An anonymous request goes out to Secret Santicore:
"looking for caverns underneath the town brewery where other types of things are going on."
Edward Wilson guides us through those hidden depths "Below the Torch and Tankard":
It's a rough and tumble
sort of place, but Brewmaster Norgus of the Torch and Tankard knows his
craft. Well, until last week when he was
found dead in the cellar with wounds and burns and cobwebs all about his body. In his hand he held an old bit of parchment
with four poetic mottoes written on it.
His wife, Nellie Norgus, couldn't care less about all that, but business
dropped off once word got out--and besides, there's no way she's going down
into the ale cellar until she's sure it's safe.
She hands the party the parchment with the mottoes on it and wishes them
good luck:
The Old Poetic
Mottoes:
With Humility, One
Knows One’s True PlaceWith Bravery, One
Stands When They FlyWith Honesty, One
Will Not Lose FaceWith Loyalty, One Draws The Last Breath
The Torch and Tankard
actually used to be the brewery of a larger monastery which stood here a long
time back. It burned down in a huge fire
and all they could save was the brewery.
But before it was a brewery it was a mausoleum for a small paladin
order, with three crypts for heroes of the order. The brewmaster accidentally let a huge
hogshead get loose and it smashed through the crumbly old brick wall and
revealed a passage beyond.
There are two ways into
the cellar: a flight of strudy wooden stairs or the big trap door they use to
hoist the kegs, barrels, and hogsheads into the cool cellar. The cellar is filled with the aromas of the
many lovely beverages stored therein.
The large opening in the north wall beckons.
1. Entrance Hall. This marble-lined hallway is 30' long, 10'
high, and 5' wide. At the end is an open
doorway. On either side of it is a niche
with a life-sized statue of an angel. The angel on the left is holding a
two-handed sword reverently in front of it; the one on the right is holding a
shield and longsword at the ready.
Trap 1: The phrase
"With
Humility, One Knows One’s True Place"
is carved into the marble over the doorway.
It is a clue that one must pass through the doorway bowed doubled over
or kneeling or set off the trap. A spell
to reveal magic will show the doorway is divinely enchanted. The first person through the doorway will
trigger the divine magical punishment which will reduce their strength by half
for 24 hours.
2. Ceremonial
Chamber. This grand chamber is also
lined with beautiful marble. It is 40'
square with an arched ceiling 40' high in the center. In the middle of the room is a low basin set
in the floor. It is apparently designed
to hold liquid and is 2' deep at the center [water poured into this basin and
prayed over by a good cleric will yield one flask of Holy Water per day.] A large ornate bronze lantern about 5' tall
and 2' around hangs from a heavy bronze chain set in the center of the
ceiling. There is an open doorway in the
center of each side of the room. One has
no wording over it and leads to the cellar of the Torch and Tankard. Each of the other three has one of the other
mottoes carved into the lintel above it:
3. Hall of the Brave
Brother. One the east side of the
Ceremonial Chamber is an open doorway and above the doorway to this hall is the
motto "With Bravery, One Stands When They Fly". From the doorway a
set of steps leads down 5' to a straight hallway 30' long, 10' high, and 5' wide which slopes gently down towards a
bronze-bound marble door with a very realistic carving of a medusa on it. Trap 3: Once all of the party has entered, a
scary illusion of a spectral medusa will fly towards the party forcing each
member to save against fear. Those who
save (are Brave) will see that it is an illusion and receive an Ancient
Blessing lasting 24 hours which gives them +1 to all rolls during that time.
. Those who fail will be forced to flee
and the illusion will rake them with spectral claws, the wounds on their backs
marking them as cowards who ran away; even if the wounds are healed a set of
scars (Marks of the Coward) will remain on their backs for 24 hours.
3a. Crypt of the
Brave Brother. The door to the crypt is
unlocked. Inside is a 20' square room
with an arched ceiling. The walls are
carved with scenes of the warrior brother paladins bravely facing all manner of
dangers. In the center is a plain marble
sarcophagus with a massive bronze lid and the name "Holy Brother
Lurien" engraved on the end facing the door. The lid has three long steel handles along
each side with which to lift the lid. It
takes at least two persons to lift the heavy lid
Trap 3a: As soon as
anyone gets within 5' of the sarcophagus, the handles heat up red hot (it will
take bravery to grip those handles, won't it?).
At least two of the people lifting the lid will need to pass a tough
will or constitution save to hold the hot handles long enough to remove the lid
entirely. Those failing the save will
lose half their dexterity (for tasks requiring their hands) for 24 hours.
4. Hall of the Honest
Brother. Above the doorway to this hall is the motto "With Honesty, One
Will Not Lose Face". From the open
doorway a level hallway 30' long, 10' high, and
5' wide leads towards a bronze-bound marble door with a very realistic carving
of a locked treasure chest.
Trap 4: Once
all of the party has entered they will each simultaneously experience a vision
(the DM should take each player apart from the group to play out this
scene). A voice, apparently the deceased
brother, asks: "Has one finally come to take out my treasures? Are you the one who will remove them? Answer me that I may know if the day has
finally come." A player who says no
(an Honest person who would not rob a grave) will hear "Then may your
prayers received favor"; they receive an Ancient Blessing lasting 24 hours
which gives them +1 to all rolls during that time. A player who says yes (a dishonest person who
would rob a grave) will be sprayed in the face with acid from holes in the
walls and ceiling, thus being visually defiled ("losing face") as one
who would defile.
4a. Crypt of the
Honest Brother. The door to the crypt is
unlocked. Inside is a 20' square room
with an arched ceiling. The walls are
carved with scenes of the warrior brother paladins doing all manner of works of
charity. In the center is a plain marble
sarcophagus with a massive bronze lid and the name "Holy Brother
Maronius" engraved on the end facing the door. The party will quickly discover that the
sarcophagus can only be opened if the lid is swiveled--but a thief may detect
that turning it one way unlocks it, the other way sets off a trap.
Trap 4a: If they
swivel it clockwise, the trap goes off.
A blast of holy flame rips through the chamber. A save is allowed to dive out the door (if
close enough). Damage should be about
one third of health.
5. Hall of the Loyal Brother. Above the doorway to this hall is the motto
"With Loyalty, One Draws The Last Breath". From the open doorway a set of steps leads up
to a hallway 30' long, 10' high, and
5' wide straight towards a bronze-bound marble door with a very realistic
carving of a two fully armored brothers of the order shaking hands.
Trap 5: Once
all of the party has entered they will each simultaneously experience a vision
(the DM should take each player apart from the group to play out this scene). A suave and seductive voice enters their head
and says "You know, there's a secret hiding place down here where the old
brotherhood kept all their treasure. I
know where it is. Gold is of no use to
me where I am but sacrificed souls are; likewise souls are of no use to you
there but gold is, isn't it? Let us make
a pact: their souls for the gold--I can show you how to kill them easily with
one of the deadly traps here."
Characters who refuse receive an Ancient Blessing lasting 24 hours which
gives them +1 to all rolls during that time.
If the character agrees, a blast of poison gas shoots out from the walls
and envelopes their head, causing them to lose half their constitution for 24
hours.
5a. Crypt of the Loyal Brother. The door to the crypt is unlocked. Inside is a 20' square room with an arched
ceiling. The walls are carved with
scenes of the warrior brother paladins suffering martyrdom through all manner
of cruel tortures. In the center is a
plain marble sarcophagus with a massive bronze lid and the name "Holy
Brother Culwen" engraved on the end facing the door. The party will soon discover that the massive
bronze lid of the sarcophagous has spring-loaded catches on each corner which
require one person on each corner working together to get it open (or if a
party of less than four players, then just one person on each end).
Trap 5a: If they attempt to open it any other way than
the correct way, then the entire floor slides back into the walls. A save is allowed to jump up onto the
sarcophagus or out the door, if close enough.
Anyone left where the floor was will fall 10' into a pit full of spikes
which now surrounds the sarcophagus.
[The damage should be about one third of the health of the character.]
DM Notes
- The traps outside
the crypt chambers are meant to chastise unworthy intruders and give them a
chance to leave alive and reconsider the choices they've made in life.
-
The traps inside the crypts are meant to kill any intruders so determined to do
evil that they would persevere to rob the resting places of the hero brothers.
Cymril was founded by a people called the Phandre from the Phaedran Star Empire of old. The Phandre exiles split into three factions/sub-ethnicites that exist to the modern day. The Koresians, currently ascendant in Cymril, are forward-thinking and more interested in being involved in galactic society. The Tanasians are conservatives descended from the former rulers of the Phandre. Until their ouster, Cymril was more a authoritarian and expansionistic state. Tanasians instituted a eugenics program to foster psi potential among their people and were generally opposed to alliances with other (lesser in their view) species.
