Dungeon23: Week 24

Level 4, Area D: Antechambers

 

This map is released under terms of the  CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Room 22: Oubliette

This is the bottom of the deep pit high above in Level 2, Room 1.  In the center of the pit, there is a raised, 20-foot high circle where the snake-men leave flesh stock that displeases them.  Here, the prisoner sits in semi-darkness with naught to eat and drink but the condensed drippings from high above.  Below, are hints of slithering movement and hissing sounds from the serpentine abomination that dwells there (see Room 19.)  Sometimes, a despairing prisoner that has been in the oubliette too long enough will surrender hope and jump into the abomination’s embrace.

There is a 2-in-6 chance that there are 1d4 normal humans here (1-in-6 chance of one being demihuman.)  A mechanism in the hallway to Room 7 extends a plank bridge to the center of the chamber.  The only other exit is below where the abomination dwells - a long, sewer-like hallway that ends in the sacrificial pit of the Ritual Chamber (Room 16.)

 

Room 23: Illusory Maze

This room has been enchanted with a unique and permanent version of the hallucinatory terrain spell.  It is a testing and proving ground of sorts for the snake-men’s creations.  When a being steps through the stone double doors, they are “transported” to an area of wilderness terrain (roll 1d6): 1 – rolling, rock-studded plains; 2 – a swamp; 3 – sandy desert with dunes; 4 – dense forest; 5 – rocky highlands and mountains; 6 – snow-covered tundra.  Regardless of the terrain, there are always obvious paths between natural obstacles to the four, cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west.)  Random encounters in this room are with illusory creatures appropriate to the terrain (use any favorite, wandering monster tables for wilderness.)

The way to exit the illusion and room is to travel through the terrain in a specific order: east, north, west, and south; which results in the player characters (PCs) being back in front of the entrance doorway. Moving through these for about 60 feet in the correct direction changes the terrain (roll again.)  Otherwise, the terrain remains the same.

There is also a secret door to the west that exits the room and leads to the hallway between Rooms 8 and 27.  The appearance of the secret door is appropriate to the terrain, such as inside the hollow of a large tree, a hidden cave behind a waterfall, etc.

 

Room 24: Gallery of Horrors

This macabre chamber is an unnatural museum commemorating the grotesque and horrifying creations of the snake-men both past and present.  The taxidermy monsters are showcased on pedestals and even suspended from the ceiling.  A few of these may be recognizable to PCs at this point.  Near the center of the room (“b”) there is an owlbear that is not actually stuffed, but held in temporal stasis.  A magical alarm near the center of the room reactivates the creature, which is the chamber’s guardian (at the GM’s discretion, other random creatures may be held in temporal stasis as well and reactivated.)

The gallery serves as both monument to the snake-men's works, and a deterrent to intruders (AI image courtesy of NightCafe.)

 

Room 25: Foyer/Observation Deck

This oval room is the entrance from Level 5 to this level.  The center of the room is dominated by large sculptures of multiple snake-men on a dais (the honored, flesh-crafters of antiquity.)  Double doors lead to and from the flesh-crafter’s level.  Next to the staircase, a balcony offers a panoramic view of a cavern beyond, with massive stalactites covered in bioluminescent fungus.  PCs that look below are able to see that they are inside a monumental rock formation hundreds of feet above twinkling lights that may indicate a city below.

 

Room 26: Experimental Pool

This room features a 10-foot by 10-foot pool with slightly-murky water.  The pool appears very shallow (1-2 feet,) and the edge is carved with arcane symbols.

Entering the pool area and staying for more than one round (such as searching) activates the arcane carvings, which begin to glow.  Walls of force enclose the pool and the water begins to rise at the rate of two feet per round until has reached a height of about 12 feet.  This process takes five rounds.

PCs trapped inside may face drowning.  They can try holding their breath for a number of rounds equal to half their Constitution divided by two (round up.)  After this, the character must succeed at a saving throw against death each round or suffer 1d6 damage.

There is a hidden panel on the right side of the door that has an emergency valve that can quickly drain the water.  Once the water is drained, the wall of force disappears and the symbols stop glowing.  Dealing 20 points of damage to a section of the arcane symbols defaces the stone enough to deactivate that section of the wall of force.

The water “trap” is actually an enclosure for the rare, aquatic or amphibian creatures the flesh-crafters may use or create.

 

Room 27: Records and Bestiary

The walls of this room are full of shelves containing meticulous records and documentation on both captured flesh stock, and flesh-crafted experiments.   The ancient tomes and scrolls, written in Chaotic, detail the origins, behaviors, habitat, and potential uses for these creatures.

There are three (3) snake-men Emissaries here (HP 16, 19, with extendable hoods; 17, shed scales) working at desks or directing an equal number of normal human (1-in-6 demihuman) servants moving tomes and scrolls about and climbing ladders to place them high above.  In combat, there is a 1-in-6 chance one of the servants may assist the players in a small way to potentially win their freedom.

Regardless of reaction or encounter outcome, one of the Emissaries (HP 17) will seek to parley with (or even assist) the PCs.  Qiu-Seti is a genius flesh-crafter who has been sidelined by Thet-Zhu’s (see Room 15) dominant hierarchy, which is a shame; since she is one of the few knowledgeable and talented enough to complete a successful caste transformation for the Overseer.  (Note: if the GM is using the LotFP adventure, Obscene Serpent Religion 2, Qiu-Seti was responsible for the rogue creation of the Snake Creature, which earned her a demotion, since the being is a potential threat to the snake-men’s power structure.)

In exchange for her life, Qiu-Seti will entice any PCs with offers of enhancive flesh-crafting (once per PC.)  Below are some examples of what she can do:

·         Change physical appearance, including sex, and any cosmetic, demihuman features.

·         Improve an ability score by one (1) point.  For example: facial reconstruction for Charisma, or muscle grafts for Strength.

·         Add a monstrous feature from a creature no higher than the PC’s level.  (GMs should be judicious with these. For example, infravision is fine as is, but wings might be glide only.  Claws, teeth, horns, etc. should do no more than 1d4 damage, and poison glands should not be instantly fatal.)

To perform a procedure, Qiu-Seti, must have access to supplies from Rooms 8, 9, 10, and 13, and the operating space in Room 14.  She then needs 1d6 hours of uninterrupted work.  The procedure deals 2d4 damage to the subject.  They may enjoy their new changes once the damage is healed.

The procedures are incredibly painful (even with the subject drugged,) and so strenuous that a body can only withstand it once without side-effects.  A second procedure results in the subject potentially suffering from flesh sickness (see Room 8.)  A third procedure requires a saving throw against death, or the subject will die, and survivors still have a chance to contract flesh sickness.  Additional procedures incur a cumulative,  -1 penalty to the save.  Qiu-Seti can warn the PCs of this.

Qiu-Seti has an additional request.  She no longer has ambitions for becoming head of the flesh-crafters, or even caste ascension to Overseer.  She prefers to continue her genius (and highly deranged, even for snake-men) experiments without strictures from their hierarchy.  If the PCs agree to escort her and her supplies (this will require a cart and giving up the expensive surgical tools in either room 13 or 14) to a well-hidden place in Alkastra (the Kingdom of the Downs can help with this,) she will reveal the secret door to Room 28.

Once set up in her new "workshop", she can perform additional flesh-crafting procedures for the cost of 1,000gp x PC level, since she has to procure extremely rare supplies that were once commonly available to her in the True Temple.  Monstrous features may require the PCs capture such a creature alive, or with any desired parts carefully preserved.  She may become a source of future adventures to capture rare creatures for her work.

 

Qiu-Seti can flesh-craft a whole new you!  (Some side-effects may apply.  AI image courtesy of NightCafe.)

Room 28: Secret Library

This hidden room is filled with more ancient tomes and scrolls on shelves.  The books are chained to their shelves with locks.  The scrolls, penned in Chaotic script, are intelligence reports and records of the snake-men Emissaries’ espionage and subversion activities in the world above.

The chained tomes (also in Chaotic script) detail alchemical formulae and sorcerous rituals related to flesh-crafting.  One in particular, bound in serpent skin, is the collected writings of the revered flesh-crafter Shan-Ra (one of the central sculptures in Room 25 is his visage.)  The tome would be worth 900 gold to a Chaotic sorcerer.  Alternatively, a magic-user can study the profane tome once per level, and gain knowledge of a random spell related to transmutation.  The price of such foul lore is a saving throw against magic.  Failure means the magic-user’s alignment shifts one level towards Chaos (treat as an alignment-changing curse.)  At the GM’s discretion, the tome can contain additional dark knowledge (rituals, etc.) with other terrible consequences for its power.

A locked coffer at the end of the room contains treasure for use in bribes and support other clandestine activities of the snake-men Emissaries.  There is currently 3,700 sp, 300 gp, and a topaz worth 500gp.  There is also a gold ring with the seal of the Snake God worth 100 gp.  The ring has a hidden compartment to conceal poison inside, but it is currently empty.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

 

The snake-men keep meticulous records of everything, including influence operations in the world above (AI image courtesy of NightCafe.)

 

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.