An Abandoned Magician's Lair

Wizards are a fickle bunch - coming and going, going and coming: and on occasion disappearing entirely - either in pursuit of some goal known only to them, or on occasion, through some misfortune during magical experimentation or having communed with entirely the wrong abyssal entity. Herein is provided the lair of one such departed magician - whether he (she?) will return or not? Only time will tell - and only the Fates know the answer. 

Regarding doors:

•		A door marked with the letter S is Secret.
•		A door marked with the letter L is Locked.
•		A door marked with the letter J is Jammed (stuck) and must be forced open.
•		A door marked with the letter J is Ajar (slightly open): the party can get a glimpse of what is on the other side without opening it (and what is on the other side will be able to glimpse the party, as well!)

Some doors may have special properties unique to them. These doors will be marked with an asterisk (*) and the nature of the special door will be noted in the description of the room into which the door leads. 

For a PDF version of this adventure - click HERE. 

Map scale is 10 ft. 

A - Ground Level

A1 - Entrance

The floor and walls of the large space are stone - once white, but grown dingy with time. Above, a wooden platform, 15 feet above the floor, rings the room: open in the center, accessible via two flanking stairwells on the north east and north west corners. Dim light pours down from the opening and the smell of oil lamps belies the source.

In the center, under the opening, the floor is tiled - black and white. The black tiles are trapped - any character unknowingly walking across the open space in the center has a chance to trigger the trap: wherein several streams of oil - alight - pour down from the ceiling: save vs Dragon's Breath for 2d6 damage.

Of note of the doors exiting this room - on the north wall are two doors; the one on the left (or, to the west) has no handle nor knob. It cannot be opened from A1: only from A3.

A2 - Votive Hall

Against the west wall is a small shrine - sized for a Halfling. On it can be found several votive statues - indistinct in their character - all facing a central figure which looks like a column of slime. The votive statues can be removed - they are free-standing - but if a character does so, the statue will rapidly melt: any character exposed to the effluvium into which the object melts must save vs Death against its poisonous emission. 

A3 - Skeleton Chamber

Standing at attention in this room are 9 Skeletons (B42) who will attack on sight. On the floor are various bones and torn articles: including - if the party takes the time to gather it up - 300 silver pieces and 60 gold pieces.

The door to the right - or, east - has no handle nor knob from the inside. It cannot be opened from this side once closed. 

The door to the left - or, west - can be opened: but is stuck and must be forced.

A4 - Lounge

In the northern half of this space are luxurious furnishings: a smoking chair, an ottoman, and a wide divan. They are in derelict state - age and wear causing tears and filling to spill out from them. Sniffing about the ruin is a lone Giant Shrew (B42).

A5 - Library

Lining the west and east walls are book cases; a wide, circular wooden table is on its side, as if cast towards the north wall. About one third of the book cases have books in them - the majority of which are ruined with time and mold.

Characters who rummage through the books on the west wall have a chance of activating a poison gas trap: save vs Death for all characters in the room, however any character more than 10 feet from the wall (such as, perhaps, rummaging through the shelves on the east wall or guarding the doors), may re-roll if they fail the first time.

Sufficient rummaging will produce two workable spell-books: one on the east, which contains Detect Magic and Floating Disc; the other on the west, containing Magic Missile, Protection from Evil, and Detect Invisible.

A6 - Trapped Hallway

This hallway is nondescript - with sconces for torches, empty, affixed to the walls at interval. However, 10 feet west of the curve in the hall is a pit trap, 10 feet deep. At the bottom of the pit trap - if triggered - is a desiccated corpse carrying a sword, a satchel, and wearing a mundane horned helmet. In the satchel can be found a set of lock picks, 140 silver pieces, 60 gold pieces, 2 sapphires valued at 50 gp each, and a large emerald valued at 100 gp.

A7 - Foyer Down

A nondescript wooden railing rings the room - bound to the wall with iron hooks at waist height. In the south-west corner, several woven baskets contain cobwebs and dust. In the south-east corner, a stairwell down leads to room B1.

Waiting on the railing near the stairwell is a Spitting Cobra (B42). It is partially concealed by the railing, as it rests on the hooks - so it will surprise the party on 4-in-6; 3-in-6 for a party with at least one Elf. If the cobra is dispatched in a loud manner, or if otherwise a suitable ruckus is raised, the inhabitants of room B1 may hear and send up 1d6 members of their party (re-rolling 6s) to investigate.

B - Lower Level

B1 - Ghoul Crypt

The stone of the floor of this level is darker than on the upper levels - a granite, roughly hewn, by the feel of it. Several defaced statues recessed into alcoves in the wall depict saints. Five Ghouls (B35) occupy the room. A set of stairs descends from room A7 at the northern side.

Wedged in the door on the western wall to B2 is a corpse on which the Ghouls have been feeding. The corpse has nothing of particular value on it.

The door to the south-east, leading to room B5, is sentient: see B5 for details.

B2 - Holding Crypt

Several modest sarcophagi align perpendicular to the room, unopened. There is evidence of human habitation - but in a bare sense. The room is otherwise empty. 

B3 - West Sanctuary

Recessed statuary can be seen in the south and west walls. In the center of the room, a mosaic pattern has been inlaid in the floor to correspond to a hanging decorative candelabra. In the place of candles, six oval-cut diamonds (100 gold piece value each) are inlaid. 

A contact poison has been applied to the settings - so if they are removed, there is a chance the removing character will come into contact with the poison - save vs Death.

B4 - Hidden Connection

Cobwebs have accrued thick in the corners of this small space. Otherwise, the corridor is empty.

B5 - East Sanctuary

Masonry supplies are stored in this space. Trowels, blocks, and so on - tools in the north section, raw material in the south-east corner. A character which investigates the tool section will find, among mundane objects, a case that contains a single Potion of Healing. A table with stools and a lantern - unlit, empty of oil - sits in the south-west corner.

In the detritus to the south-east, 3 Robber Flies (B41) are waiting. Hidden among the building materials is a chest containing 400 silver pieces.

The door to the north is sentient and will typically (4-in-6 chance) speak with a party that takes the time to examine it. Listening at the door - for example - may prompt it to ask what they are listening for; or checking for traps may prompt it to giggle and claim it tickles. When speaking - the silhouette of a face comes across the door, bouncing about depending on whom it is speaking to, a shadow in reverse: the wood grain being lighter, almost illuminated, where the face is present.

The door appreciates polite company. If the party is courteous, it will tell them about the inhabitants of the dungeon who come and go - perhaps of the people who built it in times long to remember. It may tell them about secrets and hazards on level A or B. Its knowledge of level B is complete; its knowledge of level A is only 60% accurate. It has no knowledge of level C. If a party is discourteous, it may lock itself, or become willfully stuck. It is particularly fond of knock-knock jokes (as all doors surely must be) - a referee is advised to have a few on hand for role play purposes.

C - Upper Level

C1 - Upper Atrium

In this space only, the floor is wooden - and with minor effort, a character can hear what's going on in room A1 below. The center of the space is open to A1 - with a railing to prevent an accidental fall. The ceiling is 15 feet above the floor - except in the center above the opening: where a perceptive adventurer will note a protrusion: on which several oil spouts are burning, as lamps, and from which will proceed the burning streams, per the trap in A1.

Two stairwells in the northern corners lead down to A1.

C2 - Whispering Hall

The west wall of the room houses four recessed alcoves. Of the four, three contain busts: each in various states of defacement. Inside one of the busts - accessible if smashed - can be found 2 sapphires, 50 gold piece value each; inside another, 3 rubies, 100 gold piece value each. On the east wall,  north of the hall leading into the room, is an alcove set up to contain candles. There are a dozen or so candles - unlit - present: with room for a dozen or so more.

While in the room, characters will hear whispers - barely distinct: not loud enough to truly understand what they communicate.

C3 - Former Trove

Some wooden furniture appears to have been smashed in this room - and a chest has been uncovered. The lock on the chest appears to have been broken open, and all contents of whatever had been in it before have been removed. 

C4 - False Walk

This room appears to be longer than it is - leading northward. However, after 10 feet or so of walking, the floor gives way as an illusion: dropping whomever is walking on it into room A3: a fall of 15 feet.

C5 - Drafty Hall

The long potions of the halls marked here have a draft to them as the party walks through. When the party first enters this hall, roll 1d4 - and once per hour thereafter, roll 1d6. The draft goes silent for a round when the roll is made. 

On a 1 through 4, one of the four normal doors in the hall becomes a secret door from the perspective of characters in C5 only: fading into the wall. To pass through, the party must search and find the door again - after which, it seems obvious as to where it was. In subsequent checks, doors made secret in this manner are made mundane (that is, not secret) if a different door is rolled. 

On a roll of 5, the existing secret door is not made mundane - remaining secret - and a follow up 1d4 is rolled to determine which additional door is made secret in addition. If the follow up roll would indicate a pre-existing secret door (such as if multiple 5s had been rolled in sequence), the target door becomes mundane instead.

On a roll of 6, no changes are made to the existing secret door - but the door to room C9 will change: becoming mundane if it is secret; or becoming secret if it is mundane.

C6 - Study

The walls of the room have tapestries hung from them - appearing to depict a cloudy night sky. For furnishings, the party will note a writing desk, a cot with no mattress, and a set of three amphora urns.

In the desk can be found antique inks and pens, valued at 80 gold pieces to a collector or magician. In one of the amphora can be found a spell scroll stuffed in: with spells Infravision and Detect Magic written to it.

C7 - Hall of Experimentation

Manacles dangle from chains hanging from the walls. Three tables with hooks and other restraints adorn the space - each with dark stains on and around it. The room is otherwise empty.

C8 - Freezer Room

Meat hooks hang from the ceiling and crates line the walls, containing various decayed materials. The room is cold - inexplicably so - and there are stains ingested.

C9 - Treasure Chamber

The floor is covered by three large, heavy rugs. About them can be found 3,000 silver pieces, 1,200 gold pieces, and a spell scroll containing Protection from Normal Missiles, Dispel Magic, and Polymorph Self.

• When a character first steps onto one of the rugs, however, a timer starts:- After 1d6 Turns, 2d4 Skeletons (B42) appear in room B1: crawling up from anonymous graves.
  
  
• After an additional 1d3 Turns, the Skeletons from B1 will have moved to A1 and an additional 2d4 Skeletons will replace them in B1.
  
  
• After an additional 1d3 Turns, the initial Skeletons will move to C1; the second Skeletons will move to A1, and a Bone Golem (X33) will appear in B1.
  
  
• After a final 1d3 Turns, the Bone Golem will move to A1, the initial Skeletons will walk through C5 to C9, and the secondary Skeletons will move to C1.

The goal of these guardians is to prevent the interlopers from leaving. If a party member falls, two Skeletons will drag the corpse down to B3 via the shortest route. If left there, the character's corpse will join the Skeletons' number by the next new moon.

Public domain artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com and the National Gallery of Art. Open license artwork retrieved from Pixabay. All artwork has been adapted for theme. Attribution to the piece and artist is provided in alt-text.