The Approach
The western side of Starwater Gorge is a weathered rockface with many cracks, washouts, and overgrown rockfalls.
Shrubs cloak the cliff base, shielding it from view for all but close observers. Two of the fissures lead into true caves (1 and
2). The northernmost of these (2) is the correct route into the dungeon. Tracks are impossible to detect due to bare rock in front of both entrances.
Ground Level
Dungeon Key
1. Owlbear Lair: These dark passages have a musty, rank reek. Their uneven dirt floors are choked with gnawed and split bones, loose stones, and other rubble. In the southern crevice lurks an alert owlbear. Unless discovered first, it will crouch silently until intruders go north to search the larger cavern, then attack from behind. The owlbear fights to the death.
If PCs search through the bones and muck underfoot for at least 3 rounds, they find a half-buried canvas sack, blackened with mud but still useful, holding 71 gp.
2. Entry Doors: A short, rough-walled, square passage (clearly worked and not natural, but lichen-encrusted and obviously unused) leads to two closed doors made of stout oak. These doors are latched but not locked, and open outward by means of two large iron pull-rings. They are dark with age, but look (and are) solid, and radiate faint magic. Upon close examination, intricate
twisting runes can be found carved on their panels. These now-forgotten runes protect against rot and reflect all disintegrate and fiery attacks back at the source.
3. Forechamber: This chamber holds a shallow puddle of water in the northeast corner. A pile of weapons and a shield lie
at the center of the chamber. A passage opens in the middle of the west wall, leading westward, but the way is barred by a pair of gates made of metal bars. Beyond them is a wooden tripod and loaded crossbow, pointing into this room! The pile of weapons includes two long swords, three short swords, a broadsword, a dagger, a large, bare metal shield,
two belt buckles, and three arrowheads. None are magical and all show signs of use
but are intact. If they are touched, a magic mouth appears on the shield, and a flat, deep male voice says in Common: "Beware! These were carried in by those who will never carry them out again!" Once triggered, this magic will not act again until a new item is added to the pile by an intruder discarding something or by the magic that created the pile teleporting an item here from #31.
The barred gates have rusted solid and cannot be opened. They must be bent or torn from their hinges (DC 18 Strength check) for PCs to proceed. The tripod beyond the gate is rotten. Its crossbow perished long ago; the trigger, bowstring, and quarrel have crumbled to dust. A rusty quarrel-head is all that can be salvaged from the wreckage.
4. Guardquarters: Smashed, triple-tiered wooden bunks line the walls. A table and six stools occupy the center of this room. Wooden strong chests can be seen under some of the bunks. In the center of the south wall is a door, which is ajar and opens into darkness (#5). Something odd and grey is huddled on the floor in front of the door: the shattered, petrified remains of a goblin clutching a broken short sword. There are four strong chests, all with their locks smashed. They are empty, but are strong enough to transport items. Most of the wood in the Halls is damp and rotten; it won't easily burn and crumbles under stress.
5. Privy: This passage leads to an evil smelling hole, with a stout one-holer wooden seat wedged above it on two carved rock ledges. Just past this, the passage ends in a rough, unfinished cavity, where loose rocks, ranging in size from pebbles to chunks as large as two fists, lie heaped waist-high. A sword (in a plain leather scabbard, wrapped in a rotting, green cloak) lies hidden under the rocks; it is a long sword +1. The privy cavern extends below the seat into a dung-pit (which may hide treasure),
and also extends upward, into the home of a spider (huge). It will drop down to attack intruders.
6. Guardquarters: This room appears empty. The doors in its north and west walls are closed. Its 14-foot-high ceiling is
entirely covered by green slime, which will drip down when it is touched or senses the vibrations of intruders below.
7. Privy: This passage leads to an evil smelling hole, with a one-holer wooden seat wedged over it on rock ledges. There is no treasure here, nor any monsters, but the seat is cracked: the weight of anything larger than a halfling will break it, spilling anyone on it into the pit below! On the wall above the seat (reachable by standing on the seat) is what looks like a cobweb the size of a hand. Examination shows this to be finely woven black mesh cloth, coated with grey dust and stretched in an irregular shape over tiny pins to look like a spiderweb of some sort. It hides a small, square panel of stone that sports a finger-hole. A lock lurker inside the hole will attack anything entering (such as a finger). If its stinger strikes metal, there will be a sharp scraping sound. If the intrusive object is worn or held closely (e.g., the finger of a gauntlet, a lockpick, or a dagger tip), a gentle poke is felt. The lurker looks like a smooth-sided copper coin. Beyond the lurker is a one-foot-deep, three-inch-square storage niche in which
lie four dust-covered glass vials. They are unmarked, look identical, and hold colorless liquids. Three are potions of healing; the fourth is an elixir of health.
8. Welcoming Trap: The center of this room's west wall contains a pair of closed bronze double doors, flanked by two bronze statues. The statues stand on stone pedestals and represent humans in archaic, fluted plate armor. One is male and one is female. Both are posed with one hand on sword-hilt and the other outstretched to indicate the doors between them. There is a faint metallic smell in the room, and the doors and statues radiate strong magic. Something is written on the floor in front of the statue on the right. The writing can't be read from more than ten feet away. Ashes have been scratched into the letters "BEW." Beneath these is a triangle, a zigzag line descending from its center. (What does it mean? The PCs will think of something.)
Multiple, strong enchantments protect the statues and doors from rust, shattering, or being toppled (even if shoved, they remain upright; if the doors are torn from their hinges, they will hang upright in mid-air). The statues also gather strong electrical energies and discharge them as follows:
- When a statue is touched, it conducts lightening 2d12 damage to anything touching it (if an object is itself a conductor, the damage is suffered by any creature holding the object).
- When the floor between the statues is walked on (it sinks slightly, activating a trigger), or the doors are touched, two bolts leap from the outstretched hands of the statues (regardless of which way the statues may have been turned, the bolts will leap toward the other statue). The bolts meet, crackle spectacularly, and vanish. Anyone touched by the bolts suffers 2d4 damage. A Dexterity Check is required of anyone within 5 feet of the bolts path to avoid damage.
Chain lightning arcs can occur from one creature to another; if one creature is hit, any others within 5 feet must also make a check. Only one twin-bolt strike happens per round. Spontaneous discharges occur after the statues have been activated, leaping in random directions (with snapping noises and blue sparks). Roll 1d6 each round; on a 1 or 6, a discharge occurs.
The bronze doors are not locked. When opened, they swing inward into room #8, and into the path of any bolts (unless the statues have been moved). A bolt striking a door is conducted with full force to anyone touching the door, and will arc away in a random direction out into the room, traveling 10+1d6 feet. Victims (Dex checks to avoid) suffer full damage.
9. Red Chamber: This rooms walls are covered with wine-colored silk draperies, once splendid but now moth-eaten and mold stained. They must be pushed aside at the entrance of the room after the door is opened. Inside is a contoured wooden couch covered in old, shabby red plush. On it lies a beautiful human female, clad in a fine gown. Golden chains run from manacles at her wrists and ankles to rings at the corners of the couch, and the hilt of a dagger protrudes from her open mouth. The maiden seems to have been killed recently, obviously for purposes of evil sorcery. The body has not yet begun to decay; if not for the chains and dagger, she would appear to be asleep. The chains function similar to the Spare the Dying spell. If PCs can communicate with or raise the dead, the corpse is that of Estrel. If returned to life, she will seek revenge on her slayer: a man, probably a thief, called
Ruathgrym (actually Nieilor, a local Zhentarim agent, now long dead). Estrel has no treasure. The dagger is a good-quality, nonmagical weapon. Its distinctive, black wooden hilt is carved in a likeness of a snarling panther. The chains are fine-quality steel, painted with golden pigment of no value; their links must be pulled open to free them from the locked manacles (Nieilor has the key), or from the couch's rings.
10. Treasury: The corridor floor in front of this rooms door is marked with a faint dark stain bloodstain or rather, several bloodstains of varying ages. If the door is touched, a loud click is heard. If the (unlocked) door is then opened, the opener and anyone standing directly behind the opener must make Dexterity checks at -3 to avoid being struck in the back by a spring-driven spear leaping from behind a sliding stone panel in the corridor wall, across from the door. The spear causes 1d6 piercing damage, but this trap fires only once. The room beyond holds only dust and cobwebs. Someone else got here first.
11. Guest Bedchamber: This room is empty except for a half-collapsed canopy bed carved of some dark, now-rotten wood. Two of its legs are broken, so that its foot slopes sharply downward. This exposes a faded area on the south wall, behind the bed, where a small niche can be seen. It holds three crumbling, leatherbound books (worm-eaten, water damaged, illegible diaries, of no value), and two stoppered, sealed vials, lightly covered with dust. One is a potion of climbing and the other holds holy water. A careful search of the room will reveal seams in the northwest corner of the floor, against the west wall. Illusory magic conceals these from view; they must be felt directly or the edges of the stone must be shifted slightly underfoot (unlikely to occur by chance, as its right in a corner).
The stone is a thin slab with two fingerholes. It can be lifted to reveal a hiding place as wide and deep as a man's hand, and about two hand lengths long. This niche holds a small cloth bag. A skeletal human hand rests atop it. The bag holds a necklace of black, glassy teardrops, linked by fine wire. These are 16 pieces of cut and polished obsidian, each worth 10 gp. The hand is an animated guardian: a crawling claw, which can leap up to 15 feet to attack.
12. Throne Room: The fallen, splintered remnants of once-grand, gilded double doors lie underfoot at this rooms entrance, leaving an open archway. The wooden doors are carved with scenes of sword-wielding, armored men riding leaping horses and hewing down men, orcs, and fantastic monsters. However, some of the carvings have been hacked or trampled into ruin. Under the wreckage lies a gold key (worth 1 gp).
Just to the right inside the entry arch (along the east wall) lies a black table, canted to one side due to broken legs. The dust-covered tabletop was once glossy, bearing a magical rune. The rune has been defaced with heavy sword- or axe blows, but still glows faintly in darkness. (The shape of the rune, its effects, and whether any of its power survives are left to the DM.)
The room is dominated by a highbacked stone throne atop a triangular, three-stepped dais. The domed ceiling reaches a height of 30 feet. A border of inlaid black stone runs along the top edge of the walls where they begin to curve upward. The pattern of the border represents life-size long swords, parallel and pointing downward, each surmounted by
a black star.
In the center of the south wall is a black framed painting, as wide as a man is tall and half that in height. It shows men in varied armor fighting elves who wear armor swept into strange and fanciful fluted points and spurs. The elves wield flaming swords and black spears. The scene moves constantly, in a silent, unending battle!
Myth Drannor Painting: This magical painting is a wonder; since the days of Myth Drannor, few mages of the Realms have known enchantments powerful enough to fashion such a scene. The painting is priceless (4,000gp to a normal buyer; 10,000 to wealthy elves). Of course, there's the small matter of first getting it to a buyer. The painting is set into the wall; PCs will have to chip away stone to get it out. The picture can be destroyed by dealing it 9 hp of damage, but this can be dealt only by a magical weapon of +2 or better enchantment; anything less is warded harmlessly away from the picture.
The picture also turns away spells (as a ring of spell turning) and can be used as a shield against magic by desperate PCs. It
weighs as much as two heavy metal kite shields and is about as thick as a man's hand. The only spell short of a limited wish that seems to affect the painting is dispel magic: the first application of this spell causes blood (real human and elven gore) to run and drip from the paintings surface. This ends after 1d4 turns, but if a second dispel is cast on the painting during that time, it will explode, causing 3d4 damage to all within 20 feet (5d4 to those within 10 feet), and forcing all items within 20 feet to make saving throws against magical fire (magical items get their usual bonuses, but must save vs. disintegration
instead).
The throne sits against the back (west) wall of the room, the shattered remnants of a tiny chest under its legs. The throne has obviously been vandalized: gems or precious metal inlays once studded its arms and edges, but have been torn away. The chest contains nothing but danger: most of its shattered pieces are parts of a small, intelligent mimic. It will send pseudopods to attack anyone disturbing it. It can speak Common, and has been here a long time (if PCs talk to it, it can reveal background lore of the Halls, as desired). If the mimic is slain, it peels away from the inside back of the throne and falls off, revealing the real back of the throne. Faint lines there, clearly visible to anyone examining the throne, reveal a not-so-secret door!
13. Audience Chamber: The walls, floor, and ceiling of this 30 x 30 room are all blackened, as if a great fire occurred here. Piles of ash lie in the corners of the room; a ring of shocking grasp lies concealed in one corner. A pile of blackened human bones, tangled about a stone warhammer, graces the center of the room.
14. Crypt: Room #13's south wall holds a secret panel in the lower half of the walls center. It opens onto a steep flight of descending stairs. The steps are wet and slimy. Anyone descending must make a Dexterity check to avoid falling. If a fall occurs, all fragile items worn or carried must make saving throws vs. fall, and the victim must make a Constitution check or suffer 1 hp of damage. A further Dexterity check is required to avoid dropping held items.
Partway down the stairs is a single raised or "trip" step. Make an Intelligence check for each PC descending the stairs if they are in any sort of hurry or if the light is poor (unless the PC has been warned about the step). If this fails, the PC trips and a fall is automatic.
In case of a PC fall, the player should roll 1d12. Any score of 9 or higher indicates that the character tumbles right to the bottom, and another Dexterity check must be made. If it fails, the character is impaled on one or more of the seven rusty sword blades protruding from the door there. Roll 1d4 to determine how many blades strike the PC; roll 1d4+1 damage
for each blade.
If a PC falls and another PC is farther down the stairs, the lower PC must make a Dexterity Check with a -4 penalty. Failure indicates that both fall, with the lower PC suffering the damage from the sword blades.
If the trip step or the next step below it is stepped on, they sink slightly, pulling down hidden wires that rupture a bladder of stasis gas in a ceiling niche. Out flies an awakened, hungry stirge to the attack!
The door at the bottom of the stairs is locked (it must be picked; the key is lost) and barred on the stair-side: barred to prevent something from getting out. . . The water seeping onto the stairs drains away at the bottom; the 30 x 20 room beyond the door is dry and very dusty. This room contains three large, stone coffins, their domed lids lacking inscriptions or adornments. Two are closed, but the lid of the easternmost one has been thrust aside. Its former occupant, a skeleton, stands in the rooms northeast corner and will attack anyone entering the room. If not destroyed, it will pursue PCs through the dungeon.
(Something in the ancient spells that created it makes this otherwise-normal skeleton immune to turning, dispelling, or any type of
control.)
If it is "killed" (reduced to zero hit points), this uncanny effect ceases and the skeleton crumbles to dust, forever destroyed. The skeleton's coffin is empty. The center coffin holds an intact, nonmonstrous human skeleton, wrapped in a shroud. Its hands are clasped on its breast, around a black, hide-covered book. The tome is a abbreviated copy of the Necronomicon.
If the westernmost coffin's lid is disturbed, its occupant will thrust the lid aside and rise to the attack! This undead attacker is a mummy. It wears a necklace of rubies (14 in all, unusually large; each is worth 6,000 gp).
15. The Undercrypt: A secret door (two sliding stones) in the northern corner of the east wall of room #14 leads into a wet crawl tunnel (only 3 feet high). PCs in the tunnel are unable to use any weapon larger than a wand or dagger. After traversing 10 feet or so, they will see a human skull floating in mid-air, facing toward them. The skull is real, but merely a ruse placed to scare away thieves. It is affixed to a thin, dark metal rod wedged between floor and ceiling. Beyond it, the tunnel ends in a short ramp upward, leading into a dry 20 x 20 room whose ceiling is only 4
feet high.
This undercrypt contains a large chest with a scabbarded sword leaning against it. In the southwest corner lies a long, thin, dark mass. It is an oiled blanket; inside is rolled a long bow +1 (but no arrows) and a glass vial (a potion of diminution). The scabbard is finely crafted and adorned with polished gems (ornamental and semi-precious stones of many types, total value 800 gp). It holds a long sword +1, luck blade (it has only one wish in it). The chest holds 509 gp (loose). Two canvas sacks lie atop the coins. One contains 312 sp and the other contains three pearls of pink lustre (each worth 360 gp), with the fragments of a fourth, crushed pearl.
16. Rivior's Study: This once-fine chamber is now a scene of decay. Its walls are of dark paneling made from the wood of shadowtop trees, now covered with (harmless) fungus and mold growths. Each corner of the room is cloaked by a tapestry, but these once-fine hangings (scenes of knights hunting dragons) are now rotten shreds. The 30 x 30 room has one plain wooden door, across from its entry arch, in the center of the south wall. This door is closed and locked, and leads to #17.
A circular table, a chair, and its occupant a man in leather armor lie half-crushed beneath a great bookshelf that toppled forward from the east wall. It must be shifted to examine the objects underneath. The mummified, near-skeletal body is
not undead. It is equipped with a small metal mirror, a set of thieves picks, a crowbar, a brass hooded lantern (crushed), a club, and a dagger. Its armor, boots, and belt are crumbling from rot, but if they are examined closely, a coin can be found slipped into a slit on the belts inside surface, beside the buckle. The buckle is gold-plated iron with a circular sheath to cover the once razor-sharp edge sharpened along about a third of it (suitable for slicing rope or cloth or even sawing through wire). The corpses right boot has a hollow heel, found by lifting out the insole. Inside is a silver piece, 3 gp, and a tiny wooden box holding a sapphire (worth 1,000 gp).
Strewn around the body are 16 tomes and seven bone scroll tubes with leather caps. Ten of the books are account ledgers, recording barters of swords, blankets, lamp oil, and rope in exchange for casks of wine and uncut gems. Three more are lurid chapbooks, of the sort read by lonely merchants around campfires. Two books are diaries of someone named Pelentharr, who evidently worked magic and traveled often between Netheril and Myth Drannor. Pelentharr's ink has faded, and mold has attacked the pages of his cheap travel-tomes; the diaries are very hard to read.
The last book is a rare treasure: a Libram of Souls and Flesh. The scroll tubes all contain scrolls. Five scrolls hold a single wizard spell each, as follows: flame arrow, gust of wind, locate object, massmorph, remove curse. The sixth scroll is protection from magic, and the seventh is a trapped scroll; its cryptic runes are so much ornate gibberish, over which explosive runes have been written.
17. Lords Bedchamber: This 30x20 room is panelled to match the previous one (#16), and provides a home to similar fungi and molds. It boasts a huge canopied bed against the east wall, a table and a stool, and a row of ten ornate wooden
closets built in along the south wall. On the table, under thick dust, are a scabbarded sword (a broadsword +2 that glows with a strong lavender-hued radiance when drawn), a bottle of wine (longsince turned to vinegar), and a handkerchief. The bed reeks of mildew and will collapse in ruin if any weight is put on it. The closets have no locks and hold clothes, boots, belts, and blankets on pegs and rods. All are so decayed that they crumble when touched.
In the westernmost closet stands a human female with long black hair, large purple eyes, sharp features. She wears an orante green robe, copper bracers, a gem studded mantelet, and high, soft boots. She has been chained to the closet-rods with fine copper wrist manacles. She is unmoving, unbreathing, and unaware of her surroundings.
This is Miior once the battle mage of Rivior the bandit lord. She is in temporal stasis and has been here, undisturbed, for a long, long time. Knowing no dating system, she doesn't know how long she has been here or who put her here. She wears boots of elvenkind and bracers of defense AC 2. Her gem-studded garments are set with many ornamental stones, the 680 gp in total.
She has memorized the spells charm person and shocking grasp, but time has robbed her of spellbooks, dagger, her lord, and the world she knew. She has a backup enduring spellbook somewhere but time has changed things. If the PCs release her (the chains break easily, breaking her stasis as well), she will be subdued and bewildered, but she is very intelligent and observant and reacts to danger like a seasoned adventurer. She knows where several of the secret doors are but not all.
18. Armory: This 20x20 room once held a small arsenal of weapons, but all are gone now. Its walls sport rows of wooden pegs, on one of which hangs an empty, rotten, leather sword-scabbard. A pile of dust and rotting cloth lies in the northeast corner, and in it lies hidden a plain brass ring (non-magical, worth about one-fortieth of a copper piece) and
(in a pouch) a many-spined, silvery metal globe (a magestar; described in the Magical Items section of this adventure).
In the center of this room is a heavy wooden table, hacked and battered around its edges (many blades were driven into it, like a chopping block, over the years). It radiates faint magic due to now failing preservative spells. An upside-down wooden stool lies under the table, and a headless, warped spearshaft leans against the north wall.
19. Feast Hall: This large hall is still impressive; it once must have been grand. Marks in the dust show where long tables,
benches, and chairs once stood, but they are all gone. The room's 80-foot high ceiling is lost in a welter of crossbeams and tattered tapestries (many of which hang forlornly about the chamber). This area is home to a hungry stirge that will swoop noiselessly to the attack. It is cunning, and will strike at a weak or lone target, but will sneak after a strong party, awaiting a chance to attack
when they are facing another foe.
In the center of the northwest wall, about 20 feet above the floor, hang two normal crossed spears covered by a large metal shield (a shield +1) painted with a russet-colored, flame-breathing, rearing dragon. Cormyrean sages, heralds, courtiers, and nobles will all recognize this heraldic display as the personal arms of Salember "The Rebel Prince," who was regent during the youth of his nephew Rhigaerd, and in the end, refused to relinquish the throne. Salember and the nobles who supported him were finally slain in a bloody civil war. How his arms came to be here is a mystery. Any PC who uses the shield as it currently appears while in Cormyr will attract some unfriendly attention; the term "red dragon," applied to a person, still means traitor in Cormyr.
The spears and shield are wired to hooks embedded in the wall. Both hooks and wires have become more rust than
metal, and will crumble away under any weight. If they fall on a PC, a Dexterity Check allows avoidance; anyone hit takes 1d4+1 damage.
20. Hall of Statues: This passage is lined with granite statues on 2-foot-high pedestals. The statues are very heavy about 350 lbs. each but are useful for ramming, setting off traps, or propping doors open. The statues are described from south to
north, beginning with the west wall (refer to the map).
A. An impassive-looking human male warrior in splint mail, holding a large, plain shield and wearing a helm with a tall plume.
B. A lizard man crouching and snarling, a naked scimitar in each hand.
C. A 9-foot-tall, plate-armored warrior, visor down, holding a spear across his chest in a guard position.
D. A sleek, sneering female human warrior in leather armor, a saber raised menacingly in one hand, a dagger held ready in the other.
E. A snarling gnoll chieftan in a breastplate and shield, club raised menacingly.
F. A mailed man with a mace held high overhead to smash a downward blow, a short sword in his other hand and a great helm hiding his face entirely. Statue F is actually a doppleganger assuming a perfect likeness of Statue J (see below). It is waiting here for prey and will try to strike PCs from behind after they have passed, returning to this likeness and pose before being discovered.
G. A long-haired, long-bearded man in leathers, brandishing a 6-foot-long, double-bladed war axe.
H. An empty, rubble-strewn pedestal.
I. A catlike, crouching elf with a buckler in one hand and a fantastically-long, whip bladed sword in the other.
J. A mailed man with a mace held high overhead ready to smash a downward blow, a short sword in his other hand and a great helm hiding his face entirely (identical to F, above).
K. A kneeling archer, composite bow drawn to her ear, a barbed (double-header, one behind the other) war-arrow on the string.
L. A magnificently-muscled man clad only in a loincloth and knee-high boots, carrying a fistful of javelins and holding one raised, ready to throw.
M. A bristle-bearded dwarf in a helm, flopping boots, and a mail-shirt, launching himself into a charge, warhammer first.
N. A slim man with teased, curled hair, a frilled cape, and a rapier raised menacingly, balancing a dagger on one finger of his other hand.
O. A half-round pillar, set against the wall. It appears to be fashioned of stone blocks (unlike the walls, floor, and ceiling, its surface displays regular seams).
On the west side of the pillar, about 5 feet above the floor, one of these blocks has been etched with a rune like an S. The tail of the S curves down to meet a small circle. An inverted "Y" descends from the bottom of the circle. On the south side of the pillar, about 2 feet above the floor, is a stone that can be swung out like a door to reveal a storage niche. The niche is a cylinder, 1
foot in diameter and 4 feet high. It contains a cheap-looking necklace (actually a necklace of mystic eidolons, detailed in
the Magical Items section).
21. Kobold Guardroom: Firing ports (marked with dark circles on the map; they are ovals measuring 3 inches long and 2 inches high) allow this room to command views of nearby areas (including #19 and #20). The room contains low wooden benches on the west and south walls, numerous weapons, and kobolds who keep watch here (and will fire without warning at any intruders). There is an alarm gong that the kobolds will strike after engaging an enemy; by means of a wire that travels up to #23, it warns other kobolds in the level above.
These guards have high morale because they are personally formidable (for kobolds), know the dungeon well, and are trained at defeating foes far more powerful than themselves by using the dungeons traps and by attacking en masse. Each kobold has a hand crossbow in addition to their regular weapons. The crossbows fire a dart that causes
1-3 hp damage and is coated with sleep poison (DC 13 Con save).
The kobolds will wait in the dark, firing at opponents when they can get good shots.
22. Ready Room: This former armory and bunkroom for duty guards is used as a midden by the kobolds. It reeks of decay,
and no wonder: a rickety table leaning against the wall holds a leather skin of wine, a roughly-hacked, rotting, half eaten sheep, and a plundered purse (slit belt-ends still attached) containing 3 cp, 2 sp, and 5 gp. The rest of the room is choked with torn clothing and scraps of armor, gnawed bones, a broken dagger, four splintered spearshafts, and heaps of kobold dung.
23. Kobold Shaft: This square-walled shaft rises 112 feet (from the floor here to the floor of the upper level) to the citadel of the kobolds. A ladder of rusting but solid, massive gridirons climbs the east wall. An older series of handholds hollowed out of the stone climbs the north wall.
24. Ambush Elbow: This diagonal section of corridor provides an ideal spot for attacking intruders coming from the east, and the kobolds have set up a trip-bow here consisting of a multiple heavy crossbow on a tripod. The crossbow, assembled from several captured weapons, is too heavy and unwieldy to be used by hand. It fires three bolts on parallel courses, operated by tripwires stretched across the secret door (which opens southward into this corridor) and across the corridor just east of the diagonal section. These wires are concealed by gathered cobwebs. The bolts cause 1d4+1 damage each and strike if the person who triggers it fails a DC 12 Dex save. This trap fires only once unless the kobolds have an opportunity to reload and reset it.
25. Chamber of the Chain: This 20 x 40 room holds only cobwebs, dust, and an 8- foot-long bronze chain hanging from a
large, circular bronze boss set into the 15- foot-high ceiling. The bottom link of the chain has been twisted open, and whatever was on the end of it is gone.
25a. The bodies in this room are decayed and mummified with age. There is a barrel on one side of the wall that contains a green slime. The door can be found with a DC 15 investigation check on either side and takes a DC 15 thieves tools check to open.
26. Plungefall: The floor in this area has become very weak, eroded from below, and will collapse if any weight of more than 150 lbs. is placed on it. If a PC steps on the floor, a Dexterity check DC 15, or the character plunges down 20 feet (2d6 damage, fragile items must save vs. fall) into a narrow, natural crack the path of a now-vanished stream. The place where a falling creature will
land after breaking through the floor is home to a small colony of green slime, which coats the floor and cannot be avoided unless falling creatures can fly (or feather fall and push against the rock walls to propel along the passage to avoid the slime).
This natural crack widens in two areas (marked A and B on the map). At A, the passage becomes a damp, sand-floored cavern large enough for six man-sized creatures to sleep in comfortably. It is empty, except for a cracked, rusty helm lying on
the floor.
At B, a hollow in the floor is filled with a powdery brown pile directly below a 2- foot-diameter, irregular hole in the ceiling. The pile is very old dung, from the latrine 132 feet above in the Upper Level. Man-sized PCs wearing flexible armor (chainmail or less) or smaller folk can climb up the irregular natural walls of this shaft, but the damp stone is slippery. Dexterity checks must be made every third round of climbing. Seven rounds should be the minimum time required to climb
the shaft for a skilled climber. Check more often for those who are injured, heavily
encumbered, or not skilled at climbing. Missiles, including fellow PCs falling from
overhead, cannot be avoided in the shaft.
27. Bathing Chamber: This 30 x 20 room contains a small oval pool within four massive pillars. A concentric ring of steps leads down into its black, opaque, stagnant water. PCs who take a dip in the chillingly-cold water can grope around blindly to recover 66 gp (scattered loose) and a horseman's mace +1. After the pool's waters are disturbed, doors in two of the pillars will open to reveal man-size niches. Out of these will step two zombies. Both zombies wear the shreds and scraps of once-fine clothing; one has a gold belt buckle shaped like a snarling face with opal eyes (worth 800 gp each).
28. Room of the Fallen Giant: This chamber is weirdly lit by patches of phosphorescent mold growing on the walls, ceiling, and upon a cracked stone table whose halves fill the center of the room. Sprawled atop it is the skeleton of some sort of giant, the spear that killed it still wedged in its ribs. This spear glows and is magical (it causes normal spear damage, but is otherwise identical to a sword +2, giant slayer). Its name, "Shimmering," is carved upon it. Much stone rubble is heaped around the edges of the roomevidently, there was once a lot more stone furniture here that has since been destroyed. Carvings that appear to be fragments of runes can be seen on some pieces. Searching this rubble will take a long time; much heavy stone must be moved,
creating a lot of noise. The DM should check for wandering monsters once every third round. Those who search the rubble
should immediately find 2d12 gp, but it will take at least 4 more rounds of searching before they uncover bits of rag, then skeletal human feet still inside a pair of boots of the north.
29. Forgotten Gear: This room contains a 12-foot-long wooden pole, one end blackened by fire. It lies atop a leather backpack.
The pack holds a tinder box, two candles, five days worth of rations (cheese, sausage,
dry biscuits, and date-paste, all still edible), two skins of wine (each holding a gallon), a
blanket, and a pair of high boots. There is no sign of an owner.
30. Battle Chamber: This room reeks of death. A large scorched area covers the east wall. A dead orc wearing silk robes
and a leather belt adorned with gems (six bluish-white, faintly-glowing moonstones, each worth 75 gp) lies face-down on the floor. An axe is buried in the back of his head: an axe +2, throwing. The orcs body is infested with grey grubs. If the body is disturbed, 1d6+20 grey-hued, maggot-like worms will leap and wriggle with lightning speed from it toward intruders. The grey grubs behave as rot grubs.
The burned area contains only ashes. Projecting from them is a skeletal human hand clutching a three-foot-long, black metal rod with barbed ends. It is a rod of flailing, which becomes a flail when the word aerael is spoken, and returns to rod form when the word thund is uttered.
31. Many-Pillared Hall: This large room is littered with stony rubble that has fallen from the ceiling (PCs looking up will see
cracks and cavities, but nothing will fall unless fireballs or similar explosions occur). In this case, there will be a thunderous roar and a large fall of stone. A rusty scimitar and dagger lie among the stones. Five closed stone doors are visible in the walls. The lone door on the diagonal northwest wall is false (at the DMs option, it can lead to future expansion touching it causes a magic mouth to appear on a nearby pillar and say, "The way is blocked. You cannot pass." The three visible doors on the southeast wall operate as follows (from northernmost to southernmost). Touching the first door causes a 10' x 10' floor area directly in front of the door to blink away for 20 seconds, spilling all PCs here into a 40-foot pit (4d6 falling damage). The pit is littered with bones and its northwestern wall is composed of rubble; digging here may open up a lower dungeon level. The floors return will trap victims in the pit and may harm others reaching in to rescue them.
The center door opens to reveal an empty corridor. A 15' x 15' stone block (6d6 damage from direct hit, 2d6 from a rolling
blow) falls from the ceiling onto anyone standing in front of the door. Any metal touched by the block vanishes instantly, without harm to those wearing or holding it (it is teleported to room #3, forming the pile on the floor there). The southernmost door is false. Touching it causes the ghostly image of a human female face to appear on it and whisper (whatever the DM desires, to intrigue and lead PCs to other adventures; this strange spirit, Ruuthreene, knows a lot about the history of the Halls and the Stonelands).
32. Cellar: A pair of waist-high, arched doors are placed in the passage wall here. They swing outward to reveal a low, arch ceilinged stone cellar sloping downward. On the floor are scattered bones (human), and a locked, brass-bound wooden chest.
If the chest is opened, it emits an acrid, colorless gas that spreads rapidly. All PCs must succeed a DC 13 Con save or fall asleep instantly for 2-12 turns (normal wandering monster rolls apply and affected PCs can't be awakened early). Inside the chest is a wooden coffer holding four gold rings, each set with three tiny emeralds (each ring is worth 4,000 gp), and two large canvas sacks of 225 gp each.
One of the blocks in the stone ceiling midway down the cellar is marked with a scratched circle. It swings down to reveal a shaft leading up into darkness. The end of a rope hangs in the shaft. This old, thick, black-tarred rope is rotten (27% chance of breakage; check for every 30 feet climbed, increasing the chance by 8% per additional climber). The shaft rises 112 feet to the Upper Level; if the rope breaks, falling damage applies.
33. Chandelier Room: This square room has an unlit chandelier centered in the middle of the room and a corpse directly underneath it. The chandelier has seven candles. Each candle has a small sigil carved into it. These sigils are older versions of the standard symbols for each of the eight schools of magic. A DC 25 Arcana or History check will reveal what they are. If the party rescued Miior from area 17, she could tell them what they are. A DC 15 investigation check on the corpse reveals that an illusion sigil is etched into the skull very faintly.
In Sulwood's diary he writes, "Finding the Crypt entrance is a MetaPhysical exercise. You have thirty minutes to light them, one from each. The corpse is a lie. Anything above zero works to take the slot." The outline of an hourglass will appear on one wall as soon as the party enters the room. If they pass on through the other door, it fades. If they stay and do not solve the puzzle, the room teleports them to one of the secret rooms near area 25.
If the party light the candles with a spell of 1st level or higher and cast a 1st level illusion spell on the corpse, the corpse turns into a trap door that reveals a staircase going down.
Upper Level
Areas #23, #26, and #32 all lead up to Rivior's fall-back stronghold, now a kobold citadel. The DM should adjust the number of kobolds (there should be at least 45) to reflect the strength of attacking PCs. The kobolds don't know that the privy (#26) is connected to the lower level of the Halls, but both other entrances come up in well-like entrances under heavy guard. Ascending PCs must make Dexterity checks for each round of climbing to avoid making a noise that alerts the kobolds (if they shout, cast spells, or deliberately make noise, detection is assured). The kobolds have spears and oil flasks in
plenty, but will save these for PCs they can see nearby. Climbing PCs will first face hurled rocks and dropped bags of gathered lock lurkers (detailed in this module). A PC who is hit suffers damage and must make both a successful Dexterity check and a successful Strength check or fall down the shaft, taking falling damage. If only one check succeeds, the PC falls but gets a second Dex check; if it succeeds, he manages to catch hold of the rope lower down and hang on, taking only 2d8 battering damage.
Persistent PC attacks will force the kobolds to escape by any of the three routes and return for revenge later.
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