Weekend Map: Mystic Ruin

Scale: 10 ft.
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A - Entry

The room is square, gray stone, with a statue of a gargoyle, one arm missing, in the north-west corner.

Five Gnomes (B35-36) stand in the center of this room, huddling around a parchment map. They will be surprised by the party on 3-in-6. Three of them carry crossbows; four of them carry warhammers; one of them - the one holding the map - appears to be an academic. The map is a drawing of this complex - including rooms A, B, and D through J - excluding the balcony in J and excluding any secret doors. They are here because Kobolds have pilfered Gnomish treasure and this area, somewhat known to them, is rumored to be a Kobold (B37) hideout.

B - Vault

The first 15 feet, west to east, of this room have grooves in the floor and several lenses in the ceiling. Beams of light shine downwards at intervals, making it a challenge to cross the floor without being illuminated. If a character is illuminated, long curved blades extend from the floor about 5 feet - any character in the room within 15 feet of the west wall must save versus wands or be hit: taking 2d6 damage. The character's armor class may influence the save - providing a bonus proportional to AC at the GM's discretion of value in the ballpark of 3 points for plate, 2 points for chain, or 1 point for leather armor.

At the far end, in the concave east side, is a pile of silver pieces - 700 in total. Among the silver pieces are six gemstones worth 100 gold pieces each: a cut garnet, bloodstone, sapphire, beryl, peridot, and carnelian.

A secret door opening to a Kobold tunnel is concealed by a faux wall; throughout the room, the seams between blocks on the wall are very clean - on the faux wall, there is a stone, same color as the room around it, wedged in the mortar. If this is pressed down, the wall will slide backwards around eight inches: it will then either slide up or down. If the slider pushes it up, it reveals the tunnel; if the slider pushes it down, it will also reveal the tunnel, but will also release a fine cloud of acid: the slider or sliders, only, must save versus dragon's breath or take 1d4 points of damage and break into a fit of coughing: alerting the Kobolds (B37) in room C to their presence.

C - Kobold Den

This is a den for a small tribe of Kobolds (B37) - 8 of them, plus a few pups, are presently performing domestic activities in the area. If alerted to the party, they will remove the pups to room F prior to interacting with the party, per reaction roll.

D - Lion Around

The door to this room is ajar from the outside. Inside, four large cats (as Mountain Lion, B30) lounge amid relatively fresh flora bedding. A second, secret door leading to J is concealed behind an old curtain hung on the west wall. Time and cat-claws have damaged the part of said curtain on the north side, exposing the wall behind it.

E - Lair of the Medusa

The door to this room is not locked. It is decorated with a divan and thick, ovaloid carpet and the wall is ringed with deep red stone from the floor, as wainscotting. Three Medusa (B39) are receiving a food offering from two downward-facing Kobolds (B37). Also in the room along the south wall is an absolute trove of treasure:

• 4,000 silver, 1,000 gold, and 500 platinum pieces freely lying about the floor
• 4,000 additional silver pieces divided between two sacks
• A locked case with a poison-needle trap in the clasp containing 3,000 electrum pieces and 1,000 gold pieces
• A locked safebox attached to the underside of the divan containing 500 platinum pieces and 5 gemstones: 1 worth 10 gold pieces, 2 worth 50 gold pieces each, and 2 worth 100 gold pieces each
• A potion vial of a blue-black color containing virulent poison (save versus death)
• A scroll, sealed, containing the spell Invisibility
• A pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Power hanging on display on the north wall

The medusa wear jewelry - two necklaces (500 gold pieces each), a diamond and emerald broach (1,000 gold pieces), a cloak with golden hem (750 gold pieces), a robe with electrum hem (500 gold pieces), and a courtesan's vestment (the upper part, at least) of silk with gemstone buttons (750 gold pieces), a Ring of Animal Control, and a Ring of Water Walking.

The Medusa, if attacked, will summon the cats from area D by name; the Kobolds will flee.

The secret door on the east wall (a faux panel in the wainscotting) is ajar, having been pushed open from the cavern side - if the Kobolds retreat, they will shut it behind them. It opens in two directions - it can be pushed in or pulled out. If it is pulled out, as it was when it was open, it opens into a narrow cavern beyond; if it is pushed in, the opposite of how the Kobolds did it, a trap triggers: long needles jut down from the top seam and up from the bottom seam of the door, as teeth in a closing maw. A character affected by the trap must save versus Paralysis or have whatever appendage they used to push - if unspecified: arm (40%) or arms (60%) normally; leg (65%) or legs (35%) if kicking - goes numb, becoming totally unusable for 1d4 hours.

F - Tribute

The door to this room is locked. On the south wall, there are eight alcoves arranged in an octagon, roughly 16 inches by 8 inches each, containing reptilian obsidian figurines of primitive sculpting technique trimmed with electrum. In the center of the octagon is embossed a hexagon - painted red, but flaking - with its points aligned upward. Sold to a collector or other interested party, each of the figurines is worth 10 gold pieces.

On the east wall are four - arranged as cubes - insets, coated in dust. If the hexagon is depressed and turned, such that the points are aligned horizontally, the upper-left inset in the east wall will pop open, allowing access to the cavern beyond. On the cave side, there is a reset lever which will close the door and resets the hex button.

G - Chute First...

The room feels humid, the dark stone walls moist. Against the west wall, a pile of crates with a chest on top. The chest is empty - but if the party approaches it, there is a trap-door spanning the width of the room, north to south, and running from the door to five feet from the western wall, where the crates are lined up so as not to fall. If the party enters more than 10 feet in - or 5 feet, at DM discretion, for heavily burdened characters or several characters at once - the trap door will fall through, forming a ramp downwards towards the crates. This ramp will dump them 15 feet down into the water-filled tunnel between rooms K and L at approximately the half-way point, then closing (and thus resetting) behind them once the weight of the falling characters is removed.

The Kobolds use this as a way to dispose of refuse. To telegraph the trap, the DM may choose to indicate there are skid marks on the floor of similar character to refuse.

H - Dump This space appears to be used to house Kobold refuse. There is not as much as might be expected, having been generated from the number of Kobolds observed, though... I - Hallway The hall terminates with a curved wall, concave from the perspective of a walker. Halfway down the hall are two stone Kobold statues, life size. In the concave position are four more, almost as though they had been stored there. There is a square space on the floor of uneven wear, as though something had been sitting in the alcove, but moved to accommodate the statues.

J - The Aquarium

This ceiling in this room is 30 feet in height and the walls are plastered with a blue facade, inlaid with white streaks in a long pattern. The room is bathed in a light glow emanating from a pillar of water in the center. Measuring 20 feet north to south by 10 feet east to west and extending all the way to the ceiling, this pillar of water is held in place by magic. Party members that can swim can swim in the pillar - downward, into room K, or upward, to the source of the light.

The ceiling of the pillar is one foot higher than the ceiling of the room. Inlaid in the east and west walls are three circular-cut lemon quartz stones, six inches across each - from which the light is emanating. They are worth 100 gold pieces each, but if they are pried out from their socket, the socket will emit an electric shock - 1d6 points of damage - to any creature within 10 feet of the socket every 1d4 rounds. Characters greater than 5 feet from the socket may save versus death for half damage. If all six gems are removed, there is a flickering between them, any character within 20 feet of the sockets is shocked for 2d8 damage (outside of 10 feet, save for half, as above), and the magic holding the pillar up is extinguished: causing a rush of water to flood room J and potentially dump any swimmers or onlookers unceremoniously onto the stone. The water is initially around a foot deep, but will seep out through the secret door and under the double door to room A.

On the west wall is a viewing deck, 20 feet off the ground, with no stair or ladder. A group of 4 Kobolds (B37) have climbed up via a rope and, depending on whether they notice the party enter and how they react to them, will likely audibly pull the rope up behind them. They prefer flight to conflict, hiding in one of the O rooms, but may be emboldened by their elevated position.

On the east wall is a secret door: its texture different than the texture of the wall elsewhere - and the streak pattern slightly disrupted. This is easy to notice in torch or lantern light, but difficult to detect in the unnatural blue from the water pillar. It is made of plaster rather than rock and can be kicked in or pulled out with a hook once discovered.

K - Cistern

This room is entirely submerged - 20 feet deep - exits being to swim up, to the water column, or down, to a cracked area that appears as a hole near the south-east corner. Silver pieces - 400 in total - are spread around the floor as if thrown into a well or pool.

L - Sandy Berm

In the center of the space is an air-pocket, following a sandy rise. Atop the pocket is an area that is (relatively) dry. On this embankment are two Giant Crabs (X29) feeding on three decaying bodies: two human-sized, one halfling-sized. The crabs have no treasure, but the corpses have a pouch of agate gemstones worth 100 gold pieces, along with some ruined equipment.

M - The Mystic's Lab

Along the west and south walls are book cases, filled with old tomes - most of which disintegrate on touch. In the center of the curved wall, a depressed area - two steps down - forms a slice of the original space. This slice is filled with a slight fog - mostly transparent, almost as steam rising off the earth after a rain - approximately six inches deep on the floor. Along the curved wall is an alchemical set, as well as some arcane tinkering elements. In the center of the room is carved into the floor a unicursal hexagram.

If the party steps over the hexagram, the fog starts to slowly rise. Any party member spending 2 turns or more in the room after this is triggered must save versus paralysis or fall into a deep sleep from which they cannot be roused when still in the room. A party member spending 4 turns or more in the room must save versus death or fall into a coma from which they will not wake without a miracle. Remove Curse or equivalent intervention would be sufficient, but the character can only last a few days without water.

N - Auditorium This quarter-circular space contains four rows of seating, facing the door. There is a trip-wire just past the door that, if tripped, releases a pendulum with a blade, rolling to hit with THAC0 16 against anyone in the doorway, dealing 2d4 damage on a successful hit. The trap does not reset automatically. In the seating, faded papers can be found - but nothing can be read on them. P - Hidden Vault In the western half of this space, there are two empty chests and a broken urn. There are scrawlings on the wall - written in the script of the Kobolds, bragging about having found the room.

O - Observation Chambers

The doors to each alcove are unlocked, but close on their own if not held open by a character. Each, unless otherwise specified, is ringed with heavy velvet sound-dampening curtains.

This space has four dainty chairs and a circular table, on which is a large glowing salt crystal which dimly illuminates the room. Any lit flame that enters this space will flicker towards the salt before turning a deep purple color, with blue on the outliers. Until extinguished, the flame will radiate shadow rather than light, dampening dark vision as well as precluding normal vision in its extent. The curtain inside this room is ragged and damaged, a giant cat - striped like a tiger, rampages inside. If it sees the party, it will snarl and charge the door, causing it to shut. If the party opens the door again, there will be nothing inside - only barren stone walls. Inside this room are two chairs, at which sit two spectral figures - one male, one female - sitting, staring towards the concave wall, on which there is no curtain, exposing blank stone. If the party enters, the male specter looks up and, in an archaic form of language, thanks the nearest party member and attempts to hand them an empty glass. If the character takes it, the specter returns to looking at the blank wall before both it, the other specter, and the glass turn to mist and then dissipate. If the party member refuses, the specter becomes enraged: the other specter and the glass will dissipate and the first specter consolidates into a jet black form roughly 2/3 the size it was, attacking immediately: stats as Wight (B44). If the enraged specter is led out of room Oiii, it loses some of its substance - becoming slightly transparent and halving its hit points. If it is led into room J, it will dissipate entirely. The DM should arbitrate any other interactivity in between the extremes. This room contains a table, but no chairs, rectangular and aligned with the door. On it are playing cards: dusty, but warm to the touch. They are non-magical and can be taken from the room without consequence. In the concave edge of the room is the stage of a street puppeteer. If the party enters, two puppets will appear, performing a short slapstick routine. If a party member approaches the stage before the performance - which lasts around 10 minutes - is finished, the puppets will look afraid and hide beneath the stage. Otherwise, they will finish their performance, bow, and descend below the stage. In either case, if a party member looks under or behind the stage, there are no puppets and no puppeteer: the space is lined with cobwebs. If the show is allowed to finish and the puppets take a bow, each onlooker must save versus spells. On failure, they will later find that 1 gold piece has been removed from their pouch for admission (if they had applauded the puppets, 1 silver piece instead).

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Public domain image, Gothic Chapel, Mammoth Cave, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons on 6/13/2020 and adapted for thematic use. Public domain image, Medusa, from Wonder Book for Girls & Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne downloaded from ReusableArt.com on 6/13/2020 and likewise adapted for thematic use.