20. City Vault GC7

This great chamber is as secure as magic, ingenuity, and engineering can make it. That is to say, it is almost fool- proof and has not, to date, been successfully pilfered.

It stands always as an enterprising challenge to nonguild thieves, or rebellious members of that esteemed organization. It is strictly off-limits to guild thieves since a considerable portion of the funds within represent the donations of the guild to the city's coffers. The vault walls, ceiling, and floor are all 20 feet thick. Two ten-foot-thick layers of granite slabs are separated by a layer of iron and a layer of lead that enclose the vault.

The entire inside of the cell has been enchanted with permanent dispel magic spells cast by a 25th-level mage. Thus any existing spells that an intruder might be using (silence, invisibility, etc.) will probably cease to function, and additional spells are quite impossible for all but the most experienced of wizards.

The contents of the vault vary from week to week as taxes are collected and added, usually once every four to five weeks, and as expenses are withdrawn on a weekJy basis to meet the payroll of the City Watch and the bills of the merchants selling to the various branches of city service.

Several times a year Nerof Gasgal, the Lord Mayor, and Glodreddi make special visits to the vault, always when the same grizzled sergeant commands the vault watch patrol. This trusted henchmen and his hand-picked squad are well rewarded for their silence. These are the times when sometimes sizable funds must be removed to support secret deals.

For example, Nerof and Glodreddi are very surreptitious about their withdrawals of funds for the support of a Furyondy fleet to patrol the Nyr Dyv. More details about this arrangement can be found in Chl FFF.

The treasures of the city are stored on heavy wooden shelves, in neat stacks of coins. A few small, unlocked chests can be seen on the shelves near the back of the vault; these contain gems that would otherwise roll about on the shelves. However, there are no additional security measures (except for the magical inhibitions mentioned) within the vault itself.

While the exact funding in here varies, a typical amount might be 500,000 gp in value. A typical breakdown in types of valuables might be 50% gold orbs, 30% platinum plates, 10% electrurn luckies, 5% in gems, and 5% in silver. The total can vary from as low as 10% of the listed figure to double, or perhaps even triple, the amount (after some particularly lucrative commerce season. for example).

Any DM of a group of PCs that successfully masters the vault's defenses should of course tailor the amount of their haul to fit the economic parameters of his campaign.

The City Vault holds all taxes collected by the government and some additional magical devices. The vault, greatly enchanted and defended to withstand a city full of thieves and mages, is not a target of the city’s Thieves’ Guild, since the guild’s donations to the city’s coffers are also kept within. The guild will hunt down anyone who breaks into the vault, and it discourages plots against it in various brutal ways.