Room 1: A Restful Chamber
This tapered 30′x30′ room is cast in a pale blue light that evokes the calm skies of a mid-spring afternoon. An animated mural of puffy clouds meander about the domed ceiling. Small, decorative cockatrice feathers in a variety of pastel colors float along a plane six inches out from the walls indicate a protective ward, a testament to a great arcane power that still is rooted in this tomb. Carved in to the far wall above a granite crucible are a set of arcane runes. Copper braziers fill the four corners of the room. Above them float golden feathers that are interspersed among the others.
If someone can read magic, the runes say:
To be at peace. To be at rest. To be mended. To pass the test.
This is the central room to this level. The room is warded against any unexpected encounters, so this room provides the dungeon delvers a refuge to fall back to and regroup as needed. Any attempt to grab the feathers will be unsuccessful, as they are also warded and will move away from any advance. After each key is collected, the adventurers can rest here and receive 2d8 hp of healing from the room.
Once all four keys are collected, the crucible can be used to reforge Athganazar’s key. All four keys must be placed in the crucible and all four braziers pushed around the crucible.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Encounter and tagged The Tomb of Athganazar by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.
Room 2: Chamber of Self Reflection
In this room you find a table, upon which are a collection of charred tiles. A shattered floor-to-ceiling mirror dominates the opposite wall. Scrawled at waist height along the mirror in faded black finger paint is the following:
“Upon reflection you may find the key.”
Looking closer at the black paint shows that is actually ash. Looking closer at the tiles on the table reveals:
Nine tiles lie scattered upon the ash-covered table, each with a unique symbol inscribed upon them.
Upon moving the ash from the table, either by hand or by creating a breeze:
Eight indentations (each of which would fit one tile) set in a line across the center of the table. Above the indentations, floating in an arc above the indentations, glowing ash reads:
“Leave all but your number. Leave the rest in order.”
Once someone touches any of the tiles the encounter begins with the springing of a trap.
With an enormous thud, a large stone block drops to the floor, sealing the doorway. In the dissipating dust, a flash catches your attention and you can barely make out a marble sized dot of fire hovering in the air between the table and the mirror. With a ticking sound, the fire pulses slightly once per second, as if keeping time.
The dot is a Delayed Blast Fireball (10d6+1 points of damage) which will detonate exactly 60 seconds after the encounter is activated. The only way to prevent this from happening is to correctly solve the riddle. The tiles upon the table must be laid out in the correct sequence, omitting the number of characters in the party exploring the tomb. Upon the tiles are the numbers 1 through 9 which are drawn with a reflection of themselves.
You will need to give the players actual tiles with these symbols upon them (jumbled up of course) and will only consider the riddle solved once they have been placed into the order shown above.
If they fail to do this within the 60 seconds, the fireball detonates, the door opens and the encounter resets. It will continue to do this until the puzzle is correctly solved.
The mirror is simply a red herring placed there to potentially throw people off. It serves no useful purpose except to provide a clue as to the nature of the mirrored numerals that comprise the symbols.
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Encounter and tagged The Tomb of Athganazar by Stephen Hilderbrand with no comments yet.