The opening is small even for a halfling to fit comfortably.  It is a chute designed for a large, snake-like being, and spirals all the way down to Level 4.